To the bbc news at one. Motorists have been facing treacherous Road Conditions after snow turned to ice across parts of the uk. Hundreds of schools across england and wales are closed as the wintry conditions persist, and there is some disruption to Rail Services and flights. The met office has issued several weather warnings across the country with temperatures expected to plunge overnight and further wintry showers due in the coming days. Phil mackie has this report. Matthew richards is in north east wales, and Duncan Kennedy is in hindhead, in surrey, and duncan, first, it has been snowing again this morning where you are. Absolutely, snow currently horizontal, not only have snow but wind, we have arrived here after a journey up from the south coast and we have met absolutely every kind of weather condition going. Self coast, rain. Up through hampshire, petersfield, winchester, rain and sleet. By the time you get here, sorry, this kind of snow. We are 800 feet, we are getting between three and five centimetres of this blizzard like conditions as well. Do give you an idea of where we are, below the m25, and next to the eighth three. Both of those roads are flowing, quite smoothly, it has to be said. A3. Around here, on the smaller roads, things are much more tricky. The roads are open, they have been gritted, cars slip sliding around, as soon as they get a little gradient, wheels lose traction. Knocks and bumps and one 01 traction. Knocks and bumps and one or two people have been slipping over as well, as two schools in this area, at least a dozen have been shutin area, at least a dozen have been shut in hindhead area alone, we met some children who said they did not get to their school even though that school was open, others have been closed altogether, not least because the schools do not want to risk children not being able to get home at the end of the day and also because playground, concrete all around schools, are iced over and they do not want risk of ice and people slipping over. Speaking to one 01 people slipping over. Speaking to one or two people around here, they have been struggling to get to work in the surrounding country road areas. One man worked at a golf course, could not get there today, that has been shut up, nobody working there today. This storm, due to last for another two, three, possibly four hours, then, the warning after that, ice. Treacherous conditions for cars coming to this pa rt conditions for cars coming to this part of surrey, and treacherous conditions will continue. Matthew, the situation where you are, warnings as well that temperatures are warnings as well that temperatures a re really warnings as well that temperatures are really going to plunge. Yes, heavy snow of the past couple of days has stopped, temperatures are dropping. 600 schools across wales that are currently closed, around 500 Properties Still without power. Those warnings from police not to journey out unless you have too. Council say they are doing their best to get to the slightly more minor routes, to make sure more remote communities can stay accessible. We have heard warnings from rescue teams around wales about incidents they have been called to, a 21 year old man was seriously injured when sledging in the rhondda valley, last night, he slid off a hill and into a ravine, valley, last night, he slid off a hilland into a ravine, and valley, last night, he slid off a hill and into a ravine, and was airlifted to hospital. A 24 year old man suffered injuries to head and shoulders when he fell 80 metres while climbing on a mountain in Snowdonia National park, with a family group, so the warning is, though these scenes may look very inviting, it is still very dangerous. Schools in worcestershire are closed because of the severe weather, this report. Voiceover large swathes of Central England and wales woke up to a winter wonderland, but the morning commute was tricky, many areas saw their heaviest snowfall for seven yea rs. Their heaviest snowfall for seven years. Some areas saw 20 centimetres, which froze when temperatures plummeted, driving conditions were extremely dangerous, broke down services have been Walking Around the clock. We do 10,000 breakdowns, but yesterday we did 14,000, 600 of those were vehicles stuck in snow. The main advice would be to take it steady, pack if you extras, like a blanket, a torch, a mobile phone, make sure they are charged. Make sure you have your main contacts in your phone. Criticism of local authorities after hundreds of schools were shut, meaning an enforced day off for pa rents meaning an enforced day off for parents who had to look after children. As you can see, for a lot of people, it is a snow day, a lot of people, it is a snow day, a lot offun, of people, it is a snow day, a lot of fun, but a real problem for businesses especially because people cannot get to work, in some places they have had to stay at home to look after children. For others, simply because the high street should be doing well in the run up to christmas but this is keeping people away. Snow and ice around, it will they like for another day. The snowploughs and gritters have been working at full pelt throughout the weekend, for many areas, this is day four of destruction, the worst conditions are over the Higher Ground in england and wales, where they are more used to it and quite phlegmatic. Happens every four or five years, we get a big dump, phlegmatic. Happens every four or five years, we geta big dump, and being higher up. We tend to get more than most, but it is very pretty. Everyone is being asked to help out, including organisations with four wheel drive vehicle. Help out, including organisations with fourwheel drive vehicle. We offered up a number of them, because there is a lot of pressure on them. Getting people to patients, patients to hospitals. Well trained drivers. We have vehicles we are happy to lend. The cold snap is not yet over, that means there is no prospect of an early thaw, so the big question is, what happens next. Across the country we have had a lot of snow and rain and sleet over the last 24 to 48 hours, tonight, temperatures will plunge, sunspots, 10, 11, 12 temperatures will plunge, sunspots, 10, 11, 12 degrees. With all those wet and snowy surfaces, could be some severe ice problems to take us be some severe ice problems to take us into tomorrow morning. Whether you love it or hate it, it is undeniably pretty, social media is filled with pictures like this, so, this year, many people enjoying some stunning scenery, and christmas come early. Studio and you can keep up to date with the latest disruption on our website at bbc. Co. Uk news. Survivors and bereaved families have called on the Public Inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster, in which 71 people died, to be headed by a panel of experts, rather than a single retired judge. The current chairman, sir martin moore bick, is holding two days of public hearings to set out the future of the inquirys work. Victims of the fire say they are already becoming pushed to the sidelines. Our Home Affairs Correspondent tom symonds is at the hearing in central london. This is the beginning of a long journey, the police alone have gathered 31 million documents which may be evidence, and taken state m e nts may be evidence, and taken statements from 1144 people, that is one enquiry, of several working in parallel. It is the public enquiry here that one day will produce the official verdict on why this tragedy happened. The bereaved, the survivors, the people who lived in the shadow of the tower. Their supporters. They are not going anywhere. These two days of hearings will set up the way in which the enquiry does its job, gathers the evidence. At first, much of that will come from the police. But the enquiry heard the voices of those who escaped the fire will be vital. To prepare a statement for the enquiry will, for many of them, be difficult and traumatic. And the process of giving oral evidence to the enquiry, equally, if not more challenging. But we must also try to move more promptly and effectively with the aim of learning lessons from this awful event. In order to save the lives of others and in order to ensure Something Like this can never happen again. But the survivors and the families of the bereaved have a string of concerns. They are worried, as so called core participants, that they are already being pushed to the sidelines. Watching as experts and lawyers discuss matters of life and death between themselves. Hearings will be conducted exclusively by your council and you. Rendering the core participants passive attendees. Able only to give their own evidence if asked, and to suggest questions, but never to ask them. Well, we want to ask questions on behalf of our clients. Only the enquirys lawyers will question witnesses. It is led by a singlejudge, sir martin moore bick. The families want him, joined by others, to make up a panel with People Better able to represent the social issues the fire revealed. What were asking for is a panel of experts that represent the community. That diverse, but also have the expertise that is required. Their suspicion is not helped by the fact that six months on, many survivors have not been rehoused, with 42 families found homes so far. It has been much more complicated and challenging than we initially thought. But i think by the time. You know, we have bought 300 houses and we are getting people rehoused. That will build the trust. Its action rather than words. Thats an ongoing process. Inquests have described how the 71 victims died. The enquirys job is to decide why. The police, whether anyone is criminally responsible. Difficultjobs in themselves, made far more difficult by the trauma this tragedy has left behind. That demand for a panel to take over from a singlejudge that demand for a panel to take over from a single judge will not go away, having local people on the Enquiry Panel would risk its independence, some may say, the families say that is not what they are asking for, they do not want to huack are asking for, they do not want to hijack the process, theyjust want it to have a broader view. Either way, any change would be for the government. When can we expect results 7 government. When can we expect results . The first report, looking at the causes, the basic causes of the fire and the response to it, is not due until next autumn. More than 8,000 people in the uk have huntingtons disease, a devastating condition which permanently affects their ability to move and think as well as how they behave. Its a neuro degenerative disease which often starts to affect people in their 30s and 405. And now scientist think they may have made a big breakthrough, which could ultimately stop the deadly disease. Our health and science correspondent James Gallagher has had exclusive access to the trial and joins me now. Really is an incredibly cruel disease, and one which is passed through the generations. A blight on families, terminal, if you have it, you know you will die, you will have seen a parents die from this disease, and there is a 50 50 chance of you passing it to your children. It is caused by the build up of a toxic protein inside the brain, slowly killing brain cells over a lifetime. What this drug does, it is injected into the spinal fluid, it will bathe the brain and slow down the production of a protein. The hope is that once you lower levels of the protein, then you can stop brain cells dying and that might stop huntingtons disease. People will want to know, people have this already, people could have it in the future, those people will want to know, is this a cure . Today, the a nswer know, is this a cure . Today, the answer is no, because scientists so far have only shown they can lower the levels of the toxic protein, they have not lowered it long enough to see if it makes a difference, a decade of Animal Research suggests it should but doctors are still need to do the work in human patients. The long term aim is to treat people when they are 18 years old, because if you can get them before symptoms even start, they might never have huntingtons, that is why one scientist described this research to me as potentially the biggest breakthrough in any neurodegenerative disease in 50 yea rs. The Prime Minister will update mps in the commons this afternoon on the brexit deal struck on friday in brussels. Its understood shell say she expects eu leaders to agree to start talks about future trade and security at a summit on thursday. Our assistant Political Editor norman smith is in westminster. Expected to talk of a new sense of optimism after friday. Is there . I suspect theresa may thinks she is entitled to a little glass of christmas cheer, the odd mince pie, something odd is going on at westminster, here we are on the cusp ofa westminster, here we are on the cusp of a brexit statement, normally thatis of a brexit statement, normally that is the cue for eye gouging and shin kicking but today, everyone seems, well, kind of happy, they are 0k seems, well, kind of happy, they are ok with the deal that has been done by theresa may on friday, brexiteers think, having paid £39 billion, that isa think, having paid £39 billion, that is a lot but kind of enough, the European Court has been marginalised, and the contentious phrase about regular to realignment between Northern Ireland and ireland, they believe it applies only to a few limited areas, leaving the single market. Remainers see it differently, they believe regulatory alignment means they will be cheek by jowl with the single alignment means they will be cheek byjowl with the single market, taking most of their roles and regulations, the softest of soft yolk brexits, they cannot all be right, but the way the agreement has been written, it is sufficiently vague and ambiguous, so that eve ryo ne vague and ambiguous, so that everyone can pretty much take whatever they want from it. So, maybe less the mince pie, and more the euro fudge our top story this lunchtime. Hundreds of schools are closed and thousands have no power as snow and ice cover much of the uk. And still to come. The uk has a new tallest mountain, and antarctic peak has been remeasured and found to coming up in sport on bbc news. Well have the latest on that milk throwing argument between Manchester City and manchester united, following citys record win in yesterdays derby. Thousands more people have been told to leave their homes in california as one of the biggest wildfires in the States History moves towards the coastal city of Santa Barbara. Around 800 buildings have already been destroyed in the fires that have raged across california last week. Fire fighters are battling six fires across the state, with the largest having scorched an area the size of new york city. Simon cullen reports. Its a battle being fought both from the ground and from the air. Fanned by strong winds and hot weather, Fire Fighters are struggling to get the upper hand on a blaze which has become one of the most destructive in californias history. Hundreds of homes have already been destroyed and thousands of people have been forced to flee. Im scared to death. We packed up our whole car. We got evacuated this morning. Im a nervous wreck. Ive only lived in Santa Barbara five years, so this is the first time ive experienced a fire. So i have been in panic mode all day. The fire in the coastal areas of ventura and Santa Barbara, has now burnt out an area larger than the size of new york, and its still out of control. But its not the only one. And resources are being stretched to the limit. Weve been up im at 29 hours straight every other day. Everybody on this division is at 28, 29 hours. So we are exhausted. But they are not coming off until this is done. Several Fire Fighters have been injured, and one person, a 70 year old lady, has died while trying to flee. Santa Barbara Police department as the flames draw nearer, the mandatory evacuation zone has been widened. Overnight, authorities went door to door, telling people to leave. This fire has acted in an unpredictable manner. It has been very rapidly moving. Its going to be a multi day event, so please do what you can now to prepare to evacuate. The fire front has become so large, it is clearly visible from space, giving a sense of the magnitude of the task ahead. The us President Donald Trump has declared a state of emergency to provide extra resources to the worst affected regions. For now, authorities are focusing on bringing the fires under control. But soon, the focus will turn to assessing the damage and counting the cost of the devastating fire season. Simon cullen, bbc news. Police are responding to reports of an extension in manhattan, there are reports of a number of injuries. Pictures from the scene show armed police and commuters lining the pavement of a busy transport hub a few blocks away from times square. The new york Police Department has said they are responding to an insta nt said they are responding to an instant and a number of metro lines have been evacuated. An incident. President putin has ordered the partial withdrawal of Russian Troops from syria, during an unannounced visit to the country. Mr putin was met by syrian president bashar assad as he arrived at a russian air base. Russia first intervened in the conflict in 2015, staging air strikes in support of the syrian government. Our moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg reports. For more than two years, his troops have been at war in syria. Today, Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the russian airbase here. His Message Mission accomplished. Here to see him, and to thank him, was president assad. Its russias military operation which has kept the syrian leader in power. And then it was onto the soldiers. President putin told the troops, their motherland was proud of them. He expressed russias gratitude for what they had achieved in syria. Addressing the troops, president putin said that the russian and syrian armies had routed the most fearsome group of international terrorists. He announced the withdrawal of a large part of russias military contingent. The soldiers, he said, could return home victorious. The Russian Campaign in syria was controversial. Western governments claimed russian air strikes were targeting the moderate syrian opposition. Moscow ignored the criticism. Today, president putin said his troops had performed brilliantly, and the operation in the air and at sea had shown the growing power of russias military. Russia believes its military campaign in syria has been a success. Not only in terms of defeating isis and keeping a key ally, president assad, in power, but also the russians believe the campaign has raised their countrys profile in the middle east, and increased russias influence on the international stage. Steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. Two in five women, and one in five men, say theyve been sexually harassed at work, according to a new survey of workplace harassment for the bbc. The poll found that self employed workers, or those on zero hours contracts, are more likely to face unwanted Sexual Behaviour than those in full time employment. Adina campbell has this report. Putting up with Sexual Harassment at work is something copywriter Lorrie Hartshorn has dealt with for years. Because she is a freelancer, she says it is even worse. If something goes wrong and you are subjected to these kinds of behaviours you are uncomfortable with or are clearly inappropriate, who do you complain to . You are frequently dealing with the top people in the company and if the behaviour comes from one of them, your choice your choice is to either complain to them and lose the gig, or not complain. In the latest survey for the bbc, the poll revealed 43 of people in Flexible Work had experienced unwanted Sexual Behaviour, compared with 29 who were directly employed. Those working in industries such as hospitality, retail or the public sector, were more at risk. Overall, 40 of women and 18 of men had experienced Sexual Harassment in the workplace. The survey also found people aged between 18 and 34 were more likely to report unwanted sexual attention, compared to those over 55. One problem is organisations dont realise they have a problem, they say, we dont have a problem, we have an open door policy. Realising first of all the extent of the problem. Then providing systems where people are reticent, they can step forward. Unwelcome jokes, unwanted touching and porn in the workplace were some of the most common types of behaviour in the survey of more than 6,000 british adults. It is notjust at work where women and men face problems. People grabbing me, grabbing the chest area, the bum. Recently i had someone take my phone number, i went to get my laptop repaired, they took my details and wouldnt stop texting me. When you are out in bars, you feel a bit trapped at sometimes. With touching. No, no. It is mainlyjust catcalling, especially older men. Because i am at college now, but this happened when i was still in school uniform, so it was really inappropriate. With an even bigger focus on Sexual Harassment, there are new calls for better protection to people inside and outside the workplace. Adina campbell, bbc news. Bitcoin. Its the worlds most popular virtual currency. Its not tied to any bank, so users can spend it anonymously. At the start of the year, a bitcoin was worth just over £700. This month, a bitcoin peaked atjust under £14,000. Last night, the Digital Currency had another first, as it launched on a Futures Exchange in chicago. Our technology orrespondent Rory Cellan Jones is here. And that means what . It gives a measure of respectability to something which has been seen as pretty fla ky to something which has been seen as pretty flaky by traditional finance industries, something used by criminals to hide their traces are possibly by people to money laundering. Now you can bet on the future of bitcoin, you can work out what it might be worth in a month, on a traditional exchange, and the reaction has been to bet it will continue to rise. That has been going on for 18 months, a bubble people are expecting to burst. Everyone in finance says this is too good to last. But they had a split view. They want to have some stake in it but are concerned it is a dangerous phenomenon. The other worrying thing concerning regulators is lots of ordinary people who cant afford to lose money are saying this looks good, i had better get in. Stories of people borrowing money to invest, properly not a good idea. The Football Association has launched an investigation after an altercation following the win by Manchester City at old trafford yesterday. There were reports of water and milk being thrown. City players were celebrating their 2 1 win which sent them 11 points clear of their nearest rivals at the top of the table. David ornstein has this report. Not even halfway through the season, but already firmly on course for the premier league title. The win all the sweeter for Manchester City, as it came at the home of their closest challengers and bitter rivals, manchester united. Is that it, is the title race over now . Have you got it in the bag . No, no, its december, not yet. Impossible. We have a lot of things, a lot of games still to do, but its important for our confidence, of course. We were better, and thats good. Inside the away dressing room, scenes ofjubilation, though which we now know to be the cause of an ugly altercation between the two sides. Well, the city celebrations inside old trafford were deemed excessive by uniteds managerjose mourinho. He confronted them and is said to have had a carton of milk thrown at him during a heated exchange. While citys assistant coach, mikel arteta, is understood to have suffered a cut head. It carries echoes of october 2004, when then united manager sir Alex Ferguson was hit by pizza after a bad tempered meeting with arsenal. The Football Association has asked united and city for their observations, and given them until wednesday to respond. The incident overshadowed a victory that extends citys lead over united at the top of the table to 11 points. And there was no mention of it in mourinhos post match interviews. The gods of football, they are always behind them. You feel it, a bit damaged because of the distance to Manchester City, but i think everybody is going to fight for the points every match until mathematically its impossible. By this morning, the focus of both clubs had turned to the last 16 of the champions league. Manchester city. With city drawn to play basel of switzerland, and united up against spanish side sevilla. However, its likely the events of yesterday on and off the pitch will capture the attention for a while yet. David ornstein, bbc news, old trafford. The uk has a new tallest mountain. Mount hope, which is sited in the part of the antarctic claimed by the uk, was recently re measured and found to tower above what had previously been considered the tallest peak, Mount Jackson, also in the antarctic. Heres our ccience correspondentjonathan amos. You would think the entire world would be mapped to the nearest centimetre by now, but not it seems the antarctic. Its rugged, icy terrain is hard to traverse and no one has yet climbed all its mountains to measure their peaks. Cartogrophers rely on satellites to work out the heights of summits. When the British Antarctic survey did this recently, they found Mount Jackson long assumed to be the tallest on the antarctic peninsula was surpassed by mount hope. Satellites showed hope to be 3,239 metres high, just over 10,600 feet. The existing believed height of 2,850 metres, goes back to the 19605 from overland survey. Now with the availability of sub metre resolution satellite imagery, we have been able to get an accurate height to plus or minus five metres for mount hope. Accurate mapping is vital because scientists fly everywhere on the continent. If mountains arent featured or are in the wrong place, it can be very dangerous. American researchers are repeating the british re mapping exercise across the entire continent. It should be finished next year. That will turn antarctica from the worst mapped place on the planet to one of the best. Jonathan amos, bbc news. A lot of snow in the bulletin today. Heres darren bett. It is ice which is the major concern into tomorrow. There hasnt been as much snow falling today. Areas that had a lot of snow yesterday are being generally dry and sunny. When that picture was taken, it was minus three. Not as cold as that but amateurs call close to freezing in essex, more of a slushy mix. Becoming treacherous in the night. Low pressure coming into the south east bringing a mixture of rain, sleet and snow in the south east. That will withdraw