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Here are the main points from the day:

• Tata Steel is to push ahead with plans to close both blast furnaces at its Port Talbot works in south Wales, the BBC understands
• This is expected to lead to the loss of 3,000 jobs, with the majority at the Port Talbot site

• A large proportion of these are expected to be gone by September
• Tata is expected to formally announce the plan at 11:30 GMT tomorrow
• The decision follows a meeting in London between Tata executives and trade unions

You can read the story in full here.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies has hit out at English Labour MPs "who know nothing about this".

The Monmouth MP criticises them saying: "They have had no part in any of the discussions, saying we are using taxpayers money to lose jobs".

He adds: "They don't know what they're talking about. We're putting half a billion pounds up to save 5,000 jobs."

He says he is concerned Tata could still walk away and urges unions and Labour: "For God's sake don't push away the £1.2 billion investment that could save 5,000 jobs."

Gareth Lewis
Political Editor, BBC Wales

Some of the political argument has centred around not the what, but the how.

How should the steel industry move away from its coal-burning carbon-emitting present to a greener future?

The UK Government agreed to give Tata £500m to help build a new electric-arc furnace in Port Talbot - so although 3,000 jobs will, go 5,000 will be saved.

Labour has complained the money came too late, was less than other European governments had given, that the transition to electric will happen too quickly and the plans aren’t ambitious enough.

But if unions go on strike what does Labour do?

Do they back it, knowing their own plans for steel if they come to power at Westminster would also involve de-carbonising and accompanying job losses?

How would Tata react to a strike at a plant losing more than a million pounds a day?

The Welsh Secretary said that after meeting Tata he’s worried that a high-profile campaign might lead to them walking away completely.

And for workers – how much planning has been done by both UK and Welsh Governments to make sure the transition to new jobs is as quick and painless as possible?

In a statement issued on Thursday, Tata says it has been talking "regularly and constructively" with trade unions about how to create a sustainable green future for the company in the UK.

"When we have any formal announcement to make about our proposals for the future, we will always share these with our employees first," it adds.

Image source, ROO LEWIS

Image source, Getty Images

Former Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns has urged trade unions to be “cautious” in how they respond to Tata Steel's plans to close both blast furnaces at its Port Talbot works.

The Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, whose father used to work as a welder at the Port Talbot plant, says he understands the worry families will be feeling.

“I can remember being in school when more than 10,000 people worked there and the numbers were being halved. It was a major worry as to who was going to be retained and who wasn’t," he says.

Cairns was involved in UK government talks to try and rescue the steelworks in 2016. “I remember having to convince Tata in 2016 to keep it [Port Talbot steelworks] operating or to sell it because it was losing so much money.

He urges the unions to act "responsibly".

"If they walk out and start striking, I would be worried that they could walk away. This operation has cost them [Tata] hundreds of millions of pounds over recent years. A time will come where they say enough is enough."

Photographer Roo Lewis's earliest memories of the steelworks are of pressing his nose against the car window on the way to his granddad's in Pembrokeshire.

The 38-year-old sees the town as "a dreamland".

Lewis recalls: "He told us it was a space station and there's always that air of mystery about the place and, yes, it's a steelworks, but growing up it was this place of magic and mystery.

"And I know it sounds silly, but it's iconic, everyone knows the Port Talbot skyline."

He recalls watching the furnaces light up the sky one summer evening from a hotel.

He adds: "You've got the sea glowing blue, you've got the light, the clouds on fire and then mountains and waterfalls and sand dunes and everyone walks around like it's normal."

Image source, ROO LEWIS

Shaun Spencer has worked at the plant for two years and spoke to the BBC after finishing his day shift.

He says the mood has been positive on site for most of the day, but changed in the last couple of hours as the news came in.

The question now is where the workers go next, he says.

“With a little bit of reflection, I think a lot of people will come to terms with it over the weekend and the next week or two," he says.

“It’s going to be difficult for some, it’s going to be easier for others.

“The technical people like the electricians, the fitters, they might not be as bad as the semi-skilled workers, the production workers, what have you.

"There’s going to be a lot of high-quality jobs gone, and I don’t know where they’re going to be replaced."

As we've been reporting, some 3,000 jobs are expected to be cut UK-wide as a result of Tata Steel's plans to push ahead with the closure of both blast furnaces at its Port Talbot works in south Wales.

The firm plans to switch to steelmaking in an electric arc furnace which will be more environmentally friendly, but requires a smaller workforce.

Here's a look at where steel jobs have been lost around the UK since 2015.

David Rees, the Labour Member of the Senedd for Aberavon and deputy presiding officer of the Welsh Parliament, says the plans to close two blast furnaces at Tata Steel's Port Talbot site will have a “huge impact upon our communities".

"This will see a huge loss of employment, at a time when people are going to be struggling financially anyway," he says.

He calls for Tata Steel to defer the closure "of perhaps the second blast furnace" to ensure the site could still make steel.

Felicity Evans
Money editor, BBC Wales

Image source, Getty Images

As a reminder, Tata Steel is planning to close two blast furnaces at its Port Talbot site in south Wales, replacing them with a modern electric arc furnace - it'll be more environmentally friendly but require fewer workers.

An electric arc furnace (EAF) recycles scrap metal into steel.

The process uses electric current and is therefore a low-carbon alternative to blast furnaces which rely on coal.

One recent study, external suggested that EAF steelmaking can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 70%.

There is also a lot more automation with an EAF which means fewer workers are required to operate it.

Image source, Getty Images

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised the UK Conservative government for "failing" the steel industry in Wales.

Leader Jane Dodds said: “I am deeply disappointed to hear that Tata Steel will be closing their remaining blast furnaces in the UK.

"The UK Conservative government, through their inability to support investment into UK steel, has failed towns like Port Talbot across the country. We are here, on the verge of witnessing the destruction of Port Talbot.

"They will never know, and they simply will never care."

Alan Coombs, a representative for the Community Union at Tata in Port Talbot, says it will be "disastrous" if the plans go ahead.

“All we’re hearing is rumours... constant rumours all the time and everybody’s worried. It’s a difficult situation. The worry’s turning to anger, there’s a lot of anger," he said.

Steffan Messenger
BBC Wales Environment Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

We'll be hearing a lot about Port Talbot's blast furnaces.

They're a big part of what goes on at the site - and tower over it, both clearly visible when you drive past on the M4.

Lumps of iron ore, dug from the ground, are fed into them and come out as purer liquid iron to be turned into steel.

Carbon - in the form of coal - is a key ingredient in the actual chemical process - leading to a lot of CO2 emissions being produced.

Switching to steelmaking in an electric arc furnace would take the plant in a different direction. Instead of making steel from scratch they'd be melting down scrap metal, giving new life to old products.

As the name suggests - the new furnace would run off electricity - the idea being that over time more and more of this would come from green sources like wind and solar.

Plaid Cymru members for south Wales say Tata should "focus on retraining and reskilling" instead of cutting jobs as it looks to decarbonise its sites.

In a joint statement, Luke Fletcher MS and Sioned Williams MS said: "The UK government and Welsh government must step in to make sure that those who face job losses get support urgently.

“This is going to have a devastating impact on not only the people of Port Talbot and its neighbouring communities but on the local and national economy.”

The heyday of the UK steel industry has gone - compared to the early 1970s when 320,000 worked in it, nearly 20,000 of them in Port Talbot.

Even in 1990, its importance to the whole economy saw steel worth 0.3% of total output. But by 2021 that was less than 0.1%.

But although there has been a decline, it is still important for local jobs. In Port Talbot the steelworks is synonymous with the community.

It dominates the skyline and Tata is still a big employer, paying more than double the minimum wage (more than a third higher than the average salary) and putting millions of pounds a year into the economy.

One economist who has studied the impact of Tata - Cardiff University's Professor Calvin Jones - called it "the most economically important private sector company in Wales".

Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, says Tata Steel is "playing games with people’s livelihoods".

"Whatever and however they announce their plans for Port Talbot, Unite will fight tooth and nail to defend steel workers and our steel industry," she said.

She added the UK government "now needs to step in and step up".

"Politicians need to make the right choices now or they will not be forgiven easily.”

What is the carbon footprint of Port Talbot?published at 16:29 Greenwich Mean Time 18 January

16:29 GMT 18 January

Felicity Evans
Money editor, BBC Wales

Image source, Getty Images

Tata UK Steel has set the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 and being net-neutral by 2045.

The company says its Port Talbot plant is ranked "in the top third of the most carbon dioxide efficient integrated steelworks in the global benchmark".

But despite the efforts to reduce carbon emissions, the plant remains a big carbon polluter - it's responsible for 2% of the UK's overall carbon emissions, external.

The UK government has said it will support "both affected employees and the local economy".

A spokesperson said: “We are determined to secure a sustainable and competitive future for the UK steel sector.

"[This is] why we have committed £500m of UK government support that will transform the site and protect thousands of jobs – both in Port Talbot and throughout the supply chain.

"There is a broad range of support for staff affected, including a dedicated transition board backed by £80m funding from UK government and £20m from Tata Steel."

Port Talbot's history of steel making goes back more than a century, but the current plant was built in the 1950s.

In its heyday it employed 20,000 people, but even today, with a workforce of around 4,000, it remains a key economic and cultural presence for the town.

The plant's workers have sports teams and even hold Christmas pantomimes and Tata sponsors local activities like the recent Richard Burton 10k run.

But it's a significant contributor to the wider Welsh and UK economies too - Tata says that in 2020-21 it contributed 3% of the total Welsh economic output and it paid average salaries that were 36% higher than the UK average.

Image source, Getty Images

"Large scale job losses would be a crushing blow to Port Talbot and UK manufacturing in general," said GMB boss Charlotte Brumpton-Childs.

“It doesn’t have to be this way - unions provided a realistic, costed alternative that would rule out all compulsory redundancies.

“This plan appears to have fallen on deaf ears and now steelworkers and their families will suffer."