an icy blast is affecting nearly 250 million people in the united states and canada, as one of the most severe winter storms in living memory takes hold bringing with it snow blizzards, strong winds, and freezing temperatures. at least 19 people have died, hundreds of thousands of american households and businesses are without electricity, and thousands of flights have been cancelled. the us state of montana registered a record breaking low of minus 45 celsius. from washington, nomia iqbal reports. for much of america, this is the coldest christmas eve. can turn boiling water into a snow cloud and second. the state of montana is bearing the brunt, temperatures are the lowest at 52. residents warned to stay indoors but some are trying to tackle the snowfalls. need to clear the sidewalk, i m out here doing it with a shovel because the slow i wouldn t start. , , , ., because the slow i wouldn t start. , i, ., ., start. every type of travel thrown into start. every type of t
welcome to bbc news. we start here in the uk, where millions of people face more travel chaos, as the biggest rail strike in 30 years continues. today s planned walk out by railway workers has gone ahead, after talks between the rmt union and railway employers broke down. the first day of industrial action on tuesday saw half of the rail network closed and 80% of services suspended. our transport correspondent katy austin reports. large parts of britain s railway have come to a halt again, overall, only about 20% of services will run, although in some places it is less. northern will operate fewer than 10%. where trains are running, services will start late and finish early. camelot lives in cheltenham where there are no trains at all today. she can t get to her part time job near bath, teaching english as a foreign language. if i can t get to work i won t have the income to face all the extra energy bills, etc, so i do need to get to work. five minutes do need to get to wo
on twitter @annitabbc. a decision is expected today over whether hundreds of gmb union members working as check in and ground staff at heathrow airport will take strike action. the taliban appeals for international help in afghanistan after a powerful earthquake kills more than 1,000 people. we are desperately trying to work with local partners to get through that rubble and see if there are any survivors that we can administer first aid to get to local hospitals. borisjohnson arrives in rwanda for a meeting of the commonwealth s heads of government with food security, climate change and the government s migrants policy expected to be on the agenda. polls have opened in two parliamentary by elections which are taking place today in wakefield, and tiverton and honiton. eight medical staff who treated the football legend diego maradona in the days before he died are to stand trial for alleged criminal negligence. dat two of glastonbury gets underway. more than 200 thousand fest
matthew mcconaughey makes an impassioned plea for gun control, after a school shooting in his home town. these are the same green converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting. how about that? thejourney begins martin hibbert arrives in tanzania, and starts his attempt to scale kilimanjaro. first thing i saw when they came out was my trike. so i m happy. i don t even care if i ve not got underwear as long as i ve got my trike, i can do it. good morning. 50 and counting for harry kane his penalty avoids defeat for england against germany as he becomesjust the sceond man to score 50 goals for his country. good morning. sunshine and showers today for england and wales. some show is heavy and thundery with some hail. scotland and northern ireland, cloudy for you, damp but a bit of sunshine here and there. all the details later. it s wednesday 8th ofjune. our main story. tens of thousands of workers are to stage