Storms batter parts of Britain

Passengers are being airlifted from a ferry in the Irish sea as high winds batter much of the UK, with forecasters warning of blizzards to come. A 45-year-old lorry driver died on the M6 near Tebay, Cumbria, as his lorry overturned in gusts of up to 70mph. The Port of Dover in Kent has reopened after gusts of up to 60mph forced it to close, causing widespread disruption.

In Wales some homes are without power and the Forth Road Bridge, west of Edinburgh, has reopened after a crash. However, it remains closed to high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorcycles after a lorry earlier overturned in high winds. In the Irish Sea, six people have been airlifted off a ferry which is listing to 60 degrees amid fierce storms. Still on board are 17 crew members who are attempting to restart the ship's engines, a spokesman for Lancashire Ambulance Service said.

The River Dance, a roll-on-roll-off ferry, ran into trouble eight miles west of Fleetwood. Sea King helicopters are taking those on board to Blackpool Airport. About 1,000 homes were without power in Gwynedd and two schools, John Beddoes High in Presteigne and Whitton Primary schools in Powys, closed because of a power failure.

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This Article is about the awful storms that have hit Great Britain Today . This story is also interesting because of how in depth the knowledge is about the storm. News in Great Britain is for the most part all reported like local news

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History of the U.K.'s Political Parties

Prior to the mid-19th century politics in the United Kingdom were dominated by the Whigs and the Tories. These were not political parties in the modern sense but somewhat loose alliances of interests and individuals. The Whigs were associated with the newly emerging moneyed industrial classes, and the Tories were associated with the landed gentry, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.

By the mid 19th century the Tories had evolved into the Conservative Party, and the Whigs had evolved into the Liberal Party.

These two parties dominated the political scene until the 1920s, when the Liberal Party declined in popularity and suffered a long stream of resignations. It was replaced as the main left-wing party by the newly emerging Labour Party, who represented an alliance between the trades unions and various socialist societies.

Since then the Conservative and Labour Parties have dominated British politics, and have alternated in government ever since. The UK is nearly but not quite a two-party system however. The Liberals merged with the Social Democrats because they had very similar views and became the Liberal Democrats which are now a sizeable third party whose electoral results have improved in recent years.

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This article provides a brief history on the origin of the U.K.'s political party system.

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