Week Ahead: Yorkshire anxiously awaits decisions from Government’s Tier review

ON VERGE OF TIERS

With North Yorkshire as currently the only part of the region not in Tier 3, there are some hopes that a review of England’s tier system on Wednesday will see allocations downgraded in some local areas - especially given the falling case rates in places like Leeds, Sheffield and Hull (which briefly had the highest Covid rates in the country last month).

However, there is growing speculation that London could be moved up into Tier 3 as infections grow in many parts of the capital, while concerns about a ‘third wave’ may well see Tier 3 restrictions retained locally.

Any changes to tiers would come into effect from December 19, just four days before the temporary relaxation of national rules for Christmas which will allow friends and families allowed to form three-household bubbles between December 23 and 27.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Tiering decisions are based on a range of criteria including how quickly case rates are going up or down, cases in the over 60s, pressure on the NHS and local circumstances.”

The allocations are reviewed every 14 days.

SPORTING TENSION

The Sports Personality of the Year prize is usually a hotly-contested honour but this year’s event will somewhat unusual.

The winner will be announced by the BBC on Sunday following a live show in Salford but it comes after boxer Tyson Fury’s demand to be taken off the six-person shortlist was refused.

The world heavyweight champion has told his supporters not to vote for him in the contest. It comes after his previous appearance on the shortlist in 2015 caused controversy, with over 100,000 people signing a petition calling for the boxer’s removal over a series of outspoken comments on homophobia and abortion.

The shortlist also includes Lewis Hamilton, the early favourite, plus Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stuart Broad, Jordan Henderson and Hollie Doyle.

Hamilton, the 2014 winner, has also previously expressed his reluctance, explaining in 2018 that he found such shows “awkward”.

There is further potential for rancour at this year’s event, after O’Sullivan belittled Hamilton’s world title-winning achievements due to his access to the best equipment, insisting: “It’s a bit like driving around smoking a cigar with one finger on the wheel.”

EYES TO THE SKIES
The annual Geminid meteor shower will peak today and tomorrow evening, with more than 100 meteors expected to be visible per hour.

The streaks of coloured light are the debris of the Geminid meteors burning up in the planet’s atmosphere.

The Geminid meteors originate from a rocky asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, and each year the Earth passes through a trail of debris left by the asteroid as it travels around the Sun.

CHARITY CHALLENGE

Photographer Joe Giddens is embarking on an extraordinary charity challenge this weekend to help a seven-month-old boy from Yorkshire.

Giddens aims to climb England’s highest peak Scafell Pike as many times as possible in 24 hours while carrying a 50lb pack.

He is raising money for seven-month-old Marley who has Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy – a condition which makes his muscles extremely weak, stops him moving his arms and legs, and causes breathing and numerous other life-limiting difficulties.

Marley’s parents Rosie-Mae Walton and Wes Powell from Driffield, East Yorkshire, are raising money for a treatment available in the US, which they believe could dramatically prolong Marley’s life expectancy.

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