has told this programme that eu member countires have so far been discplined and prevented from making any meaningful pre negotiations with the uk. he also confirmed it would not be possible to agree all of the issues during the two year negotiation period, and he foresaw the distinc possibility of political and economic turbulence. we ll hear his interview with our diplomatic editor mark urban in full in a moment, but first, to our political editor nick watt. what are you hearing tonight? snp sources said that theresa may told nicola sturgeon that the uk government is confident they can do an overall deal within 18 months. so it means the future trading relationship. number ten doesn t believe the future trading relationship can be done and dusted them, it will need what it described as an implementation phase. but it shows that the uk is accepting the timetable by the eu, which is a greek it by the autumn of 2018 so it can be fully ratified. but the eu chief negotiator is s
you re watching bbc world news. it s newsday. glad you could join us. it s 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 9am in north east australia, where what s being described as a monster cyclone is due to make landfall over the next few hours. tens of thousands of people, including tourists, have been evacuated from coastal areas amid warnings of winds gusting up to 250km/h and dangerous tidal surges. trees are already being blown down by the wins. cyclone debbie has been upgraded to a category four storm, one below the most violent, and is forecast to be the most powerful storm to hit the state of queensland for six years winds. let s go to hywel griffith, who is joining us from townsville. by the looks at it it s the calm before the storm and everyone is saying cyclone debbie could be as devastating as cyclone yasi in 2011? yes. they are having to prepare for the worst here, the wind is picking up a bit as we get closer to the impact time, you do to be around lunchtime a