the fight to buy the tv network. and coming up in the sport on bbc news... women and men will play together at a european tour golf event for the first time later this year as the new golfsixes event is launched. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. heavy snowfall is hitting parts of the uk, causing road, rail and flight disruption in many areas. police say driving conditions are "treacherous" in places — three people have died in lincolnshire after a crash involving a car and a lorry. many schools are shut, and forecasters say some rural communities may be cut off. the met office has issued amber warnings for swathes of the country as cold air sweeps in from the east. up to 10cm of snow is expected today, and as much as 20cm is predicted in some parts of eastern england, scotland and northern ireland. the transport network has been badly affected, with many cancellations and delays. robert hall reports. the east coast had time to prepare but the snowfall sweeping in from europe gave travellers a taste of what this week has in store. kent had declared a snow emergency with the gritting shifts working flat out. the lack of traffic overnight meant that salt couldn't do its work and by the time the morning rush arrived, accidents and ice had closed a series of routes including the m 20 motorway which became in effect a lorry park. elsewhere, conditions added hours to journey times. make sure you are only taking the journey if it is absolutely necessary. you the journey if it is absolutely necessary. you can the journey if it is absolutely necessary. you can be assured that the motorways and major trunk roads are going to be cleared and treated but other areas are going to have snow on the ground and it may affect traction and the way your vehicle handles. up to ten centimetres of snow fell across kent, surrey and east sussex. farmers were on stand—by to keep minor routes open. many heeded advice to stay at home until conditions improved as some towns stage their own winter olympics. the greater hazards lie away from main roads where there is less traffic and the snow has had time to settle and to freeze. that brought a series of accidents which began before dawn and disrupted bus services and caused the closure of dozens services and caused the closure of d oze ns of services and caused the closure of dozens of schools. in norfolk, where 36 schools were closed, the freezing conditions also disrupted rail services. greater anglia trains said they were forced to cancel services. ourtrains they were forced to cancel services. our trains have to go slower, the points can freeze, the signals can freeze. that means that if the points freeze, the train can't go in the right direction. the amber warning also covers north—east england where the problems caused by snow and ice mirrored those further south. crawling traffic, pedestrians slithering through their daily routines. but on tynemouth beach, the swimmers defied subzero temperatures for a dip that was rather more than just bracing. in east yorkshire, the snow swept across york's millennium bridge. white and the sands of scarborough beach, scenes that will become all too familiar. the wind is going to change and push the heaviest snow across north—east england and northern and eastern parts of scotland. there could be some areas that 25-40 scotland. there could be some areas that 25—40 centimetres over the next couple of days alone. back in kent, the snow showers have eased but the dangers remain. ice is likely to form later and further every snow will bring growing challenges in the coming days. robert hall reporting. in a moment we'll speak to ben ando, who's in colchester in essex, and to our transport correspondent victoria fritz at london bridge station. first to north yorkshire and our correspondent there — phil bodmer. what is the picture there? the snow keeps on falling, it comes in waves. we have an hour or two without it and then a real downfall. several centimetres here on the north york moors. this is the a 170 between pickering and whitby. it is normally busier than this. drivers are not using it like they would ordinarily but gritting teams and snowploughs have been doing their best to keep this route over the north york moors clear. there has been disruption across the region. the police have been busy in lincolnshire, three people died in a crash between a car and a lorry. they dealt with half a dozen accidents before 6:30am. there have been reports from merseyside police dealing with collisions on icy surfaces and on the m 62, the northwest medway police have had a busy day. if you are heading to the airport, regionalairports busy day. if you are heading to the airport, regional airports are operating but the airlines advise is to check in early if you can and allow extra time for yourjourney from home to the airport. here in yorkshire, several hundred schools are closed today. the disruption wasn't perhaps as bad as initially anticipated but nonetheless with more snow anticipated tonight, conditions could deteriorate and drivers are being warned to take extra ca re. phil bodmer in levisham in north yorkshire. ben ando is in colchester in essex. how much disruption has there been there? there has been a fair amount. greater anglia who run trains from this station into london normally packed with rush—hour commuters were running barely half the number of services. the snow levels weren't as high as anticipated but the temperatures were very cold. some commuters were asking if the beast from the east was the least from the east. the difficulty for the rail network is they need to plan for the worse. snowy conditions can cause signals and points to fail and all sorts of difficulties and they can't run as many trains and those that do run as many trains and those that do run have to run more slowly. they are looking to reinstate some services, particularly to rural lines. they are aware that tonight the forecast is for more snow and there could be more disruption to come over the next few days. staff here have been helping out. there have been engineering workers, people who normally work in administration coming down to help passengers. although passengers were frustrated most appreciated the fact that there was an early warning of problems and they could plan accordingly. they understood pragmatically that there were difficulties. thank you very much indeed. our transport correspondent victoria fritz is at london bridge station. one of the busiest stations in the country. how are things there? it has been a busy day at many of the main hotspots for travel because resource has been chucked at the arterial routes in and out of major cities, london being one. as we've been hearing, the bulk of the snow has been hitting the eastern flank of the country so the services that have been affected the most are in essex, kent, sussex and surrey, for example. some of them come through here at london bridge. there have been services disrupted and cancelled. lots of customers coming and saying, what is the fuss about? surely, this is just and saying, what is the fuss about? surely, this isjust the and saying, what is the fuss about? surely, this is just the great british flake out, rather than the beast from the east, to quote a newspaper this morning. the real problem is the cold weather, not necessarily the snow. although d rifts necessarily the snow. although drifts and falling icicles do cause problems. the low temperatures mean the tracks can stick and the points can't move and that means signals stay red and trains cannot pass through. network rail, amongst other things have been trying to heat the points, they have massive heaters that they are trying to use to keep the points want to keep signals green. they have been running trains through the night to keep the lines clea n. through the night to keep the lines clean. we have seen more disruption as the beast from the east heads west. thanks to all our correspondence. and you can keep up to date with the weather and travel situation in your area, by visiting the bbc news live page. the international trade secretary liam fox has been delivering a speech about brexit. he talked about future trade opportunities and restated the government's intention to leave the customs union. he also claimed it's not in the interests of the uk or the eu to put in place barriers to trade. our political correspondent alex forsyth reports from westminster. he came to explain which way brexit is heading. in front of business leaders, the international trade secretary restated the government's case, arguing that staying in the customs union would bind the uk to eu rules and limit trade opportunities. it would be a com plete opportunities. it would be a complete sell—out of britain's national interest and a betrayal of voters in the referendum. then there is the issue of constraints on the ability to negotiate independent range arrangements. a customs union would remove the bulk of incentives for other countries to enter into comprehensive free trade agreements with the uk. but only hours earlier, this man who was until recently be most senior civil servant in the department for trade warned that leaving the customs union would damage the economy. with market access through europe and preferential trade deals against bilateral trade deals with smaller markets, its like giving up a three course mealfor the promise of a packet of crisps. a customs union means a single set of tariffs are charged on goods moving from outside the eu. they can move freely around the eu. they can move freely around the block but members cannot trade independently with other countries. the government says that leaving gives scope to trade deals outside the eu. but that's not to everyone's taste. labour says that the uk should stay in a customs union after brexit so there is a clear difference between them and the government and some conservative mps agree with labour, making the politics of this as tricky as the practicalities. one of the questions is what happens with the irish border. it will be the frontier between the eu and uk. the question, how to avoid border checks. the foreign secretary claimed a solution was possible but was criticised for com pairing it to the london congestion charge. when i was mayor of london, we and is politically and invisibly took hundreds of millions of pounds from the accounts of people travelling between the borough ‘s without the need for border checks whatever. for him to say that the irish border is similar to two london boroughs is grotesque. the arguments on both sides continue as this complex negotiation about britain's future heads towards crunch time. our assistant political editor norman smith is in central london — what did you make of the trade secretary's speech? i think we learned that the customs union is shaping up to be one of the key battle grounds over brexit. probably, most others had never heard of the customs union before this blew up. now it is a central plank of the government's case for leaving the u. leaving it will enable us to forge new trade deals with countries in different parts of the world where the growth in the global economy is. essential to our economic future. however, we then heard from the man who used to run liam fox's department until march last year saying pretty much the exact opposite. it's such a bad idea that we'll have two as to rejoin the customs union and the single market and will place the british economy ata and will place the british economy at a competitive disadvantage, discourage inward investment and turned britain from one of the most open economies into one of the most bureaucratic economies. why this intervention matters is because it follows a series of other interventions on the customs union. yesterday we heard from jeremy corbyn saying labour was going to back staying in a customs union. the cbi, the bosses organisation, said that they would really like to stay in the customs union. a number of tory remainer is also signalling they want to stay. after easter, the likelihood is that there will be a vote in parliament on whether we should stay in a customs union. le crunch is looming. thank you, norman. the ceasefire in syria is feared to have collapsed — with reports of continued fighting in eastern ghouta, the enclave of damascus controlled by syrian rebels. the brief pause was ordered by syria's ally, russia, which said it would be repeated daily to allow civilians to leave. an estimated 400,000 people are trapped in eastern ghouta, and in the last week more than 560 people have been killed. martin patience is in beirut, in neighbouring lebanon. does it look like the ceasefire has been shattered? yes, i think it does. at last —— it lasted briefly, a brief period of relative calm, but it broke down with counterclaims on both sides, the government accusing the rebels of firing mortar shells ona the rebels of firing mortar shells on a fluctuation corridors which was meant to be used by civilians trying to flee the besieged area. in the end, not a single civilian left eastern ghouta this morning. we also have not seen any access, humanitarian access. hundreds have been killed, hundreds injured. international organisations are saying they need to get into eastern ghouta to provide assistance. in terms of the government's part, monitoring group said the syrian government itself also carried out air strikes. a brief pause but a collapse under the weight of violence. what happens next? what are the prospects for a lasting ceasefire? it is very difficult to see. i think we will see all sides trying again tomorrow, but the big issue in syria, the story of the country is a complete lack of trust and a complete lack of consensus in the international community about what to do in syria and on the local ground. we hear talks are under way between... negotiations between the rebel factions and the syrian government. whether that leads to a ceasefire tomorrow or the day after, we simply do not know. many thanks. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, says the government won't fund any aid agency that allows the exploitation of women in southern syria. it follows evidence given to the bbc that some women in the south of the country have been exploited by men delivering aid on behalf of the united nations and international charities. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. the fighting in syria continues. here, in rebel—held eastern ghouta and elsewhere. and it has now emerged that some refugees fleeing the conflict have faced demands for sex from local syrian officials delivering aid on behalf of international charities. they were withholding the aid that had been delivered and then using these women for sex. so, this was a range of women, there were women of different ages in the group. some had experienced it themselves. some were very distraught. danielle spencer's an experienced aid worker. she heard these stories from women who had fled tojordan and they told her that many refused to go to distribution centres because people would assume they had offered their bodies for aid. two charities, care and the international rescue committee, warned about this abuse three years ago and tightened up their procedures. but a report from the un population fund late last year confirmed that sex was still being traded for aid. sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls has been ignored. it's been known about and it's been ignored for seven years. this war is seven years old. the un and the system, as it currently stands, have chosen for women's bodies to be sacrificed. the department for international development said it was not aware of any cases like this involving uk aid, and if there were, the foreign secretary said the funding would be stopped. obviously, we have talked a great deal about this in the last few weeks, since the whole business broke with oxfam and so on, and penny mordaunt and i are absolutely committed to a zero—tolerance approach. can it be stopped? well, we will not support agencies that engage in that kind of activity. un agencies and charities said they had zero tolerance of exploitation but were not aware of any cases of abuse by their own partner organisations, and one un spokesman played down the reports, saying they were incomplete, fragmented and unsubstantiated. james landale, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime... freezing temperatures and heavy snow cause disruption across large parts of the uk, with amber warnings of more severe weather ahead. and still to come... penguins in peril — why global warming is threatening the survival of these birds. coming up in sport... manchester united fan and eight—time olympic gold medallist usain bolt will play at old trafford injune, as captain of a world xi in the soccer aid match. the emergency services say there are no more survivors in the ruins of a building in leicester that was destroyed by an explosion on sunday. police have now named the five people who died in the blast, including a mother and her two teenage sons. it's not yet known what caused the explosion, which some residents said sounded like an earthquake. james waterhouse is in leicester. what is the latest? quite a lot of activity on this quite fortified police cordon at the moment. a press conference taking place. police have announced they no longer expect to find survivors from within the rubble of the blast site. they are using specialist cameras and sniffer dogs to look for other human remains. we have lent their names of those who are thought to have died. 46—year—old mary ragoobar and her two sons, shane and sean. it was thought they lived in the flat above the supermarket. and leah beth reek, shane's girlfriend, and viktorija ljevleva who worked in the supermarket. five other people are still being treated in hospital and one is described as having life—threatening injuries. the cause, until this point, the priority had been search and rescue, looking for survivors. the authorities are not saying the information as to the cause at this stage. vehicles have been signed in and out, and active scene, and this operation has a different emphasis. thank you very much, james waterhouse reporting. an armed police officer who failed to confront the gunman at last week's florida school shooting has spoken out after being called a coward by president trump. scot peterson said he believed the shots were coming from outside the school, rather than inside, and claimed he was following his training by taking up what he called a tactical position. but at a meeting on gun control at the white house, mr trump said he would have acted more bravely. you know, i really believe, you don't know until you are tested, but i think i really believe i would run into it, even if i didn't have a weapon, and i think most of the people in this room would have done that too because i know most of you. but the way they performed was really a disgrace. police in northern ireland say at least three people have died in a house fire in county fermanagh. emergency services remain at the scene at the property in derrylin. police have arrested a 27—year—old man on suspicion of murder. german cities will be allowed to ban older diesel vehicles from some areas, following a landmark court ruling. the court said the cities of stuttgart and dusseldorf could legally ban particularly dirty diesel cars from zones worst affected by pollution. both the government and the car industry have opposed the move. diesel emissions containing nitrogen oxide have been linked with respiratory disease. america's biggest cable operator is trying to buy sky television. comcast, which owns the us tv network nbc and universal pictures, has put in a bid of £22 billion. the offer challenges an existing bid from 21st century fox, which has a minority stake in sky. our media editor, amol rajan, is here. quite the takeover tussle looming for sky? there are now three separate bids involving sky, the british broadcaster. the bid by 21st century fox, rupert murdoch's company for the 61% of sky it does not already own. that has taken a long time, stuck with regulators concerned about media plurality, the murdochs having too much power. now there is a fresh bid from comcast, which owns universal studios and nbc, the broadcast network, and it isa nbc, the broadcast network, and it is a cash offer and it is the £22.1 billion. this will be attracted to the shareholders because it is not likely to have the same regulator considerations. and there is a separate bid by disney for the whole of fox. there is massive disruption going on in the media, the internet has changed the game, traditional tv broadcasters are struggling and this isa broadcasters are struggling and this is a desperate bid for scale and the people who own the content, they are desperately trying to get together with the people who own the pipes and the distribution, in that context, sky's customers in europe are attractive. what does it mean for sky customers? it is an endorsement of sky as a company, if you are one of the 22 million sky customers in europe, it is good news, it means people are continued to continue investing in new and one of these companies, fox, comcast, disney, with huge libraries of content, they want to give you more stuff. if you are sky customer, reasons to be cheerful this week. thank you very much. the retrial is under way of the director of a yachting management company charged with the manslaughter of four sailors who died when the cheeki rafiki capsized in the north atlantic in may, 2014. thejury has been hearing how douglas innes carried on drinking after receiving an email saying the yacht was in trouble. duncan kennedy reports from winchester crown court. this was the cheeki rafiki long before the incident at the centre of this retrial. she was a 15—tonne racing yacht, but one that had not been inspected for the three years before she capsized in may, 2014. four men died when she sank — andrew bridge, the skipper, james male, the first mate, steve warren and paul goslin. their bodies were never found. the prosecution say douglas innes, whose company manage the cheeki rafiki, was responsible for their deaths because he had failed to carry out proper maintenance and didn't provide enough safety kit. the court heard he had been in the pub when he received e—mails and calls from the yacht, saying they were taking on water 1,000 miles off the canadian coast. a huge search was launched and combed thousands of square miles of ocean. eventually, the cheeki was found, overturned, with its keel missing, and no sign of the men. the prosecution say the keel came off because some of the bolts holding it to the hull were rusty. the prosecution say that douglas innes was so negligent that he created the conditions for death. they say what he did was criminal. they say his errors and omissions were exceptionally bad and that the cheeki rafiki was broken. the prosecution also say the cheeki rafiki should never have taken a northerly route across the atlantic because of bad weather. douglas innes denies four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence. the trial is due to last until easter. duncan kennedy, bbc news, at winchester crown court. scientists are warning that global warming could have a devastating impact on king penguins. researchers say climate change is shifting the ocean currents the penguins depend on forfood. 70% of them may be forced to move from their current nesting sites or die. here's our science correspondent, jonathan amos. splashing ashore after another successful outing to find food in the southern ocean. these are king penguins, one of the biggest of the 17 penguin species. the animals are currently doing well, but their notoriously fussy habits could soon get them into trouble, say scientists. the birds will only nest on smooth, sandy or pebble beaches, away from sea ice. that restricts king penguin colonies. at the moment, their nesting sites are limited to a specific series of islands that surround the antarctic. that is fine, for the moment, because these islands are close to nutrient—rich upwelling waters that support lots of fish and squid. the problem is that as the climate warms, these foraging waters are moving southward and away from current nesting sites. in a few decades, the penguins could have to swim too far to feed themselves and their chicks. french scientists are warning that unless the birds can adapt and find new homes, their numbers will see a dramatic fall by the century's end. jonathan amos, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. you have even got snowflakes on your tie! the severe weather this morning, the amber snow warnings, they have now expired. some heavy snow in