Claims about the benefits of cold-water immersion date back centuries.

Commuters returning to work after the Christmas break are advised not to travel as tens of thousands of British rail workers stage a fresh round of strikes that will disrupt services all week.

A runner crosses the Millennium Bridge as the coronavirus lockdown continues in London, Thursday, March 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)LONDON – British lawmakers agreed Thursday to prolong coronavirus emergency measures for six months, allowing the Conservative government to keep its unprecedented powers to restrict U.K. citizens’ everyday lives. The House of Commons voted to extend the powers until September, and approved the government's road map for gradually easing Britain's strict coronavirus lockdown over the next three months. Simon Stevens, chief executive of the National Health Service in England, said Thursday that English hospitals were treating about 4,000 coronavirus patients, down from 34,000 in mid-January. Ad“We must restore the freedoms that we all cherish, but in a way that doesn’t put the (National Health Service) at risk,” he said.