millions of workers strike in the U.K.

• Department for Education figures suggest 62% of England's 21,476 state schools were closed, with another 14% partly shut
• In Scotland just 33 of the 2,700 state schools were open, according to local authority body Cosla. In Wales, more than 1,500 out of 1,776 schools shut. In Northern Ireland, about two-thirds of the 1,200 schools closed
• On Wednesday evening, London Ambulance Service formally requested help from police to answer 999 calls, and has urged people only to call if life is at risk; South East Coast Ambulance Service has said it is only responding to "life-threatening emergencies"
• NHS managers say a little under 7,000 of approximately 30,000 routine operations have been cancelled or postponedacross the UK as well as tens of thousands of appointments
• BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Norman Smithtweeted: "(Health Secretary) Andrew Lansley says patients who have ops cancelled today will still be seen within 18-week limit."
• In Northern Ireland, no bus or train services are operating
• Plane arrivals and take-offs at Britain's two biggest airports - Heathrow and Gatwick - are said to be largely unaffected with only a few cancellations of in-bound transatlantic flights to Heathrow
• The Local Government Association said about a third of England and Wales council staff were not in work, equating to about 670,000 out of 2.1 million. About 250,000 public sector workers are on strike in Scotland while 170,000 workers in Wales are taking action
• Just 14 job centres out of more than 900 across the UK have closed, according to the Cabinet Office
• Twenty-one people were arrested after an office in London's West End was targeted at about 15:50 GMT by a group of protesters believed to be from the Occupy London anti-capitalist campaign group

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