series we can be sure of. patrick gearey, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. we saw a page of storm barra earlier, how bad will it be? —— we saw a bit of thankfully not as bad as storm arwen, but conditions deteriorate, as we have seen in blackpool. forsome deteriorate, as we have seen in blackpool. for some we could see snow and even pollutants on the hills. let me show you the satellite imagery of storm barra, this massive hook of cloud is quite impressive from space but it is the tell—tale sign of a potent storm, bringing some of the worst conditions into the south—west of ireland. the northern portion of the irish sea into eastern scotland could have impact. widespread gales developing through the rest of today, it extends into the north—east of scotland later. we could see some snow, the north pennines across the hills of scotland looking miserable on the 7a and the upper reaches. —— on the 7a and the upper reaches. —— on the 7a and the upper reaches. —— on the m74. there on the 74 and the upper reaches. —— on the m74. there is rain too, heavy rain pushes eastwards at the moment, before it clears the rain could turn quite intense, showers continue in northern ireland with the gusty winds. this evening and overnight there is the centre of storm barra, touching slowly eastwards, heavy rain in the far north of scotland but elsewhere rain will come and go through the night, feeling wintry in places but imports of certain scotland and northern england where the winds are lightest, if it is dry and clear for the winds are lightest, if it is dry and clearfor a time the winds are lightest, if it is dry and clear for a time that could be a touch of frost and semites. storm barra is starting to weaken, it has almost ground to a halt in the uk, around the edges we will see the strongest winds tomorrow but to ireland, into parts of south—west wales and the channel islands particularly, blustery in the far north of scotland too but lighter wins, a brighter day, a mixture of sunshine and showers, even longer spells of brain across parts of wales and northern ireland. showers a little wintry. into thursday, the area of low pressure, storm barra completely decays. there could be some frost and fog first thing, a dry and bright day for many but better weather into the west, turning milder and milder still this weekend. keep up to date on the bbc weather website and app. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are. good afternoon. you are watching bbc news. it's 1:33pm and here's your latest sports news. i'm olly foster with the latest from the bbc sport centre. the first ashes test gets under way at midnight. england have named their 12 man squad. the main headline is thatjames anderson isn't in it. their record test wicket taker will sit this one out. england say that he is fit and they expect him to play a big part in the series but they are managing his workload. i think with the build—up everyone has had, the guys just want to make sure everyone is perfect to go. jimmy is not going to play but he is fit. it's a very long series and we want a guy like that to be able to play as much a part in it as possible. i think it isjust a bit precautionary. he bowled well yesterday, he will bowl again today. he bowled a few spells in the warm up he bowled a few spells in the warm up game. he is fit and the guys are just being a bit precautionary. not too many other selection surprises. ollie pope gets the nod ahead ofjonny bairstow in the middle of the batting order. ben stokes is in the mix, but the all—rounder has played next to no cricket for the past five months. jack leach is the spin option. they will name the team just at the task. given the difficult build up to the series for both sides, it's a difficult one to call. here's the australian view. it's the match of the year. we weren't— it's the match of the year. we weren't entirely sure the series would — weren't entirely sure the series would take place and then the board of bingo— would take place and then the board of bingo games at the both teams needed _ of bingo games at the both teams needed to play to get into the countrx — needed to play to get into the country. whether england needed to do 14 days _ country. whether england needed to do 14 days of quarantine, that's a point _ do 14 days of quarantine, that's a point of— do 14 days of quarantine, that's a point of debate but that's behind them _ point of debate but that's behind them now and they can focus on the first test— them now and they can focus on the first test match against an australian team that on paper remains — australian team that on paper remains fairly vulnerable. they are getting _ remains fairly vulnerable. they are getting this team at a good time considering australia haven't played test cricket since january. the preparation has been odd. the test n1etch— preparation has been odd. the test match was— preparation has been odd. the test match was cancelled yesterday at perth, _ match was cancelled yesterday at perth, to — match was cancelled yesterday at perth, to be rescheduled, and now there _ perth, to be rescheduled, and now there is— perth, to be rescheduled, and now there is a _ perth, to be rescheduled, and now there is a bidding war on where weti— there is a bidding war on where we'll finish it. there has not been an ashes — we'll finish it. there has not been an ashes series in australia go the distance. _ an ashes series in australia go the distance, where it has been live to the fifth _ distance, where it has been live to the fifth test match, since 1982, the fifth test match, since1982, 83, the fifth test match, since1982, 83. and — the fifth test match, since1982, 83. and i— the fifth test match, since1982, 83, and i hope that it might make for a _ 83, and i hope that it might make for a volatile, interesting series that goes— for a volatile, interesting series that goes all the way to the death. we should — that goes all the way to the death. we should be so lucky. we that goes all the way to the death. we should be so lucky.— that goes all the way to the death. we should be so lucky. we will see. bau we should be so lucky. we will see. ball by ball — we should be so lucky. we will see. ball by ball commentary _ we should be so lucky. we will see. ball by ball commentary on - we should be so lucky. we will see. ball by ball commentary on test - ball by ball commentary on test match special. midnight is when the first ball is due to be delivered. the borussia dortmund and england midfielderjude bellinghnam has been fined 40,000 euros, around £34,000 for his comments about the referee following their defeat to bayern munich in the bundesliga over the weekend. the 18—year—old criticised felix zwayer�*s performance and referenced his six month ban for a matchfixing scandal in 2005. the german fa found bellingham guilty of unsportsmanlike behaviour for questioning the official�*s impartiality. tottenham are dealing with a coronavirus outbreak at the club. a number of players and coaching staff have been affected. spurs had a full squad available for their win over norwich on sunday but have since returned a number of positive tests. they have a must win game in the europa conference league on thursday against rennes. they will have to fulfil the fixture unless they have fewer than 13 players available or no registered goalkeeper. the match at brighton on sunday could also be affected. rugby union. scarlets have forefited their opening european champions cup match at bristol bears on saturday because the majority of their squad are still in a quarantine hotel in belfast. they don't get out until friday. they were one of the four sides stranded in south africa last week when travel restrictions were tightened, meaning they had to isolate for ten days on their return to the uk. they say they can't safely field a matchday squad. bristol have been awarded the match 28—0. england's simon middleton has become the first women's team coach to win world rugby�*s coach of the year award. he beat the all blacks' ian foster and australia's dave rennie to the honour. under his leadership, the red roses have gone 18 games unbeaten, and this year they completed a clean—sweep in the autumn nations series, as well as lifting the six nations title for the third time in a row. you can read more you can read more on you can read more on that on the bbc sport website. a lot of football tonight in the champions league. manchester city and liverpool both in action. i will be here throughout the rest of the afternoon. see you then. we look forward to that. thank you very much. jails in england and wales are to be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs, and for testing prisoners. the government's strategy for the future of prisons includes improving drug detection, and measuring how well governors do at reforming inmates. on a visit to belmarsh prison this morning, the prime minister gave a wide ranging interview but was first asked about investing more in prison services. yes, we are putting more money into the prison service generally, so we are building another 20,000 prison places because the sad truth is if you are going to fight crime in the way that we are and that we want to, you've got to recognise that tough policing is great, you've got to have all the diversions for the kids, apprentices, job opportunities, all that kind of thing, but in the end, when that fails, you have to have prison as part of the solution. but when young people, and it is almost invariably young men, end up in prison, that cannot be a dead—end for them and we want to stop the drugs coming in, so we are putting in a lot of money for scanners, but we also want them to come out with more qualifications and more self esteem about their chances in the future. so basic english and maths and opportunities to learn things, as you saw, like painting and decorating and other skills that they can use so that they have a passport for... ..for their skills when they get out... ..out of prison. at the moment, recidivism is running at 70% but for the protection of the public, to make our streets safer, we've got to get those numbers down, make sure that people get out of prison and get into jobs. there are more details in today's times about the event last december in downing street. the newspapers say that there were invites issued, there was a secret santa, christmas jumpers. is it your position that that was not a party? all i can tell you is that all the guidelines were observed, continue to be observed, and i can also tell you we are getting on with the job, as we have been throughout, of dealing with the priorities of the people, particularly fighting crime. so was it a party where the guidelines were followed or was it not a party? i can tell you that the guidelines were followed at all times. did you investigate that yourself? are you satisfied yourself? i am satisfied myself that the guidelines were followed at all times and what i can also tell you is that we are focusing on the issues that matter to...me, above all, and that is fighting crime and i believe those are the things that matter also to the british public. so it is not good enoughjust to round up the drugs gangs, to roll up county lines and do the things that we are doing. that is great, you've got to have tough policing, but when kids end up in prison, that can't bejust a dead—end for them. we can't be recycling young men endlessly in and out of the criminaljustice system, so that is why we are also investing in stopping the drugs getting into prison, offering them alternatives. prisoners in this particular institution, when they first come in, don't like it so much because they don't have the access to the drugs that they find in other prisons. actually, that's a good thing, because what they are finding is that they have more of a focus on some of the things that can really turn their lives around. the foreign affairs select committee has been hearing from an official who says the response to the situation in kabul was chaotic and has suggested that you yourself intervened to try and get the animals out and they got priority over some afghan people. did you intervene in that way? no, that is complete nonsense. but what i can tell you is that i think that the operation to airlift 15,000 people out of kabul in the way that we did over the summer was one of the outstanding military achievements of the last 50 years or more and i think that the role of the foreign office, the role of the border force, everybody involved in it, the home office officials, they did an absolutely outstanding job processing very, very difficult, very complex claims incredibly, incredibly quickly. and of course, sometimes decisions took hours longer than we wanted to but, you know, you have to be careful about how you do it. it was still an astonishing thing to get 15,000 people airlifted out of kabul in pretty harrowing circumstances and, of course, as you know, we continue to have the afghan resettlement scheme to help people to whom we owe obligations and who may be leaving afghanistan in fear of their lives. there are still people, particularly in the north of england, without power after the la storm as the next one is blowing in, is that acceptable?— one is blowing in, is that accetable? ., ., �* ,, , acceptable? no, i don't think it is. ithink acceptable? no, i don't think it is. i think too — acceptable? no, i don't think it is. i think too many _ acceptable? no, i don't think it is. i think too many people _ acceptable? no, i don't think it is. i think too many people have - acceptable? no, i don't think it is. | i think too many people have spent too long without power and i have spoken over the last few days to some of the people involved, particularly to the authorities at northern power grid who explain some of the massive technical difficulties they have had in dealing with the effects of storm arwen, a very fast high wind that throws a lot of their equipment, also was explained to me. that is no consolation to thousands of people who have been without power. at the moment, we have restored power, they restore power, to 99.9% of those who were without power but what is clear is that there are still hundreds more who don't have it. i think that we need to learn lessons for the future and make sure that we have better resilience against storms of this kind. we haven't seen a storm as violent as storm arwen for a long time. it is likely to happen again and we have to make sure we protect people against it. and we have to make sure we protect peeple against it— people against it. some people have su: rested people against it. some people have suggested that _ people against it. some people have suggested that the _ people against it. some people have suggested that the booster - people against it. some people have i suggested that the booster programme isn't winning as quickly as it should be, that it is stalling, are you happy that it is going as fast as it could be? the you happy that it is going as fast as it could be?— as it could be? the booster programme _ as it could be? the booster programme is _ as it could be? the booster programme is the - as it could be? the booster programme is the fastest l as it could be? the booster| programme is the fastest in as it could be? the booster - programme is the fastest in europe and i think we have done more boosters than any unbearable country. that doesn't mean it couldn't go faster. we are ahead of our own timetable. we have done more than 20 million boosters. i think we have done three quarters of the people aged over 65, a huge number of people have already been done. but, yes, do i want people to come forward and get their booster? absolutely, i do. forward and get their booster? absolutely, ido. i forward and get their booster? absolutely, i do. iwould forward and get their booster? absolutely, i do. i would certainly say to people that now is the time to get it and, of course, from monday, we will be contracting the intervals so you go down to three months and that will lead to a big uptick in the programme as well. borisjohnson there. the prime minister has been defending the evacuation of kabul. the labour leader sir keir starmer says afg han's left in the country have been let down by the british government. this is devastating testimony that lays bare the shambolic incompetence of the government. thousands of afghans who we owed a duty, they stood with us, we owe them a duty of protection and they have been let down and left to their fate. i think it is shocking that we are all now learning that e—mails and letters that we sent in to the foreign office, including from my office, where open but haven't been actioned, and it is a total failure of political leadership with an ex foreign secretary was busy on the beach instead of doing hisjob. fine beach instead of doing his 'ob. one ofthe beach instead of doing his 'ob. one of the claims * beach instead of doing hisjob. one of the claims was there was a prioritisation instructed from the prime minister to ensure that pen farthing's animals and staff were able to get out which meant others couldn't. taste able to get out which meant others couldn't. ~ ., ., couldn't. we need to get to the bottom of— couldn't. we need to get to the bottom of that. _ couldn't. we need to get to the bottom of that. to _ couldn't. we need to get to the bottom of that. to prioritise - bottom of that. to prioritise animals over people who are still left there, people who all of us have been pushing the phone office to get out are still there. what i want to see is acknowledgement by the government, the scale of their value, and a plan now to help those people. they are still trapped in afghanistan. we know nothing about the numbers. we know nothing about the numbers. we know nothing about the contact the government has had with them. that duty of protection is still there and we should take that very, very seriously. should dominic raab _ that very, very seriously. should dominic raab still— that very, very seriously. should dominic raab still be _ that very, very seriously. should dominic raab still be in - that very, very seriously. should - dominic raab still be in government? i think he should have resigned at the time. that would have been the decent, honourable thing to do. to be on a beach when this took political planning, and there was plenty of time to plan for this. the agreement that led to the withdrawal of the americans were signed 18 months before this. one thing we knew from when that deal was signed was there were those afghans who had helped us are needed to be protected and needed to be brought out and they were not, there was no plan, it was a failure of political leadership.— was a failure of political leadershi -. , , ., , , leadership. on this christmas party that was in downing _ leadership. on this christmas party that was in downing street - leadership. on this christmas party that was in downing street last - that was in downing street last year, the times reporting that there was a secret santa which implies the whole thing was planned in advance. should the met be involved in investigating what happened? i should the met be involved in investigating what happened? i think what should happen _ investigating what happened? i think what should happen now— investigating what happened? i think what should happen now is _ investigating what happened? i think what should happen now is at - investigating what happened? iiii�*u “ia; what should happen now is at the prime minister should be honest. police investigating, standard investigating, they know that party took place, they know happen, have the guts to be honest about it. no more of these games about "we were following the rules coco day" should be honest. own up. very many people are very upset by this because while all the rest of the country were in lockdown not seen love dance, people who lost people in those times, no there was a booze up at downing street and even now the prime can't just be honest. be honest, own up, we don't need a criminal investigation, we need a prime minister who is honest about it. ads, minister who is honest about it. a quick question about the booster programme. is it, in yourview, moving fast enough? ho. programme. is it, in your view, moving fast enough?— programme. is it, in your view, moving fast enough? no. we need to boost the booster _ moving fast enough? no. we need to boost the booster programme. - moving fast enough? no. we need to boost the booster programme. a - boost the booster programme. a number of weeks ago, we said we should move to at least 500,000 a day. as i understand it, the figures this week are lower than last week. we are in a race now between this booster regime and the new variant, so the government should have acted weeks ago. it absolutely now needs to wrap this up and ramp it up immediately. 5ir to wrap this up and ramp it up immediately.— immediately. sir keir starmer talkin: to immediately. sir keir starmer talking to chris _ immediately. sir keir starmer talking to chris mason - immediately. sir keir starmer talking to chris mason there. | let's take a look now at what's making the news across the uk. high winds and snow have started to batter scotland with the arrival of storm barra. met office warnings for snow and wind covering most of the country are now in place until midnight. many ferry services have been cancelled and scotrail is advising to check ahead before travelling. our scotland correspondent james shawjoins me now from abington, south lanarkshire. it looks pretty miserable there. how bad is it looks pretty miserable there. how badisit? it looks pretty miserable there. how bad is it? , . , it looks pretty miserable there. how bad is it? , it looks pretty miserable there. how badisit? , bad is it? yes, as you can probably see, the conditions _ bad is it? yes, as you can probably see, the conditions are _ bad is it? yes, as you can probably see, the conditions are not - bad is it? yes, as you can probably see, the conditions are not great l see, the conditions are not great here. we are on high ground just along the m74 motorway, that is the main west coast route between glasgow and carlisle and points south. we are high up here so we are getting quite a lot of wind. there has been a fair amount of snow. it has been a fair amount of snow. it has slightly eased off at the moment and it is a little bit slushy underfoot which may be a good sign that things are not going to get worse later on. as you can see, the traffic is actually moving fairly freely at the moment, it is not affecting the carriageways. the snow is not settling on the road or drifting which would be the real danger in these areas which are a little bit higher up in the hills. if the snow continues, if the wind continues and there is drifting, then that could cause big problems later on. that, ithink, will be then that could cause big problems later on. that, i think, will be the main concern of this yellow warning for snow and wind. that warning last until midnight tonight and it is affecting some of the areas in scotland that were hit by storm arwen last week. some of them only got their electricity back at the end of the weekend after more than seven days without power. the hope is that here and in other places in scotland, particularly in the north—east of the country, that this storm is not going to have as much of an impact as storm arwen did last week. mil of an impact as storm arwen did last week. �* g ., , of an impact as storm arwen did last week. . g. , ., ,, i. week. all right, james, thank you very much — week. all right, james, thank you very much indeed. _ meanwhile, many households are only just getting back to normal — 11 days after storm arwen. that brought down trees and led to over a hundred thousand properties losing power — particularly in cumbria and parts of lancashire. mairead smyth has been in wray castle near windermere this morning. yes, the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for later today. some bad weather is expected on the back of storm barra. not as bad as storm arwen, the damage that was caused last week, knocking off electricity and bringing down thousands of trees where i am now up in cumbria. i'm joined now byjohn moffitt who is from the national trust. we are here today to assess the damage. we can see right away one of the trees that has come down. tell me about this one. this was actually a british irish champion tree. it is quite a rare variety of beech and it was the biggest one we had in the country in terms of its girth, and it came down on the friday night, saturday morning. today we are going to find outjust a bit more about the damage that has been caused. why was it so significant? it seems that the problem we had was the wind direction. we are used to westerly winds in cumbria and the lakes and this one came from a complete opposite so it caught the trees from the north—east direction and everywhere you go when you are driving round, you will see them all falling to the south. that is one of the things we will be working to understand a little bit more, whether simply they were weaker from this direction and is that something we need to change in the future. well, we are going to find out a lot more about that with you this afternoon. you can watch more on that at 6:30pm but those yellow warnings are in place for the north west. back to you. thank you very much indeed. a pair of giant pandas will remain at edinburgh zoo for at least two more years. yang guang and tian tian arrived in december 2011 as part of a ten year deal with the china wildlife conservation association. the aim was to breed them but despite repeated attempts no cubs were born and no further attempts will be made. the pandas were due to be returned to china at the end of the agreement but the covid pandemic has delayed those plans. a lot of people haven't been able to come and see the pandas during the last couple of years, and also it's not the right time to be sending them back to china because our teams can't travel with them and the travel arrangements are just slightly more difficult. so the best solution for everybody, and especially tian tian and yang guang, is for them to stay here for another couple of years. it's that time of year when people are putting the christmas lights up outside their house. but can you compete with this road in lowestoft where every single home hasjoined in? and the address? christmas lane, lowestoft, from where mike liggins reports. in most streets, you get one house which is lit up at this time of year. sometimes there might be two or three, but in christmas lane, lowestoft, there are now 22 houses with fairy lights. denise breton is the christmas coordinator here and she is more excited than ever before. this year, more people havejoined in. we've got every single house on christmas lane, everybody. and it's also gone round the corner, up the road, down the road. and it's just so exciting. graham and angela have a new, improved light—up crib this year. a few doors down, richard and sarah always put on a good show. across the road, kim and rob have been busy, as you can see, while paul and susan have a new snowfall effect. but this is more than just christmas lights. it's about community. it's great, actually, because it does get everybody together. i think we've got every house lit up this year. and people help each other out. yes. we're all getting a bit older and don't like climbing ladders. so, yes, we do help each other and help where we can. the festive fun is now spreading. residents in noel road are now getting the idea too. cars slow down to take a look and some stop and take a moment to enjoy the lights. this is five—year—old florence with grandma and grandpa. and who's coming to see you on christmas eve? sa nta. how excited are you? he's coming round my house. he's coming around your house. yes. good. i hope so. it's addictive, really. you can't help it. sitting in your own house and not really looking at them, so it's for everybody else really, but this year i feel more than ever we've come together, even bigger and even better. this year christmas lane is also raising money for east anglia's children's hospices. we think this might be the most festive street in east anglia. unless you know different. mike liggins, bbc look east, lowestoft. hello. a pretty unpleasant second half of the day out there for many of you, quite stormy in places too. storm barra is with us. not only we've got an area of heavy rain sweeping its way northwards and eastwards, but gales now developing quite widely and, for a time, there is going to be some snow on the hills across the north. let's deal with the winds, first of all, because the strongest remains around the irish sea coasts, but across the rest of the country, particularly across wales, england, southern scotland, we'll see widespread gales, and then into the end of the day, those winds will strengthen in the northeast of scotland, too. this is how barra looked on the satellite imagery from earlier. you can see the swirl. it's around the hook where we saw the strongest of the winds, particularly across parts of south west ireland. on the forward edge of it, it is running into cold air and, through the rest of today, the north pennines into the hills of scotland, we could see not only a covering of snow, but a fair few centimetres for one or two, and that blowing around in strong winds too. the rest of the country, though, for the remainder of today, heavy rain pushing its way eastwards across the eastern half of england. before it clears, there'll be a short burst of intense rain, then clearer skies and a mixture of clear spells and showers to take us into evening across the west. it remains windy, mildest across the south west, cold in the wind to the north and the east. so as you go through tonight, the snow continues to fall across the grampians, rain piling in the north—east of scotland, showers revolving around the centre of storm barra throughout the night. it is going to stay windy, particular across some southern and western areas. and in clear skies between the showers, temperatures could temporarily dip low enough for a touch of frost and ice. so this is the chart for wednesday. storm barra is with us. it's very slow—moving now. it's starting to weaken, but it's around the edges where we'll see the strongest of the winds. so gales from the north—west of ireland down towards the south west and through the english channel and also across orkney and shetland. in between, winds probably lighter than will finish on tuesday. mixture of sunshine and showers, some longer spells of rain across parts of ireland and into parts of wales, wintry over the hills, and it will be a cold day out there. storm barra continues just to fizzle off in situ across us as we head through into thursday. it will mean it's going to be a cold start on thursday with the return to some frost, some patchy fog as well. for most, though, it will be a dry day. some spells of sunshine, best in the east, clouding over into the west later in the day with outbreaks of rain developing. and it will feel a touch milder out there, milder still as you go through towards next week. this is bbc news, i'm tim willcox. the headlines at two: a foreign office whistle—blower says the government's evacuation operation in afghanistan was dysfunctional and chaotic. the foreign secretary at the time defends the handling of the crisis. the history of the speed of the taliban takeover is well known, but i think we did a very good job under very difficult conditions. the government admits a series of failings in the years leading up to the grenfell tower disaster, and says it's deeply sorry. from today, people arriving in the uk must show evidence of a negative covid test taken within 48 hours of starting their journey. after storm arwen, now it's storm barra that's battering parts of the uk with high winds and heavy rainfall. your employment here is terminated, effective immediately.