the philippines on friday is now known to have killed 33 people. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the french prime minister, jean castex, has likened the spread of the omicron variant of coronavirus to lightning, as he announced new measures to slow its advance. mr castex said major public parties and firework displays on new year s eve would be banned. the rapid spread of omicron has seen a raft of new restrictions brought in across europe. lucy grey has this report. as countries across europe brace themselves for a sharp rise in cases due to the omicron variant, hospitality and travel are the main targets for the new restrictions. the omicron variant of the covid 19 virus is exploding throughout europe. it is here, it is in our country. and we are going to see a massive rise in infections. in ireland, all restaurants, bars, cinemas and theatres will have to close at 8pm from sunday, although weddings for up to 100 people will be allowed un
of the afternoon, the risk of plenty of showers here. for northern ireland, england and wales, sunny spells and scattered showers. if you dodge the showers it will be quite pleasant. it is quite mild for the time of year. temperatures peaking at 16 or 17. through this evening we will keep clearer skies across eastern england so temperatures could fall away. however, out to the west, another area of low pressure moving in and look at the isobar is squeezing together. the wind will strengthen in the rain turn quite heavy. it will start off on a more chilly note across the east but wet and windy further west and the rain means business, pushing on across western scotland, northern ireland, north west england and wales to begin with. it there will then drift steadily north and east into scotland through the afternoon with gusts of up to 50 mph on exposed coasts. across england and wales elsewhere, bright and breezy with more cloud generally with the south westerly wind but temper
new music from an unmistakable voice adele is back. good morning. racing to the top of the tennis charts cameron norrie will be the new british number one, after reaching the semi finals, in indian wells. he has now won more matches this year than novak djokovic. it isa it is a cold and in places frosty start for the northern half of the uk. things get milder and cloudier this weekend. good morning. it s friday, 15th october. our main story. foreign lorry drivers will be allowed to make more deliveries in the uk, under new government measures to ease the pressure on supply chains. currently, overseas workers can only make two trips to britain a week. under the new rules they will be allowed to make unlimited journeys in a two week period. meanwhile, 800 temporary visas for butchers and abattoir workers will also be granted to help with the backlog at pig farms. our political correspondent jonathan blake has more. thousands of extra visas have been offered to hgv drivers f
people using a bow and arrow, was known to the police who say they d had concerns he d been radicalised. heavy gunfire in beirut at least 5 people are believed dead, following protests about the investigation into last year s massive port explosion. the government says it s doing everything it can to ease supply chain issues in the run up to christmas. the queen praises the spirit of the welsh people during the pandemic as she officially opens the new term of parliament, the senedd. and, chris martin tells us exclusively how coldplay are making their new world tour carbon neutral. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the increasing pressure on the nhs is underlined by new figures this afternoon which show a record number of people waiting to start routine hospital treatment in england. 5.7 million people were waiting at the end of august for procedures such as hip replacements and cataract removals the highest since records began. waiting times in accident and emerge