Christmas celebrations

Christmas decorations are seen at a traditional Christmas market in Vienna December 21, 2010. A boat, the traditional Greek symbol of Christmas, is illuminated in Aristotelous Square in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010.A man looks at Christmas decoration in Sin El Fil, northeast of Beirut December 21, 2010.NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: Thousands of hoiday

The £1.5bn freeze: As travel chaos continues, the country counts economic cost

By SEAN POULTER and RAY MASSEY Cars on the A413 road near Amersham in Buckinghamshire first thing this morningThe economy has suffered a £1.5billion ‘big freeze’ shock from travel chaos, lost production and savaged High Street sales.The cost is 50 per cent higher than a normal winter and has prompted a string of cut-price offers from shops desperate to lure back lost Christmas trade.Yesterday the

Wait years for a Royal wedding... 'Shocked but very happy' Zara to marry England rugby star Mike Tindall after seven-year romance

all after seven-year romance Understated: Zarah Phillips and her fiance Mike Tindall after they announced their engagementZara Phillips is to marry her rugby player boyfriend Mike Tindall in a move that could make 2011 the year of royal weddings.The Queen’s 29-year-old granddaughter said she was astonished by Monday evening’s proposal – despite a seven-year courtship.And the level of her surprise

Wait years for a Royal wedding... 'Shocked but very happy' Zara to marry England rugby star Mike Tindall after seven-year romance

all after seven-year romance Understated: Zarah Phillips and her fiance Mike Tindall after they announced their engagementZara Phillips is to marry her rugby player boyfriend Mike Tindall in a move that could make 2011 the year of royal weddings.The Queen’s 29-year-old granddaughter said she was astonished by Monday evening’s proposal – despite a seven-year courtship.And the level of her surprise

Christmas celebrations

Thousands of teddy bears arranged in a shape of a tree hang from the ceiling of a shopping mall in Beirut, as part of Christmas decoration, December 20, 2010. The display is part of a charity campaign " Small Bear Big Heart" to sell 2,000 bears with the proceeds going to the Lebanese autism society. Picture taken December 20, 2010. Visitors look at thousands of teddy bears arranged in a shape of

Entertainers dressed as elves hold reindeer outside number 10 Downing street

Entertainers dressed as elves hold reindeer outside number 10 Downing street in London December 20, 2010. The reindeer were brought to Downing street for a children's Christmas party for military families. Entertainers dressed as elves hold reindeer outside number 10 Downing street in London December 20, 2010. The reindeer were brought to Downing street for a children's Christmas party for

Christmas festive lights

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 19: Christmas festive lights are displayed on a house in Macleod on December 19, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. Residents across Melbourne are lighting their property's with Christmas lights in the build up to Christmas Day. A couple takes a photo with Christmas illuminations on a street in downtown Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010.People visit the Christmas

Lots of fun: Tycoon's toy collection brings in $2.3m in Sotheby's New York auction

Scene setter: Part of the Malcolm Forbes toy collection which has been on display for the past 25 years in the lobby of the Forbes Magazine headquarters in New YorkA collection of toys amassed over almost 40 years by the publishing tycoon Malcolm Forbes and his sons sold for $2.3million (£1.4million) at auction in New York. It included toy boats, soldiers, motorcycles and board games.One of the

Christmas celebrations (part 2)

Christmas tree ornaments are seen at the Christmas market in Munich December 18, 2010. Every year, Germany's traditional markets draw millions of visitors, both local and foreign, and run until December 24 at 12 noon. A Christmas tree stands in central Rome's Piazza Venezia on December 18, 2010.A huge Christmas pyramid is seen standing in the middle of a Christmas market in Munich December 18,

Not our finest hour! Planes grounded, thousands of festive holidays ruined, roads ungritted, drivers stranded for hours . . . and all because it snowe

By ARTHUR MARTIN, COLIN FERNANDEZ, RYAN KISIEL, RAY MASSEY and DAVID WILKES Shovelling snow while it's still snowing: Workers at Heathrow try to clear the snow after all flights at the airport were grounded over the weekend Millions of Christmas travellers remained stranded last night, fully 36 hours after heavy snowfall crippled the country.Much of the transport network was paralysed –

Frozen in time: London's covering of snow captured on camera from the air

By RICHARD HARTLEY-PARKINSON A snow covered Buckingham Palace continued to attract the crowds despite the cold These are some of the wintry scenes taken from a helicopter that reveals the contrasting majestic beauty and travel chaos that the snow has landed on us.From jam-packed motorways to people enjoying themselves tobogganing and skating, photographer Andy Hooper captures various scenes from

Christmas celebrations (part 1)

A man dressed as Father Frost, the equivalent of Santa Claus, and a child touch an Evenki reindeer at the Christmas food fair in central Krasnoyarsk, December 18, 2010. Peasants, farmers, fishermen, hunters from all over Krasnoyarsk brought their products and goods to sell at the city's Christmas fair. People shop for Christmas hams at a shop in the Quiapo district of Manila December 18, 2010.

Join our Christmas sty-listas: We wait up for Santa with this season's cutest pets

After hogging the limelight in YOU earlier this year, the adorable micro pigs are back by popular demand. Here we join them for their very first Christmas Day… Silent night?No chance of that. These three little pigs are far too excited to sleep! Where’s Santa?Robbie looks out into the night sky, hoping for a glimpse of Santa’s sleigh Above left:I’m awake. Where are my presents?Kyle’s raring

Misery for millions as great Christmas getaway begins with blizzards shutting airports and causing chaos on the roads

By PAUL SIMS Beating the blizzard: A man makes his way through snow storm in Epsom Gatwick, Heathrow, Birmingham and Southampton airport closedAA attends 1,200 breakdowns every hourUp to 20cm expected in parts of the UKHundreds of drivers trapped on M6 overnightBacklog of up to 4m parcels could remain undelivered Urgent appeal for blood donors after concerns of shortagesGrit to be shared amid

March of the penguins: Up close and personal with the quarter of a million who inhabit Britain's furthest flung colony

By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE Kings of the road: Penguins at a breeding colony on the beach at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, loiok almost as if they're wandering along a roadP-p-p-posing for their close-ups, these are the penguins who live on the remote island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic.And while pictures of the inhabitants of Britain's most outlying colony are common - these are possibly

Surf's up! Dogs show they can ride the waves too in a swell canine calendar

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Smug mug: July features Betsy the bulldog posing on the boardIt's barking mad!These pictures of surfing dogs show that pooches can ride the waves just as well as their human surfer counterparts.Part of a 2011 Surf Dogs calendar, the photos feature mainly rescue animals, dubbed SurFURS by the photographers. March's model is Stanley. He wore a blue life jacket as he rode to

Will ice and snow stop the great getaway in its tracks? Big freeze threatens festive holidays

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER- Widespread warnings for icy roads across Scotland and Northern England- Experts warn of 'Christmas syndrome' as staff use weather to stay home- AA puts extra patrols on roads to coped with rise in breakdowns- Up to six inches of snow expected over the weekend- 18million cars expected to take to the roads over Christmas getaway period- Next Thursday likely to be the busiest

Lighthouse transformed into a fairy castle after being encased in sparkling ice

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Spectacular: A small break in the cloud lights up the ice encrusted lighthouse at Cleveland Harbour, on Lake Erie, Ohio Rising from the water in shimmering tiers, it looks more like a fairy tale castle than a lighthouse.But this incredible sculpture was actually created by layers of frost encrusted on the walls of the structure which sits at Cleveland Harbour on the shores

Surf's up! Dogs show they can ride the waves too in a swell canine calendar

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Smug mug: July features Betsy the bulldog posing on the boardIt's barking mad!These pictures of surfing dogs show that pooches can ride the waves just as well as their human surfer counterparts.Part of a 2011 Surf Dogs calendar, the photos feature mainly rescue animals, dubbed SurFURS by the photographers. March's model is Stanley. He wore a blue life jacket as he rode to

The £7m Christmas tree: Hotel unveils fir draped in diamonds (and no prizes for guessing it's in the UAE)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Opulent: A guest walks past the $11million Christmas tree in the Emirates Palace hotel atrium in Abu DhabiSurrounded by examples of decadent wealth, Abu Dhabi is probably the only place where an $11m Christmas tree might not seem a little over the top.Dubbed one of the 'most expensive Christmas trees ever', the glitzy Emirates Palace hotel has unveiled the 40ft evergreen in