been flooded so far. and there's travel chaos on railand road — some train lines have been inundated with water. we'll have the latest on the damage, and find out whether there's more to come. also on today's programme: the former labour adviser derek draper has died at the age of 56 — he'd lived with extreme complications from covid since 2020. oscar pistorius has been freed on parole, from prison in south africa — 11 years after murdering his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. and, we talk to the all—female rock band who've just been named the bbc sound of 202a. and coming up on bbc news: everton are considering appealing the controversial red card their striker, dominic calvert—lewin, was given following

another var intervention. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. more than 1000 homes are underwater in england this lunchtime, after storm henk brought with it a week of heavy rainfall. a major incident is still declared in nottinghamshire — there are serious delays for travellers in many counties, with roads and railway lines flooded — and about 300 flood warnings are still in place across england and wales. we'll talk more about the damaging weather in a few minutes, first let's go to our correspondent danjohnson who's in longford in gloucestershire.

along the river severn... they were not expecting the start of 2024 with another dell use of flooded homes. not every property has been... i am not every property has been... i am sorry about — not every property has been... i am sorry about the _ not every property has been... i am sorry about the line, _ not every property has been... i am sorry about the line, the weather, of course, having an impact in so many ways. let's hear the latest on the weather picture from jon donnison. after days of rain on already sodden ground, large parts of the country are now under water. this was nottingham this morning where the river trent is at its highest levels for 20 years. around 1000 homes in england have been flooded, according to the environment agency. in loughborough, darren�*s father had to be rescued from his flat in the early hours of yesterday morning. anything three feet and below is gone, and that includes both beds, settees and whatnot,

they are all ruined. in bradford on avon in wiltshire, the sun was shining today but overnight the damage had been done and the morning stroll for these two was cut short. it's normally like a road into a bridge over there, but it all so flooded that no one can get through. and this is what the river avon did to alice and mark's garden in fordingbridge in hampshire, the flood defences swamped. the garden would get flooded, it did last year, so we had to start bringing all the equipment and tools we had in the garden, all of the toys for the children and start bringing them closer to the house, which is on higher ground. the water breached a couple of weeks ago and now the river— bank has gone as well. in some areas, water levels are not expected to peak until later today. they have been cleaning up in the capital, 50 properties including this book shop had to be evacuated in east london. just

this book shop had to be evacuated in east london.— in east london. just been scooping buckets and _ in east london. just been scooping buckets and buckets _ in east london. just been scooping buckets and buckets and _ in east london. just been scooping buckets and buckets and buckets l in east london. just been scooping | buckets and buckets and buckets of water. some areas are quite submerged and there is quite a lot of damage to the books. find submerged and there is quite a lot of damage to the books.— submerged and there is quite a lot of damage to the books. and a party boat on the — of damage to the books. and a party boat on the thames _ of damage to the books. and a party boat on the thames sang, _ of damage to the books. and a party boat on the thames sang, the - of damage to the books. and a party boat on the thames sang, the mast| of damage to the books. and a party. boat on the thames sang, the mast is just about the only thing still above water. some rail services have been badly affected with major disruption in the great western and south—western networks. disruption in the great western and south-western networks. somewhere between newton _ south-western networks. somewhere between newton abbot _ south-western networks. somewhere between newton abbot and _ south-western networks. somewhere between newton abbot and totnes, l south-western networks. somewhere i between newton abbot and totnes, we ground to a halt. we sat there for a couple of hours and they assessed whether they could go through the flood water or not.— whether they could go through the flood water or not. driving also has been treacherous. _ flood water or not. driving also has been treacherous. in _ flood water or not. driving also has l been treacherous. in leicestershire, a number of stranded horses had to be rescued. forecasters say the rain will be replaced by a cold snap in the coming days, but for some the clean—up after one of the wettest starts to the year on record could take weeks. jon donnison, bbc news.

let's hear more about the transport disruption — our transport correspondent katy austin is at london's paddington station. bring us up today with what the situation is this lunchtime. more bad weather _ situation is this lunchtime. more bad weather has _ situation is this lunchtime. more bad weather has meant - situation is this lunchtime. more bad weather has meant more . bad weather has meant more disruption, including on the trains. there were a real problems yesterday on routes connecting london with the west, south—west and wales. much of that due to flooding and yesterday great western railway is still particularly affected with a lot of flooding causing issues. severe disruption and also a much reduced level of service. so at paddington we are seeing quite a few cancellations on the departure boards. south—western railway has also been affected by problems yesterday and is still having some disruption today. crews and trains have been left in the wrong places by those issues yesterday and also there is a landslip, meaning that services can run between yeovil

junction and exeter. disruption also includes rail services in lincolnshire being disrupted. not a great picture out there so check before you travel if you need to travel today. main roads were hit by flooding, including some major routes, part of the m25 was affected by flooding and i am told the national highways have said a lot of the incidents on the main rates have been cleared up. but it is the second time this week alone there has been a lot of disruption because of severe weather and incidents of intense, severe weather, intense rainfall are posing increasing challenges for the transport networks. challenges for the transport networke— challenges for the transport networks. ., ~' , ., ., ., challenges for the transport networks. ., ~ ., ., ., networks. thank you for now, katie austen at paddington _ networks. thank you for now, katie austen at paddington station - networks. thank you for now, katie austen at paddington station in - austen at paddington station in london. of course we expect bad weather in the winter, but this feels extreme for many people, let's discuss what's happening with our weather presenter louise lear:|t s been a very wet winter so far, what s

been causing this? what has caused this? we know a warmer world can mean a wetter world. that means when we get to see significant areas low pressure that is the potential for significant rainfall to come from that low. if you look at the satellite sequence across the uk for the last 12 days, you can see the bombardment of cloud. we see one area of low pressure being replaced by another. it looks likely the december 2023 is going to be one of the wettest on record for some and actually, january, and we are only into the 5th of january, we see three significant areas of low pressure across the uk already. aha, significant areas of low pressure across the uk already.— across the uk already. a lot of named storms, _ across the uk already. a lot of named storms, explain - across the uk already. a lot of named storms, explain the . named storms, explain the significance of that?- named storms, explain the significance of that? last winter season we _ significance of that? last winter season we only _ significance of that? last winter season we only had _ significance of that? last winter season we only had two - significance of that? last winter season we only had two named| significance of that? last winter - season we only had two named storms. this winter period, 2023 into twenty20 for we have seen eight

names storms with storm henk arriving on the 2nd of january. names storms with storm henk arriving on the 2nd ofjanuary. but there is a glimmer of good news, high pressure is building and we could potentially see at least a week of dry, settled but colder weather to come. mil week of dry, settled but colder weather to come.— week of dry, settled but colder weather to come. all right, louise, thank you- — weather to come. all right, louise, thank you- and _ weather to come. all right, louise, thank you. and louise _ weather to come. all right, louise, thank you. and louise will- weather to come. all right, louise, thank you. and louise will be - weather to come. all right, louise, thank you. and louise will be back| thank you. and louise will be back at the end of the programme for our usual weather forecast. derek draper, the former labour party adviser, has died at the age of 56. he'd been living with extreme complications from covid, since contracting the virus at the start of the pandemic in march 2020. his wife, the itv presenter kate garraway, announced his death online, saying that she was with her �*darling husband' when he passed away. 0ur political correspondent helen catt looks back at his life. in march 2020, the former political adviser, derek draper, caught covid. he spent ten weeks in a coma coming

home after 374 days in hospital. derek's brain and body have been so impacted by covid that he has difficulty speaking. he can't move without help and has been left doubly incontinent. his wife, the tv presenter kate garraway, made this film about their experience. today in a post on instagram she said he passed peacefully away by cardiac arrest. she finished by saying she had been lucky to have him in her life. born in lancashire, derek draper worked behind the scenes to create new labour in the 1990s. he didn't follow his boss, peter mandelson, into government after their election victory. instead, he became a lobbyist. don't quote me directly on this, but you could say that a friend of peter's summed up his problem. flamboyant, well connected.

he was caught boasting about his contacts with ministers and making a fortune for company. if a company hires my company, and they get me for one hour, guess how much they have to pay. £15. 250. dolly, as he was nicknamed at westminster, was fired by his company and cash for access became a scandal. minimum wage. devolution. gchq recognition. he remained a fervent supporter of new labour but left politics to retrain as a psychotherapist. a decade later he returned, but was caught setting up a website to peddle false rumours about conservative mps. his career at westminster was over. well done. when covid struck, derek was fit, healthy and barely 50. absolutely fantastic. the couple shared their story on film to show how their family and others coped with a life changing event.

# happy birthday to you.# keeping hope alive, doing their best, and enjoying what time they had. derek draper, who's died at the age of 56. 0scar pistorius has been released from prison in south africa on parole, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. pistorius, a paralympic and olympic athlete, shot ms steenkamp at his home in 2013, claiming in court that he thought she was an intruder. reeva steenkamp's mother has said she is living a life sentence. officials say pistorius is now at home, where he will serve the remainder of his sentence. daniel de simone reports from pretoria in the heats of the 400m hurdle... 0scar pistorius, convicted murderer, was once a paralympic and olympic superstar nicknamed the blade runner.

his victim was girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, a law graduate and model. he's been serving his sentence at this prison. early this morning the authorities announced he'd left, was now officially a parolee and is at home. that believed to be this nearby house owned by an uncle. until 2029, he'll live under conditions, including being required to attend anger management sessions and not speaking to the media. he can be returned to prison if he breaches them. pistorius murdered reeva steenkamp on valentine's day 2013 by shooting four times through a locked toilet door at his home. his trial absorbed the world. he claimed to have shot her by mistake, thinking an intruder was in the house. i got to the bed and then i realised reeva wasn't there. at first found guilty of the equivalent of manslaughter, he was convicted on appeal in 2015 of murder, withjudges

saying his story was inconsistent and improbable. reeva steenkamp's close friend says they've had no space to grieve. we want to mourn and we most certainly would like reeva to rest in peace. every time we start processing and coming to terms with things, 0scar pops up. in my opinion, 0scar walking around as a free man, without the necessary training and treatments and psychiatric evaluations, he is deadly on the streets. what 0scar pistorius does next will be the focus of intense interest. campaigners against male violence says his release sends a terrible signal. oscar's release is an indication that we have a serious problem that there is, i guess, a normalisation of leniency when it comes to predators, when it comes to anyone who commits any type of femicide or gender—based violence. reeva steenkamp's mother today said those left behind after her murder

are the ones serving a life sentence. daniel de simone, bbc news, pretoria. the spanish airline iberia has been hit with a four—day strike after the collapse of talks between unions and the company. hundreds of flights have been cancelled to and from spain. ground staff are protesting about contracts signed by the state—owned airport operator with new providers. the airline said madrid would not be affected, but airports in other parts of the country would, including barcelona, ibiza and mallorca. our top story this afternoon: hundreds of flood warnings remain in place across england — after days of heavy rainfall on already saturated ground. and coming up — a tale of two seans — a new guide dog for our bbc colleague after an 18 month wait. coming up on bbc news:

can rafael nadal conitnue his winning run on his comeback from nearly a year out with an injury. he's in action against australian jordan thompson. a bbc investigation has found some online pharmacies are selling prescription—only drugs without robust safety checks. bbcjournalists posing as patients were able to obtain more than 1,600 prescription only pills, from 20 online pharmacies — without any proof of their medical situation. divya talwar reports. katie needed help. she'd become dependent on medications. and she's just such a bright, beautiful, bubbly person. christine and fred's daughter, katie, was 38 when she overdosed on prescription—only medication.

she'd become dependent on anti—anxiety and opioid prescription medicines. she was able to buy medications online — medications that she knew would do her harm. although her gp had stopped prescribing the medicines to her, katie was able to get them from legitimate online pharmacies instead. the coroner at her inquest said her doctor had never been contacted by the pharmacies to check the drugs were suitable. the pharmacy regulator says online pharmacies must get all the information they need to make sure a medicine is safe. we wanted to find out what checks are in place, so we attempted to buy three prescription—only drugs online — a painkiller, an anxiety drug and a sleeping medication. we've been able to buy more than 1,600 tablets of prescription—only medication, and we've been able to get all of this without showing a single prescription. of the 35 we approached, 13 online pharmacies refused to sell to us

without permission to consult our gp, access to some medical records or proof of a valid prescription. but at 20 pharmacies we were able to put in false information in answers to online questionnaires and didn't need to provide any further evidence to prove the drugs were suitable. the regulator, which is the general pharmaceutical council for pharmacist prescribers, needs to be a bit more specific. there isn't a lot of guidance to assist online pharmacies. we could have vulnerable patients who are going online, knowing that nobody is going to see their face and therefore they can access what they want. the general pharmaceutical council says it expects pharmacy owners to identify which medicines are appropriate to supply online. it says it has made it clear that medicines liable to misuse are not suitable to be supplied online unless further safeguards have been put in place. and it's taken action where pharmacies fell short of its professional standards. itjust needs to be better

regulated, with more background knowledge. katie needed help. she didn't need more medications. divya talwar, bbc news. israel has presented a plan for how gaza should be governed, once its war is over. it's the first time a detailed proposal has been produced by a senior government minister, since the beginning of the conflict in october. let's speak to our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, who is injerusalem — what does the plan say, and what does it mean? well this is a relatively short outline that has been put forward, but it says palestinian body should govern gaza as long as there is no threat to israel. it supports jewish settlements there and says a

multinational force led by the us should be responsible in future for the reconstruction there. now, all of this is interesting in timing, because as israel has said the war could go on for many more months there has been more and more international criticism of the fact it didn't seem to have a comprehensive post—war vision for gaza and this is now being published, although it has not yet been approved by the war or security cabinet, a few days perfect a visit by the us secretary of state antony blinken who is due here next week. thank you. britain has condemned russia for launching ballistic missiles to attack ukraine, which had been supplied by north korea. ukraine was hit by waves of missile and drone strikes this past week. american officials said weapons from north korea had been used on two occasions.

police say they've arrested two boys, aged 16 and 17, on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of 16—year—old harry pitman in north london on new year's eve. he was fatally stabbed as people gathered near a viewing platform in primrose hill to watch the fireworks. a man and woman have been charged after the bodies of two babies were found in south wales. zilvinas ledovskis, who's 48, and egle zilins—kaite, who's 30, will appear before cardiff magistrates court next month. the charges relate to the discovery of two babies in bridgend, in november 2022. thejunior doctors strike in england has entered its third day. the six day walk out, the longest in the history of the nhs coincides with the busiest time of year for the health service. flu patients in england jumped by more than a third over christmas, with more than 1,000 people in hospital with the virus. nhs bosses have requested striking

staff come in to help. a record number of electric cars were sold last year — 315,000, that's out of total car sales of 1.9 million. the society of motor manufacturers and traders says it thinks the industry has recovered from the pandemic, but says more needs to be done to promote electric cars, including tax breaks for private buyers. here s our business correspondent, theo leggett. love them or loathe them, electric cars are here to stay. last year, 315,000 battery—powered models hit the road in the uk. that's one in every six new cars. but there is a problem. although sales of electric cars did go up last year, for manufacturers they didn't go up nearly fast enough. in fact, their share of the market overall was unchanged. and that's a big problem, because this year manufacturers have to meet strict new government

targets for selling electric cars. if they don't meet them, they will be faced with very heavy fines. from this year, 22% of all new cars produced must be zero emission, in other words electric or hydrogen—powered. but by 2028 it will be 52% — more than half. and by 2035 all new cars will have to be emissions—free. electric vehicles have proved popular as company cars, because they attract very low rates of tax, but people within the industry say they're still too expensive for most private buyers and government help is needed to boost sales. one of the things we are advocating is a vat reduction on electric vehicles for those private buyers. this would even things up between the private and the business buyer and would drive the market, potentially putting an extra quarter of a million electric vehicles on the road. modern electric cars do have plenty of performance, but their batteries still need to be charged and for some motorists that can be a headache,

especially on long journeys. drivers here at chester services told us about their experiences. if you're going to do a lot of long distance driving, it's probably not really that viable at the moment, because these sort of charging places are pretty few and far between to be honest. definitely a big advantage compared to petrol- and diesel, obviously the - environmental benefits of that, i'm a high mileage driver, but i have l to admit it's been a frustratingl experience with public charging. it's the best thing i've ever done, best thing i've ever done. you can just go for miles and not having to worry about stopping at a petrol station, they're quiet and most importantly it is good for the environment. electric cars are becoming more popular, but making them cheaper and charging easier will still be vital if the journey to full electrification is to be a smooth and comfortable one. theo leggatt, bbc news. if you really, really want a spice girl stamp — you're in luck. royal mail is issuing a set of 15 stamps celebrating one of the world's most successful pop groups, as they mark their 30th anniversary.

it is the first time royal mail has dedicated an entire stamp issue to a female pop group. the spice girls said they never could have dreamed of it happening when they first formed, adding: "that's girl power!" tributes have been paid to the british actress glynisjohns, who's died in los angeles at the age of 100. # where are the clowns? the song send in the clowns was written especially for her when she appeared in the stephen sondheim's a little night music in 1973. but she was perhaps best known for playing the suffragette in the 1964 film mary poppins. her career spanned more than 60 years. now there's a shortage of guide dogs in the uk, so there can

be a long wait for someone who's visually impaired to be matched with one. 0ur correspondent sean dilley waited nearly 18 months, after his beloved guide dog sammy reached retirement age. but now, there's good news, because sean has a new companion who we'll all love having around the newsroom. here's sean with his story. thank you. hello! how you doing? this is a tale of two seans. good boy! it's early november and we've got the weekend together to see how well we bond. it's been 16 months since my third guide sammy retired with family and 17 and a half months on the waiting list. touch. so spending time with sean the dog... you're lovely, aren't you?

..is the best feeling in the world. but too soon our weekend together was over. it was time for sean to head back to his training fosterers. you're going to have the best life, this is what it's about. two weeks' later, we were on our way to begin five week of guide dog training — the first two of which were from a hotel in essex. we were issued the kit we'd need for training and hopefully beyond. this was the prize we were aiming for. soon we'd get to try his training harness out on a real walk with instructor graham. it feels lovely, this. it suddenly felt very real for both of us. now, put your right foot across. now ask him to go. very narrow. by the way, good boy. well done. training guide dog sean was feeling the responsibility of guiding his blind handler. good boy, he kept the kerb, i'm happy with that. i don't expect him to get there, but if he can stop at it and acknowledge, point it out to you.

gently encourage him. he recognises somebody's there. he got you through, good man! good boy, well done! good boy. we spent another three weeks learning and practicing routes together, but it all paid off — we passed our assessment with an independent supervisor with ease. good boy. on 20th december trainee gd sean became qualified guide dog sean and just in time for christmas too. we had made it! sean dilley and sean doggie, bbc news! the bbc sound of music prize has a pretty good track record in spotting future stars of the industry. previous winners include adele, stormzy and ellie goulding. so, now you may want to listen to the last dinner party, because the group has just been named the sound of 2024. they're an all—female rock band who released their debut single

just eight months ago. 0ur music correspondent mark savage has been to meet them. one of the uk's most talked about new band, talked about new bands, the last dinner party have just won the bbc�*s sound of 2024. you might be wondering why there's a spare seat here... and here's the moment they found out the news from one of their heroes. florence! woo! i know how overwhelming it can be, so ijust wanted to be here to give you my love and tell you you've won radio 0ne's sound of 2024! the last dinner party formed four years ago when all the members were studying at university in london. i sat down with them

in the venue where it all began. this is where you played your first show two years' ago. what are your memories of that night? very little! and how many people were here? 20? 20, yeah. it felt like loads though. i remember standing on the stage and looking out and being like, "i am king of glastonbury!" for the last 22 years, the sound of poll has predicted success for artists like adele, stormzy and dua lipa. this year's runner up was the singer song writer 0livia dean. and in third place was the korean superstar dj peggy gou. but the last dinner party were the runaway winners with this year's voters. this hasjust happened, it stillsinking in, but how will you celebrate? shall we go for a drink? yes.

we are going to have a good time. mark savage, bbc news. time for a more detailed look at the weather. here's louise again. we were talking about it earlier, what awaits people as we head into the weekend? it what awaits people as we head into the weekend?— what awaits people as we head into the weekend? ., , , , , the weekend? it has been relentless, this icture the weekend? it has been relentless, this picture could _ the weekend? it has been relentless, this picture could be _ the weekend? it has been relentless, this picture could be almost - this picture could be almost anywhere across the country. i'm sure you don't need me to reinforce the story, but the statistics are breath—taking. we have only had five days of january so far and breath—taking. we have only had five days ofjanuary so far and some of us have seen just about or close to the whole monthly average rain fall forjanuary. that is how relentless it has been. but i've got a glimmer

of good news, it looks like we are