leading to hundreds of flood alerts. nottinghamshire is worst hit, as downpours fall on ground already saturated. top the county council here in nottinghamshire have declared a major incident outside the river trent could reach its highest ever level. rishi sunak signals a general election in the second half of this year. sir keir starmer says he's just squatting in number ten. next warns that consumers could face delays to supplies of its clothing and other products because of attacks on shipping in the red sea. and an entirely new class of antibiotic is discovered which could treat lethal infections. and coming up on bbc news — we hearfrom declan rice on arsenal's campaign to stop knife crime in london, ahead of their fa cup�*s third round tie against liverpool this weekend.

good evening. since september, eight storms have buffeted the uk, bringing at times strong winds and torrential rain, and today parts of the country have once again experienced disruptive weather with hundreds of flood alerts and warnings in place. there's a met office yellow warning stretching from cornwall to east anglia, with heavy rain falling in some places on ground that is already saturated, meaning there's a chance of localised flooding. and a major incident has been declared in nottinghamshire. our correspondent dan johnson has the latest. storm henk may be gone, but it's certainly not forgotten. this is what it left behind in nottinghamshire, where a major incident�*s

been declared for the flooded villages of the trent valley. river levels are still rising here and could pass records set more than 20 years ago. it is similar levels to that of 2000. so it's that serious and we must ask people to be aware and stay safe. flooded roads are causing problems and making it harder for people to evacuate. in places, it's got difficult to tell what's the river, what's the canal, and what's supposed to be dry land. the yellow warning for heavy rain covers most of the south west, the south east and parts of the midlands. in wiltshire, rivers are on the rise again. the sandbags are still out because these properties are at such a risk. you can see the flood defences are in place because they are vulnerable here right next to the river avon. and yesterday, this area was entirely flooded. so the level has dropped, but with more rain expected into the early hours of tomorrow morning,

the threat is it could all get worse again. the river level was up probably to the second step. the basement of daniel's shop was already soaked yesterday. and this has happened before? yeah. i mean, last year i was advised that there wouldn't be much flooding here at all. and another two or three centimetres of rain is expected tonight. the flood warning here is one of more than 200 across england. i'm just worried about the river rising, really. i live slightly up the hill. if i lived further down the hill, i'd be slightly concerned. if not very concerned. what was once in a 100 year event is once in a year or whatever. - do you think we should be doing more to adapt to that? i don't know what is being done. it's difficult to get around, even for those who know the land best. this is gloucestershire, and these cows and horses

won't be roaming far on their new island in the midlands. the rain's disrupting rail services and all sorts ofjourneys. but the focus now is on water levels in nottinghamshire. dan johnson, bbc news. let's get more on the situation in nottinghamshire, where a major incident has been declared. navteonhal in in east bridgford for us. navtej. yes, nottinghamshire county council declared a major incident, and it is advising residents along the trent valley to prepare for flooding. there are currently 36 flooding. there are currently 36 flood warnings in place across the country, around 50—60 properties, we understand, have already flooded, with more expected over the next 2a hours, and the focus of everybody�*s attention appears to be the river trent. we are told that it could reach its highest ever recorded level. its highest recorded level at the moment was back in november

2000, 5.49 metres, they are expecting it to reach something close to that possibly higher over the next 2a hours, expected to peak tonight. where we are at the moment and needs to bridge for it, you can see the river trent is about 150 metres away, but from where i am now to where it is, it is all underwater. there is a property here, where a woman was desperately using pumps to keep a property free from the flood water but had to concede defeat earlier this afternoon. so the impact of this is already being felt, but the very worst of that impact could be yet to come. come out 0k, navtej, thank you. flood—hit farmers are calling on the government to invest more in river defences in rural areas because the production of food is being put at risk. thousands of acres of crops and productive farmland are now sitting under floodwater left by storm henk. the national farmers�* union says farmers who are expected to let fields of crops flood to protect towns should also be compensated. 0ur rural affairs correspondent claire marshall reports.

here in 0xfordshire, a glimpse of the struggle that some farmers have had to save their livestock. this is the area at first light today. another farmer has 60 acres under water. so this is normally field? yes, yeah, this should all be planted in wheat. it should have been planted last autumn, but obviously it was just too wet, and now it's flooded. probably another eight weeks until we'll be able to get on it. that's if it doesn't rain again. tell me the impact that this kind of flooding has on you and your business. it'll cost thousands. i need every piece of land to pay, because i have to pay rent. i'm not the only farmer out here that's been flooded, but it all goes into the food chain. but not now. not now. storm henk has left water sitting on vast tracts of land. the national farmers�* union is calling for the government to provide better protection. the environment secretary, steve barclay, told the bbc that the government was already investing heavily in flood defences. the work that the government

has done has protected over 500,000 acres of farmland, and of course we are committing more money to future schemes as well, so over £5 billion of investment. but where is this money best spent? some believe it should go into changing how the land is used. should fields and landscapes like this just be allowed to flood? with climate change the way it's going, we're not really going to have a choice. a little bit of dredging of the main river will not solve the challenges that the farms now have. but that can't be done unless there's proper value being paid. you are going to get farms going out of business if they're not being rewarded for that nature—based solution of holding the water back. as the earth gets hotter, our winters are likely to get even wetter, and scenes like this even more common. the question is whether enough will be done in time to help the most vulnerable. claire marshall, bbc news, 0xfordshire.

rishi sunak says the much—anticipated general election is likely to be held in the second half of this year. speaking on a visit in nottinghamshire, the prime minister did not rule out going to the country earlier but said his working assumption was later this year. an election has to be held by january 2025. in his own new year speech in bristol, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, said he hoped this year would give the country a chance to vote out the conservatives and accused mr sunak of "squatting in downing street for months on end". 0ur political editor, chris mason, reports. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield in nottinghamshire — a town the conservatives want to hold onto at the general election. happy new year! how are you doing? the prime minister taking questions at a youth centre and taking this crucial question from a reporter. it's a new year — is it also going to be a general election year? yes! so, look,

my working assumption is we'll have a general election in the second half of this year. in the meantime, i've got lots that i want to get on with. words that grab attention, say something — but commit to nothing. 150 miles away, on a visit to bristol at exactly the same time, we tell keir starmer what rishi sunak has just said. the prime minister is now hinting, without setting a date, that it might be later in the year. squatting in downing street for months on end, dithering and delaying, when the country wants change. what is he hiding? the conservatives have a mandate, don't they, to serve in government throughout this year? you can clamourfor an early election, but that's the constitutional truth. but what mandate... well, they won the last general election. the third prime minister that they've had since they won in 2019! and it's notjust keir starmer with a keen eye on when the election is.

i think the prime minister is running scared of the voters. people are fed up with the government's economic policies, with their health policies. they want change, and they want an election. the liberal democrats agree with them. rishi sunak isjust clinging on to power. i don't think it really matters in the scottish context, whether the election is in may or indeed later on this year, because what we know for certain is the tories will get beat, just as they've done every election in scotland since 1955. back here on the outskirts of bristol in a spot that labour needs to win from the conservatives, sir keir took on criticism from one of his own mps that it's not obvious what he stands for, and he claimed people are increasingly annoyed, irritated, by all politicians. the biggest challenge we face, bar none, the shrug of the shoulder. because this is the paradox of british politics right now. everyone agrees we're in a huge mess. as well that it's been like this for a while, that britain needs change,

wants change, is crying out for change. and yet trust in politics is now so low, so degraded, that nobody believes you can make a difference any more. well, it turns out there may be a little more time than some thought for leaders, whoever they are, to take this on. words, crowds, persuasion, promises — 2024 will have the lot of them. so what is the prime minister saying, what is he not saying today? what we've had, i think, is the power of flotation from rishi sunak, because for the best part of next year, he has the power to pick the date of the next general election. we didn't have to say anything, he

could have named a date — he did neither, insteadjust could have named a date — he did neither, instead just hinting, suggesting that it will be in the second half of the year rather than the first half. why is he doing that? you will help to ease off some of the speculation and give himself some space to do that. why might you be tempted, then, by the second half of the year? well, if the election was in the autumn, 0ctober of the year? well, if the election was in the autumn, october or later, it would mean that he had two years as prime minister before the election. go earlier than that, where the opinion polls suggest he might lose, and he would end up with less than two years where he to lose. and one other thing, the universal thing, the human psychology of something may be turning up if he leaves at that little bit later. and what happens if something turns up for rishi sunak? well, he could still call the election sooner, because he hasn't ruled anything out. many thanks, chris mason there in a rainy bristol.

0n the second day of a six—day strike byjunior doctors, one of england's largest hospitals says a call for some junior doctors to come into work because of extreme pressure was rejected by their union, the bma. nhs leaders in nottinghamshire declared a critical incident and warned that there were waits of up to eight hours in a&e and less seriously ill patients were being told to seek help elsewhere. rob sissons is at the queen's medical centre in nottingham for us. what does a critical incident mean for patients? hello, reeta. well, that phrase is a piece of nhsjargon, but it is hello, reeta. well, that phrase is a piece of nhs jargon, but it is the highest state of alert and a real sign of pressure in the health and social care system. it applies to the entire system across nottingham and nottinghamshire. now, what we know is that yesterday a request was made in the morning, just hours into this nationaljunior doctors strike, the longest in nhs history, this

latest block, for some junior doctors to come back in to help shore up the staffing in one of england's busiest a&e units here at the queens medical centre. by the evening, the nhs said they'd heard from the bma that the request had been turned down, a so—called derogation was denied. now, that has become increasingly frustrating, the bma says, the number of requests that are being made. what we know is that are being made. what we know is that the strike call here appears to be strongly heeded. yesterday, of all thejunior be strongly heeded. yesterday, of all the junior doctors on rota be strongly heeded. yesterday, of all thejunior doctors on rota on day one of the strike action, 72% didn't show up for work. we are told thatis didn't show up for work. we are told that is slightly down on the 80% earlier on in this long—running dispute. earlier on in this long-running disute. . ~' earlier on in this long-running disute. ., ~ , earlier on in this long-running disute. . ~ , . prince andrew is among a string of high—profile associates and friends of the late convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein who've been named in newly released us court documents. the 900 pages contain dozens of references to the king's brother, including testimony from a young woman who says that prince andrew groped her.

the records form part of a civil case against ghislaine maxwell, epstein�*s british ex—girlfriend, who's injail in the us for assisting him. prince andrew has previously denied all the allegations against him. 0ur north america correspondent gary 0'donoghue has more. jeffrey epstein was a billionaire financier, but he was also a serial abuser of underage girls. he knew some of the best known faces on the planet, from british royalty to pop stars to former presidents. these latest court documents contain more than 60 references to prince andrew and some to bill clinton. back in 2002, donald trump described him as "a terrific guy and a lot of fun to be with". neither of the former presidents have been accused of wrongdoing in the epstein case, but prince andrew's long friendship with epstein was what ended

his public royal role. these latest documents contain testimony from one woman who said prince andrew touched her breast while holding the hand of a puppet of himself against her other breast. buckingham palace has in the past categorically denied all allegations. another of epstein�*s accusers, virginia giuffre, said she'd met andrew on a number of occasions and been forced to have sex with the prince when she was 17 years old. despite a photo showing them together, the prince said he had no recollection of meeting her. and i've said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatever. in 2022, the prince settled a civil case brought by virginia giuffre against him for an undisclosed amount and withdrew from public life. the documents also contain some

bizarre elements, including an email to one—time girlfriend ghislaine maxwell, who's serving 20 years for sex trafficking. in the poorly spelt message, epstein offers to pay anyone who would deny that the late renowned physicist stephen hawking had taken part in an orgy on epstein�*s private island. this is the first release of documents in this particular case relating to epstein. there are more court files to come. many of epstein�*s victims, who endured years of not being believed, have campaigned hard for these names and documents to be released. 0f and documents to be released. of course, they have already been denied their ultimate wish, to see epstein himself on trial, as he hanged himself in prison before facing justice.— facing justice. gary o'donoghue re ”ortin facing justice. gary o'donoghue reporting there. _ our top story this evening.

more heavy rain hits the uk, leading to hundreds of flood alerts — nottinghamshire declares a major incident. and coming up — how the owner of this house kept the floodwaters at bay. coming up on bbc news... we hear from the darts world champion luke humphries, and the runner—up, 16—year—old luke littler, after an epic finale at alexandra palace — humphries saying it's a moment he'll never forget. the clothing company next has warned supplies of its products could be delayed if disruption to shipping in the red sea continues. attacks by rebels have resulted in ships avoiding their usual route and opting to take a safer but longer way round, which takes on average roughly nine days more. katy austin reports. the string of attacks on vessels by houthi rebels in the red sea means delays and increased shipping

costs for businesses here in the uk. literally 100% of the lines are delayed. the difficulty we have is that a valentine's day order is no good to a customer and a consumer on 15th february. here's the problem. on this map, you can see the difference that avoiding the red sea makes to the journey of goods coming to europe from asia. they'd use it to reach the suez canal, through which 30% of the world's shipping container volume passes. the alternative route is around africa's cape of good hope. the extra 3,500 nautical miles can take ten days longer. this animated video shows the movements of container ships in the few days after the first attack in november. compare that to the past three days, and you can see just how many are now taking the longer route. today, next became the latest major retailer to warn that deliveries

of its stock could be delayed. hopefully, it will be resolved in the next month or so, but if it isn't, we are likely to see slightly reduced choice of the things we would normally see in things like clothing retailers and electrical retailers, and also maybe longer delivery times, particularly of new products, because they will take longer to take come from the factories in the far east to our stores here in britain. the united states, britain and ten other countries have warned rebel forces in yemen that they will face consequences if attacks on commercial ships continue, warning that they posed a direct threat to freedom of navigation. it is important that this situation de—escalates and that it doesn't become a bigger crisis than it is right now. that would have a negative effect on ships and trade and in particular the safety of the seafarers. global shipping has been rocked by other crises in the past few years. the huge container ship ever given got stuck in the suez canal in 2021, and the covid pandemic caused extensive supply chain disruption. how much of a headache this latest problem becomes for businesses and consumers will depend on how long the threat to one

of the world's biggest trade routes continues. katy austin, bbc news. a 49—year—old man has been arrested following shootings at three locations in liverpool last night, at least one of which caught on camera. cctv from a corner shop in the norris green area appears to show a gunman demanding cash, before discharging a firearm then leaving the store. there were reports of two more similar shootings, at a nearby cinema and on a residential road. no—one was harmed. scientists have welcomed the discovery of an entirely new type of antibiotic, raising hopes that it could control one of the most dangerous superbugs. the new drug is still at the experimental stage, but if human trials prove successful, it would be the first new treatment against this type of bacteria in over 50 years. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh is here. how exciting is this?

this is promising research in a hugely important field of medicine. antibiotics underpin modern health care and they are vital in stopping bacterial infections. the new antibiotic, zosurabalpin, defeated one of the toughest of all superbugs. it is called carbapenem—resistant acinetobacter baumannii and is known as being hard to kill. it praise on patients in hospitals with an already weakened immune system. it is resistant to nearly all antibiotics and has a mortality rate of around 50%. a life—saving drug that has revolutionised medical science. since the discovery of the first antibiotic — penicillin — these precious drugs have saved countless lives. but there's been no new class

of antibiotics against the most resistant bacteria known as "gram—negative" in over 50 years. research in the journal nature explains the new compound was able to eradicate crab infections in petri dishes and in mice. but getting any new antibiotic from the lab to patients could take up to a decade of human trials. this could definitely save lives, because we urgently need antibiotics, because if there are no antibiotics, particularly against gram—negative infections, we might see the end of modern medicine because any minor infection, people will die, because with drug—resistant infection people can die within weeks. this is vital research because antimicrobial resistance is linked to around 5 million deaths worldwide each year. the battle against superbugs is one humanity can't afford to lose. fergus, thank you. will melbourne was a rising social media star who documented his mental health struggles online. but at the age of 19, he died alone

in supported accommodation. three years on, his inquest has finally taken place and recorded death by misadventure, but will's family say they only got the answers they needed because of a trail of evidence that he had left for them. ruth clegg has the story, and you may find parts of her report upsetting. hi, my name's will, i'm 18 and i have severe mental health problems. he was passionate about so many things. he was intelligent. he was so loving. he had been troubled his whole life. go away. right. stop harassing me. will was 19 when he died. his family and will himself say he was let down by the services that should have supported him. are you going to kill me? are you going to throw me down the stairs? . as the need got stronger, the help seemed to fall away even more. it's incredible.

no one should have to wait until they're in crisis to be treated. it's now been three years since we lost will and we have the inquest this morning. three years ago, little did they realise that they'd have to be the ones to investigate his death. we have worked out how will died. with a lack of support for his mental health, will began to self—medicate with illegal drugs. and that was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. let go. his life began to spiral out of control. let go. you're strangling me. let go. i went for a risk assessment and they said to me, something has to change. you can't live in the same house with your son. that isjust... ..the most painful thing, because that feels like... that feels like you're throwing out your sick child.

his room was at the back of the house. i this is where will died, in assisted accommodation, where he should have been checked on every day. he'd been lying dead in that room for almost three days. there were some tablets near enough above him from where he was found. so we asked the coroner that they analyse them, because one of the things that we knew was that will had self—medicated by ordering various tablets on the dark web. so this is a document that he made. there's a column. drug taken, oxycodone, - those are the two tablets that were missing from the bag of tablets on his desks — he thought he was taking oxycodone to help his anxieties. unfortunately, the drug that was supplied wasn't and it was a really nasty, a nasty drug. those were, as we now know, - metonitazene and we're absolutely sure that that's how he died.

we've just come out of the inquest now. i it was a relief that the coroner. came to the conclusion that will's cause of death was the toxicity - of metonitazene because we know that from everything we've seen— and everything we've worked towards, like making sure those tablets were tested. . despite all the things that were going against us, . that's something that we can take from this. _ everything is a fight. you can read more about will's story — including links to help if you've been affected by any of the issues raised in ruth's report — on our website. would you live here? look at this house next to the river severn in worcester. it becomes an island when it floods, yet the owners — who've been flooded nine times in the last four years — have never had to claim on insurance because they've kept it dry. phil mackie reports. they say an englishman's home is his castle,

or should that be island? 0n the flood plain in worcestershire, there's one tiny bit of dry land left. this is how it would normally look. there was no chance there'd ever be flood defences for the isolated property where nick lupton lives with his wife and two cats, so he decided to build one himself. although the house has got some really good mitigations in place like barriers on the doors and pumps below the floor level, we finally decided to build ourselves a wall around the house. well, that's nick's house. we can't get any nearer because the floodwaters are very deep and there's a strong cross—current, so it would be too dangerous either for him to come out or for us to go in. but thankfully, we have a good signal and new technology, and that means i can talk to him. so i can see you now and we can wave at each other. there we go, we're waving. 300 yards or so away from each other, fantastic. it took about four months to build. finished it in the middle of september and we tested it middle of october. and it's worked?

definitely worked, yeah. this is the second test. this flood is actually quite a high one. it's close to the record in 2020. i think the biggest danger is a bit of cabin fever. as long as we've got enough shopping in red wine or whatever, we're all right. we're 0k. the luptons have stocked up and are sitting it out until the water drops, hopefully by the weekend. phil mackie, bbc news, worcestershire. we will have the weather forecast in a moment. first, ben, why have we had so many storms this winter, causing this flooding? you had so many storms this winter, causing this flooding?— had so many storms this winter, causing this flooding? you can see the effects of— causing this flooding? you can see the effects of the _ causing this flooding? you can see the effects of the flooding - causing this flooding? you can see the effects of the flooding here. i the effects of the flooding here. because of climate change, rainfall events, when they do happen, are more intense. warmer air can hold more intense. warmer air can hold more moisture, so when these storm systems move through, those rain events are more intense. the rain is heavier. that's why we have seen flooding. it fits the pattern we

would expect with climate change. what we have had so far this month is a strong and powerfuljet stream that has been bringing weather systems are way. that is why we have had such stormy weather. but if you're looking for a change, this pattern in the jet stream of the jet stream heading to the north, will allow higher pressure and something drier, thankfully. i will allow higher pressure and something drier, thankfully.— drier, thankfully. i will leave you to the forecast _ drier, thankfully. i will leave you to the forecast now. _ drier, thankfully. i will leave you to the forecast now. we - drier, thankfully. i will leave you to the forecast now. we are - drier, thankfully. i will leave you to the forecast now. we are not| drier, thankfully. i will leave you i to the forecast now. we are not out ofthe to the forecast now. we are not out of the woods _ to the forecast now. we are not out of the woods yet. _ to the forecast now. we are not out of the woods yet. we have - to the forecast now. we are not out of the woods yet. we have an - to the forecast now. we are not out of the woods yet. we have an areal to the forecast now. we are not out. of the woods yet. we have an area of very wet weather falling across parts of southern england, and that rain is continuing northwards and eastwards right now. also very windy around some of the south and eastern coasts. the rain is already giving some travel headaches and it is likely to give some further flooding, other parts of the west midlands and wales that have been so badly affected are not seeing much rain from this weather system. that rain from this weather system. that rain is continuing to affect some eastern counties as we head through the night. further west, eastern counties as we head through the night. furtherwest, clear spells and showers. as we head into tomorrow, the wet weather will be sliding away eastwards, so things look like turning drier and

brighter. it's a slow process, still some showery rain across