today, but you also see as well she's making quite a lot of little mistakes and that's why she's coming back to us a little bit in the future, to have those tweaks. in april, they'll drive to portugal once again, this time in a classic car rally. it's a bit more controlled, because of health and safety. you can't do what you used to do. we used to do rallies and have one night's sleep in five days. not anymore. the sport may have changed, but the car — and especially the driver — look as fast and furious as ever. john maguire, bbc news, oxfordshire. time for a look at the weather. today, we have all sorts of weather happening across the uk. it's miserable across southern areas right now. we have some heavy rain around as well. other parts of the country are experiencing some snow. the rain in the south could be turning to snow over the next few hours or so. we could have some heavy snow for a time across the south and southeast in particular,

as we had unfortunately to the rush hour. this is the nasty weather system across the south. we've also got frequent snow showers, wintry showers, across the north of the country, and also some very strong winds. we have a mix of weather happening out there today. let's focus on the south first, because this is where the weather could be quite disruptive during the course of the rush hour. we were talking about this yesterday, the cold air mixing in with the milder rare. let's see whether snow zone could from around about the south midlands, going eastwards, across the south—east, and further north we've got those snow showers carried in by the really strong winds. we've seen pictures of northern ireland where we've had snowfall, also across parts of scotland and in the north a little bit later on we could have blizzards across scotland, so gales combined with the heavy snow. let's focus across the south first. these are rough amounts of snow. it's so difficult to predict this. i'm not going to tell you we are going to get this absolutely spot

on. it could be zero, it could be double that. just be prepared. going halfway. most of that will probably settle across the hills but there could be some settling in towns and cities. that's one area of weather that should clear out eventually. these snow showers will affect other parts of the country through this evening and into tonight and tomorrow. northern ireland, parts of wales, particularly the hills, scotland, and another band of wintry weather crossing yorkshire, moving southwards. some of these eastern counties as well. these are temperatures tonight, freezing. any slushy stuff on the ground will look like this first thing tomorrow morning. this is probably the extreme. if you get this, it will be quite nasty. look at this wintry weather affecting eastern east anglia, south—eastern areas through tomorrow morning, further wintry showers in the north, then it's actually a bright day. if you get one thing out of this weather forecast, the main thing is, just be prepared for some snow. don't necessarily expect any, but be prepared for some nasty conditions

and some delays as well. now, how long is this weather going to last? well, saturday is looking pretty bright, but by the time we get the sunday it looks like milder weather on the way. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime. the head of america's national intelligence agency says they were not the source of the leak that russia has compromising material on donald trump. it's been announced that former england football manager graham taylor has died. he was 72. more on that throughout the day, but that's all from the bbc news that one. it's goodbye from me. we'll join the bbc news teams where you are. goodbye. time now for the sports news. graham taylor the former england manager has died at the age of 72. he managed aston villa and watford twice and was in charge of the international side from 1990—1993. andy swissjoins me now.

sudden news, and incredibly sad. graham taylor, a hugely popular and he rose to prominence as manager of watford between 1997 and 1987, hired by the new owner eltonjohn. he took them to the first division in five seasons, them to the first division in five seasons, an incredible achievement, he took them to the fa cup final. he joined aston villa and took them to second place. in 1990 he replaced sir bobby robson as the england manager. he had a difficult few yea rs, manager. he had a difficult few years, help them qualify for the european championships in 1992 but they were knocked out in the group stage by sweden. he controversially substituted gary lineker in his last match. the famous tabloid headlines.

he stayed on but resigned in 1993 after england failed to qualify for the world cup. he suffered huge personal criticised correction —— criticism, not helped bya correction —— criticism, not helped by a fly on the wall documentary with famous scenes of him berating a linesman. he suffered massive vilification in his time as england manager. he returned to club football and enjoyed more successful at watford guiding them to the premiership. another stint in charge of aston villa. he became a very successful bbc pundit. hugely respected for his views by players and managers and by fans. awarm, views by players and managers and by fans. a warm, kind, generous, charming man. incredibly sad news for football. it

was a difficult period during his reign in charge of the england national team. but some significant achievements in club football before he arrived at that top job. and after as well. it is difficult to overstate what he achieved with watford. a club with no reputation in footballing terms, he took them from the fourth division, to the top division at the time in just five yea rs, division at the time in just five years, an extraordinary achievement, eve ryo ne years, an extraordinary achievement, everyone will remember the scenes of eltonjohn is everyone will remember the scenes of elton john is crying everyone will remember the scenes of eltonjohn is crying at the fa cup final when watford were beaten. what he achieved with that small club was remarkable. there were questions when he became england's manager, someone who had not won a trophy, he did have a difficult time. but what he achieved at club football was extraordinary. interesting hearing the tributes with regards to his passing. a

really li kea ble with regards to his passing. a really likeable character and it seems a lot of people had real affection and love for graham taylor. strange to remember this was a man who suffered terrible personal registers, vilification in the media, when he was england manager. the famous turnip headlines people will remember. yet, he is remembered with huge warmth. incredibly popular and generous with his time, with fans, players, other broadcasters. incredibly charming, kind, warm, you won't find anyone with a bad word to say about graham taylor. a terribly sad day for the whole of football. thank you. a sad day, the passing of graham taylor, the former england manager. the circumstances surrounding his death have not become clear but when we get those details we will bring them to you.

that, for the moment, is all the sport. we continue with that breaking news, the death of graham taylor. let's speak to gordon taylor, chief executive of the professional footballers association your reaction? i have just seen your reaction? i havejust seen it, i am at manchester united training ground. i have seen it come on the television. he isa have seen it come on the television. he is a contemporary of mine. obviously, my most sincere condolences to his widow and family. it is a real shock, he was a real gentleman. i have known him virtually since we were both 15, at england schoolboy trials. i followed his career, then his managerial career. and his links with watford

and elton john where career. and his links with watford and eltonjohn where he had success, with clubs like aston villa, england, he did so much as well for the league managers association. a real credit to management in the way he handled himself. then, of course, he handled himself. then, of course, he got the england job. it was sad the way things turned out at that time. but he handled that with grace. going back to what you were saying earlier, that word, gentlemen. a real gentleman, a real quality human being. he cared about his fellow professionals, he cared about the game. in general, what was good for the game. i think he had a very good relationship, with the way he

took watford to the top, to the cup final, the top division. clubs like aston villa. he will be synonymous with watford and their rise. just his impact on the game. i think he should be removed as a gentleman who really cared about the game. he added to the game. and what he did, he showed his ability notjust as a player where he had a considerable number of games, but particularly as a manager. and, in a way, he was almost a walter winterbottom approach to the game. he was off his own particular mould. and he did extremely well. i feel proud and privileged to be able to call him a friend. those who worked closely with him spoke of a sense of fun. he could have fun, of course he

could. he was guest of honour with our awards and he would have a joke, a laugh. but when it came to the serious business of football, he was really focused. i know he loved the game from an early age, he was the son of the sports reporter at scunthorpe where he was brought up. he was steeped in the history of the game and his dad would be very, very proud of him. and when he served at england, as we have said, it wasn't an easy time. how do you think he reflected on that particular period ? i think the, given the chance, he would always have a go. international football was not something that came easily to him. but, as with all things come he did

his best to get the best out of his players. if it didn't work out, he would be as upset as anyone else and he had to cope with the media attacks on him and he handled that as he did most things with dignity and resilience. and, in fact, and resilience. and, infact, he and resilience. and, in fact, he then had a very successful career in the media. his time at aston villa, when do you think he was happiest? of course there were good times, no matter what club you are with, they keep you going. but he would be fondest of all with what he did at watford, a wonderful achievement, in partnership with eltonjohn. and, if one word could describe him, what would it be? that is a difficult one. i would say he was a gentleman who cared about

the game and put a heck of a lot more into it than he took out of it. good of you to join us. more into it than he took out of it. good of you tojoin us. as more into it than he took out of it. good of you to join us. as you more into it than he took out of it. good of you tojoin us. as you can see, the death of graham taylor. we will be looking at some tributes. several tributes on twitter already. pat murphy, former colleague at five live, decency towards media. an exceptional man. alan shearer has treated this. always held in the highest regard, the man who gave me my first england cap. and a tweet from peter crouch. so much respect for him, gave him my premiership debut and i will always be thankful. ashley young, very sad to hear the news. they watford legend and an absolute gentleman. that word

gentleman appeared again as it will many times as we look back on the life of graham taylor whose death was announced in the last hour. we will return to that a little later on. let's get more now the snow and strong winds which are expected to cause disruption across much of the uk over the next few days. heathrow airport has cancelled 80 flights this afternoon amid warnings of blizzard conditions. heavy snow has already blanketed parts of northern ireland, with coleraine and ballymena among the towns worst hit. several tourist attractions have also been shut. snow showers and strong winds are being forecast for wales and parts of england. the met office has issued yellow be aware warnings for much of the country. our correspondent megan paterson has been at a gritting depot in north cumbria where preparations are well underway for the big freeze. this is the only gritting machines left in penrith near the m6 because all of the others are out on the road network in cumbria. cumbria

cou nty road network in cumbria. cumbria county council has 11 salt barnes, 11 facilities across the county and until yesterday this one was full. over 12 hours it has almost emptied because the county is gearing up for the snowfall, motorway signs are warning of adverse weather. it hasn't happened yet. it has been a busy 12 hours. you have been keyed to preparations, what has been going on? over 24 hours, our machines have been on the network putting salt down to make sure the road is safe for users. the problems we have been facing are the sporadic weather conditions. as quickly as we get the salt down, the rain is washing it away and we had to reapply. a grey morning which is causing problems, what do you expect? there isa problems, what do you expect? there is a weather warning in place. our day shifts will continue to get the salt down between showers. our night shift will come later this

afternoon to carry on through the night getting salt levels up on the network. this time last year you in clearing up this time last year you in clearing up after storm desmond flooding. different weather this time. will it cause problems? we have been planning this all week. we have been planning this all week. we have been planning this all week. we have a detailed weather forecast which told us this was coming in so we have planned for that. our machines have had plans fitted in preparation for snow coming. on the m6, drivers are advised to ta ke on the m6, drivers are advised to take caution, and on the rural routes? it is very important they take extra care. some of the routes in cumbria will not be treated so those need to be taken with care. if that journey is not necessary, i would advise to stay at home. thank you. preparation is the key in cumbria. so far it has been cold, damp and wet like any other winter but that's known is expected later

this afternoon into the evening. we are waiting to see how much disruption it causes. time for a round—up of the business news now. vishala is at a shopping centre in essex for us. lama i am a light side shopping centre in essex. gotch lakeside shopping centre. retailers reporting on the christmas period, jon lewis, marks & spencer, dublin is reporting positive sales. —— debenhams. how has business been? compared to last christmas, it has fallen down 30%. but it was ok. not excellent. based inside a shopping centre, are you finding it

a challenge? it is. because it is outside of town. it is a check for people. we have to put offers on. because it is a shopping centre, that is why. in terms of prices, our people are tightening their purse strings? prices are ok which is why they come in. compared to last christmas it is down. due to roadworks, does affect our business. those figures from the big retailers are positive. but footfall for big shopping centres have been down. they have been on the high street. online has ta ken they have been on the high street. online has taken a lead. online has taken a lead. online is the new retail. even traditional retailers like john lewis, marks & spencer is,

debenhams, they are making a lot more sales through their online shopping facilities. that is par for the course, an ongoing trend. in terms of an outlook for 2017, we have seen a drop in delhi which has helped online retailers, asos say that has helped with international customers. —— a drop in stirling. marks & spencer is reported an increase in clothing and home wares after two yea rs clothing and home wares after two years but they have upgraded their forecasts. what is the outlook? christmas trading is important for retailers. it is only five weeks out of 52. it is a short period. there are promotional discounting offers in the sales. we have black friday don't forget. that means the sales may not directly translate into profits. in terms of the currency, a number

of retailers have benefited from that. but looking forward they have rising costs of food and clothes, and limited ability to pass those rises on to consumers because it is such a competitive marketplace. a quick word about food sales. reporting record sales. what is the outlook? we have heard about food inflation being an issue. that looks to be the case, they are facing similar pressures in terms of imported foods being worth more in sterling terms. and they have a competitive marketplace with limited ability to pass it on to customers. we have discounters nipping at their heels and taking market share. that is it from me. plenty more business to come through the afternoon. volkswagen has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the united states

for using illegal software to cheat emissions tests for its diesel vehicles. its been ordered to pay fines of more than £3.5 billion, the largest penalty ever levied by the us government against a car manufacturer. sarah corker reports. it's been dubbed the diesel dupe, the world's second biggest car—maker rigging environmental tests for diesel emissions, and now volkswagen will play a heavy price for what us authorities have described as a ten—year conspiracy. the fine of £3.5 billion is the biggest ever levied by the us government against a car—maker. vw has already agreed a £12.3 billion civil settlement with car owners and environmental authorities, and, worldwide, 11 million vehicles are involved in this scandal. the us attorney general said vw lied to cover up its actions. hundreds of thousands of cars that volkswagen sold in the united states were pumping illegal levels

of nitrogen oxides into our atmosphere, up to 40 times more than the amounts permitted underfederal law. now, what's more, these vehicles were equipped with software that masked the true amount of the pollutants the cars released. and it looks as though us regulators are farfrom finished. six executives have been formally charged with conspiracy. volkswagen says it deeply regrets the behaviour that led to this scandal, but there's still a turbulent road ahead, as the company faces potentially damaging lawsuits in europe. sarah corker, bbc news. the welfare of some of england's most vulnerable children in care is being put secondary to budgets, according to a former senior government advisor. lord laming, a former chief onspector of social care services, says some children with complex needs are being put into foster families rather than given specialist support in residential homes. the number of children in care in england is at its highest since the 19805. jayne mccubbin reports. liam hill and lemn sissay both say

they suffered at the hands of a care system that didn't care enough. how many times were you fostered? roughly 42 times. 42 foster placements! liam's mum was unable to look after him. at the age of five he went into care but went on to have 42 foster placements, 24 care home visits. lemn had just one long—term foster family but shortly after this picture was taken, they gave him up. it was not care, it's called care but care was the last thing that i received. i remember standing up on the table and swearing to them that you're not my mum and dad, i know who my mum is and i want to go back to my mum, and based on that on christmas eve i was kicked out. liam tells us he was denied any specialist help and bounced

around the care system for the next 13 years. foster carers aren't trained for therapeutic help. one of the issues was they put me into foster care and not a residential place because of money. a child in a foster family isn't necessarily the right place for it to be. a children's home if you get the right treatment can be an incredible place to be. do you really believe that? i don't believe it, i know it. successive governments have agreed for most children fostering is a better option, that's why the proportion of looked—after children in homes has fallen from a high of 40% in the ‘705 to just 11% today. how successfully we look after these children matters. look in prisons and you'll see between a quarter and a third of inmates have been in care. the howard league for penal reform believe some blame lies specifically with care homes. we've identified that children living in residential homes... are in care in residential homes are more likely to be criminalised. and we're worried that might be because the children's homes themselves are using the police

as respite care, or to control children when they haven't got the resources. children's home owners tell me they are under attack. that at homes like this they have specially trained staff able to deal with the rising tide of children who need specialist help. we're always frowned upon, we're always the last in the queue. myjob‘s more difficult now than it's ever been. some of the traumas that young people go through has got predominantly worse over the last couple of years. the truth is there just aren't enough places out there for all of the looked—after children. but the fear is too many of those children are in the wrong kind of place and getting the wrong kind of support. former government adviser lord laming, the man who chaired the victoria climbie inquiry, shares those concerns. he told me he fears children with complex needs are being fostered not because it's the best option but because it's

the cheapest option. time for a look at the weather. really dreadful weather out there right now in terms of the rain, some pretty strong winds, bringing some snow showers, sleet, and later on some of the snow or rain could turn to snow and become quite heavily across southern areas of uk. this system is giving a headache today. the north is more straightforward. we know this is cold air, these are snow we know this is cold air, these are snow showers. where it falls in and

it stays as no particular across the hills. in the south, we have cold and mild air mixing. there is a lot of rain but in the next couple of hours, the snow will form across parts of the midlands and in the rush hour and giving transferred to east anglia and london. 3pm, quite possibly the snow forms here. most of this is rainfall. further north, you have wintry showers, it feels cold. later, we will see blizzards. these snow amounts of rough. in parts of scotland it could be up to 20 centimetres. down south, it may be nothing. you may get five centimetres across the hilly areas. this is what it looks like a the north—west through rush hour. snow showers affecting northern ireland, wales. look at that across northern

scotland, gales and blizzards. eventually through the early hours of friday, the skies were clear. these are the temperatures first thing on friday. pretty nasty in some areas. if you do get some snow and it melts through the day, this is what it could look like, at worst. this band of rain, sleet and snow will cross eastern counties into the south—east on friday morning which could give a covering of snow. for most of us, friday afternoon is bright, cold. this is the thermometer. some very strong winds down the eastern coast, big waves. saturday looks pretty bright. then things warm up as we head into sunday. take care. this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 2pm. the former england football team manager graham taylor has died.

he was 72. american intelligence agencies did not leak claims that russia has compromising material on donald trump according to the head of us national intelligence. the man behind the report claiming russia has compromising material on the us president—elect is understood to be a former mi6 officer from surrey. heavy snow has started falling across britain. it is expected to hit the south—east by late afternoon. it has already been snowing in parts of scotland. there have been widespread wintry showers, making travelling difficult in some areas with some minor accidents —— some minor accidents. hundreds of gritters are out and