30 November 2011
Last updated at 07:25 ET
Unions say the strike is set to be the biggest single day of industrial unrest since the Winter of Discontent
Public sector workers around the UK are staging a strike over pensions in what unions say could be the biggest walkout for a generation.
Thousands of schools are closed and hospital operations have been cancelled. Courts and government offices are among disrupted services.
The chancellor urged more talks, saying strikes would not achieve anything.
Unions object to government plans to make their members pay more and work longer to earn their pensions.
The strike is having the following effects:
