Images of every tower block built in the UK are to be catalogued in a fully searchable digital archive.

The Tower Blocks - Our Blocks project has been described as a "Domesday Book" of the UK's post-war reconstruction.
It will include images of towers which have been demolished over the past 30 years, as well as those which are still standing.
It has been created by social and architectural historians from Edinburgh College of Art.
The project is to receive a Â£52,900 grant of Heritage Lottery funding.
This money will go towards digitising the 3,500 photographs, as well as supporting local outreach initiatives which the team hope will encourage high-rise residents to tell their stories.
Glasgow's Red Road flats and Gorbals housing schemes will be among the multi-storey housing projects on show in the publically accessible digital catalogue.
Other well know high rises to feature in the archive include the Everton flats in Liverpool, Birmingham's Chelmsley Wood, Manchester's Hulme redevelopment, and London estates such as Broadwater Farm, Thamesmead and Roehampton.
The project is due to be completed by late 2017.
Prof Miles Glendinning, head of the Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies at the college of art, said: "We hope this project will help contribute to the ongoing shift in public attitudes towards the post-war Modernist housing heritage, which is fast turning from an object of dislike and alienation into a force for potential community empowerment.
"Council tower blocks were once the most prominent and dramatic legacy of the post-1945 reconstruction drive, but mass demolitions over the past 35 years, still continuing today, have depleted this vast heritage, leaving it obscured or incomprehensible to the public at a time when popular interest in post-war Modernist heritage is sharply increasing."
Colin McLean, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said: "Without archives, vast segments of our nation's history would be missing.
"As the high rise towers that have dominated many towns' and city's skylines begin to disappear, it is important for us to capture this heritage and give voice to the experiences of those who live in these flats and communities."
Glasgow 2014 chiefs faced criticism when they planned to demolish the Red Road flats as part of last summer's Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
They eventually ditched the proposal to blow down five of the six remaining 1960s blocks live on television amid fears of a public protest.
Critics said it was insensitive to former residents and to the asylum seekers who still occupied the sixth block.
When they were built between 1964 and 1969, the Red Road flats were the highest in Europe at 292ft (89 metres).


Famous names of motor racing Sir Jackie Stewart and Allan McNish will join a celebration of the legendary Jim Clark in the Borders.

The free event is being held in Duns on 16 and 17 May.
A line-up of classic Formula One, touring and sports cars in which Jim Clark raced in 1965 will also be on the show over the weekend.
Organisers also hope it will raise awareness of plans for a new Jim Clark Museum by 2018.
The Jim Clark Weekend will mark the 50th anniversary of his most successful season on the track.
In 1965 he won his second F1 world championship, the Indianapolis 500, the Formular 2 Championship and the Tasman Series.
He remains the only driver ever to claim both the F1 and Indy 500 titles in the same year.
Alan Morgan, chairman of Club Lotus, which is organising the event, said: "By demonstrating the cars he drove during that year we'll be bringing the sight and sound of these fabulous racing cars to Duns."
Earlier this year Scottish Borders Council agreed to give Â£500,000 in funding to a project to expand and improve the Jim Clark Museum.
Sir Jackie Stewart said: "Jim, who was a great friend, projected Scotland and the Borders of Scotland in a dignified fashion around the world, during his motor racing career.
"I am also very proud to be honorary president of the Jim Clark Trust and a patron of this justifiably important statement to be made to attract people to Duns and the Border region, to celebrate the life of Jim Clark. I am delighted to attend this special Jim Clark Weekend."


Walt Disney World has unveiled a lighthouse memorial for a young boy who was killed by an alligator while on holiday at the Florida theme park.

Two-year-old Lane Thomas Graves had been playing in the sand near the resort's Seven Seas Lagoon when he was dragged underwater by the creature.
His parents and older sister had been visiting the Grand Floridian resort in June 2016 from the state of Nebraska.
The lighthouse has been installed near to where the attack occurred.
Wildlife officials classified the killing as a predatory attack, saying the boy did nothing to provoke the alligator.
"He was in the water not more than ankle deep," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a report, describing how the boy had been gathering water for a sandcastle.
His father, Matt Graves, jumped in the water to try to pry open the creature's mouth, but "the alligator thrashed and broke Matt's grasp and went under the water," according to the report.
A Disney spokesperson said they hoped the monument would spread awareness for the Lane Thomas Foundation, which also uses the lighthouse as its logo.
Who is liable for alligator boy's death?
"The lighthouse sculpture has been installed to help spread awareness of the Lane Thomas Foundation, which was established to provide assistance and support to families whose children need organ transplants," Walt Disney World said in a statement.
After the death, Disney was criticised for not having posted signs warning of the danger along the man-made lagoon, which borders Magic Kingdom.
Public notices have now been added to the area, Florida media report.
The Lane family announced a month after the boy's death that they would not sue Disney, and would instead "solely be focused on the future health of our family".


The last airworthy Vulcan bomber is touring the UK with a series of flypasts to mark its final year of flight.

Vulcans were designed and built at Woodford Aerodrome, in Chester Road, Stockport, for the Royal Air Force.
Over the weekend, the XH558 is flying over areas where the aircraft are displayed, such as Barton and Woodford.
Making its maiden flight in 1952, the Vulcan acted as a deterrent during the Cold War.
They were also used in combat during the Falklands War.
The last remaining model originally arrived at RAF Waddington in 1960 and was the last to leave RAF service in 1993, according to organisers Vulcan to the Sky.
Now though, engineering backers, including Rolls-Royce, have withdrawn support and the plane is beyond its flying hours.
Steve Abbot, who helped to build Vulcans at Woodford said the aircraft had been part of his life.
"We did all the fatigue testing here to keep them in the sky and the 558 was born here," he said.
Former Vulcan pilot Tucker Wennell said it was "very emotional" to remember flying them.
"They were a bomber that flew like a fighter aircraft, they had tremendous performance," he said.
"The rate of climb on take-off was amazing."
There are plans to open a Vulcan museum at Woodford later in the year.
The Vulcan will make a low-level flyby along the runway at Coventry, where a Classic Air Force Meteor NF-11 will also be flying.


Mosquitoes could bring diseases such as dengue fever and West Nile virus to the UK within the next few decades, experts are warning.

Writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, they said warmer UK temperatures could make conditions favourable for the insects to breed.
However, climate change is just one of many factors in the spread of diseases.
Public Health England said it had been monitoring places where mosquitoes like to lay eggs, such as used tyres.
Scientists from the emergency response department at Public Health England, who wrote the report, said there were already 34 different species of mosquito in the UK.
In some parts of Europe, mosquitoes and ticks - which carry particular diseases transmitted by biting insects - are on the rise.
Over the past decade, for example, malaria has spread to Greece, the West Nile virus to eastern Europe and a disease called chikungunya to Italy and France.
Mosquitoes and ticks are known to be highly responsive to changes in temperature and rainfall.
The report said warmer temperatures in the UK in future could provide ideal conditions for the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which spreads the viruses that cause dengue and chikungunya.
Using climate change modelling, the report predicted that the seasonal activity of ticks, mosquitoes and parasites could increase if temperatures increased by more than a few degrees - particularly in southern England.
But since such a rise cannot be accurately predicted, the report conceded that the direct effects of a climate change could not be predicted confidently either.
The British climate is already suitable for the transmission of West Nile virus, which can be spread by several mosquitoes currently found in the UK - but there have been no human cases so far.
Dr Jolyon Medlock, joint author of the report and head of medical entomology at Public Health England, said all invertebrates were affected by changes in temperature.
"They develop faster at higher temperatures so during a mild winter they won't be killed off.
"In summer they will then be more abundant, although dry summers are not good for mosquitoes.
"But they can survive in water butts in gardens."
He said mosquitoes often laid their eggs in places which had become flooded.
Those species originating in Asia have probably been imported into the UK through the global trade in used tyres.
These tyres can often be transported large distances along motorways, moving the eggs to new habitats and environments.
Dr Medlock said that although no non-native mosquitoes had been detected in the UK so far, "a better system to monitor imported used tyres needs planning".
He said Public Health England had been conducting surveillance at seaports, airports and some motorway service stations.
The report underlined the fact that climate change was not the only factor influencing the increase in vector-borne diseases in the UK - just one of many.
Other factors include urbanisation, land use change, migration and globalisation.
However, the authors emphasised the need to assess the risks and prepare for future outbreaks.


A goalkeeping emergency which ended with a 46-year-old putting on the gloves to keep a clean sheet headlines our round-up of Saturday's football action.

On another smorgasbord Saturday of action, it also proved to be 13th time lucky for a Championship struggler, the day a goal-shy midfielder hit a hat-trick, an assistant referee and manager hit the deck and a remarkable transformation continued.
When Barry Richardson agreed to combine his role of Wycombe Wanderers goalkeeping coach with back-up keeper after number one Matt Ingram was sold to QPR, little did he think he would be playing eight days later.
But an injury to Alex Lynch early in their game at Plymouth left the Chairboys with a goalkeeping emergency on their hands and turning to the 46-year-old.
His appearance off the bench came more than a decade after Richardson broke his leg in his last match for Doncaster, and 27 years since he made his senior debut for Scarborough in 1989.
Back then:
Richardson, older than both his Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth and Plymouth manager Derek Adams, had Argyle's press team scrambling to point out that the majority of their squad were not even born when Richardson first played at Scarborough.
Not anticipating he would be making his first Football League appearance since 2002, the veteran goalkeeper was even pictured having a cup of tea during the team's pre-game warm-up.
Despite the bizarre circumstances surrounding his introduction, he managed to help play-off chasing Wycombe overcome promotion hopefuls Argyle, who had previously netted in every home game this season, 1-0.
"The game is all about opportunity, and what an opportunity Barry Richardson has had this afternoon," Wycombe boss Ainsworth told BBC Three Counties Radio.
"He is now the oldest player to play for Wycombe, and not only did he keep a clean sheet but I think he is the first to do so at Plymouth this season. I won't be looking to start him next week though."
But while Wycombe celebrated their win, Plymouth's social media team were less than impressed:
Diving. It is part of the game. Some condemn it, others feel it is OK to take advantage where you can.
It would be interesting to get Graham Westley's take on simulation, as he proved he is as good at hitting the deck as anyone.
Westley gave a masterclass when, during the first half of Peterborough's 2-2 FA Cup fourth-round draw with West Bromwich Albion, his goalkeeper kicked a damaged and deflated ball out of play and inadvertently hit the Posh manager. Watch it here.
Theatrics followed, but Westley shook it off and sprang back to his feet.
However, there was a bit more cause for concern at Woking's Kingfield Stadium when a referee's assistant was forced off early on after the ball struck him in the face.
A Woking fan volunteered to take on fourth official duties after a lengthy delay and the game passed with no further major incidents as it finished 2-2.
Charlton have featured in the Saturday round-up a few times in recent weeks for all the wrong reasons - battered one week, protesting the next.
Today, however, the Championship's second-from-bottom side are celebrating their first win in 13 games after easing past Rotherham United 4-1.
It was the first time in nine games that Charlton had managed to score more than once in a game, and last time they did that they were locked in a 2-2 draw with bottom side Bolton Wanderers.
The side which had not won since 21 November took the lead after just four minutes, Simon Makienok latching on to a Zakarya Bergdich cut-back pass to score.
While the Millers responded through Chris Burke, Igor Vetokele restored Charlton's advantage before Dane Makienok added his second and Ademola Lookman gave the 739 travelling Addicks fans reason to cheer for the first time in a long while.
The triumph will also come as a relief for Jose Riga, having been reappointed boss earlier this month.
Thrown away the gym membership yet?
Well, not everyone can stick to their New Year's resolutions as well as Barnsley have in recent weeks, beating Swindon 1-0 to extend their winning league run to six games, dating back to 28 December.
They are unbeaten in 2016, having also finished the first leg of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Area final against Fleetwood level at 1-1.
Before their surge in form the Tykes had picked up one win from their previous nine league games - losing nine of their 14 matches in all competitions between 17 October and Christmas.
Victory at the County Ground moved them up to 12th in the League One table and to within five points of the play-off places.
As demonstrated by Wycombe keeper Richardson, it was one of those days when the usually unassuming made a big impact.
Jack Compton scored all of Yeovil's goals in the 3-2 win over AFC Wimbledon, having previously not scored in the league for almost two years.
The 27-year-old had scored 11 times in his previous 166 career appearances.
But he is making a habit of scoring - by his own own standards - having also netted in Yeovil's FA Cup third-round replay defeat by Carlisle earlier this month.


US-based software firm Bazaarvoice is to create 170 jobs in Belfast over the next three years.

The company's software runs the reviews and ratings sections of major internet shopping websites.
It uses that content to give businesses greater insight into customers and their purchasing decisions.
The business was founded in Austin, Texas in 2005 and floated on the stock market in 2012. Its clients include Debenhams, Matalan and Argos.
The majority of the jobs in Belfast will be in software engineering, support and quality assurance.
The average salary for the roles will be around £32,000.
The company has been offered a total of £1.3m in grants from Invest NI and the Department of Economy.
Invest NI chief executive Alastair Hamilton said that when fully operational the firm would generate nearly £5.5m in annual salaries.
Bazaarvoice Executive Vice President Gary Allison said the new office will allow the firm to drive customer growth in the UK and Europe.


Islamic State (IS) has lost 40% of the territory it once controlled in Iraq, a spokesman for the US-led coalition battling the jihadist group says.

Col Steve Warren told reporters that IS was "on the defensive", and had "not gained one inch in Iraq since May".
It had also been driven out of 20% of its territory in Syria, he added.
Despite the losses, IS has continued to launch counter-offensives - including several near the western Iraqi city of Haditha in the past 48 hours.
Col Warren said coalition air strikes had helped Iraqi government forces repel an assault on Monday by about 200 militants, and that more than 100 had been killed.
He did not give a figure for casualties on the government side, but a Sunni tribal commander told AFP news agency that they had lost more than 25 fighters.
Haditha Mayor Mabrouk Hamid said the IS counter-offensive had involved more than 40 armoured vehicles, some of them filled with explosives.
Col Warren said IS had shifted its focus to Haditha, situated near a key dam in the north of Anbar province, after losing control of the provincial capital Ramadi the government last week.
The coalition spokesman also denied claims by IS that it had captured the towns of Barwana and Sakran, near Haditha. He insisted it had not gained any territory in Iraq since May, when Ramadi was overrun in an embarrassing defeat for the army.
In June 2014, IS seized large parts of northern and western Iraq, and proclaimed the creation of a caliphate stretching across the border with Syria.
Iraqi government and Kurdish Peshmerga forces - supported by Iranian-backed Shia militiamen, Sunni tribesmen and coalition air strikes - have since regained more than 20,000 sq km (about 8.000 sq miles), according to the coalition.
IS militants have also been driven out of the city of Tikrit in the past year, but they continue to control Mosul, the largest city in the north.
In Syria, the jihadists have been losing ground to President Bashar al-Assad's forces, rebel groups, and Kurdish militia fighters. But they have also been able to capture new territory of strategic value, including the ancient city of Palmyra.


National League club Forest Green Rovers have signed Chelmsford City's Shamir Mullings for an undisclosed fee.

The former Southend and Havant & Waterlooville striker, 23, moves with Chelmsford seventh in National League South, one point below the top five.
Forest Green have slipped to second in the fifth tier after a run of three games without a win, having previously gone 11 games without a league defeat.
Meanwhile, defender Charlie Clough has signed a new deal until 2019.
The 26-year-old former Bristol Rovers and Newport County centre-back, who joined the Gloucestershire outfit in January 2015, will now stay until at least the end of the 2018-19 campaign.


A North Korean university has named the US citizen detained on Saturday as Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim.

The Korean-American lecturer taught at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) for several weeks prior to his arrest.
The investigation into Mr Kim was for matters "not connected in any way" to the university, PUST said in a statement to the BBC.
Mr Kim was arrested just as he was about to leave Pyongyang.
North Korean authorities have not yet disclosed the reason for the arrest.
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, Mr Kim, who is in his late 50s, was involved in aid programmes and had been in North Korea to discuss relief activities.
He reportedly taught at Yanbian University of Science and Technology in China, which is affiliated to PUST. The BBC's calls to Yanbian were not answered.
PUST's chancellor, Park Chan-mo, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that Mr Kim "had been involved with some other activities outside PUST such as helping an orphanage".
The US State Department said it was aware of reports of the detention, but would not comment further because of "privacy considerations", US media reported.
The detention comes as tensions ratchet up in the Korean peninsula, with US warships steaming towards the region as Pyongyang threatens a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike".
Chinese state media reported that President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone again on Monday.
Mr Xi reiterated his call for calm saying he "hopes relevant parties exercise restraint, and avoid actions that would increase tensions", and both leaders promised to keep in touch regarding the Korean peninsula, reports said.
US officials have not yet confirmed the call.
The US has in the past accused North Korea of detaining its citizens to use them as pawns. Mr Kim is one of three US citizens currently being held by North Korea.
In April last year, Kim Dong-chul, a 62-year-old naturalised US citizen born in South Korea, was sentenced to 10 years' hard labour for spying. He was arrested the previous October.
US student Otto Warmbier, 22, was arrested in January last year for trying to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel while visiting North Korea.
He was given 15 years' hard labour for crimes against the state in March 2016.


A Japanese band made up entirely of robots has been revealed at a music festival in Hong Kong, China.

5 June 2016 Last updated at 10:45 BST
The festival includes artwork, film screenings and art classes.
The artist Kimora said that a robot playing a guitar is challenging because the instrument is the most complicated.
Have a listen to them play.


A man's eye socket has been broken and two other people have received minor injuries during two assaults in Ballycastle, County Antrim.

The man, who is in his 50s, also sustained a suspected broken leg in the first attack on Castle Street at about 18:45 BST on Saturday.
Police said he was taken to hospital after a row on a garage forecourt.
A short time later, another man and a woman were assaulted in licensed premises on Castle Street.
Detectives have appealed for anyone who witnessed the attacks to contact police.


A mother whose 12-month-old baby died from sepsis has welcomed government support for an awareness campaign about the potentially fatal condition.

William Mead from Cornwall contracted blood poisoning in 2014 and died after a series of NHS failures to detect it.
Following a Whitehall meeting between Melissa Mead and the UK Sepsis Trust, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has agreed to lead the campaign.
About 44,000 people in the UK die from sepsis each year.
The campaign will include a 90-second social media video aimed at both doctors and the public which will appear at hospital emergency departments, walk-in centres and doctor's surgeries on World Sepsis Day on 13 September.
"It is really, really important that this is a campaign which continues to roll and have a journey and an evolution," Mrs Mead said after the Whitehall meeting.
"Personally, I feel relieved because I'm here because William died but, equally, I'm stood here and we represent 44,000 people who die every year and 150,000 people who suffer with sepsis.
"This isn't a one-off story, it effects so many people's lives and it's very important."
Sepsis, also known as septicaemia or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body's immune system goes into overdrive as it tries to fight an infection.
Without prompt treatment with antibiotics, sepsis can lead to multiple organ failure and death.
In January, the health secretary apologised for William's death after a report criticised GPs, out-of-hours services and a 111 call handler who failed to spot he had sepsis caused by an underlying chest infection and pneumonia.
Earlier this month, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated its guidelines so that sepsis is treated by doctors and nurses as an emergency on the same level as heart attacks.
That, plus the government approval for the Think Sepsis and Ask Sepsis campaign, should now mean there should be "joined action", Mrs Mead said.
The campaign will be aimed at recognising warning signs in both adults and children and the Department of Health has agreed to run it independently of a similar campaign to raise awareness of meningitis.
Campaigners had fought to separate the conditions into two campaigns so as not to present the public with a confused message.


All 18 of Northern Ireland's MPs have been confirmed with the SDLP and UUP losing their seats at Westminster.

The final result came in Fermanagh and South Tyrone where UUP's Tom Elliott lost to Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew.
Former SDLP party leaders Mark Durkan, Margaret Ritchie and Alasdair McDonnell were toppled in Foyle, South Down and Belfast South.
In Foyle, Sinn Féin's Elisha McCallion won by 169 votes after a recount.
She is the first non-SDLP MP to win the seat since the Foyle constituency was formed in 1983.
Mr Durkan said the loss "hurt" and apologised to former SDLP leader John Hume, who was the constituency's MP from 1983 to 2005.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said it was a "very difficult night" for the party and paid tribute to the party's three former MPs.
Meanwhile, the DUP celebrated a resurgence with a 10% increase in their vote share, a return to a level of support they last enjoyed in the 2005 general election.
The confirmed results saw the DUP win 10 seats, Sinn Féin win seven and independent candidate Lady Sylvia Hermon retain her seat in North Down.
DUP leader Arlene Foster said she was "absolutely delighted" with the result, and that it showed the voters had bought into the party's vision.
Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Féin's northern leader, ruled out the prospect of the party taking its seats at Westminster.
The Conservatives are on course to be the largest party but may not have an overall majority, which may make Northern Ireland's 18 MPs crucial in the balance of power.
In South Down, Ms Ritchie lost to Sinn Féin's Chris Hazzard while the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly won the seat in Belfast South from Dr McDonnell.
The UUP's Danny Kinahan lost his seat in South Antrim to the DUP's Paul Girvan.
Politics here has turned another corner.
The middle-ground parties have been wiped from Westminster and the DUP will be Northern Ireland's only voice on the green benches.
Playing the union and border poll card has paid off for the DUP and Sinn Féin.
The polarisation of politics has moved to another level.
The upshot may well be a coming together of the unionist parties while the SDLP are likely to look south to Fianna Fail to find their way back from the wilderness.
Lady Sylvia Hermon retained her seat in North Down but had her majority of over 9,000 votes cut to around 1,200 by DUP candidate Alex Easton.
The DUP's Jim Shannon, Jeffrey Donaldson, Gregory Campbell, Gavin Robinson, Ian Paisley,  Nigel Dodds, David Simpson and Sammy Wilson retained their seats in Strangford, Lagan Valley, East Londonderry, Belfast East, Belfast North, Upper Bann and East Antrim.
Sinn Féin's Paul Maskey, Mickey Brady and Francie Molloy also retained their seats in Belfast West, Newry and Armagh and Mid-Ulster while Barry McElduff won in West Tyrone.
A total of 109 candidates stood across Northern Ireland and 1.2m people were eligible to vote.
The general election exit poll indicated that the Conservatives will be the largest party at Westminster but may not secure an overall majority.
If this proves correct, Northern Ireland's 18 MPs may become crucial in the formation of a government.


Several running clubs have held a special day of support for a runner who was sexually assaulted on a towpath.

The woman was attacked on the Cromford Canal near Ambergate in Derbyshire on Wednesday lunchtime.
Dozens of people from clubs in the area ran along the same towpath to "show solidarity" with the victim.
Police said the attacker was described as white, with fair hair and a medium build. He was wearing a  grey hooded top and grey cap.
Runner Ruth Keeley said: "You always have to take necessary precautions and be aware of your surroundings but we should be able to come to these places and not be scared and stuck in our homes.
"We won't be scared off."


An osprey has returned to England after a 3,000-mile trip, despite picking up a wing injury before leaving for Africa last autumn.

The Rutland Osprey Project said its oldest bird, known as 03(97), was "nothing short of amazing" after returning from West Africa on Tuesday.
Kayleigh Brookes, of the project, said it was concerned about his ability to survive the journey.
The 18-year-old is now starting his 15th season at Rutland Water.
Staff at the nature reserve had to provide fish for him following the injury which meant he could not fly or fish for himself.
Source: The Rutland Osprey Project
His wing appeared improved when it was time to migrate, but staff still feared he would struggle and worried he may never return.
But on Tuesday, one day different from the previous year, he arrived back at the reservoir and immediately went fishing.
Ms Brookes said: "We all harboured concerns about his strength and his ability to survive the arduous 3,000-mile journey to his wintering grounds.
"Well, clearly he surpassed our expectations and granted all our wishes."
Last year, five of the six pairs who returned to breed at Rutland Water did so successfully, but it is hoped they could see even more birds return this year.
Juvenile birds do not leave their winter homes for at least two years after they first make the journey south.


UK astronaut Tim Peake is minutes away from his landmark flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

The ex-helicopter pilot - with American Tim Kopra and Russian Yuri Malenchenko - will launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan.
Mr Peake is the first official UK astronaut. Previous "British" astronauts have either had US citizenship and worked for Nasa or been privately funded.
On the ISS he will conduct experiments.
He will also carry out  educational activities designed to get young people interested in science.
Fuelling of the rocket has begun ahead of the launch - set for 11:03 GMT - from Site 1 at Baikonur, the pad where Yuri Gagarin made the first historic human spaceflight in 1961.
Tim Peake Live: latest updates and video from the launch
The Soyuz space capsule is due to dock with the space station at 17:23 GMT.
Helen Sharman became the first British citizen to travel to space when she visited the space station Mir in 1991. Her mission came about through a co-operative venture between the Soviet government and British business.
Ms Sharman told BBC News: "Launch itself is a day that you want to get on with, because finally, you're getting to do what you've been trained to do for so long. I trained for 18 months, Tim Peake will have trained for six years by the time he flies.
"You're part of a great big machineâ€¦ by that stage, the team is so big - the doctors, the trainers - that you're not going to be able to go wrong."
The crew are placed in quarantine for two weeks before launch to ensure they do not become ill in space.
They woke up at 02:00 GMT (08:00 local time) for breakfast and after a farewell ceremony, they left the cosmonaut hotel in Baikonur for medical tests.
After a break, they got into their white "Sokol" suits - which are worn during launch and re-entry - before saying final farewells to their families.
Then, at about 08:00 GMT (14:00 local time), the crew boarded a bus to the launch pad, where they rode the lift to the top of the Soyuz rocket.
Mr Peake and his colleagues will then be strapped into their seats so that they can prepare for launch.
Tim Peake in space: Want to know more?
Tim Peake live: Launch day live video and updates
Special report page: For the latest news, analysis and video
Video: How the view from space affects your mind
Explainer:  The journey into space
Social media: Twitter looks ahead to lift-off
At 11:03 GMT (17:03 local time), notwithstanding some unforeseen obstacle, the Soyuz launcher's five thruster units will ignite, blasting the astronauts into orbit for the six-hour journey to the ISS.
Mr Peake is the first Briton to be employed as a professional astronaut by the European Space Agency (Esa).
German Esa astronaut Alexander Gerst, who was selected along with Mr Peake for the astronaut class of 2009, told BBC News: "He's had 6,000 hours of training - a brutal amount over several years.
"He also went through preparation for launch earlier this year when he was on the back-up crew for another missionâ€¦ so he's now completely ready."
Mr Gerst added: "As an astronaut at this stage you're really relaxed. Mainly because your principal worry is that something will get in the way of launch; that you'll get ill or there'll be a technical problem."
Richard Farrimond was one of four UK astronauts selected to launch satellites from Nasa's space shuttle in the 1980s, though the missions were cancelled after the Challenger disaster.
He told BBC News: "Having met the man, I think he's quite superlativeâ€¦ I'm looking forward to seeing him up there on my TV screen."
The mission might never have happened, however, had then-science minister David Willetts not successfully argued for an end to the UK government's longstanding opposition to human spaceflight. The change came about through negotiations in 2012 with officials from Esa.
Mr Willetts told BBC News that Mr Peake had been on the training programme, but - at that time - not part of the manned flight programme.
"Sadly he was very unlikely to get a flight up to the space station. We moved into participating in manned missions. The fact he's going to do some great science while he's up there has justified that decision."
Follow Paul on Twitter.


Mi wnaeth 'na rai chwerthin dros eu corn fflêcs tra bod eraill yn teimlo tost-uri dros Andrew RT Davies, arweinydd y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig.

Wrth gloi ei anerchiad i gynhadledd y Torïaid ym Manceinion ar 4 Hydref, fe gymysgodd o ei eiriau gan ddatgan yn llawn hyder: "Mi wnawn ni Brecwast yn llwyddiannus". Brexit oedd o'n ei feddwl.
Ond nid Andrew RT Davies ydy'r cynta', ac nid fo fydd yr ola' i wneud camgymeriad anfwriadol fel hwn yn gyhoeddus. Dyma i chi rai Cymry amlwg eraill wnaeth gawl o bethau...
Mae hi yn nesu at y 'Dolig, cyfle falle i Brif Weinidog Cymru ymlacio ychydig a sgwrsio yn hamddenol am draddodiadau'r Ŵyl ar S4C. Ond yn ystod ei gyfweliad ar Wedi 7 ym mis Rhagfyr 2011 mi ddechreuodd Carwyn Jones storm go fawr ar y cyfryngau cymdeithasol.
Awgrymodd mai hon fyddai'r flwyddyn gyntaf na fyddai ei blant yn credu ym modolaeth Siôn Corn.
Be'? Dim Siôn Corn?! Roedd Facebook a Twitter yn groch wrth ei gywiro. Awgrymodd dyn y farf wen ei hun y byddai rhywun yn gorfod gwneud heb anrhegion! Wps!
Tom Bullough, o nage, sori... Dannie Abse. Roedd 'na ddryswch yn ystod seremoni Llyfr y Flwyddyn yng ngwesty'r Hilton yn 2008. Roedd Rhodri Glyn Thomas, y Gweinidog Treftadaeth ar y pryd, wedi derbyn yr amlen anghywir cyn cyhoeddi pwy oedd wedi ennill Llyfr Saesneg y Flwyddyn. Galwodd Tom Bullough i'r llwyfan. Ond wrth i'r awdur wau ei ffordd rhwng y byrddau, sylweddolodd Rhodri Glyn Thomas ei fod wedi gwneud camgymeriad. Mewn gwirionedd, Dannie Abse a The Presence, llyfr am golli ei wraig, oedd enillydd y tlws.
Mae'r newyddiadurwr Dylan Iorwerth wedi torri sawl stori yn ystod ei yrfa ddisglair yn tyrchio am straeon, ond 'chydig a wyddai y byddai'n destun stori fawr ar y cyfryngau cymdeithasol yn ystod Eisteddfod Genedlaethol y Fenni eleni.
Yn ystod trafodaeth fyw ar y teledu gyda Dewi Llwyd a Karen Owen fe ganodd ffôn a bu'n rhaid i Dylan ymbalfalu yn ei boced i'w ddiffodd.
Pwy oedd yno 'sgwn i, rhywun arall yn gwerthu PPI ynteu sgŵp arall i Golwg?
Do, mi wnaeth cyn-ymosodwr Cymru Dean Saunders gamgymeriad mawr.  Roedd o'n gweithio ar gemau Cymru i'r BBC yn ystod Euro 2016, ond doedd o ddim yn meddwl y byddai bechgyn Chris Coleman yn Ffrainc tu hwnt i'r dair gêm gynta'. Felly, mi barciodd ei gar yn y maes parcio tymor byr ym maes awyr Birmingham!
Tra roedd Gareth Bale, Hal Robson-Kanu a gweddill y garfan yn achosi embaras i broffwydoliaeth Dean, roedd y ffeins parcio yn cynyddu yn y maes parcio.
Erbyn i Ronaldo a'i griw ddod â breuddwydion Cymru i ben roedd bil terfynol y sylwebydd praff wedi croesi'r £1,000. Yn ffodus iddo fo mi welodd awdurdodau'r maes awyr ochr ddoniol y stori. Wedi'r cyfan, roedd Dean wedi cael ei bryfocio cymaint gan ei gyd-sylwebyddion yn fyw ar y teledu. Long Stay amdani ar gyfer Rwsia 2018, Dean!


A Dutchman dubbed the "dentist of horror" has been sentenced to eight years in France for mutilating the mouths of more than 100 patients.

Jacobus van Nierop, 51, took out healthy teeth and caused horrific injuries to the patients in the small town of Chateau-Chinon.
Van Nierop was banned from practising dentistry and fined â‚¬10,500 ($11,900).
Van Nierop fled to Canada when suspicions arose and strongly fought against extradition to France in 2014.
The court in the central French town of Nevers heard that patients had suffered broken jaws, recurrent abscesses and septicaemia from van Nierop's work.
Van Nierop was arrested in France in June 2013, after the number of his victims grew to 120.
However, he fled the country before his trial was due to start in December that year.
He was tracked to a small town in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and arrested under an international warrant.
The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says that van Nierop was many people's worst nightmare.
Like many parts of rural France, Chateau-Chinon is badly served for medical provision, our correspondent says, adding that locals initially seemed delighted by the hard-working and smiley dentist, a larger-than-life character who witnesses said was rarely seen without his "big 4x4, a big dog and a big cigar".
But then the horror stories began. People said they had teeth ripped out for no reason - they were given heavy anaesthetic, then left with abscesses and infected gums.


Three more Scots have been added to the Great Britain Olympic athletics team, taking the total up to 15.

Laura Whittle, third at the British trials, joins compatriots Steph Twell and Eilish McColgan in the 5,000m.
Hammer throwers Mark Dry and Chris Bennett have also been granted selectors' picks for places in Rio.
It is the highest Scottish representation in track and field since the 1908 London Games, with GB sending an 80-strong team to Brazil.
Twell and McColgan were among eight athletes from Scotland who booked their places at the trials in Birmingham last month, with three marathon runners selected in April.
Just five Scottish runners made it to London 2012.
Team GB will be looking to improve on a haul of six medals from four years ago.
Scots in the GB athletics team for Rio 2016:
Callum Hawkins, Tsegai Tewelde, Derek Hawkins - marathon
Beth Potter - 10,000m
Andrew Butchart - 5,000m
Eilidh Doyle - 400m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay
Lennie Waite - 3,000m Steeplechase
Laura Muir - 1500m
Chris O'Hare - 1500m
Lynsey Sharp - 800m
Steph Twell, Eilish McColgan, Laura Whittle - 5,000m
Chris Bennett, Mark Dry - hammer


Police are seeking a man over the murder of an elderly man found dead at a house in Hertfordshire.

The body of the man in his 70s, was found at the house in Nettleden Road, Little Gaddesden, near Berkhamsted, on Saturday afternoon.
A man in his 80s was also taken to hospital, a police spokeswoman said.
Detectives want to question 55-year-old Ian John McLoughlin, also known as Ian John Baker, and have warned people not to approach him.
Det Ch Insp Martin Brunning, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, said: "The investigation is still in its early stages.
"However, we are continuing to treat the death as murder. We urgently want to speak to Ian McLoughlin in connection with this offence."
He is described as white, about 6ft (1.8m) tall, with straight, greying, collar-length hair and of average build.
He is believed to have been wearing sunglasses, blue jeans or three-quarter length trousers and a dark blue, light blue and white checked short-sleeved shirt with a button-down collar.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact police or Crimestoppers.
Officers have been conducting additional patrols in the area to provide reassurance to residents.


Social housing tenants could be offered discounts of up to £75,000 under plans to increase the numbers exercising the "right to buy" their home in England.

Ministers are to increase the maximum discount - currently £16,000 to £38,000 - to more than the expected £50,000.
They hope it will persuade more tenants and mortgage lenders to get involved in the scheme first started in the 1980s.
But housing charity Shelter says the plans risk diminishing the stock of "genuinely affordable" social housing.
It also says the plans could saddle low-income families with mortgage debts they cannot afford.
The "right to buy" scheme was first started under Margaret Thatcher's government.
In December the government launched a consultation on "re-invigorating" the right to buy, which has dwindled in recent years, and suggested the maximum discount may be raised to £50,000.
Currently, discount levels differ across the country, ranging from £16,000 to £38,000.
Now ministers believe discounts should be as high as £75,000, the BBC understands.
The government insists all social homes that are sold "will be replaced on a one-for-one basis by a new affordable rent property, ensuring there is no reduction in the number of affordable homes".
But Shelter says it will still have the effect of damaging social housing.
Roger Harding, Shelter's head of policy, research and public affairs, said: "The government is not going to replace like-with-like.
"The 'affordable rent' model means landlords can charge rents of up to 80% of market rates, which is typically higher than council rents.
"The net result will be a reduction in the number of genuinely affordable homes for families on modest incomes."
He added: "That could have the added effect of pushing up the housing benefit bill, if there are fewer council houses and more 'affordable rent' properties with higher rental costs."
Mr Harding said: "We are also concerned that ownership is not necessarily the most financially suitable form of tenure for a lot of social housing tenants.
"Many are on very low incomes and could find themselves unable to afford the mortgage repayments. Statistically, right-to-buy mortgage holders are far more likely than other purchasers to have their homes repossessed."
Later this week Housing Minister Grant Shapps is expected to say: "This coalition government backs the dreams of those who want to own the roof over their own head."
He has promised to triple or even quadruple the discounts available to "hard-working families".
Mr Shapps will say: "New home buyers will have the satisfaction of knowing that for each property sold, we'll be aiming to replace it with a new affordable home for the record numbers left languishing on Labour's housing waiting lists.
"It's a win/win that backs aspirational council tenants whilst dealing with the legacy of Labour's record waiting lists."


Emeli Sande has said "a whole new" Band Aid song is needed and that she's not fully satisfied by the lyrical changes made for this year's remake.

In a message posted on Twitter, the 27-year-old said she and African singer Angelique Kidjo "made and sang our own edits" whilst recording Band Aid 30.
She added: "Unfortunately, none of these made the final cut."
Later in the post, Emeli apologised "if the lyrics of the song have caused offence".
Some of the lyrics have been rewritten for the new recording of Do They Know It's Christmas? to reflect the track raising money for Ebola-hit west Africa.
The virus has killed more than 5,000 people in the current outbreak, including 1,267 in Sierra Leone.
But several African artists have claimed the song actually reinforces negative stereotypes of Africa.
Earlier this week, Band Aid organiser Bob Geldof explained British-Ghanaian rapper Fuse ODG didn't feature on the new version of the track because he "felt awkward" and didn't agree with the message of the song.
Sande's message follows Geldof telling Newsbeat that he had told the rapper he could "change whatever words you like".
The 63-year-old, who also organised previous versions of the charity single in 1984 and 2004, said: "His [Fuse ODG's] thing was you had to be positive about Africa, but then you have Angelique Kidjo and Emeli Sande who were on the same attitude and I said 'there's the world's press, tell them about your point of view'.
"If there's a line you can't sing, change it and he said he just felt awkward."
His comments came after Fuse ODG explained that he pulled out of recording because he feels the track is a "quick fix" to a bigger problem.
Despite voicing her frustration about the lyrics on the track Emeli Sande, who referenced her Zambian heritage in the message, did say that the new version of the track "came from a place of pure and respectful intent".
She added that it had been a long time since she had "heard a man speak with such passion and sincerity" as Geldof when he spoke to the group of artists during the recording session.
Other acts to appear on the track include Ellie Goulding, Jessie Ware, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.
Within two days of being released, the track has become fastest-selling single of 2014 and is on course to be number one in this Sunday's top 40 having sold copies 206,000.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


The chairwoman of the Scottish government's child abuse inquiry, Susan O'Brien QC, has resigned after facing the sack over "unacceptable" comments.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said he had accepted Ms O'Brien's resignation after starting the formal procedure to remove her from her post.
However, Ms O'Brien insisted she had "done nothing wrong", complaining of government interference in the probe.
Her fellow panellist Prof Michael Lamb quit the inquiry over similar concerns.
Ms O'Brien's resignation leaves the inquiry, which concerns historical allegations of child abuse in Scotland, with only one panel member. It is scheduled to last four years, but has been criticised by survivors of abuse.
In her resignation letter, the chairwoman said the government had "sought to micro-manage and control the inquiry", and had "undermined" her and threatened to sack her when she resisted.
Mr Swinney said Ms O'Brien had "revealed views" which child abuse trauma experts had judged to "indicate a belief system that is incompatible with the post of chair of such an inquiry".
Ms O'Brien did not contest that she made the comments, but maintained they were "acceptable in the context in which they were made".
Complaints were lodged due to two comments Ms O'Brien made during a training session for inquiry team members.
One concerned her recounting the experiences of a child sex abuse victim in a manner which was claimed "potentially breached confidentiality".
Child abuse expert Dr Claire Fyvie said that even if this was meant to "lighten the mood", it was "wholly inappropriate" and "demonstrates a shocking level of misjudgement".
Dr Fyvie is head of service at the Rivers Centre for Traumatic Stress, which was initially a short-term partner of the inquiry.
However, the centre did not submit a tender to support the inquiry long-term, with Dr Fyvie saying the role of an expert advisor was "redundant", as Ms O'Brien appeared to be making decisions "unilaterally", "with no regard to the advice of professional colleagues or external advisors".
In her resignation letter, Ms O'Brien insisted that she had "done nothing wrong", insisting that she would "never underestimate the gravity of child abuse".
With regards to the training event comment, she said she had "accurately reported, without endorsing, what a survivor had said to me about their attitude to their own abuse".
She said: "Since you have approached the dismissal of a chair so casually, on the basis of misunderstanding and inaccurate allegations about my 'attitudes and beliefs', I have no confidence that you would not try to dismiss me again another time, even if you decide against dismissal now.
"This compromises my ability to carry out my duty to ask questions and reach conclusions fearlessly.
"In short, I cannot reassure the public that this inquiry will be conduced independently of government. My trust that the Scottish government will actually respect the independence of the inquiry has gone - you have therefore left me with no alternative but to resign."
Education secretary Mr Swinney said the comments had "raised serious concerns", and "lacked any context in which they could be seen as acceptable".
He added: "What's more, these actions had the potential to cause the loss of confidence of survivors - the very people at the heart of the inquiry."
Mr Swinney has referred the matter to the Scottish Parliament's education and skills committee to be investigated.
The minister said: "Given the severity of those concerns, I felt I had a duty to initiate statutory proceedings which could have led to the removal of the chair from post. Ms O'Brien's resignation clearly now means that process has not been concluded and frees me to now share the facts of the case with parliament.
"I am happy for a committee of parliament to consider this matter and any claims made by the chair.
"This government absolutely rejects any charges of interference in the independence of the inquiry. The issues that concern the government are about having a robust independent inquiry that can operate without fear or favour, fulfilling our responsibilities set out in the Inquiries Act and ensuring that the chair's departure has as little impact as possible on the progress of the work needed."
Mr Swinney, who is to meet survivors on Thursday, said he would take "urgent steps" to appoint a new chair for the inquiry.
The two resignations leave the panel with just one member, Glenn Houston.
Scottish Conservative MSP Liz Smith said what was of "paramount importance" was to restore public trust and "to that end we welcome the announcement by Mr Swinney to permit parliamentary scrutiny of his actions".
Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said the "collapse of the inquiry into crisis" meant "we are letting survivors of child abuse down yet again".
He said: "When parliament returns the education committee must carry out an investigation into how this mess was allowed to develop."
Ross Greer, Scottish Green MSP, believed that there needed to be "urgent but careful progress" in appointing new members of the inquiry.
He said: "This issue has support from across the political spectrum and we owe it to survivors of abuse to make sure the inquiry is carried out."


A Canadian court has ordered three tobacco companies to pay C$15.5bn (£8bn; $12bn) - the largest award for damages in the country's history.

The plaintiffs were Quebec smokers who said the firms failed to warn them of health risks associated with smoking.
Imperial Tobacco Canada, Rothmans Benson & Hedges and JTI-MacDonald vowed to appeal against the decision.
The class-action lawsuits were filed in 1998, but only recently went to trial in the courts.
The firms argued that Canadians have had a "high awareness" of smoking health risks since the 1950s.
"That awareness has been reinforced by the health warnings printed on every legal cigarette package for more than 40 years," JTI-Macdonald said in a statement.
But the plaintiffs argued that the companies did not properly warn their customers and failed in their general duty "not to cause injury to another person", according to the Quebec Superior Court decision.
They represent nearly one million smokers who were unable to quit or who suffer from throat or lung cancer, or emphysema.
Explaining his ruling, Judge Brian Riordan said: "The companies earned billions of dollars at the expense of the lungs, the throats and the general well-being of their customers.
"If the companies are allowed to walk away unscathed now, what would be the message to other industries that today or tomorrow find themselves in a similar moral conflict?"


The family of a three-year-old boy who died after he was attacked by a dog said their "hearts have been broken" and "can never be fixed".

Dexter Neal, of Ronald Road, Halstead, was bitten by an American bulldog in Parker Way at 17:40 BST on 18 August.
He was airlifted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge where he died later that day.
A woman has been arrested and bailed in connection with the attack.
For more on this and other stories, visit BBC Essex Live
In a statement, Dexter's family said: "When Dexter was born our family became complete and we were happier than we could ever have imagined.
"Watching him grow into such a happy joyful child made every day a pleasure and we felt honoured to have him in our lives.
"Dexter made everyone smile with his beautiful face and cheeky grin. He was always polite and kind to everybody and all who met him fell in love with him."
The family also said he loved music, adored his older sister, was a skilful footballer and had just learned to ride his bike without stabilisers.
"Our lives will never be the same without Dexter, he was the life and soul of our family. Our hearts have been broken and can never be fixed," the family said.
"We now have to learn to continue our lives without our cheeky little boy and remember the joy and happiness he brought us in the short time he was allowed to be with us."
A 29-year-old woman, arrested on suspicion of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control, is due to answer bail on 19 October. The dog was seized by police and placed in kennels.


The death of a woman in Washington state in spring has been confirmed as the first US fatality from measles in 12 years, health authorities say.

Officials said the link was not spotted until a post-mortem examination because the woman lacked some of the common symptoms of measles, such as a rash.
Measles is highly contagious, but it has been rarely fatal in the US.
The death comes after an outbreak of measles at California's Disneyland in 2014 that infected over 100 people.
Although no one died from that outbreak, it sparked an intense debate across the US about mandatory vaccinations for schoolchildren, which some parents oppose.
Officials said the case in Washington state was not linked to that Disneyland incident.
The woman was on medication that had weakened her immune system, Washington State Department of Health spokesman Donn Moyer told reporters.
She was hospitalised for several health conditions in the spring at a facility in Clallam County, Mr Moyer said.
"She was there at the same time as a person who later developed a rash and was contagious for measles," he added.
Officials have not revealed her name or her age but did say that she was not elderly. An autopsy concluded the cause of death was pneumonia due to measles.
"This tragic situation illustrates the importance of immunising as many people as possible to provide a high level of community protection against measles," Mr Moyer said.
There have been 176 cases of measles in the US so far this year, with 117 of those cases linked to the Disney outbreak, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The last US death from measles was in 2003.


A man who claims he lost the chance to father his own child after his sperm samples were damaged in a hospital is seeking £50,000 compensation.

Richard Holdich had stored samples at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital in 1992 as he was to undergo chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer.
He decided later to start fertility treatment but there had been a failure in the freezer storing the samples.
Mr Holdich, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, is suing NHS Lothian.
The health authority is contesting the action and maintain the samples remained viable and could have been used for IVF treatment.
A procedural hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, in the case was due to begin before Lord Jones on Tuesday but the judge was told that counsel considered that four days allocated was no longer sufficient.
David Stephenson QC, for the health board, said: "Approximately another 20 actions have been raised by other men who had samples stored in the same freezer."
He said they lay "in abeyance" while the present action was treated as a test case.
In the action Mr Holdich, 43, said he was told his treatment for teratoma testicular cancer, needed to combat the illness, would leave him infertile.
The samples were stored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 196C.
Over a period of about 48 hours the temperature rose to minus 53C.
It is claimed it is likely the change in temperature caused damage to the DNA of surviving cells which effects the ability to form a viable embryo in culture and a live birth.
It is maintained in the action that DNA damage is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage and is likely to increase the risk of birth defects.
Mr Holdich said that in 2002 he received a letter after an expert was brought in which said the advice was that the samples should not be used.
It said: "The problem is that during the thawing and refreezing ice crystals may have formed in the sperm and if they have, this could have caused damage to the chromosomes or genes."
Mr Holdich decided not to proceed to fertility treatment using the sperm samples.
The health authority said two sperm samples from the freezer which have been used in fertility treatment have resulted in conception and the birth of healthy children.


The Women's Super League One season kicks off this week, with Chelsea hoping to retain the title they secured in dramatic fashion 170 days ago.

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For the second successive year, the top-flight crown was decided on the final day in 2015 - Emma Hayes' side completing the league and FA Cup double by edging out Manchester City.
But could 2016 possibly throw up even more drama? Arsenal have strengthened and the minnows of the league are looking at Leicester City's exploits in the men's Premier League with renewed optimism that anything is possible.
BBC Sport looks at what is driving each club as they prepare for the new campaign.
Listen: 'The most unpredictable WSL ever'
Chelsea winger Gemma Davison says the feeling of being the hunted in 2016 is a welcome one for a team that has strengthened since last season.
"Everyone wants to defend the title, but when you achieve something and win things people want to beat you," she said. "But they can also fear you.
"I love that feeling, the feeling of teams wanting to beat you means you are strong and it's something to enjoy."
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England international Karen Carney is the highest-profile Chelsea arrival and adds to an already impressive forward line that includes three England attackers and FA Cup match-winner Ji So-Yun.
"We are continuing to build as we did last season and there is definitely more depth to take us to another level," added Davison. "We want to compete in everything.
"It's a great league and no-one can really predict how it will go."
Manchester City have been a growing force in the top flight, marking their induction to WSL by clinching the Continental Cup in 2014 and then going on to claim a Champions League spot as league runners-up last season.
City and England captain Steph Houghton says it is an "exciting" place to be, and boss Nick Cushing has brought in Sweden striker Kosovare Asllani from Paris St-Germain and prolific Scotland forward Jane Ross.
"We want to be successful. There is a lot of pressure on us, but it is a good pressure to allow us to go and perform," said Houghton.
"The individuals in this side strive in these circumstances and situations.
"Everybody will look at us, we are a big club with a lot of international players here and we have a great set-up that everyone is trying to emulate now."
Leicester City's exploits in the Premier League, going from relegation escape artists one season to frontrunners the next, resonates with the little-fancied clubs in the women's game.
Sunderland Ladies had already gone a long way to rewriting the expectations of sides outside the established guard last season by topping the league for a few weeks after winning promotion from the second tier.
Reading came up as last term's WSL 2 champions and forward Amber Stobbs says they will be keen to follow the examples of the Foxes and Lady Black Cats.
"Hey, we can be the new Leicester," grinned Stobbs. "Any hope in sport is good hope. It's an inspiration.
"Seeing a club do what Sunderland did makes you believe what is possible. It showed that the league is not set in its ways. You can challenge, it's not that you are new and will stay at the bottom."
Doncaster striker Natasha Dowie, a WSL 1 title and FA Cup winner with Liverpool, echoed Stubbs' sentiment.
"Teams learned last year not to underestimate sides," she said. "Look at the men's Premier League with Leicester City, who would have thought?"
Sunderland boss Carlton Fairweather, a member of Wimbledon's infamous Crazy Gang that rose through the English football ranks and won the 1988 FA Cup final against Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool, knows well the power of self-belief.
"Look at the Leicester side, they haven't spent as much money as the big 10 teams in the Premier League and they are competing," he said. "It shows you what a bit of togetherness and having individuals that are willing to learn and who want to improve can achieve."
Arsenal midfielder Jordan Nobbs can pin-point the moment the WSL 1 title began to slip for the Gunners' grasp last year - a 1-1 draw just six games into the season against a Bristol side that would eventually get relegated.
With only 16 league matches to play, the margin for error is small.
For the second successive year, the title was decided on the final day and Arsenal were not in the running.
"Look at the season before when Liverpool went from third to first on the last weekend - that does not really happen," said Nobbs. "One game like that shows how ruthless it is and that's what makes it exciting and why fans get excited - you don't know what's going to happen."
"There are not many games in our league. When you lose one game it can knock you from first to third - every game is crucial."
And yet Arsenal were still able to add to their trophy cabinet last season with a Continental Cup triumph that Nobbs says signified the end of a disappointing season and marked new hope for a better 2016.
"To say we won the Continental Cup at the end a bit of a rollercoaster of season was a good turning point for us to put that behind us and get us thinking about winning some more trophies," she said.
The Continental Cup triumph - their first piece of silverware under Spanish boss Pedro Martinez Losa - inflicted a second major final defeat on Notts County in 2015, with the Magpies also losing the 2015 Women's FA Cup decider.
Notts' England international goalkeeper Carly Telford says the Meadow Lane club is determined "to go one better".
She added: "Of course you want to make progress from having an empty cookie jar to starting to fill it."
It has been all change at Liverpool Ladies.
Two-time title-winning manager Matt Beard has left and gone are a host of players, including England's most-capped international Fara Williams, Lionesses striker Dowie and Nigeria forward Asisat Oshoala.
In their place are a number of new arrivals - among them England defender Alex Greenwood - as well as new boss Scott Rodgers, who was promoted from assistant manager.
For a side that meekly relinquished their title last season, having eventually finishing second from bottom, defender Satara Murray says a fresh feeling at the Reds is a welcome one.
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"Sometimes it's good to have new faces in the team," she said. "With nine new signings and a new manager, I hope that will allow us to be a whole different team.
"As a team we have to prove people wrong and show that we have not gone anywhere. We had one bad season - it happens.
"It now has to be a better year. Liverpool were champions in 2013 and 2014 and that meant we had a big target on our back in 2015. This year, not having that is a nice thing."
While Liverpool have been the busiest club in the transfer market, Birmingham City Ladies have been among the least active, brining in Corina Schroder from Liverpool while Hall of Fame player Carney and goalkeeper Becky Spencer moved to Chelsea.
Blues manager David Parker admits trying to compete pound-for-pound with the rich is beyond them and says it is "essential" the club produce home-grown talent.
Birmingham vice-captain Kerys Harrop says the policy is "refreshing".
"We have to be realistic, we don't have the budget to go and buy world-class international players and it is nice to think that we are using our own resources, our own youngsters coming through the system," she said.
"It is a shame other clubs aren't doing that and it is going more like the men's game. I'm proud that we are staying true to our roots."
Across WSL 1 and WSL 2, there will be a total of 16 commentaries live on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra this season, starting with Manchester City's first home game against Notts County on Wednesday, 23 March.
Each programme will feature news and interviews from the women's game, followed by build-up and commentary of the featured match. And, for the first time this season, the BBC will also be publishing a Women's Super League podcast.


Newport County boss Graham Westley has vowed to make Rodney Parade "a place that people fear coming" to.

The Exiles have not won in six home matches this season, are bottom of League Two and host leaders Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
"It's up to us to step up to the plate," said Westley, who managed Peterborough in League One last season.
"The home record over the last couple of years hasn't been good and we need to start putting that straight."
Saturday's opponents Plymouth are three points clear at the top of the table having won nine of their 13 league games this season.
"Our home needs to be a place that people fear coming to and it will be," Westley, who succeeded the sacked Warren Feeney on 7 October, told BBC Wales Sport.
"With respect to any team in League Two, they're a League Two team. Last year I faced some big clubs in League One and there were some really tough challenges.
"We're in League Two facing League Two opponents and of course we must not underestimate them - but we must not overestimate them.
"We've got a lot of experience and good quality players here and I'm sure we're capable of playing like a top of the league team."
Newport conceded in the 80th minute as they lost 1-0 to Yeovil in Westley's first game in charge of the club, but the 48-year-old is confident letting in late goals will not become a habit.
"My sides are notorious for being strong late on and scoring lots of late winners," he added.
"They're certainly not notorious for conceding late goals, so it won't be an issue."


A tiny historical prison in Somerset has been licensed for weddings.

Castle Cary's cylindrical "lock-up" was built in 1779 at a height of 10ft (3m) and width of 7ft (2.1m), according to a plaque on its stone wall.
It is one of only six in the country and the only one that can hold wedding ceremonies, the town council said.
"Couples looking to inject an element of humour in their special day will revel in the 'dramatic irony' this building provides," it added.
The Round House has two iron grills for ventilation and was once used to incarcerate miscreants and drunkards.
"The bride and groom are able to make their vows under lock and keyâ€¦ and manacles if necessary!" the town council said.
Source: www.gov.uk


A new women's prison, catering for just 80 offenders, is to be built to replace Scotland's only female jail at Cornton Vale in Stirling.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson blocked previous plans for a 300-inmate jail in Inverclyde five months ago.
The prison, which will be built close to the existing Cornton Vale facility, will house the most serious offenders.
Another five regional units will also be created to house 20 female prisoners each.
The regional units will offer help over drugs, alcohol and domestic abuse and will allow offenders to be held close to their families to make it easier for contact to be maintained.
The Scottish government said it also intended to promote the use of community-based alternatives to short-term prison sentences, including the restriction of liberty through the increased use of electronic monitoring.
Cornton Vale, which was built in 1975, has had a notorious history, being nicknamed "the vale of death" after 11 prisoners killed themselves there between 1995 and 2002.
The latest figures showed there were a total of 408 female prisoners in Scotland.
Of those, 226 were at Cornton Vale, 80 in Edinburgh, 48 at HMP Grampian and 54 in Greenock.
Despite attempts to improve conditions, ministers decided Cornton Vale would close after former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini's 2012 report said it was "not fit for purpose".
It can hold 307 women, but has frequently accommodated many more.
The previous justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, wanted to build a new jail in Inverclyde, but Mr Matheson dropped the plan, saying Scotland needed a new, radical approach for female offenders.
Mr Matheson said: "These are progressive proposals, they draw on the best available international evidence of what works, but they are tailored to specific circumstances here in Scotland.
"I've seen various justice policies labelled as 'soft' or 'tough' in recent years, but I think the time is right to move away from this kind of narrative - what we are doing here is taking a 'smart' approach, just as we've seen in our strategy for reducing youth offending which has proven so successful.
"What is important is doing the right thing for Scotland and our communities, based firmly on the evidence of what works in reducing reoffending. That is what we are implementing here."
He added: "What we need is a new approach. We need to continue to transform and improve services for women so that we can help them to break the cycle of reoffending.
"I believe that accommodating female offenders, where appropriate, in smaller units, close to their families, with targeted support to address the underlying issues such as alcohol, drugs, mental health or domestic abuse trauma is the way ahead."
The new approach has been backed by the Howard League for Penal Reform.
Its Scottish convener, John Scott QC, said: "The emphasis must be on preventing women from becoming caught up in the criminal justice system in the first place, diverting them at the point of arrest and prosecution wherever possible, and reducing the use of remand and short-term prison sentences.
"There must too be sustainable funding for community-based services and there are lessons to be learned from the success of work with young offenders and the reduction in numbers at Polmont.
"If we redouble our efforts and take a 'whole systems approach', there is no reason why the success in reducing the number of young people in custody cannot be replicated for women in custody in Scotland."
The 180 new prison places for women announced by the justice secretary are in addition to 50 which were part of the recently-opened HMP Grampian.


A man who ran over and killed a student after fainting following a coughing fit from drinking coffee at the wheel has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Kevin Rose, 57, hit a Vauxhall Corsa before mounting a pavement in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire.
He struck pedestrian Lucy Brown, 18, of Prestatyn, killing her instantly.
Rose, of Guildford, Surrey, was given a 30-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and banned from driving for a year.
Rose was convicted last month at Caernarfon Crown Court of  causing death by careless driving in November 2013 but was cleared of a more serious death by dangerous driving charge.
The trial heard Rose was driving a box van and had stopped at a lay-by.
He poured coffee from a flask and was drinking it while driving, which led to the fatal crash, he said.
The defendant coughed and fainted, meaning he was no longer in control of the vehicle.
Judge Robin Rowland, sentencing at Merthyr Crown Court, said: "Anyone contemplating this case cannot help but reflect that had you stayed for another minute or so to drink your coffee before driving off, the chain of events that followed would not have happened."
Rose was also ordered to pay Â£2,800 costs and a Â£100 surcharge.
PC Jo Roberts of North Wales Police said: "It is very sad that a small number of motorists still feel they can behave in a totally inconsiderate and careless manner when they take to the roads."


A man has been charged with attempted rape after a woman was attacked in Shropshire, police said.

The attack happened on a footpath off Whitchurch Drive near to Furrows Garage, Telford, on 3 April.
West Mercia Police said Witold Pudlo, 31, of Riven Road in Hadley, Telford, had been remanded in custody to appear at Telford Crown Court on 11 May.
Charges have been dropped against Michael Currens, from Telford, a spokesman said.


Bollywood star Salman Khan has told an Indian court that he was not driving on the night he is accused of running over five men sleeping on a pavement, killing one of them.

The actor was charged with culpable homicide by the Mumbai court for the September 2002 hit-and-run incident.
Khan said his driver Altaf was driving the car when the crash occurred.
The actor is one of Bollywood's biggest stars and has starred in more than 80 Hindi-language films.
Several of his films, including Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aap Ke Hain Kaun, have been huge commercial hits.
The actor has always denied the charge against him.
If convicted, he faces 10 years in prison.
Late on the night of 28 September 2002, Khan's Toyota Land Cruiser rammed into the American Express bakery in the Bandra area of Mumbai, authorities say.
The vehicle ran over five people sleeping on the streets, killing 38-year-old Noor Ullah Khan and seriously injuring three others. Another person received minor injuries.
The prosecution has alleged that Khan was driving the car and that he was drunk.
On Friday, the actor told the court he was not drunk and was not driving the car either.
He said he got out of the vehicle from the driver's side because the door on the passenger side was jammed.
Khan is a hugely popular and successful actor, but he has often been described as a "bad boy" heart-throb.
In 2006, he was sentenced to five years in prison for hunting a protected deer, but was released on bail after spending less than a week in jail.
An appeal in that case is being heard in a higher court.


Eleven children have been injured in a dog attack in a fenced-off play park.

The Staffordshire bull terrier was restrained by a parent after biting the children in Blyth, Northumberland.
Three of the children, who all suffered bite wounds as they were trapped in the park, were kept in hospital overnight after the attack, which happened at about 18:30 BST on Wednesday.
Police later arrested a 37-year-old woman on suspicion of having a dog dangerously out of control.
Among the injured, a seven-year-old girl was expected to need skin grafts.
Read updates on this story and more from across the North East
The father of one of the injured children managed to tie the dog to a fence with a cardigan, before police arrived to transport it to kennels.
Adam Mulvey, who lives next to the park, said: "I got a knock on the door from a little girl telling us that there were several children trapped in the park with the dog, and one of them was my little girl.
"I could see her from the house and everyone else screaming, howling, it was just horrific."
Mr Mulvey said he ran outside, saw the dog and sat on it, before tying it to the fence.
"I'm a dog lover and it killed me to sit on it and hold its face to the ground. But it was a powerful dog - not a nice thing to happen," he said.
"My daughter's seven and she's got to have an operation now. They're looking at the possibility of having to have skin grafts.
"She's frightened of dogs now for the rest of her life and frightened of parks."
Fiona Richards, who lives opposite the park, said: "The dog was running around super fast biting every kid in there, I saw it grab a little one by the shoulder. It was bedlam."
Ms Richards' 11-year-old daughter was bitten on the thigh.
Another resident, Neil Wilkinson, said: "There were about 30 kids in there and the dog just arrived from nowhere.
"I got in and started lifting them up and out of the park. As I was doing it the dog leapt up and bit my son on the arm."
Stevie Brooke-Maddison was in the park when the dog arrived.
The 12-year-old said: "At first we were laughing, because it was just jumping up and being silly.
"And then one minute it just snapped and was being vicious and went for everyone.
"I climbed up a climbing frame but it jumped up and latched onto my leg, I was kicking but it wouldn't let go.
"I was crying and screaming and everything."
A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said officers remained in the area to reassure people.


Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths is fit to face England as Scotland host the Group F leaders in Saturday's World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park.

Griffiths sat out training on Monday, but assistant manager Mark McGhee said he has since returned and that Gordon Strachan has a fully-fit squad.
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy pulled out of the England squad with a "minor injury" picked up in training.
Tottenham forward Harry Kane will captain England for the first time.
Scotland, fourth in the six-team Group F, are six points behind unbeaten leaders England with five games remaining.
McGhee said earlier this week that they have not given up hope of topping the group, but to do so they must end a run of three defeats against England.
Strachan's side, who have won two of their opening five games, are more realistically hoping to be one of the runners-up who will go into the qualification play-offs.
However, the head coach believes his side are capable of ending the Three Lions' long run without losing a qualification fixture.
Strachan is almost certain to continue with one striker, with the choice likely to be between Griffiths, who started November's 3-0 defeat at Wembley, or Derby County's Chris Martin, who scored in the 1-0 win over Slovenia in March.
"People say he's only playing one striker, but sometimes you play with three and two of them are wide," stressed Strachan.
"Playing with Steven Naismith and Shaun Maloney, they were strikers rather than midfielders playing wide."
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Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney is likely to again be asked to switch to the right, as he did against Slovenia, despite Derby's Ikechi Anya being praised for his performance at Wembley.
Should he play, Tierney, who turned 20 on Monday, will play with a protective gum shield because a facial injury that forced him to be substituted in the Scottish Cup final win over Aberdeen.
"He just gets on with life and I think he's relishing every game," said Strachan. "At this moment, life is fantastic for him.
"When you see him off the training ground, he has a wonderful smile. But that smile has to be looked after during the training sessions, that's for sure."
England boss Gareth Southgate described the fixture with Scotland as "special" and believes Strachan's team will seriously test his players.
"Everybody is fit and available. I'm really pleased with the level of training and we'll have to transfer that into the game," added Southgate.
"The players have embraced some new ideas this week around how we want to work and we're looking forward to the game, it's a great one to be involved with.
"It's a special fixture, but the key objective is to qualify for the World Cup, so we've got to keep that in our mind.
"But it's a game that will test us in every way and that's what we should be looking forward to."
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Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Celtic), Jack Hamilton (Hearts), David Marshall (Hull City)
Defenders: Ikechi Anya (Derby County), Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town), Stephen Kingsley (Swansea City), Russell Martin (Norwich City), Charlie Mulgrew (Blackburn Rovers), Mark Reynolds (Aberdeen), Andrew Robertson (Hull City), Kieran Tierney (Celtic)
Midfielders: Stuart Armstrong (Celtic), Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday), Scott Brown (Celtic), Tom Cairney (Fulham), Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion), Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth), James Forrest (Celtic), James McArthur (Crystal Palace), James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion), Robert Snodgrass (West Ham United)
Forwards: Leigh Griffiths (Celtic), Chris Martin (Derby County), Steven Naismith (Norwich City)
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley)
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United), Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Jake Livermore (West Bromwich Albion), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Forwards: Jermain Defoe (Sunderland), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)


Europe's comet lander has again been in touch with Earth.

The Philae probe made three short contacts of about 10 seconds each at roughly 2130 GMT on Sunday.
Controllers at the European Space Agency said the contacts were briefer than they had hoped, but proved the little robot was in encouragingly good health after its seven-month slumber.
Philae landed on Comet 67P in November and worked for 60 hours before its battery ran flat.
The robot awoke on Saturday because the comet has moved closer to the Sun, and its solar panels can now generate the electricity needed to power up its systems, including the transmitter.
Its mothership Rosetta, the craft that dropped it on to 67P, is still in orbit around the comet, and can relay messages to Earth.
"We had another contact on Sunday night," explained Paolo Ferri, the head of operations at Esa's mission control in Darmstadt Germany.
"That's good, obviously, but we're still trying to understand why these contacts are so short. Saturday's was only 85 seconds; these were 10 seconds in duration spread over several minutes.
"It could have something to do with the orientation of Rosetta; it may not be pointing in exactly the right direction.
"But Rosetta is also 200km from the comet, and although the link should be sufficient it is not super-strong, and if you don't have the correct alignment, you could lose the connection."
Speaking here at the Paris Airshow, Esa's soon-to-depart director general, Jean-Jacques Dordain, said the communications, however brief, should be taken as a positive.
"It means that we can have hope that we shall have more contact with Philae, and especially data," he told reporters.
And his replacement, Jan Woerner, who takes the Esa reins in July, said the revival of the robot further underlined the success of the comet mission.
"We will have now three hours of sunshine per day on Philae, and we will change the orbit of Rosetta in order to get a better connection, and we will start then with all the scientific work, with all the so-called non mechanical instruments."
Esa's science director, Alvaro GimÃ©nez, thought this could even begin within the week.
"The aim eventually is to charge the secondary battery so that we can work at any time, but to do that we would need to send commands. And before all that, we have to consolidate communication so that we can talk to Philae in the normal way."
The various science and engineering teams on the mission are now discussing how to improve the situation.
Moving Rosetta, while better for talking to Philae, may not be welcome among some scientists whose primary research is being done using the mothership. But Prof GimÃ©nez said there would need to be compromise.
There should be a further opportunity for contact with Philae on Monday and Tuesday as well.  Rosetta experiences two possible communication slots per 24 hours - once per 12-hour comet rotation.
Currently, the comet, Philae and Rosetta are about 305 million km from Earth. Radio messages take 17 minutes to travel across this vast expanse of space.
Philae went into hibernation after bouncing into a dark ditch on landing.
The resting place had high walls that obscured the Sun, resulting in the robot's batteries flat-lining within three days.
With 67P sweeping in towards the Sun, these conditions have changed. Philae's solar panels are now getting longer and more intense exposure to the Sun.
Running surface experiments today would be even better than back in November.
That is because 67P is approaching perihelion - its closest point to our star.
The icy body is now throwing off copious amounts of gas and dust. If, as theory holds, comets are leftovers from the formation of the Solar System, then analysis of all this ejected material should yield remarkable insights into the initial conditions that gave rise to the planets.
You can watch The Sky At Night's Rosetta Update - A Comet's Story on Tuesday 16 June at 23:55 on BBC Four


The mayor of London says he wants a victory parade to be held in the city to celebrate the achievements of Team GB's Olympians and Paralympians.

Sadiq Khan told the BBC: "I'm keen for it to happen."
But he said he needed to speak to the government to find "the best way" to mark the athletes' achievements in Rio de Janeiro.
A Downing Street spokesman said the government would set out its plans for a celebration in due course.
"We want to make sure that the fantastic achievements of our Olympic heroes are properly recognised and we are working on plans to celebrate their success," he said.
Team GB is currently ranked second in the Rio 2016 medals table, with 56 in total - including 22 gold.
London has hosted victory parades for returning Olympic and Paralympic athletes since the 2004 Athens Games.
But four-time Olympic gold medal winner Sir Matthew Pinsent has raised doubts as to whether a parade will happen.
He tweeted: "Heard from 2 different sources today that there won't be a @TeamGB parade this year."
Meanwhile, there are calls for the parade to be held outside the capital.
On Thursday, former Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme "there should certainly be a parade", but it was a question of where to have it.
"We don't necessarily want to insist that every moment of national celebration is held in London. What about Birmingham? What about Manchester? Hull will be the city of culture," she said.
Former Labour Sports Minister Richard Caborn told the Daily Mail: "It should not just be another big event in London for the tourists - why shouldn't it be in Sheffield, or in Leeds?"
Smaller parades are expected to be held for individual athletes in their home towns.
The town council in Stone, Staffordshire, has said it will hold a parade for K1 slalom gold medallist Joe Clarke, 23, who will be hoisted aloft in his kayak on 29 August.


A Belfast man who assisted his wife in a £1m fraud on her employers has been jailed for a year.

Samuel Noel Savage, 60, of Kincora Mews -  who uses a wheelchair - was handed a two-year sentence on two charges.
Savage admitted entering into an arrangement to acquire criminal property, and converting criminal property.
His wife, Dolores Savage, was jailed earlier this year for her role in the fraud.
'No credible explanation'
The judge told Belfast Crown Court that none of the £1,044,000 stolen from medical equipment supplies company Arjo Huntleigh had been repaid.
He said there had been "no credible explanation whatsoever" given by Savage as to how the money was spent, apart from a claim it was used to clear household bills.
Savage was told he would spend a year in prison, followed by an additional year spent on supervised licence upon his release.
A previous court hearing was told that over a seven-year period from June 2006 to December 2013, Savage lodged hundreds of cheques into an account controlled by him which his wife Dolores stole from her employers.
Abuse of position
In total, 808 separate transactions were made.
Earlier this year, Dolores Savage, 59, also from Kincora Mews, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position, and obtaining money transfers by deception.
She, too, is to serve a year in prison followed by a year on licence.
Dolores Savage carried out the fraud by making invoices identical to the ones on the company's computer system for a supplier.
The offending occurred when she worked in the accounts department of the firm's Belfast branch.
The court heard that the "prinicpal beneficiary of the dishonest conduct" was a company called Savnac, which was owned by the couple.
Prior to sentence being passed, the judge said he accepted that Samuel Savage suffered a number of serious and debilitating illnesses, and that he required the use of a wheelchair.


A vigil has been held in Belfast city centre to pay tribute to the MP Jo Cox who was killed on Thursday.

The event outside Belfast City Hall was organised by members of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland to express their "shock, outrage and sadness".
The SDLP MP for South Belfast Alasdair McDonnell was among those who signed a book of condolence.
Thomas Mair, 52, has appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with the murder of Mrs Cox.
A memorial fund set up in her name has topped Â£600,000.
The funds raised in the memorial fund will support three causes her husband, Brendan Cox, said were close to her heart, including the The Royal Voluntary Service, HOPE not hate and The White Helmets.
Parliament will be recalled on Monday to allow MPs to pay further tributes to Mrs Cox.


Bodmin Town won the Cornwall Senior Cup for the fifth time in seven years as they crushed Godolphin Athletic 7-0 in the final at Treyew Road.

Andrew Neale hit a second-half hat-trick, Steve Bowker scored two and Adam Carter and Shane Jewell also netted.
Bodmin are still on course for a Cornish treble this season.
They are unbeaten at the top of the South West Peninsula League (SWPL) and face either Godolphin or Launceston in the SWPL League Cup final in May.
"They deserve it, they've been a great bunch, they've worked hard for me, the club and everybody," Bodmin Town manager Darren Gilbert told BBC Radio Cornwall.


1798 - British navigator Captain John Fearn, sailing past Nauru from New Zealand to the China Seas, names it Pleasant Island.
Phosphate strip mining has rendered much of the island a wasteland.
1888 - Nauru annexed by Germany as part of the Marshall Islands Protectorate.
1900 - British company discovers phosphate on the island.
1906 - Phosphate mining begins. Britain divides profits with German firm.
1914 - Nauru seized by Australian troops.
1919 - League of Nations grants joint mandate to Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand.
1942-45 - Nauru occupied by the Japanese. Some 1,200 Nauruans - two-thirds of the population - deported to Micronesia to work as forced labourers. Five hundred die from starvation or bombing.
1947 - Nauru made UN trust territory under Australian administration.
1966 - Nauru Legislative Council elected.
1967 - Nauruans gain control of phosphate mining.
1968 - Independence. First president is Hammer DeRoburt.
1969 - Nauru becomes associate member of Commonwealth.
1989 - UN report on greenhouse effect warns Nauru might disappear beneath the sea in the 21st Century.
1989 - Nauru sues Australia in the International Court of Justice for additional phosphate royalties dating back to trusteeship period, and compensation for mining damage.
1993 - Australia agrees to pay out-of-court settlement of $73m over 20 years. New Zealand and the UK agree to pay a one-time settlement of $8.2m each.
1999 - Nauru joins the United Nations.
Australia detained would-be immigrants on Nauru
2002: Australia's 'Pacific Solution'
Controversial policy scrapped
2013: Australia opens Nauru asylum camp
2001 August - Australia pays Nauru to hold asylum seekers picked up trying to enter Australia illegally.
2002 June - Nauru holds some 1,000 asylum seekers on Australia's behalf. President Rene Harris says Canberra's promise that they would be gone by May has been broken.
Leadership changes
2003 January - Bernard Dowiyogo becomes president after a tussle for power with Rene Harris. Dowiyogo describes Nauru's situation as "critical".
2003 March - Dowiyogo agrees to US demands to wind-up Nauru's offshore banking industry amid money-laundering allegations. Shortly after this, Dowiyogo dies after heart surgery in the US.
2003 May - Ludwig Scotty elected as president but ousted in vote of no-confidence.
2003 August - Rene Harris re-elected as president.
2003 December - Some asylum seekers at Australia's offshore detention centre on Nauru stage a hunger strike.
2004 April onwards - Country defaults on loan payments, its assets are placed in receivership in Australia.
2004 June - President Rene Harris loses vote of no confidence and resigns. Ludwig Scotty is elected president.
2004 July - Australia sends officials to take charge of Nauru's state finances.
2004 September - President Scotty sacks parliament after it fails to pass reform budget by deadline.
2004 October - General elections: Ludwig Scotty re-elected unopposed.
2005 May - Nauru agrees to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after a break of nearly three years. The move angers China, which accuses Nauru of being interested only in "material gains".
2005 October - Financial Action Task Force, set up to fight money laundering, removes Nauru from its list of uncooperative countries.
The island's economic collapse left it with decaying infrastructure
2005 December - Air Nauru's only aircraft is repossessed by a US bank after the country fails to make debt repayments.
2006 September - Australia sends Burmese asylum seekers to Nauru.
2007 March - Australia sends Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Nauru.
2007 December - President Scotty ousted in a no-confidence vote. Marcus Stephen chosen as replacement.
2008 February - Australia ends its policy of sending asylum seekers into detention on small Pacific islands, with the last refugees leaving Nauru.
2008 April - Government of President Stephen returned to office in snap elections, ending months of parliamentary deadlock over the budget.
2008 November - Finance Minister Kieran Keke announces plans to set up private bank to fill gap left by collapse of state Bank of Nauru in 1998. Australian banks have declined an invitation to provide banking services to the country.
2010 March - Voters reject raft of constitutional changes aimed at stabilising government and strengthen human rights in referendum.
2010 April - Early parliamentary elections fail to produce outright winner. Mr Stephen's administration continues in caretaker role while negotiations continue.
2010 June - Parliamentary elections again fail to produce a clear winner.
2010 November - Parliament re-elects President Stephen for second three-year term under a coalition deal aimed at ending an eight-month political impasse.
2011 November - President Stephen resigns amid corruption allegations. MPs elect Freddy Pitcher to succeed him.
A week later, Mr Pitcher is ousted by a no-confidence vote, and Sprent Dabwido is elected president.
2012 June - President Dabwido sacks his cabinet, citing a legislative impasse.
2012 September - Australia opens a new detention camp for asylum-seekers on Nauru under its new offshore immigration policy.
2012 November - Rights group Amnesty describes Australia's camp for asylum-seekers on Nauru as appalling.
2012 November - Commonwealth Secretariat promises to help Nauru with funding to tackle climate change and rising sea levels.
2013 July - Police and security guards restore order after a full-scale riot breaks out at an Australian-run immigration detention camp on the island.
2015 January - Australian and Cambodian officials visit Nauru after signing a controversial refugees resettlement deal.
2016 August - The Guardian newspaper in London says leaked incident reports paint a picture of routine cruelty towards young asylum seekers on Nauru.
2016 October - The Nauru government labels the Australian Broadcasting Corporation "an embarrassment to journalism" following a damning report on the island's regional processing system.


The government has overturned plans for what would have been England's largest onshore wind farm.

Peel Energy wanted to add a further 16 wind turbines at Scout Moor between Rochdale and Rossendale.
Planning permission was granted in 2015 but that decision was called in by the government.
Its final ruling rejected proposals for a further 14 turbines in Rossendale but approved plans for two in Rochdale.
The announcement by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid follows a public inquiry into the planning decision by Rochdale and Rossendale councils.
Keadby, Lincolnshire 68 MW (34 turbines - 2 MW each)
Fullabrook Down, Devon 66 MW (22 turbines - 3 MW each)
Scout Moor, Lancashire 65 MW (26 turbines - 2.5 MW each)
Little Cheyne Court, Kent 59.8 MW (26 turbines - 2.3 MW each)
Ray Estate, Northumberland 54.4 MW (16 turbines - 3.4 MW each)
MW = Megawatts
Source: RenewableUK
Mr Javid agreed with the planning inspector that the area which fell under application A, on land in Rossendale, was valued for its "openness and tranquillity".
The 115m wind turbines would have had a "significant adverse effect" on the landscape and views, he ruled.
While he acknowledged, the two turbines in application B, in Rochdale, would also have a "significant adverse effect" on the openness of green belt land, he said the benefits of the increased production of renewable energy would "outweigh the harm identified".
The turbines in application B would "integrate well with the existing wind farm", he added.
There are 26 existing wind turbines on Scout Moor producing electricity for the national grid.
Proposals to double the size of the site had already been scaled down after a public consultation.
Peel Energy have six weeks to apply to the High Court if they want to challenge the decision.