Syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel held area of damascus. Tesco investigates after customers complained that their christmas turkey was rotten or had gone off. And england have had their best day on their ashes tour of australia so far. Alistair cook completed his first ashes century in 7 years. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. High winds and snow have caused disruption for much of england and wales. Thousands of homes and properties are without power in the midlands, the south west and parts of wales, after power lines were brought down overnight. Theres been disruption for passengers at birmingham and sta nsted airports, and collisions on the mi, m25 and a number of a roads caused by treacherous driving conditions have caused major delays. Viewers have been sending in pictures from their area , georgina tweeted this photo from the departure lounge at stansted airport, which has suffered delays due due to a closed runway, but has now reopened. But the weather hasnt been bad news for everyone, jason sent in this picture of his dog enjoying the snow in gartloch, just outside glasgow. Keep tweeting us bbc haveyoursay. Our news correspondent, joe inwood is here. Had absolute disruption, lets start with the roads. It is the roads that have been hit worst, the mi both northbound and southbound have been disrupted. There was a Major Incident earlier on around junk and i9, incident earlier on around junk and 19, a lorry jackknifed incident earlier on around junk and 19, a lorryjackknifed and closed it com pletely 19, a lorryjackknifed and closed it completely heading northbound. That is now being cleared away but there has been ongoing disruption because that. Southbound around junction 20 12 lanes closed. Real problems with the mi. It is the a14 that 12 lanes closed. Real problems with the m1. It is the a14 that has been worst hit. Multiple collisions throughout the morning has caused it to be closed in places. We heard from somebody before, a caller that said they had been stuck there for five hours. The Highways Agency s advice is to stay in your cars, stay warm, because advice is to stay in your cars, stay warm , because you advice is to stay in your cars, stay warm, because you will be waiting a long time. Other than that, on the a a30 down in cornwall there was a collision with an ambulance, luckily no one was hurt further in that, it is closed in both directions now for another reason. As you say, also power cuts. 152 incidents taking place that have left more than 10,000 homes without power. It is not to snow and ice, there is also being a lot of heavy rain, as a consequence error nine flood warnings and 100 flood alert. Consequence error nine flood warnings and 100 flood alertlj consequence error nine flood warnings and 100 flood alert. I came in on the m1 and the a14, it was interesting i had to dig my car out of the snow. What are they saying about what is coming with the weather, any indication on how things will go . The west of the weather came across the western parts to the east. It will continue, but it will turn into a nice day in places. As ever, these things are unpredictable and the best thing to do is check the forecast and listen to local radio. And if possible avoid the roads at all. Before we 90, avoid the roads at all. Before we go, airports . At about 8 00am this morning stansted go, airports . At about 8 00am this morning sta nsted had go, airports . At about 8 00am this morning stansted had to close their only runway, it is one of britainss busiest airports catering for low Cost Airlines mainly. From around 8 30am to 10 30am that was close, no flights taking. And anything coming in had to be cancelled or redirected elsewhere. They have now reopened at around 10 30am orso, elsewhere. They have now reopened at around 10 30am or so, but there will bea around 10 30am or so, but there will be a backlog throughout the entire day. They have about 40 flights landing between 11am and 1pm, all the late, 20 taking off, again all delayed. The advice is to check with yourairline, if it delayed. The advice is to check with your airline, if it will be delayed, see what they say you should do, and if your flight has been cancelled, then unfortunately you will have to stay at home. Thank you. 0ur correspondent phil mackie is at the catthorpe interchange, where the m1 meets the m6. When i have been on thatjunction many times how are things at the moment . It is not normally a great junction and if you throw snow into the mix, things can get pretty bad, which is what happens morning. You can see that things are running better now, that is because the jackknifed lorry that was mentioned is now clear. When i came here, there were accused coming off the m6 on to the a14, at the moment things have improved as a result of that. The snow has stopped and the sun is beginning to sneak through the clouds, so we will expect Better Weather conditions the supplement. A lot of those homes that have had Power Outages are in this part of the world as well, west and east midlands through warwickshire and the leicestershire digitally badly affected overnight. Western power has began to get some of them back on this morning but a lot will be cut up right through until this evening. Birmingham airport was also closed overnight for about one hour and a half because of snow on the runway, they have clear that. There are no further problems there today, but it did mean, much like it sta nsted, but it did mean, much like it stansted, some but it did mean, much like it sta nsted, some flights but it did mean, much like it stansted, some flights had to be diverted this morning. You were asking about the weather to come. When we get those forecasts in, it looks horrible, not for snow but the rain. There are already flood warnings and flood alerts, the ground will be saturated because of the melting snow on the weekend, so will you be thinking more about getting our wellies on rather than hats on grass. We were told about this weather, but you have the sense that people were still caught out . I left this morning at 7 00am and they we re left this morning at 7 00am and they were gritting at that time, and i thought was too late . The thing with snow it is difficult to forecast exactly where and when. I think they got it pretty much right, like a fortnight ago. The difficulties, if you werent watching the news or the weather forecast, because you you werent watching the news or the weatherforecast, because you have been enjoying christmas, you may not have expected it when you went out and set off on yourjourneys. I think most of the local highways departments and authorities have been working around the clock. They knew this was coming, they were not exactly sure where and they have done the best to keep things open. I drove to get kids morning and it was clear that the snowploughs had been working because to get here this morning. Thank you. Show us what the weather is like in your area, you can tweet us your pictures bbc haveyoursay. Prince harry has told the bbc that his fiancee Meghan Markle had a fantastic time with the queen and his family over christmas. The prince and ms markle spent christmas with the royal family at sandringham in norfolk. The pair will marry in 2018, but when asked whether the couple would invite barack 0bama to the wedding, prince harry remained tight lipped. Lets hear what hes had to save followed by some analysis from our royal correspondent. We havent put the invites or the guest list together yet, so who knows whether hes going to be invited or not. Wouldnt want to ruin that surprise. That must be a major headache . I think once you get married you go through that process. But for me, today, post christmas, looking forward to new year, i just hope that everybody out there has had a chance tojust think about the things that really matter and the difference that every single one of us can make. Its not necessarily your decision either. Your fiance often has a big say this things. Of course, 100 . So christmas. It was your future wifes first christmas with the in laws. How was it . It was fantastic. She really enjoyed it. The family loved having her there. Yeah, theres always that family part of christmas is that work element as well. I think together we had an amazing time, great fun staying with my brother and sister in law. And running around with the kids. Christmas was fantastic. As i said, were really looking forward to new year and looking forward to 2018 because, you know, im determined to make sure that myself and the young generation and everybody else the pendulum is going to swing and 2018 is going to be a fantastic year. We all need to play our part. He has got these interviews because of his years so she is friends with the 0bama family, not least because of the infected games are subtle things. But of course, he then cannot ask genuinely probing questions. Invictus. Because of the sensitivity is of straying into anything that might be deemed political. 0ne anything that might be deemed political. One of the sensitivities over whether an invitation should go to the 0bama family for the wedding. Might that offend the current occu pa nt of might that offend the current occupant of the white house . We dont know what sort of advice the Foreign Office is giving to the Royal Household about who should be invited, but it is certainly being suggestion that they should think carefully about whether mr obama should be invited in case that is perceived in a negative way by donald trump. Ringing the issue to donald trump. Ringing the issue to donald trump. Ringing the issue to donald trump of course brings us to the interview with barack obama. It isa the interview with barack obama. It is a classic example of the one word which was never uttered by either of them was that of donald trump. But one suspects that may have been the person that mr obama had in mind when he was talking about the dangers of the irresponsible use of social media. How do we harness this technology in hay way that allows a multiple voices, diversity of views, but doesnt lead to the vulcanisation of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground. Im not sure government can legislate that, but what i do believe is that all of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet. One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current bias. I think the other quite revealing thing was what it told us about harrys own intentions about how he perceives his role. It is not so very long ago that he was admitting that he was having second thoughts or doubts or reluctance about being in this royal role. Well, that is clearly not the case any longer. We have seen his commitment to the invictus games, to Mental Health issues along with william and catherine, and it is clear that he is very passionate and committed and to make a real difference in the work that he does. Very shortly with his wife as she will be shortly alongside him. But he was asked in view of his passionate interest in so view of his passionate interest in so many of these issues, does he find himself having to bite his tongue. Part of myjob and role is to shine a spotlight on issues that need that spotlight. Whether its people, causes or issues, whatever it is. I will continue to play my part in society and do myjob to the best of my ability so i can wake up in the morning feeling energised and go to bed hopefully knowing that i have done the best that i can. Clearly, both william and harry have had a very close and loving relationship with their father, and it is clear that they greatly admire the pioneering work that he has done over so many the pioneering work that he has done over so many decades, particularly of course on the environment. And we we re of course on the environment. And we were reminded of that, again in this interview, these exchanges with the prince of wales. Where he once again underlined what he regards as the principal issue facing the world at the moment. Do you feel optimistic about the future for the world that william, myself, your grandchildren and everybody else out there will inherit . There are so many reasons not to feel optimistic i suppose, but there are also way more reasons from a younger generations point of view to feel optimistic. Because i feel as though the time has come that the pendulum needs to swing and we start to work with nature and appreciate what is already there. It is given to us, it is not something we have to create, it is something we can learn from and if we do protect it and look after it then actually, this huge increase in population and Everything Else suddenly becomes manageable if it is cared for and looked after right. What can we be most optimistic about . The fact that youre saying this gives me a enormous optimism, because i havent put you off. No you havent. By banging on all these years. It is really encouraging because what ive tried to do all these years is to make sure, if i can possibly, i am not sure if i can, ensure that you and your children, my grandchildren, but also everybody elses grandchildren, have a world fit to live in that provides them with opportunity. The point that charles was trying to make and which he expressed in our think another of his answers is that perhaps now, with the greater appreciation and realisation of all these Environmental Issues, people are realising that, this is what he said, what i was saying all those years ago was not quite as dotty as people thought. We have heard him say that before, but im sure charles now feels to a certain extent indicated in the ways that shes been pursuing Environmental Issues passionately over the years. But he is not withdrawing at all from his sense of mission in pressing home the importance of these Environmental Issues, notwithstanding the fact that inevitably he is moving closer to the point where we will have to draw back and be more circumspect in what he says. Aid workers have started to evacuate critically ill patients from a rebel held suburb near the syrian capital, damascus. It comes after weeks of negotiations between the United Nations and syrias president , bashar al assad, to allow children with cancer to be transferred from Eastern Ghouta into damascus for treatment. 0ur middle east correspondent, martin patience, joins me now from beirut. Updaters honesty and how many of our tuition is have taken place . At the moment has been for evacuations, kidney failure and malnutrition, they were suffering from. We were supposed to see 25 further evacuations from some of the most critical cases in that part of damascus, 500 in total, the government agreed to evacuate 29 in exchange for prisoners. We only saw for last night, 25 are supposed to ta ke for last night, 25 are supposed to take place today, i was speaking to an aid worker and they dont know when that will happen today or tomorrow, but there is hope that the most critical cases will come out in the coming days, because if the reality is that if they dont get medical attention they will probably die. According to the un and other aid organisations, 16 people on the list of 500 have already passed away in the last two months because they think they have not got medical attention. It was pointed out that it was originally 500 people put on that list, how is it that it has been brought down to 29 that have been brought down to 29 that have been highlighted, tell us more about that . This isjust a small part of the list. I think the aid organisations are trying to get as many out as they can, and they are saying that this is just the start. It is not what they wanted, but they had been trying to get these medical evacuations for the last two months. I think from their point of view they will say that if they can perhaps save the lives of 29 people then that is better than none. But generally speaking they want to see more humanitarian access into that area which is very close to damascus. It has been besieged for the last four years, but what we have seen in the last few months is condition is getting worse. People can no longer buy food, they cant grow their food, and can no longer buy food, they cant grow theirfood, and if can no longer buy food, they cant grow their food, and if you can no longer buy food, they cant grow theirfood, and if you get can no longer buy food, they cant grow their food, and if you get sick and that suburb of damascus, if you get seriously sick, then you will not medical get supplies. So, for example, we hear from not medical get supplies. So, for example, we hearfrom aid organisations, if you have cancer in east ghouta, they do not have the drugs to treat you, and the likelihood as we have heard from the un, if you do not get evacuated, is that you could end up dying. 16 cases in the last two months, that is what has happened. East ghouta is one of these de escalation zones, what is meant to be taking place within them . What is supposed to be taking place is to see a reduction of violence, the de escalation zones is in essence a ceasefire between Government Troops and rebels fighting to overthrow the government. I think that most people now think that the government now have the upper hand. In effect means they are freezing the situation on they are freezing the situation on the ground so that part of the country will remain under rebel control, but what you often hear from Human Rights Organisations is that the government are using starvation tactics and trying to starve them out of civilian areas. What we are seeing happening in east ghouta, civilians, caught in the middle, they are the ones paying the cost. No medical supplies and just to illustrate how traffic and difficult it has got there. Malnutrition rates amongst children under highest ever recorded during the syrian conflict. The situation there is deeply miserable and also deadly. Thank you. A man who is serving a 20 Year Prison Sentence for carrying out an acid attack in a packed london nightclub has been in court again this morning. 25 year old Arthur Collins appeared at Bromley Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to hiding a mobile phone inside a crutch while in prison. Sport now. And for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. Former england captain Alastair Cook made his first ashes century for almost seven years, as they finished on top after day two of the fourth test. They closed on 192 2, after stuart broad had helped spark an australia collapse he took fourfor 51, with the hosts all out for 327. Patrick gearey was watching. This wasnt the day we were expecting. We thought we would come here to see steve smith the australian captain make a huge score on a hot day. After all he had not been on this ground for three years. Imagine everyones surprise when smith played onto his stumps after half an hour, giving tom curran his first test wicket. Mitchell marsh went next in exactly the same way to chris woakes. Stuart broad and jimmy anderson, the most successful bowling partnership of all time in england, took charge. Australia were all out, losing the last seven wickets for 83 runs. In reply england lost a batter. The evening session was all about Alastair Cook, scoring his first 50 of the series. He was then dropped by steve smith on 66 and ended with his last over of the day, finishing alongside the captainjoe root. It may be too little, too late for the ashes, but england had their best day of the series so far. They are still fighting. We created a lot of pressure yesterday, and we were rewarded with wickets today. We were very patient yesterday and when it reversed a Little Things could have got slightly different for us, and then today we got lucky with a couple of wickets. Australia were probably disappointed with them, but we were delighted with them. It has been a pretty tough couple of weeks. But it makes playing and taking wickets very rewarding. Arsene wenger has suggested that Jose Mourinho it should take a leaf out of his book and accept that some rival clubs will have more money to spend. After they scraped a 2 2 draw yesterday, he said that the £200 million that invested in his squad so far wasnt enough. But Arsene Wenger said that after two decades in arsenal he has got used to the inequalities in the game. |j in arsenal he has got used to the inequalities in the game. I have beenin inequalities in the game. I have been in that position for 21 years, soi been in that position for 21 years, so i will not start to complain now. I learned to cope with that and to deal with that. I think what is most important is that you deal with your own situation as well as you can. And, yes, Manchester City are richer than us, yes, chelsea are richer than us, yes, chelsea are richer than us, yes, chelsea are richer than us, Manchester United are richer than us, but i still believe we have to find a way to be successful. Jose mourinho was comparing his expenditure to that of Manchester City who can go 15 points clear at the top of the premier league later with a win away to newcastle. Pep guardiolas side have already broken records this season, their 17 match winning run. But newcastle a re just their 17 match winning run. But newcastle are just one point outside of the relegation zone, key approaches this game as seriously as any other. We win a lot of games, thatis any other. We win a lot of games, that is why we are happy, our life is better when we win. It is simple like that. Im not going to sleep thinking about breaking a record, nothing special at newcastle, now over christmas, i could not see them, so now i will sit down with my staff and keep our pace and intensity and that is our target. That is all the sport, you can find all the latest on the website and the bbc news channel throughout the day. Tesco has apologised after people complained turkeys they bought from them for christmas lunch were rotten or gone off. The supermarkets social media feeds featured angry customers complaining their Christmas Meals had been ruined. The Supermarket Chain has apologised and promised to investigate. Among those with a dodgy bird was lee ashforth whose parents had travelled from spain to celebrate christmas with their family he explained how they discovered their christmas dinner wasnt up to scratch. We got it on the 23rd from tesco and obviously put it in the fridge as you do. And then obviously on Christmas Eve we checked and everything was fine, ready to go to Christmas Day. Then when we got it out of the fridge on Christmas Day morning, you know, the smell was horrendous. We realised that the turkey was off. Since we took the wrapping of the smell was horrendous. We knew straightaway that it was off. We put it outside straightaway. We had to open a few windows and things and we had to kind of rush about driving around petrol stations and off licenses that were open to trying to figure christmas dinner. Fortunately, we live on a new Housing Estate and we put it on the grid there, and someone put it on the grid there, and someone helped us out. He had something we could use. And we managed to get something on the table for christmas dinner. He met saved us massively. My mother and father went yesterday, i was out at the football, and they went down to the football, and they went down to the tesco store where they bought it. Took the turkey back in several carrier bags and took it to Customer Services who rang through to the manager and asked him to come down, he refused to come down but did say to give them their money back. At this point my mother got very upset, was emotional and crying, and at that point another member of staff was walking past, they spoke to her and asked what the problem was. She obviously told them, and she called another one of the managers across who was not particularly helpful, but fortunately they ended up giving us but fortunately they ended up giving usa but fortunately they ended up giving us a £30 voucher but personally i dont think that is anywhere near enough. My father is writing them a letter as we speak to complain further. I do think the Customer Service and the way they have dealt with it is disgusting. I am quite a placid person and when it happened, it was Christmas Day, lets get on with it, it will probably be an isolated incident. But when you see it is National News and a lot of people are in the same situation, tesco have to be seen to be dealing with it. They are ok to take money off you, but when it is on a scale as this, as a nation christmas is massive to us, and i think the fact that it takes a 65 year old woman to stand there crying is disgusting. Lets find out how the weather is here. There has been some dramatic weather around. Having said that, that is not the whole story about the snow, further north you have had plenty of wintry showers and that has generated a fair amount of snow. It widely across the southern half of the British Isles we saw snow falling through the night into the first part of the day. That all came as an area of low pressure with a frontal system wrapped around it, engaged with the cold air its north and west and flank and that converted the rain to snow which slowly but surely has been gradually petering out as it worked its way towards east anglia and through the south east of england. I dont doubt through the afternoon there will be the odd hint of wintriness even through the heavy bursts of precipitation associated with that front. Some very windy weather, too. Some gusts 50 60 or 70 Miles Per Hour or so. There that in mind if you are on the move. But away from that particular system, there is a lot of fine weather. A peppering of showers, crossing northern fringes of scotland. And Northern Ireland, too. Down into the moors of south west of england, but down the spine of the country girl lying snow is holding this temperature is despite the presence of sunshine. Towards the east im afraid you will keep the cloud, rain and wind for a good part of the evening. And eventually close overnight, then ice becomes a widespread problem on untreated surfaces. It is a good deal collar be lying snow. 0n thursday, in its own right it is a decent sort of day. A lot of sunshine around, still those showers running in towards the northern half of scotland, that the central belt, the rest of scotland, much of Northern Ireland as well, not a warm day but a pleasant and dry day. If you are of the details, just one of two showers. From thursday and friday and into the weekend, when