For coronavirus. I will have advice to you if you are staying the pandemic continues to effect sport. Rugby unions premiership is set to be postponed for up to three months while horse racing across britain is expected to close its doors to fans. A cold start for some, a frosty start as well. England and wales dry with sunshine and then the win is strengthening in scotland and Northern Ireland. More details in 15 minute top story. Its monday the 16th of march. Our top story the Prime Minister will discuss new measures to tackle coronavirus at an emergency cobra meeting. It comes as efforts to keep the public informed are being stepped up. Borisjohnson will hold the first daily news briefing today, following criticism from Opposition Mps over the governments handling of the crisis. The number of people whove died of the virus in the uk has risen to 35, an increase 01 14 in 2a hours. Simonjones reports. This is something we are now going to be seeing on a daily basis. The Prime Minister and senior ministers supported by scientific and medical experts holding briefings following criticism that there has been a lack of transparency over plans to stem the spread of the virus. Many admit they are anxious, particularly after the government said over the coming weeks, everyone over the age of 70 could be told to stay at home, potentially for a period of months. Its just scary and straightaway it scares my husband and yes, because he is in that age bracket. I dont fancy being locked away for a few weeks. Ahead of todays news conference, there will be a meeting here at the Cabinet Office of the governments emergency cobra committee. That will look at the next steps for shielding the vulnerable and elderly from the virus and whether Mass Gatherings should be banned. There will also a phone call involving leaders of the g7 nations in which borisjohnson will urge them to put more money and expertise into speeding up the development of a vaccine. Among those to have lost their lives is retired Police Officer nick matthews, who was 59. He previously suffered a heart attack. His wife described him as her soulmate. And jez martinezs 78 year old grandfather died at wickham in buckinghamshire. She said he had tested positive for the virus. It was very shocking. Obviously we are grieving. Theres been a lot going on, as weve seen. The testing has been stopped but now the worry is for the rest of my family and everybody else that may go through this. To ease demand on the Emergency Services, the Scottish Government says gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled from today and head teachers, feeling the pressure, will meet the education secretary to discuss their concerns. British holidaymakers have been facing a battle to get home after countries like spain went into lockdown. This was a scene at the airport in tenerife. And in the us, the race is on to get out before transatlantic flights are grounded. The stress levels have changed, been feeling very, very anxious and just really wanting just to have the security of getting on that plane and taking off. The sense of uncertainty has meant panic buying in the shops is continuing. Its clear that daily life will not be normal for some time to come. Simon jones, bbc news. We can speak now to our political correspondent, iain watson, who joins us from our westminster studio. We know there will be these daily briefings. That is quite a change, isnt it . Yes, the opposition will be pressing for Daily Press Briefings with the Prime Minister andindeed briefings with the Prime Minister and indeed when he is not present, other senior ministers. The government said they were always going to do this at some stage well, that stage has certainly come now. They have been under criticism as well for appearing to be out of step with response to some other countries. They had meeting with deputy chief officer does make chief medical officer on friday and they said they wanted more answers and Greater Transparency from the government. It looks like they will publish some of the underlying assumptions behind their strategy on friday because they have been following the signs. As you are mentioned, there was going to be that cobra briefing as well. What do they expect to come out of that, first of all, a definition of what a mass gathering would be. As scotland, they have set it at 500. At massachusetts, 25 stop the governor has defined that and the government has to define that. They will have more advice for the elderly and vulnerable but we are not expecting that to be them staying at home and self isolating for several days. We are getting Daily Press Briefings and you can also see that in international spots response is required, hence Boris Johnson will be speaking to the leaders of the main industrialised nations this morning. Strict measures have come into force across parts of europe to try to limit the spread of the virus, including the closure of schools, shops, and businesses as well as the sealing of borders. The number of infections has risen sharply with italy, spain and france all recording their highest death tolls in a single day. Rich preston reports. Across europe, the lives of millions of people have come to a standstill. Their movements restrict dead. Everyday activities halted as successive governments try to contain the virus. Spain is coming to terms with the dramaticjump in the number of fatalities. An additional 97 over the weekend, bringing the total to over 280. Hospitals are at capacity. Those deemed not ill enough are sent home. The Prime MinisterPedro Sanchez has declared a two week state of emergency. People are told to stay at home unless leaving to go to work or to buy essential supplies. Museums, cultural centres and Sports Centres a re museums, cultural centres and Sports Centres are closed. Similar measures have been introduced in france was top cinemas, nightclubs and anything described as non essential are shut. Bistros and rosaries have been forced to close. These cornerstones of the french social and cultural scene lie empty. Their doors locked. Italy remains the worst hit country in europe with the death toll of over 1800 people. It has had a National Lockdown in place for over a week now but still, the number of infections and facilities keeps rising. Fatalities. European Union Members have been told the best way to get through the crisis is to pool resources and to Work Together to start making essential medical supplies and life saving equipment. And germany, europes largest economy, is closing itself off from the outside world, sealing its borders. People without good reason will not be allowed to enter the country. Commuters and goods vehicles will be exempt. Germany has had more than a800 confirmed cases and has had 12 deaths. While some in the early days are criticised quarantines the early days are criticised quara ntines and limits the early days are criticised quarantines and limits on movement as knee jerk overreactions by their governments, many now said the measures are too little too late. Rich preston, bbc news. Lets get the latest from sima kotecha, whos in rome. Sima, we now know other countries are following italys lead . Spain is enforcing similar measures restrict king movement. France is closing down businesses and germany has closed some of its borders. Here in italy it is incredibly upsetting and grim. More than 1800 people have died. Most of those fatalities are in the north and most of the cases also in the north where hospitals are also in the north where hospitals a re really also in the north where hospitals are really struggling. Some are running out of intensive care beds. Some in desperate need of ventilators. Doctors really being pushed to the limits the Prime Minister said that his priority here is to make sure that doctors and nurses keep working and remain safe. There is also a concern that the outbreak in the north could move to the south because it tens of thousands of people in recent weeks have travelled from the north to the south and hospitals there are not as well equipped. The government is worried that if the outbreak does move there then people will be especially vulnerable. Thank you very much for that. Bars, restaurants and theatres in both new york and los angeles have been ordered to close to slow the spread of the virus. The move follows a similar ruling in ireland, where all pubs and bars were told to close at midnight last night for the next two weeks. The government there has also asked people not to hold house parties. You might have seen pictures over the weekend of italians lifting each others spirits by singing from their balconies but one performance was particularly special. Singing the tenor, maurizio marchini, sang nessun dorma from his balcony in florence. After blasting out the famous line of vincero which means i will win he was joined by his young son. It is genuinely giving me goosebumps. If imagine if you are one of the people privileged enough to hear that. We will keep you right up to hear that. We will keep you right up to date on breakfast this morning. A bit later, we have a panel, we will be talking to a doctor about the Health Advice for all of you. Anybody feeling ill or who perhaps might be feeling ill. We will be talking about the science is well behind it and also whether or not, how prepared the nhs is as well with the chair of the bma. So much talk about. Be in touch as well. If you think there are questions we might be able to answer. Do be in touch today. Lots more on the bbc website and how to reduce your risk of being infected. Lots of questions are answered. You just need to visit our website or go to the bbc news app. We will also be looking at how so many people are getting involved, little Kindness Project in the community, in their towns and cities, trying to make a difference, to particularly elderly people. I know lots of people get in touch with this programme talking about some of the questions and concerns they are facing. We will try and address and cover everything we possibly can today because i know lots of people are watching this this morning thinking, what will this morning thinking, what will this week bring . We will try to get to some of the bottom of the questions. Not a lot of spot on, is there . There is a little tiny bit of sport on but it is about to be postponed, i think is a safe thing to say. Really difficult times for everybody to stop i know it seems a bit mad that we are talking about sport actually, isnt sport the thing that unites us and lifts us 7 thing that unites us and lifts us up . A bit of light relief. That is what i was thinking. I can tell you. The pandemic continues to effect sport. And now englands rugby premiership is set to announce a postponement to the League Season. Clubs will discuss a potential four week suspension of play however some teams believe a longer break of three months is necessary. European cup competitions are also set to be postponed. The pro 1a and french top 1a have already indefinitely suspended their fixtures. Horse racing in britain is set to go on, behind closed doors, until the end of the month. The British Horseracing Authority are yet to announce whether aprils grand national will go ahead. Todays meeting at kelso wont have spectators due to Scottish Government guidance. The Italian Football Federation wants euro 2020 to be postponed so their top flight league which is one of many on hold can finish. The first game of the tournament is due to be played in rome on june the 12th. Uefa are holding a meeting tomorrow to discuss what happens next to the tournament and all football across europe. There is a lot to sort out, isnt there . We spoke to the chief executive of brighton. He said his to do list, think of all the practical stuff, catering contracts, paying all the people who would normally work on match day. There we re normally work on match day. There were no matches going on. His to do list is somewhere between 200 and 300. And that is one club. One industry. One sport. Thank you very much. See you later. Heres carol with a look at this mornings weather. Morning everyone. It is a cold start and for some of us a frosty one as well. If you are in england and wales today a dry day with sunshine but in scotland and Northern Ireland although you start off on a cold frosty note the cloud will increase as this clutch of weather fronts come in from the west and introduce rain and strengthening wind. A nippy start to the day with a little bit of cloud around even some misty nurse here and there and the odd patch of fog but that is it. Sunshine will prevail across england and wales. The cloud will thicken and wales. The cloud will thicken and the rain will arrive and tops of strip and strengthening wind. 6 10 in the north but a mild 12 13 as we push further south. Here we have south westerly winds which are milderfor south westerly winds which are milder for us. South westerly winds which are milderfor us. Through south westerly winds which are milder for us. Through the evening and overnight the weather from producing this rain across scotland and Northern Ireland sinks south reaching england and wales as a weakening feature. It will be quite cloudy across england and wales, dry in the far south east clear skies so it will be cooler. Patchy rains across wales and South West England but pushing north there will be clear skies and showers so, again, a nippy night clear skies and showers so, again, a dippy night particularly clear skies and showers so, again, a nippy night particularly in a sheltered glenn. Tomorrow we start on this cloudy note across england and wales and then the rain picks up across Northern Ireland, north west england, reaching the borders and moving northwards across scotland, again, with Something Else no or mountain snow. Temperature wise, six degrees to 1a as we push towards london. As we move through wednesday that same front coming in today will be with us still instead of going north it will sinks south again as a wea k feature. North it will sinks south again as a weak feature. The wind strengthens across the far north of the country with the weather front coming in here and you will also see some rain. As that sinks south across england and wales it will still be a feature with a lot of cloud around and patchy rain but look at these temperatures. In the south, 12 15, somewhere between 16 and 17 locally, way above average for this stage of march and as we push north, again, the temperature roughly where it should be between seven and ten or 11 degrees. Moving through thursday the weather front will be in the south producing a fair bit of cloud with the odd spot of rain across the Channel Islands, self was england but for much of the uk, showers across but for much of the uk, showers across apart from showers across the north west of scotland, largely driver temperatures will drop again. Thursday into friday a little more uncertainty about the forecast, perhaps some rain in the south but dry under High Pressure in the north. Not a lot going on with the 11 north. Not a lot going on with the 11 weather this week. Almost a relief. Thank you very much, carol. Lets take a look at todays papers, all reporting different aspects of the coronavirus pandemic. The mail describes the queen as unflappable and urges readers to pull together for our elderly. It says hundreds of local groups will come together to help the over 70s if they have to go into isolation. The Daily Telegraph reports that people could be taken into custody orfined £1,000 if they refuse to be tested or quarantined. The guardian says that cities across europe have fallen silent amid lockdowns its main image is pope francis blessing an empty st Peters Square yesterday. Online, the main image on the Huffington Post is of nick matthews, the 59 year old retired Police Officer, who was named as having died after contracting coronavirus. His wife mary paid tribute to him as her soulmate and best friend. We will look at some of the inside pages. You mentioned toilet roll but look at this, lets have a sense of what is going on all over the world in reaction to coronavirus and this isa in reaction to coronavirus and this is a good one from the inside of the daily mail. The eiffel tower, closed. Uk poles postponed, police blocking access to a beach in barcelona. And this is a selfie sent toa barcelona. And this is a selfie sent to a church in italy after services they were halted. Lots of queues at airports for example. In america, these passengers cue for ten hours to get through checks at chicago airportand, again, to get through checks at chicago airport and, again, panic buying. This is in la but extraordinary. We do live. Every hour something seems to change and so many Different Things going on all over the world. I am touched by the number of people who are helping others. You talk about the churches in their own articles today about changes to religious services and churches and people Live Streaming and changing things, recording audiobooks et cetera. I spoke to someone yesterday who was desperately trying to return from spain and this was at the end of last week and people were crammed onto this flight and it had been delayed for a few hours and eventually got back and he spoke to an elderly couple in their 70s from burnley and the flight was going ba