let us know on twitter using the hashtag bbcyourquestions. as the virus continues to spread, business groups ask for more government help as customers cancel bookings. schools says they are prepared to switch to online learning if they have to next term — as more pupils stay at home because of covid. four children have died and five others are injured after falling from a bouncy castle that was blown into the air in australia. pulled away and pulled away with disdain. and, in the ashes, england under pressure as australia start well in the second test. think carefully before going to pubs and restaurants this christmas — and don't mix with people you don't have to. that was the message from the prime minister and england's chief medical officer, as covid cases soar. borisjohnson and professor chris whitty made the warnings as the uk recorded more than 78,000 new infections yesterday — the highest figure since the start of the pandemic. but the hospitality and entertainment industries are calling on the treasury for fresh financial support, with many businesses saying the advice is extremely worrying because they rely on revenue from the festive period to cover quieter spells in the new year. schools across the uk say they are prepared to switch to online learning if they have to next term, as more children stay at home because of covid. and the situation abroad, france is to introduce new restrictions on travellers from the uk. from saturday, only those with what's described as a "compelling" reason will be allowed into france, and travellers will have to isolate themselves for at least 48 hours on arrival. damian grammaticas reports. it's a programme that is ramping up. vaccination after vaccination. here, from soldiers in a cathedral, queues of people outside. 0rfrom a gp visiting an elderly patient at home. every booster given matters because the 0micron variant is surging. it will give you very good protection. already, it can be seen in the numbers. a record of a little over 78,000 cases yesterday. deaths remain relatively low. 115 on average every day over the past week. the booster programme reached almost half a million a day over the same period. england's chief medical officer says choose wisely who you mix with over christmas. i really think people should be prioritising those things that really matter to them. otherwise the risk of someone getting infected at something that doesn't really matter to them, and then not being able to do the things that do matter to them, obviously goes up. i don't think you don't need to be a doctor to think that. i think that's what most people are very sensibly calculating. that seems to be a sensible approach, personally. the government, however, is not shutting down venues. borisjohnson saw 100 of his own mps rebel against him this week over the new measures. bruised, he says he is not planning more. we are not cancelling events, we are not i closing hospitality, _ we are not cancelling people's parties or their ability to mix. what we are saying is, - think carefully before you go. what kind of an event is it? are you likely to meet - people who are vulnerable? are you going to meet loads - of people you haven't met before? and get a test. mrjohnson believes those measures, like covid passes for big gatherings, are enough for now. but from the top of the nhs in england, more caution. my advice would be if you are going to go to a stadium at the weekend, make it one where you can get your vaccine, or help out to give a vaccine, rather than going to watch a match. to that point, if you are a role model in society, please get your vaccine, because it is dependent on all of us to show the way right now, and to make decisions that help to protect society. the reason for the caution, no one knows yet how the surge will impact the nhs. but the worst case scenario is of even more pressure than it saw last winter. damian grammaticas, bbc news. let's go straight to westminster where we can speak to our chief political correspondent adam fleming. adam, there were subtly different messages on how we should behave over the christmas period from the prime minister and the chief medical officer of england. yes. prime minister and the chief medical officer of england.— officer of england. yes, the overall messa . e officer of england. yes, the overall message is — officer of england. yes, the overall message is it _ officer of england. yes, the overall message is it is _ officer of england. yes, the overall message is it is up _ officer of england. yes, the overall message is it is up to _ officer of england. yes, the overall message is it is up to you - officer of england. yes, the overall message is it is up to you as - officer of england. yes, the overall message is it is up to you as an - message is it is up to you as an individual to manage your risk over the festive period, but then once you get beyond that level, you see slightly different messages from the scientist and the prime minister. check back whitty, the chief medical officer for check back whitty, the chief medical 0fficerfor england, says check back whitty, the chief medical officer for england, says you should prioritise the contacts that really matter to you —— my chris whitty. in other words, matter to you —— my chris whitty. in otherwords, do matter to you —— my chris whitty. in other words, do less, fewer christmas lunches, fewer trips to the pub, may be less christmas shopping and on the other hand, you get the prime minister saying here are the tools we are giving you, like lateral flow tests, to do those things safely, so there is a difference of emphasis once you drill down into what taking personal responsibility actually means. i think a theme that will develop throughout the day to day is increasing pressure on the government over financial support for businesses as a result because, when people are hearing that, they are stopping going out. uk trade hospitality, the trade body for the industry, say they expect december takings to be 40% down on average and that is a big blow at a big time of yearfor that and that is a big blow at a big time of year for that industry. also, i think they will be increasing personal pressure on the chancellor rishi sunak, who is currently on a business trip to california where he is talking to tech bosses and trying to drum up investment in the uk. i think labour will push for him to either come back or try and embarrass him for not being here at a crucial time. another thing that is developing this morning is the new restrictions on travel from the uk to france, that will be introduced from this weekend by the french government. we are still waiting for official confirmation on that from emmanuel macron but it does look like there will be new stricter testing requirements on people going from the uk to france, for example having to isolate for at least 48 hours when you get there and having to isolate for a week if you don't have a negative test, but, crucially, only being allowed into france if you are british if it is for an essential reason and we do not think essential reasons will include tourism, visiting family or business, although the british government, i'm told, has received an assurance that none of this will apply to hgv drivers, so supply chains across the channel will not be affected by these new measures. let's get more on that situation with the new french restrictions. as we were hearing their... france is introduce new restrictions on travellers from the uk, to slow the spread of the 0micron variant of covid. from saturday, only those with a "compelling" reason will be allowed into france, and travellers will have to isolate for at least 48 hours on arrival. hugh schofield, our paris correspondent. pretty tough restrictions but what is your understanding on what the french government is saying? there has now been _ french government is saying? there has now been a _ french government is saying? there has now been a document _ french government is saying? there has now been a document issued - french government is saying? in- has now been a document issued by the government, which i havejust had a chance to look at and it sets out in formal language what the spokesman was saying on telly about an hour before, which isjust what adam was saying, there are going to be much tighter restrictions from saturday, first thing saturday, midnight friday into saturday and they cover two things. one, restrictions on who can come into france and there is a long list, which we have seen before, of what constitutes an essential travel and nonessential travel. basically, constitutes an essential travel and nonessentialtravel. basically, if you are going just for fun, nonessentialtravel. basically, if you are going just forfun, to nonessentialtravel. basically, if you are going just for fun, to see the sites, you can't end not for work either, unless it is very compelling and if you are a french national, you can come, if you are resident in france, you can come but you will have to prove all of this with the authorities, you have to register on a website before you come over. so that is one side. the other side is then that the testing is being ramped up. you will have to have a test done within 24 hours, or less than 24 hours before you come. that can be a lateral flow test or a pcr test. and then, when you come, you will have to solve isolate at an address that you give to the authorities on this website but you can test yourself after 48 hours and, if you are negative, you are free to move about, so otherwise you will have to stay isolating for seven days. and it looks like the french are going to be quite strict about enforcing that quarantine because, in the past, they have often said it is a sort of voluntary quarantine, implying they won't really check up on you but that looks like they will check up on this one so a way a mirror on what is happening in britain, if you're going from britain to france, it is quite similar, you have to isolate for 48 hours and if you test negative, you can move so a big ramping up of the restrictions. find ramping up of the restrictions. and obviously a — ramping up of the restrictions. and obviously a big impact on british tourists who want to go to france over the christmas and new year period and also on the tourist trade, i guess, period and also on the tourist trade, iguess, because period and also on the tourist trade, i guess, because they must rely quite heavily on british tourists over that period? loads of eo - le, tourists over that period? loads of peeple. myself— tourists over that period? loads of people, myself included, - tourists over that period? loads of people, myself included, are - people, myself included, are affected by this, family who may or may not be able to come over and so on and everyone will be reading the small print about what constitutes an essential reason now to see if it applies to them or not. then there is the whole, yeah, the whole alpine skiing holiday season which is due to open. already, they were decimated last year and they will be worried about this, too. certainly as things stand, you will not be able to come and have your skiing holiday if that is what you are planning over the christmas period. whether or not a lot of those holidays have been booked, ijust don't know. you know, they were hopeful in the skiing resorts that things would pick up this year but they must be well aware there was a strong chance that, once again, things would stymie their hopes. whew, thank you very much, in powis. —— matthew schofield. professor andrew hayward of infectious disease epidemiology and inclusion health research at university college london laid out what yesterday's record—breaking case numbers means for the next few weeks. if you think about 75,000 positive tests yesterday, that's probably... only about half, or maybe even fewer people who do have covid ever get tested, so maybe that's about 150,000 people or more with the infection and we know that that's doubling approximately every two days, so, in two days' time, it would be 150,000. four days, 300,000. 600,000. 1.2 million, if it carries on doubling at that same rate, so you can see from that maths that this is an extraordinary number of cases on our way, because the strain is so highly transmissible and it escapes, certainly, immunity related to just the two doses, much better with three doses, so that's going to lead to a huge wave of infection and the way i think of it is like, really, if you think about getting a year's worth of rain over a month, then you are going to get flooding and potentially severe flooding, no matter how much you've shored up your defences and that's the concern here, that that huge wave is going to cause lots of people to be off work, having to isolate, which is going to cause disruption and it's also going to cause, it's going to spill over into people going into hospital. now, the rate at which it spills over is uncertain because we don't know exactly how severe it is yet, but we've no particular reason to think it's less severe than previous strains. we know that covid is always going to be less severe if you've been immunised, but it may be that, rather than the strain itself, that's making a lot of cases look less severe. let's speak to dr adrian boyle, a front line a&e specialist who is also the vice—president of the royal college of emergency medicine. thank you very much for being with us. how do you see the nhs being affected by this really sudden and huge upsurge in covid cases we have seenin huge upsurge in covid cases we have seen in the last few days and which is predicted to be staggering over the next few days?— the next few days? well, it is a hue the next few days? well, it is a huge concern — the next few days? well, it is a huge concern and _ the next few days? well, it is a huge concern and the - the next few days? well, it is a huge concern and the big - the next few days? well, it is a huge concern and the big worry the next few days? well, it is a . huge concern and the big worry for us is going to be around staffing. we are already hearing that hospitals are losing about 10% of their staff because people are having to isolate because either they have symptoms or they had a positive test. 50 they have symptoms or they had a positive test-— positive test. so what would you like to see _ positive test. so what would you like to see in _ positive test. so what would you like to see in terms _ positive test. so what would you like to see in terms of _ positive test. so what would you like to see in terms of extra - like to see in terms of extra resourcing to get the nhs through the next few days, weeks, months? so, i think we'll get slightly frustrated with the idea that you just sort of turn on a tab. staffing takes time, you know, even getting the lowest trained member of a hospital team a bit of time and we have always run our hospitals with not enough beds and not enough staff and, you know, chickens are coming home to roost. we have under invested pre—covid, we have run hospitals with very few beds and we will be in a real pickle over the next few weeks. find will be in a real pickle over the next few weeks.— will be in a real pickle over the next few weeks. and although this omicron variant, _ next few weeks. and although this omicron variant, many _ next few weeks. and although this omicron variant, many people - next few weeks. and although this omicron variant, many people are| 0micron variant, many people are saying from what we know so far, it is milder but if we are seeing staggering cases, asjenny harries was saying yesterday, don't you think the national health service is potentially going to be overwhelmed this winter? 50 i potentially going to be overwhelmed this winter? ~' potentially going to be overwhelmed this winter? ~ , ., , this winter? so i think it is really difficult to _ this winter? so i think it is really difficult to say _ this winter? so i think it is really difficult to say overwhelmed - difficult to say overwhelmed because, you know, i mean we hear overwhelmed, what is going to happen is everything is going to work slowly and grind to a bit more of a halt and what this is going to mean is that ambulances are going to take longer to get to people, when they get to hospital, they are going to take longer to off—load and then people will spend much longer in emergency wards. we have seen this trend throughout the pandemic. the nhs doesn't become overwhelmed, what happens is everything moves more slowly, everything takes longer and everything sort of feels like it grinds to a halt. find everything sort of feels like it grinds to a halt.— everything sort of feels like it grinds to a halt. and it grinds to a halt but particularly _ grinds to a halt. and it grinds to a halt but particularly for _ grinds to a halt. and it grinds to a halt but particularly for people - grinds to a halt. and it grinds to a l halt but particularly for people who have nonurgent procedure is that are waiting for, say a hip operation, someone who is in extreme pain, absolute agony but they are going to have to wait even longer for the hip operation. i have to wait even longer for the hip o eration. ~ ., ., ., , operation. i know and that is heartbreaking _ operation. i know and that is heartbreaking because - operation. i know and that is heartbreaking because you l operation. i know and that is - heartbreaking because you know people are gradually deteriorating. some people will become ill, some may get themselves to a stage where they develop complications, so if you have an example of a poor hip, someone will be taking tablets to try and control the pain and may develop a complication such as bleeding from the gutter, which can make a big difference. we also know that if people wait a long time for procedures like this, they are going to take longer to get over the other end —— might bleeding from the gut. we are all competing for a tiny pool of beds and, you know, the elective care is necessarily going to be derailed by this.— care is necessarily going to be derailed by this. adrian boyle, thank you _ derailed by this. adrian boyle, thank you very _ derailed by this. adrian boyle, thank you very much - derailed by this. adrian boyle, thank you very much for - derailed by this. adrian boyle, thank you very much for your i thank you very much for your insides, doctoradrian thank you very much for your insides, doctor adrian boyle, vice president of the royal college of emergency medicine. let's speak to our business presenter ben thompson, who's in the city of london. a lot of companies worried about the spread of not a lockdown but effectively a lockdown because so many are cancelling christmas plans, parties, lunches, going to the theatre and businesses really want to know, especially hospitality in the entertainment industry, if they are going to be getting any financial support.— are going to be getting any financial support. yes, you are absolutely _ financial support. yes, you are absolutely right _ financial support. yes, you are absolutely right and _ financial support. yes, you are absolutely right and just - financial support. yes, you are absolutely right and just as - absolutely right and just as business thought of the worst of the pandemic was behind it, as the economy started to gain momentum, businesses started to get back to businesses started to get back to business as usual, this latest variant of coronaviruses putting back some of that progress. a lot of businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector, that i have spoken to over the past 48 hours say that they are struggling with cancellations, people deciding to stay away ahead of christmas to try and protect their christmas plans, but, from a business point of view, that means it is very difficult to be able to order in the stock that they need. many of them will remember last year when they were left with unsold food and drink as people were told not to go to restaurants. this year, it has repeated itself without that official confirmation. at the same time, they are also worried about the number of staff that may find themselves isolating and unable to work. a number of restaurants i have spoken to say they are just not going to open, it is not worth doing it because there is so much unpredictability. and, for the economy, that comes at a time when the decision—makers here at the bank of england are deciding what they do next. today's the day when they will decide whether to raise interest rates, or the cost of borrowing, for all of us. the last time they met, the economic picture looked very different and they voted not to raise rates. seven members voted to keep them on hold, just two voting for a rise, so today is the day we expecting rates to go up and the economy to go to some sort of normality. what the bank is contending with its soaring inflation, we were told this week inflation, we were told this week inflation at more than 5%, more than double the bank of england's target. thejobs double the bank of england's target. the jobs market holding double the bank of england's target. thejobs market holding up pretty well partly as a result of the furlough scheme but, at the same time, they are trying to make sure the economy doesn't go too fast but nor does it move too slowly, they have that balancing act to play and interest rates are one of the tools they had to try and cool spending if it gets out of hand. so a lot of expectations are that the bank may today decide it is not the day to do it, given the arrival of 0mer chron and all of the concerns and uncertainty it will bring for the economy —— mac 0micron. what happens next, wejust don't economy —— mac 0micron. what happens next, we just don't know. the economy —— mac 0micron. what happens next, wejust don't know. the bank doesn't normally like to play christmas grinch by raising interest rates in the month of christmas that they may decide to hold off and put it back to january or february when there is a clearer picture emerging of what the latest variant means for the economic picture but, nonetheless, a lot of uncertainty for the bank to be contending with but we will get there interest rate decision at midday today. we but we will get there interest rate decision at midday today.- but we will get there interest rate decision at midday today. we will be with ou decision at midday today. we will be with you then _ decision at midday today. we will be with you then of— decision at midday today. we will be with you then of course _ decision at midday today. we will be with you then of course for- decision at midday today. we will be with you then of course for the - decision at midday today. we will be with you then of course for the key l with you then of course for the key interest rate decision later on. the race is on to get people vaccinated and boosters given as the 0micron variant sweeps across the country. yesterday, we were told more than 650,000 people received their boosters, a total of 27.4 million people have had their vaccine top up now. with me now is asif aziz, director of health care of boots uk. how is the programme going? the prime minister set this ambitious target of1 million a day and we are not quite there yet.— target of1 million a day and we are not quite there yet. good morning. like with many _ not quite there yet. good morning. like with many pharmacies, - not quite there yet. good morning. like with many pharmacies, at - not quite there yet. good morning. i like with many pharmacies, at boots, we are really proud to support the nhs when it comes to the booster programme. we have 100 stores all over the country supporting this programme and yesterday alone, we vaccinated over 11,000, the community boosted over 180,000, because of accessibility and convenience and we have been doing this for over a year now, we have vaccinated over 1.2 million in that time and, for some, we have been giving the flu vaccine to give added protection and our pharmacy teams have done a wonderfuljob up and down the country to protect communities. in down the country to protect communities.— down the country to protect communities. , ., , ., communities. in terms of stocks of vaccine, communities. in terms of stocks of vaccine. vou _ communities. in terms of stocks of vaccine, you have _ communities. in terms of stocks of vaccine, you have plentiful - vaccine, you have plentiful supplies, do you?- vaccine, you have plentiful supplies, do you? yes, we are workin: supplies, do you? yes, we are working with _ supplies, do you? yes, we are working with the _ supplies, do you? yes, we are working with the nhs, - supplies, do you? yes, we are working with the nhs, we - supplies, do you? yes, we are| working with the nhs, we have supplies, do you? yes, we are i working with the nhs, we have a supplies, do you? yes, we are - working with the nhs, we have a good supply of stock, no challenges there. �* ., i. there. and are you getting queueing, are --eole there. and are you getting queueing, are people booking _ there. and are you getting queueing, are people booking to _ there. and are you getting queueing, are people booking to your _ are people booking to your pharmacist to get their booster shots? , ., , , pharmacist to get their booster shots? , . , , , _ pharmacist to get their booster shots? , , , _ shots? yes, it has been busy, as we can all imagine. _ shots? yes, it has been busy, as we can all imagine, over— shots? yes, it has been busy, as we can all imagine, over the _ shots? yes, it has been busy, as we can all imagine, over the last - shots? yes, it has been busy, as we can all imagine, over the last few. can all imagine, over the last few days but we are really proud to say we have double capacity within our stores in the last week alone and we have done that by increasing the number of vaccination pods in our stores, also opening up at weekends and extended hours during the course of the day. we are working constantly with the nhs in dialogue with them more, and where they have local needs, we open up new facilities constantly.- local needs, we open up new facilities constantly. have you got an sare facilities constantly. have you got any spare capacity. _ facilities constantly. have you got any spare capacity, some - facilities constantly. have you got any spare capacity, some stores | facilities constantly. have you got. any spare capacity, some stores that are not being used for vaccinating that you could bring into this huge programme?— that you could bring into this huge rouramme? , ., , ., , programme? yes, we are constantly monitorin: programme? yes, we are constantly monitoring that — programme? yes, we are constantly monitoring that and _ programme? yes, we are constantly monitoring that and we _ programme? yes, we are constantly monitoring that and we are - programme? yes, we are constantly monitoring that and we are opening | monitoring that and we are opening up monitoring that and we are opening up appointments all the time but, as i said, as we get more and more demand, we are increasing the number of pods in our stores and creating further capacity and we are working with the nhs where they have more needs, constantly opening up new facilities. ~ ., needs, constantly opening up new facilities. ~ . ., , , , , needs, constantly opening up new facilities. ~ . ., , ,, , ., facilities. what about supplies of lateral flow _ facilities. what about supplies of lateral flow tests? _ facilities. what about supplies of lateral flow tests? we _ facilities. what about supplies of lateral flow tests? we know - facilities. what about supplies ofj lateral flow tests? we know they have sometimes been in short supply. i managed to get one yesterday, actually, but i know a lot of people have struggled, do you have supplies of those question mark yes, we are doing very well with them, we are proud to support the department of health on that. in proud to support the department of health on that.— health on that. in general, the su -l is health on that. in general, the supply is good- _ health on that. in general, the supply is good. there - health on that. in general, the supply is good. there were - health on that. in general, the| supply is good. there were one health on that. in general, the i supply is good. there were one or two pockets where supplies could be a challenge on that particular day, but our stores are able to order them everyday and we do get them the following day and the supply has increased, particularly this week in the pharmacy chain. find increased, particularly this week in the pharmacy chain.— increased, particularly this week in the pharmacy chain. and you think we will hit 1 million _ the pharmacy chain. and you think we will hit1 million a _ the pharmacy chain. and you think we will hit1 million a day _ the pharmacy chain. and you think we will hit1 million a day soon? - the pharmacy chain. and you think we will hit1 million a day soon? i - will hit1 million a day soon? i sure hope so. i think we just need the combined efforts. sure hope so. i think we 'ust need the combined efforts._ sure hope so. i think we 'ust need the combined efforts. really good to talk to ou the combined efforts. really good to talk to you and _ the combined efforts. really good to talk to you and good _ the combined efforts. really good to talk to you and good luck— the combined efforts. really good to talk to you and good luck with - the combined efforts. really good to talk to you and good luck with all - talk to you and good luck with all of your work. five children have died and five others are injured after falling from a bouncy castle that was blown more than 30 feet into the air in australia. police said two girls and two boys have died and others are in a critical condition following the incident, which took place during an end—of—year party in devonport, in tasmania. the australian prime minister, scott morrison, said it was "heart breaking". said it was "heartbreaking". the events that have occurred today in devonport, in tasmania, are just shattering. they are just unthinkably heartbreaking. and young children, on a fun day out together with their families and it turns to such horrific tragedy. at this time of year. itjust breaks your heart. migrants who cross the channel in small boats are facing very poor conditions at home office facilities in dover, according to inspectors and independent monitors. a report by the inspectorate of prisons says there are significant safeguarding concerns for children and vulnerable adults, despite government assurances that conditions would improve. our home editor mark easton reports. inspectors visited the tug haven arrival centre in dover in a quiet day in mid—october. what they discovered has prompted a call for urgent government action. 400 people, including babies and small children, held overnight in cold tents without sleeping facilities. some accommodated in unheated double—decker buses. inadequate care for two women who said they had been raped by smugglers and another woman who claimed to have been sold into domestic servitude. unaccompanied children placed with unrelated adults, prompting significant safeguarding concerns and migrants' injuries left untreated. the inspectors were told how one 16—year—old girl, picked up after a perilous channel crossing, remained in wet clothes for two days with undetected fuel burns on her legs and was now likely to be scarred for life. a previous inspection in september last year also revealed poor conditions at tug haven. at the time, the home office assured inspectors improvements would be made, with ministers blaming co—ordination problems with partner agencies. today, the chief inspector of prisons charlie taylor said, "this was not a sufficient explanation for why one year "later we still found people being held for even longer "in conditions that were so inadequate." responding, the home office said... that refers to controversial plans to use part of a ministry of defence space at manston in kent as a processing site for what they call "illegal migrants" from next month. ministers say it will be part of a system that is fair on those who play by the rules and firm on those who do not. polls are open in the north shropshire by—election. it comes after the resignation last month of 0wen paterson, who was found to have breached parliamentary rules on lobbying. he held the seat for the conservatives at the general election two years ago with a majority ofjust under 23,000. now it's time for a look at the weather, let's cross to matt. how is it looking? it is looking pretty quiet and fairly benign over the next few days. i hope you like the colour grey because there were plenty of that with the cloud sitting around for most all the way through into the weekend but if you breaks here and there, some will see the sunshine as some are seeing at the moment, particularly across parts of eastern england and scotland, a frosty start but sunshine ad, brighter compared to yesterday in parts of cornwall and devon that the cloud is thickest in the far north of scotland, sutherland, 0rkneys, shetland, outbreaks of rain. bit of a breeze here, lighter winds elsewhere and although we started on the chilly start across eastern areas, the sunshine should lift those a little bit and temperatures above the seasonal norm, 9—12 3pm. this evening and overnight, it will stay fairly cloudy, most places dried by this stage, the best of any breaks, north—east scotland, eastern england, not as cold around the brakes on the english channel but here we will see some sunshine tomorrow across the channel islands and parts of west cornwall. sunshine more limited, parts of north—east scotland and east england, a grey day with light winds, a tad cooler than today and cooler still as we go into the weekend, see you in half an hour. hello — this is bbc news: the headlines: the prime minister calls for people to �*socialise carefully�* this christmas, due to the threat from the new 0micron variant, after uk covid cases hit a record high yesterday uk tourists are to be banned from france— from saturday only french citizens or brits who live there will be allowed to enter the country and they'll have to isolate for at least 48 hours. but hauliers are exempt. as the virus continues to spread — business groups ask for more government help as customers cancel bookings. schools say they are prepared to switch to online learning if they have to next term — as more pupils stay at home because of covid. five children have died and four others are injured after falling from a bouncy castle that was blown into the air in australia. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. good morning. good morning, england's cricketers are in desperate need of a breakthrough, in the final session of the opening day, in adelaide — this second ashes test is a day night match, and when the floodlights come on, that will give england's bowlers fresh hope after australia won the toss, and chose to bat first. and it was such a positive start, for england, as they look to bounce back from that heavy first test defeat. an early wicket, off the bowling, of the returning stuart broad. a superb diving catch byjoss buttler, lightning fast, reactions at full stretch and that was marcus harris, gone forjust 3. but the margins in test cricket are so fine and buttler couldn't cling on to his next chance— that let marnus labushane off the hook, he's now got a half century with david warner moving past 70, england need a bit of magic after tea. australia 144—1. 0nto football and the brentford manager, thomas frank, wants the upcoming round of premier league fixtures to be postponed, so that clubs can deal with coronavirus outbreaks. watford's game at burnley last night was called offjust two hours before kick off because of an outbreak in the hornets' squad. brentford's game at home to manchester united, the previous night suffered the same fate. we think we should postpone the full round of premier league games this weekend coming up. the covid—19 cases are going through the roof and all the premier league clubs, everyone is dealing with it and everyone is dealing with it and everyone has a problem at this moment of time. the postpone this round and the cup round, we want to carry on, we think it's important that football keeps going, but this way, we can have the boxing day going without problems, 100% sure of that. so in that aspect, we think that. so in that aspect, we think that would be very sensible to do that. meanwhile leicester manager brendan rodgers,has expressed his disatisfaction, after the premier league refused to allow their game against totthenham this evening to be called off. leicester barely have any fit central defenders, whilst spurs have also had, a covid outbreak of their own — their game with brighton was called off last weekend. we are a team and a club that have always wanted to support all the measures and everything else, but maybe when you need a little bit of support with the extreme situation that we are in, we weren't able to get that which was disappointing. three games did go ahead last night, and though arsenal moved into the top four, with a 2—nil win, over west ham united. gabriel martinelli and england youngster emile smith rowe, scoring for mikel arteta's side. southampton looked to be heading for victory at crystal palace, a brilliant strike from armando broja, put them 2—1 up, but they couldn't hold on, withjordan aye—oo getting palace an equaliser in the second half. a goal from roman saiss, in first half stoppage time was enough for wolves to win at brighton, enough to move wolves up to eighth in the table, but it's now 11 games without a win for brighton, who had attemped to get the game postponed, after losing some players to covid. in the scottish premiership, celtic�*s sixth win in a row, keeps them just four points behind rangers. they didn't make it easy for themselves, against ross county though. anthony ralston's 97th minute header, gave them a 2—1win — and sparked a pitch invasion. rangers themselves, were comfortable 2—nil winners over stjohnstone. last season's beaten finalists chelsea will look to confirm their spot in the last eight of the women's champions league later. they need a point away at wolfsburg — although a couple of key players will be missing after positive covid tests. arsenal women scraped through their group. they were thrashed 4—1 in hoffenheim, but still progressed, alongside defending champions barcelona. christmas is nearly upon us — which means the world darts championship is back. gerwyn price began the defence of his title with a 3—1win over ritchie ed—house. the welshman — nicknamed the iceman — lost the first set, but kept his cool to seal his place in round 3. there's a repeat of the 2016 final tonight, as gary anderson faces adrian �*jackpot�* lewis. now, this morning former racing driver susie wolff — the wife of mercedes f1 supremo toto wolff — has issued a strong statement on social media, criticising formula 1 over the way the season ended. she also says lewis hamilton was "robbed" of the world title. but that hasn't got in the way of red bull celebrating their new champion, max verstappen. he's been given a heroes welcome at the red bull racing factory in milton keynes. he pipped hamilton in the controversial finale — but does he expect another battle with the briton next season? well, it depends of course on how our cars are but i thinkjust personally to lewis, i hope so, because he has been an amazing competitor, we all know how good he is, otherwise you don't win that many titles. it has been a real pleasure, you know, fighting against him. that's all the sport for now. the european union is to warn russia that any hostile action against ukraine would come at a "high price". the build—up of russian forces on the ukrainian border will be discussed at a meeting of eu leaders. russia faced similar warnings after a meeting of g7 foreign ministers last weekend. 0ur europe correspondentjessica parker is in brussels. i suppose the problem for the e u is candy really with words stop president putin launching an invasion which many are predicting he is going to do in the new year, an invasion of eastern ukraine. i am certainly hoping _ an invasion of eastern ukraine. i am certainly hoping they _ an invasion of eastern ukraine. i —n certainly hoping they can't warm him off with words at this stage. if you doubt what is going on, whether it is the g7 or eu leaders today are the american president, they are trying to deter president putin from taking action around the ukrainian border. the kremlin is saying they do not have plans to invade, they are within their rights to move troops around their own sovereign territory, but a massing of troops on the border is causing nervousness. what we are hearing from western leaders are warning that there will be massive consequences, a high price. what does that allude to? what does that suggest? as far as the eu is concerned, they are talking about further economic sanctions, they are already sanctions in place but they are trying to suggest they would go much further in a way that would really bite. that is the suggestion from eu leaders. as you said, they are expected to sign of a statement later today at european council in brussels warning any further aggression by russia would come a high price. 0vershadowing this as well is the pipeline running from russia to germany, still not approved, stop in the approval process. that will be an interesting issue for the new german chancellor to be dealing with. there's just two days until the strictly final — and the eastenders actress rose ayling—ellis remains the bookies' favourite. whether or not she walks away with the glitterball trophy, rose — who is profoundly deaf — has already had a huge impact. yvonne cobb is the presenter of the bbc�*s programme for the deaf community — see hear. she's been taking a look at rose's legacy. saturday night is a big night in for maddie and her best friend molly. good luck, rose. cheering rose ayling—ellis, better known as frankie lewis on eastenders made history by becoming strictly come dancing's first deaf competitor. i was watching rose and ijust thought it was the first show that included sign language on the television. and i thought, "oh, i'd love to learn sign language." molly wasn't alone. there is a saturday night bump on internet searches on learning sign language. one british sign language website said enrolments on some courses were 20 times higher last month compared with august. so you both felt inspired to learn sign language. so what signs would you like to know? if you tell me, i can give you the signs. what do you want to learn? we'd love to learn "keep dancing", that's obviously the classic strictly catchphrase, so if you could teach us that, that would be awesome. so hands like this, and it's the same sign that means carry on. and dancing. well done. 0h, here is one. what about the recent dance? so this is the argentine tango. in the uk, around 150,000 people use british sign language. most of them are deaf. that makes it our fourth indigenous language. paula garfield is the co—founder of deafinitely theatre, a stage school for the deaf community. well, rose actually joined definitely youth theatre when she was 17 years old, so probably going back to 2012. she is such a lovely young girl and she engaged so well with everybody, she was a really quick learner and it was easy to see her natural talent. so i actually feel really privileged to see the changes that have been made in the last 20 years. the number of deaf actors has grown year upon year and the majority of them have really started from deafinitely theatre and their careers are now soaring. so with rose being on strictly come dancing, what do you feel the impact of that will be? to see rose doing so well and gaining brilliant results is amazing. it gave me goose bumps and it shows the hearing community that deaf people can be included. rose has definitely made a positive impact for me. j she has inspired me so much. she has done so many things. the fact that she is part of deafinitely theatre i shows that we can do anything, no matter what is in our way. . do you think rose will win strictly? definitely. good luck, rose! well, as you heard in yvonne cobb's report, around 150 thousand people in the uk use sign language rosie cooper is the mp for west lancashire — sign language is herfirst language an she's campaigning for it to become legally protected in the united kingdom. thank you forjoining us. tell us a bit more about yourself because you are the daughter of profoundly deaf parents. i are the daughter of profoundly deaf arents. ., ., ,, ., , parents. i often talk about my kidnap by _ parents. i often talk about my kidnap by the _ parents. i often talk about my kidnap by the deaf _ parents. i often talk about myj kidnap by the deaf community parents. i often talk about my i kidnap by the deaf community by birth so sign language is my first language and my whole attitude to life is encapsulated by deaf culture. , ., ., culture. tell us about the important of sin culture. tell us about the important of sign language — culture. tell us about the important of sign language and _ culture. tell us about the important of sign language and what - culture. tell us about the important of sign language and what you i culture. tell us about the important of sign language and what you want j of sign language and what you want to do to protect it, you have a bill which is going to be presented to parliament next month. yes. which is going to be presented to parliament next month.— which is going to be presented to parliament next month. yes, on the 28th ofjanuary- _ parliament next month. yes, on the 28th ofjanuary- i — parliament next month. yes, on the 28th ofjanuary. i am _ parliament next month. yes, on the 28th ofjanuary. i am working - parliament next month. yes, on the 28th ofjanuary. i am working with l 28th of january. i am working with the government to find a form which will enable us to get cross—party support. this bill in the end will recognise british sign language legally. currently, it is recognised, it is not protected and it is not promoted by the government which means that people like my parents, when they try to use services, either did not get sign language help, or quite a lot of the time, it was veryjunior, very low qualified interpreters. the service was not good. the only place in england where you can be sure you are getting into the qualified british sign language interpreter to help you is in the court when your liberty or life may be at stake. but your life and liberties are also in question when you go to the doctor, when you use government services like the department for work and pensions. all the things you might have to apply for. deaf people are equal citizens, their language should be more thanjust equal citizens, their language should be more than just recognised, they should be enabled to be heard and to speak and to be understood in it. and to that end, and says diana learned sign language, and that was a great milestone in the 1980s. now, rose has taken that straight into the living rooms of so many families throughout the country, the moments of silence during her dance made people really aware what it is like to be deaf. how do you communicate through that? this is a fantastic opportunity, i hope she wins, it is such a big statement that this invisible disability is now being seen right across the country and every home and perhaps we give the government an opportunity to recognise that too. deaf people don't want anything other than to be able to speak in their language, to be understood, to be heard and to be equal. be understood, to be heard and to be eaual. ., ., i. be understood, to be heard and to be eaual. ., . i. ., be understood, to be heard and to be eaual. ., ., ., ., equal. you are saying you want more official use. — equal. you are saying you want more official use, more _ equal. you are saying you want more official use, more government - equal. you are saying you want more official use, more government use, i official use, more government use, authority use of sign language to help people?— authority use of sign language to hel --eole? , , , ., help people? yes, properly qualified interreters help people? yes, properly qualified interpreters being _ help people? yes, properly qualified interpreters being used _ help people? yes, properly qualified interpreters being used to _ help people? yes, properly qualified interpreters being used to help i interpreters being used to help people. i am a child of deaf parents, as i said, i gave my father his terminal cancer diagnosis. that is a really difficult place for a family member to be. i did that as a child too. it is not fair, it is not right. family members, amateurs, good—hearted people trying to help is not good enough. we need properly qualified people able to help deaf people communicate and be understood.— people communicate and be understood. ., ., , , ., understood. how many people do you think, how understood. how many people do you think. how many _ understood. how many people do you think, how many deaf— understood. how many people do you think, how many deaf people - understood. how many people do you think, how many deaf people rely i understood. how many people do you think, how many deaf people rely on | think, how many deaf people rely on sign language? do we have figures? approximately 80,000 people rely absolutely rely on it. hundred and 50 plus, i hundred 50,000 people who use it to get by, hard of hearing. i have two hearing aids, i can let read, i have got the ability to use british sign language, but that is not the case for many people in society. if british sign language is your first language, society. if british sign language is yourfirst language, you society. if british sign language is your first language, you should society. if british sign language is yourfirst language, you should be able to use it, and the government to recognise it and ensure you can access services, education, health, as well as legal services, you can use your language to be fully understood.— use your language to be fully understood. ., ., ~' understood. you mentioned like readina , understood. you mentioned like reading. as _ understood. you mentioned like reading. as you _ understood. you mentioned like reading, as you may _ understood. you mentioned like reading, as you may play - understood. you mentioned like reading, as you may play during| understood. you mentioned like i reading, as you may play during the pandemic, for those people who rely on this, during the pandemic, it must be incredibly difficult as everyone is wearing masks at the moment. i everyone is wearing masks at the moment. ., , , ., ., moment. i would suggest for the hard of hearin: , moment. i would suggest for the hard of hearing. it — moment. i would suggest for the hard of hearing, it has _ moment. i would suggest for the hard of hearing, it has become _ moment. i would suggest for the hard of hearing, it has become impossible | of hearing, it has become impossible and if like me, i rely on lip reading day today. life becomes impossible. some masks are transparent but there are not very many of them. life has become very difficult for deaf people, as well as for everyone else, but slightly more for deaf people. the government have an opportunity to step up and recognise what is going on in the country and be part of the movement which is finally seeing the invisible disability, that invisible... and hear what the country are saying, the country have taken rose and being deaf to a level never before and it would be awful to squander that.— to squander that. thank you very much for being _ to squander that. thank you very much for being with _ to squander that. thank you very much for being with us. - parents should talk to their children about pornography and online sexual harassment and from a young age. that's according to the children's commissioner for england. dame rachel de souza says young people want their parents to broach these topics. she's written a new guide — gfx — with the help of teenagers and young adults. the "overriding" message from the group of 16 to 21—year—olds consulted was to "talk early, talk often". pa rents are advised to keep the conversation going to ensure there is no "awkwardness" or "taboo" subjects. it also suggests that parents should start speaking to their children about the risks of sharing pictures when they first give them a phone — and they should explain to their child early on that they might be sent naked pictures. well, earlier, dame rachel de souza explained how the guide came about. the government asked me to try and make the online world safer, so earlier this year, i've been, like, holding tech companies to account and challenging them. but what i realised was so many parents were saying to me, can you give us advice? i'm really worried. 0rjust buying an ipad or a new phone for my child. what do you advise? and i thought the best people to give the advice, and that is what gives makes this guide unique, were young people who had been there. now, the 16 to 21—year—olds are really, really serious about this. they put their time in to write a brilliant guide. and not only have they outlined the harms that children and young people face online, there are brilliant things about the online world, but there are some real harms too and they are outlined in here. but the most powerful advice was set boundaries, you know, don't let your underage child go on social media accounts. set some time boundaries. they also really wanted to talk to their parents. and it's quite funny, because they all talked about that embarrassing conversation, you know, oh, don'tjust come all at once, mum and dad, and have a big conversation. talk to us often. talk to us in an age—appropriate way and one thing that surprised me was how young the 16 to 21—year—old said you should be talking about these things, because i know, evidence i have says that over 50% of 11 to 13—year—olds have come across serious pornography on social media accounts they shouldn't even be on. so i think, as parents, we need to really be... really try to protect our children, we need to know how to do it. 0ne lovely thing the 16 to 21—year—olds said was, you know that, when you come home and mum says, how was your day? that's really important. keep asking them that. even though they may be just a bit grumpy. if there is something going wrong, they will open up to you. hospitals have already been dealing with huge ambulance queues, busy a&es with long waits, and a shortage of beds during the pandemic. ambulances have a target of 15 minutes to handover patients to a hospital but these are being missed with some waiting more than an hour. with cases of 0micron surging there are fears the situation will get worse. joining me live now is shane clark who is an emergency care assistant for south western abulance services and lead steward for the trade union unison, what is the situation in general with ambulance services? we know during the pandemic it has got worse with longer waits. presumably that is exacerbated by 0micron. b5 with longer waits. presumably that is exacerbated by omicron.- is exacerbated by omicron. as we move, is exacerbated by omicron. as we move. the — is exacerbated by omicron. as we move, the figures _ is exacerbated by omicron. as we move, the figures with _ is exacerbated by omicron. as we move, the figures with regards i is exacerbated by omicron. as we move, the figures with regards to | move, the figures with regards to covid—19 increase, that is going to put additional pressures and strains not only on acute hospitals but on the ambulance service as well. our conveyance rate remains below 30%. 100% of patients we see, 30% of those end up at the front door of an emergency department. inevitably, hospitals are struggling, community services are struggling and the nhs is struggling. in the emergency department they work tirelessly to provide the highest standard of care any horrendously busy situation. it has a knock—on effect of the front line ambulance service and our members. if we cannot get in the front door of emergency department, those ambulances outside, if we have 17 ambulances waiting outside and emergency department, that there is 17 ambulances that are delayed in to life—threatening emergency calls that you talk about which is really sad as we move into the winter pressures. sad as we move into the winter pressures-— sad as we move into the winter ressures. . , , , , , pressures. that must be distressing for the patients _ pressures. that must be distressing for the patients who _ pressures. that must be distressing for the patients who are _ pressures. that must be distressing for the patients who are waiting i pressures. that must be distressing for the patients who are waiting on | for the patients who are waiting on for the patients who are waiting on for ambulance staff as well. they cannot get to where they want to get to when they need to.— to when they need to. there is nothin: to when they need to. there is nothing more _ to when they need to. there is nothing more depressing i to when they need to. there is nothing more depressing and i nothing more depressing and saddening, 16 years i have been on front line ambulance service, sat in the back with a patient and you are hearing general broadcast for cpr for an acutely unwell patients and we have nothing to saint. this is why a lot of my colleagues are considering career options or have already left. it is really, really sad. ., ~' �* , already left. it is really, really sad. ., ~ �*, ., ., sad. you think it's going to get worse this _ sad. you think it's going to get worse this winter _ sad. you think it's going to get worse this winter because i sad. you think it's going to get worse this winter because the | sad. you think it's going to get i worse this winter because the nhs faces so many pressures but without 0micron. i faces so many pressures but without omicron. ., ., , ., ., omicron. i do not see a light at the end of the — omicron. i do not see a light at the end of the tunnel. _ omicron. i do not see a light at the end of the tunnel. call _ omicron. i do not see a light at the end of the tunnel. (all volumes i end of the tunnel. call volumes remain high. patients are self presenting to the front door of emergency departments when maybe they need to look at the pharmacy, speaking to their gp one—on—one, if people are self presenting at the emergency department that is not helping the front line nhs ambulance service and it is not helping anybody at all. we need to think about which service is best and how we use that service as we move into the winter months. now, the remarkable tale of an endangered north atlantic right whale who's given birth — against all odds. louisa pilbeam has the story. a mother and her calf frolicking off the coast of georgia. it's a majestic sight, but, if you look a little closer, you'll notice this north atlantic right whale is entangled in fishing rope. she has been for months, but, remarkably, still managed to give birth. it's a very odd and first—ever seen situation when a mother is entangled in fishing gear and potentially lethally entangled, and yet she gives birth to a calf, so now we have to worry about two whales. snow cone, as she's nicknamed, has already had an epicjourney, travelling 1300 miles through her annual migration while entangled. she was first seen caught up in fishing gear off plymouth harbour, massachusetts, in march. by may, she was by the coast of new brunswick, canada. while, at the start of december, she was spotted with her newborn near cumberland island, georgia. right whale calves swim incredibly close to their mothers, making for a near impossible task for this entanglement responders, but saving this pair is critical for the entire species. i guess the most outstanding trait is one they are one of the rarest mammals on earth. we know they are on the brink of extinction, maybe something around 330 animals remaining. so the calves of these animals are the future and that's largely why the situation with snow cone is so compelling. snow cone and her calf will continue to be closely monitored, with many challenges in the long journey north ahead. louisa pilbeam, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. let's cross the newsroom to matt taylor. there is news of a typhoon in the philippines. there is news of a typhoon in the philippines-— there is news of a typhoon in the philippines. very quiet in the uk. atrocious conditions _ philippines. very quiet in the uk. atrocious conditions in _ philippines. very quiet in the uk. atrocious conditions in the - atrocious conditions in the philippines. we have satellite imagery, a category five hurricane making landfall in the southern philippines with winds at 170 mph. the same area head over eight years ago by a typhoon, one of the strongest storms on record across the world. that is happening over there. potential devastation over there. potential devastation over the next few days. in the uk, it is very quiet. there will be plenty of cloud over the next few days and most places will stay right. high pressure in charge. thick cloud in the north of scotland, outbreaks of rain, cloud breaks in eastern scotland and england. sunny spells continuing, brighter day in the south west and south west wales, with sunny spells, a fairly gory day and temperature is ten to 12 degrees. 0vernight, mild, some breaks in the cloud in north—east scotland and north—east england. these areas susceptible to frost in the morning. mist and fog patches. a reasonably mild start for other areas on friday morning. as we go into the weekend, this is going to happen. high pressure setting across us and will last all weekend, not much wind, when you start friday, you will end the weekend with some cloud, brighter breaks in the channel islands and the southwest, eastern scotland with sunny mostly grey. chilly start, cooler across eastern scotland and easter england. temperatures above where they should be for the time of year. into the weekend, things will start to turn a little bit cooler. here's how it looks, plenty of cloud, cloud breaks on saturday, across the hills of scotland, warmer on the cairngorms thanit scotland, warmer on the cairngorms than it is in aberdeen after a cold start with if you mist and fog patches. crowd breaks are less most places cloudy, a breeze developing then the s eastern coast of england and scotland and will still feel cooler. beginning the christmas week it will feel cooler still. we have all the updates on bbc. this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. british tourists are to be banned from france. from saturday, only french citizens or british people who live there will be allowed to enter the country and they'll have to isolate for at least 48 hours. but hauliers are exempt. the uk prime minister calls for people to "socialise carefully" this christmas, due to the threat from the new 0micron variant, after covid cases hit a record high yesterday. if you think about getting a year's worth of rain over a month, then you're going to get flooding and potentially severe flooding, no matter how much you've shored up your defences, and that's the concern here. as the virus continues to spread, business groups ask for more government help as customers cancel bookings.