our top story comes from germany, a lorry has been driven into a christmas market in burling. these are live pictures. police say nine people have been killed, 50 others injured. we will have ongoing coverage “— injured. we will have ongoing coverage —— berlin. the gunmen shouted a message about aleppo, immediately after firing the shots. if you are just if you arejustjoining us, let me update you on what is happening in berlin. a christmas market in berlin has, according to police, been attacked. a truck has been driven into it. the market wasjust in front of kaiser wilhelm memorial church. you can see its south and

south west of the brandenburg gate. the police department of berlin have been a primary source of information on this. a tweet in german says that we can confirm that nine people have died and many more are injured. one useful person to follow on this person is philip alterman, quoting that police say the driver fled the scene. one suspect has been arrested about 100 metres away. a second person in the cab died of injuries on the scene. that is worth emphasising that it is ported by local media. as you imagine, the whole area is secured and sealed off. a lot of emergency services and police at the scene. we are told by german police that there is no imminent threat in the

area around this church and where the christmas market was taking place. we also know german police are advising all berliners to stay in. while they are saying there is no threat, they are saying not to leave your hands. some local reports say there were two passengers, and that a codriver died in the incident. i was mentioning a moment ago that there are multiple reports of one person exiting the cab of the truck, and then being arrested. a little earlier i spoke to the deputy editor ofa earlier i spoke to the deputy editor of a newspaper, who was on his way home when this happened. he saw the aftermath. i was on my way back home. i was right on the other side of the street from the place where the christmas market is. i hear a loud noise, the houses were destroyed by

the truck, i heard some screens and that was the first impression. i don't have site of the truck coming from which direction, but then i heard the noise and the screams. then i heard the noise and the screams. i went to the other side of the place, and decided to make a live video on facebook, which we have on our side now. it was really horrible what you can see there, the live pictures from nice. the people on the ground, and some other people taking care of them. while you were filming, what did you see? i saw the broken houses. i saw many destroyed glass on the ground,

fluids, it could be red wine or blood, i don't really know. i saw some people lying on the ground, and also some people under the truck. it was really horrible. it was chaotic, as you can imagine. how busy would this area be on an evening like this so close to christmas? yes, a really busy place. we have christmas markets in berlin. it is not the most popular, but it is in the western part of the city, and is really popular. there are churches nearby and it is a busy place. the people go after work to have some

wine, hot red wine or white wine, and to talk to friends and have some fun. how quickly did the emergency services arrive after you saw the aftermath of the truck coming into the market? at the christmas market in berlin, there are some police officers for security as standard. as we now know, the police officers that were there, there were two people in the front of the truck. one is —— escaped. there were very many officers, yeah.

a number of you are getting in touch with various questions and points on this story. giovanni says, why are you referring to the incident as an attack? the reason we use the word attack? the reason we use the word attack is because the local police say they believe this is most likely to bea say they believe this is most likely to be a terrorist attack. it's their phraseology that we'd take a lead from. "you need to check the uk foreign office website because it has an update on it. this is the foreign office website." there is a high threat from terrorism. attacks could be indiscriminate, including in public places visited by foreigners. this is the british foreign office. it is worth saying what we heard from richard lister a while ago that the americans already had advice for americans travelling to western europe, that they needed to take ca re europe, that they needed to take care in busy places around christmas that could potentially be a threat.

ora that could potentially be a threat. or a target, that could potentially be a threat. ora target, i that could potentially be a threat. or a target, i should say. a couple of other updates, more coming in from the berlin police, "facebook has activated its safety check feature, use it to find out if your loved ones are safe". reports of their being meeting points for relatives being close to the christmas markets where authorities are giving out information. another update from the police. this is the best source of information we have got at the moment. "a suspicious person was arrested near breitscheidplatz. whether it is the driver of the truck is currently under it investigation." despite the police saying there is no ongoing security situation, they are still telling berliners to stay indoors this evening. let's speak to another guest on this

story. we have a security expert at the university of keele in germany. professor, thank you for your time. give us your thoughts on what is happening in berlin. it looks like this was a terrorist attack although the police are not totally sure, but everything indicates that this is something similarto indicates that this is something similar to the attack that we have seenin similar to the attack that we have seen in nice in the summer of this year. this kind of attack is usually described as a possible way of attacking. it looks like this was an attacking. it looks like this was an attack and it was a very bloody one. iam afraid attack and it was a very bloody one. i am afraid there might be even more had people coming out. i was mentioning that the americans have advice for american tourists and business people in germany, do you think the german authorities

we re you think the german authorities were focused on the possibility of an attack of this nature? there were warnings in the past, in particular with regard to christmas markets, but there are many christmas markets in berlin, and it is almost impossible to keep them all secure. in particular, you might help by building up roadblocks, but this has not been done here, and it is quite difficult in this place. i know breitscheidplatz very well, it isa know breitscheidplatz very well, it is a very huge place, and it is in between two very crowded streets. it is hardly possible to seal it off. you say you know this part of berlin well, most of us don't know it so well, most of us don't know it so well, can you give us an idea of how easy or difficult it might be to get a truck into the position where we can see at this evening? it's really easily done, you just

have to take one of the big streets and simply turned the wheel to the right or to the left, and go through the christmas market. this was a really big truck. it obviously was a truck with steel loaded, so it was very heavy. this is one of the places to attack if you wanted many people. it is quite easy to do this. while you look at what is happening in berlin, and we also look at what happened in nice, although we don't know how close the parallels are, it is very difficult to know how to respond to these events, because as you have been describing, they are almost impossible to stop. it is almost impossible to stop. what you can do, where we have had

similar experience in the past, is having as many roadblocks as possible. that is the way to secure such places. we have to make efforts in this regard, or one has two seal it off, it costs a lot of money, but you have to be aware of this. i'm afraid that this kind of awareness was not there, but i might be wrong. stay with us if we can, professor. i wa nt to stay with us if we can, professor. i want to reiterate the story to people just joining want to reiterate the story to peoplejustjoining us. there has been a fatal incident in burling. a truck is driven into a christmas market close to a very well—known church close to the centre of burling. police say nine people have lost their lives. —— berlin. police are telling people in

berlin. police are telling people in berlin to stay inside. people saying not to call it a terrorist attack, but police have said that they suspect that this truck was deliberately driven into this christmas market. word they are using is attack, but clearly a number of people were seeing this as an act of terrorism. we are not saying it is due to radical islam is because there is no evidence that we have seen of that being the case at this moment. let's remind you of how the local press in germany is covering this story. "terror in berlin" you can see, nine dead, 50 injured. this is

an image that you will see in lots of newspapers tomorrow morning, i am certain of that. the area where the christmas garden was happening. you can see the lights... christmas market. again, another lead on this story. a close—up of the cab of the truck. you can see how badly damaged the front of the truck is, notjust with the windscreen not in, but the front of the truck also damage. a reminder, or the police say that one person got out of the truck and left it, but was apprehended. there are also reports in local media that one person died in the truck. we don't know the circumstances in which that person lost their life. again, leading on what is happening in germany, but also covering the assassination of the russian ambassador to turkey. we will turn to that story in a minute. a couple of other things to remind you of if you want to see how the british

foreign office has responded to the story, it has posted new advice on its website. the bbc has a live page being run through the bbc news app and the bbc news website. that is the latest we have on the situation in berlin. we are to some degree will iron on the information being provided to us by the berlin police. they are tweeting updates. we will keep you updated on that and speak to people at the scene, and we are gathering information from people directly affected. let's turn to another hugely significant story, we have new bits of information coming in all the time, this from reuters, turkey's minister says a joint commission will be formed to investigate the russian ambassador‘s death. we can also see quotes that have come through as well. this is vladimir putin:

let's speak to my two colleagues from bbc turkey and bbc russia. a provocation is a reference to the fa ct a provocation is a reference to the fact that a provocation is a reference to the fa ct that recently a provocation is a reference to the fact that recently relationships between turkey and russia were not good. yes, they were in deep crisis in november when turkey shot down a russianjet, allegedly, november when turkey shot down a russian jet, allegedly, because november when turkey shot down a russianjet, allegedly, because of the violation of the turkish airspace, and experts said it was because russia bombed turkeys in syria, and turkish clients, for that matter. but then this summer, taking it more widely, after the negotiations of the two president, president putin and president

erdogan. they have now been more sites, like the statement of blood amid putin and other russian officials, as well as turkish officials, as well as turkish officials, that the two parties now are not going to let relationship flourished again. by flourished again. by doing putin says it was a provocation. do we have insight into what motivated this man? there is an operation going on right now in turkey. the family and friends of gunmen are in custody by now. it is right that putin and have threw are in talks. after the incident, they had a phone conversation. after the incident, vladimir putin said it was a provocation. tim threw also said it was a provocation. did you say that his family and friends are in detention? they are being questioned by the police about the relationship to other organisations. what kind of security would have been at an art gallery attended by a

russian ambassador? normally, in that kind of event, the eraso many guards, and the security level is really high, especially recently. but they say that the russian ambassador is known to be going to these events without security guards. —— there are many guards. they were saying that it is very good that the russian ambassador is going alone to that kind of event. it shows how he feels secure himself. but we saw that there are some incidents going on. as far as some incidents going on. as farasi some incidents going on. as far as i understand, actually, under the vienna convention, the diplomatic is not guarded without special request. so no heightened security. we know that vladimir putin and

president tim threw get on very well, but they have —— prime minister erdogan, but the gunman highlighted the fact that the two countries don't agree. they are speaking about the provocation and trying to drive a wedge into the turkish— russian relationships, russia does not have many allies at the moment. they do need to preserve the moment. they do need to preserve the relationship. back in the day, in different circumstances, the killing of the ambassador would have been... but this is not the case. broadly, the security challenges the

turkey huge, aren't they. they come from so many different sources. there are so many events happening, and in turkey, there are different organisations in turkey that caused danger. so it isa danger. so it is a problem right now, it's true. that is translating into president erdogan's tactics with regards to security, after the attempted coup. for sure, right now there is a high security level in turkey. for example, when we come to the first question of yours about relations between turkey and russia, we can say that there was an emphasis that the corporation is still going on. there is also a meeting tomorrow with uranium,

russian and turkish foreign ministers. some analysts relate the incident to that meeting tomorrow iranians. how can they respond to it? at the moment, they are just words, not hollow words, but we can't speculate on the meaning. the terrorist perpetrators will be punished. both of you, thank you in much. we appreciate your time today, and those of you that have the relevant language skills, you can get this story covered through bbc turkey and bbc russia. i spotted a tweet coming in from one of you watching, claiming, let me see if i can find it, here we go, jeremy saying, "the muslim terrorist who murdered the russian ambassador, "

what he shouted has been reported by multiple sources, including the bbc. thank you for your tweets. these are the latest pictures coming in from berlin. they show you the scene from a little while ago as the emergency services arrived at this christmas market in berlin, into which a truck has been driven. as you can see, a huge, huge response from the services there, and the police there. the police, by the way, saying that nine people, at least nine people have lost their lives, at least 50 are injured, but there is no ongoing security situation. local media spoke to one british man at the scene who saw

what happened. we we re what happened. we were in the market outside the cathedral, and as we were leaving, the large truck came through. it we nt the large truck came through. it wentjust passed the large truck came through. it went just passed me the large truck came through. it wentjust passed me and my girlfriend, it missed me by three metres, missing her by five. it came in through the entrance, hitting the sides of the barriers and carried on past us. idid not past us. i did not see any concrete pollard is like this driving in. we had them in birmingham to stop that. definitely people got injured. i spoke to two people lying on the floor with broken limbs, but they we re floor with broken limbs, but they were going to be ok. i saw one guy being dragged away with blood on his face. i helped several other people lived beside of one of the stalls up. let's just reiterate where this all has happened. it's a place to the southin has happened. it's a place to the south in the centre of berlin, close

to the kaiser wilhelm memorial church. south—west of the brandenburg gate. we have some important details coming in from various police statements, and increasingly from city authorities as well. let me update you on that. this is the police saying that nine have lost their lives, this is also important from the bureau chief saying, "police say driver fled the scene, but suspect has been arrested about 100 metres away. the second person in the cab died of injuries on the scene". one quoted a city official, saying that it is not clear what the circumstances of what the attack was, it could be an accident or an attack. it does not sit precisely with what the police have been saying. here you go, this is the tweet that came through:. that's not in line with what the

police have been saying in the last couple of hours. this is also interesting, recently the german police say that to protect the privacy please do not spread videos from this christmas market. i have been on the television for the last hour, before i came onto the television, there weren't a huge amount of images being shared, the same couple being shared a lot. this is the police in berlin saying:. that's in line with the police advice to stay indoors if you are in berlin. thank you for watching, the story continues to evolve. no doubt, we will get more information in the next few minutes. buy buy. the weather is about to turn pretty wild as we enter the stormiest

period of the winter so far. it has been so quiet lately, but a bit of a shock on the way, strong winds potentially on the way and heavy rain, too. maybe a bit of snow, but not a lot. it is mostly across the hills. let's look at the reason for the stormy weather, a jet stream roaring out of north america, making a beeline for the uk. underneath the jet stream, we get areas of low pressure. this is a roundabout christmas eve time, a bit of a lull. the next one will head our way as well. it is too early to see how strong will be, but it is too far. in the short—term, this is tuesday morning, mild, damp, cloudy weather in the south, frost across northern areas. the morning nippy across scotla nd areas. the morning nippy across scotland and northern ireland.

temperatures around freezing in many areas, milder in the western isles, areas, milder in the western isles, a hint of what is to come. in the south of that, across england and wales, witty cloudy. the difference with tuesday compared to wednesday will be that on tuesday we will see some of the cloud breaking up, sunshine eventually coming through. the morning will be grey and drizzly, but things will improve a bit. look at the isobars here, that isa bit. look at the isobars here, that is a screaming gale force wind coming out of the atlantic ocean, pushing the first weather front through during the course of tuesday, through northern ireland and western scotland. by the time we get to the middle part of the week, these weather fronts well and truly rushing through the uk. wind increasing everywhere, gailes around the north—western coast. perhaps further west and south, too. initially, the weather not too blustery, but it will still be

cloudy and stamp at times. a lot of sunshine, too. not all bad, blustery, cold showers around, but by thursday and friday and through the weekend, through christmas, that is where things turn interesting. let's look at the scene across our pa rt let's look at the scene across our part of the world as we enter christmas eve. here is the nasty area of low pressure, strong winds. tonnes of isobars, you can't really count them, they go on and on forever. here are the gale force winds. the worst of the winds at this stage of a body on christmas eve, around the country. then a lull, then christmas day will see heavy rain sweeping across the country, and another area of low pressure. this could be further south, or further north, pressure. this could be further south, orfurther north, so pressure. this could be further south, or further north, so the detail is uncertain. what is interesting, between the areas of low pressure, because the wind spins like so, the back edges of low

pressure can see cold air coming in, so we could have snow across northern areas. yes, during the course of christmas day into boxing day and beyond, there is a possibility of wintry, sleety weather across northern areas. be prepared for disruptive winds and heavy rain throughout this christmas period. it is worth checking the forecasts regularly. thanks for watching. tonight at ten — an attack on a busy christmas market in berlin. at least nine are dead and dozens injured. police say a lorry mounted the pavement at speed and crashed through one of berlin's best—known markets, packed with christmas shoppers. members of the public tended to the injured, as police urged berliners to stay indoors until the all—clear could be given. as emergency services responded swiftly, officials said they were dealing with a possible "terror attack". translation: it is terrible to witness this, i had hoped we would never experience something like this here in berlin. police on the ground are doing

everything they can. we'll have the latest from berlin, where police say they've detained one person — believed to be the truck driver. there's another major story tonight: shouting. an off—duty turkish policeman, moments after he shot and killed