It's also an increasing concern in schools. A recent survey by Internet Matters found 13% of teenagers have had an experience with nude deepfakes, while the NSPCC told Sky News "a new harm is developing".

Ofcom will later this month introduce codes of practice for internet companies to clamp down on the illegal distribution of fake nudes, but Sky News has met two victims of this relatively new trend, who say the law needs to go further.

Earlier this year, social media influencer and former Love Island contestant, Cally Jane Beech, 33, was horrified when she discovered someone had used AI to turn an underwear brand photograph of her into a nude and it was being shared online.

The original image had been uploaded to a site that uses software to digitally transform a clothed picture into a naked picture.

She told Sky News: "It looked so realistic, like nobody but me would know. It was like looking at me, but also not me."

She added: "There shouldn't be such a thing. It's not a colouring book. It's not a bit of fun. It's people's identity and stripping their clothes off."

When Cally reported what had happened to the police, she struggled to get them to treat it as a crime.

"They didn't really know what they could do about it, and because the site that hosted the image was global, they said that it's out of their jurisdiction," she said.

In November, Assistant Chief Constable Samantha Miller, of the National Police Chiefs' Council, addressed a committee of MPs on the issue and concluded "the system is failing", with a lack of capacity and inconsistency of practice across forces.

ACC Miller told the women and equalities committee she'd recently spoken to a campaigner who was in contact with 450 victims and "only two of them had a positive experience of policing".

The government says new legislation outlawing the generation of AI nudes is coming next year, although it is already illegal to make fake nudes of minors.

Meanwhile, the problem is growing with multiple apps available for the purpose of unclothing people in photographs. Anyone can become a victim, although it is nearly always women.

Professor Clare McGlynn, an expert in online harms, said: "We've seen an exponential rise in the use of sexually explicit deepfakes. For example, one of the largest, most notorious websites dedicated to this abuse receives about 14 million hits a month.

"These nudify apps are easy to get from the app store, they're advertised on Tik Tok, So, of course, young people are downloading them and using them. We've normalised the use of these nudify apps."

'Betrayed by my best friend'

Sky News spoke to "Jodie" (not her real name) from Cambridge who was tipped off by an anonymous email that she appeared to be in sex videos on a pornographic website.

"The images that I posted on Instagram and Facebook, which were fully clothed, were manipulated and turned into sexually explicit material," she said.

Jodie began to suspect someone she knew was posting pictures and encouraging people online to manipulate them.

Then she found a particular photograph, taken outside King's College in Cambridge, that only one person had.

It was her best friend, Alex Woolf. She had airdropped the picture to him alone.

Woolf, who once won BBC young composer of the year, was later convicted of offences against 15 women, mostly because of Jodie's perseverance and detective work.

Even then, his conviction only related to the offensive comments attached to the images, because while it's illegal to share images - it's not a crime to ask others to create them.

He was given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay £100 to each of his victims.

Jodie believes it's imperative new laws are introduced to outlaw making and soliciting these types of images.

"My abuse is not your fun," she said.

"Online abuse has the same effect psychologically that physical abuse does. I became suicidal, I wasn't able to trust those closest to me because I had been betrayed by my best friend. And the effect of that on a person is monumental."

'A scary, lonely place'

A survey in October by Teacher Tap found 7% of teachers answered yes to the question: "In the last 12 months, have you had an incident of a student using technology to create a fake sexually graphic image of a classmate?"

In their campaigning both Cally and Jodie have come across examples of schoolgirls being deep faked.

Cally said: "It is used as a form of bullying because they think it's funny. But it can have such a mental toll, and it must be a very scary and lonely place for a young girl to be dealing with that."

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The NSPCC said it has had calls about nude deepfakes to its helpline.

The charity's policy manager for child safety online, Rani Govender, said the pictures can be used as "part of a grooming process" or as a form of blackmail, as well as being passed around by classmates "as a form of bullying and harassment".

"Children become scared, isolated and they worry they won't be believed that the images are created by someone else," Ms Govender said.

She added: "This is a new harm, and it is developing, and it will require new measures from the government with child protection as a priority."

Alex Davies-Jones, under-secretary of state for victims, told MPs in November: "We've committed to making an offence of creating a deepfake illegal and we will be legislating for that this session."

For campaigners like Jodie and Cally the new laws can't come soon enough. However, they worry they won't have strong enough clauses around banning the soliciting of content and ensuring images are removed once they've been discovered.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel yesterday morning before the start of a conference.

Police say the gunman was wearing a mask and footage shows him walking slowly behind Mr Thompson before shooting him several times in the back.

Mr Thompson, 50, who headed one of the largest US health insurance companies, was ambushed at 6.45am local time on Wednesday as he walked to the company's annual investor conference at a Hilton in Midtown.

The attacker fired multiple times at Mr Thompson and continued despite the gun briefly jamming, according to police.

He then escaped the scene on an e-bike towards Central Park.

In new pictures released by police, the suspect can be seen smiling in a hostel on the Upper West Side.

Police have searched a room in the building and are investigating whether the suspect paid with cash and used fake identification.

A statement by Mr Thompson's family says they are "shattered" by the "senseless killing".

"Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives," they said in a statement obtained by KARE, a local affiliate of Sky News's US partner network NBC.

"Most importantly, Brian was an incredibly loving father to our two sons and will be greatly missed.

"We appreciate your condolences and request complete privacy as our family moves through this difficult time."

Hours after Mr Thompson's death, two homes reportedly belonging to his family in Maple Grove, Minnesota, were the targets of a bomb threat.

Police said they believe it was a case of swatting, a felony occurring when one falsely reports an emergency with the intent of dispatching police to an address.

"No devices or suspicious items were located during the investigation," a statement from the police read, local media reports.

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A law enforcement official said the gunman used ammunition emblazoned with the words "deny," "defend" and "depose" in the attack.

The words on the ammunition may have been a reference to strategies insurance companies use to try to avoid paying claims.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is a retired NYPD captain, told MSNBC's Morning Joe programme that what had "shocked" them was the fact the shooter used a silencer, something he had never encountered "in all of my years in law enforcement".

A former FBI special agent, Terry Rankhorn, told Kay Burley on Sky News Breakfast the footage of the shooting was "chilling".

"What you can determine from his behaviour is this person is a practised, seasoned, trained professional killer," Mr Rankhorn said.

"He doesn't run up like an inexperienced, emotional but amateur killer... this person calmly walks out," he added.

In the latest blow to President Bashar al Assad, insurgents in the Middle Eastern country took control of the central city on Thursday.

Speaking to Sky News, one rebel said: "Just as we liberated Aleppo and now Hama, we will proceed to Homs, and Damascus, and Deir el Zor."

He also claimed to have received support from the people in Hama.

Abu Omar, a resident in the city, said they had been waiting "45 years... for this moment".

When asked if he was afraid of the rebel attack, he said: "On the contrary, we've been waiting for this moment. Our children, our family, they've all come back to us.

"Everyone was a million times more scared before, praise God, we've been liberated. No more oppression and tyranny."

Mr Omar added: "What's happened to us here, has happened in Idlib and Aleppo... and the regime has completely failed."

Rebels seize Hama

The Syrian army said it had withdrawn and taken up positions outside the city to protect civilians, hours after opposition fighters said they were marching towards its centre.

The insurgents said they had entered Syria's fourth-largest city on Thursday after days of intense fighting with government forces on its outskirts.

The fall of Hama follows a lightning offensive by the jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army.

The surprise assault saw militants capture much of Syria's largest city Aleppo last week and reignited the country's civil war, where the frontlines have largely been frozen in place over the last few years.

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The battle for Hama saw fierce battles inside the city, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"If Hama falls, it means that the beginning of the regime's fall has started," the monitor's chief, Rami Abdurrahman, said before the city was captured.

Hama is one of the few cities that remained under Mr Assad's control during Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 following a popular uprising.

The central city of Homs, Syria's third-largest, is around 40km (25 miles) away and is likely to be the rebels' next target.

It sits on a major crossroads in Syria, linking the capital Damascus to the north and the coast to the west.

Jihad Yazigi, editor of the Syria Report newsletter, said: "Assad now cannot afford to lose anything else.

"The big battle is the one coming against Homs. If Homs falls, we are talking of a potential change of regime."

Mr Assad has been able to stay in power largely thanks to the help of his allies, Russia and Iran, but both countries – as well as the Iran-backed Hezbollah group – have been distracted by their own wars.

Russia has been preoccupied with its invasion of Ukraine since 2022 and Hezbollah in Lebanon has suffered heavy losses in its war with Israel.

Officers were called to Shirley Road in Stratford at 4.53am on Wednesday following reports a man had been seriously wounded.

He was taken to hospital where he later died.

Leanne McDonnell, 32, has been charged with owning a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death; failing in the duty, as a person responsible for an animal, to ensure its welfare; and having custody of a fighting dog.

She was also charged with three counts of owning a dog dangerously out of control causing no injury in relation to a separate incident on 18 November.

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The dog that was involved in both incidents has been seized by police.

McDonnell was remanded in custody to appear at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Friday.

The fourth named storm of the season could bring winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain from Friday afternoon, into the weekend.

A swathe of weather warnings were issued covering the tail end of the week into the weekend, including two amber wind warnings.

The worst of the wind is set to be felt on Saturday, covering Northern Ireland, and the west coast of England, Wales and parts of Scotland.

Storm Darragh is due to cross Ireland late on Friday and make landfall in parts of England and Wales on Saturday, clearing later that night or into Sunday morning.

"Injuries and danger to life is likely from large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties", the Met Office said.

Get the five-day forecast where you are

Parts of Wales and Northern Ireland are also covered by rain warnings and were badly hit by Storm Bert only recently.

Both areas could see up to 60mm of rain which could lead to further flooding and disruption.

Rhondda Cynon Taf saw between 200 and 300 properties flooded during Storm Bert last month, and is set to be hit by heavy rain again.

Natural Resources Wales has issued over 30 flood alerts and five flood warnings - where flooding is expected and locals should act immediately.

The Environment Agency in England has 104 flood alerts and 20 flood warnings in place.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said he was "a bit concerned" about the risk of flooding in parts of Wales and Northern Ireland where there was "heightened sensitivity" due to recent heavy rainfall.

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He added: "The wind particularly is set to be reasonably disruptive and potentially quite damaging.

"We are rather concerned about the strength of the winds affecting the Irish sea coasts and this is likely to have impacts on Irish ferry services.

"Trees could come down onto roads and people need to be aware of this and allow extra time for travel, especially in rural spots."

The strong gusts set to batter the country could cause disruption to travel.

National Highways issued its own severe weather alert for Saturday and warned motorists in the South West and North West to prepare for gale force winds.

The routes most likely to be affected include the M5 in north Somerset, the A30 in Cornwall and the M6 in Cheshire.