as we primrose hill in north london. as we have been hearing the first heavy snowfalls of winter have hit large swathes of the country today, bringing with it dangerous driving conditions and causing transport delays. how are things that are?” am slightly regretting coming up here now. across london and the home counties we have had a mix of sleet, snow and rain. it is not settling very much in central london, but around the outskirts it is. transport for london, responsible for keeping much of the network running, has a lot of work to do overnight. they see the gritters are out this evening. they have enough grip to grit london every single day for five months grip to grit london every single day forfive months which, as i am sure they and the rest of london hopes will not be necessary —— to grit london with enough grit everything a day for five months. london with enough grit everything a day forfive months. it london with enough grit everything a day for five months. it is london with enough grit everything a day forfive months. it is notjust central london but they have to look after, but the outskirts as well, where some cases are finding the snow is settling. at heathrow airport there has been some destruction as well. it has been

snowing theirfor destruction as well. it has been snowing their for couple of hours or so. snowing their for couple of hours or so. no great amounts, but they have had to free up some of the schedule in case of further delays for this. at gatwick five flights were delayed and the rcn, basically, check before you travel. i know it is not a huge amount of snow in london but a lot of people have to move around it and the thing that will happen next is that as soon as this rain sleet and snow moves out of the way the skies we re snow moves out of the way the skies were clear, the temperatures will plummet and everything under the wet at the moment is going to freeze the black case is a real concern through the night tonight, and indeed for the night tonight, and indeed for the morning commute tomorrow there really will be quite dangerous conditions particularly on roads that have not seen any grit, down in the home counties. it is worth leaving some extra time in london tomorrow if you're heading off to work and, my goodness, wrap up warm because it is absolutely perishing here on primrose hill in central

london this evening. we will not leave you out there too much longer. thank you for that. you're watching bbc news. our headlines this evening... donald trump says the director of national intelligence has called him to condemn a leaked report — claiming the president—elect was vulnerable to blackmail by russia. severe weather is causing disruption across many parts of the uk — with snow and strong winds affecting travel — and forcing schools to close. tributes have been paid to the former england manager — graham taylor — who's died at the age of 72, from a suspected heart attack. here is a look at the markets for you. the ftse 100 notching up its you. the ftse100 notching up its 11th record close as sterling dipped on the news the prime minister will deliver a major brexit speech next tuesday. volkswagen has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the united states for using illegal software to cheat emissions tests for its diesel vehicles. its been ordered to pay fines

of more than 5.5 billion by the us government against a car manufacturer. — the largest penalty ever levied by the us government against a car manufacturer. sarah corker reports. it's been dubbed the diesel dupe, the world's second biggest car—maker rigging environmental tests for diesel emissions, and now volkswagen will play a heavy price for what us authorities have described as a ten—year conspiracy. the fine of £3.5 billion is the biggest ever levied by the us government against a car—maker. vw has already agreed a {12.3 billion civil settlement with car owners and environmental authorities, and, worldwide, 11 million vehicles are involved in this scandal. the us attorney general said vw lied to cover up its actions. hundreds of thousands of cars that volkswagen sold in the united states were pumping illegal levels of nitrogen oxides into our atmosphere, up to a0 times more than the amounts permitted underfederal law.

now, what's more, these vehicles were equipped with software that masked the true amount of the pollutants the cars released. and it looks as though us regulators are farfrom finished. six executives have been formally charged with conspiracy. volkswagen says it deeply regrets the behaviour that led to this scandal, but there's still a turbulent road ahead, as the company faces potentially damaging lawsuits in europe. tidal lagoons — could they be part of britain's future power supplies? well — the answer according to a government funded review is an unequivocal ‘yes'. a review of the idea says the technology of harnessing

tidal power is viable, and the first scheme should be built at swansea bay. here's our environment analyst, roger harrabin. will this be the uk's latest source of low—carbon energy? the tides in swansea bay are some of the highest in the world, and utterly predictable, so why not build a sea wall to capture the outgoing tide? that's the plan from a private firm. the sea wall will trap the outgoing tide, then hydroelectric turbines will generate power as the water flows through the gaps in the sea wall. the cost was thought too high for bill payers to bear. but a review says the annual subsidy isn't as high as it first appeared. if you spread the cost of the subsidy over the 120 lifetime, bear in mind these will last two times as long as a nuclear power station, three or four times as long as an offshore wind farm, if you look at it in that way, then essentially the cost of this for a consumer is less than a pint of milk on their electricity bills every year. that's why i think it's affordable. supporters hope we'll see lagoons dotted along the western shores. that'll bring down the cost, they say. this is a pathfinder project.

we need the government to get on with it. we need manufacturing scale to support industrial regeneration. it's great renewable energy and it's great for supporting jobs, both in the uk and in wales. but what about wildlife? friends of the earth support the lagoon for the clean energy it'll produce. the bird charity rspb are cautious about the impacts. the anglers are dead against. it would chop up fish, it would delay their migration, it could have impacts on seals and dolphins, with loss of habitat in the severn estuary, but furthermore the economics on which this scheme is based are based on a 120—year life span, and that's a huge time during which other technologies could come on stream, and we just don't think the lagoons will last that long before they get clogged up with silt. plans at swansea are ready to go. today's report suggests the government should agree terms for one lagoon, then wait and see. roger harrabin, bbc news.

a 72—year—old female rally driver is coming out of retirement — to drive the original car in which she competed in the world rally cup almost 50 years ago. in 1970 bronwyn burrell was the youngest driver in the race from london to mexico. now she's been reunited with her austin maxi sports car, and is preparing to get behind the wheel again to recreate her epic drive. she's currently in training, and john maguire went along to meet her. wembley, 1970, and a car rally marks the handover of the world cup hosting duties from england to mexico. sir alf ramsey waves them off, and in car 20, three women about to start a 16,000 mile race. we were going to be away for six weeks. it seemed like a lifetime, but wasn't a lifetime, it was a flash. this is us both in our lovely green c&a dresses and red puffer jackets and down the ramp. we were starting our huge adventure.

gosh, we were young, weren't we? i think i was the youngest. i had very long hair. it was so unmanageable, really. it was a stupid thing not to have short hairfor that. the team was well—prepared, mechanically and personally. so we decided the best bet here was to have paper knickers, so we had colour—coded paper knickers. i think mine were... mine were probably white. i think tish was pink, and tina was blue. so we could discard them, didn't have to worry about washing knickers. such ingenuity may now return, as almost 50 years on, bron has recently brought their original car, nicknamed puff the magic wagon, and they're ready to race again. back with the car again. but what a shame tish is no longer with us. i know, she'd love this, she'd love to be doing it all again, like we're going to be doing. we're going to miss her, we are going to need to change a tyre you know.

yes, exactly. thejoy was she'd be pumping up, jacking up the tyre, you'd be loosening the nuts, i'd be getting the wheel off. and then... give me the wheel, back on the roof or in the car. throw it into the car. a minute and 50 seconds? that was right. something like that. i tell you what, shall we take her out on the track? yes. shall we give it a go? give it a go. see if we can still do it. bron hasn't driven competitively since the early ‘70s, but you would never guess. as you can see, bron definitely comes from a rallying background. she's certainly not lacking in confidence out there in the car today, but you also see as well she's making quite a lot of little mistakes and that's why she's coming back to us a little bit in the future, to have those tweaks. in april, they'll drive to portugal once again, this time in a classic car rally. it's a bit more controlled, because of health and safety. you can't do what you used to do. we used to do rallies and have one night's sleep in five days. not anymore. the sport may have changed, but the car — and especially the driver — look as fast and furious as ever. john maguire, bbc news, 0xfordshire. good luck to her!

time for a look at the weather. john hammond has all the details. a lot of weather coming our way. how bad will it get? it is bad if you are about to head out in london, for example. some snore around, no settling. but let's get this in perspective. i have just settling. but let's get this in perspective. i havejust been looking back 30 years ago today. we had blizzards across east anglia and the south—east, which i can remember. and daytime highs across many parts of the uk were between —6 and minus eight. it was the coldest day of the 20th century. so, yes, it is called out there, but let's get things in perspective. a little winter, yes, and it has been so mild of course so far —— it is cold out there. it started off so wet. turning to sleep, as you can see there, then in the last hour or so

turning to snore. within the m25, a slushy covering, but in the suburbs and hills around london some of this white stuff no depositing a few centimetres of snow —— turning to snow. it will turn to snow. an hour 01’ snow. it will turn to snow. an hour or two back of that will give a good covering, perhaps more. it does not hang around but are starting to clear away and that will continue through the rest of the evening —— an hourortwo of through the rest of the evening —— an hour or two of that. then the skies were clear and temperatures will drop like a stone and everything will freeze, water, flush and snow. a very icy night out there, not just and snow. a very icy night out there, notjust in the south. we will continue to have these snow showers across the north and west. a good old blizzard in the north of scotla nd good old blizzard in the north of scotland raging with deals battering north sea coasts. needless to say it will be cold with temperatures often below freezing where you have snow

cover. in the north of scotland, in the early hours, little band of sleet and snow beginning to head out of their two eastern counties of england. it will give a centimetre 01’ so england. it will give a centimetre or so of snow inland. more rain and sleet on the coast but in time for the rush hour it had crossed the london area giving that another dusting in some places. wherever you are tomorrow morning, this could well be the scene. take care on the roads. warning in force from the met 0ffice. be aware of the risks tonight. i mentioned deals on the north sea coast and there is a real risk of that storm surge down the coast there. for the rest of us it will not feel warm. the brisk wind despite the sunshine will make it feel cold. 5 degrees if you're lucky in london where you have —— but where you have snow cover temperatures will struggle to get much above freezing. friday night and saturday after another hard frost will be a chilly day. more sunshine to come but more showers in coastal areas. they will begin to turn back to rain, really, in the

west. as something a bit milder edgesin west. as something a bit milder edges in off the atlantic. the rate of progress of this milder air is something to keep an eye on. eastern parts of the uk probably staying chilly through the weekend. all the warnings can of course be found on the bbc weather website. i will be backin the bbc weather website. i will be back in half an hour. tonight we're joined by two stars of the bbc detective series death in paradise — one is smooth but stern. the other could occasionally give inspector clouseau a run for his money. you are new, inspector. laughter the best team chewing on tv, no

doubt about it. —— the best tv theme tune, no doubt about it. apart from this one, obviously. please welcome the stars of death in paradise — don warrington and kris marshall! applause great to have you here. a world away from the caribbean. we have got some great pictures from across the uk. not great, if you are struggling to get home, but youngsters will be at the building snowmen. youngsters will be at the building snowmen. you have put this weather down to the fact that debt in paradise is so successful on tv? —— death in paradise. yes, the bbc have made a rather astute choice in placing death in paradise in the schedules when everyone is a bit broke after christmas, a little flat. —— fat. it is part of the reason it is so popular. escapism.

escapism, people like to be at home. i love it. 8 this is bbc news. the headlines at 7pm. after the president—elect accused america's intelligence agencies of leaking unproven allegations about him — mr trump's nominee for cia chief strikes a very different note. they did jobs in a professional way and theiraim was they did jobs in a professional way and their aim was also to give truth and their aim was also to give truth and depth to policymakers. arctic weather causes disruption across many parts of the uk with snow and strong winds affecting travel and forcing schools to close. iamat iam atan i am at an education centre in essex as the town prepares for heavy flooding. the footballing world pays tribute to the former england football manager, graham taylor, who's died at the age of 72. i held