Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20170113 : compare

Good morning. Welcome to bbc Newsroom Live. Snow across country. It has caused disruption as winds bring cold weather from the arctic. The Environment Agency says the first high tide along the east coast of england this morning was not as bad as feared but thousands of homes still face a danger of flooding. Currently there are 11 severe warnings which mean there is a danger to life. This is the picture in skegness were snow has been lighter but Flood Warnings have been issued and soldiers have been deployed to assist where needed. Where some might have been cursing the conditions this morning, others of course have been making the most of it here near birmingham. Meanwhile, in canterbury in kent while it was knowing this morning i is now seems to be more of an issue. This is the scene coming up for you from the roof of the bbc here in london where it has recently started to snow. We we re it has recently started to snow. We were taught to our number of correspondence in the next while to feel what Weather Conditions are like in various parts of the uk. Youre ina like in various parts of the uk. Youre in a snowy hill somewhere. How are things there . Im in worcestershire. I was on the m 42 hours ago but now you can heat is quite pretty. Weve got a covering of snow, a covering in some parts of the west midlands. Staffordshire the worst affected with 100 schools shut their and the strong winds have brought down power lines which means that around 11100 homes up there are without power although they are trying to get them back on about 110w. Trying to get them back on about now. The main trouble at the moment is this wind which is causing problems and the slippy conditions out on the roads which have not been treated by the grid. Most of the main roads are clear but there have been reports of minor accidents with ca is been reports of minor accidents with Cars Skidding Off The Roads here and there as well. Really, people have been out enjoying it this morning. If the schools had been shut here we would have seen kids out on sledgers. We have seen a few but not many. The dogs are enjoying the snow. It is a covering of snow, it is not the worst we have ever seen and it is not covering massive disruption. The snow in london fell a couple of hours ago and things are gradually improving. Thank you very much for that. The Environment Agency have issued a number of warnings and alerts. There are 11 severe Flood Warnings across england and wales which means there is a danger to life. 90 warnings where flooding is expected and immediate action is required. 73 alerts where flooding is possible and individuals should be prepared for rising water levels. Speaking with the Environment Agency injaywick lisa pinney said severe warnings were still in place in some parts of the east of england. What were seeing, were doing with two types here today. The initial tide at midday is looking slightly better than forecast which is great news but the important thing is that the winds can pick up at any time so we are continuing to tell people to be vigilant. We were rather they we re be vigilant. We were rather they were here where they are safe. That continues. Look into this evening we still have real concerns and the rear is a possibility the warnings may go up again later in the day. I use saying there is a possibility of flooding here in essex and across the skies this evening . Absolutely. This evening are still looking but it could reach ruby higher level so encourage people to stay safe, be vigilant and to keep listening to our warnings and the Emergency Surfaces and take action as needed. Lets get more on that potential flooding. Let go to debbie in Great Yarmouth. Bring us up to date on the situation there. As you can see it is snowing now but the main problem is that severe Flood Warning which is a danger to life and that is because the danger of the high tides and also winds predicted here between 50 60 mph. The high tide is expected at 9 15pm tonight and that is why the authorities have started to evacuate 5000 property agrees. Theyre using the military and Environment Agency and police to call out every single house to make sure that they can nationally moved from their houses. You can see behind me the cloud, so has set up a Sandbagging Area and are offering free sound and beanbags for people to come here and actually fill up their sandbags to put back up fill up their sandbags to put back up their houses. Many have told me they have moved their carpets and furniture and even their pets upstairs, ready for that water to possibly come in this evening. They will have an Evacuation Centre to go toa will have an Evacuation Centre to go to a rest centre. They will be openedin to a rest centre. They will be opened in the next hour or so. The advice is, from the Environment Agency, basically dont get too close to those waves because they will have also some debris in them including rocks and dont take yourself in danger by taking photos of the dramatic weather. Do not dry through the flood water because up to 30 centimetres of water, flowing water, can move your car. It seems there will be about 12 hours of disruptions here. People arejust hoping that those high winds never arrive. Absolutely. Lets go to our correspondent in clacton. Just remind us what the situation is with warning in the area where you are. There are red and yellow warning is in place but the situation has changed. There were concerns about the high tide this afternoon, which was due at 1pm. They are now concerned that the Environment Agency, are concerned, about the high tide at midnight. They are urging residents to evacuate. As you can see behind me, usually the ec would be a couple of hundred meters away and it is coming towards the small, which is the final defence before it reaches these hands behind us. Before it reaches these hands behind us. It does not seem to be pitting of residence here. Hazel, you have decided to brave the weather to walk your docs. Why . They need to go to the toilet. Are you not worried . I am not worried, no. It is life, isnt it . Life is all about risk and you have to get on with it. It is another day. Were you here during the floods a couple of years ago . I was. I did evacuate because i was frightened but i will break it out this time. Really . Yes. I queue so much, hazel. As you can imagine, people are worried but it seems as though people are braving the weather. Thank you. With me is our Weather Presenter louise lear. Two main things to talk about. The snow, the rainfall and flood risk. Lets talk about the snow first of all and what is happening with that. It has to be said that it is generally an improving picture through today but there are some tricky elements that we have got to encounter. Hopefully into this afternoon we will see some sunshine coming through but it will stay bitterly cold. Lets take a look at the snow. It is quite interesting at the snow. It is quite interesting at the moment. If we look at the snow showers, here they are, theyre moving down through the midlands and east anglia and the south east corner. That is where we have got the snow as you have seen. Not too much disruption from them but they will be giving a light covering on the grass and of course, that could potentially lead to some ice risks when temperatures fall away. The snow showers up into scotland but in comparison to yesterday it is a better picture in scotland. The winds you will be deep feature. Gale force on the east coast. Raw and horrible. It is the winds down at east coast which is the issue later on in the day. In terms of the weather, look a much relative dry weather, look a much relative dry weather we got through the day. How much sunshine were going to see this afternoon and one to coastal showers coming in. Rain, sleet, snow. It is an improving picture weather wise. Shall we talk about the coastal flooding . Lets talk about the storms urges and so on we are hearing about. As that system clears the clues to the south, we are likely then to see some issues with the coastal storms into the east anglia coast. We have a filming at the moment, said the Gravitational Pull of the moon is at its strongest across the waters. That potentially, coupled with strong gusts of wind is. 60 mild an hour at the moment, so that could lead to toppling over the Flood Defences and also we will see an area of low pressure just sucking up the sea, slightly higher than normal. If all these coincide together, there could be some flooding and that is why we have got these 11 severe Flood Warnings at these 11 severe Flood Warnings at the moment. The high tides are red lunchtime. Theyre also every night tonight. At the moment it looks like the overnight ones are more of a concern but we need to keep tracking that that is going to be quite an important issue, i suspect. Just briefly, looking ahead to the rest of the weekend. Are we going to see this period of bad Weather Petering out quite quickly or is there more to come . It is Getting Better but we must stress tonight is going to be horrendous. It will be really cold, in some areas than to 9 or ten. A few have got lying snow, thatll be a skating rink on saturday morning. Drizzle the mild on sunday. Thank you so much for that update. You can follow all the latest on that story on the live page on the bbc news app. And you can see here the latest updates as snow and storms hit the uk and here is our main story. Storm surge threat as Icy Weather Hits and a few scroll through that you can find out what the Environment Agency is saying and the met office is saying and so on. Do take a look at that app for the very latest. The labour politician Tristram Hunt is to stand down as mp for stoke on Trent Central. The former Shadow Education Secretary is to become the director of the v a museum in london. His resignation will trigger the second by election of the year following jamie reeds resignation late last year. 0ur Political Correspondent Carole Walker is in westminster for us. Tristram hunt is saying there are very few jobs that would have convinced him to stand down as an mp, asa convinced him to stand down as an mp, as a historian, the b and a job is clearly one of those. What sort of problems that you leave behind for labour with this by election . It isa for labour with this by election . It is a great opportunity for Tristram Hunt, a man who is known as a historian, which he was before he entered parliament. He is a big loss to the labour party. The loss of a charismatic, engaging figure. And poses a real challenge forJeremy Corbyn to face another by election. In stoke you have got ukip challenging very strongly. They came second at the last general election just overtaking the conservative party. They will fancy their chances there in an area which has got higher than average unemployment. A very urban area where i think they will feel that they have got very strong prospects. Ukips former leader nigel farage is already saying that labour is doomed. I think the wider concern among some areas of the labour party are that this is an indication of a wider discontent amongst what used to be pa Rt Discontent amongst what used to be part of as mainstream labour mps. Tristram hunt is somebody who clearly had expressed views very different to that ofJeremy Corbyn, he has been very critical ofJeremy Corbyns leadership in the past and did not feel he had many Career Prospects left yearly Parliamentary Labour Party underJeremy Corbyns leadership, and is looking around for other things to do. Clearly it is an important pose and a big opportunity for him, but it is interesting that while in his Resignation Letter he is very restrained in his language and says he does not want to rock the boat but he does also talk about his frustrations of being unable to do enough to tackle inequality, lack of Social Mobility and so on, particularly since labour is out of power. If you look back to the summer, he was hugely critical of Jeremy Corbyn immediately after the referendum result, saying that he had simply failed to inject the sort of labour values and Labour Campaign into that referendum debate. And at that stage you are saying that labour needs a new leader. Had the biggest challenge and Jeremy Corbyn was returned as the partys leader. He is facing another challenge now. Thank you very much. The headlines on bbc Newsroom Live wintry weather continues to take its toll across parts of the uk. 11 severe Flood Warnings have been issued meaning that lives are in danger. Nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they faced unprecedented pressures. More on that in a second. Labours Bomber Education Spokesman Tristram Hunt is resigning as an mp, triggering a by election. In sport, the uk number one has won the sydney national, beating her opponent in straight sets. Andy murray will take on ukraines player. He has reached the final of the Australian Open five times but he is yet to win it. The manner only the one team will continue until at least the end of january as administrators look for the cash to keep all their staff at the 0xfordshire base. Nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they encountered unprecedented pressures, nhs bosses have revealed. Sixty six out of 142 Hospital Trusts raised the alarm as mounting Bed Shortages Led to large numbers of patients experiencing Trolley Waits and delays in a e. With me is our Health Correspondent Robert Pigott. Ina week in a week of various stories about the nhs and how to struggling, here is another one. The first week of this new year and we hear about all of these major alerts. These figures do distil some of the other stories that were been hearing about. I think the thing to ta ke hearing about. I think the thing to take home from mrs that these major alerts are quite serious. Eight of the mother most serious level, which is partly defined as something where Patient Safety and care can be compromised. This is serious stuff. Routine operations have been cancelled an extra staff being called in. We have the human side we re called in. We have the human side were people of the Waiting Ambulances and inside hospitalfor treatment. It is worth bearing in mind that this 46 of hospitals which issued these alerts, one third of hospitals in england were still on the celeb status for the rest of that week. And this is treble the number before christmas. It into your real peak here. It is normal winter demand but it does speak to an early chess which is really struggling with on and staff. And nhs. The human side of it has come distressing ways. The coal face of this where we see these problems highlighted starkly is an these problems highlighted starkly isana these problems highlighted starkly is an a and e. Thats right. Pastels have a target of treating and seeing 95 of patients within four hours that appears to have slipped to 77. 7 to almost one quarter people are having to wait more than four hours to be seen. To wait more than four hours to be seen. 0ne to wait more than four hours to be seen. One in five are having to wait more than four hours to get a bed once theyve been admitted. That is double the prevailing rate over the year before. If you look at the number of ambulances, according to this leaked data, about one quarter of them had to wait outside hospital to hand over their patients for more than 30 minutes and thats double the target. 39 hospitals had to divert ambulances elsewhere. That again shows how serious this issue is. Thank you very much for that. Thats the picture in england lets take a look at what is happening with the nhs in scotland. 0ur scotland Health Correspondent Lisa Summersjoins us now from nhs lothian in edinburgh. Lisa, how does the picture in scotla nd lisa, how does the picture in scotland compared to nhs england . Welcomer data in scotland is collected in similar ways but i think it would be fair to say that the nhs is performing better here but that does not mean to say it is without huge challenges. If you look at Accident And Emergency Waiting Times here in scotland, the figures show that we are performing considerably better than england. 10 better, but nevertheless the scottish mid s targets which are the same as those in england, 95 of patient