and the government also said it's considering how it can expand the coronavirus booster campaign. the pm says these measures are �*precautionary and temporary�* — and will be reviewed in 3 weeks. we'll bring you all the latest. three people have died as storm arwen hits the uk, with winds, of up to 100 miles an hour. the family and friends of one of those who died in the channel when their small boat capsized, tells the bbc she was kind hearted, and humble. also today — the former england cricket captain, michael vaughan, tells the bbc he's �*sorry for all the hurt�* azeem rafiq went through during the yorkshire racism scandal. good evening. borisjohnson has announced new temporary coronavirus controls to come into effect in england from next week — after 2 cases of the highly—transmissible 0micron variant were discovered in the uk. the uk cases, in nottingham and brentwood in essex, are linked to travel in southern africa and are from the same cluster. borisjohnson said that, in response, face coverings will become mandatory again in shops and on public transport in england from next week. people who've been in close contact with 0micron cases, will have to isolate themselves, even if they're fully vaccinated. four more african countries are being added to the travel red list, bringing the total to 10. meaning travellers arriving from those countries will have to isolate in a hotel at their own expense. scotland, wales and northern ireland said they intend to mirror the border restrictions — which include all international arrivals having to take a pcr test and self isolate until they receive a negative result. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, has this report. the 0micron variant, the most mutated version of coronavirus found so far. first reported in south africa on wednesday, now two cases have been detected in the uk. at a news conference in downing street this evening, the prime minister said much was still unknown, but scientists were learning more about 0micron hour by hour. it does appear that 0micron spreads very rapidly and can be spread between people who are double vaccinated. there is also a very extensive mutation which means it diverges quite significantly from previous configurations of the virus and, as a result, it might at least in part, reduce the protection of our vaccinations over time. people would not be stopped from travelling, the prime minister said, although all those arriving in the uk will now need to take a pcr test and isolate until they receive a negative result. rules will be tightened on face coverings in england, borisjohnson said, but masks or already mandatory in certain settings in scotland, wales and northern ireland and there is a significant change in the rules around self isolation. we will require all contacts of those who test positive with a suspected case of 0micron to self isolate for ten days, regardless of your vaccination status. it is likely more adults will be offered boosterjabs and advisers will look again at vaccinating children, but scientists are largely in the dark so far about how quickly the new variant may spread. at the moment, i am afraid, the models are more sort of, if it spreads very fast, of course it is going to spread very fast and go into a lot of places and if it spreads less fast, it is going to do so less, we can't really get much further than that. rising cases have prompted other european countries to reintroduce restrictions. here, the government has consistently said it has no plans for another lockdown, but the option is never ruled out. the prime minister said this christmas will be better than the last, with the rising cases and much unknown about 0micron, there are still uncertain times ahead. jonathan blake, bbc news. the labour mp and shadow health minister, alex norris, said his party was supportive of the govenment�*s actions, but felt they could go further. well, the government's plan b has always been our plan a. we think that mask wearing should be, you know, commonplace in public spaces. especially indoors. we think that people should be able to work from home, where that is possible, you know, i think we should have been doing all of those things already, so of course we want people to be doing that now. particularly where we want them to go further now is on the boosterjabs. you know, i do not want to decry the vaccination programme, it has been very successful over the last year, but with regards to boosters, you know, the goals were to do half a million a day, so that we have all those over a0 boosted by christmas. we are a long way below that and what the prime minister has announced today, 6,000,000 over the next three weeks, is below that rate, too. he talked about boosting the booster programme, we want to see that as well, we want to see community facilities used, we want to see our nation's pharmacies used better, so getting those boosterjabs out is going to be absolutely crucial and we think the government can go further there. and our political correspondent, iain watson said the prime minister wanted to be seen to act quickly in the face of a new threat. we certainly got a lot earlier than we did when there was the threat from the delta variant initially, to some extent people in there they are saying, look, there are lessons from that and this time the travel ban for example on southern african countries was announced even ahead of the eu and america, so to some extent he is going earlier, but is he going harder, as we heard there from alex norris from labour. he says that a plan b should be plan a and the government is faced with this new variant and they should be advising people to work from home. borisjohnson did not do that, he did not say that vaccine passports would be introduced, which are currently in place in some settings in scotland, for example, but he did of course say that there will now be mask wearing on public transport and in retail, but i think again what is interesting is that this today is a moment that he would really rather have avoided. ever since the great lockdown, case numbers in hospitals and the number of deaths was remaining relatively low, then the prime minister wanted the economy to stay open. it is a measure of the seriousness of this that he is reintroducing any measures at all and i asked him directly whether we are actually seeing the beginning of restrictions now and he said they are temporary and would be reviewed in three weeks' time, we are a month away from christmas, people are very anxious about their plans at that time of year. all he could say was that christmas this year was going to be better than christmas last year. that is setting a very low bar, if you remember, the government had to contract that period when households were allowed to mix. in addition to that, he didn't say that the restrictions would definitely be withdrawn this time, we are really in the hands of the virus. if it is proven that, as some people fear, that chris whitty himself mentioned in the press conference, that it is much better to bring in vaccines, we may yet see further restrictions, but you have got to go all the way to the government's so called plan b at this stage. he said it would be very targeted, so example, those pcr test when people come back into the country, we can find out if they are suffering from that variant. i think it is one area which might be controversial between the parties and that is the question of self isolation, self isolation for ten days even if you are double vaccinated, if you come into contact with someone suspected of having the 0micron variant, as the source of their infection. what labour have been arguing time and time again is that in order for people to self isolate, the government has to look again at sick pay. there was no mention of that from the prime minister either. certainly, there will be fears in whitehall that perhaps people who have been used to having very few restrictions since the summer and who are double vaccinated might necessarily embrace self isolation for ten days in the run—up to the holiday period. there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but very clear that the government criticised by the opposition before for being too slow to react, wanted to react quickly with the new measures in the face of the new threat. earlier i spoke to our health correspondent katharine de costa, and she said these new measures will buy some time for scientists to understand the new variant. they would have also included working from home and vaccine passports and they did not go as far as that today. boris johnson passports and they did not go as far as that today. borisjohnson said it is about trying to slow the spread, buying time, trying to contain this new variant and where current measures have been enough to hold delta, with this new variant, the worry is that it can spread more quickly and that re— infections can happen even if you are double vaccinated. so, they are buying time for the scientist to carry out more work in the laboratory and also gathering real data to understand how this variant behaves, because it has got double the amount of mutations as delta and they focused on the spike protein which is what the virus uses to break into human cells. they do not know how it will respond, some of the mutations in other variants, respond, some of the mutations in othervariants, have respond, some of the mutations in other variants, have made it spread more quickly or get around the immunity from the vaccinations and they just immunity from the vaccinations and theyjust do not know and they are trying to buy time. we theyjust do not know and they are trying to buy time.— trying to buy time. we also heard about boosting _ trying to buy time. we also heard about boosting our _ trying to buy time. we also heard about boosting our current - trying to buy time. we also heard i about boosting our current defences and boosting the booster programme and boosting the booster programme and antivirals, take us through the poster programme first, what will they be looking at? the poster programme first, what will they be looking at?— they be looking at? the health secretary has _ they be looking at? the health secretary has asked _ they be looking at? the health secretary has asked the - they be looking at? the health secretary has asked the jcvi i they be looking at? the health secretary has asked the jcvi to secretary has asked thejcvi to consider rolling out booster shots to more ages, at the moment it is for those over 40, they are talking about whether it would open up to all adults over 18 and whether you might shorten the gap between the second dose and your booster shot and there is also a consideration about whether to give a second dose to those aged between 12 and 17 —year—olds. these are questions being put forward to bolster our immunity within the population. i think it is important to say that scientists are optimistic that current vaccinations have worked against other variants, providing good levels against serious illness and that they expect they will still be effective against this new variant. , , , , , be effective against this new variant. , , , , variant. just staying very quickly with the 12- _ variant. just staying very quickly with the 12- 15 _ variant. just staying very quickly with the 12- 15 -year-olds, - variant. just staying very quickly with the 12- 15 -year-olds, we l variant. just staying very quickly i with the 12- 15 -year-olds, we have with the 12— 15 —year—olds, we have not had any evidence yet of the impact that the vaccination of that age group is having on the transmissibility and the cases or is there evidence? the transmissibility and the cases or is there evidence?— transmissibility and the cases or is there evidence? the latest ons data looked at young _ there evidence? the latest ons data looked at young people _ there evidence? the latest ons data looked at young people and - there evidence? the latest ons data looked at young people and they - there evidence? the latest ons data looked at young people and they are | looked at young people and they are still high, and actually in the last few days, cases have been increasing, so there is some differences between the different age groups. one thing we have been seeing is an early indication of the booster is working and lower infection rates in the older age groups and we have seen hospitalisation starting to fall and thatis hospitalisation starting to fall and that is quite a positive sign. dr chris smith is a virologist, and presents the naked scientist podcast. hejoins us now. good evening to you. hello. just going back to what we heard this evening and the prime minister's justifications for these restrictions, he says he is buying time, he wants to slow the spread of the variant until we learn more about it. ., ., ., ., about it. could he have done more? i don't thinkthis _ about it. could he have done more? i don't think this is _ about it. could he have done more? i don't think this is an _ about it. could he have done more? i don't think this is an unreasonable i don't think this is an unreasonable suite of measures and i don't think the timing is at all unreasonable, we only learnt about this in about the last 48 hours. time is everything, it matters, because at the moment we know virtually nothing about this new virus. we have got a suite of symptoms that people have documented from south africa which sound quite encouraging, doctors dare say it does not seem to produce severe disease and that is a tech in the right box. we have a genetic code and what we have been able to do is line up the genetic code for the variant alongside the genetic codes of other variants of coronavirus like delta, which is why you are seeing the stories of this mutation and this change and we have seen this before and this one we have not. what has got people worried is if you look at where these genetic changes are, they localise in the genetic code with the pace that it uses to make the outer coat of the virus and specifically the spike on the outer coat and that is what it uses to infect ourselves. it is also what we use to make the vaccinations that then make us immune to coronavirus and that is why people are concerned, because if the virus changes the shape of that bit, it might affect transmissibility and there is speculation it is more transmissible and it might make people sicker, we do not think it is the case, but we do not know and it might if it looks very different to our immune system have the ability to sidestep the immunity we have all now god by having vaccinations and even boosters. let us hope not, but thatis even boosters. let us hope not, but that is the worry. i even boosters. let us hope not, but that is the worry.— that is the worry. i have been readin: that is the worry. i have been reading that _ that is the worry. i have been reading that once _ that is the worry. i have been reading that once a _ that is the worry. i have been reading that once a viruslikel reading that once a viruslike coronavirus achieves china —— genetic diversity we are in trouble. is that where we are at with more than 30 mutations?— is that where we are at with more than 30 mutations? well, really it is not a question _ than 30 mutations? well, really it is not a question of— than 30 mutations? well, really it is not a question of how _ than 30 mutations? well, really it is not a question of how many - is not a question of how many mutations, it does not take many mutations, it does not take many mutations to make something which is really very nasty, a flu pandemic can arise from a couple of mutations. i don't think it is just on the quantity, it is really the quality. the same could be said for our antibodies and this is the thing that will give people reassurance. the vaccinations we have all had, the level of antibodies we have all now got, thanks to those vaccinations and boosters, will probably give us protection against this new variant of coronavirus. it might not stop us catching it, but it will almost certainly stop us becoming severely unwell. personally i am reassured by the fact that we have found this, that the south african scientists have found it promptly and shared the data, very transparently with everyone. that is very important. we can move forward looking at this and discover whether or not this really does pose a big threat or like these other variants that have come along in the past, it is just a blind alley for the virus. we will then be at a much better position to know if the measures are proportionate or not and if they need to be maintained or we can scale them back because actually this is a bit of a damp squib and will not go anywhere. emit; this is a bit of a damp squib and will not go anywhere.— will not go anywhere. only time will tell. the prime _ will not go anywhere. only time will tell. the prime minister _ will not go anywhere. only time will tell. the prime minister also - will not go anywhere. only time will tell. the prime minister also spoke | tell. the prime minister also spoke about what a strong position we were in and he was acting in this way to protect the gains that had been made here. really, that is all for nothing if populations like those across africa and latin america are not vaccinated, because it allows the virus to mutate and evolve. i put it to you that actually most of the countries in europe are doing a pretty good job at the moment of allowing the virus to evolve and to evolve in the face of partially vaccinated populations, which is a big risk factor. it is like melinda gates and bill gates and the foundation that are put resources into making the vaccinations, they said if there is covid anywhere, it is everywhere. it does not actually matter where it is, it is a problem for everybody until it is controlled for everybody until it is controlled for everybody. we all agree now that we are not going to be able to get rid of this virus, it has become endemic, it will continue to circulate alongside us, indefinitely or at least for the foreseeable future and we have to make a plan, not so much about getting rid of it, but how we coexist alongside it and minimise and mitigate and moderate its most severe impact and that is what the vaccinations can do and thatis what the vaccinations can do and that is what we want to try and do for everybody, ultimately. we have “ust not for everybody, ultimately. we have just got some _ for everybody, ultimately. we have just got some breaking _ for everybody, ultimately. we have just got some breaking news - for everybody, ultimately. we have just got some breaking news here, | just got some breaking news here, doctor smith, that a hospital has confirmed its first checked case of the new covid strain. i have not got more detail. a hospital case has been confirmed, it is a case in the czech republic. it is confirming what you said, it is everywhere, inevitable. let us talk about the vaccinations themselves, how quickly is it for new vaccinations, modifications to be made to respond to this new variant? i modifications to be made to respond to this new variant?— to this new variant? i think the aood to this new variant? i think the good news _ to this new variant? i think the good news about _ to this new variant? i think the good news about the _ to this new variant? i think the good news about the suite - to this new variant? i think the good news about the suite of. good news about the suite of vaccinations that we are using to combat the coronavirus is that they are built on what we call very agile technology. they are relatively easy to update, because of the way that they are made. that is not the big problem, making the vaccinations is actually relatively easy, making them a massive scale and then deploying them at massive scale and you alluded to this point earlier with regards to the fact that if we look at third world countries, about 3% of many third world countries have actually got vaccinations and the people so far, despite the fact that half the world population have had at least one dose, you can see the disparity. the problem is not one of making the technology were, we can do that, it is more making the technology at the scale to protect 8,000,000,000 people around the world and that is a bigger challenge. the world and that is a bigger challenge-— the world and that is a bigger challenue. ., , ,, ., ~ challenge. doctor chris smith, thank ou. it is a challenge. doctor chris smith, thank you. it is a pleasure. _ as part of the new restrictions outlined today, four more countries have been added to the government's red travel list, meaning all arrivals into the uk, will have to quarantine in a hotel, for 10 days. angola, malawi, mozambique and zambia are the countries affected, bringing the total to 10 — now on the red list. our business correspondent caroline davies explains what we know so far when it comes to travel. it is still relatively small levels of tightening, by comparison to what we have seen, itjust even over the course of the last few months. things were really loosening up, the travel industry really felt like they had been able to get off the ground again. people were starting to book, notjust for this winter, but also for next year as well and the real concern is that if people start seeing things going in the opposite direction, they might lose some of that confidence as well and of course plenty of people will have booked to go away during the christmas holidays, may be people who have not seen family in other countries for a long time, will be hoping to be able to do their trips, be able to go and see family, reunite with family and friends and at this stage it is still relatively limited, but to go through what we do know so far on these limitations, as you say, the red list has now got ten countries on and from 4am tomorrow morning, anyone who is arriving from, who has been in any of those countries for the course of the last ten days or at any point in ten days will have to stay in a quarantine hotel, they will have to pay for that. it is only uk and irish citizens who can come into the country, who have been in these ten countries and those are new additions, angola, mozambique, malawi and zambia, but we also have south africa, lesotho, eswatini, botswana, zimbabwe and namibia which are already on the list as well and anyone who is not a uk or irish citizen will not be able to come into the uk if they have been in any of those countries in the course of the last ten days. pcr testing is also coming back. that only went at the end of october. i think it was the 24th of 0ctoberfor england, the 31st for scotland, wales and northern ireland, so a relatively recent change, moving away from pcr testing to the cheaper lateral flow testing. of course, the advantage of pcr testing is that you can sequence the results of those pcr tests and that means you can identify the variant. that was seen as no longer necessary when it was removed at the end of last month, because these tests were considered to be too expensive and of course there was no variant of concern at that point and now that there is, this has been reintroduced. the other thing to bear in mind is that if you do travel and take one of these pcr tests and you have to self isolate until you get a negative result. you cannot take it and then go about your business, you have to wait until you get your results back. the government's latest coronavirus figures show there were 39,567 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that's mostly the delta variant. there were nearly 44,000 new cases reported per day, in the last week. 131 deaths were recorded, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. on average in the past week, 123 covid—related deaths were recorded every day. 0n vaccinations, more than 17 million people have now had, a booster. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are the broadcasterjo phillips — and nigel nelson — political editor of the sunday mirror and the people. three people have died — as storm arwen hit parts of the uk — bringing high winds, rain and snow. there's been damage across scotland, northern england, the midlands and wales — with winds of nearly 100 miles an hour — leaving more than a 100,000 homes without power. there are more weather warnings across the uk, for this evening. here's andy gill. storm arwen has left much of the country facing disruption and damage. there have been some near misses, road and rail travel has been badly affected and tens of thousands of homes left without power. the storm brought picture postcard scenery to the north yorkshire village, but it is also disrupting life especially for the vulnerable. patricia is 86 and lives alone and has difficulty walking. her power has been off since half past ten last night. it is her power has been off since half past ten last night.— past ten last night. it is cold, very cold- — past ten last night. it is cold, very cold. now— past ten last night. it is cold, very cold. now i _ past ten last night. it is cold, very cold. now i have - past ten last night. it is cold, very cold. nowl have got, i past ten last night. it is cold, - very cold. nowl have got, someone very cold. now i have got, someone brought me a hot water bottle for my knees. i have got two jumpers on. winds of more than 90mph battered the north—east coast of scotland. trains were cancelled across the uk. it is a fluid situation, we will try and keep— it is a fluid situation, we will try and keep people moving if we can but in many— and keep people moving if we can but in many parts of the country, we are encouraging — in many parts of the country, we are encouraging people not to travel and certainly _ encouraging people not to travel and certainly the cheque on the websites, on the apps and information before they set off. on one information before they set off. one train in information before they set off. on one train in the north of scotland, passengers were stranded overnight. i got on the train at elgin at three odock— i got on the train at elgin at three o'clock yesterday— i got on the train at elgin at three o'clock yesterday afternoon. - i got on the train at elgin at three. o'clock yesterday afternoon. about five o'clock. — o'clock yesterday afternoon. about five o'clock. we _ o'clock yesterday afternoon. about five o'clock, we got— o'clock yesterday afternoon. about five o'clock, we got stuck- o'clock yesterday afternoon. about five o'clock, we got stuck and - o'clock yesterday afternoon. about five o'clock, we got stuck and stay| five o'clock, we got stuck and stay there _ five o'clock, we got stuck and stay there for— five o'clock, we got stuck and stay there for 17 — five o'clock, we got stuck and stay there for 17 hours. _ five o'clock, we got stuck and stay there for 17 hours. on _ five o'clock, we got stuck and stay there for 17 hours.— there for 17 hours. on a farm in north wales. — there for 17 hours. on a farm in north wales, a _ there for 17 hours. on a farm in north wales, a shed _ there for 17 hours. on a farm in north wales, a shed roof- there for 17 hours. on a farm in north wales, a shed roof blew| there for 17 hours. on a farm in i north wales, a shed roof blew off damaging cars. the met office has issued a yellow warning for icy conditions on sunday across much of scotland, northern england and the midlands. ady gil, bbc news, north yorkshire. as officials in france work to identify the 27 people, who died in the channel this week when their small boat capsized, the bbc has been hearing from the family and friends of one of victims. maryam nuri mohamed amin was a 24 year old kurdish woman, from northern iraq. she was trying to reach the uk, to be with her partner. lucy williamson has more details. she left to start a new life with her fiance. she left to start a new life with herfiance. video she left to start a new life with her fiance. video from she left to start a new life with herfiance. video from her engagement party less than a year ago still stored on her relatives phones. maryam nuri mohamed amin tried several times to get a visa to join her partner in the uk, before deciding to surprise him by trying to get there another way. she was messaging him when the vote began to lose air. in northern iraq, the anger of the family showed through their grief. her mother and sister, inconsolable. translation: going to britain is very difficult, she tried to get to britain legally twice. she very difficult, she tried to get to britain legally twice.— very difficult, she tried to get to britain legally twice. she went to the british embassy _ britain legally twice. she went to the british embassy but - britain legally twice. she went to the british embassy but the - britain legally twice. she went to i the british embassy but the process was delayed. she was forced to go the way she did. her was delayed. she was forced to go the way she did.— the way she did. her friend left to absorb the _ the way she did. her friend left to absorb the news _ the way she did. her friend left to absorb the news of _ the way she did. her friend left to absorb the news of her _ the way she did. her friend left to absorb the news of her death. - the way she did. her friend left to | absorb the news of her death. her humanity was so good, always advising — humanity was so good, always advising me and she was like someone i advising me and she was like someone i looked _ advising me and she was like someone hooked up _ advising me and she was like someone i looked up to for advice. no one should _ i looked up to for advice. no one should try— i looked up to for advice. no one should try this. no one. no one deserves— should try this. no one. no one deserves to die in this way. with this disaster, _ deserves to die in this way. with this disaster, it _ deserves to die in this way. with this disaster, it has _ deserves to die in this way. tn this disaster, it has changed little in the minds of people living in migrant camps here. they are waiting for the right weather conditions to make the same journey, take the same risks. there has been a lot of finger pointing across the channel over who is to blame for the growing crisis. european interior ministers are due to meet tomorrow to discuss the problem, but the british home secretary has been dis— invited, in the middle of a diplomatic feud between the prime minister, boris johnson, and the french president, emmanuel macron. investigations have begun to identify the other victims, but questions are also being asked about why help never arrived and more broadly, ahead of the meeting tomorrow, why after all the diplomacy, all the deterrence, lives are still being risked and lost in a narrow stretch of c. lucy williamson, bbc news, calais. police hunting the killer of 12—year—old ava white say they want a van driver who may have witnessed something �*vital�* to come forward. the silver �*enterprise' van was in central liverpool on thursday evening. merseyside police say the occupants of the vehicle are in no way suspected of involvement in the schoolgirl�*s death — and they continue to question four boys, arrested on suspicion of murder. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. .. hello, storm arwen has been battering a large swathe of the uk and the area of low pressure responsible is now beginning to pull away south and east with pressure building from the west. what that means is through this evening and overnight the strongest winds will ease down but gusts of up to 60mph for some eastern and western coast. a mix of brain sleet and snow becoming confined to east and south—east england, showers in wales, devon and cornwall, rain and sleet and snow in north—west scotland and northern ireland later. in between, clear skies and widespread forest and the risk of ice as well. ice risks remain tomorrow morning and an area of rain and sleet and snow pushing through scotland, northern ireland into the north of england and the midlands and behind the head of it, some sunshine but for wintry showers continuing along some eastern coasts and some gusty winds but crucially the winds tomorrow will be much lighter than they have been today, but if you are cold and exposed to the wind, temperature is at best three or 4 . the wind, temperature is at best three or 4. goodbye. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the government announces new restrictions to be introduced next week — as 2 cases of omicron — a new variant of covid—19 — are discovered in the uk. people in england will now once again have to wear face masks on public transport and in shops. all contacts of suspected omicron cases must self—isolate for 10 days — regardless of their vaccination status. mrjohnson also announced that people entering the country would have to take a pcr test and self—isolate until they get a negative result. the government also said it's considering, how it can expand the coronavirus booster campaign. three people have died as storm arwen hits the uk, with winds, of up to 100 miles an hour. also today — the former england cricket captain, michael vaughan, tells the bbc he�*s �*sorry for all the hurt�* azeem rafiq went through during the yorkshire racism scandal now on bbc news, it�*s time for political thinking with nick robinson.