this is bbc news — and these are the top stories developing at 11:00. wintry weather continues to take its toll across parts of the uk. severe flood warnings are in place along the east of england mid fears thousands of homes are at risk from a storm surge. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they faced unprecedented pressures. labour's tristram hunt is to stand down as an mp — triggering a by—election in stoke—on—trent central. also, the end of a bromance, president obama awards a tearful joe biden the presidential medal of freedom, the highest us civilian honour. the government says it's urgently seeking information from us regulators about claims that fiat—chrysler has been flouting pollution laws. and the british tennis number one winds herfinal warm and the british tennis number one winds her final warm up and the british tennis number one winds herfinal warm up tournament before the australian open.

good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. snow across country... it has caused disruption as winds bring cold weather from the arctic. the environment agency says the first high tide along the east coast of england this morning was not as bad as feared but thousands of homes still face a danger of flooding. currently there are 11 severe warnings which mean there is a danger to life. this is the picture in skegness were

snow has been lighter but flood warnings have been issued and soldiers have been deployed to assist where needed. where some might have been cursing the conditions this morning, others of course have been making the most of it here near birmingham. meanwhile, in canterbury in kent while it was knowing this morning i is now seems to be more of an issue. this is the scene coming up for you from the roof of the bbc here in london where it has recently started to snow. we we re it has recently started to snow. we were taught to our number of correspondence in the next while to feel what weather conditions are like in various parts of the uk. you're ina like in various parts of the uk. you're in a snowy hill somewhere. how are things there? i'm in worcestershire. i was on the m 42

hours ago but now you can heat is quite pretty. we've got a covering of snow, a covering in some parts of the west midlands. staffordshire the worst affected with 100 schools shut their and the strong winds have brought down power lines which means that around 11100 homes up there are without power although they are trying to get them back on about 110w. trying to get them back on about now. the main trouble at the moment is this wind which is causing problems and the slippy conditions out on the roads which have not been treated by the grid. most of the main roads are clear but there have been reports of minor accidents with ca i’s been reports of minor accidents with cars skidding off the roads here and there as well. really, people have been out enjoying it this morning. if the schools had been shut here we would have seen kids out on sledgers. we have seen a few but not many. the dogs are enjoying the snow. it is a covering of snow, it is not the worst we have ever seen and it is not covering massive

disruption. the snow in london fell a couple of hours ago and things are gradually improving. thank you very much for that. the environment agency have issued a number of warnings and alerts. there are 11 severe flood warnings across england and wales which means there is a danger to life. 90 warnings where flooding is expected and immediate action is required. 73 alerts where flooding is possible and individuals should be prepared for rising water levels. speaking with the environment agency injaywick — lisa pinney said severe warnings were still in place in some parts of the east of england. what we're seeing, we're doing with two types here today. the initial tide at midday is looking slightly better than forecast which is great news but the important thing is that the winds can pick up at any time so we are continuing to tell people to be vigilant. we were rather they

we re be vigilant. we were rather they were here where they are safe. that continues. look into this evening we still have real concerns and the rear is a possibility the warnings may go up again later in the day. i use saying there is a possibility of flooding here in essex and across the skies this evening? absolutely. this evening are still looking but it could reach ruby higher—level so encourage people to stay safe, be vigilant and to keep listening to our warnings and the emergency surfaces and take action as needed. let's get more on that potential flooding. let go to debbie in great yarmouth. bring us up—to—date on the situation there. as you can see it is snowing now but the main problem is that severe flood warning which is a danger to life and that is because the danger of the high tides and also winds predicted here between 50—60 mph. the high tide is expected at 9:15pm

tonight and that is why the authorities have started to evacuate 5000 property agrees. they're using the military and environment agency and police to call out every single house to make sure that they can nationally moved from their houses. you can see behind me the cloud, so has set up a sandbagging area and are offering free sound and beanbags for people to come here and actually fill up their sandbags to put back up fill up their sandbags to put back up their houses. many have told me they have moved their carpets and furniture and even their pets upstairs, ready for that water to possibly come in this evening. they will have an evacuation centre to go toa will have an evacuation centre to go to a rest centre. they will be openedin to a rest centre. they will be opened in the next hour or so. the advice is, from the environment agency, basically don't get too close to those waves because they will have also some debris in them including rocks and don't take yourself in danger by taking photos of the dramatic weather. do not dry through the flood water because up

to 30 centimetres of water, flowing water, can move your car. it seems there will be about 12 hours of disruptions here. people arejust hoping that those high winds never arrive. absolutely. let's go to our correspondent in clacton. just remind us what the situation is with warning in the area where you are. there are red and yellow warning is in place but the situation has changed. there were concerns about the high tide this afternoon, which was due at 1pm. they are now concerned that the environment agency, are concerned, about the high tide at midnight. they are urging residents to evacuate. as you can see behind me, usually the ec would be a couple of hundred meters away and it is coming towards the small, which is the final defence before it reaches these hands behind us. before it reaches these hands behind us. it does not seem to be pitting of residence here. hazel, you have decided to brave the weather to walk

your docs. why? they need to go to the toilet. are you not worried? i am not worried, no. it is life, isn't it? life is all about risk and you have to get on with it. it is another day. were you here during the floods a couple of years ago? i was. i did evacuate because i was frightened but i will break it out this time. really? yes. i queue so much, hazel. as you can imagine, people are worried but it seems as though people are braving the weather. thank you. with me is our weather presenter louise lear. two main things to talk about. the snow, the rainfall and flood risk. let's talk about the snow first of all and what is happening with that. it has to be said that it is generally an improving picture through today but there are some

tricky elements that we have got to encounter. hopefully into this afternoon we will see some sunshine coming through but it will stay bitterly cold. let's take a look at the snow. it is quite interesting at the snow. it is quite interesting at the moment. if we look at the snow showers, here they are, they're moving down through the midlands and east anglia and the south—east corner. that is where we have got the snow as you have seen. not too much disruption from them but they will be giving a light covering on the grass and of course, that could potentially lead to some ice risks when temperatures fall away. the snow showers up into scotland but in comparison to yesterday it is a better picture in scotland. the winds you will be deep feature. gale force on the east coast. raw and horrible. it is the winds down at east coast which is the issue later on in the day. in terms of the weather, look a much relative dry weather, look a much relative dry weather we got through the day. how much sunshine we're going to see this afternoon and one to coastal

showers coming in. rain, sleet, snow. it is an improving picture weather—wise. shall we talk about the coastal flooding? let's talk about the storms urges and so on we are hearing about. as that system clears the clues to the south, we are likely then to see some issues with the coastal storms into the east anglia coast. we have a filming at the moment, said the gravitational pull of the moon is at its strongest across the waters. that potentially, coupled with strong gusts of wind is. 60 mild an hour at the moment, so that could lead to toppling over the flood defences and also we will see an area of low pressure just sucking up the sea, slightly higher than normal. if all these coincide together, there could be some flooding and that is why we have got these 11 severe flood warnings at these 11 severe flood warnings at the moment. the high tides are red lunchtime. they're also every night tonight. at the moment it looks like

the overnight ones are more of a concern but we need to keep tracking that that is going to be quite an important issue, i suspect. just briefly, looking ahead to the rest of the weekend. are we going to see this period of bad weather petering out quite quickly or is there more to come? it is getting better but we must stress tonight is going to be horrendous. it will be really cold, in some areas than to —9 or ten. a few have got lying snow, that'll be a skating rink on saturday morning. drizzle the mild on sunday. thank you so much for that update. you can follow all the latest on that story on the live page on the bbc news app. and you can see here the latest updates as snow and storms hit the uk and here is our main story. storm

surge threat as icy weather hits and a few scroll through that you can find out what the environment agency is saying and the met office is saying and so on. do take a look at that app for the very latest. the labour politician tristram hunt is to stand down as mp for stoke—on—trent central. the former shadow education secretary is to become the director of the v&a museum in london. his resignation will trigger the second by—election of the year following jamie reed's resignation late last year. 0ur political correspondent carole walker is in westminster for us. tristram hunt is saying there are very few jobs that would have convinced him to stand down as an mp, asa convinced him to stand down as an mp, as a historian, the b and a job is clearly one of those. what sort of problems that you leave behind for labour with this by—election? it isa for labour with this by—election? it is a great opportunity for tristram hunt, a man who is known as

a historian, which he was before he entered parliament. he is a big loss to the labour party. the loss of a charismatic, engaging figure. and poses a real challenge forjeremy corbyn to face another by—election. in stoke you have got ukip challenging very strongly. they came second at the last general election just overtaking the conservative party. they will fancy their chances there in an area which has got higher than average unemployment. a very urban area where i think they will feel that they have got very strong prospects. ukip‘s former leader nigel farage is already saying that labour is doomed. i think the wider concern among some areas of the labour party are that this is an indication of a wider discontent amongst what used to be pa rt discontent amongst what used to be part of as mainstream labour mps. tristram hunt is somebody who clearly had expressed views very different to that ofjeremy corbyn,

he has been very critical ofjeremy corbyn's leadership in the past and did not feel he had many career prospects left yearly parliamentary labour party underjeremy corbyn's leadership, and is looking around for other things to do. clearly it is an important pose and a big opportunity for him, but it is interesting that while in his resignation letter he is very restrained in his language and says he does not want to rock the boat but he does also talk about his frustrations of being unable to do enough to tackle inequality, lack of social mobility and so on, particularly since labour is out of power. if you look back to the summer, he was hugely critical of jeremy corbyn immediately after the referendum result, saying that he had simply failed to inject the sort of labour values and labour campaign into that referendum debate. and at that stage you are saying that labour needs a new leader. had the biggest challenge and jeremy corbyn was returned as the party's leader. he is facing another challenge now.

thank you very much. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: wintry weather continues to take its toll across parts of the uk. 11 severe flood warnings have been issued meaning that lives are in danger. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they faced unprecedented pressures. more on that in a second. labour's bomber education spokesman tristram hunt is resigning as an mp, triggering a by—election. in sport, the uk number one has won the sydney national, beating her opponent in straight sets. andy murray will take on ukraine's player. he has reached the final of the australian open five times but he is yet to win it. the manner only the one team will continue until at least the end of january as

administrators look for the cash to keep all their staff at the 0xfordshire base. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they encountered unprecedented pressures, nhs bosses have revealed. sixty—six out of 142 hospital trusts raised the alarm as mounting bed shortages led to large numbers of patients experiencing trolley waits and delays in a&e. with me is our health correspondent robert pigott. ina week in a week of various stories about the nhs and how to struggling, here is another one. the first week of this new year and we hear about all of these major alerts. these figures do distil some of the other stories that we're been hearing about. i think the thing to ta ke hearing about. i think the thing to take home from mrs that these major alerts are quite serious. eight of the mother most serious level, which is partly defined as something where

patient safety and care can be compromised. this is serious stuff. routine operations have been cancelled an extra staff being called in. we have the human side we re called in. we have the human side were people of the waiting ambulances and inside hospitalfor treatment. it is worth bearing in mind that this 46% of hospitals which issued these alerts, one third of hospitals in england were still on the celeb status for the rest of that week. and this is treble the number before christmas. it into your real peak here. it is normal winter demand but it does speak to an early chess which is really struggling with on and staff. —— and nhs. the human side of it has come distressing ways. the coal face of this where we see these problems highlighted starkly is an these problems highlighted starkly isana these problems highlighted starkly is an a and e. that's right. pastels have a target of treating and seeing 95% of

patients within four hours that appears to have slipped to 77.7% to almost one quarter people are having to wait more than four hours to be seen. to wait more than four hours to be seen. 0ne to wait more than four hours to be seen. one in five are having to wait more than four hours to get a bed once they've been admitted. that is double the prevailing rate over the year before. if you look at the number of ambulances, according to this leaked data, about one quarter of them had to wait outside hospital to hand over their patients for more than 30 minutes and that's double the target. 39 hospitals had to divert ambulances elsewhere. that again shows how serious this issue is. thank you very much for that. that's the picture in england — lets take a look at what is happening with the nhs in scotland. 0ur scotland health correspondent lisa summersjoins us now from nhs lothian in edinburgh. lisa, how does the picture in scotla nd lisa, how does the picture in scotland compared to nhs england?

welcomer data in scotland is collected in similar ways but i think it would be fair to say that the nhs is performing better here but that does not mean to say it is without huge challenges. if you look at accident and emergency waiting times here in scotland, the figures show that we are performing considerably better than england. 10% better, but nevertheless the scottish mid—‘s targets which are the same as those in england, 95% of patients within four hours, had not been met since september last year. that goes for other key waiting time targets as well. last year only one out of 80 waiting time targets in scotla nd out of 80 waiting time targets in scotland was met. we've talked about social care in england, we are far down the journey of integrating health and social care in scotland. some innovative things are being done on the ground to try and keep people out of hospital and to avoid bed blocking, but we're far too many people stuck in hospital for longer than they should be because their ca re than they should be because their care packages are not in place at home. a particular problem that

scotla nd home. a particular problem that scotland faces is recruitment and the words crisis are being used to describe the recruitment problems in scotla nd describe the recruitment problems in scotland because of similar people living in the islands auroral areas but in cities it is quite hard to attract the top talent to work in our cities. it is also perhaps bearing in mind that in scotland, 40% of the entire budget is spent on health but we have a situation where health but we have a situation where health boards are really, really struggling to balance the books. they cannot cope with the rise in demand for they also meet the challenges of rising costs, think back staff costs and things like costs of drugs. just really keeping hospitals open. thank you very much. let's go to northern ireland. how are things looking in northern ireland? any better or worse than england or scotland ? it is certainly not bad as what people are experiencing in england but for some of those living in

northern ireland, they have had some ways in local hospitals, particularly the emergency departments. 0urfigures cover the time between business evangelion beneath out where we are told that around 8% more people arrived at emergency departments compared to the same time last year. how does that translate into footfall? we understand that around 63% of patients were seen within four hours. of course the target is 95%. it is worth noting that people living in the oral areas had to wait quite a lot of time longer, particularly waiting ambulances, waiting for those transfers outside the emergency department inside in order to get a bed. moving onto the 12 hour reaches. a lot of people had to wait more than 12 hours either to be admitted discharge treated. the target here is that no one should

have to wait that length of time. 0ver have to wait that length of time. over the christmas period ambulances we re over the christmas period ambulances were diverted around six times in as many days. in one instance, one emergency department closed its doors to any new admissions for around 16 hours. 0ne doors to any new admissions for around 16 hours. one of the biggest problem is that we have here at the moment, like scotland, is that there are not enough hospital beds. so—called bed blockers, they cannot discharge from hospital as there simply aren't enough care packages for them in the community. local gps here are saying that really is a major problem. we've had a number of beds cut away from the system and now we are really feeling that, particularly due to be winter pressures . particularly due to be winter pressures. there are a lot of weisberger rue problems at the moment here, older population, more people requiring care and the political impasse here at the moment. —— weisberger —— breeding

problems. yesterday we revealed that a local strategy which was due to be set up to tackle waiting lists has now been shelved. thank you very much for that. the number of men in low—paid part—time work has increased "dramatically" over the last 20 years. new research by the institute for fiscal studies has found that one in five low paid men between the ages of 25 and 55 now works part time. that means wage inequality for men has risen over two decades, but for women the opposite is the case, as our business correspondent jonty bloom reports. top—earning men in the professions normally work full—time. in fact, only 5% of them work part—time. but in comparison, amongst the lowest—paid men, often in areas like catering and hospitality, 20% now work part—time, and that number has increased fourfold in the last 20 years. that has meant that wage inequality for men has increased, as high—paid, full—time staff have done far better than low—paid, part—time workers. but for women, the opposite is the case. for women, earnings growth has been

consistently higher than that for men over the last 20 years, and more of them are in work. for men, particularly the lowest—paid, they've actually seen falls in the numbers of hours of work, which has suppressed the amount of pay that they get. it is far from clear why low—paid men are increasingly working part—time. it might be because they want to, although that seems unlikely. the fact that 60% of the low—paid and part—time jobs are either in retail, wholesale, restaurants or hospitality might suggest that men who previously worked in low—paid but secure and full—timejobs, in sectors like manufacturing, have lost that work, and instead have been forced into the traditionally poorly paid and less—secure services sector of the economy. joining me now is economic analyst stephen clarke from the think tank resolution foundation — he's in our westminster studio.

thank you very much indeed for joining us today. the situation then for men seems to have gotten a lot worse. 0bviously they do not want to be, ideally, in a low—paidjob, but they don't even have the security of a full—time low—paid job now it seems. that is exactly right. the report showed there's been a big rise in self—employment among men and that isa self—employment among men and that is a big contributor to low—paid, particularly for the lowest paid men and that has contributed to rising inequality between male earnings. so you are saying that more men are becoming self—employed, and that is pa rt becoming self—employed, and that is part of the reason behind this picture? the statistics we are hearing about today? it is to do with part—time work as well as an increase in cell climate asa well as an increase in cell climate as a contributory factor. but a typical work has increased and that is tended to be associated with

being paid less than that of contributed to earnings inequality. are we saying that more men want to work part—time as opposed to full time? there will be some and some flexibility can be useful for some employees, but on the whole this is not one of choice. this is to do with the changing in our labour market rather than people choosing necessarily to work part—time. tell us more about this and alex in the labour market that are at the context for this. it is partly to do with the hours people work. with their part—time self—employed, we have seen an increase in zero hours contracts and people with the agency is. we've seen people with the agency is. we've seen changing the types of sectors that are growing in the economy so more and more people working in catering service sectorjobs and fewer working in manufacturing roles and so on. there is an industrial change going on as well as the hours people work. are the simply more people chasing thejobs are the simply more people chasing the jobs that are out there? 0bviously the jobs that are out there? obviously the speeds the political

debate on immigration, numbers of people coming into the country versus number of jobs available people coming into the country versus number ofjobs available for people in the country. we do have a record high employment said don't think it is necessarily that there are too few jobs said don't think it is necessarily that there are too fewjobs and people chasing them, this is more about the changing nature of the workforce and changing nature of jobs rather than too fewjobs being chased by too many people. so our men are typically fewer working part—time, are they now working part—time, are they now working in severaljobs, perhaps quite different types ofjobs in order to improve their income? it is not clear how much kind of multi—job work is going on. we know that has increased a bit. it is a lot to do with perhaps few hours being available for some men and we know that for the lowest paid men the hours that they work have declined quite significantly over the last 20 years whereas for high paid men in numbers of hours they work has increased. looking at statistics, what you think the government will be doing

with them? we know the government is carrying out a review into the new world of work and things like agency work and zero hours contracts and so on, is that review will be important than the findings of that. it is a case of supporting workers in this new world of work. we have seen increasingly, court cases involving uberand so increasingly, court cases involving uber and so on. there will be more in the pipeline on this and the challenges to adapt with legislation and how we work in this new world of work. thank you very much. some breaking news coming in from essex police. they are saying that the evacuation of homes inj with, missed the and west mersey will begin immediately to keep residents safe ahead of suspected blood into night. we're been hearing about the warnings in place for some areas. and the possibility people might have to be evacuated so essex police are saying that the evacuation of homes will begin immediately to keep residents

safe ahead of expected severe flooding tonight. a severe flood warning is in place for those areas, for high tide tonight, expected around a quarter past midnight. a full evacuation plan was triggered at 1040 this morning. so, just about 50 minutes ago. the evacuation beginning immediately. just a little bit body tell to bring you from essex police. they are asking residents in these areas to comply with police instruction and evacuate immediately. the latest forecasting tells us that the risk has moved to the next high tide expected just after midnight. keeping people safe is our only priority, say essex police. there's a week to go until the new american president is sworn in, and donald trump seems to be at odds with some of his key cabinet nominees on some of the vital questions facing the

new administration. his choice for the leader of the cia has endorsed the work of the us intelligence community, hours after it was criticised by the president—elect. the proposed defense secretary said moscow posed a threat in europe, after mr trump called for warmer relations with russia. and it's emerged overnight that christopher steele, the british man who wrote a dossier of lurid claims about donald trump was hired by the england 2018 world cup bid team. it's believed he was brought in to provide information on world football's governing body fifa. barack obama caught his vice presidentjoe biden by surprise at a white house ceremony. he awarded the 74—year—old with the country's highest civilian order, the presidential medal of freedom. a clearly emotional mr biden was described by the outgoing president as a lion of american history. the best vice president america has ever had, mrjo biden. this also gives the internet

one last chance to... laughter ..talk about our bromance! it is time to the weather forecast. let's catch up with the latest from louise. it isa it is a weather watcher‘s dream, pictured like today, picture perfect but not so if you are trying to get out and about. we have seen snow showers. they are making their way down into pennines in the east anglia and london area. it is settling but not causing an issue, it will ease away. 0nce settling but not causing an issue, it will ease away. once it does so, it will ease away. once it does so, it is an improving picture. we keep snow showers to the far north and west, winds are a feature, a few coastal showers out to the west but there will be decent belt of sunshine. it is the strong winds coupled with high spring tides that is the real issue as we go to the

latter stages of the day and into tonight. it is going to feel bitterly cold out there. the keep tuning infor bitterly cold out there. the keep tuning in for another half an hour andi tuning in for another half an hour and i will tell you about the coastal surge. it is an improving picture into the weekend. some dry and sunny weather around on saturday, wetter and milder weather arrives for sunday. tune in to the bbc local radio stations for more details. this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines at 11.30am. wintry weather continues to sweep across parts of the uk. there have just been someone in for three areas for evacuation. —— some warnings for three areas. almost half of the hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as the health service comes under increasing pressure. the labour mp for stoke—on—trent

central tristram hunt is to stand down. his departure triggers a by—election. president obama awards a tearful joe biden the presidential medal of freedom, the highest us civilian honour. let's get the latest sport now with jessica. good morning. johanna konta has won the sydney international tennis tournament. the british number one beat agnieszka radwanska in straight sets, in what's ideal preparation for next week's australian open. world number ten konta broke her polish opponent in the third game, and hit 18 winners to five in the first set. she dominated the world number three with some stunning returns and powerful hitting, and convincingly won the second set and her second wta title. konta is one of seven british players who'll feature in next week's australian open. the draw took place overnight. it's the first grand slam andy murray has been top seed for. from melbourne, here's our tennis correspondent russell fuller. andy murray's first challenge as top

seed at a grand slam will be against ilia marchenko of ukraine. there is a lot of interest in a potential fourth—round meeting between murray and the returning roger federer. the trouble with being seeded 17th, as roger federer is after six months away from the tour in 2017, is that you can have some very tough matches earlier on. fed up may have to play —— roger federer may have to play tomas berdych in the third round but then they could meet in the mast eight, he and murray. all the british men have drawn people outside the top 50 in the first round. the women have it tougher, some of the heather watson and johanna contact has a tough first

week. —— johanna konta. the arsenal manager arsene wenger has spoken out against the january transfer window. amid all the rumours and signings taking place at the moment, wenger says the window goes against the spirit of what a football club should be. i always want against it. you would not have this kind of story, i believe it is completely, it is in a way easy news, and easy interest for the premier league. but on the other hand, i believe it is completely against the spirit of what football clu b against the spirit of what football club should be. 0nce against the spirit of what football club should be. once you are on the train at the start of the season, you stay on the train until the end of the season. and you do not have stopped in the middle and half of the team goes out and another half comes in and you continue your trip. i personally don't think that it is right. there'll be a minute's applause before all english football league matches this weekend, in tribute to graham taylor. the former england manager died yesterday, aged 72. watford, who taylor managed to 15

yea rs over two watford, who taylor managed to 15 years over two spells, will commemorate him before their game against middlesbrough tomorrow. the survival hopes of the manor formula one team have been boosted, after administrators found the money to keep on all staff until at least the end of january. manor, who finished last in the constructors championship last season, employs around 100 people at their base in 0xfordshire. the team's operating company, just racing, went into administration last week. the manor team will collapse if a buyer isn't found. alastair cook will meet director of cricket andrew strauss today to discuss his future as england captain. cook has admitted having questions over his role, during his side's 4—0 series defeat to india. with england not having a test to play untiljuly, it's not thought any announcement on cook's future is imminent. that's all the sport for now. anxiety levels in the uk may have risen slightly,

according to figures compiled by the office for national statistics. the 0ns collates figures on perceptions of well being and reported that personal anxiety levels rose between september 2015 and september 2016. average life satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness ratings were unchanged over the same period. people in wales are said to be the most worried while people in northern ireland are the most content. joining me now is matthew steel from the office for national statistics, he's in cardiff. thank you for your time today. tellers are little bit of background about why you collate this kind of information. -- tell us why. additionally in the united kingdom, we focus on things like unemployment, how much money we have got in our pocket and how well our economy is in order to measure how we are doing as a society. this is a piece of work to tell us something more, something which focuses particularly on how we are doing as people and how this is changing as you move through society. it is

interesting you say that traditionally we focus on things like economic well—being, yet in northern ireland, which is the highest level of contentment, traditionally, people have not had as much spare money to spend. there is an anomaly there. yes, and it very much reinforces the work we are doing here to measure beyond those existing economic measures. like you say, in northern ireland, it has not had the strongest economy but through the time we have been collecting this data, it has told us more about how people feel about their lives in northern ireland and how that is stronger than other parts of the uk. what is the detail of that? what factors make people feel content? factors that are important to people's well—being in include being in good implement, good health and good relationships, whether or not they have got people to rely on and factors such as loneliness. on the flip side, we

we re loneliness. on the flip side, we were mentioning a moment ago how anxiety were mentioning a moment ago how a nxiety levels were mentioning a moment ago how anxiety levels increased in 2015. what factors lie behind that trend? above and beyond those particular factors we have been talking about, we know things like being in good work is important, if people do not like the terms of their important, that could play a part. there are a huge number of external factors. things such as the eu referendum, although we have got three months beyond that only, we know that could have influenced people. alongside factors such as, sorry, go on. have influenced people. alongside factors such as, sorry, go onlj have influenced people. alongside factors such as, sorry, go on. i was going to ask you, how does this sort of information filter into government thinking? it is particularly important on that front because what we are seeing today that competitive the economic picture which has been positive of late, things such as anxiety, the uk

public has told us that those economic outlooks are not reflected in how people are living their lives and how people feel about their lives overall. we feel this is important and it will make a big difference to policymakers and decision makers across the country who are there to try and improve people's lives. matty steele, thank you very much. —— matthew. let's get more now on how snow has caused disruption on roads and closed schools this morning as winds bring cold weather from the artic. the environment agency says the first high tide along the east coast of england this morning was not as bad as feared but thousands of homes still face a danger of flooding. helena lee reports. the evacuation of homes injaywick,

m istley the evacuation of homes injaywick, mistley and the mac is beginning immediately to keep residents safe. this is the a9 in the highlands at carrbridge. heavy snow made for difficult driving conditions. up to seven inches fell in parts of scotland overnight. in some parts of the scottish borders, traffic was moving but conditions were still tricky. in galashiels, some were brave enough to venture out and enjoy the picture postcard scenes with snow covering the hills. in stoke—on—trent, impossible conditions led to cars being abandoned. further south at canterbury, icy pavements made the school run this morning a challenge. across parts of the country, dozens of schools was shut because the weather. for those who didn't have to travel, the snow brought much excitement for younger people, and left many parts of the country enjoying some beautiful scenes.

with the first real wintry weather affecting much of the uk today, new research suggests a third of disabled people have cut back on their energy consumption over the last year to afford their bills. research carried out by the charity scope also found that nearly half a million working age disabled people spend more than £3,000 a year on energy. that's compared with the average uk household spending £1,300 a year. let's speak to james taylor from scope. thank you forjoining us. people with disabilities may be at home more than people without, so therefore their energy bills are going to be higher in the first instance. absolutely and at scope we know that life is tough and it can cost more if you want disabled. this research shows that. 2 million disabled people have struggled to pay their energy bills and a third had to cut back. many disabled people have said they have had to turn the heating off, they have

skipped meals, warm coat indoors and many have turned to banks to pay for their energy, and we think that is unacceptable. if this accommodation of rising energy prices and cut and benefits? the rising energy prices do not help, twice as much is paid by disabled consumers than the average. we want to see better promotion of schemes that can help disabled people. why are they paying twice as much? some disabled people need to spend more time indoors, some need to charge equipment. need to spend more time indoors, some need to charge equipmentm need to spend more time indoors, some need to charge equipment. it is more the fact that they have to be indoors more than the average person, there are other factors as well? yes, other factors as well. but we found it staggering that they are playing twice as much of the general population for energy and we think that is bad. what do you think can be done to address this? there

are schemes in place, some very good schemes that can help notjust disabled people but many consumers in vulnerable circumstances. we need to see better promotions of those schemes, we also found that eight in ten disabled people are not aware of the priority services register which can help them come offjem have tried to get energy comedy to promote this. what has been done in periods of cold weather like this to keep a check on people with disabilities who cannot afford to have heating on as much as they want to? we need to see better identification by energy companies of their consumers who are struggling, people get in touch with scope to get help with this. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc newsroom live. wintry weather continues to take a toll across parts of the uk, 11th

severe flood warnings have been issued meaning that lives are in danger. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they face unprecedented pressures. labour's former education spokesman tristram hunt is resigning as an mp, triggering a by—election. in the business news. the department for transport is urgently asking for more information on a us investigation into fiat chrysler diesel emissions software. the car maker has been accused of not telling authorities about software that could allow excess diesel emissions in thousands of vehicles. fiat has rejected the allegations which affectjeep grand cherokees and dodge ram 1500 trucks. the number of men in low—paid part—time work has increased fourfold over the past 20 years. the institute for fiscal studies has found that one in five low—paid men aged 25 to 55 now work part—time.

while wage inequality for men has risen, for women the opposite is the case, as more have received better education and moved into full—timejobs. there were more first—time home buyers in 2016 than at any time since the start of the financial crisis, according to research by the halifax. the lender estimated there were almost 336,000 first—time buyers last year, the highest figure since 2007. however, the average first—time deposit has more than doubled since 2007 to stand at more than £32,000. a new games console from nintendo. it's called switch. it'll go on sale in march for £245. it's a bit of a mix up. it's got motion sensors like the old wii and 3ds hand—held controls. it's got a removable screen that lets players dock it at home and also use it on the go like a tablet computer. it uses cartridges rather than discs.

it comes with eight games, and 80 in the pipeline. david mcclelland is a technology journalist, he's been following the launch. what do you make of it? it is an interesting proposition, nintendo says it has taken the dna of all of its previous console efforts and put its previous console efforts and put it all into one device here. nintendo has been under pressure since the launch of its last jane —— games console the wiiu, from microsoft and sony and from the mobile market, mobile gaming is the fastest area of growth for revenue in the games industry. nintendo has done with the switch, it has brought together the mobile and home console markets and created a console which does both. you can. it at home but when you take it out of the box, it reveals it is a tablet which turned

into a games console. it seems a little bit old—fashioned, remind you of things that made in the 80s or 90s, things you can take off and move around, it looks little bit clunky. if you look at what nintendo's strengths are, it has never been one that has focused on informant or processing power. it has relied upon innovation —— performance or processing power. it has relied upon innovation and quirkiness, and the family element, something which would not appeal to the core market, and compete with microsoft and sony. nintendo tries to make its devices accessible. also a lot of japanese culture goes into the creation of these consoles, so it reflects the roots and also the broad market. the one route they could go down, smartphone gaming, they have dire —— barely touch that. they brought in a mario at in

0ctober they brought in a mario at in october but no more than that. the nintendo brand has been staying away from mobile gaming, perhaps because it did not want to eat into its own mobile market with the 3ds and others. they have sold millions of those. it is understandable perhaps why it nintendo did not want to get into that. they released three apps last year, pokemon go which was the cessation of the year, that was —— that with the sensation of the year, maria cabrera run broke records and force the nintendo share price up the roof. trackback the roof. —— force the nintendo share price up the roof. —— mario runner. in other business stories we're following today. male motorists typically pay £101 more a yearfor their car insurance than women, according to the comparison site confused.com.

the site says the gap had widened compared with a year earlier, even though insurers are banned from specifically considering gender when setting premiums. luxury retailer fortnum & mason has reported a christmas sales surge of 16%. its online sales to 121 countries that have made the much of the difference. caviar, hand—carved smoked salmon and white truffles did the best and christmas hamper sales grew by 19%. slightly lower down the social, and financial pecking order, mitchells & butlers had what it called a particularly strong christmas trading period. it owns the harvester, toby carvery and all bar one chains, and said that like—for—like sales were up 4.7% on last year. but it did warn that higher costs this year would squeeze profits. here are the markets. the ftse is up, it is all to do with pound and

dollar, it is interesting, this run we have seen on the ftse, all—time high, has been all to do with not company high, has been all to do with not com pa ny results high, has been all to do with not company results but to do with the way the dollar and the pound had moved together. the one example, if an american investor had invested in the ftse, just before the referendum, they would have seen today a loss of about 5%, depending on today a loss of about 5%, depending o n exa ctly today a loss of about 5%, depending on exactly where they bought. about 596 on exactly where they bought. about 5% on their investment. that is all the business news. some fabulous pictures coming in from the international space station, they are just coming in now, two of the expedition's 50 astronauts from nasa and the european space agency art carrying out the mission's second spacewalk, in order to connect new batteries. we have the iaea where he is going

to be storing the tools which are necessary for installing the adapter plates, he has a few items to lock down and then he will go and get something called the articulated portable foot restraint, that is something that the crew members can log their feet into to give them a little bit more purchase, the steady themselves for any installation work. when you are operating in an microgravity environment, order of the environmental forces and fundamental forces of physics are in place. for every action there is an opposite reaction, so if you are turning a drill and you are not anchored down, it will turn you with it. so they will be applying a lot of talk and force to some of these different activities save it is important they are locked down. you are hearing mission control in

houston was grabbing what is going on. as these astronauts carry out this space walks, expected to take around six and a half hours. every 90 minutes, the iss orbit earth so they will be working in 45 minutes of daylight and then 45 minutes of darkness and so on. let's see if we can listen to one of the astronauts. shame, when it is convenient, can you give us a check of the bottom press ? you give us a check of the bottom press? in this view, you can see the reflection of earth in the polished metal portion of the external station itself. just making a swing to the south of south america, just off the coast of cape town summer as the station flies 260 miles over the

despot excesses. that is a good read —— over the ea rth's despot excesses. that is a good read —— over the earth's surface. that is a good read. again, right now,... that was again, right now, . .. that was thomas talking, it is incredible but they managed to manipulate their tools with those bulky gloves that they have to wear. some stunning images coming in from the iss as those two astronauts from expedition 50 carry out more work. which isn't to bring you some latest news from donald trump, who is promising a full report i his people on hacking, within 90 days. this is

on hacking, within 90 days. this is on his twitter feed. on hacking, within 90 days. this is on his twitterfeed. let on hacking, within 90 days. this is on his twitter feed. let me take you through a few of the tweets he has written. he said that that... noticed that he puts intelligence in inverted commas. very much in the style we have seen from the president—elect so far. and he is blaming, as he calls them sleazebag political operatives, both from the democratic and from the

republican party and again, using this term fake news which he frequently does in his tweets. he says he will have a full report from his people on hacking in 90 days. are coming up. in a moment we will say goodbye to be was a beauty to but first the weather. —— viewers on bbc two but first the weather. the winds are a feature, gales and north sea. this is the story this morning, a mixture of rain, sleet and snow across northern england, across the midlands into east anglia but further north, snow showers as well, snow inland for scotland but really falling as rain. it will be cold and windy across the east coast and running down through the north sea, gales likely have. the risk is

showers in the wales area, maybe with a wintry flavour. into the south—east, as you have been hearing, flooding is a potential issue. we have got coastal surge, coupled with a full moon, and strong degale pearls —— strong degale force winds. and the wind is north—westerly so it will be better out there, a cold and raw day. this evening and overnight, clear skies, temperatures will fall away quite sharply. again we could see some sleet and snow showers, rushing down through the cheshire gap towards the midlands, you could get a dusting. towns and city centres, temperatures below freezing, so really bitterly cold in rural spots. they began to -10 cold in rural spots. they began to —10 where we have got some snow in scotland. some snow showers across

the east coast tomorrow afternoon, but they are being driven from the west so they will be rain primarily there. relatively cold, but an indication of something milder coming in from the south—west. these were fronts are moving in from the atlantic, they will introduce mild air but they are also going to introduce rain. it'll be a cloudy and drizzly affair. that is positive. 10 degrees. more detail throughout the morning. stay tuned for the flood line issues and the warnings. this is bbc news — and these are the top stories developing at midday: wintry weather continues to take its toll across parts of the uk. severe flood warnings are in place along the east of england amid fears

thousands of homes are at risk from a storm surge. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they faced unprecedented pressures. labour's tristram hunt is to stand down as an mp — triggering a by—election in stoke—on—trent central. also, the end of a bromance, president obama awards a tearful joe biden the presidential medal of freedom, the highest us civilian honour. the government says it's urgently seeking information from us regulators about claims that fiat—chrysler has been flouting pollution laws. and the british tennis number one, johanna konta, wins herfinal warm—up tournament before the australian open. good morning.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. snow has caused disruption on roads and closed schools this morning as winds bring cold weather from the artic. the environment agency says the first high tide along the east coast of england this morning was not as bad as feared —— but thousands of homes still face a danger of flooding. currently there's 11 severe warnings which mean there's a danger to life. homes are being evacuated in jaywick, essex, and great yarmouth, norfolk. in the highlands, the met office issued warnings for ice and up to 20cm of snow for higher ground until late tonight. this is the picture in skegness, where snow has been lighter but a number of flood warnings have been issued and soldiers have been deployed to assist where needed. while some might have been cursing

the conditions this morning, others having been making the most of it near birmingham. in great yarmouth in norfolk, houses are being evacuated with help from the military. severe flood warnings are in place with high water expected to peak at around 9.15pm tonight. and this was the scene in london, from the roof of the bbc where there was a brief flurry of snow. helena lee reports. the wintry theme continues today. severe gales initially across the far north... this is the canine in the highlands. heavy snow made difficult driving conditions. up to seven inches fell in parts of scotla nd seven inches fell in parts of scotland overnight. in some part of

the scottish borders, traffic was moving but conditions were still tricky. in galashiels, some were brave enough to venture out and enjoy the picture postcard scenes with snow covering the hills. in stoke—on—trent, impossible conditions led the cars being abandoned. further south in canterbury, icy pavements made the school run this morning a challenge. across parts of the country, dozens of schools were shut because of the bad weather. for those who did not have to travel, the snow brought much excitement to younger people and left many parts of the country enjoying some beautiful scenes. the environment agency have issued a number of warnings and alerts. there are 11 severe flood warnings across england and wales which means there is a danger to life. 9 warnings where flooding is expected and immediate action is required. 73 alerts where flooding is possible and individuals should be prepared for rising water levels.

in a moment will go to kate sweeting who is in south ferriby, north lincolnshire on the humber estuary, where they are bracing themselves for a potential tidal surge. but first to leigh milner who is injaywick, a village in essex, near clacton. i think some development since i spoke to last. certainly. it seems as though the weather is changing by the outbreak here. one minute it is snowing, and next it is just windy, but the tide over there seems to be saying where it is. right now, it is high tide but earlier today it was expected that this scene would actually reach this wall over here and you can see just how close it is to those houses. fortunately, that has changed. however there is more bad

news to come unfortunately. a severe flood warning is now in place for several places for high tide tonight, which is expected around rough treatment night. essex police have released the statement which says, we need residents to comply with the police and evacuate immediately. latest forecasting tells us that the risk has moved to the next high tide after midnight. that threat has now led to severe flood warning been put in place for tonight. a rest centre has been set up tonight. a rest centre has been set up at the tendring education centre andi up at the tendring education centre and i was there as they are today where 70 b bus that there mightjust in case this high tide managed to breach the banks. residents and mist b will also be evacuated to that centre and the centre elsewhere will be able to accommodate those who live in west mersey. the main thing that people have been saying here is that people have been saying here is that they do not seem to be that threatened by the sea, it does not

look too far away from the wall but the message about the environment agency and the police is that this is not a false alarm. you need to evacuate your hands and get your to centre. thank you very much to the humber estuary now. kate is there. bring us up—to—date with the situation there. ican up—to—date with the situation there. i can see it is very windy, tell us what else is happening. it is windy and very cold. as you can see, this village is poised and ready for any potential flooding. you can seek temporary flood barriers in place there and sandbags. the first warning was for high tide this morning. unluckily, the winds were not as high as predicted. the tidal surges caused by high winds and high tides and because those winds were not so bad the water did not, but i is expected so the water did not, but i is expected so high tide here past this morning without event. but we are not out of the woods yet because there is another warning for tonight's high

tide. people here are prepared with their sandbags and there are cloud, so their sandbags and there are cloud, so staff, fi resta rter their sandbags and there are cloud, so staff, firestarter police poised and ready. in lincolnshire at the army was called in to help evacuate people in skegness. 3000 residents we re people in skegness. 3000 residents were told they should leave their homes or move to the upstairs. there we re homes or move to the upstairs. there were temporary rest centre is prepared for them. for people here, this is warning of a tidal surge. in 2013 it happened. many of these properties were flooded and 4000 properties were flooded and 4000 properties in total around the humberarea. properties in total around the humber area. the last time they had been a serious tidal flood like that was in 1953 when hundreds of people died. 0bviously hear people arguments to the mac —— here people are extremely concerned. here, three yea rs on we are extremely concerned. here, three years on we run high alert once again.

i know you will give us up today. with me is our weather presenter louise lear. lots to talk about today. temperatures of snow on the screen there. let's talk about the snow first. is it on its way out? it is improving picture today. there are a lot of weather elements that will not be very pleasant that they're blipping the feel and the wind will probably be more of an issue today than the threat of snow. let's dig a look at the graphics where we have seen look at the graphics where we have seen the worst of the rain, sleet and snow to date. it is moving down to the north of england, into the east anglia and london area. there has developed a bit of rain, sleet and snow. some of that settled on the grass and has caused minor issues. as we move that true, things will actually change and we will see over the next 24 hours a slow improvement. we have some snow showers in scotland but for scotland, particularly to the east it will be the strength of the

winds. if i can run this on... there are the snow showers in scotland. now we need to focus our attention on the winds. it will do bitterly cold out there. yourfair monitor might say2 cold out there. yourfair monitor might say 2 degrees but for some people it will feel more like —2 minus four. in the last row we've had gusts of winds of 50 or 60 mild an hour. that will cause issues as we get to this high spring tide. just a few coastal showers at the west but really the main issue is going to be across parts of lincolnshire, east anglia, eastern england where we've got the severe flood alerts. it is combination of three things. we have high spring tides, we have these strong to go force gust of winds and an area of low pressure off to scandinavia. when we have an area of low pressure it tends to start the water up a little bit. so that tends to lift everything up and so the potential of these coastal flooding and surges. and why we're seeing some of these

evacuations taking place. just briefly, over the weekend is the picture improving generally? it is. it is certainly worth pointing out tonight is going to be absolutely bitter. a few have got any lying snow or rain in water, it will freeze over solid. we will see potentially lows of rural areas of -6 -10 potentially lows of rural areas of —6 —10 degrees. that is a really cold icy start but tomorrow actually look that will see is decent spells and sunshine. milder and wetterfor sunday. that we draw your attention once again to our live page on the bbc news that. you can see the story storm surge set as icy weather hits. you can see the story storm surge set as icy weather hits. you can follow all the latest on that story on the live page on the bbc news app. you've got various pictures there. that is one from a boat in great yarmouth. going down the page you

will see updates for example at two minutes passed well be had i love man ferries and flights cancelled and you will get all of the latest information you need on that. please do takea information you need on that. please do take a look. please do take a look. the labour politician tristram hunt is to stand down as mp for stoke—on—trent central. the former shadow education secretary is to become the director of the v&a museum in london. his resignation will trigger the second by—election of the year following jamie reed's resignation late last year. 0ur political correspondent carole walker is in westminster for us. it is clearly a great opportunity for tristam hunt. a man who is known asa for tristam hunt. a man who is known as a historian, which he was before he entered parliament. use a loss to the labour party. the loss of a charismatic, engaging figure. and poses a real challenge forjeremy corbyn to face another by—election. in stoke you have got ukip, challenging very strongly, they came

second at the last general election, just overtaking the conservative party. they will fancy their chances that in an area which has got higher than average unemployment. a very urban area where i think they will feel that they have got very strong prospects. and ukip's former leader nigel farage is already saying that labour is doomed. i think the wider concern among some areas of the labour party is that this is an indication of a wider discontent amongst what used to be thought of as mainstream labour mps. tristram hunt is somebody who clearly had expressed views very different to that ofjeremy corbyn, he has been very critical ofjeremy gorgon's leadership in the past. he clearly didn't feel yet many career prospects here in the parliamentary labour party underjeremy corbyn's leadership and was looking around for other things to do. clearly, it is important post. a big opportunity for him but it is interesting well in his resignation letter he is very

restrained in his language and says he does not want to rock the boat, but he does also talk about his frustrations at being unable to do enough to tackle inequality, lack of social mobility and so on, particularly since labour is out of power. if you look back to the summer, he was hugely critical of jeremy gorgon immediately after the referendum result, saying that he has simply failed to inject the sort of labour values and labour campaign into that referendum debate. and that at that stage you are saying labour needs a new leader. of course, we had the leadership challenge and jeremy corbyn was returned as the party's leader. he is facing another challenge now. he is facing another challenge now. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: wintry weather continues to take its toll on parts of the uk. 11 severe flood warnings have been issued mean that lives are in danger. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they faced

unprecedented pressures. labour's former education spokesman, tristram hunt, is resigning as an mp, triggering a by—election. time for sport and let's catch up with the latest from jessica. jessica, are you ready for us? fixing your mike. we've all nearly been caught by that, i promise you. we have the sport for you now. thank you very much. johanna gaunt as when the syd ney much. johanna gaunt as when the sydney international tournament. the world number ten broke her polish opponent in the third game and hit 18 winners to five in the first set. she dominated the world number three with some stunning returns and powerful hitting and convincingly won the second set and her second wta title. evans is through to his first atp tour title. he beat

russia's athlete, at the sydney international. evans will compete in tomorrow's final. evans and content are two of seven players who will be gen next week's australian open. the draw to place overnight. it is the first grand slam andy murray has been top seed for. here is our tennis correspondent. antimony‘s verse chav and as top seed at a grand bumblebee against a ukrainian player. there is a lot of interest in a potential meeting between antimony and the returning roger federer. the trouble with being seeded 17th is that iraq now is after six months away in the second half of 2016, is that you can have some very top badges early on. he is due to start against a couple of qualifiers but may have to play a tough opponent as early as the third round. murray and that iraq could

meet in the last eight. all british men have drawn opponents outside the top 50 in the opening round. it is tougherfor the women. top 50 in the opening round. it is tougher for the women. to our playing seeded australians. —— two are playing. the survival hopes of the manor formula 1 team have been boosted after ministry just than formula 1 team have been boosted after ministryjust than the money to keep on all staff until at least the end of january. to keep on all staff until at least the end ofjanuary. manor, who finished last in the championship last season employs around 100 people at their base in 0xfordshire. the team is operating —— the team's operating copy went into administration last week. the european ryder cup captain has died at the age of 91. jacobs is largely credited with creating european tour. the player, coach, mr gunfighter was included in the world

golf hall of fame in 2000. that is the spot for now but i will have in the spot for now but i will have in the next hour. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they encountered unprecedented pressures, nhs bosses have revealed. sixty—six out of 142 hospital trusts raised the alarm as mounting bed shortages led to large numbers of patients experiencing trolley waits and delays in a&e. data leaked to the bbc earlier this week suggested just one trust hit its four—hour a&e target. our health correspondent robert pigott gave me this update. these major alerts are really quite serious. eight of them are at the most serious level, which is partly defined as something where patient safety a nd defined as something where patient safety and care can be compromised. this is really pretty serious stuff. routine operations are being cancelled. extra staff are being called in. then we have the human side of it. people waiting in ambulances and inside hospitalfor treatment. it is also worth bearing in mind that this number, this 46%‘

does which issued these alerts, one third of hospitals in england were still on the celeb status for the rest of that week. and this is travel the number that the 46% of before christmas. begin see a real peak year. it is normal winter demand but it does speak to an nhs thatis demand but it does speak to an nhs that is really struggling with beds and so one and staff to cope with that sort of demand. and the human side of it has come out and distressing ways in various hospitals. and of course the coal face of this bcb ‘s problems highlighted very starkly is in a end the comment isn't it? that's right. hospitals have a target of seeing 95% of patients within four hours. that seems to have slept according to data leaked to the bbc, to 77.7%. so almost one quarter of people are having to wait more than four hours to be seen. 0ne in five and to wait more than four hours to get to bed once they have been admitted. that is double the

prevailing rate of the year before. and if you look at the number of ambulances according to the sleep state, about one quarter of them had to wait outside hospital to hand over their patients for more than 30 minutes. that is double the target. and 39 hospitals had to divert ambulances elsewhere. so that again shows how serious this issue is. so that again shows how serious this issue is. a short time ago i caught up with our scotland health correspondent lisa summers. she explained the differences between the health services in england and scotland. data in scotland is collected in similar ways but i think it would be fairto similar ways but i think it would be fair to say that the nhs is performing better here. that does not mean to say that it is not without huge, huge challenges. i mean, you look at accident and emergency waiting times here in scotland, the figures show that we are performing considerably better than england. 10% better. but nevertheless the scottish clubman's targets, which are the same as england of seeing 95% of patients

within four hours, and in september last year and that gives the other key waiting time targets as well. last year, only one out of eight key waiting time targets was made in scotland. we talked about social ca re scotland. we talked about social care in england and we are far down the journey of integrating health and social care in scotland. some innovative things i been done on the ground to try to keep people out of arsenal and to avoid bed blocking but the buyer to many people stuck in hospital very longer than they need to be because their care packages are not in place of him. a particular problem in scotland bases its recruitment and the word crisis has been used to describe the recruitment problems in scotland, partly because we are so many people living in rural areas. partly because we are so many people living in ruralareas. in partly because we are so many people living in rural areas. in cities to, it is hard to attract the top talent to work in our cities. it is also perhaps bearing in mind that in scotland, 40% of the entire budget is spent on health but we have a situation where health boards are really, really struggling to balance the books and cope with the rising

demands while they also meet the challenges of rising costs, things like staff costs and things like costs of drugs. additionally keeping hospitals open. additionally keeping hospitals open. i also spoke to our northern ireland correspondent marie—louise connolly, who brought us up to date on the challenges being faced there. well, it is certainly not as bad as what people are experiencing in england. but for some of those living in northern ireland, they have had some weights in local hospitals. particularly the emergency departments. 0urfigures cover the time between christmas eve and january the 3rd world we were told that around 8% more people arrived at emergency departments compared to the same time last year. how does that translate into football? we understand that around 63% of patients were seen within four hours. of course, the target is 95%. and it is worth noting that

people living in wall areas had to wait quite a lot of time longer, particularly waiting in ambulances waiting for those transfers outside of the emergency department. moving the 12 hour breaches. around people had to wait more than 12 hours either to be admitted, discharged or treated and of course the target here is that no one should have to wait that than to time. 0ver here is that no one should have to wait that than to time. over the christmas period, ambulances were devoted around six times in as many days and in one instance, one emergency department closed its doors to any new admission for around 16 hours. 0ne doors to any new admission for around 16 hours. one of the biggest problem is that we have here at the moment, like scotland, is that there are not enough hospital beds. so—called bed blockers. they can be discharged from hospital as there simply are not enough care packages for them in the community. local gps here are saying that that really is a major problem. we've had hundreds

of beds cut away from the system and now really feeling that, particularly due to the winter pressures . particularly due to the winter pressures. there is a lot of problems here at the moment, older population, more people requiring ca re population, more people requiring care and of course the political impasse here at the moment with the institutions possibly stumbling at stormont, it is beginning to have an impact on the health service. yesterday we revealed that a local strategy which was due to be set up to tackle waiting lists has now been shelved. to tackle waiting lists has now been shelved. a woman who said she was indecently assaulted by rolf harris when she was a teenager has told a court she is not after his money. when asked of preferential status played a part in her making the allegation she got told the court you worked full—time. mr harris, whose 86 years old, deny seven charges of indecent assault on one of sexual assault he appeared at

southwark court by video link and joining me from the cord is our correspondent, dan johnson. joining me from the cord is our correspondent, danjohnson. the court has also been hearing allegations from another woman who says that she was assaulted by rob paris when she was 12 years old. —— i roll paris. she says in 1977 she went with her mother to a radio station in portsmouth. they had heard harris on the programme talking about his favourite songs and decided to go down to wait for him outside. she says her and her mother waited and then approached him as he left the building. she says it was nice seeing someone famous and she went on to describe how mr harris signed a lot of graph for her mother before turning to hire, just 12 years old, she says he turned to her and said, i think it is your turn now. let me give you a little cuddle first. she

described the court how mr harris but one arm around her back and another arm down her leg and then up her skirt and into her knickers. she said he touched her what she had never been touched by force. she said was very naive and didn't know anything about sex at that age but said it felt wrong. she said i pulled away because it did not feel right. i did not know anything about sex but it felt horrible. it felt wrong. she said it was the second before she pulled away and roll paris burnside her autograph book and they left. she says she told her mother when they got out what had happened but i mother told him not to be so stupid and that she didn't believe what she was saying. she says she never told anybody, never reported what happened until after roll paris was convicted here at southwark court here in 2015. that was his first trial he was found guilty of four charges. that is why he is serving a prison sentence and is appearing at the second trial via

video link. he faces seven allegations and this trial is expected to last five or six weeks. that complainant is now being cross—examined. the defence highlighting some inconsistencies, they say, in the evidence she has given. thank you. let's look at some of today's other developing stories: the number of men in low—paid part—time work has increased "dramatically" over the last 20 years. new research by the institute for fiscal studies has found that one in five low paid men between the ages of 25 and 55 now works part time. that means wage inequality for men has risen over two decades, but for women the opposite is the case, as our business correspondent jonty bloom reports. and it's emerged overnight that christopher steele, the british man who wrote a dossier of lurid claims about donald trump was hired by the england 2018 world cup bid team. it's believed he was brought in to provide information on world football's governing body fifa. talks aimed at reunifying the island

of cyprus have ended without agreement and calls from the cypriot president to turkish troops to leave. the un says a working group will be set up to consider the security concerns about the greek cypriots and turkish cypriot communities. the un secretary—general believes a deal on the unifying the island is very close. the unifying the island is very close. anxiety levels in the uk have raised slightly according to figures compiled by the office for national statistics. the 0ns collates figures on well being in the country and has found that the levels of personal anxiety have risen slightly between september 2015 and september 2016. average life satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness ratings were unchanged over the same period. ina

in a series of tweets in the last hour, the president—elect called the claims made up facts by sleaze bag political operatives. us intelligence agencies have accused russia of interfering in the election by hacking party communications. with the week to go until the new president is sworn in, donald trump also seems to be at odds with some of his key cabinet nominees. our correspondent washington laura bicker reports. the nation's capital awaits a new commander—in—chief. but, as the gates go up for expectant crowds, donald trump is still facing questions about intelligence, suggesting moscow tried to help put him in washington. the president—elect‘s choice for cia director's said that he valued the judgement of the staff he hopes to lead. it's pretty clear there was russian involvement in efforts to hack information and have an impact on american democracy. i'm very clear—eyed about what the intelligence report says.

that view on russia is more hawkish than what donald trump has said so far. his fiercest criticism has mostly been aimed at spy agencies. he accused us intelligence agencies of leaking unverified reports that the kremlin gathered compromising material on donald trump, with an intent to blackmail him. the dossier is supposed to have come from a british spy, christopher steele. donald trump announced it as fake news, but christopher steele's former colleague says he is reliable. chris was a strong, middle—ranking sas officer. i do not quite agree this was a subpar report. he has been careful to find as many sources to back it up, but also to make it clear these are stories, and the intelligence report lacks killer evidence. this controversy is likely to continue long after inauguration day, and has cast a shadow over donald trump's administration before he has even

taken the oath of office. laura bicker, bbc news, washington. meanwhile, there were emotional scenes during a ceremony at the white house last night as braque —— barack obama white house last night as braque —— ba rack 0bama surprised white house last night as braque —— barack obama surprised his vice president with the highest civilian honour. it is the presidential medal of freedom. joe biden received the presidential medal of freedom, he said the honour had been a complete surprise and mr obama said he and his second—in—command had experienced quite a ride. this gives the internet one last chance to talk about our bromance! well, it is now time for the weather forecast. let's get the very latest,

lots of details from the weather. yes, a lot to talk about. let's see what is happening in the short term. in the last couple of hours, we had some wintry weather across south—eastern areas, that is pushing out of the way but we have more wintry showers in the north. the focus today is that nasty weather on the east coast, so very strong winds, we have got the high tide today, another high tide to come later on and we have got big waves so later on and we have got big waves so dangerous conditions at to sea and the risk of some flooding. as the dough through the course of the day. —— as we go through the course of the day. but quiet weather in the rest of the countries. the temperature will be the story. it will be very cold and icy, any wet

weather will freeze overnight. saturday morning is chilly, by the time we get to sunday, it is looking a lot milder with some rain on the way. two more days of cold weather. good afternoon, this is bbc news with me, annita mcveigh, the headlines at 1230. there are twelve severe flood warnings for england and wales as snow and strong winds hit much of the uk. almost half of the hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as the health service comes under increasing pressure. the labour mp for stoke—on—trent central tristram hunt is to stand down. his departure triggers a by—election. president obama awards a tearful joe biden the presidential medal of freedom, the highest us civilian honour. severe flood warnings are in place on the eastern coast of england

amid fears thousands of homes are at risk, as snow and strong winds hit much of the uk. the environment agency have issued a number of warnings and alerts. there are 12 severe flood warnings across england and wales which means there is a danger to life. 91 warnings where flooding is expected and immediate action is required. 63 alerts where flooding is possible and individuals should be prepared for rising water levels. earlier i spoke to our correspondent debbie tubby who was in great yarmouth. as you can see, it is snowing but the main problem is that severe flood warnings which is a danger to life. that is because of a combination of the high spring tides and also winds predicted here of between 50 and 60 miles an hour. the

high tide is expected at 9:15pm, thatis high tide is expected at 9:15pm, that is why the authorities have tried to evacuate 5000 properties. they are using the military and also the environment agency and the police to call at every single house and make sure they can move from their houses. you can see behind me, their houses. you can see behind me, the council has set up a sandbag area, they are offering free sand and free bags for people to come here and fill up their sandbags for their houses. many people have told me they have moved their carpets and furniture, and even their pets upstairs, ready for the water to possibly come in this evening. they will have an evacuation centre to go to war of rest centre, they are being opened in the next hour or so. the advice from the environment agency is, do not get too close to the waves because they will have a lot of debris in them including rocks, and do not put yourself in danger by taking photos of the dramatic weather. another point, do not drive through the flood water

because up to 30 centimetres of water, flowing water, can move your car. it will be about 12 hours of disruption here. people arejust hoping that those high winds never arrived. more needs to be done to protect patients from incompetent locum doctors according to a review by the general medical council. the regulator says a reluctance to share information weaknesses in checks is allowing some poorly performing stand—in doctors to go undetected. elaine dunkley has more. the nhs is increasingly relying on locum doctors in order to deal with staff shortages in hospitals and surgeries. with some charging up to £115 an hour, questions have been raised over the cost. but that isn't the only concern. the general medical council says more needs to be done to ensure that all locum doctors are properly vetted. the report has highlighted a number of problems. it found it was not always clear which organisation was responsible for the appraisal of doctors on short—term contracts.

hospitals were also criticised for failing to share information and feedback when a locum was not up to the required standard. the general medical council also warned that some agencies that supply staff are not carrying out checks and ensuring adequate paperwork and support. there was also evidence that some patients were afraid to give negative feedback about their doctor in case it impacted on their care. in response, the department of health said that making sure doctors are up—to—date is vital to providing high quality patient care and further progress was needed. research suggests a third of disabled people have cut back on their energy consumption over the last year. research carried out by the charity scope found nearly half a million working—age disabled people spend more than £3,000 a year on energy. that's more than double the average uk household.

earlier i spoke to jack taylor, who's from scope. we know that life is tough, we know that life can cost more if you are disabled. 0ur that life can cost more if you are disabled. our research shows today that the true extent of that problem. a staggering 2 million disabled people have struggled to pay the energy bill in the past year and a third have had to cut back. many disabled people have said they have had to turn heating off, they have had to turn heating off, they have skipped meals, warm coats indoors, many have turned to banks and loan companies to pay for energy. we think that is unacceptable. is this accommodation of rising energy prices and cut in benefits? it is a combination of a lot of things, the arctic weather does not help, the rising prices for energy does not help. our research found that disabled people are paying twice as much as the average consumerfor the energy paying twice as much as the average consumer for the energy bill. we wa nt consumer for the energy bill. we want is the energy companies take action to promote schemes that can

help disabled people. why are they paying twice as much? some disabled people need to spend more time indoors, some need to charge agreement or have heating on more. so it is more than the fact that they have to be indoors, more than they have to be indoors, more than the average person, there are other factors as well. there are a of factors as well. there are a of factors but we found it staggering that they are paying twice as much as the general proposition for the energy bill and we think that is unacceptable. what do you think can be done to help this? there are good schemes in place that can help not just disabled people but many consumers in vulnerable circumstances. we need is the better promotion of those schemes. aitken can disabled people are not aware of the priority services register which can help them, the regulator has taken great steps to make sure energy company ‘s promote this but we need to see action taken now. what is being done in periods of very cold weather like this to keep a check on people with disabilities

who perhaps cannot afford to have their heating on as much as they might want to in this weather? we need to see better identification by energy companies of their customers who are struggling. people can get in touch with scope, or go to the government's website to find out how to cope with energy bills. a public health crisis on a par with obesity and diabetes. that could be the result of not properly assessing the needs of children in care, according to the head of a young people's charity. mark kerr from the institute of recovery from childhood trauma says the failure of successive governments to properly care for looked after children could cost society billions of pounds a year. jayne mccubbin has been to a children's home in yorkshire to see what life is like for those who live there. it's rare for a camera to be invited inside a children's care home. here in yorkshire, i'm struck by how normal it all is. and it feels really homely. everything in the whole house is picked by the young people as well. this is their house,

this is their home, this is where they live. nothing here feels institutional. only two young people live here, looked after by eight specially trained staff. we have one young man who is 14 and a young lady who is 17. those who live here will probably have suffered serious neglect, trauma or abuse. to understand how happy feels, or how angry feels, or how anxious can feel like anger but it's not really the same. we have to do a lot of work with them about that. that's one of the sleep rooms just over there, and then this is one of our young people's rooms who, it's just that full of photos and clutter, there's no way... we'll leave well alone. in one room, we've been left a note by a young man who lives here. to jayne, i give permission for you to read this out. i asked him to tell me what kind of things he into, and he says, cars, going to school, playing football, playing on the xbox. jayne, can you say thank

you to all my foster parents in the past. clearly, he's had lots of connections with people in the past. but he feels more settled here. yeah, he bounced through about six or seven different placements. but he's been here now for? over two years with us now. and he's doing well. doing really well. there are no timetables. friends are welcome to visit. day trips and holidays are taken. this is, this is christmas day? yes, so we like to take pictures, we've got memory boxes we keep for young people but then a lot of them do go up around the house. because the plan is always for a young person to eventually move on from here. hopefully back to their own home. not always possible. what is the relationship like with the neighbours, people in the area? i think the majority of the time, it's really good. ijust think, when things go a little bit wrong in the community, we're the first one that kind of gets a knock on the door because unfortunately, our kids are perceived as being bad kids.

and that's not the case at all, they've just been through a lot in their lives, a lot of trauma and theyjust need that help and support from us and that's what we try to give them. now, let's return to those spacewalk pictures we brought you earlier, some stunning pictures coming from the international space station. where the expedition 50 astronauts from nasa and the european space agency are taking part in the mission's second spacewalk, doing some intense work to connect new batteries and install adapter dates to the inferior —— adapter plates to the exterior of the iss. this will ta ke the exterior of the iss. this will take about six and a half hours. you will note that they are in darkness now, because every 90 minutes, the

space station orbits earth, so half of the time, every 45 minutes they are in daylight and the next 45 minutes, they are in darkness. let's listen in. on the way back, the recommendation again, the caution i read early this morning, not to touch the lubricated target shaft on the empty arcade. lam making i am making my way across. so, we heard briefly there, shane kimbrough, before that, thomas pesquet, and this is all being communicated via mission control in houston. but it is a painstaking piece of work, that they are doing. carefully choreographed, with the

utmost concern for their safety. about six and a half hours in total for the spacewalk itself, it is well underway now. some amazing pictures we are seeing from the iss. the headlines now. wintry weather continues to take a toll across part of the uk. 12 severe flood warnings have been issued meaning that lives are in danger. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they had unprecedented pressures . year as they had unprecedented pressures. labour's former education spokesman tristram hunt is resigning as an mp triggering a by—election. for more than 20 years, cubans who've fled the communist island for the united states have been granted an automatic right to remain without a visa. it's become known as wet—foot—dry—foot but now

the white house has announced it's to end. the decision comes after 0bama administration reinstated diplomatic ties with cuba 18 months ago. from cuba, will grant reports. for decades, washington's policy towards cuba was based on two things, the carrot and the stick. the stick is the us economic embargo which can only be lifted by congress. the carrot, however, was the tantalising wet foot, dry foot policy, a measure which allowed cubans who made it on to us soil the right to stay without a visa. tens of thousands of cubans made the journey every year, with many risking their lives in the florida straits inflatable rafts or unseaworthy vessels. since it was introduced, the cuban government has blamed the measure for the brain drain on the island. when president obama reinstated diplomatic ties with cuba and visited the country last year, we can safely say the castro government would have urged him in no uncertain terms

to lift the policy. despite the temptation of free entry to the us, the decision to remove it was broadly welcomed by some in havana. translation: on the one hand, it is good, because we as cubans are more certain we cannot go through this route and there will not be as much loss of human life nor so much blood spilling in the sea. for every boat that goes there, there are thousands and thousands of cubans who take crazy blind risks without knowing if they can survive or not. translation: it was hurting our young people especially. among the majority of people who attempted the journey, there was a large percentage of failure and loss of life on the way. the cuban authorities echoed the statement from the white house and applauded the move, especially the decision to lift the policy encouraging cuban doctors and nurses to abandon the country. translation: what we are seeing in this joint declaration is an important step for cuba's

national interest, but also for the national interest of the us. that said, i think this question of whether the donald trump administration will support the new accord must be answered by the new government of the united states. perhaps the key line about this change is revealed in the statement from the white house. by taking this step we are treating cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. now that is something that the government of raul castro has been calling for for decades. but undoubtedly there there who would have been hoping to use the wet foot, dry foot policy one day, and on hearing this news, had their hopes dashed for a future in the united states. the hamas security forces in gaza have broken up a protest by thousands of people demanding an end to chronic power cuts. it was one of the largest

unauthorised protests in the territory since the islamist group took power a decade ago. sarah corker reports. the demonstration began in a refugee camp, and quickly grew in size. protesters chanted, we want electricity. and the crowd marched towards the headquarters of the state—run electricity company in northern gaza. tension mounted, stones were thrown, and then, the sound of gunshots. followed by panic. with just two or three hours of electricity a day, people here have learned to improvise, stocking up have learned to improvise, stocking up on wood at this bakery. translation: the electricity used to

come for eight hours, now we don't get eight, not even two hours, and it is not constant. this demonstration is a rare sign of dissent in the territory, which the hamas militant group has ruled for the past decade. transition translation: the electricity crisis in gaza has been worsening for ten yea rs. in gaza has been worsening for ten years. due to population growth and the increasing demand on electricity, and the power available has not changed and has not fought more than 16 years. for weeks, local people have been in during cold winter conditions. to this man, no power means his mobility scooter is useless and his only way of getting around. the local power plant was badly damaged during fighting with israel and is only working at half its capacity. and the gaza's 2

million residents, this electricity crisis shows no sign of easing. scientists have identified the parts of the brains of mice that control the instinct to kill, and how to switch them on and off. the yale university researchers pinpointed two sets of neurons that coordinate the pursuit of prey and the muscles used for biting. these were modified so that they could be triggered by laser light. when activated, the mice launched frenzied attacks on anything in their path, including fake insects and even bottle tops. a40 a 40 year study of a population of killer whales of the us pacific coast has helped put its researchers saw the revolutionaries mystery, why killer whales and humans are two of the only three species that go through the menopause. scientists discovered that the menopause gave new children a better chance of survival, preventing what they called reproductive compact between mothers and daughters. chasing an evolutionary mystery.

these researchers have been documenting the lives of killer whales here for four decades. there we go. and their findings have revealed new insight into something that we humans share with a mammal so very different from us. 0rcas and humans are two of only three mammals on the planet that stop reproducing partway through our lives. and this 40—year study of killer whale society has already shown that grandmothers play a crucial role, leading their pod and helping theirfamilies survive. but scientists have now used this unique dataset that's recorded births and deaths in every orca family here to prove that when grandmothers stop having babies of their own, their daughter's offspring have a significantly higher chance of survival. the benefits of grandmothering are not enough to explain why human menopause has evolved. it's only when you consider the conflict and competition within the family group you can

actually understand and explain why menopause has evolved. avoiding this so—called reproductive conflict between the generations seems to give babies the best possible chance. really interesting just how important that bond is. and that's something that could finally explain the evolutionary story of human menopause. like us, these highly—intelligent now—endangered animals have close family bonds. and this long and careful observation of killer whale society could change our perspective on our own. snow white, cinderella, sleeping beauty, disney animated films have brought many a fairy tale to life. but only one disney princess has ever been based on an actual person. the film pocahontas, released in 1995, was inspired by a native american woman who died 400 years ago. this week special events marking her extraordinary life have got underway although the location might surprise you.

tim muffett reports. # have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon... it took a quarter of a billion pounds at the box office, but of the millions who have seen the 1995 film pocahontas, few in all likelihood could tell you where she is actually buried. just outside the m25 in gravesend, in kent. pocahontas was a native american who married an english settler, john rolfe. they became virginia's first tobacco farmers. they travelled to england to seek investment and mixed with the movers and shakers of the day, including king james and queen anne. but on their return, as their ship passed through gravesend, pocahontas — or rebecca rolfe as she was now known called — took ill and died. this is where she is buried and this is her great, great, great, great,

great, great, great... ..great—grandson, also called john rolfe. i am very proud to be a descendant of pocahontas, 17 times down the line. very frustrating at times. many people growing up had never heard of her. it was like saying, "i'm related to cinderella or sleeping beauty". as the 400th anniversary of her death approaches, there is a chance to honour her brief but extraordinary life. it's one of the first recorded instances where two very different cultures were formally married and formally celebrated. and they were celebrities when they came over? indeed. very much so, because many people had never met a native american, so the young pocahontas was feted as a celebrity. she dined with king james and queen anne and i feel proud that her legacy lives on and proud to be part of this amazing very true story, and this very powerful woman. the pocahontas 2017 festival is under way.

at stjohn's school, in gravesend, special lessons and a special visit. i'm an art historian and the cultural ambassador for my tribal nation. i definitely feel a connection with pocahontas. i feel like i am part of her story, i am following in her footsteps. i married an english person and changed my culture and became an ambassador for my people, which is what i think she was. she was such a strong lady and she did lots of things before she died. she influences most of us in how she lived and how brave she was. some historians believe pocahontas heard this song during her trip to england. special performances in schools are planned.

a remarkable life, a remarkable story, but no fairy tale. fascinating story. in a moment, the 1pm news, but first, here is the weather forecast. some of us have had yet more wintry weather today, a couple more days of wintry weather and then things will be turning milder, certainly by the time get to sunday, it will start getting that little bit warmer. this low pressure in the north sea is causing a very strong wind out of the north and potentialfor some coastal flooding, some the north and potentialfor some coastalflooding, some big waves the north and potentialfor some coastal flooding, some big waves out there. this is the flood line number, this is where you can get all of the information if you could be affected, particularly eastern areas. that is the environment agency. the weather this afternoon,

this is approaching rush hour, so still some snow showers across scotland, we have got gale force winds continuing to blow across eastern areas but easing as we go through the course of the day. some wintry showers across parts of scotla nd wintry showers across parts of scotland but looking at the cities, largely clear. at this stage. and temperatures really starting to reach freezing across northern areas, a fast developing there. 0nce again through tonight and into tomorrow, where there has been wet or slush on the ground, and if we get any more wintry showers, we could see more ice. these are the city temperatures, if you live in a row area , city temperatures, if you live in a row area, it could be as cold as that, about four about —4 or five. further wintry showers will be getting into parts of wales tomorrow, but for many central areas, that crisp, bright sunshine,

on the way. so chilly but sunny for many of us on saturday. then later on saturday into sunday, things start to change. we see much milder aircoming in off start to change. we see much milder air coming in off the atlantic, this is the cold air we have right now, and then through saturday night into sunday, the milder air comes in and we have weather fronts here as well, meaning rain. it will not look particularly nice on sunday. dull skies, out bricks of rain, feeling milder. it will take time before the temperatures get up. milder theme set to continue into monday and into tuesday. in the first week of the year. official figures today reveal the scale of the problem, with hospitals warning of mounting bed shortages and trolley waits. we'll have the latest in the continuing winter crisis in england in the nhs. also this lunchtime: flood warnings along the east coast of england, as a tidal surge and gale force

winds force people from their homes. meanwhile, snow and icy conditions are disrupting other parts of the uk. a dramatic increase in the number of men in low—paid, part—time work. and victory for britain's women's number one, johanna konta, in her final warm—up tournament before the australian open. and coming up in the sport on bbc news, johanna konta wins her second tour title, the sydney international. ideal preparation ahead of next week's australian open.