This is bbc news, im martine croxall. The headlines at nine. Storm ciara hits the uk with Gale Force Winds and torrential rain its set to cause huge disruption across the country. Travel is already being badly hit airlines have cancelled dozens of flights, and more than 20 Rail Companies have said their services will be affected. Theres been gusts of 75 mph yesterday. We are expecting possibly more than that today some predicting around 90 mph. The coronavirus crisis. A flight bringing 200 evacuees from wuhan back to britain lands at raf brize norton. A soldier who killed 26 people in a gun rampage in northern thailand has been shot dead by the Security Forces. Counting begins in the irish
general election as an exit poll puts the three main Political Parties level pegging. Coming up all the sport can englands cricketers level the one day series against south africa . And ill be looking at the sunday papers at 9 35, with my guests James Rampton, the features writer for the independent, and lucy fisher, defence editor at the times. Good morning. The uk is braced for a day of disruption as storm ciara sweeps in from the west, bringing damaging winds and widespread heavy rain. The met office has issued an amber warning for wind across england and wales until nine oclock tonight, with gusts up to 80 mph expected to batter coasts
and higher ground. In parts of scotland, there is an amber warning for rain, with up to 10cm forecast, meaning homes are likely to be flooded. More than a hundred flood warnings are in place across the country, with the risk of communities being cut off by impassable roads. The Severe Weather is already causing disruption to travel, with dozens of flights cancelled at heathrow and gatwick. Ten Train Companies are urging passengers not to travel at all, with many others operating a reduced service. Network rail has imposed a 50 mph speed limit on all routes nationwide, meaning delays are likely even where services are running. P 0 has cancelled some irish sea ferries, with other Ferry Services expected to be badly affected as the storm roars in from the atlantic. In kent, the Dartford Crossing is closed, while the humber bridge in yorkshire has closed to high sided vehicles and could close to all traffic later. More bridges are likely to be closed through the day. Storm ciara has forced a string of Outdoor Events to be cancelled. The london winter 10k run is cancelled, which 25,000 runners were due to take part in. Dozens of sunday League Football and rugby matches have been called off. And londons eight royal parks have been closed, including hyde park and regents park. In a moment will talk to wales correspondent tomos morgan is in aberystwyth. First to luxmy gopal in dover. What are the authority is doing to keep people safe . As you can see, the gusts are really strong, so strong that earlier our camera toppled over entirely. I do not know if you can see to the left of me, the strong waves are crashing. Theyre a rough sea conditions causing disruption to Ferry Services here, including some cancellations for some Cross Channel Services from both sides of the channel, and in addition some cancellations and delays to irish ferries, two cow
services in scotland. And earlier this morning, p 0 said that they ferry in hull had to go back out to sea because it was too dangerous to birth as a result of the strong winds. And of course, we have heard about the travel disruption to train services. Lots of rail passengers have been told not to travel today if they can avoid it. Some Rail Companies are making sure that their tickets today will still be valid tomorrow. What the authorities are doing is trying to get the message across that it is really better not to travel if you can avoid it today, because as well as disruption to rail services, there has been disruption to flight schedules as well. It is that amber weather warning, the wind warning that is a problem. That means there is a potential risk to life due to falling debris and big waves crashing. That weather warning was issued by the met office and that applies for the entire uk until
midnight tonight, and there is travel disruption warnings. Do not travel disruption warnings. Do not travel if you can avoid it, stay indoors instead and have a cosy sunday inside. That sounds like excellent advice. If only we could ta ke excellent advice. If only we could take it ourselves thank you very much. My colleague being buffeted in dover. Lets speak to tomos morgan in aberystwyth. What have the conditions been like so far . Well, the wind has been ravaging the seaside town of aberystwyth all evening and all of this morning. You canjust evening and all of this morning. You can just see it smashing against the sides here. The waves coming up the sides here. The waves coming up the sides onto the pathway here overlooking the promenade in aberystwyth. Yesterday saw gusts of up aberystwyth. Yesterday saw gusts of up to 75 mph across wales. Predicted to be even higher gust today up to 90 mph any north of wales across snowdonia. We have already heard about the several travel disruptions across the whole of wales. A lot of
the rail has been cancelled in wales, and they will not be bus Replacement Services in place, so please check if you are thinking of travelling and perhaps make other plans. Flights have already been cancelled as well, especially those ones coming back from ireland to wales after the rugby yesterday, and as you mentioned, the ferries have also been disrupted. The amber warning for wind is in place all day for wales until 9pm this evening, and a yellow warning for rain as well as the rain and wind continue to bash the west coast of wales today, down to pembrokeshire and anglesey, all across there. That is the area most affected. And Natural Resources wales have said that the people that live in the seaside towns, you will be the most likely towns, you will be the most likely to be affected by flooding if it does happen, if this weather continues to be the savage across the course of the day. Tomos morgan, for the moment, thank you very much. Im joined now by our weather presenter phil avery. We can see what tomos morgan was coping with tell us, then, how unusual is a storm like this . think we have to go probably back to the stjudes think we have to go probably back to the st judes day think we have to go probably back to the stjudes day storm in 2013 to see an amberwarning the stjudes day storm in 2013 to see an amber warning so extensively across the southern half of britain. There does seem to be a discrimination between the worst of the conditions invariably any north west and quarter of scotland, a lot of wind and rain there at this time of year, but to bring those sort of conditions that are encompassed by these amber weather warnings that have been mentioned by oui correspondence warnings that have been mentioned by our correspondence which are enforced widely across england and wales for the greater part of the day, that really is quite unusual. Remind us what an amber warning means . It starts at yellow, goes up to read, we are in the middle, arent we . Yes, the met office are not messing around, they have issued this and when they talk about amber they are talking about homes and businesses being flooded with fast
flowing water, posing a threat to life, trains and buses being disrupted, some areas isolated with the flooding of roads. That is the rain element, when you are talking about winds, you are looking at power cuts, flying debris and longer journey times for trains, buses, and aviation is badly affected at the moment. Around about the coast as well, significant wave heights. Already we are on the situation. You have mentioned over 100 flood warnings, with lower grade flood alert warnings, 53 in england and 55 in scotland, where it has been an extraordinary wet night already and eight in wales. And no surprise, one usual suspect for a lot of rain, over 100 millimetres in the last 12 hours, another era pushing towards higher than that. And more to come. These warnings are not given out lightly. Yes, they can be hugely disruptive but they are indicative of how the situation can grow and
get worse on. And you are in difficulty if you ignore them. Yes, icame difficulty if you ignore them. Yes, i came down the m4 this morning and it was very blow away. We have not seen the worst of the condition jet in the south of england. The amber warning goes through to 9pm tonight. We have not got the extensive and heavy and intense rainfall that they have experienced in the north of the british isles. When you put them together, that is when the conditions become treacherous for the travellers and that is why we have had so many disruptions outlined are ready even across the south of the british isles. The threat to life cannot be underestimated. Who knows which tree will be the next one down. Who knows which bit of flying debris will fly in which direction . Without wishing to sound like your mother, i do want to sound like your mother, i do want to emphasise that these warnings are not put out lightly. Well, i dont mind you sounding like that because mothers are often right when is it going to dissipate and the worst of
it be over . Monday, the condition still warrant it be over . Monday, the condition still wa rra nt yellow it be over . Monday, the condition still warrant yellow warning is particularly across the north britain, where we could have the most impactful Winter Weather that we have seen so far this season. Many snow showers coming through on Gale Force Winds with gusts of up to 60 minutes per hour. If you wanted to say when well be when you significantly . I am to say when well be when you significantly . Iam probably looking ata significantly . Iam probably looking at a chart that says wednesday later. Right. This is the worst day for the wind but we will be talking about gusts, 60, 70 and slightly higher through monday and tuesday. It is hanging around for some time. Thank you we will speak again later. You can keep up to date with the changing weather developments in your area today, just head to your local bbc radio station, and of course, the bbc news website. A plane carrying british nationals home from the coronavirus hit city of wuhan has landed at raf brize norton in oxfordshire. There were more than 200 people on board the flight, including government staff, military medics and foreign nationals. The Foreign Office said it was the second and final flight to be chartered by the government out of the chinese city. But the British Ambassador to china has told the bbc that two britons were refused permission to board this last flight. Thats the fourth group of british citizens that weve managed to get out. So that is good news. We have not got everybody out, we know that. Unfortunately, two people failed temperature checks early this morning. They have had to go back into wuhan, and we are in touch with them, and we will try to support them to get them onto another countrys flights. So, if there are any brits that we arent in touch with, we very much hope that they will get in touch with our consular assistance teams, which are operating 2a 7, and let us know, because we are advising people to leave wuhan. 0ur correspondent Greg Mckenzie is at raf brize norton for us. What has been happening . Good morning, the flight from wuhan landed behind me at 7 35am. You can see the plane over my shoulder in the distance. All of the passengers have disembarked. Around 150 british citizens taken from wuhan last night, they have now been moved from here on coaches to milton keynes, a facility in milton keynes. They will be kept there for about 1k days under quarantine, where they will be monitored. Now, should any of them show symptoms of coronavirus, they will then immediately be taken to hospitals around the uk. Now, we already have three cases are being treated here in the uk, that is to individuals at a hospital in newcastle, and one at st thomas is in central london. For the moment,
greg, thank you very much. That is greg, thank you very much. That is Greg Mckenzie at raf brize norton. Well, the number of people who have died from the new coronavirus has exceeded the number killed in the sars outbreak nearly 20 years ago. The latest figures show that more than 800 patients have died in Mainland China and hong kong. 0ur correspondent robin brant is in shanghai. Tell us about the efforts that are being made by the chinese authorities, robin, to try to contain this, even though it has spread internationally . Well, they are nationwide. In shanghai, a city over 1000 kilometres away from the epicentre of wuhan, there is almost a kind of enforced self isolation for people. Some are expected to return to work tomorrow, that is mostly return to work tomorrow, that is m ostly o n return to work tomorrow, that is mostly on the industrial factory site. This is a city dominated by Financial Services and the service sector, they will be many working from home in the coming weeks. Somewhat ominously, on state run tv
here, last night, there was a message here, last night, there was a m essa g e co nveyed here, last night, there was a message conveyed by the most senior politician dealing with the epidemic here in china and they talked about rounding everyone up that needs to be rounded up, no delays will be tolerated. Tomorrow, and the coming days, they will be key in terms of the numbers, where they are going in terms of the number of people who have died and he confirmed cases. We have died and he confirmed cases. We have to rely on the Chinese Government for those official numbers but in terms of people returning to work, tomorrow for some, and when i say some, i mean tens of millions, that is meant to be the end of the extended Lunar New Year festival, and it be the end of the extended Lunar New Yearfestival, and it will be the end of the extended Lunar New Year festival, and it will be interesting as a gauge of Companies Face in their ability to return to work but also provincial governments in terms of a number of people that begin to return to work tomorrow. Quickly, on those numbers flying into brize norton, dominic raab, the foreign secretary, has come there are 105 british nationals on that plane, 105, 95 foreigners. Robin,
the World Health Organization yesterday said that they were doing their best to try to get hold of protective equipment for Health Care Workers who are dealing with this outbreak. How is china managing that . Well, it is struggling, to be honest. We had that admission coming from the top, the National Health ca re from the top, the National HealthCare Commission here warning that medical profession is, frankly anyone involved in the effort today to use reasonably things like protective kits, because there is a severe shortage. The other side is that there is anecdotal evidence of people speaking on social media about struggling to get disinfectants, struggling to get masks, and their criticisms are being censored. There is no doubt that here in wuhan and the surrounding province of hubei province, there was problems getting the basic kind of kits to the people that needed it most. Hence that warning from the National Health commission to tell people not to hold this kind of kit and use it
reasonably. We are seeing some companies youre talking about refashioning some of their production lines to help make masks 01 production lines to help make masks or help make what is personal protective equipment, the suits that we are seeing. There were some anecdotal evidence of that but they are struggling, there is not enough. Robin, for the moment, thank you very much. Robin brant speaking from shanghai. The irish general election looks set to have no clear winner, as counting begins today. An exit poll puts the main parties on a three way tie, with Leo VaradkarsFine Gael Party on 22. 4 of first preference votes, closely followed by sinn fein on 22. 3 and fianna fail on 22. 2 . We can speak to bobby mcdonagh, a retired senior diploman. Hejoins us now from dublin. Why does the vote seem to be evenly
7 why does the vote seem to be evenly split . That is simply the choice people have made. We do not yet know the outcome of the election yet. There is a certain margin of error and the exit polls but under a electrode system, which is a very sophisticated one, everyone has one vote but they can express preferences. If your first preferences. If your first preference is not elected, your vote passes to your second preference and so on. Passes to your second preference and so on. So, the actual seat allocation will be quite a different from the percentage of votes and there is a widespread view here that fianna fail will end up as the Largest Party and then probably fine gael and then sinn fein, and they will have to consider how to put together a coalition government. What are the options for a coalition government, given that the other two parties have said that they would not want to work with sinn fein . Well, self evidently, the first thing to do is that we have to see what number of seats each party has. We do not know how many seats the
green party will have and there are other smaller parties that will be looked at. The first option which fianna fail would like to consider is to put together some sort of government. Temp to as. We can hear you fine, you seem to be having a problem with sound, are you having difficulty . I am getting some sound over. The first possibility is for fianna fail to try to put together a minority government with a combination of parties, but if that does not work for three larger parties will have to look at it and see what they can do. It looks as though there could be a new prime minister, that leo varadkar could be replaced by mr martin. What are the priorities for fianna fail, where would they take ireland . This election has been an election about change, and in many cases, people are recognising that the economy is doing very well, and the issues of
housing and which was a very prominent issue in the campaign, that might be a priority and hospital and Health Service so the new government will have to address those two issues as a prodigy, but there will be a certain amount of continuity. For example, on brexit. The exit poll says there is only 1 of people that thought grexit was the most important issue and that is because there is a degree of consensus among the parties. In the second phase of negotiations that will remain an important issue to the irish government. Thank you for speaking to us this morning, sorry about the problems of sound. The headlines on bbc news. Storm ciara hits the uk with Gale Force Winds and torrential rain its set to cause huge disruption across the country. The coronavirus crisis. A flight bringing 200 evacuees from wuhan back to britain lands at raf brize norton. A soldier who killed 26 people in a gun rampage in northern thailand has been shot dead by the Security Forces. A thai soldier who carried out a mass shooting spree has been killed by Security Forces. 26 people are known to have been killed in the attack and 57 others wounded. Officials say that the gunman shot a colonel at an Army Barracks and stole weapons before opening fire in a buddhist temple and a Shopping Centre in the city of nakhon ratchaseema. Aaron safir has the latest. Aaron safir, bbc news. A 15 hour stand off finally over. Thai Security Forces emerged from the terminal 21 Shopping Centre in nakhon ratchasima. A lone gunman shot dead, but not before he took more than 20 lives. For a long time, it was not clear how this stand off would end. Hundreds of people enjoying a weekend shopping managed to escape the rampaging gunman. Inside, people ran and hid wherever they could, as news of the attack spread. Translation i saw the Security Guard officials and a motorcycle taxi driver running for shelter. I didnt know what was going on, and then i heard people shouting, theyre shooting, theres a shooting. Police have identified the gunman as 32 year old jakraphanth thomma, a junior army officer. He was caught on cctv at the Shopping Centre, moving with an eerie calm. But his rampage began elsewhere, at an army base, where he killed two people, including his commanding officer. And in the early hours of the attack he posted
messages on facebook saying, death is inevitable for everyone, and at one point asking, should i give up . The posts were quickly taken down, but not before they could be seen by people in the area, who are struggling to make sense of what they witnessed. There were bodies in the street, there were cars with bullet holes in them. Very graphic images on social media that were luckily taken down, but very graphic. Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, but a mass shooting like this is something shocking and new for the country. With this shooting there were over, questions will be asked about what motivated the attacker and how to prevent Something Like this happening again. Voters in switzerland will decide whether it should be made illegal to discriminate on the basis of Sexual Orientation or identity today. Racial and religious predjudice is already illegal, but the country has no laws to protect the lgbt community. Theres opposition from some, who say the proposal could lead to censorship, but opinion polls suggest most voters will back the new law. The labour party has formally reported members of sir Keir StarmersLeadership Campaign team to the information commissioner, accusing them of hacking into the partys membership database. Hes strenuously denying the claim. Joining me now is our Political Correspondent susana mendonca. What has happened . The bbc understands two members of sir Keir Starmers team has been accused by the labour party of data scraping, unlawfully hacking the information database unlawfully hacking the information data base and labour said unlawfully hacking the information database and labour said they were doing that in order to target potential supporters in the leadership contest. Labour has reported this to the information commissioner, which we understand has said it would make inquiries. If true, it would potentially be illegal conduct. But keir starmer
and his team have strenuously denied this and said it is not true. What they have said is that in their view this as a politically motivated effort to damage his chances in the Leadership Campaign. What they have said is that they were looking at means of penetrating the database cold dialogue, but they were not planning to use that. They have said that this is basically an attack on keir starmer himself, and they have also questioned why the party has not responded to their own concerns that they made about other leadership candidates using and accessing databases. Leadership candidates using and accessing data bases. People leadership candidates using and accessing databases. People might remember that rebecca long bailey, who is another of the frontrunners in this race, and a person that is seen as being the closest tojeremy corbyns style of leadership and what have you, that last week it emerged that in terms of her campaign, that they had circulated links to volunteers that would allow them to access membership databases,
and her team said that that was innocent, but this seems to be perhaps what sir Keir Starmers team are alluding to. But it certainly shows that the contest is becoming ugly. What effect is it having on the labour leadership contest . M terms of the contest, the early stages had all of the early candidates showing that they wanted it to be very much a contest that was about bringing the party together. But essentially, when you see the different candidates, all these questions about whether or not they are accessing databases and what have you, it kind of gives a negative flavour to all of it. What we have seen in terms of the two frontrunners, we have four candidates in the race, lisa nandy and also emily thornberry. But in terms of the frontrunners, sir keir starmer and rebecca long bailey, in terms of announcing which candidate would be back, sir keir starmer seems to have been coming out on top and quitea seems to have been coming out on top and quite a few of those and yesterday we had the Constituency Labour Party forjeremy corbyns on seatin
labour party forjeremy corbyns on seat in islington north coming out in favour of seat in islington north coming out infavourof sir seat in islington north coming out in favour of sir keir starmer. So, i suppose, there is concern on the tea m suppose, there is concern on the team of rebecca long bailey as to whether or not sir keir starmer might tip to the post. But in terms of this latest revelation, i suppose it just gives a of this latest revelation, i suppose itjust gives a negative feeling as to what is going on in that campaign. For the moment, susana mendonca, thank you very much. And well be taking an in depth look at the papers with our reviewers, the features writer James Rampton and lucy fisher, the defence editor at the times thats coming up after the latest headlines and a full sport update. Its the pinnacle of the awards season tonight as this years oscars season tonight as this years oscars ceremony takes place in los angeles. Britain has a real chance of winning the big one best picture. Sir mendess world war i epic 1917 is the favourite, but its facing tough competition from joker, once upon a time in hollywood, the irishman and the south korean thriller parasite. Theres controversy again this year
with only one person of colour nominated in the acting categories and no women in best director. Sophie long looks ahead to tonights ceremony. You have a brother in the second battalion. Yes, sir. 1917. Sam mendes unblinking depiction of war is a front runner for best picture. Music plays. Mendes has been nominated for best director. His competition comes from Quentin Tarantino whose love letter to los angeles in the 1960s. Once upon a time in hollywood. Martin scorsese and his mafia epic the irishman. Bong joon ho for parasite, a dark and violent look at class in south korea. And Todd Phillips for his controversial dark thriller, joker,
which leads the pack with 11 nominations, including best actorforjoaquin phoenix, which he is hotly tipped to win. This is meg, amy, beth and jo. The line up for best director is all male. Something that has not gone unnoticed. To see my beloved greta gerwig make money at the box office with the film entitled little women is enormously fantastic news. And may mean more than any accolade could mean in terms of women in this industry. I hope this business is not too distressing. Some things are changing. Netflix. Sometimes looked down upon as an unwanted guest at this Establishment Party received more nominations than any other production entity, with marriage story, the irishman and two popes. Jonathan price and Anthony Hopkins are nominated for best leading a best supporting actors respectively. The call sheet which has your name and your characters name and then there is a number next to that name. And it usually denotes your importance to the film. I was number one and he was number two. But we greeted each other every day with a grudging good morning, number one, good morning, number two. And that goes on, except he signs his e mails to me now with lots of love, sir number two. He got one up on me. Only one person of colour has been nominated in any acting category, cynthia erivo, for this performance in harriet. There will always be controversy surrounding nominations but there will be a massive celebration of film and fashion on sunday night as this part of hollywood boulevard is transformed into one of the biggest catwalks in the world. Sophie long, bbc news, hollywood. Tomorrow morning well be bringing you a special programme
on the oscars. Jane hill and Jason Solomons will bring you the results and reaction here on bbc news at 9 30 tomorrow morning. Now its time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. We have some disruptive weather on the way. The whole of the uk seeing strong winds and the damage and disruption widespread today. Gusts from 70 up to 80 minutes per hour for many. Particularly around the coasts and hills, could be up to 85 mph or more in scotland. An amber warning for the heavy rain for the scottish borders, where we are likely to see flooding. Across the whole of the uk, heavy rain and strong winds, working gradually south eastwards. Hail and thunder on this cold front as the heavy bursts of work toward a south east this afternoon. Hail and thunder moving on from the north west later. It is
mild out there, 13 or