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Delegated Services Risk Warning: Weather; Snow and Ice - Yellow

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Hello all, To get 2026 underway with the potential of some, perhaps, unwelcome excitement! It may not necessarily impact open/close decision making for our 'patch' as currently defined, but will need taking into account for travel to work and return issues for some. Yellow warning for South West England Snow & ice Between 15:00 (UTC) on Sun 4 Jan 2026 and 12:00 (UTC) on Mon 5 Jan 2026 AND Cold health alert updated for the South West The amber cold health alert is in effect from 8PM on 02/01/2026 until 10AM on 09/01/2026 across the South West. The amber alert has a matrix score of 12. See below the following snow and ice advice for what this means. ***** Snow and ice has the potential to cause disruption to travel in places from Sunday evening through to Monday morning. What to expect * Some roads and railways likely to be affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services * Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces * Probably some i...
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DS Risk Warning: Weather: AMBER heat health alert updated for the South West

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Hello all, The above Agency has just increased the warning to Amber. The details are below. We have had a number of calls on sports days. It is one of those 'no wins' like snow. Some have been able to move things to first thing, otherwise they've been sensibly postponed or even cancelled. There's some enquiries too on DofE expeditions, which in the circumstances will need careful review and potential postponing. If you have any other queries, do get in touch and we'll do our best to advise. DS Heat health alert updated for the South West The amber heat health alert is in effect from 12PM on 11/07/2025 until 9AM on 14/07/2025 across the South West. The amber alert has a matrix score of 12. This means: Significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the high temperatures, including: a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. There may also be impacts on younger age groups likely inc...
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DS Risk Warning: Cyber - 16 billion passwords exposed: how to protect yourself

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  20/06/25  News and information is emerging, but not all at once strangely, of the above. We're delving further but decided to give you a 'heads up' and suggest you ensure your already existing best practice of changing passwords is actively pursued urgently. We have found that Headlines are saying: Were Facebook, Google, and Apple passwords leaked? With a dataset containing 16 billion passwords, that’s equivalent to two leaked accounts for every person on the planet. Nobody really knows how many duplicate records there are, as the leak comes from multiple datasets. However, some reporting by other media outlets can be quite misleading. Some claim that Facebook, Google, and Apple credentials were leaked. While that can’t completely be dismissed, such claims are felt to be somewhat inaccurate. Huge datasets of passwords spill onto the dark web all the time, highlighting the need to change them regularly. This also demonstrates just how weak our passwords still are. Last yea...
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Delegated Services Risk Warning; Heat

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  Thu 19 Jun, 25    Repeated below is the AMBER warning Heat health alert for information and action. Apart from: 1. having robust policy in place on sunscreen/shade/protective clothing and hats/ventilation/breaks and hydration, and 2. thinking carefully about those with medical conditions  we are advising sports days need to be held early morning in such conditions, or postponed. Heat health alert updated for the South West The amber heat health alert is in effect from 12PM on 19/06/2025 until 9AM on 23/06/2025 across the South West . The amber alert has a matrix score of 12. This means: Significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the high temperatures, including: a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. There may also be impacts on younger age groups likely increased demand on all health and social care services internal temperatures in care settings (hospitals and care homes) may exce...
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DS Risk Warning: Cyber Critical Update

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  Critical Update With thanks to our NPs the S W Cyber Resilience Centre, we bring you their updated advice. Please pay close attention to it, regardless that it flows from the attacks on the retail sector. The approach taken can be applied anywhere! The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a critical warning following a wave of cyber attacks on major UK retailers including M&S, Co-op and Harrods. These incidents appear to involve criminals impersonating IT help desks to trick staff into revealing login credentials, a technique known as social engineering.   We’re issuing this urgent message to all SWCRC members to raise awareness and encourage immediate action.   What’s happening?   A group calling itself DragonForce has contacted the BBC to claim responsibility for recent breaches. Their tactics include:        •     Phoning IT staff pretending to be locked-out employees       •     Calling or messaging staff pretending to be from internal IT h...
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