1. And as autumn arrives, the falling leaves reveal a premiership that could all too easily slide into a lame duckship.

2. The Met Office also warned that some areas may be susceptible to flooding because of falling leaves blocking drains and pipe systems.

3. This tree, whose branches the neighbors trim because the falling leaves litter their Tuscan garden, is one of the only ancient things left in the former citrus–grove colony.

4. And although the British are habitually perplexed by the climate doing exactly what it did last year falling leaves are as astonishing to trains in November as is snow to roads in January even a cursory glance at a calendar might have suggested preparation for the unhappy consequence that is sun, sweat and stench.

5. Headlines BA backs down over cross ban after storm of criticism Killer who stormed Stormont is charged with attempted murder Charles Clarke slams Cameron for anti–ID cards stance Rise in food bills that could mean a costlier Christmas Parents held to ransom by online retailers for must–have toys Girlfriend loses City banker his claim for 250,000 ruined yacht Ditching nuclear weapons is ‘nonsensical‘ says Brown SAS sergeant is first of elite unit shot dead in iraq Patients warned ‘Stay slim if you want a new hip‘ Immigrant benefit fraudster lives in seven–room Islamabad mansion Superbug outbreak closes wards at hospital Free fruit and veg for low income families Gales and flooding batter Britain as falling leaves clog drains NEWS HOMEPAGE A British mine clearing expert seriously injured in an explosion while helping to clear cluster bombs in Lebanon has lost a leg in the accident.