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Are you ready for winter?

This question is at the heart of today's National Grid Winter Outlook report.

The weather is predicted to reach around 20 degrees in some parts of the UK on the final day of October this year so it's no wonder consumers aren't planning how to manage their energy use for the winter ahead.

But while customer use or demand is an important part of the equation – power supply is the key – and that's where the UK's plan falls apart.

In the past year, several power plants have experienced unexpected shutdowns due to fire, breakdowns and accidents.

At the same time, the building of new plants has been terribly slow and faced numerable delays.

Which is why today National Grid is warning that our electricity supply margin has narrowed from last year, to the lowest level since 2007.

Which means, technically, the risk of blackouts, and brownout (where power use is limited, but not cut off completely) is increasing.

But asking three, more detailed questions, reveals that there isn't call for panic just yet and the prospect of a return to rolling blackouts last seen in the mid-1970s.

:: What is the likelihood of blackouts actually occurring?

The National Grid says that in the event of the UK experiencing the coldest snap in 20 years,  then electricity supplies would not meet demand for up to two weeks in January.

But there is only a 5% chance of this cold snap even happening. And not meeting demand, is not the same thing as a blackout. Which brings us to the next question.

:: How would it work?

Consumers and businesses would be encouraged to iron-out their electricity consumption across the full day, rather than all pile in at peak times.

This would reduce the likelihood of a total collapse at any one point in the day though whether families want to get up to put the dryer on at 3am is a question not addressed in National Grid's report.

Energy intensive business may be able to reorganise themselves to do this more easily, which leads nicely to – the final question.

:: Are emergency measures put in place by National Grid sufficient?

National Grid had started a programme to PAY some businesses to reduce their energy consumption, and time it more evenly with periods when consumer demand is not lower.

In addition, they are un-mothballing some plants previously marked for closure, to have them on standby should that mythical cold snap happen.

The Grid says these plans will lift the electricity margin back up to 6.1% from the 4.1% it is warning is the level at present.

And though it's not a pleasant thought, consumers must remember that behind all the statistics and warnings there is electricity to be had, no matter how cold the weather gets.

It will just cost more.

Ryanair is facing a €8.3m (£6.5m) penalty after losing an appeal against a decision that it broke French labour laws.

The AFP news agency said the no-frills carrier was found guilty of paying workers under Irish contracts to save money on payroll and other taxes.

The bulk of the money was in fines while €200,000 was for damages, the court ruled.

The ruling was issued a year after the original decision went against Ryanair.

At that time, the company said the majority of the financial penalties related to alleged non-payment of social insurance and state pension contributions in France for Ryanair crews.

The case centred around a facility operated by the company at Marignane, near the southern French cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence.

The company, run by its colourful chief executive Michael O'Leary, based four planes and 127 employees at the site without applying French labour law or filling out tax declarations in the country.

Ryanair argued that it did not have a permanent base in the area and that it was entitled to keep its workforce on Irish contracts, but prosecutors said its claim was not credible because the workers were living locally and the airline had offices there.

Ryanair was yet to provide a response to Sky News following the latest judgment.

Social charges in France are at around 40-45%, compared to 10.75% in Ireland.

The airline will have to pay damages to trade unions, France's social security system and pilots among others, AFP said.

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The UK's first digital-only bank is tapping investors for tens of millions of pounds in funding ahead of a planned launch next year.

Sky News understands that Atom, which will have no physical branches and focus on the internet and mobile apps to interact with customers, is raising approximately £20m from existing and new shareholders.

Insiders said on Tuesday that the nascent bank's investors included Paul Pindar, former chief executive of the outsourcing group Capita; Jeremy Middleton, co-founder of Homeserve; and Lorna Moran, the founder and chairman of recruitment group NRG.

A number of other prominent backers are understood to have agreed to contribute to Atom's new fundraising, which is expected to value the company at roughly £30m.

News of the capital-raising emerged on the same day that Lloyds Banking Group, Britain's biggest high street lender, confirmed a report by Sky News that it is axing 9000 jobs as it moves to offer more digital services.

The strategy update from Lloyds - which coincided with third-quarter profits dented by another massive bill for insurance mis-selling - will also see 200 branches being closed by the end of 2017.

In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, Lord McFall, a former chairman of the Treasury Select Committee and recently appointed to the board of Atom, criticised the Lloyds cuts.

"The issue of bricks and mortar is still important for big banks, which have told me that they need to retain that.

"I am disappointed that Lloyds is giving up on an agreement brokered by the British Bankers' Association...that if they were the last bank in town, they won't leave."

The Labour Peer suggested that the Treasury Committee should "invite Lloyds along and question their figures on the redundancies and the social obligations they have to communities".

And he criticised both the last Labour administration and the Coalition for "not using their muscle" to force banks in which taxpayers hold shares to "ensure a greater social obligation".

Lloyds said it would concentrate branch closures in areas of "urban overlap" although it said it would not guarantee that rural branches would be excluded from the cuts.

Lord McFall joined Atom as a non-executive director several weeks ago, having previously served on the board of NBNK Investments, a vehicle set up - ultimately unsuccessfully - to acquire assets from the bailed-out banks.

Atom is chaired by Anthony Thomson, the driving force behind the launch of Metro Bank in the UK four years ago, and Mark Mullen, the former boss of First Direct, which is owned by HSBC and frequently tops customer service polls.

The digital-only venture, which is based in the north-east, is seeking regulatory approval from the banking and City watchdogs.

It believes it can build a profitable business by exploiting growing demand for digital banking, without the costly overheads associated with physical branch networks.

Atom declined to comment.

A leap in mobile advertising revenue helped Facebook almost double profits in its third quarter but shares fell 10% after it warned on higher costs ahead.

The social network's figures, which confirmed profits at $801m (£496m) and a 59% jump in total revenues to $3.2bn (£1.98bn) over the three months, were well above analysts' expectations.

Mobile advertising revenue made up 66% of total ad revenue in the period - indicating Facebook is succeeding in steering advertisers to its mobile platform at a time when most of its users are using Facebook on phones and tablets.

Though Facebook's results surpassed expectations, investors sent the company's stock down by almost 11% in after-hours trading - spooked by comments during a conference call that 2015 would be a "significant" year for expenses.

Facebook said it expected costs to grow by 55% to 75% next year as it ramps up investment in its workforce, grows existing products and invests in new areas such as WhatsApp, Oculus and video.

This year, Facebook spent $22bn in cash and stock to buy the messaging service WhatsApp and about $2bn on virtual reality company Oculus.

It also re-launched Atlas, a tool for marketers to better target people across "devices, platforms and publishers" and to measure how well the ads work.

Facebook had 1.35 billion average monthly users as of 30 September, an increase of 14% from a year earlier.

Next has reduced its full-year profits' guidance by £25m - a result of unseasonably warm weather in the past two months.

The UK's second-largest clothing retailer, which had warned one month ago that a lack of typically autumnal conditions in October would result in lower profit expectations, said third quarter sales still grew by 5.4%.

But the growth was almost half the 10% it had previously forecast as demand for winter wear remained weak, signalling troubles for the wider sector in the run-up to the Christmas trading season as Next has largely outperformed its rivals for a decade.

Official figures recently showed UK retail sales fell more than expected last month, with clothing demand hindered by the driest
September since records began in 1910.

October is currently on track to be one of the warmest on record.

Next, which trades from over 500 stores in Britain and Ireland, about 200 stores overseas and through its Directory internet and catalogue business, said: "Whilst a cool August meant that the season started well, this was more than offset by much weaker sales in September and October.

"Given the volatility of current trading and the very strong fourth quarter performance last year, we have moderated our expectations for the fourth quarter this year.

"We are now budgeting for full price sales in the final quarter to be within a range of -2% to +4%, with our central profit forecast for the year based on final quarter sales of +1%.

"We have reduced our central profit guidance by 3% to £770m (previously £795m).

The forecast meant that much depended on the Christmas shopping season - crucial to all retailers.

Next said it would update investors on its performance on 30 December.

Nintendo achieved a surprise return to profit in its second quarter following four years of annual losses.

The struggling Japanese video game maker made an operating profit of 215m yen (£1.2m) for the period between July and September, compared with an 18bn yen loss in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company credited a significantly weaker yen for boosting its bottom line.

A weaker yen helps make Japanese exporters more competitive overseas and inflates the value of their repatriated profits.

The currency boost offset slowing sales, though Nintendo has seen strong demand for new games on the Wii U console such as Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8. 

It maintained its annual profit guidance of 40 billion yen (£229m).

The Kyoto-based firm - best known for its Super Mario and Pokemon franchises - has been battling intense competition from rivals as consumers flock towards downloadable games for smartphones and other mobile devices.

It has also struggled in its console market, with Sony outselling it for the first time in eight years because of the popularity of the Playstation 4.

Demand for Nintendo's latest console - the Wii U - has lagged behind the original Wii, the most popular console of the last generation.

The company blamed weak sales of the Wii U and its handheld 3DS device for its last annual loss.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has told Sky News it is actively working to close payday loan brokers amid a deluge of complaints over fees being taken from customer accounts.

The group, which includes the Natwest and Ulster Bank brands in its stable, said that between July and August alone it was receiving 650 complaints a day from its customers about payday brokers.

It said one million attempts-a-month were being made to remove money from RBS/Natwest accounts and said that one customer of a payday broker who was seeking a £100 loan was charged £700 in fees.

Brokers are web-based and do not lend money themselves but often charge fees even if their attempts to find a lender are unsuccessful.

Fees usually range between £50 and £100.

The Guardian reported on Tuesday that, in the worst cases, brokers have passed a person's bank details to others which then also attempt to charge the individual for a service.

Its story prompted the Financial Ombudsman to issue a new warning about the use of payday brokers, saying nearly 11,500 people had contacted the service to complain about credit-broking websites since April alone.

In two-thirds of complaints it investigated, the ombudsman agreed that the consumer had been treated unfairly while fees were refunded in the remainder of cases.

The ombudsman said many people using the websites thought they were applying for a loan directly and didn't realise that they were paying a middleman and loans would not materialise. 

Senior ombudsman Juliana Francis said: "In too many of the cases we sort out, no loan is provided and people's bank accounts have been charged a high fee, often multiple times.

"If money has been taken from your account unfairly or without warning, the good news is the ombudsman is here to help.

Sky News revealed last month how the Competition and Markets Authority was changing the scope of its clampdown on payday lenders to include a greater focus on the brokers.

Previous regulatory reforms within the short-term credit industry have included rules on capping daily rates and stricter advertising.

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