This is bbc news. Im shaun ley. The headlines at two storm ciara hits the uk, causing widespread travel disruption. Its brought Gale Force Winds and torrential rain. Travel has been badly affected, with flights and Rail Services being cancelled. At times, the gusts are so strong, you are almost blown off your feet and we have had lashing rain in the next is well over the past few minutes. A persons being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in london, after testing positive for coronavirus bringing the total in the uk to four. A briton in majorca has also contracted the illness. Counting is under way in the irish general election, as an exit poll puts the three main Political Parties level pegging. Thousands of mourners in thailand
hold a vigil for 26 people shot dead by a rogue soldier. Holywood gears up for the 92nd Academy Awards being held tonight. Take the end of the hat with your right hand and a forward, a good forward projection. And in half an hour, the week in parliament provides a comprehensive guide to that key aspect of the british constitution, ceremonial hat doffing. Good afternoon. Severe gales and heavy rain are affecting the length and breadth of the uk as storm ciara sweeps in, causing flooding and widespread travel disruption. Gusts of 93 Miles Per Hour have been recorded in wales. And there are more than 313
Flood Warnings in place, meaning immediate action is required, with one severe warning, meaning a danger to life, in a place near Pateley Bridge, in north yorkshire. The whole of the uk is under either a yellow or amber weather warning for wind, meaning more disruption to travel and power lines is likely. Airlines have cancelled dozens of flights, ferry passengers face delays and cancellations, and the humber bridge has been closed for only the second time in its history. With more, heres our correspondent helena wilkinson. This is blackpool, one of the coastal areas bearing the brunt of storm ciara. Severe gales and heavy rain are sweeping across the country, causing difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions. This is as close as im going to get, behind a building, so its up to everybody, really, they know their own limitations. Its crazy, isnt it . I mean, i feel like the abominable
snowwoman in all this its amazing. Its just coming right over the promenade. You just dont get too close, you know . You heed the warnings because theyre there for a reason. Aberystwyth, in wales, is also being battered by the storm. Wales has been hit by the strongest wind so far. Its a similar picture in dover. At the port, Ferry Services have been suspended, as large waves make it impossible to travel. In west yorkshire, sirens dating back to world war ii warned of flooding, with the rivers swelling, like this one in cumbria. Across the country, strong winds have uprooted trees. This was a near miss in essex. The storm has also caused severe disruption on the Railway Network, with speed restrictions across much of the country. Airlines have also cancelled dozens of domestic and international flights. Ive never seen an amber warning this large, which just goes to show how widespread the impacts are going to be due to storm ciara
as we go through today, but its notjust the winds its also heavy rain. Weve seen in excess of 100 millimetres already. That amount of rain has made flooding inevitable and fire crews have been called out to rescue stranded motorists, but its not all bad news. These windsurfers in dorset seem to be making the most of the Severe Weather, which is forecast to last for the rest of the day. Helena wilkinson, bbc news. Our correspondent simonjones is in dover. Judging by what is going on behind you, it looks like it has become almost an attraction in itself, the weather. In particular, the tide, as the weather hits the shore, what is the condition in the port . One word, absolutely grim is the word i would use. Absolutely grim is the word i would use. As you can absolutely grim is the word i would use. As you can see, a absolutely grim is the word i would use. As you can see, a lot of people have come down, it has become a bit ofa have come down, it has become a bit of a spectacle. Even though the
coast guard and Emergency Services are advising people to stay away from here. We are certainly keeping a safe distance from the waves here. But given their size, it is hardly surprising that around ten oclock this morning, a decision was made to shut the port of dover to ferry movements. Only one really at the moment which is very unusual to see that quiet. And we have also had a dramatic rescue just down the coast from here. Earlier, a surfer was seenin from here. Earlier, a surfer was seen in the water deciding to brave these conditions, i would say rather foolishly. He lost his surfboard and was seen by a Coastguard Team being swept out to sea. Now, that prompted a huge search involving three Coastguard Teams, the search and rescue helicopter, the police unlined. Rather amazingly, he rescue helicopter, the police unlined. Ratheramazingly, he was located in nearby ray bay. When he was found, he was said to be conscious. I have spoken to a coastguard member and he said it was
a miracle he didnt lose his life given the conditions today. A miracle he didnt lose his life given the conditions todaylj a miracle he didnt lose his life given the conditions today. I hope it is something nobody else will make the mistake of trying to do because the afternoon is not quieting down, still very Severe Weather . Yes, the warning is it will be like this for the rest of today. And it is notjust the ferries and at the coasts we had problems, across the country, we have had trees down causing problems on the roads. And particular issues on the Railway Network as well. There is a lot of speed restrictions, trains unable to go over 50 mph if they are able to run at all. In kent for example, to give you a microcosm of what is happening across the country, we have had trees down on the railway line, we had some of the overhead Power Network came down near ashford, halting trains. We had a train hit a drainpipe that had blown onto the track in erith. And we have had trampolines blowing onto
the railway line. Unusual, but it meant trains had to be halted while those trampolines were moved to check they havent caused any damage to the track. So the advice very much is in conditions like this, you can see what its like we are keeping safely way, but it doesnt stop me getting drenched by the waves. Rather prematurely, i was about to say it is a best to stay away and stay indoors |j about to say it is a best to stay away and stay indoors i was going to ask you is it tasty and quite salty since you have had the opportunity to taste the water . More seriously, what is the general advice . Presumably, the Emergency Services dont want to rescue people off the coast and get people out of ca is off the coast and get people out of cars from under trees, it is stay at home if you possibly can . Yes, it is advice i havent followed myself and ican advice i havent followed myself and i can confirm, yes, it is very salty i can taste the wave that just hit me. The advice is it is very difficult to get around,
particularly on the roads and by rail. So if you can, stay indoors and let the storm blew through. But it is going to be here for the rest of the day because the Severe Weather warning, the amber warning occupies much of wales and pretty much all of england. It is up until 9pm this evening and even after that, we are not out of the woods because there is a slightly downgraded yellow warning and that is in place until the end of the day. So the conditions are going to carry on like this for the rest of the day and probably knock on effects into tomorrow as well. Just standing here, i can tell you, you are the lucky one being in that one studio dont i know it . I hope there is a cafe open somewhere in dover where you can get a cup of tea and stray out for a bit, simon, sorry and stray out for a bit, simon, sorry we are and stray out for a bit, simon, sorry we are putting you through this but thanks very much for braving it for us. But it is no laughing matter, of course. And there are plenty of places around there are plenty of places around the country where really, you do not wa nt to the country where really, you do not want to be going anywhere near the
coast if you can avoid it, certainly not any of those exposed footpaths you may cheerfully take your dog for a walk on, this is not the day for doing that kind of thing, keep a save as you possibly can. 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. One of the great advantages of these websites is if you put in your postcode or the postcode of your loved ones, you will find local warnings straightaway, so look at bbc online and keep an ear out on bbc online and keep an ear out on bbc local radio. In other news. A further patient has tested positive for coronavirus in england, bringing the total number of cases in the uk to four. It comes as a flight carrying british nationals home from china has returned to the uk. The passengers have been taken to a Conference Centre in milton keynes, where they will be placed in quarantine for 11 days. Jon donnison reports. The latest british victim is now being treated at the Royal Free Hospital, in north london. They apparently picked the virus up in france from another british person already confirmed as infected. And this morning, the last uk evacuation flight out of the chinese city of wuhan, epicentre of the virus, touched down at raf brize norton, carrying around 200 british and foreign nationals. We have not got everybody out. We know that. Unfortunately, two people failed the temperature checks early this morning and they have had to go back into wuhan. A convoy of buses transported those british citizens who need it back to our hotel and Conference Centre in milton keynes. Out of china, but still not in the clear. We understand that there are about 150 passengers on these coaches who have now been evacuated from wuhan. All of them are, for the moment, we are told by nhs staff in good health. This will be their home for the next
two weeks, where they will be kept in isolation. The coronavirus has now killed more than 800 people, surpassing the number who died from sars back in 2003. More than 37,000 people are known to be affected across the globe, a figure that continues to rise sharply. The question remains as to whether were in a live phase and the rate of infection may pick up, or whether were seeing more what is the Natural History of the disease and its way too soon to tell, but it is why these clusters are very unfortunate, so we feel particularly sorry for families who get caught up in this. Its a very frightening time. Those in quarantine in the uk face an anxious wait and, globally, there is no sense the Coronavirus Crisis is anywhere near to an end. So, 150 people in quarantine in milton keynes. That is on top of 100 people still in isolation on the world
and news this morning from majorca that a british man has tested positive for coronavirus. His wife and two daughters have been given the all clear. Well, the coronavirus outbreak has now killed more people than sars nearly 20 years ago. Heres our china correspondent with the figures. 811 dad, 2641. 811 dad, 26111. Those are the numbers we have. The big problem in all of this as we are reliant on one source for these numbers. We are hearing repeated anecdotal evidence in wuhan and hubei province, people being turned around tend to wait for treatment, this was happening weeks ago and continues to happen now and combine that with these very stringent measures to get people to stay in their homes, stay where they are. And also, at the same time, heading others who they believe may be infected to these makeshift hospitals. And all of that makes for
a lot of uncertainty. And a picture that really is lacking any kind of clarity beyond the government figures. That is the big problem. And that is just in figures. That is the big problem. And that isjust in hubei and not when you consider what is going on in the rest of china. John branch reporting on the figures and passing that marker really of how serious this epidemic potentially could become by killing more people than sars. The thai Prime Minister says the soldier who shot dead 26 people began his rampage because of a dispute over a house sale. The attacker was killed by soldiers, after killing 26 people and wounding 57. The youngest victim was just 13. Buddhist monks chanted prayers for the victims in the citys main square. Thailands Prime Minister says the soldier began his rampage because of a dispute over a house sale. He was eventually surrounded by Security Forces in a shopping
centre and shot dead. 57 people were injured in the attack. Aaron safir reports. 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 many 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. But an earlier attempt to flush him out failed, with one member of the Security Forces killed. 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 mall, moving with an eerie calm. But his rampage began elsewhere, at an army base, where he killed two people, including his commanding officer. He also stocked up on weapons and ammunition. 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. And 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 now over, questions will be asked about what motivated the attacker and how to prevent Something Like this happening again. Aaron safir, bbc news. Breaking news from our correspondent helen ellie, who is reporting, this is from helen wilkinson, she says thousands of people have suffered power outages, that is being reported by western power distribution. It says 12,779, that is the figure is of lunchtime, customers dont have any electricity in areas it serves in east and west midlands, the south west of england and south wales. So there are quite large parts of that region where people are struggling. 0f large parts of that region where people are struggling. Of course, many of the power lines are overhead. Things are being knocked over, they are being disrupted in the normal way and some of the power units as well tend to get affected by any heavy rain as well. So it is going to be a busy afternoon for engineers as they try and get power restored to those 12,000 homes around the midlands, south west
england and south wales that are being affected. We will bring you more as soon as being affected. We will bring you more as soon as we get being affected. We will bring you more as soon as we get it. Labour has formally reported members of sir Keir StarmersLeadership Campaign team to the information commissioner, accusing them of hacking into the partys membership database. The allegation was made against two members of sir keirs team, one of them his compliance official. They were passed to the Information Commissioners Office on thursday. Sir keir said the claims were utter nonsense. The headlines on bbc news storm ciara hits the uk causing widespread disruption. The whole of the uk is under either a yellow or amber weather warning and 12,000 people are without power. Its brought Gale Force Winds and torrential rain travel has been badly affected, with flights and Rail Services being cancelled. A persons being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in london after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total in the uk to four. A briton in majorca has also contracted the illness. Votes are being counted in irelands general election, with an exit poll indicating a tie between the three main parties. The centre right Fine Gael Party led by the Prime Minister, leo varadkar is thought to have won about 22 of first preference votes, with the centrist fianna fail and left leaning sinn fein only fractionally behind. We can speak to our ireland correspondent, chris page, in dublin. The count centre there, for people who dont live in Northern Ireland or the republic, you use a pr system in the republic of people in Northern Ireland will know this as well because it is used in some elections in Northern Ireland. How long the process is this going to be before we get a clear picture of who has actually won . It is going to be a long process, sean. The counting has been under way here in the main count centre in dublin and around the country for about six hours. We can expect it to continue well into
tomorrow and perhaps beyond that. The picture that is becoming clear both he and all over the irish republic, even though we havent got any official results yet, is that the sinn fein vote has surged. So far in the history of the eric fisher republic of the government has been dominated by two parties, fianna fail, led by the current Prime Minister leo varadkar fine gael and fianna fail, Prime Minister leo varadkar fine gaeland fianna fail, and Prime Minister leo varadkar fine gael and fianna fail, and both parties are in the political centre. But sinn fein has gradually increased its ratings in the opinion polls and according to the exit poll published at the close of polls isolate compelled for several irish media organisations, now ireland looks to be moving from being a 2 party system if you like to a three party system and the third party is sinn fein. The exit poll putting it level pegging with fianna failand fine putting it level pegging with fianna fail and fine gael, putting it level pegging with fianna failand fine gael, or putting it level pegging with fianna fail and fine gael, or three parties tied round about 20 according to that exit poll. So we are in a situation out by sinn fein as well as being well established as the Second Biggest Party in Northern Ireland where it is part of the
shell power sharing government in stormont, also it is gaining power here. Sinn fein surprise at the extent of the increase in support and have not fielded as many candidates as the other parties, so. Candidates as the other parties, so. So even if it is sightly the same as fianna fail and fine gael or even slightly ahead. Chris, you still there, can hear me . Yes, i can. We will try one more. I will apologise now if we have to cut away from you because of disruption on the line. In a time when gerry adams was president of sinn fein, even in the years after the ira had given up weapons and we had had the peace agreement, there was still a legacy of people who dislike sinn fein because of its association with the ira which gerry adams was never able to overcome. Has there now been enough of a generational change in
the voters and in the leadership that that has allowed a parties image the party s image to change . Yes, i certainly think that has been a factor. Two years ago, gerry adams stood down as president of sinn fein to be replaced by Mary Lou Mcdonald and while gerry adams a lwa ys lou mcdonald and while gerry adams always denied being in the ira himself, he was certainly very associated with the republican movement, Security Services would have said he was senior in the ira. Mary lou mcdonald, no parliament no paramilitary background, very much seen as the new face of sinn fein. Interesting when you look at the analysis of these opinion polls in the irish republic, sinn feins la ke in the irish republic, sinn feins lake particularly strong amongst younger voters, though not exclusively so, they also in a strong showing with voting groups up to the age of 65, so it could be that as the memory of the conflict in northern so it could be that as the memory of the conflict in Northern Ireland is receding further into history, sinn fein has associations with the ira is becoming less of an issue for voters. The other two parties,
fianna fail and fine gael, has certainly tried to put the spotlight and sinn fein has back links to paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland, but sinn fein has organised emphasised its role in the Northern Ireland peace process, so could be it is moving further away from the violent period in irish history and know sinn fein can free itself from that association with ira violence and focus more on policies like housing and health which had been a key issues in this Election Campaign here in the republic of ireland. Both fianna failand fine republic of ireland. Both fianna fail and fine gael said they wouldnt do a deal with sinn fein, that was before the votes and all the rest of it had happened. I suppose that may change things. If they wont, they will have to do a deal with each other . Yes, thats right. The Coalition Calculations this are starting already even though we havent yet had a result. If we do find fine gael and fine gael and fianna fail and sinn fein in the same ballpark as far as seats, fianna fail and fine gael have ruled out dealing with sinn fein, mainly because of the partys
links to the ira, but also because of very left wing economic policies, fianna fail and fine gael say the taxation policy of sinn fein would bea taxation policy of sinn fein would be a disaster for the country. Also, while leo varadkar the leader of fine gael said he would consider a deal with fianna fail, the leader of fianna fail Micheal Martin says he will not deal with fianna fail, the parties remain strong historical rivals. If you end up with those three parties tied in the number of first preference votes and they have around the same number of seats even though sinn fein are slightly further behind, it will be near impossible to form a Coalition Government in the main house of the irish parliament, the dail. If it does become impossible for parties to strike a deal from minority government, it isjust to strike a deal from minority government, it is just about possible, people are already talking about this, ireland could head back to the polls for another general election in a few months. Something to keep us all busy as if you are not busy enough for the next two days. Thank you very much. Australias largest city, sydney,
is bracing for the biggest rainfall levels in more than two decades. The downpours have caused flooding and power cuts, but have provided relief for bushfire hit regions and farmers affected by a long drought. From sydney, phil mercer reports. This is a land of extremes. Some towns in eastern australia have gone from drought to flood in a day, as heavy rain has fallen in New South Wales and parts of queensland. Some drought hit farmers have had their best rainfall in a decade. Sydney is anticipating its heaviest downpours since the late 1990s. Roads have been turned into rivers. The authorities have warned of life threatening flash flooding. The deluge is helping a marathon firefighting effort. A huge bushfire south of sydney that burned for more than 70 days and destroyed 300 homes has finally
been put out. What a wonderful welcome the rainfalls been in the last couple of days, and the good news is, theres a forecast for the rain to continue and particularly spread across south eastern New South Wales, where our fires continue to burn and present challenges for firefighters and all those being impacted by the fires. In western australia, the cleanup continues after a Tropical Cyclone across the states North Western coastline, bringing destructive winds and torrential rainfall. The storm is weakening, but weather forecasters say its Still Producing a lot of rain. One of the big concerns for our region at the moment is that information that its talking another 25 millimetres to 50 millimetres this afternoon in the region, and more rain tomorrow. So, if that rain is to occur, were certainly looking at a big impact on our region, and our council and local Disaster Management group is doing everything in our powers to be prepared for that impact. In the south east, more rain is forecast. The hope is that many of the fires that have terrorised australia will finally be extinguished. Phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. Hollywood stars will be on the red carpet tonight for the oscars. The world war one epic 1917, and south koreas parasite are the frontrunners to be named best picture, but much of the build up has been dominated by criticism over the lack of diversity. Sophie long looks at what we can expect. You have a brother in the 2nd battalion . Yes, sir. 1917, sir sam mendes unblinking vision of war, is a frontrunner for best picture. Mendes has been nominated for best director. His competition comes from quentin tarantino, for his love letter to los angeles in the 60s, once upon a time in hollywood. Parasite a dark and violent look at south korean class. And Todd Phillips for his controversial dark thrillerjoker, which leads the pack with 11 nominations. 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 a film titled little women is enormously fantastic news and may mean more than any accolade could mean, in terms of women in this industry. But Cynthia Erivo is the only person of colour to have been nominated in any of the four main acting categories for her performance in harriet. There will always be some controversy surrounding oscar nominations, but on sunday night, there will be a massive celebration
of film and fashion, as this part of hollywood boulevard is transformed into one of the biggest catwalks in the whole of the world. Sophie long, bbc news, hollywood. The big question we are all asking is, what will sophie be wearing tonight . Now its time for a look at the weather with susan. If she was over here, she would be wearing an anorak 0 luck just in case very wise this building does go down to 3 i like coverage to at least my knee the problem is, it really is absolutely awful out there, as we have seen from the footage coming in from our weather watchers, the images. It is a two pronged attack, it is the rain and there has been coastal flooding with high tides and there has been england flooding because of heavy rain. Severe Flood Warning in Pateley Bridge and that one infour warning in Pateley Bridge and that one in four severe gales for much of
the uk into this evening. And there could be another peak in the winds across england and where is, up to 80 mph through the late evening and up 80 mph through the late evening and up to 8051 suspect through central scotland. So we are not out of the woods yet. But it is into the small hours, the winds do start to ease back a little bit for monday. Snow showers to the north on monday, rain to come in the south and the biggest change for the start of the week, the winds dont ease back of the showers keep packing in, but it is going to turn noticeably colder. So not the most cheery outlook, with snow accumulating to the north of the uk on monday and rain in the south. Still, staying windy, but not quite as windy as it is now. Iam quite as windy as it is now. I am looking forward to your tribute, those boots were made for forecasting, to 19 notch sometime soon. forecasting, to 19 notch sometime soon. Nancy sinatra. Hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. The headlines storm ciara hits the uk causing widespread disruption. The whole of the uk is under either a yellow or amber weather warning and 12,000 people are without power. Its brought Gale Force Winds and torrential rain. Travel has been badly affected with flights and Rail Services being cancelled. At times, the gusts are so strong you are almost blown off your feet
and in the past