Met office STRIKE warning: Weather forecasters set to walk out in row over pay and conditions

The Met Office has become the latest public body to be threatened by strike action.

Forecasters are expected to share their support for industrial action later this week.

Health and safety inspectors, chemical weapon scientists and experts studying bird flu and Covid are also among the list of workers who are set to announce strike action.

The £28billion demands across the public sector are yet to be met by the government, with several industries set to strike across the Christmas period.

The strikes are likely to cause travel chaos across the UK in coming weeks as people attempt to get home for Christmas.

Earlier today the RMT union rejected an offer from train operators aiming to resolve the ongoing dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said it offered offered an 8 per cent pay rise and guarantee of no compulsory redundancies before April 2024.

Downing Street said Rishi Sunak has set out the “rationale around public sector pay” and the need for it to be “affordable to the taxpayer”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman distanced Mr Sunak from Nadhim Zahawi’s suggestion that strikes were “exactly what Putin wants to see”.

Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen denounced Mr Zahawi’s remarks “as a new low for this Government”.

Asked if Mr Zahawi’s comments were helpful, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “I think you’ve heard from the Prime Minister before about the rationale around public sector pay.”

The spokesman added: “I think the Prime Minister has talked before about the need, when it comes to pay rises, to do what is affordable to the taxpayer.

“Obviously, nurses play a vital role in our health service. And that’s why we agreed with the recommendation of the independent body to give them a pay rise and indeed why we did so when no other public sector workers received one last year.”