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in and some hail as well and very strong winds. gales at times towards the north—west. for england and wales, well the winds are not as strong. some rain at times, yes, but spells of sunshine. so by 3pm, this is how we are expecting things to look. the showers just continuing to pile in across the western side of scotla nd pile in across the western side of scotland with hail and thunder and snow gci’oss scotland with hail and thunder and snow across high ground. i think accumulating snow over the hills and the mountains and a similar story for northern ireland. where we have the blustery showers, it will feel cold as well. across england and wales, yes, some spells of sunshine, but by 3pm, we are expecting this strip of wet weather through the wash and the midlands and the west country and through devon and cornwall. as we go into the rush hour, it will get really soggy. behind it, southern areas could see fog patches and frost. it stays blustery for northern ireland and scotland. with temperatures dropping

close to freezing, there could be icy stretches on the roads to take us icy stretches on the roads to take us into tomorrow. morning, another blustery, showery day for northern ireland and scotland. further south and east, not a bad day at all. fewer showers, more sunshine, lighter winds, temperatures of nine oi’ lighter winds, temperatures of nine or ten celsius, but still feeling rather cold in the north of the country. and then through thursday night, but particularly friday, this could be a real troublemaker. this is storm barbara. the met office has issued an amber be prepared warning for the strength of the wind which could cause some travel problems. how strong will the winds be on friday? across north—west scotland we could see wind gusts of 90mph, but north wales and north—west england for instance 70mph wind gusts are possible. we will see a band of rain working its way south and east. so no one place should see too much in the way of wet weather and it will be relatively mild as well. nine to 12 celsius. there could be yet more stormy weather ahead through the christmas weekend. so if you are travelling, if you're

out and about, it is worth staying tuned to your local bbc radio station and we will keep you up—to—date right here at bbc weather. hello. this is bbc news withjoanna gosling the headlines at 10.33am: there are reports that german police are hunting for a tunisian after finding an identity document in the truck involved in monday's attack on a christmas market. at least 29 people were killed in mexico city. a european court ruling preventing the government retaining internet data in what critics call the snoopehs data in what critics call the snooper‘s charter is to be challenged by the home office. the number of victims of historical child sex abuse in football has grown.

detectives are investigating 155 suspects at 149 clubs after more than 400 people came forward. now the sport with with hugh woozencroft. good morning. michael vaughan says he expects alastair cook to resign as england captain following their 4—0 series defeat by india. cook will take time to make a decision on his future after four years in the job but vaughan, a former captain himself, believes cook is "very close" to quitting. he is a stubborn chap and is mentally very, very tough. he has probably been through similar spells a few times. but looking at his body language, it looks like he wants to call it a day. the two—time wimbledon champion petra kvitova won't even be able to lift a racquet for at least three months. she spent almost four hours yesterday having surgery on her left hand and believes says she's lucky to be alive, after a knife attack at her home in the czech republic. it's thought it was a random burglary and kvitova wasn't specifically targeted.

in a statement yesterday, kvitova said, "in my attempt to defend myself, i was badly injured on my left hand. i am shaken, but fortunate to be alive. the injury is severe and i will need to see specialists, but if you know anything about me i am strong and i will fight this." england rugby head coach eddiejones appears determined to stick with captain dylan hartley, despite his sending off in a club match for northampton. hartley was suspended for six weeks, after earning the third red card of his career and jones admitted the challenge on leinster‘s sean o'brien was reckless, saying hartley had "let down his country". but he also believes his skipper should be allowed to "pay the penalty and get on with it". we should hear this afternoon details of the investigation into the head injury suffered by george north when playing for northampton against leicester at the beginning of the month. a concussion panel was set up after north was allowed to play on, despite landing on his head.

television replays appeared to show the wales and lions winger lying motionless after a mid—air tackle. he's been out of action since but he could return on friday night against sale. celtic are 14 points clear at the top of the scottish premiership after beating bottom side partick thistle i—o. scott sinclair scored the only goal of the game. the champions are now unbeaten in 21 domestic matches and they have a game in hand on second placed rangers. league one side peterborough united will travel to stamford bridge to face chelsea in the fa cup third round after beating notts county 2—0. peterborough struck with less than two minutes gone. gwion edwards was the scorer. just five minutes later, paul taylor made his first fa cup goal a memorable one, helping to earn his side a tie against the premier league leaders. liverpool'sjoel matip is one of seven cameroon players refusing to go to the africa cup of nations which begins on 14th january. they told coach hugo broos they're

not interested in being selected after he named them in his squad. an angry broos said they had "put personal interest above those of the national team". and suggested the cameroon fa might ask fifa to suspend them at club level for the duration of the tournament. the finnish driver valtteri bottas looks likely to become lewis hamilton's new team—mate at mercedes. his current team, williams, have persuaded felipe massa to stay on for another season if bottas leaves to replace the retired world champion nico rosberg. mercedes have had one offer for bottas turned down but a deal is expected to be done in the new year. that's all sport for now. you can keep up—to—date with all those stories on the bbc sport website. more than 25,000 people are said to

have left aleppo. james longman is following developments. there has been a big delay this morning in getting the last evacuees out of east aleppo or the last few convoys out. we understand that at least 60 buses are waiting in east aleppo to ta ke buses are waiting in east aleppo to take evacuees out of east aleppo across into the medical evacuation point. they have enough room more about 3,000 people, but there has been a 2k hour delay in that happening. we're not sure why. it might be because this whole process hinges on evacuations coming out of other parts of syria to government villages which have been under rebel siege. they also need to have evacuation. this parallel evacuation which has been running smoothly so far seems to have stalled and there are 21 buses waiting in the two government villages for people to leave there. so we're not sure just

when things will get moving again. what we do know though is that the syrian government is very keen on things to start going. yesterday, they were making announcements via loudspeaker for the last rebels to get out of east aleppo, saying that the army would make their way into the army would make their way into the last rebel enclaves very soon. the bath party, the ruling party in syria, has been having celebratory events marking the end of the rebel presence in aleppo. but like i said, this isn't a done deal yet and there are rebels still waiting in east aleppo saying they won't leave until all the civilians are safely out. but this would mark a very significant victory for the syrian government should these evacuations finish today. and what is the effective plan by the syrian government? because russia said previously that once the government is back in full control of eastern aleppo, people who have

left ca n of eastern aleppo, people who have left can then return. so obviously, they're evacuating people, what they ta ke they're evacuating people, what they take control and when is it anticipated that people might return? and would they want to? well, joanna, that's a good question. first of all, it should be made clear that people don't have to leave east aleppo if they don't want to. the government wants to make sure that all the fighters have left, but civilians are entitled to stay behind. they risk staying in an area which would still be quite dangerous. this was a very heavily fought over part of the world. you have on one side, syrian government troops which are backed by hardened shia fighters, the hezbollah and iranian shia fighters and on the other side you have sunni jihadis who are in the mix on the opposition side. this is, you know, this took, this was years of fighting that took place, years of siege and bombardment. so emotions are still running high. whether or not this remains a safe place for people to be, even after this so—called clearing, is yet to be seen. the plan at the moment is for people to

leave east aleppo, receive this medical attention and then they're told well, you can go wherever you like now and many of them will go to idlib which is the last rebel stronghold in syria of the it is a large north western province and thatis large north western province and that is where the majority of these eva cu ees that is where the majority of these evacuees will go. but again, there, where do they go? they can go and stay with friends and relatives who they know have been evacuated to this part of syria or go and stay in the camps, tented camps which look rather similar to the camps that exist in places likejordan and turkey, but at this time of year, it is getting very, very cold in syria. in that part of the country particularly, these are not places which are particularly fit for long—term human habitation. to be honest, these are places you would rather be evacuated from, not evacuated tosmt these people remain refugees in their own country and in effect you are moving an issue, you

are not solving it in this way. in one of his final moves to protect the environment before leaving office, president obama has banned new offshore oil drilling in the arctic, and off much of the atlantic seaboard. the in—coming trump administration favours more drilling and more use of fossil fuels, but mr obama invoked a law from the 1950s which will be difficult for the in—coming president to reverse. peter bowes has been following this story. well, it is a widely—used provision in the law that he is invoking to take this action, a provision that gives the president the power to withdraw federal waters from new oil—and—gas drilling. now, this is a joint action with canada, the prime minister therejustin trudeau has made a long—term commitment to protect the arctic from drilling. president obama has said that it is the arctic‘s unique ecosystem that is really behind this decision. the risk of damage from a spill, the high cost of working in this remote and frigid region, as he put it, and concerns about climate change.

he also added that it would take decades to fully develop the infrastructure necessary on a large scale to drill for oil and gas in these areas. he said this is coming at a time when we need to continue to move decisively away from fossil fuels. this is being seen, in part, as president obama attempting to secure his legacy in terms of environmental policy. it could also be seen as scuppering the future president donald trump's attempt to pursue more oil—and—gas drilling. he made no secret of the fact, during certainly the campaign, that he favours deriving energy from fossil fuels. an official at the white house has said they are quite confident that future president trump would not be able to undo this provision announced today by the current president.

if he did want to go down that road, it could potentially involve years of legal action and possibly the passage of a new bill by congress. people who buy drones could have to register them and take a test to prove they can fly them safely, under new rules proposed by the government. 59 near misses involving drones and airliners have been reported in the uk over the past 12 months. earlier this month, amazon made its first delivery by drone. just one potential use of an exciting new technology. but after a number of reports from pilots of near misses with drones, there is mounting concern about safety. if people don't use drones responsibly and follow the rules and regulations that are in place, obviously, that is a safety issue first of all, but could also affect the long—term future of drones as well. there are already plenty of regulations. i cannot fly this here because we are too close

to buildings and people. while professional users of drones have to register with the civil aviation authority, anyone else can just buy one and start flying. the government is consulting on regulations which would mean new drones would have to be registered, users would have to pass a theory test, like that for drivers, and there would be tougher penalties for using drones in no—fly zones. peter, an experienced drone owner, believes it is already too complex. if you put in too—complicated rules, you will scare people off and deny the future industry this pool of talent that we need. there will be thousands of new drone owners this christmas. whenever new rules come in, they are being told they will be safer if they follow the drone code. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour. but first, the headlines on bbc news. a tunisian suspect is reportedly

being hunted by german police after a lorry was driven into christmas shoppers in berlin, ealing i2 people. in mexico at least 29 have been killed and many more injured after a huge explosion as a fireworks market. a european cup ruling preventing the government from retaining internet data in what critics have called the snoopers who charter is to be challenged by the home office. in the business news. uk firms need to maintain "barrier—free" access to european union markets after brexit. the cbi warns that british companies should not be subject to trade tariffs, and face only "minimal" other barriers. the government said it was committed to delivering the best—possible access to european markets for uk businesses. mps have called for the pensions regulator to be given much—stronger powers to thwart rogue employers who fail to support their pension schemes. the commons work and pensions committee says the regulator should have the power to impose "punitive fines" of as much as £1 billion. following the collapse

of the bhs pension scheme, the mps say the regulator itself needs to be reformed. backdated interest payments are leaving young people with unexpected bills from "buy now, pay later" deals. that's according to a warning from citizens advice. the charity said that thousands of people in their 20s who signed up to offers were struggling with debt. these deals allow people to delay paying for items for an agreed period of time, such as six or 12 months. yet failing to pay in full by an agreed date brings interest charges backdated to the start of the agreement. we've had fresh figures for how much the government borrowed in november, the last set of 2016. britain's public finances showed a slightly bigger—than—expected deficit in november. but they looked on track to meet new, less—ambitious deficit—reduction goals set out last month by finance minister philip hammond.

put these into context, is there anything to worry about? it is quite anything to worry about? it is quite a good month for the numbers, we borrowed £12.5 billion, a lot of money, but more 5p lower than this month a year ago. there were also revisions to previous month data, we found £i.5 revisions to previous month data, we found £1.5 billion out of thin air, so found £1.5 billion out of thin air, so this keeps the chancellor on track to hit his borrowing target from the autumn statement, and maybe undershoot it. the treasury says the government made its litigant progress, bringing the public finances under control, but they point out our debt and deficit remains too high, did you agree? absolutely, we are borrowing 3.3% of gdp this year. there is bad news, the interest rate at which the

government borrows has risen a lot in the last couple of months. that is given to add about £20 billion to government borrowing over the next four to five years, which was not anticipated. we need to take more and more months like this, when borrowing goes down, and keep the pressure on to reduce government borrowing. if we look at where the money comes from and where it is spent, it comes through all sorts of things, but primarily tax receipts, and it has spent on things like infrastructure. the government has committed to spending more on infrastructure. do the numbers add 7 infrastructure. do the numbers add ll infrastructure. do the numbers add up? all of the talk of a slowing economy next year, as we approach brexit, the tax revenues. falling? we are enjoying strong consumer spending growth, retail sales are growing really fast. the good news is vat receipts should be quite high. but next year, consumer spending is going to slow down,

because high inflation hurts consumers, and they can afford to buy less with their cash. that will hurt the tax receipts coming into the chancellor. infrastructure spending is good, because you get second—round effects, the spending on bridges and railroads, but the associated services that feeding also get a boost. i am optimistic, but next will be a challenge. the challenge is making the numbers add up, that is the point, but when we look at the role reversal that we have seen over the past six months, away from the deficit reduction, easier targets as far as that is concerned, and it is moving towards spending, and it is the secondary benefits of spending that will have a big impact. but there is a danger, some would argue that spending your way out is not always the answer. absolutely. the emphasis of policy has shifted. until recently, the pressure was on the bank of england to boost the economy by cutting

interest rates and deliver quantitative easing. there have been some painful side—effects. the emphasis has switched away from severe widget deficit reduction to less severe, to try to prop up growth that way. too much spending that caused this deficit in the first place, so we cannot go com pletely first place, so we cannot go completely the other way, but that is the best way to sustain growth in the face of some pretty worrying headwinds next year. we will watch closely. in other news. a strike by airport baggage handlers and check—in staff in the uk planned for friday and christmas eve has been called off. more than 1,500 members of the unite union employed by swissport had been due to walk out for 48 hours in a row over pay and conditions. volkswagen has struck a deal with the us authorities over some 80,000 vw, audi and porsche cars with three—litre diesel engines. the agreement is another step towards allowing the german car maker to put the emissions—cheating scandal behind it. injune, vw agreed to a £12 billion settlement for another 475,000 vehicles affected by the scandal.

the new agreement will cost volkswagen an estimated £800 million. another executive has left twitter. adam messinger, who is chief technology officer, is leaving just weeks after its chief operating officer resigned. twitter‘s shares have lost 23% this year, leaving the company with a market value of £10.3 billion. it may be a traditional christmas tipple, but sales of sherry have more than halved over the past decade. the wine and spirit trade association said that last year almost ten million bottles were sold in the uk, less than half the 22 million bottles sold in 2005. this is what the markets are currently doing. we are keeping a

close eye on what the dowjones will do, can it hit the psychologically important level of 20,000? we will find out later. there are an estimated 23 million sheep in the uk, and now there are two more, but they aren't ordinary sheep. they've been specially developed in north wales to see how sheep respond to the weather. what they tell us could lead to a change in the landscape of our countryside. bbc weather‘s nick miller reports. everything is not quite what it appears in this field. the sheep seem to sense it. look closely, you might as well. it is a unique experiment at bangor university's research farm, designed to find out what sheep can tell us about the weather and how it affects them. you may have noticed this is not a real sheep. neither is this one. thankfully, pip jones is a real human. why have we got fake sheep? they might be fake but they tell us a lot about real sheep and about the environment they experience. we have two things,

our sheep and a met station. the met station measures radiation and wind and temperature. those things together tell us how the sheep is feeling. on a windy day, that must be having an impact on how the sheep feel? but how can you tell? it is so much colder when the wind blows, and for animals like us, maintaining our core body temperature in those conditions is increasingly hard as the wind blows. we are maintaining them at 39 degrees with this array of heaters. we also have a microcomputer, and it is recording how much energy the sheep is using to keep the temperature in the prevailing conditions. the energy the sheep are using to stay warm is being diverted away from them putting on weight. and the longer it takes for them to reach their required weight to go to market, the more expensive they are to produce.

if you are talking money, as a farmer and a businessman, i am interested, so what can i do to stop sheep getting so cold in the first place? one idea is to plant trees. they did that up there 40 years ago and it makes a difference. they put this in front of groups of trees here, and it works. that is why this research is partly funded by the woodland trust, to try and show that pasture and woodland in our countryside do not have to be mutually exclusive. what is the big picture here? one of the big questions is, how do we value the ecosystem services we get from the landscape? it is easy to look at the contribution of sheep farming to the economy or timber production to the economy, but what about the other factors, the flood mitigation, the climate regulation, the biodiversity? how do we put numbers on those? these provide the numbers that show it is in the farmer's interests often to give up a bit of their pasture production over to growing trees, because the sheep

production is better. everybody is a winner. the eventual aim of this research is to produce a practical toolkit for farmers to show them the best places to plan for effective shelter. then the fake sheep can be put out to pasture, knowing they have helped to create a warmer world for the real ones. and you can find out what else nick got up to in snowdonia this friday afternoon on weather world at 12:30pm here on the bbc news channel. and if you miss that, it will be repeated over the christmas period. time for a look at the weather. the weather has stepped up a gear from the very calm, stagnant conditions of the last few days and weeks. things are turning much livelier in the run—up to christmas.

some lively weather through the rest of today, some squally and blustery wind. a rash of showers pushing in across northern ireland and scotland. we also have this band of rain sinking across northern england, into north wales, and it is starting to pep up. it will be the focus of what weather as it sinks south. a bit of patchy rain across the south—east. but generally, there will be some sunshine. but for scotla nd will be some sunshine. but for scotland and northern ireland, strong wind, gales, bringing the showers in. someone to rewind especially over high ground will stop thunder and lightning and hail. across england and wales, northern england should brighten up, we see some spells of sunshine, and some brightness across the south—east. further south, a band of rain through this afternoon. the rain will turn heavy across the far south—west as we head towards the

rush—hour. if you are driving home in cardiff, plymouth, bristol, southampton, it is soggy. then the rain will clear away as we leave dry conditions and the oxford patch. we keep windier weather towards the north—west. it states blustery. there could be some icy stretches on the roads to take us into tomorrow morning. another showery day across the north—west tomorrow. south and east, not a bad looking day. spells of sunshine. here comes trouble. thursday night into friday, this area of low pressure deepens. it has been named barbara. the met office hasissued been named barbara. the met office has issued a be prepared warning for the strength of the wind, especially across northern parts of the british isles. further south and east, it will be

blustery, but not as windy as that. there will be a band of rain moving quickly. no one place will see too much what weather. once we have friday out of the way, through the christmas weekend, there is a chance of more stormy weather. travel disruption is possible. your local bbc radio station will keep you up—to—date, and we will have your latest forecast here. this is bbc news, the headlines at 11. a tunisian suspect is reportedly being hunted by german police, after the lorry attack on christmas shoppers in berlin left 12 people dead. vigils to those who died, as police release their only suspect without charge and step up their investigation. they're following up more than 500 leads. the christmas market behind me still sealed off, still patrolled by armed police. in mexico, at least 29 people are killed and many more injured

after a huge explosion at a fireworks market. a european court ruling preventing the government retaining internet data, in what critics called the "snoopers charter", is to be challenged by the home office. also — the number of victims of historical child sex abuse in football has grown.