how his cricketing father's suicide has affected his game. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the met office has warned of ‘potential danger to life‘ as the remnants of hurricane ophelia hit the irish republic and head towards northern ireland. troops have been deployed in coastal areas in the republic, in what's expected to be the most severe storm to hit ireland in half a century. already more than 3,000 people are without power in cork and kerry this morning and many planes, trains and buses have been cancelled. storm 0phelia hit the south—west coast of ireland a short time ago with gusts of 92mph. it moves on to northern ireland and parts of west wales this lunchtime with wind speeds expected of up to 80mph. the storm is then forecast to head north to central and southern scotland tomorrow, sparing eastern parts of the uk. well, schools north and south of the irish border have been closed for the day. sarah corker looks at the preparations for the arrival of storm 0phelia. with winds of up to 90 miles an hour on the way, those living on the galway coast for securing property, tightening moorings and seeking shelter. ireland's southern and western coasts will be the hardest test as temp three moves in from the atlantic. forecasters warned the storm will be potentially life—threatening, causing widespread disruption and power outages. we are expecting significant disruption to electricity supplies across the country. we expect from very early in the morning to have all of our crew is deployed to deal with fallen wires. we expect a significant number of trees to ball on the network. some ferries, flights and bus services have been cancelled. all schools, colleges and courts in northern ireland are closed. we hope that all our students and staff and eve ryo ne that all our students and staff and everyone heeds the advice, stay safe, stays in door and we will see eve ryo ne safe, stays in door and we will see everyone back in school thank god on tuesday morning. the worst storms in hundreds of years hit england this morning. ophelia will heat -- head and glint exactly 30 years after the great storm of 1987, famously catching the forecasters died. a p pa re ntly catching the forecasters died. apparently a woman rang the bbc asking if there was a hurricane on the way, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't. forecasting has come a long way since then. this is the you have 0phelia from space as it moves towards ireland. it is predicted to be the country's worst storm in northern half a century. in a moment we'll speak to pascal shehee, who's in cork for us, but first, our ireland correspondent chris buckler is in galway on the west coast of the republic of ireland. are the wind is getting up there? the winds are strengthening. you can see the promenade behind me and the wind really starting to have an effect, although people is a walking along the promenade, in the next 60 minutes or so we expected to be effectively closed as the concerns about the strengthening of the wind really grows. i have been inside the city centre and many shops have decided to close for the day. there are signs on store after store sent because of temp one they will not open today. it is starting to become in certain parts of the city you really quiet, but they have to be concerned. time and time again and you are hearing these warnings. you only have to turn the really want to give the public service announcements telling people to be aware, to make sure that their bins are secured, b garden furniture right. some of the businesses in town were taking their rubbish in, the bins they had left to be collected, they were taking inside their businesses because there were concerns about the debris that will be thrown around. this storm is starting to have an effect further south. it is said cork and kerry already and we are starting to see the impact of that. he mentioned earlier about the number of people who are without power. i can tell you now that the numbers are rising. around 22,000 customers, households and businesses, are currently without electricity in ireland. it gives you a sense of the concerned there is, but everything is being done to try to prevent danger to people. it is way schools have been closed, why bus services have been cancelled, why flights and ferries will be cancelled. there are real concerns about the storm but they are doing all they can to prepare for it. chris, thank you very much. joining me now is susan powell from the bbc‘s weather service. where exactly the ice of the storm? at the moment, the centre of the storm is just pushing at the moment, the centre of the storm isjust pushing into at the moment, the centre of the storm is just pushing into the south—west of the republic of ireland. we are getting some of the strongest winds there. it is set to track further north today, hence why the mornings extend up to northern ireland. that is where will bear the brunt of it today. the met office has just extended the amber warning, for parts of west and north wales, the isle of man and the south—west of scotla nd the isle of man and the south—west of scotland will be stormy from midday today well into this evening. though strong winds are proceeding the eye and behind the eye. all around the centre. all around the storm. 0n sure it is not so bad, but it is particularly around the irish sea coasts with the winds are likely to be particularly gusty and damaging. even into tomorrow as it shipped across the northern parts of the british isles, with the mountains in scotland, we could get very high gusts to the east of high ground tomorrow. when will we be out of the woods? in terms of 0phelia shipping out to the north sea, the worst of the weather will ease tomorrow afternoon. but this evening and overnight tonight it is not a great picture. northern ireland will improve as we get into the early hours of tuesday. susan, thank you very much. paddy mclaughlin is from the rnli. thank you for taking the time to talk to us. it must be a very busy time for you in terms of preparations. what are you doing? good morning. thankfully, we have had plenty of warning. all the stations around the irish coast have been on readiness, getting ready for the storm. all of our boats are well tied up in the harbour with extra ropes on them. our crews, we have trained for this type of weather, not that they want to go to see in these conditions. already this morning two of our light bulbs along the south—east coast of ireland have launched on service. it is a particularly dangerous time and i would advise anybody near the coast please be so extra careful over the next day. a particularly dangerous time, but despite those warnings that many services issue, do you find that invariably there are some people who take chances, take risks? i'm not sure people take risks, some people may be just don't heed to some of the warnings that are put out by ourselves and other agencies. even walking along the coastline in these conditions, even with your dog is so dangerous. there is so much tied running and the current is so difficult at the moment. 0r tied running and the current is so difficult at the moment. or i am at the minute we are expecting the eye of the storm to come through this afternoon, with 70 mile in our winds. in the last two hours the winds. in the last two hours the winds have gone from practically zero up to about 30 miles an hour, so zero up to about 30 miles an hour, so it is building all the time. when you say that you train for situations like this, how do you do that? these sorts of winds are extremely unusual. do you wait for really bad weather and go out in those sorts of conditions to experience what they are like for yourselves? our volunteer to run call 2a hours a day. we train all the year—round, both of her collea g u es the year—round, both of her colleagues on the south coast of england where we have the modern technology and training skills to train our crews. it is a very difficult time. you're apprehensive. asa difficult time. you're apprehensive. as a cox when of a late to want to make sure that your crew are well trained and set in these conditions and we willjust be extra, extra careful. do take care of. we wish you and your crew well and we hope eve ryo ne you and your crew well and we hope everyone stay safe. temp two from the rnli. thank you very much. we have just had a statement from the irish prime minister who is saying that 0phelia is a dangerous storm. it said the last time we had a storm this severe 11 lives were lost. he has been speaking to the irish national broadcaster rtp. so far we don't have any reports of any injuries but we do have trees dying and power outages. 15,000 people are without power at the moment in productivity and some of the other coastal towns in court. we have reports from the networks who will be ready to repair any power lines that go down. staff are ready to come in from northern ireland and britain to assist in the coming days in restoring power, but to bear in mind, i know when people have lost power to the home it is very the straightening and disrupting, but we can't risk the lives of the esb staff. it can only repair the power lines when it is safe for them to do so. lines when it is safe for them to do so. we will have additional assistance from across the water when needed. the prime minister is heading to brussels today for talks with eu leaders in a bid to end a stalemate over brexit negotiations. she will have dinner with chief negotiator michel barnier and commission chief jean—claude juncker, days after the pair said talks were in deadlock. downing street say the meeting had been planned for some time, though it wasn't in mrjunckers' published diary. joining us from out westminster studio is our assistant political editor, norman smith. leaving aside the issue of when it was an various people's diaries, could this meeting potentially break the deadlock? the hope is that michel barnier and john claude junker can be encouraged to put the squeeze on big players like angela merkel and emmanuel macron, because they are the key players in this, they are the key players in this, the ones who have to give the green light to be the want of the next stage of negotiations. the history of these dinners is not encouraging. the last one, it seemed to start off well enough when john claude jumper arrived in downing street. the aftermath was quite the reverse. the german press was briefed to the effect thatjohn paul younger thought that theresa may was deluded and theresa may went on the offensive is talking about unelected brussels bureaucrats who she accused of interfering in the general election. there will be hoping it goes off a lot better than at previous dinner. at the same time borisjohnson has previous dinner. at the same time boris johnson has been previous dinner. at the same time borisjohnson has been in luxembourg meeting eu foreign ministers. borisjohnson has been in luxembourg meeting eu foreign ministersm borisjohnson has been in luxembourg meeting eu foreign ministers. it is time to get on with these negotiations. it is ready for the great ship to go down the slipway and onto the open sea and for us to start serious conversations about the future and the deep and special partnership that we hope to construct. i think it will work very much in the interests of both sides. how much pressure do you think theresa may is under over the withdrawal bill? a huge amount. this is the key piece of bread to legislation that is had something like 300 amendments tabled to it. the great fear of theresa may entertain is that tory anti—brexiteers will work with and combined with the opposition parties to inflict defeats on mrs may. what is causing the maximum amount of disquiet is there seems to be our move to try to engineer a vote which would in effect give parliament the power to veto any new deal. it would give parliament the ability to say to theresa may, sorry, walking away from the table is not an option. we area from the table is not an option. we are a way of that yet but there are clear signs that some of the tory rebels are working with labour. theresa may only has a majority of 12, so this will be nip and tuck. so just as theresa may has difficulties in brussels trying to get the eu leaders to agree to move on, she also has profound difficulties at westminster were she faces potentially real grief over that brexit legislation. norman, thank you very much. a massive bomb attack in a busy area of the somali capital, mogadishu, on saturday is now known to have killed over 300 people, according to the government. hundreds more were wounded when a lorry packed with explosives detonated near the entrance of a hotel, destroying government offices and restaraunts. the government has blamed al—shabab militants for the attack, which is the deadliest since 2007. at least 27 people have been killed by wildfires in portugal and spain. thousands of firefighters and soldiers have been deployed to tackle more than a hundred blazes in central and northern portugal and across the border in the spanish region of galicia. officials have blamed arsonists for starting many of the fires. the leader of the spanish region of catalonia has failed to clarify whether he declared independence from spain six days ago, after a deadline from central government for this morning has passed. in a letter to the prime minister, mariano rajoy, mr puigdemont says the two sides should meet within the next two months. mr rajoy had threatened to suspend catalonia's autonomy if mr puigdemont chose to break away from spain. 0ur correspondentjames reynolds is in barcelona. a somewhat confusing picture today. yes. you would expect leaders nowadays to try to talk by instant messaging or use the phone instead. the leader of catalonia and spain itself are having this rather lengthy communication by letter. this is correspondence is getting more and more testy. last week the spanish prime minister wrote to the leader of the region of catalonia with a simple yes or no question. have you declared independence or not? this morning the leader of catalonia reply but didn't the question. the spanish leader said he did not out of the question to we will start the process of pulling back self wouldn't from caledonia —— from catalonia. —— self from catalonia. asking for extra time was not really the choice that was given to him from madrid. carles puigdemont and his supporters say that the answer to the people in catalonia and not madrid. they say that the people of catalonia have chosen to be independent. madrid says that is not the case and madrid says it will not be dictated to by catalonia. you have a dialogue with each side seems to be missing each other in the communication. madrid still holds a huge amount of power under the spanish constitution. it has the power to invoke a suspension of self—rule here in this region, which it suggests it may begin doing on thursday. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: storm 0phelia hits the south—west coast of ireland with gusts of around 100mph. theresa may heads to brussels for talks with senior officials in an attempt to break the brexit deadlock. facebook will help to train children in uk secondary schools about bullying and online dangers. in sport, northern ireland will be unseeded for tomorrow's under world cup qualifying draw. ronald koeman says everton‘s luck will change they keep playing the same way, but his position that is farfrom same way, but his position that is far from safe after a 1— draw at brighton left on one point above the relegation zone. a leaked reporting by the bbc outlines the full findings of an investigation into the british paralympics in programme. it concluded there was a lack of nurturing, and appreciation for athletes's general well—being. i will be back in 15 minutes. some detail coming into us from the government. 1a flood warnings and alerts are not in place for possible coastal flooding on the south coast and also on the north—west coast of england. thisjust and also on the north—west coast of england. this just coming and also on the north—west coast of england. thisjust coming into us, related obviously to failure, which will be its way across ireland, into northern ireland, into scotland and wales. 1a warnings for possible flooding on the south coast and north—west coast of england. clearly concerned that a wider area might be affected by the rainfall that the storm is bringing. 11 flood alerts, three flood warnings... know, six flood warnings to longer in force, but there are 1a flood warnings in place currently. three flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected. immediate action required. when we get more detail on that we will bring it to you. the chief executive of the financial conduct authority says some young people are having to borrow money to pay for basic living costs. andrew bailey told the bbc there was a "pronounced build up" of debt. figures suggest nearly a third of young people are worried about how they will pay back their loans and credit cards. we'll be taking a closer look at issues surrounding debt, particularly concerning young people, in business at 11.a5am. the metropolitan police is examining five allegations made by three women against the hollywood producer harvey weinstein. the assaults are said to have taken place in london between the late 1980s and 2015. harvey weinstein has admitted his behaviour has "caused a lot of pain", but has categorically denied all claims of non—consensual sex. simon clemison reports. the list of hollywood stars who've spoken out against harvey weinstein has been growing, with more coming forward herein the uk. ata at a premiere in london last night, one topic was talked about a lot. i'm not doing 0k. scotland yard says three women have now come forward to say they were attacked by harvey weinstein in five individual incidents in london. lysette anthony, seen here in 1982 when she was 19, told a newspaper she was raped by the film producer few years later at her home in london. do not let the ship sink. now appearing in the channel 4 soap hollyoa ks, lysette anthony says she remembers keeping her eyes shut tight, holding her breath and just letting him get on with it. 0ther allegations range in date from 1992 to three separate assaults on one woman in 2010, 2011 and 2015. harvey weinstein, whose movies have received more than 300 0scar nominations, has admitted his behaviour has caused a lot of pain but has categorically denied all claims of nonconsensual sex. with some of the allegations made in this country stretching back years, it may prove difficult for the police to investigate. they'll also be mindful of the fact that if there are court proceedings in america they will come before action, ifany, here. simon clemison, bbc news, new scotland yard. facebook has announced it will introduce digital safety ambassadors in thousands of secondary schools in the uk, as part of a new partnership with charities. as part of the plans, pupils in more than 11,500 schools will be trained by two charities as digital leaders and anti—bullying ambassadors over the next two years. working with childnet international and the diana award, they will be offered access to face—to—face training, online resources and forums. it follows new research which suggests almost two—thirds of 13 to 17—year—olds want more peer—led online education programmes in schools. facebook‘s head of global safety policy antigone davis said the announcement was the "next step" in tailoring their approach to online bullying to what their younger users want. children really need here to be opportunities to work together. we know from our own research that about three out of four kids were prepared to talk to appear when there are dealing with these issues. half of them would rather deal with that alone can deal with that with an adult. we are trying to provoke programmes in the school where they have the opportunity to work that appears to really get together, and if there is a child who has already been believed, they can share the skills they have with somebody who is currently being bullied. it is one of the most effective ways to get at this issue. nhs england says it's going to ban ‘grab bags' of sweets and ‘king size' chocolate bars from hospital shops, canteens and vending machines treats on sale will all have to be 250 calories or under, with the plans also suggesting most pre—packed sandwiches sold in hospitals should be under 400 calories. iraqi forces are advancing towards kurdish—held sites in kirkuk province as tensions rise between the two sides over the future of iraqi—kurdistan. iraqi forces say that they've taken control of roads and oil installations from kurdish fighters near the disputed city of kirkuk. iraq's joint operations command, which groups all pro—government forces, said that what it called a major operation to restore security in kirkuk was making progress. but a spokesperson for the kurdish president, masoud barzani, accused iraqi forces of launching a war against the kurds. 0rla guerin gave us this update a little while ago on the latest developments. well, what we can say for sure is that the major iraqi military operation was launched overnight in the province, the oil—rich province of temp one. it began just before midnight local time. it was carried out on the orders of the iraqi prime minister. it involved a large number of forces, including elite counterterrorism units and shia paramilitary units, which are allied to the government but armed and trained by iran. iraqi state television has reported that in the course of this operation the iraqi forces took control of vast areas in the kirkuk region, including oilfields west of the city. state tv said this was carried out without confrontation. that is disputed by kurdish officials who say that they are infact kurdish officials who say that they are in fact still in control of the oilfields and are in fact still in control of the oil fields and an error base west of kirkuk. there are reports from military sources on both sides that in fact there was an exchange of rocket fire to the south of kirkuk. of course, all of this will cause a great deal of concern internationally. there has already been a statement from the us defence department urging the iraqis and the kurds to avoid escalator rory actions, as it called them, and saying it opposed anything that the tractor from the battle against the so—called islamic state. all of this has come against the backdrop of dramatically rising tensions between the central government in baghdad and the authorities in the autonomous kurdish region in the north. in the last few minutes we have heard that 1a flood warnings and alerts are in place for possible coastal flooding on the south coast and the north—west coast of england. this is as coarse as the storm... way across the british isles. it is just off the south—west coast of the republic of ireland at the moment. we are hearing as a result of storm 0phelia, a number of schools are closing early in wales. seven schools have decided to send pupils home by lunchtime today in pembrokeshire as a precautionary measure as storm 0phelia moves towards west wales. bangor university has decided to cancel all teaching meetings are nonessential activities from two o'clock. so, the storm is starting to have an impact. that's not get our weather forecast. i will start off by showing you the most i will start off by showing you the m ost rece nt i will start off by showing you the most recent satellite picture of storm 0phelia. very strong gusts of wind across southern ireland but also in south—west england and through pembrokeshire. the white lines are very close together, wind speeds in excess of 70 miles an hour around these irish sea coasts. that is why the an amber warning for the mets office to be aware. in south—west wales, north—west wales, south—west wales, north—west wales, south—west scotland, the isle of man and into northern ireland, gusts up to 80 miles an hour. that will cause problems throughout this afternoon and into this evening. further east of the wind is not quite as strong. the eastern areas of england staying dry. temperatures up to 23 degrees. pretty warm in the sunshine. for tomorrow, the winds will ease significantly. quite cloudy and a lot cooler, as well. goodbye. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: storm 0phelia reaches the south west coast of ireland, with winds gusting up to 92 miles an hour. theresa may heads to brussels, where she will today hold talks with senior eu officials. social media giant facebook says it will help to train secondary school children about online dangers. time for sport. the latest viva football rankings are out and they will have a big effect on the upcoming tours for the world cup in russia next summer. england a ruck to 12 after their unbeaten qualifying campaign that they're not to be one of the top seeds for the tournament. when that december draw is made. to decide who plays who next summer. wales and scotland failed to qualify for the world cup, of course. they are 14th and 29th respectively in the rankings. germany remain the number one team in the world. brazil are second. portugal are third. this is very important. tamara's for the world cup play—offs. the northern ireland team, who finished second in their group behind germany, they've dropped out of the top seeds because denmark have moved above them in the world rankings. when that draw is made in switzerland, italy, denmark and croatia will be in that first port. so northern ireland could be in any of those tom ranked teams. also an unseeded teams in that drawer, sweden, greece and the republic of ireland. 0n the domestic front it has been a very frustrating weekend for everton. and their manager, whose position looks increasingly unsafe. and that is despite him spending £140 million over the summer despite him spending £140 million over the summer on new despite him spending £140 million over the summer on new players. they're sitting just three points above the relegation zone. they drew one all at brighten yesterday. the goals came late on. by tim but the snatch daily winner. —— brighten thought they had snatched a late winner. the manager praised his players and said their luck will change if they keep playing like that. but it is asking and of a lot of patients from the board. there is absolutely no confidence. all the players are like statues. they are static. there is no movement from the players, lack of confidence. i think there is an imbalance with two players playing in the team together. and really it was a massive disappointment. you have too connected to the as well. there is a fear in the players. there is one other match in the premier league yesterday. newcastle took the lead twice but southampton kept picking them back. when players scored both goals. it was to all at saint mary ‘s. for the first time in a tv interview david presto's sun has been speaking about his loss. here is suffering with depression and had financial worries. he will fly off for the ashes, and here isjust eight when his father died. he has been talking about suppressing his grief until finally opening up about his loss at the age of 16. it was good that it happened then and potentially not two years later when i have broken into professional sport because, a few break into professional sport and there is panic and potential bbc has a weakness. i was heavy that the emotion and everything like that, i was able to acknowledge and steel with and move on from. because, as you all know, when i first broke into the side there were questions left, right and centre. there were comparisons between, questions asked about, and everything else. more details have emerged about what has been described as a climate of fear that existed within british power swimming fear that existed within british powerswimming in fear that existed within british power swimming in the lead up to the rio paralympics last year. the bbc has obtained a leaked copy of the final report giving the details of the bullying that went on. it found that the former head coach would ban swimmers from leaving hotels as a so—called punishment, used returns 2:5? " returns 5:5? to returns tasks 5:5? to returns tasks at 5:5? to £5;£5;% é:..:l-.: %% elf—we'r— £24782}; them ha then. i ha then. thank - see you tater. ' ' """ now 5; really more nowfen. storm, ls neatly-ate? had more nowfen. storm, ls leally-atel had an update from the irish we've had an update from the irish met office. it is saying that 0phelia is forecast to track of other western parts of ireland during today. what they describe as violent and destructive gusts of up to 93 mph are forecast countrywide and in excess of those values in and in—excesslqbeesellabaes inll l l , . , some and in—excessefibesel‘lalues in.l.. .. .. . . . some very and in—excesseftbeselilalues in.... .. .. . . . some very and eifiégéery egeeeefl mii‘l’ .aefir?a.es.§—.=.é ——— f— 47 —————— you can see severe winds to? that is danger to life and property. that is the latest from the irish met office on 0phelia. the irish prime minister said 0phelia was a dangerous storm and urged the public to stay indoors. dozens of flights to and from airports in northern ireland and the republic have been cancelled and the republic have been cancelled and an amber weather warning for northern ireland, which also applies to parts of wales and south—west scotla nd to parts of wales and south—west scotland is in force from mid day. earlier the irish broadcaster was updated on the situation there. a crisis management team has been placed in areas this morning, having met last night as well. 0urselves from city council, the fire service and ambulance was now we have been joined by our colleagues in the army. we are coordinating resources in relation to see what is going to happen probably some time after 12 o'clock today. as you see behind us here, watches actually happening, the promenade will be closed from the promenade will be closed from the golf course back to the road. car parks have been cleared. we're basically advising people to stay indoors this afternoon. we are asking businesses to take on bends, he will probably should have taken material in from their gardens at this stage because everything is going to take off and become a kite this afternoon. there is a very strong cooperation that is going on between the principal response agencies at the moment and we're ready to respond to whatever might be thrown at us this afternoon. are you worried about flooding? the tide levels are not critical at the moment. galway bay looks come. will there be a storm surge? the estimates relation to the storm surge that is coming in is that the city centre and that area, it should be ok. we think they should be ok. 0ut around here we're going to get some flooding as such. it all depends on what may happen around high time this afternoon, around the year. we don't expect the effect that we had in previous years to happen. this is a wind event. it is significantly a women's event that will be blowing so women's event that will be blowing so it is making sure that everything is tied down and that people take themselves in, out of the weather when it really comes in the next couple of hours. ican couple of hours. i can see council workers here this morning and other areas of the city sandbagging high risk areas. that is basically what is happening. the crew is on stand—by deploying sandbags as required. but as i say, it isa sandbags as required. but as i say, it is a wind event. it will be seriously windy rather than a flooding event. the situation the west coast of ireland there. the irish prime minister has been speaking about 0phelia in the past hour. he urged people across the country to stay alert. the first is to stay indoors, wherever you are, until the storm has passed. to check on your neighbours and elderly relatives particularly those living alone. today in mind that while in some parts of the country the storm has not yet reached that bad, it is coming your way as this is a national red alert. that applies to all cities, all counties and all areas. therein mind that even after the storm has passed there will still be dangerous. there will be trees on the ground, there will be power lines down certainly you need to take care of in that regard. and that is the irish prime minister. the prime minister to theresa may is expected to speak to the irish prime minister today as well as other european leaders. and these are some lines coming to us from westminster ahead of her meeting withjohn clwyd youth and also with the eu's chief brexit negotiator. we're hearing that she is expected to speak today. as well asa number of is expected to speak today. as well as a number of other eu leaders in the next couple of days. a spokesman for theresa may says that the uk is expecting what is described as a constructive meeting in brussels. they think that is going to be lasting around 90 minutes or so and as well as brexit, we are told they will also be discussing iran and counterterrorism measures. so those arejust some of counterterrorism measures. so those are just some of the details coming to us from a spokesman for theresa may ahead of that significant meeting in brussels which both sides are hoping will break the deadlock over the brexit discussions. the year's biggest literary prize, the man booker award, will be revealed tomorrow. we've been previewing the six shortlisted titles here on bbc news and our look at the would—be prize winners continues today with paul auster. he's discussing his latest novel "4 3 21"— a fictional imagining of one man's life — going down four separate paths. such an interesting thought, ferguson said to himself. to imagine how things could be different for him even though he was the same. the same boy in a different house with a different tree. the same boy with different tree. the same boy with different parents. the same boy with the same parents, who didn't do the same things they do now. everything could be different. the world could be the same world and yet, if he hadn't fallen out of the tree, it would be a different world for him. when i was 14 at a summer camp in new york state i was on a hike with 20 other boys and we got stuck in a very violent electrical storm. and the boy right next to me was killed by lightning. i think it's changed everything for me. i felt i was an fairly solid ground until that moment and then i realise that anything could happen to anybody at anything could happen to anybody at any moment. the premise of four three two one is really quite simple. i set out to tell the story ofa simple. i set out to tell the story of a young man's life and then forward different possible versions of that life. the backdrop of the book, the texture of the book, the time and the place. well, it is the american world of the 1960s. the war in vietnam, the civil rights movement, and all the horrors and madness of those years. the very things i'm talking about in the book that take place 50 years earlier i still happening in america today. we have four genetically identical people. the four boys. and yet due to circumstances, each one develops ina to circumstances, each one develops in a slightly different way. chances are factor that affects us all but i think the term that i would use most happily would be the unexpected. to walk out in the morning and then you slip on the pavement and you break your leg. well, that's the unexpected. every other day of your life you walk out and you don't break your leg. and so you expect in the morning when you wake up not to break your leg, but then when you do it changes things for you. paul auster and you can see our special live awards programme next tuesday night at 9:30pm he when the bbc news channel. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first — the headlines on bbc newsroom live: storm 0phelia hits the the south west coast of ireland with gusts of around 100 miles an hour. theresa may heads to brussels for talks with senior officials in an attempt to break the brexit deadlock. facebook will help to train children in uk secondary schools about bullying and online dangers. in the business news: the chief executive of the financial conduct authority has warned of growing debt among young people, who are borrowing to make ends meet. in a bbc interview, andrew bailey said the young were particularly vulnerable as they were often facing high costs of accommodation and low, erratic wages. it emerged over the weekend that vauxhall is cutting about 400 jobs at its ellesmere port car plant because of falling sales. unite the union has said that news of the job losses is "extremely difficult to take". the union's general secretary, len mccluskey, said: "to lose 400 skilled jobs at vauxhall, albeit on a voluntary basis, is a major blow to the automotive industry and its supply chain. it is also another huge loss for the north west economy." younger people in britain are increasingly using debt to pay for essential items such as rent orfood, according to research from global accountancy firm pwc. the average unsecured debt for 25 to 34—year—olds is just under £3,000 compared to just under two thousand for people over 55. the financial conduct authority is getting worried about the amount of money owed on credit. andrew bailey, the head of the watchdog said it's a growing problem and is increasingly affecting more younger people than it did in the past. there was quite a pronounced build—up of debt amongst the younger age group. and by the way, i don't think we should necessarily think of this is reckless borrowing. it is directed at central sort of living costs. i do quite a bit of work going around debt advice centres run by charities, talking to people with problem debts. and it is not, you know, it is not credit and classic sense. it is affordability of basic living in many cases. mike 0'connor, chief executive stepchange debt charity. have you noticed a rise of the number of people coming to you? yes. 0ver10% of the last year. more and more of them are younger and more women. the average debt that we are seeing, the crisis debt, the problem that is £14,000. and also we heard from andrew bailey there and he has also said that it is not about the people are just flashing their cash on big—ticket items. it is the day—to—day cost of living which appears to have got just far too expensive for many people. is that the experience of people coming to you? inflation is going up and so people are starting to struggle. and young people in particular are paying extortionate rents which are far outstripping their wages. many people come to us, they borrowed money and it was quite sensible bit of borrowing. then something bad happens in their life. their relationship breaks down, they become ill or they lose theirjob. whenjobs are not become ill or they lose theirjob. when jobs are not as secure as they used to be. there are ups and downs and that is not easy when the cost of living are pretty constant and increasing. 0ther increasing. other people using credit cards and getting to the end of the term and feeling that they can't repay it and having to go on to higher rates? 0r having to go on to higher rates? or even payday lenders? credit cards area big or even payday lenders? credit cards are a big problem. it is the biggest problem we see in the average debt we are seeing is about £8,000. credit cards are supposed to be things that you pay off every month and that is fine but many people are languishing and paying the minimum repayments. and they are paying about 20% interest rates every month. i really think we got to take action on these high credits to try and reduce the damage they are doing. 0k. mike 0'connor, thank you very much. we will talk to another debt expert later so if you have any questions please use the social media hashtag and send those questions through. the ftse100 is just about in positive territory. shares in the medical company second on the list have fallen to magically. —— dramatically. there has been a strong performance from the mining sector today. suburbs of vista by numbers which showed improving manufacturing profits in china, the world prospect of metals consumer. the price of oil has often risen. that is ever concerned about potential renewed us sanctions against tehran as well as a conflict in iraq whilst an explosion at an oil rich in louisiana in the us, they kept those prices higher. we keep an eye movements doubt the day. that's all the business news. it is exactly 30 years since the great storm of 1987. 18 people died and 15 million trees were flattened as winds reached speeds of 115 mph. sarah lucas has been looking back at that and is intended for us. it was one of the worst affected areas there, wasn't it? absolutely. i'm here at the garden. 0ne areas there, wasn't it? absolutely. i'm here at the garden. one of the highest points and ten. and 95% of the surrounding ancient woodland here was completely flattened in that storm 30 years ago today. so today we got 0phelia bringing those very strong winds across western parts of the country but was this area of southern britain that was waking up to scenes of utter devastation following an extremely stormy night with those wins, as we we re stormy night with those wins, as we were saying, stormy night with those wins, as we were saying, more stormy night with those wins, as we were saying, more than 100 mph. i've been out and about talking to some people about the memories of that state involved in the aftermath of the storm. as well as all the regeneration that has gone on since then. this is what happened when i met them earlier. it was the worst in almost 300 yea rs. it was the worst in almost 300 years. winds of more than 100 mph claimed the lives of 18 people in just a matter of hours. hundreds of thousands of homes were left without power and 15 million trees were flattened, blocking roads and rail lines and many south—east england to a standstill. south of the central part of the... even breakfast news needed a plan b. we must apologise for this makeshift servers which we're bringing you. 0ur studios, the home of breakfast time, is out of action this morning asa time, is out of action this morning as a result of the bad weather. they, like many others, were not expecting what down to this infamous forecast the day before. early run today a woman rang the bbc had heard that there was a hurricane on the way. if you're watching, don't worry. there is not. as the editor of the sevenoaks chronicle at the time, rob chartered a plane to catch a hundreds of aerial images of the devastation. iremembergoing up aerial images of the devastation. i remember going up and we could see boats that had been kicked out of the water and putting people's gardens. and i saw a railway line with the train abandoned and those passengers had to get off because there was a tree over the line. i think the most amazing sight for us was the site of the six of the seven oak trees on the cricket ground after which the town was named, lying on their side. this is the only tree that survived. sevenoaks this is the only tree that survived. sevenoa ks became the this is the only tree that survived. sevenoaks became the town that lost its name. the other trees have been replanted by the devastation caused year became one of the symbolic images of the great storm. millions of trees came down along the storm's path and that afflicted decades of regeneration are still going on today. this was the morning after. thousands of trees destroyed. we probably lost about a quarter of all of our trees. 30 years on, the storm was a trigger for conservationist to re—evaluate how the site was managed. from its early years up to 1987 it was all planted so that all the pines were together, spruce were together. but that changed after the storm. we had trees mixed and matched to grow better together, to look nicer. it also is that every got another storm of one type of tree would not be lost overnight. in the three decades that have passed, no storm has come close to doing the damage seen on that morning in 1987. the great storm has lived up to its name. and while nothing can be done to prevent another one happening, we are certainly better position to forecast it if it does. this is actually one of the highest points in kent in this area was one of the worst affected 30 years ago by the great storm. joining me now is matthew from the national trust. nature specialist and matthew, talk to usa little bit about what the scenes of devastation were like in the surrounding area here. it was a temp is that town and country. and people were notjust inconvenienced, losing their electricity or whatever. they were actually shocked, devastated by the loss of other trees. because it was such a high percentage of all the trees and south—east literally blew down. and it made a lot of realise how much we love trees. and how much we need them. and how special our forest and trees and parks and gardens actually are. so the impact on us was perhaps as profound as it was on the actual landscape and the landscape itself was like something out of the first world war but worse. so do you think that losing these huge amount of trees, millions of trees, had given us a sort of renewed enthusiasm for protecting our natural environment and our wildlife? very much so. i think it was a bit of a wake—up call made us realise can stick these very special places and trees, beaches for granted. and it really was a wake—up call. it made us actually think how we want our landscapes to look, i think. i believe there has been a lot of the planting of trees here at many national trust properties as well in the aftermath of the storm. some of the aftermath of the storm. some of the areas where just left for nature to decide its course and take over. what has been more successful? here we are in a designed garden so there was a strong desire and need to actually get the garden back up again. but in hinterland, the ancient woods, we lost hundreds and hundreds of ancient bettering beech trees. you can't get that back straightaway. and in fact a new type of woodland has developed with new and different species of trees growing in it. but in particular the silver birch has come up. there is been changes in the insects and monson beetles and things as well. there were radical changes in the wildlife with losers and winners. and in the immediate aftermath there was a bonanza for beetles and hover flies and fungi which actually breed in dead and decaying wood and what had been quite common. it was transformative and the woods around us here they now have butterflies breeding in them and those butterflies were not there. thank you so much forjoining us. we have seen how things have regenerated since 30 years ago. it is back to you. the headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. the headlines are coming up in a moment we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two — first we leave you with for a look at the weather. thank you. 30 years on from the great storm and we've got a pretty big storm at the moment moving in towards the british isles. this is her again 0phelia. the satellite picture puts it was the south—west of the republic of ireland. strong busts of wind up to about 80 mild an hour right on land there. you can see from this pressure chart the area of low pressure, some strong winds right across the irish sea. and that means we have got to number one the met office for this afternoon. across northern ireland, south—west scotland, the isle of man to northwest wales and the south—west of wales. gusting up to about 80 mild an hour, perhaps more than that in exposed areas. some disruption to the course of the afternoon in these areas here. so i think we need to be prepared for the fa ct think we need to be prepared for the fact there will be some disruption. when that schools are closed and some universities are closing early because parts of north—west wales and south—west of wales as well. those guys will continue well into this evening but further east still quite breezy. but nothing quite as bad as the west with southerly winds it is pretty warm. temperature is widely up across the south and east. up widely up across the south and east. up to 24 this afternoon. rain spreading into scotland as well. through tonight, the centre of 0phelia will continue to move its way and then produce woods across scotland. that means tonight across the central parts of scotland because the gusts of 60—70 mild an hour as that starts to clear away it is going to be a chilly night and it was last down to about 11 or 12 degrees. tuesday 0phelia will move into the northsea and for many of us and choose a much quieter day. there will be some sunshine a good part of sunshine. much cooler tomorrow. there's temperatures about 12 to about 17 celsius. into the middle pa rt about 17 celsius. into the middle part of the week you've got a weather front affecting the southern areas of england but further north much quieter conditions, much lighter winds into wednesday and there will be some dry weather around here as well. kevin will continue across the humber down through into the midlands. a central southern parts of england as well. it averages about 12—18. more akin to what we should seek around the middle part of october. this week as stormy but it will get quite in the middle part of the week. goodbye. this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at midday: a national emergency in ireland as storm 0phelia barrels into its south—west coast with gusts of around 100mph. there are some really powerful gusts of wind here and the worst of the winds are yet to come. people believe —— people probably should've taken believe —— people probably should've ta ken materials believe —— people probably should've taken materials in front garden at this stage because everything will ta ke this stage because everything will take off and become a this afternoon. i am in warrenpoint town the south—east corner of northern ireland. that is the republic. here people are bracing themselves as the winds get higher and the seas are starting to rise. borisjohnson urges the eu to "get on" with brexit trade talks, as theresa may heads to brussels in an attempt to break the deadlock. it is ready for the great ship to go down the shipway and onto the open sea down the shipway and onto the open sea and to start some serious conversations about the future and the deep and special partnership that we hope to construct. hundreds of wildfires raging in central and northern portugal have killed at least 27 people, as emergency services struggle to bring them under control. also: the storm we were told wasn't coming. it is 30 years since 18 people were killed and 15 million trees were toppled when a huge storm hit south—east england. ahead of the ashes, england cricketerjonny bairstow describes how his father's suicide has affected his game. good afternoon. welcome to bbc newsroom live. more than 22,000 homes and businesses are without power in the irish republic, where people are bracing themselves for the full force of storm 0phelia. the irish met office has warned of ‘potential danger to life and property'. troops have been deployed to coastal areas in the republic, in what is expected to be the most severe storm to hit ireland in half a century. many planes, trains and buses have been cancelled. storm 0phelia hit the south—west of ireland a short time ago, with gusts off the coast of 109mph. it moves on to northern ireland and parts of west wales this lunchtime, with wind speeds expected of up to 80mph. the storm is then forecast to head north to central and southern scotland tomorrow, sparing eastern parts of the uk. these pictures show a sandstorm whipped up in west cork, and the force of the gale in kinsale. the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has urged people across the country to stay alert as national red alert is issued. the first is to stay indoors, where ever you are, until the storm has passed. to check on your neighbours and elderly relatives, particularly those living alone. to bear in mind that whilst in some parts of the country the storm is not yet that bad, it is coming your way and this isa bad, it is coming your way and this is a national red alert that applies to all cities, all counties and all areas. bear in mind that after the storm has passed there will still be dangers. there will be trees on the ground, power lines down and to take ca re ground, power lines down and to take care in that regard. stephen murphy give us the latest short time ago from kinsale in cou nty short time ago from kinsale in county cork on the south—west coast of ireland. well, in the last hour or two the wind speeds are picked dramatically here on the west cork coast. there are some really powerful gusts of wind here. the worst of the winds are yet to come. gary mcmahon from the galway council give an update on the situation there. the crisis management team has been in place since early this morning having met last night as well. ourselves, the city council, the guardian, the fire service, the ambulance service and we have been jordie barrett colleagues in the army are coordinating resources to see what will happen sometime after 12 o'clock today. in the next couple of minutes the promenade will be closed at salthill from the golf course up to gratton road. car parts have been cleared. we are advising people to stay indoors this afternoon. we are asking businesses to take in bins. people should have taken to take in bins. people should have ta ken material to take in bins. people should have taken material in from the gardens at this stage because everything will take off, but, kite, this afternoon. there is a strong conversation going on between the principal response agencies and we are ready to respond to whatever might be thrown at us this afternoon. might be thrown at us this afternoon. our correspondent ben ando is in warrenpoint in country down in northern ireland. as we can see behind you, it is starting to look pretty rough. yes, absolutely right. the winds are coming straight in from the irish sea here. the seas are starkly —— certainly getting choppier. we can feel the wind is getting stronger moment by moment, building in strength is that storm rises up the west coast of ireland, though strong winds curving round and coming directly inland. that is the republic of ireland over there, and we are at the very south—east corner of northern ireland. people living here have taught us that they are getting ready, they are preparing. one woman said that she and her four children have prepared lots of meals. their house as a wood—burning stove so they are ok about heating. they have charged up all their electrical appliances and their computer games and things so they have things to do at the power goes out. they are looking at what is happening in the south—west corner of the republic. they know there is a chance that power to deal so they wa nt to a chance that power to deal so they want to be ready for that. we spoke to our hotel here and they have moved all their outside furniture from away from the front of the hotel. they have decided to close their restaurant was lunchtime and closed the restaurant tonight. normally they would expect to be quite busy. they said they have 11 guests, tourists from japan, and they will be seeing the storm out tonight and seeing what things will look like tomorrow morning after it has passed. i can still see quite a few people on the footpath to your left, walking up and down taking in the view. presumably people will be heeding warnings and clearing away, taking cover as soon as they can. yes, that's right. at the moment to be fairof yes, that's right. at the moment to be fair of the winds are really strong and you feel them but i wouldn't say they are dangerous. i think people are enjoying the novelty of the situation. there are coming down, looking at the sea enjoying what is happening and getting ready. some people are a little irritated at the decision to close schools here in northern ireland was only taken as late as 10:30pm last night. the authorities, just like the rest of us, are bracing themselves, but in truth nobody knows how bad it. nobody can say up here how strong the winds will be. what they do know is that they will get stronger than the are now. “— they will get stronger than the are now. —— than they are now. they will get stronger than the are now. -- than they are now. in the last few moments, we are hearing of the death of the comedian sean hughes. a comedian, an actor and writer. sean hughes who has died at the age of 51. no more details at the age of 51. no more details at the moment. that he'sjust the age of 51. no more details at the moment. that he's just coming into us in the last few moments. we will be speaking to our entertainment correspondence colin paterson very shortly. the prime minister is heading to brussels today for talks with eu leaders in a bid to end a stalemate over brexit negotiations. she will meet chief negotiator michel barnier and commission chief jean—claude juncker this afternoon, days after the pair said talks were in deadlock. downing street say the meeting had been planned for some time, although it wasn't in mrjuncker‘s published diary. joining us from out westminster studio is our assistant political editor, norman smith. since i last spoke to you we are hearing from theresa may's spokesperson that the dinner is scheduled to last 90 minutes. a lot to pack into 90 minutes, i imagine, especially if they are trying to bridge this deadlock. number ten are insisting there is no deadlock. they said the talks are not stalled, it isa said the talks are not stalled, it is a negotiation and there will be ups and downs. they insist this meeting is not a last—minute panic after michel barnier last week suggested that the talks were deadlocked. youtube sends a new urgency to downing street's approach. theresa may was speaking to angola merkel yesterday, she is going to speak to a emmanuel macron later today and then the dinner tonight with the eu commission president and chief negotiator. this morning borisjohnson was appealing teu leaders not to let the grass grow under theirfeet teu leaders not to let the grass grow under their feet and saying that theresa may had made a reasonable and good offer to dent in her florence speech. it is time to get on with these negotiations. it is time for the great ship to go down the slipway and onto the open sea and for us to start serious conversations about the future and the deep and special partnership that we hope to construct. i think it will work very much in the interests of both sides. so far, i have to say there is no sign ofany so far, i have to say there is no sign of any gear for further concessions or smoke signals that the eu might be on the cusp of agreeing to those crucial trade talks and the european commission spokesperson this morning was insisting that they will stick to their mandate. no sign of further concessions. the commission has been givena unanimous concessions. the commission has been given a unanimous mandate of 27 other member states to negotiate article 50. this would only be as they'd just replied, this is a process which is self standing, it is ongoing and not strictly related to the dinner. the dinner has a broader agenda. ourjob to the dinner. the dinner has a broader agenda. our job is to the dinner. the dinner has a broader agenda. ourjob is to honour the mandate we were given. well, what are we to make a bulbous? and joined by labour mp chris slept with —— chris leslie. on this dinner tonight, is that a good sign or a worrying sign, these live meeting just before the council are having to be pulled together? and glad she is doing it. by now, we should have been right into the meaty discussion about transition. we missed this most recent opportunity. it looks like maybe the european council in december they might move on to it, but we haven't got that much longer. i'm talking to businesses all the time that are saying that by christmas they'd need to get assigned about whether they were still even able to trade, the financial services sector for instance, by the time they get to march 2,00019. it is critical that we make progress. the idea of no deal, which everybody, bar a few very extreme people on the far right of the conservative party, that by consensus had been pooh—poohed. it wasn't going to benefit anybody. it seems to be coming back on the agenda and that is not a good state of affairs. in westminster, the key bit of breadth of legislation was due to come back to the commons next week. there are signs of people like you working with conservative mps to ensure that parliament has a veto over no deal. if parliament was ineffective the two deal, but that not just ineffective the two deal, but that notjust mean that we stay in the eu? look, the first clause of this eu? look, the first clause of this eu withdrawal bill says that we get out of the european communities on a date to be nominated by ministers as exit date. i don't think parliament should cut itself out of the process completely. i think parliament has a duty to the country. even rising above the party politicking, if it is sensible that we come together, that the single market is what we need for years to come, let's come together across the parties and do that. the amendments can achieve that. the amendments can achieve that. it might not be convenient for the ministers and their particular positions, but parliament has a duty to step forward. does that mean, if parliament does decide that no deal is not acceptable and vetoes it, does that mean we stay in the eu? the offer that the prime minister has made it you either have to take hersub has made it you either have to take her sub optimal deal would ever she comes back with, or have no deal. personally, i think there is another option. the article 15 notice can be withdrawn. that was the implication of the legal advice that the prime minister was so coy about. there is that option of saying let's not just go that option of saying let's not just go over that option of saying let's not just go over a that option of saying let's not just go over a cliff edge or ridiculous reasons. if we have to stay with our current arrangements for a bit longer to get that better deal, so be it. a lot going on. we have the dinner tonight, but here in westminster there is an almighty tussle looming over the brexit bill that they begin its passage through parliament possibly next week. norman, thank you. a massive bomb attack in a busy area of the somali capital, mogadishu, on saturday is now known to have killed more than 300 people hundreds hundreds more were wounded when a lorry packed with explosives detonated near the entrance of a hotel, destroying government offices and restaurants. the government has blamed al—shabab militants for the attack, which is the deadliest since 2007. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: storm ophelia hits the south west coast of ireland with gusts of around 100mph. theresa may heads to brussels for talks with senior officials in an attempt to break the brexit deadlock. the irish comedian sean hughes has died at the age of 51, his management company has confirmed. now the sport. the latest fifa football rankings arrived and they will have a big effect on the upcoming trials for the world cup in russia. england are up the world cup in russia. england are up to 12th out of their unbeaten qualifying campaign. but they will be one of the top seeds for the tournament when the december draw is made to decide who plays too. they could face brazil or argentina in the group stage. wales and scotland did not qualify for russia, they are 14th 29th respectively the rankings, with germany remaining in the number one spot. the draw for the world cup play—offs will be made tomorrow. those of the eight best runners up from the european qualifying. northern ireland lost their last two matches, against germany and norway. they have dropped to 23rd in the world so there will be unseeded. denmarkjumping world so there will be unseeded. denmark jumping above them world so there will be unseeded. denmarkjumping above them into pot one, while italy will be the team to avoid, you would have thought for northern ireland. england's cricketers head to australia in less than a fortnight. they will be relying heavily on one of their most consistent players, johnny bairstow. he has talk and in—depth about his father, david, who also played cricket for yorkshire and england. he was only eight years old when his father took his life and he admits he suppressed his grief until the age of 16. it was good that it happened then and potentially not two years later when i had broken into professional sports because if you break into professional sports and there is a trigger it can potentially be seen as a weakness. i was happy that the emotions and everything like that, i was able to acknowledge and deal with and move on from because as you well know when i first broke into the side there were questions (and centre. there was comparisons between questions asked and everything else. great britain's worlds and olympic cycling champion, katie archibald, has signed for a professional group racing team next year. archibald is not turning her back on the track, she is going to defend the world on the title next year before taking on the title next year before taking on the track and road events at the commonwealth games on the gold coast in australia in april. that is all this board for now. i will be back at1:30 p:m.. at least 27 people have been killed by wildfires in portugal. thousands of firefighters and soldiers have been deployed to tackle more than a hundred blazes in central and northern portugal, and across the border in the spanish region of galicia. officials have blamed arsonists for starting many of the fires. next speak to our correspondence, alison thomas, in this bond. it must be very difficult for firefighters to put these fires out. 110 fires, new fires today, but yesterday there we re new fires today, but yesterday there were 500. this has been a terrible season for fires over the summer. we have been talking in terms of dozens ina have been talking in terms of dozens in a day. 500 has meant that is the worst days so far this year. firefighters, almost 6,000, and troops are fighting fires all over central and northern portugal. the government has declared a state of public calamity in almost two thirds of the country, to free up resources and make it easierforfirefighters to access properties, free up resources , to access properties, free up resources, make emergency purchases. it is all hands to the pump. that tally of 27, that is a provisional tally of 27, that is a provisional tally and the authorities do fear that there may be more deaths reported. what do you know about these deaths? are these people who perhaps were told to evacuate but couldn't get out quickly enough? what information do you have? you are implying that there maybe situation similar to the one that we had injune situation similar to the one that we had in june which situation similar to the one that we had injune which you may remember, when 64 people died in one fire in central portugal. half of those on one road than they were trying to escape. that doesn't seem to be the case now in that the deaths have been all over the place. they are not just concentrated on been all over the place. they are notjust concentrated on area. we don't have full details yet. over the border in bolivia, there are terrible fires there. we know that two of the four deaths reported there were people who were found in a burned—out car. in situations of extreme drought, as we have had in recent weeks and months, and then there are strong winds, the situation can escalate very quickly and people may be undecided as to whether to flee or not and when they do, they can come into some very frightening and deadly situations. asi frightening and deadly situations. as i said, we don't have the details yet, but it is feared that the maybe similar situations in portugal here again. thank you. the comedian sean hughes has died. entertainment correspondence colin paterson is in salford for us. he was just 51. what can paterson is in salford for us. he wasjust 51. what can you tell us? very, very sad news. it has been confirmed by his management this morning. we don't have the cause of death but we know sean hughes pleaded last week that he was in hospital. for people who are trying to remember who he is, never mind the buzzcocks is something they might remember him best for. he was tea m might remember him best for. he was team captain for six years. a real household name. he made his name first ball as a stand—up comic. he was the youngest person ever to win the perrier prize at the edinburgh fringe festival. it was a ground—breaking stand—up show. he built a narrative to his show. it was him sitting in the bed said. he was him sitting in the bed said. he was obsessed with the smiths in the show. he used to go and check of his socks had dried on the radiator. channel 4 took him the tv. then he went into acting. he was in coronation street for a while. he was on stage in the railway children in the last couple of years. a career that did diversify. or many people it will be the stand—up and never mind the buzzcocks that they will remember him for. tell us about the tributes that are coming in. jason manford has said very sad to hear about sean hughes, a brilliant comic and the lovely bloke. al murray has said terribly sad news about sean hughes. his former promoter has also paid tribute to him, saying he was a pioneering, ground—breaking comedian who changed her mum —— changed comedy with his show, the one night stand with sean hughes. very sad news and there will bea hughes. very sad news and there will be a lot of reaction from the world of comedy today. thank you. john hughes has died aged 51. the spanish government says the authorities in catalonia have yet to give enough clarification on whether or not they want independence. in a letter to the prime minister, mariano rajoy, carles puigdemont, the catalan leader, says the two sides should meet within the next two months. mr rajoy had threatened to suspend catalonia's autonomy if mr puigdemont chose to break away from spain. a short time ago i spoke with our europe correspondent james reynolds, who is in barcelona. he said the way the two leaders are corresponding seems quite surprising in this day and age. you would expect leaders now a days to try to talk via instant messaging or to use the phone. instead, the leader of the region of catalonia and the leader of spain itself in madrid are having this lengthy communication by letter. this correspondence is getting testy and test here. that makes them what has happened. last week the spanish prime minister wrote to the leader of the region of catalonia with a simple yes or no question. have you declared independence or not? the this morning the leader of catalonia replied that did not answer the question. the spanish government has said he did not answer the question, we will start the process of suspending self—rule for the region. the key date for this will be thursday. it seems like either ca rles thursday. it seems like either carles puigdemont is trying to buy time, or trying to assert his authority over the spanish government by asking for this extra time when that wasn't really the choice that was being given to him by madrid. and carles puigdemont, and his supporters might say that they don't and took to the authorities in madrid, the amateur to the people in catalonia. they say that the people of catalonia have decided to be independent. madrid says that is not the case and the judge said it will not be dictated to by catalonia. you have a dialogue with each side was seems to be missing each other in the communication. the important point is that the country of spain, represented by the authorities in madrid, still holds a huge amount of power under the spanish constitution. has that power to revoke the suspension of self—rule here in this region which it suggests it might begin doing this thursday. the chief executive of the financial conduct authority has said that young people are having to borrow money to cover a sick living costs. andrew bailey told the bbc there was a pronounced build—up of death. figures suggest the third of young people are worried about how they will pay back their loans and credit cards. iraqi forces are advancing towards kurdish—held sites in kirkuk province, as tensions rise between the 2 sides over the future of iraqi—kurdistan. iraqi forces say that they've taken control of roads and oil installations from kurdish fighters near the disputed city of kirkuk. iraq's joint operations command, which groups all pro—government forces, said that what it called a major operation to restore security in kirkuk was making progress. but a spokesperson for the kurdish president, masoud barzani, accused iraqi forces of launching a war against the kurds. 0rla guerin gave us this update a little while ago on the latest developments. well, what we can say for sure is that a major iraqi military operation was launched overnight in the province, the oil—rich province of kirkuk. it began just before midnight local time. it was carried out on the orders of the iraqi prime minister. it involved a large number of forces, including elite counterterrorism units and shia paramilitary units, which are allied to the government, but armed and trained by iran. iraqi state television has reported that in the course of this operation the iraqi forces took control of vast areas in the kirkuk region, including oilfields west of the city. state tv said this was carried out without confrontation. that is disputed by kurdish officials, who say that they are in fact still in control of the oil fields and an air base west of kirkuk. there are reports from military sources on both sides that in fact there was an exchange of rocket fire to the south of kirkuk. of course, all of this will cause a great deal of concern internationally. there has already been a statement from the us defence department urging the iraqis and the kurds to avoid "escalatory actions", as it called them, and saying it opposed anything detracts opposed anything that detracted from the battle against the so—called islamic state. all of this has come against the backdrop of dramatically rising tensions between the central government in baghdad and the authorities in the autonomous kurdish region in the north. let's head across the newsroom and is get the latest on storm ophelia. yes, ophelia is a storm that is very powerful, packing a real punch. you can see her tightly packed the isobars are here on the charts, showing that there is a severe gales associated with this system. gusts of wind is up to 93 mountain our on the south coast of ireland. it you mountain are possible in northern ireland. that could well be flying debris if the winds gust that strong. throughout the afternoon it will turn increasingly gusty and western areas. the southerly winds pulling up warm air, 22 degrees possible in central and eastern england in the sunshine. through this evening the winds will spread from northern ireland into western areas of wales, part of south—west of seeing gusts up to 80 miles an hour. very ploy to the east of the pennines as well. travel has already been disrupted in terms of ferries and flights and we could see big problems on the roads through this afternoon during the evening across the northern uk. that is your weather. this is bbc newsroom live. our latest headlines: storm ophelia reaches the south west coast of ireland, with winds exceeding 100 miles per hour. the irish premier says it's a national emergency. theresa may heads to brussels, where she will hold dinner talks with senior eu officials. at least 27 people have been killed by wildfires in central and northern portugal as emergency services struggle to tackle the blazes. the spanish government says the authorities in catalonia have yet to give enough clarification on whether or not they want independence. the irish comedian sean hughes has died at the age of 51, his management company has confirmed. he had recently been admitted to hospital. more now on storm ophelia which has hit the republic of ireland where more than 22 thousand homes and businesses have been left without power. the taoiseach leo varadkar said ophelia was a dangerous storm and urged the public to stay indoors. the strong winds have been causing disruption. i'vejust the strong winds have been causing disruption. i've just doors to show you that significant amount of rain are being carried in the win. the win has abated slightly. perhaps we are over the worst of it here in south derry and the storm is moving northwards. but as i say there are northwards. but as i say there are no significant amounts of rain falling and that will cause problems later on because the tide is coming in here, the breeze and wind is due to be around first of all southerly and then south—westerly. and that will drive the tide, i'm sure. and that will cause problems. it has caused problems in the past and in communities around here and there have been flooding problems there and we can expect something like that in a localised fashion again. the other problem been caused here is by the wind. they are put down significant amounts of trees and as well as blocking roads and causing difficulties for people who are continuing to commute, notwithstanding the conditions. those falling trees have brought down dozens and dozens of power ca bles down dozens and dozens of power cables and thousands of homes are consequently without electricity this lunchtime. i'm joined via webcam by grace fegan who is the curator of the medieval mile museum in kilkenny. you are at home? i am. we made the decision to shut the museum today. out of safety concerns for our staff and obviously for our visitors and so and obviously for our visitors and so this morning myself and my colleague from the civic trust went to check on the museum and make sure that everything was secure in the graveyard and so on. and batten down the hatches, really. everyone has been advised to not travel if at all possible. have you been outside today at all? i have, yes. iwent have you been outside today at all? i have, yes. i went out in my weather gear this morning and was at the museum for about 7:30am. the wind was starting to pick up but still quite calm. it is and 800—year—old building so it should be ok. we have a lot of very old buildings. behind mejust outside the window is an eighth century round stour so we're alljust hoping that these fabulous structures stay safe. apologies, i misunderstood the first dance at what you read on last night but that was first thing this morning. and as you look at your window now this lunchtime what is the weather looking like now? the wind gusts are really really strong. there is no rain yet but i still have power here. the gusts are very strong, around cork in particular. they have already lost their power so we're thinking that their power so we're thinking that the worst of it is possibly yet to come but it's really hard to know. what sort of practical steps have you taken? what sort of practical steps have you ta ken? have what sort of practical steps have you taken? have you been trying to prepare food and so on in advance of the power being down for a while? yes. yesterday evening we were starting to get a real sense of how severe it was going to be so a lot of people made preparations yesterday evening in terms of getting food and so on. i have filled my kettles and i filljugs and that kind of thing just in case the water goes. charging up laptops and power banks in that kind of thing but we may not stop mac i am surprised and thrilled i consult you via skype right now. we will see how it goes but the most important thing that we are all being told us do not leave the house unless you absolutely have to. and when you have been looking at your window of the street is pretty quiet? are people heeding the advice to stay indoors until the passes, as far as you are aware? they seem to be. it is great fun to be honest, looking at all the updates on social media and in typical irish fashion week taking it with great humour and take that opportunity to stay at home and to be safe. but, people do seem to be taking that advice, it is very quiet out there on the streets. thank you very much for talking to us. and glad that your skype stayed up us. and glad that your skype stayed up and running for us. some of the uk's better princes will travel to abu dhabi this week. to pit their skills against other young people in disciplines like engineering, hairdressing, cooking and jewellery design. they'll be competing for medals against the world's best young talents at the skills olympics. steph mcgovern has been to meet team uk. like many kids, these guys had big ambitions when they were growing up and less than a decade after some of these photos were taken, they are amongst the best in the world for their trades. now they're competing for medals to prove it. i'm alfie hopkin,19—years—old and i am from south wales and i'm going for gold in web design. i'm 22. i come from the forest of dean. i'm going to abu dhabi to compete in hairdressing. i'm 21—years—old. i'm from east kilbride and i'm going for gold in mechanical engineering cad. this is team uk, a group of 34 young people who are heading to abu dhabi to take part in the skills olympics. over 1,000 under—25s from 76 countries are hoping to win medals in everything from aircraft maintenance, 3—d game design, jewellery—making, bricklaying, plumbing, cooking — the list goes on. jake is 22 and from bradford. i'm an electrical engineer. i've just completed a hnd in engineering at bradford college. and along with that work, you have been training hard for this massive competition. what are you doing in it? we've to got to build a recovery unit that can take on three objects and drop them off at various points. this is a mock—up of it and your team—mates as well. you are part of the manufacturing team challenge. are you ok lads? who have we got here? we've got alex and jacob, my team—mates. you are competing against people all over the world, how are you feeling? pressure. a bit of pressure. i feel like we will be able to wave the british flag higher. you're going for gold. of course, we are. between them they've put in around 70,000 hours of training and that is on top of theirjobs and studies. i'm 21 and from croydon. i'm competing for network infrastructure technician. i am 21 years old. i live in south wales. i am going for gold in restaurant service. i am 23—years—old. i am from liverpool. i am competing in aircraft maintenance. i'm going for gold. now with the send offs over, it is time to put all of that work into action. and i will give you an update in a couple of days' time. as the uk braces itself for storm ophelia, by strange coincidence it is exactly thirty years since the great storm of 1987. 18 people died and 15 million trees were flattened as winds reached speeds of 115mph. sarah keith lucas has been looking back at that and is in sevenoaks for us. how, sarah. hi. it is western part of the british isles. today they're getting battered by ophelia but 30 yea rs getting battered by ophelia but 30 years ago it was southern britain thatis years ago it was southern britain that is waking up to scenes of devastation. i'm here near sevenoaks in kentand devastation. i'm here near sevenoaks in kent and 95% of the ancient woodland here was completely flattened during that night the storm back in 1987. since then there's been a lot of regeneration of the natural environment here. most of the trees have grown back now but certainly we have not seen anything like it since that huge storm 30 years ago. i do not talking some of the local residents as well as looking at the memories of 30 yea rs as looking at the memories of 30 years ago and what has changed since then. it was the worst storm in almost 300 years. winds of akmost than 100 mph claimed the lives of 18 people in just a matter of hours. hundreds of thousands of homes were left without power and 15 million trees were flattened, blocking roads and rail lines and bringing south—east england to a standstill. south of the central part of... even breakfast news needed a plan b. we must apologise for this makeshift services which we're bringing you. our studios, the home of breakfast time, is out of action this morning as a result of the bad weather. they, like many others, were not expecting what down to this infamous early run today a woman rang the bbc had heard that there was a hurricane on the way. if you're watching, don't worry. there is not. as the editor of the sevenoaks chronicle at the time, rob chartered a plane to catch a hundreds of aerial images of the devastation. iremembergoing up and we could see boats that had been kicked out of the water and put in people's gardens. and i saw a railway line with the train abandoned and those passengers had to get off because there was a tree over the line. i think the most amazing sight for us was the site of the six of the seven oak trees on the cricket ground after which the town was named, lying on their side. this is the only tree that survived. sevenoaks became the town that lost its name. the other trees have been replanted, but the devastation caused year became one of the symbolic images of the great storm. millions of trees came down along the storm's path and that led to decades of regeneration that's still going on today. this was the morning after. thousands of trees destroyed. we probably lost about a quarter of all of our trees. 30 years on, the storm was a triggerfor conservationists to re—evaluate how the site was managed. from its early years up to 1987 it was all planted so that all the pines were together, spruce were together. but that changed after the storm. we had trees mixed and matched to grow better together, to look nicer. it also is that every got another storm of one type of tree would not be lost overnight. in the three decades that have passed, no storm has come close to doing the damage seen on that morning in 1987. the great storm has lived up to its name. and while nothing can be done to prevent another one happening, we are certainly better position to forecast it if it does. this is actually one of the highest points in kent in this area was one of the worst affected 30 years ago by the great storm. joining me as bob. you live close to the gardens here. talk to me a little bit about the direct aftermath and the day after the storm. what was it like? it was extraordinary. we were surrounded by falling trees. there was no electricity, no telephones. my was no electricity, no telephones. my wife had gone on to see her mother. i was not sure if she'd make it, but she did. she got back by climbing trees. and we decided that we had three options. we could go to bed, we could play cards or something like that, or we could walk to the pub which was just up the road. so we did. we crawled and be climbed and we went over enormous trees around craters, wondering if the pub was open. and when we got there the whole community were there. it was absolutely packed. someone was playing the piano. they we re someone was playing the piano. they were singing, you know, whistle while you work. and we were swapping stories of the day. how were we going to clearup? stories of the day. how were we going to clear up? what would that road ever be open to gain just up the road here? of course, it was. the army were on their way and so we re the army were on their way and so were the council contractors. we actually had the royal engineers cutting their way through the jungle and the opened the road the next day. but that fellowship, that camaraderie continued for the whole weekend. it was actually wonderful. i believe you had no powerfor a couple of weeks after the storm. how does that affect all your neighbours in the community? we, fortu nately, neighbours in the community? we, fortunately, had a wood—burning stove. so we had hot water and so we have the neighbours queueing up to have the neighbours queueing up to have a bath. we did tell them, you know, come and have a bath. and there they were with their towels waiting outside the house. again, we kept swapping stories. an amazing sense of community spirit. it was a remarkable time. and everybody helped clear up. we open the road eventually. and i was able to get to my office without climbing the first time in three days. so within hearing about that amazing sense of community spirit as well as all the changes that have occurred in the last 30 years. there is been a lot of replanting of the trees here but a lot of the area and that was just left for nature to take over. and i been seeing some of the trees here that are already sprouting huge branches and have turned into bigger trees. just left over from those trees that have been lying down after that great storm in 1987. a lot has changed since then andi 1987. a lot has changed since then and i were forecasting is changed a lot, too. computer models are much, much more accurate. we're in a better position to forecast these types of storms when they do occur but it is only about once every 200 yea rs. thank you. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: ophelia is our top story. ireland has declared a national emergency. cost of around 100 miles an hour. theresa may heads to brussels for talks with senior officials in an attempt to break the brexit deadlock. and the irish comedian sean hughes has died at the age of 51. his management company has confirmed. his management company has confirmed. during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth as many as one in five women experience severe mental health issues like depression and postpa rtu m health issues like depression and postpartum psychosis. the provision of inpatient units where women can be treated with such problems that be treated with such problems that be separated for their babies varies across the uk. plans for new units have announced by nhs england and campaigners in wales are calling for similar services. during labour she experienced feelings of paranoia. i started to feel like there was somebody else in the room. ifelt the curtains around me were sort of shaking with the wind. i could hear this whispering that was coming from everywhere. and the first thing i thought was, if i tell anybody they are going to take my baby. outwardly, charlotte tried to hide herfear outwardly, charlotte tried to hide her fear about how she was feeling asa her fear about how she was feeling as a new mother. i was scared of my son at first because i did not know what to do. i did feel disconnected. i felt that i could not be a good mother. i thought that because i'm not feeling too well i can't be the mum that he needs. charlotte was diagnosed with a serious mental health condition called postpartum psychosis, which affects around one in 1000 women. treatment in a residential unit was recommended but with no facility in wales, the nearest was bristol. and that was full. the specialist provision of mother and baby units varies across the uk. there are currently 15 units in england with more than 100 beds in total. for new eight bed units are plans to open next year. scotland has 12 bed is divided between two centres. wales and northern ireland currently have no at all. mental health campaigners say that must change. it is incredibly important for the small number of mums who are severely mentally ill they get fast tracked into specialist services that needs to be close to where they live, close to theirfamilies, close close to where they live, close to their families, close to where they get support and they can see their babies. and i think without that can specialist support it can take much, much longerfor months specialist support it can take much, much longer for months to get better. a review into services here in wells will publish its findings tomorrow. it is expected it will recommend that a mother and baby unit be set up. the welsh government says it is working to ensure that inpatient provision is made available and it is looking at what form it will take. it hopes to have details by the end of the year. it can't come quickly enough for people like charlotte. she's been involved in the campaign for change. without residential care, her treatment took more than a year. vital months lost in bonding with her son. vital months lost in bonding with her son. facebook has announced it will introduce digital safety ambassadors in thousands of secondary schools in the uk, as part of a new partnership with charities. as part of the plans, pupils in more than 4,500 schools will be trained by two charities as digital leaders and anti—bullying ambassadors over the next two years. working with childnet international and the diana award, they will be offered access to face—to—face training, online resources and forums. it follows new research which suggests almost two thirds of 13 to 17—year—olds want more peer—led online education programmes in schools. facebook‘s head of global safety policy antigone davis said the announcement was the ‘next step‘ in tailoring their approach to online bullying to what their younger users want. children really need there to be opportunities to work together. we know from our own research that about three out of four kids were prepared to talk to a peer when there are dealing with these issues. half of them would rather deal with it alone than deal with it with an adult. we are trying to provide programmes in schools where they have the opportunity to work with peers, to really get together, and if there is a child who has already been bullied, they can share the skills they have with somebody who is currently being bullied. it is one of the most effective ways to get at this issue. a mum‘s frank portrayal of what it‘s like to have a child with down‘s syndrome has inspired a musical which was staged at the london palladium last night. the label, which is based on the story of caroline and her son seb, was performed by a cast of 200 people with learning disabilities. tim muffett caught up with caroline and seb at their home in bath. where seb goesjoy where seb goes joy and laughter followed. but that wasn‘t always the case. when seb was born and he was diagnosed with down syndrome nine yea rs diagnosed with down syndrome nine years ago, the news was devastating to me. everything i‘ve read just made those fears worst. and obviously, as with all babies, bit by bit, he smiled, you laughed, he cried. and he became the charming little boy that he is sort of slowly that diagnosis sort of fell away from him and hejust became seb. tell me about the things you enjoy doing. ilike tell me about the things you enjoy doing. i like doing my sons and playing on my skateboard. he‘s very in tune with other peoples feelings. we were not told that when he was diagnosed. we were just told all the negative things. four years ago, we were just told all the negative things. fouryears ago, caroline wrote a book called the label. it is herfamily ‘s story wrote a book called the label. it is her family ‘s story aimed at challenging preconceptions about learning difficulties head on. these final rehearsals for a musical worship. david stanley runs the man project to help people learning difficulties sing and perform. that feeling as a parent when you are greeted with the news that you have a child with a learning disability, no one can imagine how that must build. other students who have learning disabilities telling that story is so powerful and inspiring. we have excited so i can‘t wait for this one. how are you feeling? nervous. very nervous. i say it will be the greatest ever. the world premiere of the label. pa rt the world premiere of the label. part of a special night of performances at the london palladium. how are you feeling? good. really excited. how you feeling? very excited. let‘s go and see the show. in a musical, three actors baiter won notjust as a younger boy but as the young man he will become. this is the first time they have all met. what is it like to meet these google playing you? fantastic. what‘s it like to meet the person you‘re playing? it feels good. i just wanted to write a story that made people see the person and not the syndrome. the cost of 200 have been rehearsing for almost a year. with that like the map production? it was amazing. really, really good. i was covered in goose bumps. it's i was covered in goose bumps. it‘s amazing. it‘s notjust the cost, it is seb and caroline also taking about. —— notjust the cast. —— notjust the cast. news from the irish broadcaster are te, who are reporting one person has died asa te, who are reporting one person has died as a direct result of storm ophelia after a tree fell on a car in the waterford area in the south—east of ireland. it is a direct result of storm ophelia. in a moment the news that one but first the weather forecast with chris. today‘s the day that ophelia is battering parts of the british isles. on saturday this was a major category three hurricane. coming past the west coast of portugal and spain it weakened to a category one. todayit spain it weakened to a category one. today it is normal area of low pressure but packing a punch. very strong winds, just look how tightly packed the isobars. one of the strongest on is you will see this year. the irish forecasters are predicting wind gusts up to 93 mild an hour. everett weather warning issued for much of the country. for northern ireland were not too far behind that with peak gusts potentially getting as high as 80 mild an hour. when strengthening through the afternoon and into the early pa rt through the afternoon and into the early part of the evening. it will be pretty blustery elsewhere with clouded chav is affecting scotland. sunny spells for them is parts for england and wales and with those winds coming from a long way south it is exceptionally warm for this late stage of october. temperatures reaching a high of 2223 degrees. the strong wind had not gone away. as we go through this evening a swathe of really fierce winds will move from northern ireland to affect parts of western wales. the winds could also cost to 80 odd mild an hour. very blustery over the pennines and into the east. it could cause problems out on the roads even here. transport has already been disrupted in terms of ferries and also flights. we could see some problems out on the road this evening rush—hour. particularly for the northern half of the uk. though strong winds will slowly ease down. outbreaks of rain blustery conditions still affecting scotland. england and wales are largely dry. a fresher feel to the night and certainly not cold. temperatures 11 or 12 for most. on tuesday ophelia woodworking out what the western coast of norway. cloud and a few showers affecting scotland and northern ireland. the winds easing down to the day. another finger rain coming into parts of southwest england but otherwise a very mad dry pressure and sunshine. you will notice it feels fresh. temperatures between 12 and 17. close to normal for the time of year. that‘s been across the midlands. otherwise dry right conditions. the best of any sunshine western scotland. highs of between 12 and 18 degrees. that is your weather. one person has died as ireland is battered by winds of more than 100 mph as tropical storm washi feeley makes landfall. —— ophelia. as coastal areas are pounded by wind, schools are shut and troops deployed. in the last hour, the wind speeds have picked up dramatically here. there are really powerful gusts of wind here. the worst of the winds are yet to come. schools close in wales and flights are grounded at manchester airport. we will bring you the latest. also this lunchtime: theresa may heads to brussels for dinner with eu leaders