British citizens were last night advised to leave Hubei Province after the chief medical officer issued new advice recommending vulnerable people should immediately evacuate the area at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Chinese city of Wuhan has effectively been sealed off as authorities struggle to contain the spread of the deadly virus, leaving potentially hundreds of British residents at risk.

The Foreign Office said on Saturday night: "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Hubei Province. If you are in this area and able to leave, you should do so. This is due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak."

Previous advice by the FCO said that "all but essential travel to Wuhan" should be avoided, followed by a warning hours later to avoid "all travel to Wuhan City".

Any attempts to evacuate British citizens are likely to be hampered by the Chinese authorities' restrictions on movements in and out of...

New homes that conform to local residents' ideas of beauty would be fast-tracked through the planning system under radical proposals drawn up by a government-commissioned review.

Writing in The Telegraph, Robert Jenrick, the Housing Secretary, discloses that he is considering a new "fast track for beauty", which would allow homeowners or developers to gain planning permission more quickly if they are seeking to build a type of structure that a community has already said would be acceptable in their area.

The proposal is contained in a major report by the Government's Building Better, Building Beautiful commission, following a year-long inquiry into the planning system and how to increase the use of new homes with  "high-quality" designs.

The Telegraph understands that the review will recommend using images of buildings and roads to prescribe the types of buildings that are acceptable in each area - rather than relying solely on...

The government-owned firm behind HS2 was last night accused of attempting to "con" Boris Johnson into giving the scheme the green light as former staff members issued a series of explosive allegations about costs being covered up.

The Telegraph can disclose that HS2 Ltd has been "revising" agreements with companies carrying out the main construction works on the line so that future cost increases will be borne by the firm, which is funded by taxpayers' money, rather than private contractors.

The disclosure comes after damning witness statements by former senior figures at HS2 were passed to the Prime Minister's advisers in recent days.

The signed statements allege multiple cover-ups of spiralling costs at the firm, which is owned by the Department for Transport.

Separately, speaking out for the first time today, Colin Morris, HS2's former director of strategy,  said the company appeared to be "artificially" lowering the estimated...

Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, has been arrested and held for several hours after attending a vigil for the victims of the Ukraine plane crash which turned into demonstration.

Details of his arrest were announced by the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency and prompted an angry response from Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab.

"The arrest of our Ambassador in Tehran without grounds or explanation is a flagrant violation of international law,” he said.

"The Iranian government is at a crossroads moment. It can continue its march towards pariah status with all the political and economic isolation that entails, or take steps to deescalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards."

It is understood that the event which Mr Macaire attended had been advertised as a vigil at Amir Kabir University for the 176 victims of the Tehran plane crash last week.

He and another member of the embassy staff left once...

The Queen is to hold a summit with the Duke of Sussex, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge on Monday in the first face-to-face discussions since the royal family was plunged into crisis over Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s plans to ‘step back’ from royal duties.

The 93-year-old monarch convened the urgent meeting at Sandringham to thrash out a deal that will provide a blueprint for the Sussex’s “progressive” new role which will see them spend more time in North America.  

It will be the first time Prince Harry has seen the Queen and the two direct heirs to the throne since the couple made the bombshell announcement that they wanted to step back from life as senior royals, leaving other senior members of the family “deeply disappointed”.

Buckingham Palace sources said the Queen, her son and two grandsons, will have been presented with a range of draft written proposals - compiled by a team of aides and private secretaries - ahead of...

Taxpayers are on course to make a £40 billion loss on HS2 after Parliament was "misled" about its costs, according to the peer tasked by Boris Johnson with helping to lead a review of the scheme.

In an incendiary report submitted to the Prime Minister and seen by The Telegraph, Lord Berkeley states that there is "overwhelming evidence" that the rail line's costs are "out of control" and that its benefits have been "overstated" by ministers and officials.

The peer, who was deputy chairman of the official review commissioned by Mr Johnson, says it is "highly unlikely" Parliament would have approved the project if MPs had been given the "real" costs attached to the scheme.

Writing in this newspaper,...

The Royal Navy was on Saturday night deployed in the Persian Gulf to "take all necessary steps to protect our ships and citizens" in the wake of Donald Trump's decision to assassinate Iran's top general Qassim Soleimani.

Ben Wallace, the Defence secretary said he had ordered HMS Montrose and HMS Defender - a Type 23 frigate and a Type 45 destroyer - to accompany British-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr Johnson flies back in the UK on Sunday from his holiday in Mustique facing his biggest foreign policy crisis of his premiership.

He is likely to be briefed immediately by his National Security Adviser Sir Mark Sedwill who spent Saturday locked in meetings with the heads of the UK's...