Welcome to bbc news. Heavy snowfalls across parts of the uk are causing widespread disruption this morning. Snow is falling across wales, the midlands and southern england, with the met office urging people to brace themselves for transport problems. Almost 20 centimetres have fallen in powys in mid wales. An amber weather alert has been issued, and theres a warning that some rural areas could be cut off. Simon clemison reports. It could be a scene from the snowman. White the new green, as you fly over parts of wales. Sledge down it, sculpt it, throw it. It might not look any different to the snow which has already fallen in shropshire, but it is coming from a different place, and that could mean it has a much bigger effect. A band of rain, this time persistent, is drifting in from the south west and is set to push against the cold air, potentially leading to heavy and continuous falls across wide areas of wales, the midlands, and into Northern England, with the possibility of 20 centimetres accumulating in some spots. It could also go further south than originally thought. Scotland and Northern Ireland are on alert. Afairamount has already arrived on the weekend, but so far it originated from showers, covering some towns but not others. This hospital is calling on people with 4x4s living nearby to help bring staff to work, with the met office urging people to be prepared. For many, for now, the snow is anything but a problem. We have been sledging down the hill and it is super fun. We dont get snow very often, so we brought the kids out, and it was good fun. Just having loads of fun in the snow. The met office says road, railand air delays are likely. The hope will be that a sunday will help lessen the impact, because lots of people are not at work or school. In fact, theyre here. In a moment, well chat to navteonhal in nottinghamshire, but first lets speak to matthew richards, whos in llangollen in north east wales. What the picture there . It has been snowing very heavily since 5am, say over ten centimetres so since 5am, say over ten centimetres so far today with no sign of a debating just yet. I think wrexham and powys at the parts. Literally froze the next mac i am not sure whether that is the weather. We will try to go back to him in a moment. Back to nottinghamshire where it is not quite as snowy but is still coming down. Give us the picture. It has been coming down, started snowing in nottingham around two hours ago, snow moving steadily from the West Midlands across to the east midlands. It looks pretty, wintry, seasonal, but it has been causing disruption. At Birmingham Airport flights are suspended temporarily and at the east midlands airport, the runway has been shut temporarily until at least midday with inbound and outbound flights delayed. They are telling passengers to be wary of back and make adjustments to their journeys accordingly. We are expecting snow to continue falling, just a couple of centimetres at the moment, but getting heavier all the time and expecting it to continue falling until late afternoon. We know there have been warnings to drivers. How sort of slippery is it where you are . And has been falling for the last couple of hours, when we first woke up, there was a light dusting, but we we re up, there was a light dusting, but we were slipping a little bit. Fine about 2 3 centimetres, but were spectre in 5 10 with more on Higher Ground later throughout the day. Thank you very much indeed. Get inside and get some cover and a warm cup of drever sublets go back to wales. Lets go back to wales. Topped was macro about conditions there, because it looks like it has been really heavy snowfall. We have had heavy snowfall on friday, and happy with that with the strong winds compounding the issues of snowdrifts. Wrexham council have been out with their lorry since 3am. They have temporarily to routes they are trying to keep clear. They say the more remote areas where the snow could be larger, they have to wait longer and there will be a risk that the eastern areas could be cut off. What you find in north wales is lots of farmers will get their tractors out and their snowploughs and trying to keep some routes up and running. Were expecting the snow to be until lunchtime. It looks very heavy at the moment. Thank you very much indeed. Lets get more details from ben rich from bbc weather. It is falling very heavily in parts of the country. Absolutely, it is not everywhere, the places that are getting snow, some have had quite a lot and it is the sort of weather makes that does bring the potential for transport disruption, with the strong winds as well. There is an amber he prepared warning for the snow, the idea that some places at low levels could get 510 some places at low levels could get 5 10 centimetres of snow. Over the hills over that. This shows you what is happening, the band of white weather sliding from the south west, run into the cold air and the white shows you where it has turned to snow. Some places have seen a lot. Spennymoor bridge sennybridge sings 23 centimetres. Hereford, high wycombe, warwickshire have seen significant accumulations of snow already. Hence the warnings, there will be ice as well, so poor driving conditions, cancellations on the ra i lwa ys conditions, cancellations on the railways likely. Then what we have in the south is the strong winds, 60,70, in the south is the strong winds, 60, 70, 80 mph winds in exposed spots. This is how the day is likely to go now. There is more to come the central areas, southern areas will bea central areas, southern areas will be a mixture of rain with snow at times. Further north, far north, com pletely times. Further north, far north, completely different day. Light winds, more sunshine, justice sunshine in the far north. Thank you emerge. Very much. There are thank you emerge. Very much. There a re protests thank you emerge. Very much. There are protests going on in lebanon outside the American Embassy in lebanon. This is in the wake of Donald Trumps controversial decision for the United States to recognise jerusalem as decision for the United States to recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel. Lebanese Security Forces have been firing tear gas and water cannon at protesters near the us open us embassy. Protesters have been waving the palestinian flag, some of them. They have been setting a light fires, firing projectiles towards the Security Forces if you have barricaded the main road that leads to the us embassy. This is in the awkar area north of beirut. That is the situation there. Looks pretty tense and you can see a lot of demonstrators clashing with Security Forces. That is close to the us embassy, tear gas fired and some of the demonstrators waving the palestinian flag that you can see. It looks like a good few thousand demonstrators. We will bring you more from lebanon as the situation unfolds. The foreign secretary borisjohnson, is due to meet the iranian president Hassan Rouhani this morning on the second day of his visit to the country. Hell continue to press for the release of Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, the british iranian aid worker whos been held prisoner in the country since april 2016. She denies charges of trying to overthrow the iranian government. But she faces the possibility of a further Court Appearance today after mrjohnson appeared last month to contradict her claim she was on holiday in iran at the time of her arrest. I am sure it will make a difference. Im sure him being there, him raising her case, him raising her case in the context of lots of other stuff, can only help improve relations. And improved relations can only lead to a better results for us. But im not expecting that on monday morning she comes back on the plane. Our security correspondent, frank gardner, is in bahrain and has been following developments. Frank, it looks like the foreign secretary will meet with the president. Is that significant, looks like a hint of progress to have a high level meeting . It is certainly very positive. That was agreed back on friday evening, so was agreed back on friday evening, so it was expected, but if it went badly, i think he would be out of their already by now. It would be wrong to characterise the visit as purely discussing the case of Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe. There are lots of issues, bilateral issues on the table. The nuclear dealfor example. Boris johnson will the table. The nuclear dealfor example. Borisjohnson will have been emphasising the fact that britain has supported iran in the nuclear deal whereas donald trump wa nts to nuclear deal whereas donald trump wants to tear it up. They will be looking for areas of common interest. British banks and not able to pass iranian money do the system that they would like, however, and iran feels it is getting the rough end of the nuclear deal on 2015. They have their own demands. The people who borisjohnson has been meeting at all considered to be pragmatist, fairly outward looking, the prime minister, the speaker of parliament, even the elected president , Hassan Rouhani. Behind them lies a hidden deep state, the roof illusion a guard, the judiciary, the temperatures, the clerics, these people are deeply suspicious of the west, especially britain, and there is even a same, an englishjob. Britain, and there is even a same, an english job. It britain, and there is even a same, an englishjob. It means if you play an englishjob. It means if you play a trick. He has to overcome the hostility that is felt in some quarters because those are the people who hold a lot of the keys to power in iran. I suppose from mrjohnsons point of view, he has something to prove indecency has been criticised for his handling of the affair about Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe and the comments he made that may have put into more trouble than she was already in. The foreign minister, according to the foreign office, should Minster Johnson that was not the case, but never the less, the fact that Boris Johnson misrepresented what she was doing in iran to the Foreign Affairs committee, and that was seized on by the hardliners, so it has prompted fears that it could alter her case. At the moment there is no indication of whether that is true or not. There are fears, though, of that. I do not think anyone is expecting him to come out of iran today Holding Hands with her. There are a number of consular cases. She is the most high profile one, but there are others where the next of kin have asked for it not be talked about. This a sensitive area. One of the things we have not mentioned is the money deal, the chieftain deal. Iran nearly a0 years ago paid over £a00 million is an upfront payment for chieftain tax to the regime to stop that regime fell, and britain never delivered the tanks but hold on to the money. They want the money back. That is just one element of what they want to talk about to try and resolve these quite thorny areas of disagreement between britain and iran. Good to talk to you full stop thank you for being with us. Live from bahrain. A Cross Party Group of mps are calling for a meaningful vote for parliament on any brexit deal to be enshrined in the eu withdrawal bill. The group hopes to add an amendment to the bill later this week. On friday, theresa may agreed a deal with Eu Commission president Jean Claude Juncker on three key aspects of brexit the so called divorce bill, the rights of eu citizens in the uk and british citizens abroad, and the irish border. If eu leaders agree to it at a European Council summit on thursday, the next phase of negotiations can begin discussing a transition deal and future trade. Joining me is the leader of the liberal democrats sir vince cable. Very good morning to you. Thank you for being here. What was your reaction to the breakthrough deal . It looked like it was in real trouble when the dup interviewed at the beginning of next week last week and then victory was snatched. It is better than the alternative which would have been for the talks to have collapsed completely and we would have crashed out of the eu, so it isa would have crashed out of the eu, so it is a net positive. It is not a great deal. But admits signing up to pay enormous sums of money, 50 billion of divorce payment, there is no guarantee there will be any outcome in terms of trade negotiations. Is that not money we owe . It is, but if we werent leaving, this would not arise. It is not guaranteed that a favourable trade agreement follows from it. The agreement follows from it. The agreement is there is no agreement on ireland, there is a fundamental stumbling block. The deal on citizenship, it is betterfor millions of people facing deportation, but they still face enormous bureaucratic obstacles. It is better than crashing out, but it is better than crashing out, but it is not a great outcome. What do you seek, what would you like to see from the next round of talks, trade talks that many people will think will be more difficult. Do you have a vision for how that could work, people talking about a canada style trade arrangement between the uk and eu . I think that is where the government will finish up and where the negotiators assume it will finish up. It would be a bad outcome for the uk because it means we do not face trade barriers for manufacturing, but there is nothing in it to Cover Services trade which britain is relatively good at, the city of london is covered by that. And even the canadian agreement has taken the years and years to negotiate, it is still faces problems in germany, there provincial parliaments which have been raising objections. Even that may be very difficult to negotiate. The government fission with what is not so different from indonesia, for example. Absolutely disastrous. My party argues that at the end of all this, the British Public have got to have disabled. You really want to push ahead with what looks like it could be a bad deal . A second referendum, in other words, which is controversial because people have said we have had one, you do not let the results you want another one. Ido another one. I do not argue with that. That is history, we except the outcome. We are talking about a vote on the fa cts are talking about a vote on the facts and the most recent survey, it suggests there is now a margin in favour of that approach. There is an alternative way of doing things. Parliament is considering a meaningful vote that would include the possibility of revoking article 50 and remaining within the eu. That is another way in which disastrous outcomes could be stopped. I favoured the outcome of letting the British Public have a final say. The idea of full alignment that was discussed, enshrined in the deal that there was, and it sounds very vague, the idea of avoiding a hard bordered by having full alignment between the uk and eu. Are you clear on what that might mean . Nobody is terribly clear, but the common sense interpretation of what the government has signed up to in relation to the border is that britain stays within the Single Market and Customs Union until the irish border question has been resolved. Which could take many years. It could take decades if not more. The whole history of ireland going back centuries is it is very difficult to resolve. I do not think there is a solution. But some people see that as a way of staying in the Customs Union and the Single Market in a sense. Ido Single Market in a sense. I do not think it saved act or way, it isa i do not think it saved act or way, it is a front doorway. It is certainly a much better outcome than we could have feared, if that is what happened. What you think about mrs s handling . She has been criticised, but she has got a deal which some people is saying pretty much as good as could be expected for the time being, in the sense it does at least pave the way for trade talks was the bid is not no deal, which some people feared. Ido people feared. I do not criticise her personally, she has done the best of a bad job. She has the feuding cabinet who are going to are grossly disloyal to stop she has kept her nerve and produced some kind of agreement. If you look at some of the subsequent comments, i did a piece this morning, they are preparing the way to have a fresh go at her and undermine her position. Asking me if she has done a good job, she had a difficultjob and has done the best she could. To think he do think she camp fired do think she can survive until the end of the process . I believe most want to keep her there, she will be the scapegoat if things go wrong. Do you think it is in the interest of the country that she remains as prime minister, the best that, someone prime minister, the best that, someone who can negotiate . I cannot think of anyone on the conservative side that could do it better. She certainly the best of a bad lot. If we were in a more rational political culture, woodward not be doing this on a tribal basis. Given the extreme polarisation of british politics, but is not how it is working. Thank you so much for coming in, sir vince cable, leader of the liberal democrats. Students in england are being encouraged to study for undergraduate degrees in two years rather than three. The universitys ministerjo johnson says these shorter courses will save thousands of pounds in tuition fees even though universities would be able to charge nearly £2000 more per year. Andy moore reports. It was a conservative manifesto promise to introduce more two year degree courses. Implementing that plan has proved tough going. The universities say it will mean major changes to their schedules, with the prospect of the same or less money in income. By the governments own admission, the pickup so far has been pitiful, with only 0. 2 of students on fast tracked degrees. The new scheme would see students paying more for each individual year of their course, but more than £5,000 less than they would have done if it had lasted three years. It is a fantastic offer. The same quality degree, quality assured in exactly the same way, provided in a more intensive way. So instead of 30 weeks a year studying over three years, a really driven student, a highly motivated student, could pack in a5 weeks over two years. The government says each student on a two year course will save at least £25,000 if you add in saved living costs and a years extra earnings to the equation. And they say demand from students will persuade universities to offer the new courses. The arab league has urged the United States to reverse its decision to recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel. After an emergency meeting in cairo, the organisation said the move was a dangerous violation of international law, which threatened to plunge the middle east into violence. Sarah corker reports. Another day of violence in the gaza strip and parts of the Israeli Occupied west bank. A new round of hostilities. Meanwhile in egypt, arab Foreign Ministers held an emergency meeting. There was scathing criticisms of Donald Trumps decision to recognise jerusalem is the capital of israel. As the capital. Translation it is a dangerous decision by its nature and form, an insult to the rights of the arab countries, and in disagreement with international law. Diplomatic relations between the palestinian leadership and the white house are under severe strain. A meeting between the palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and big us Vice President mike pence has been cancelled. Translation we have taken the decision that there will be no official communication between any palestinian official and any american official. We are committed to this decision. Gunfire in gaza, the anger over the us decision was mixed with grief. Funerals were held for two People Killed in israeli air strikes on friday. The Islamist Group hamas said the men belonged to their armed wing. Weapons stores and a base run by the militant group were targeted, said israel. Three rockets were fired from gaza. One landed in this southern israeli town, israel said. There was minor damage but no casualties. Further disruption took place in jerusalem, as palestinians continued to vent their anger at president trump. Mr trump has appealed for calm and moderation. Many israelis continue to praise his move, but it comes at a cost of increased tensions. Sarah corker, bbc news. The scene live at the us embassy in lebanon. This is to the north of beirut, you can see flames burning, heavy smokers well. There have been big protests against Donald Trumps decision to recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel. Lots of demonstrators carrying parrot the simian flags. Palestinian flags. There was some violence with lebanese Security Forces firing tear gas and Water Cannons at the protesters near the us embassy. This was during the demonstration against mr trumps decision to recognise jerusalem as the capital of israel. You can see hand achieves over mouths because of the water cannon and tear gas being fired and the protesters setting fires in the street and throwing some missiles at the Security Forces. Just another example of the protest that there areas across the region, really, at the moment to the decision by the Us Administration and Donald Trumps decision to recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel. Californias governor says devastating wildfires fuelled by Climate Change are the new normal. Jerry brown made the comments after surveying the damage in ventura county, north of los angeles. Six fires have destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced 200 thousand of buildings and forced 200,000 people from their homes. The flames have been driven by low humidty and parched ground. This is the new normal. And this could be something that happens every year or every few years, or it happens to some degree. It isjust more intense, more widespread, and we are about ready to have a firefighting christmas. This is very odd and unusual, but it is the way the world is, with the kind of Carbon Pollution that we are not only living with, but we are generating still, it is still increasing. We have to make that turn. It is going to take heroic efforts. There are many places in this country that dont get it yet, there are several countries of the world that dont quite get it. The equalities watchdog is to conduct its own review into the Grenfell Tower fire. 71 people died in the blaze, in west london injune. The equality and Human Rights Commission is expected to consider whether the government and the local council failed in their duty to protect life. It will publish its conclusions in april, before the full findings of the official inquiry are known. The singer songwriter chris rea collapsed on stage last night while performing at a concert in oxford. The 66 year old who is best known for writing driving home for christmas had a stroke last year. The Ambulance Service said it had taken a patient to hospital and he was in a stable condition. Now time for a look at the weather. A north ive enciphered a north south divide. Lots of sunshine. Further south, a different story, very heavy snow has been falling cordons in all celsius of disruption and it has been pushing further northwards and eastwards over the last few hours, seeing the extent of the heavy snow from the central, northern wales, into the south eastern areas of england. Met office continue with their amber be prepared warning, treacherous conditions on the road and continue to be so as we head to the latter pa rt to be so as we head to the latter part of the afternoon. Snowfall will continue to ease down, fragment, lighter. Very strong winds across the south and south west of the country through the bristol channel, gale force, maybe even severe through the morning, will ease down to the afternoon. The north, you will wonder what the forces all about. Largely dry, very cold, lots of sunshine, scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England and northern scotland wintry showers continuing. In contrast, a bit milder across the south west, temperatures into double figures. It will continue down for the southampton versus arsenal match. For the manchester derby, some odd snowfla ke for the manchester derby, some odd snowflake in the f sub will very cold. Snow flurries in eastern and southern parts of england, cold nights to come with a risk of ice, significant risk. These are town and city values. About in rural places, could be lower than that. That error of low pressure clears away and we look to the south, this storm will batter parts of france as we get on towards monday and the Northern Edge may clip the south and south east with strong winds, cloudy skies outbreaks of rain, maybe wintriness over the high ground. Away from here, apart from wintry showers, a fine, dry but very cold day with crisp winter sunshine around. Things looking quieter as we head towards tuesday, in between weather systems, a cold frosty start, watch out for ice again. Generally, many places will be dry with plenty of winter sunshine. Hello, this is bbc news, the headlines at 9. 30pm. An amber weather warning has been issued for many parts of the uk as more snow is expected. Airports and Rail Services have been affected and more travel disruption is predicted. The foreign secretary will conduct his second day of talks