a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: britain's prime minister has condemned what she called a "sick and depraved terrorist attack." the attacker drove into pedestrians on westminster bridge, causing catastrophic injuries. it just itjust came across the road. there was a body and another body further up was a body and another body further up and when i looked over the side of the bridge there appeared to be woi'i of the bridge there appeared to be won in the water as well. -- one. they say they know his identity, and believe he was motivated by islamic extremism. the lights of the eiffel tower in paris were switched off as a mark of respect. world leaders have condemned the attack. the british prime minister has

condemned what she called a "sick and depraved terrorist attack" in london that left a policeman, three civilians and the attacker dead. the officer has been named as constable keith palmer, who was a8, a husband and a father. the country's top anti—terrorism officer has said the police are assuming the attacker was motivated by islamic—extremism. at least a0 people were injured including members of a school party from france, five south korean visitors, two romanian tourists, and three other policemen. this was the sequence of events which started unfolding at 2:40 on wednesday afternoon local time. the man drove a car across westminster bridge, mounting the pavement, hitting many pedestrians, killing at least two of them and causing some very serious injuries before crashing into railings outside the houses

of parliament. he then ran through the gates of the palace of westminster armed with a knife and stabbed a police officer who later died, despite the best efforts of a team of emergency workers and a uk foreign office minister. the attacker was shot dead by police who rushed to the scene in the shadow of big ben. scotland yard's top anti—terrorism officer, acting deputy commissioner mark rowley, gave this update late on wednesday evening. one of those who died today was a police officer, pc keith palmer, a member of our parliamentary and diplomatic protection command. keith, aged 48 had 15 years service, and was a husband and father. he was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift and he had every right to expect that would happen. i can also now confirm that there are three members of the public who have lost their lives in the attack. specially trained family liaison officers have been deployed to support them.

and as i confirmed earlier, the suspected attacker was shot dead by an armed officer. therefore now in total we have five people who died today. i will not comment on this stage as to the identity of the attacker but our working assumption is that he was inspired by international terrorism. i should also say at this stage, that we believe approximately a0 people have been injured, including several with serious injuries, including three police officers, two of whom are in a serious condition. our political editor, laura kuenssberg, was inside parliament when the attack took place. run. go. move. gunfire. the sound of gunfire replacing the bells of big ben. go!

go, move yourselves, go! the centre of our government, normally a safe place. not today. members of the public, politicians, the hundreds of staff for whom this is work. in politics, for some, a home from home. sprinting for safety outside. the swat team turned up with paramedics, and they asked us to abandon our vehicle and just walk away. there was a body and when i looked further up, there was another body. and then, when i looked over the side of the bridge, there appeared to be a body in the water as well. sick. to be honest, it is sick to witness these things. and right now, still, my hands are shaking. a car, a weapon, ploughing through members of the public on westminster bridge,

normally a tourist spot. today, a site of danger. two killed, many others seriously hurt. and then the car, only a couple of hundred yards away, careered around to smash into pa rliament‘s gates. a policeman gave his life to stop the attacker going further. the prime minister had been meeting cabinet colleagues in parliament. but was hurried out and then through westminster‘s backstreets to safety. and inside parliament, lockdown. i, with hundreds of others, bundled back from the front entrance, waiting through fear and confusion. a police officer told me someone was killed just yards outside. we heard three or four shots on the right, or which sounded like shots, and then everyone turned and ran back through here and then... well, we know as much as we know from now on in. but i think generally, a lot of people were walking

through that area and most people heard three or four shots. did you hear anything? just enormous noise at the front of portcullis house ten minutes ago. lots of police and security guards shouting, people running past the building, general sense of panic. everyone ordered to the back of the building until it was safe to do otherwise. there are at least a couple of 100 people here inside portcullis house. this is really the heart of where westminster does its business and we are all part of a lockdown after what has happened outside. a police officer has told me one man was shot out the front. a few mps have told me they have heard three or four gunshots as they were on their way to vote. this is obviously a place that is very tightly guarded at all times, but there is a sense of shock that, finally, it appears that something so serious has happened right here in the heart of westminster.

then, in the chamber that sat on through all sorts of situations, wars and peace, was interrupted. order! i am now going to suspend the sitting of the house. this house is now suspended, but please wait here. because this place was the focus of danger. mps and staff watched from their windows as the swat team arrived. is this the attacker? a first aid kit thrown in to help, emergency services trying to save him and his victims. while inside, those of us who came here to work today, or to visit or to be part of this place, waited tensely, corridors full of staff who couldn't leave and didn't want to stay,

caught up in an attack which stopped the business of democracy. it's just after five o'clock. we still don't really know what's going on. this group of students was brought here just for the day to see how parliament works. little did they know what kind of situation would unfold. and frankly, it's still very hard to believe what's really happened here today. tonight, the meaning of this attempt seems clear. the prime minister, obviously angered, and saddened, but resolute. these streets of westminster, home to the world's oldest parliament, are ingrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe. and the values our parliament represents — democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law — command the admiration and respect of free people everywhere. that is why it is a target for those who reject those values. but let me make it clear today, as i have had cause to do before, any attempt to defeat those values to violence and terror

is doomed to failure. the human cost is only just becoming clear. an attack, that in theory, many expected. but the truth of an event like this in practice is a shock in our parliament, a shock in our country. whatever the motive, an effort to stop our democracy in its tracks, a new, awful page of history in a place where every corner tells of our shared past. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the attack started when a man drove his vehicle at speed, on the pavement, the length of westminster bridge, towards the houses of parliament, hitting many pedestrians in his path, two of them

died, several others suffered catastrophic injuries. they included some police officers who'd been at an event nearby. our chief correspondent, gavin hewitt, reports in more detail, on the attack on westminster bridge. early afternoon with the traffic flowing over westminster bridge. to the right, a grey hyundai starts crossing the bridge and then swerves onto the pavement. a woman jumps into the thames. others are knocked to the ground and under traffic as the vehicle races towards parliament square. left behind on the bridge, a group of horrified visitors. on the ground, dozens of injured people, some lying on the pavement, many bleeding, one trapped under a bus. some of the injuries were described as catastrophic. a big sort of crunch, sounded like a car crash, but almost that crunch of a wheel on a kerb. i saw the vehicle mount the kerb and it was coming out so quickly, and i saw some people

being hit in front of me. ijumped to the left into the road. i think one of the guys had been hit, but fortunately was kept past me. and then looked around me in shock because i could see bodies, and it was all, yeah, real shock. some people trying to escape the vehicle ended up in the road, cared for by bewildered passers—by. we heard what sounded like metal on metal, and we assumed it was a collision. but then we looked outside and i saw one person down, then another, and i saw five people in all down on the tarmac and on the pavement and then i understood that it must have been deliberate. there were moments when the injured were comforted by others who had been on the bridge. shortly after, paramedics from nearby st thomas' hospital arrived. the woman who jumped into the thames was rescued but is in a critical condition. many on the bridge had severe injuries. the police believe there was only one attacker involved here, but their task over the next 2a or 36 hours will be to trace every

link to that individual and to satisfy themselves there was no wider plot here. gavin hewitt, bbc news, westminster. politicians, journalists, tourists, and members of the public became witnesses to the attack, which left five people dead and at least a0 injured. people described what they saw as events unfolded. three shots, just a few feet away. it was so loud. british prime minister theresa may was in parliament when the attack happened and was immediately ta ken to safety by her police protection team. mrs may has since chaired a meeting

of cobra, the cabinet committee that deals with emergencies, as the attacker‘s identity was being examined, and questions were asked about how someone managed to penetrate pa rliament‘s enhanced security system, carrying a weapon. our security correspondent, gordon corera, has this assessment of the attacker and the investigation. the attacker, shot by police lies on a stretcher, then still alive. his weapon, a large knife, apparently lies on the pavement next to him. now the hunt is on to identify the man and understand what lay behind this attack. who was he and how did he get so close? other clues for investigators will include the car that was used so brutally as a weapon. was it his or a hire car? armed police have regularly carried out exercises like this one to secure parliament and the area around it. but today the response was for real. the met responded in line

with our plans for a marauding terrorist attack. that response included uniformed and specialist firearms officers. we now, of course, have an ongoing operation and while we currently believe there was only one attacker i'm sure people will understand we are taking every precaution in locking down and searching the area as thoroughly and exhaustively as possible. in recent years security in parliament has been tightened after intruders managed to get inside. cameras, bollards, armed guards and x—ray scanners are all in place. today an attacker did breach the initial perimeter but police dealt with him quickly. the security services say that 13 attacks have been stopped since 2013. mi5 and the police have certainly improved their ability to detect those behind the plots. but, we've also seen those planning attacks switch to less sophisticated techniques which can be harder

for the intelligence agencies to spot. a year ago exactly saw an attack on brussels airport and the metro. that was more sophisticated than what we saw in westminster today, including the use of explosives. last weekend paris's orly airport showed how sometimes lone individuals are now moving towards more low—tech means. a man grabbed a gun from a soldier but was shot. recent attacks in berlin and nice showed the carnage a vehicle could inflict on innocent people, as happened today on westminster bridge. in many recent cases attackers have been inspired by so—called islamic state, although not necessarily in direct contact with the group. well, it's very hard to prevent an attack, if you like, a low—tech attack like this from happening once an individual is inspired to carry one out. if you haven't got the intelligence to know it is happening it's very, very hard to prevent lives from being lost once the attack actually takes place. a wide reaching and urgent

investigation into this incident is now under way. the attacker may be dead but the priority will be finding out if he worked alone and if this threat has really passed. gordon corera, bbc news. let's go now live to new scotland ya rd let's go now live to new scotland yard where our reporter eve. as gordon was suggesting, the fact that the threat level is staying at the level leaders act it suggests that the police do not think there are other potential attackers, there is not a continuous level of threat. what do police say about whether the areas will remain sealed off? in the last hour were also there have been some movement on that. behind me as westminster bridge where the attack

happened and several bosses have been parked throughout the day. they we re been parked throughout the day. they were not allowed to finish their journey and they effectively were left where they are. in that last half—hour the buses have been driven off, an indication that they want to try and return things to normal. the bridge is not yet open yet however in other parts of this sealed off pa rt in other parts of this sealed off part of westminster they have begun to lift the gordons. at the moment there are still several roads closed and it remains in a really quiet, even for this time in the morning, an indication that police do want to try to get some things back to normal. many people have pointed out that the response time for the armed officers after the an armed officer was killed was five or six minutes. if the attacker had had a gun, and clearly many more people would have died. if there are any response from new scotland yard to the suggestion

that there should be more armed officers? we are hearing nothing at the moment about that. at the moment they are reacting to what has happened and their statements so far have been about the investigation. you are right to point out that as far as we know this man did not have a gun, he was armed with two large knives when he carried out the attack on the police officer. incidentally, the houses of parliament will be opening as normal on thursday. the prime minister said that if terrorists think they can disrupt british life then they are doomed to failure. the opening of both houses on thursday an indication of a determination to get on with the work of running the country. we expect that the prime minister will give a statement in the house but normal business is expected to resume. if you look around, there are still signs that some terrible has happened here. the flags around here are all flying at

half mast. and, briefly, authorities have pointed out the relatively speaking, the individual affect from terrorist attack is minor but the society —— location is quite iconic. absolutely. westminster is a well—known landmark around the world. tourist gather and take photographs, politicians do their business, journalists work here. they could not have chosen a more prominent site for this attack. thank you very much for that. police in london are saying that these terror attacks are likely to have been islamist related, inspired by international terrorism. the nato

secretary general was asked for his reaction to the attack in london. i strongly condemn the attacks in london and i express my condolences to all of those who have lost loved ones and also express my condolences to the british people. i met with borisjohnson earlier today, to the british people. i met with boris johnson earlier today, our allies stand together in the fight against terrorism and how to combat terrorism has been the main focus of oui’ terrorism has been the main focus of our meeting here in washington today. you said is the main focus of the meeting of the great big coalition gathered here. how can you stop these sort of lone wolf attacks from happening? we will always be vulnerable for these kind of attacks. there is no way we can be 100% safe. but we can do many different things to reduce risks and to fight terrorist organisations like isis. that is what we are doing

in new york and syria and the purpose of our presence in a country like afghanistan. this is also about police and intelligence and an ideologicalfight police and intelligence and an ideological fight against those values which do not respect a sick human life. my colleague barbara plett usher talking to nato general secretary jens stoltenberg. france has offered its support as free french schoolchildren were among those injured on the bridge. prime minister said that his country felt solidarity and he condemned the attack. francois holland expressed his support for the british people. we are fully aware that terrorism concerns all of us and france, which

has been hit recently, understands the suffering that the british people go through today. at the same time we must put in place every possible measure to respond to these attacks. that is what we have done for a number of months here and that is what i have called for a european level. it is at the european level, even beyond, that we need to get organised and measures have been taken. they do not stop every attack from taking place. australian prime minister malcolm turnbull has been among the world leaders offering their condolences and support to the uk following the attack. australia's heartfelt sympathy and resolute solidarity is with the people of the united kingdom with whom we stand today as we always have in freedom's cause. staunch allies in the war against terrorism. the attack on the british parliament is an attack on parliaments, freedom and democracy everywhere.

australians should be reassured that oui’ australians should be reassured that our agencies australians should be reassured that oui’ agencies are australians should be reassured that our agencies are today, as everyday, working relentlessly to keep australians save. we are alert to the vulnerabilities of places of mass gathering and the risk of loan attacks like the perpetrator, this terrorist in london. and in israel, tel aviv was lit up with changing images of the israeli flag and the ukflag. images of the israeli flag and the uk flag. the locals said that they we re uk flag. the locals said that they were proud of the display and sympathetic towards what britain was going through. speaking, as they said, asa going through. speaking, as they said, as a country who had their fairshare of said, as a country who had their fair share of terrorist attacks. said, as a country who had their fair share of terrorist attackslj am fair share of terrorist attacks.” am very proud that we can show the english flag. i am emotional about that and i feel very strongly for the british people and we are with them. and the prime minister of new zealand has also formerly of offered his support. we strongly condemn the

terrorist attack in london. this morning i have written to prime minister theresa may, expressing condemnation of the attack and our support for the uk government and oui’ support for the uk government and our condolences towards the families and we want to... we want new zealanders in london to make sure that they are safe. much more on the attack and all of the international news any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. good morning. we have an area of rain across the central and southern parts of england drifting its way further west through this morning and here we have temperatures up to six degrees. rain in southern scotland, wet and windy here in the north of scotland, the north—west in particular has light winds and clear skies and lower temperatures, reaching maybe —8 for some. the wet weather moves into the bulk of wales before eight o'clock

in the morning and into parts of the south—west as well. the rain becomes light and patchy towards the south—east, something brighter behind. northern england is dry with a shower or two over high ground and fair bit of cloud in scotland and ireland. a little rain to go with that. northern scotland after a cold start stays chilly through the middle part of the morning and we get regular sunshine as well. light wind as well. a decent start to the day. it will be a decent day for many parts of the north and east of the uk as rain is confined to the south and south—west into the afternoon with a breeze and that will temper the temperatures a little bit. 12—15 for cardiff and london. eight or nine degrees in glasgow and newcastle. through the evening again along the south coast we have thick cloud and outbreaks of rain. rain towards the northern isles but in between fine and dry with clear skies and light winds.

that means it will be a chilly start once again on friday. decent rain to be had on friday with the weather front drifting away towards the south. high pressure is firmly in charge all the way to the end of the week and into the weekend. friday again a cold start for some particular southern scotland and northern england we have light winds but here will be a lovely day with plenty of sunshine in light wind. breeze top and tail of the country, a little bit of rain in the south—west and maybe a little bit of rain towards the northern isles. decent day temperature wise for many. a little bit higher, ten or ii degrees for glasgow and belfast. 13 again for cardiff and london. high pressure remains in charge of our weather through this weekend. that will bring a lot of fine and dry weather, more on the way of cloud developing as we reach sunday. saturday looks a decent day across large parts of the uk, chilly start but regular sunshine through the day and it should reach 14 or 15 degrees in the south—east and 13 degrees also for belfast and edinburgh. there is always a bit of a breeze blowing across the southern half of the uk through this weekend.

a bit more cloud around on sunday but many places will be fine and dry and some spells of sunshine to be had. winds lighter the further north you are. dry through the weekend, if you get sunshine it will be warm but quite chilly by night. the latest headlines from bbc news: the british prime minister has condemned what she called a "sick and depraved terrorist attack" outside the houses of parliament in london. three civilians and a police officer were killed by a lone attacker, who was then shot dead. the murdered police officer, who was unarmed and guarding the gates to parliament has been named as keith palmer. he was a8, a husband and a father. he suffered multiple stab wounds. the other victims have not yet been named. police say they know the identity of the attacker, but have given no details. the country's top anti—terrorism officer told journalists the attack was probably motivated by islamic extremism but no group has admitted responsibiity.

the injured victims included five people from south korea, two from romania and several french schoolchildren. the lights of the eiffel tower in paris were switched off at midnight on wednesday night as a mark of respect. so, let's recap on what we know. five people died in the attack in westminster. of those, one was the suspect, who was shot dead by police officers inside the grounds of the palace of westminster, the building which is home to the uk's national parliament. another victim is a police officer, on duty at the gates, who was stabbed to death. he has been named as police constable keith palmer. he was a8, and was a husband and a father. he had been a police officerfor 15 years. the met said that he wasn't armed, but his colleagues were, who then fired the shots that killed the attacker. and three other people, members of the public, died after being hit by a car on westminster bridge. a0 other people suffered injuries, some of who are thought to be in critical condition.

police have launched an anti—terrorism investigation. at a press conference outside new scotland yard, the metropolitan police's top anti—terrorist officer gave this update on the attack. today in westminster we saw tragic events unfold and our thoughts are with those who lost loved ones, those who are injured and all those effected by this attack. one of those who died today was a police officer, pc keith palmer, a member of our parliamentary and diplomatic protection command. keith, aged a8 had 15 years service, and was a husband and father. he was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift and he had every right to expect that would happen. i can also now confirm that there are three members of the public who have lost their lives in the attack.

specially trained family liaison officers have been deployed to support them. and as i confirmed earlier, the suspected attacker was shot dead by an armed officer. therefore now in total we have five people who died today. i will not comment on this stage as to the identity of the attacker but our working assumption is that he was inspired by international terrorism. i should also say at this stage, that we believe approximately a0 people have been injured, including several with serious injuries, including three police officers, two of whom are in a serious condition. our investigation continues and is moving at a fast pace this evening. we will be working throughout the night. we have hundreds of officers on this investigation and they are focusing on the suspect‘s motivation, preparation and his associates. we are forensically examining a complicated crime scene that covers a wide area and, as with all investigations of this nature, it will take us some time to work through the painstaking work necessary to gather all the relavant evidence. only then will the full

picture be known. officers are taking statements from the hundreds of people who were nearby, as today's attack unfolded and we are seizing and examining cctv. i can also report that the lockdown of parliament has concluded and we are working to reduce the evidence cordoned off. i would like to thank the public and parliamentarians for their patience and assistance as we carried out detailed examinations and work in that area. as the prime minister said earlier on, the uk threat level has been severe for some time and this level is not changing. but we have enhanced the scale of our policing operations at present to protect communities across the country. as we continue to investigate today's horrific events we do want to reassure the public that police and partners will do everything possible to protect them.

as a precautionary measure, over the next few days, we have increased the number of officers on duty, armed and unarmed, to provide a highly visible, reassuring presence. this will continue for as long as is necessary. terrorists have a clear aim, that is to create discord, distrust and to create fear. the police stand with all communities in the uk and will take action against anybody who seeks to undermine society, especially where their crimes are motivated by hate. we must recognise now that our muslim communities will feel anxious at this time, given the past behaviour of extreme right—wing groups, and we will continue to work with all community leaders in the coming days. it is essential for us to remain vigilant but also to work together — police and communities — to unite against those who seek through violence and extermism to threaten, to intimidate and to cause fear. we ask the public to be alert and to report any suspicious

activities to the police, calling our anti—terrorism hotline — 0800 789 321 - or dialing 999. today is an incredibly sad and sombre day, especially for the metropolitan police service and everyone who is affected. but it is only right that i finish by mentioning the pride i feel in the swift and brave response from our officers, especially from those who, without fear for their own safety, confronted the terrorist. i will take some questions. do you think you know who the man is? i know you can't say his identity on air. we think we know who the attacker is, and as i said, we are working with associates. i know there are some proactive journalists out there. i'd ask for restraint to allow us to continue this investigation without being troubled by unecessary reporting. can you confirm he's a british

national and whether there are others? this is an ongoing investigation. to give any details about the investigation would be inappropriate. do you know the nationalities of who was injured? we have a range of nationalities and are working with host countries. that is what you would expect from a tourist location like westminster bridge. it would be wrong to mention those now until we talk with the host countries and families. you mentioned international terrorism. do you know who this is related to? islamic state? islamist right—wing extremism is our assumption. what about what happens tomorrow? we are keeping the threat level at severe. but as a precautionary basis, there will be further patrols, armed and unarmed. an attack remains highly likely.

but you will see more in crowded places and iconic locations. will westminster be closed as a crime scene? the examination of the crime scene will take many, many hours. parliament will reopen tomorrow. some of the crime scene will restrict one or two of the entrances, but business must return to normal as quickly as possible. do you know any details of the individual? i will not talk about it until we get on with the investigation. who is involved in this investigation? the parliamentary protection team. sadly, keith palmer was involved and has been killed. information about the officer who lost his life and why he was unarmed. the attacker tried to enter parliament and was stopped

at the gate. what about security increasing and privacy? it is too early to talk about that but we will consider it in following days. inaudible. we will use military support if necessary but it hasn't been necessary. thank you for your time. that was the acting deputy commisioner of scotland yard mark rowley. as he said, at this stage, it's thought that the attack was the work of one single suspect. but police have not ruled out the involvement of others. they do not think they have other attacker is out there. —— attackers. police believe the attack was "inspired by international terrorism" and confirmed that in their investofagtion "islamist—related terrorism" is their assumption. john sweeney reports. westminster today, terror strikes by heart of london. gunfire.

man shouting: run! go, go! go, move yourself, go! sirens. at around 2:a0 this afternoon a car drives onto westminster bridge, mounts the pavements and ploughs into people in its path. the vehicle crosses the bridge, passes big ben and then slams into the railings to the left. the attacker, armed with a knife, then runs around the corner and into the main gates of the palace of westminster. he stabs a police officer. eyewitnesses say that, as he approached a second officer, clutching his knife, he was shot. the first people to be hit were standing on the south bank of the river by this kiosk. this danish teenager saw the horror. the south side?

this side? yes, the south side. how many bodies did you see? four. ismail, a driver coming from the direction of waterloo thought at first that the attacker had lost control of his vehicle. saw the car started speeding up. i don't know the reason, the only thing i thought was, personally, the light changed. so then after, as he speeded up, there is a small shop, a gidt shop, then the first thing he has taken three victims at least.

the nhe came to the middle and i was thinking, he lost balence or brake or something like that. then the second and the third one, then i stopped in the middle of the road to pointo the other cars and to stop them because there are people lying in the middle of the road. people being hit? taken as if normal. then people flying like a football. i feel sorry for one of the gentlemen, i did not know what happened to him, but it is not something i would want to witness every day. he was not conscious and just laying there, in the middle of the road.. did you see a chance to see the gentlemen driving the car? no, because my attention was not on that. my attention was on what's happening exactly. suddenly i realized, after 30 seconds, i realised it was not a hit—and—run, because hit and run is only one

person but taking a group of people and keep going back then that is a crime against humanity. our next eyewitness, radoslaw sikorski, former foreign polish foreign minister filmed this footage. we heard what sounded like metal on metal and we assumed it was a collision but then we looked outside and i saw one person down, then another. i reached for my telephone out of and old journalistic habit and i saw five people in all down on the tarmac and on the pavement and i understood it must have been deliberate. in the chaos, a woman was reported to have fallen into the thames — she pulled out injured but alive. the attacker then crashed his car into the ravilings just beyond big ben. hitting it appears yet another innocent bystander. my wife, friend and i came up from the westminster underground, and just as we came up, we looked across to parliament and there was a car crashed into the gate there. the police officers were running with machine—guns and there was a man down right next to the car so after it settled down in, i said, geez, i don't like what's going on. i took a wife and our friend and said let's get behind some concrete on th eparliamnt office building.

journalist quentin lett heard the car crash and ran to his office window overlooking parliament square. we saw a thick—set man in black clothes come through the gates, where people would normally drive cars, into new palace yard. new palace yard is just below big ben. this man had something in his hand. it looked like a stick of some sort. he was challenged by a couple of policemen in yellowjackets and one of the yellow—jacketed policemen fell down and we could see the man in black moving his arm in a way that suggested he was either stabbing or striking the yellow—jacketed policeman, and one of the policemen then ran to get help, which was very, very quick to come.

and then this. gunfire. i would say 15 yards, perhaps, two plainclothed guys with guns shouted at him, uttered what sounded like a warning. he ignored it and they shot two or three times and he fell. a foreign office minister tobias ellwood administered the kiss of life to the dying police officer. the thing london has been dreading has finally happened — a terror attack, and this one on the very heart of our democracy. inside the chamber, the deputy speaker halted proceedings. i am now going to suspend the sitting of the house. this house is now suspended but please wait here. so these were the scenes in the mother of parliaments today. chaos within but murder without. the prime minister, theresa may has

promised that britain will never give in to terror. c what she had to say. i have just chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee, cobra, following the sick and depraved terrorist attack on the streets of our capital this afternoon. the full details of exactly what happened are still emerging. but, having been updated by police and security officials, i can confirm that this appalling incident began when a single attacker drove his vehicle into pedestrians walking across westminster bridge, killing two people and injuring many more, including three police officers. this attacker, who was armed with a knife, then ran towards parliament, where he was confronted by the police officers who keep us and our democratic institutions safe. tragically, one officer was killed. the terrorist was also shot dead. the united kingdom's threat level

has been set at severe for some time and this will not change. acting deputy commissioner rowley will give a further operational update later this evening. our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected — to the victims themselves and their family and friends who waved their loved ones off, but will not now be welcoming them home. for those of us who were in parliament at the time of this attack, these events provide a particular reminder of the exceptional bravery of our police and security services who risk their lives to keep us safe. once again today, these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way. on behalf of the whole country, i want to pay tribute to them let timor now from two eyewitnesses.

ina let timor now from two eyewitnesses. in a moment, the reaction of seven schofield who works in an office overlooking parliament square. first however, a man coming out of westminster station. i was coming out of the tube at westminster at about 2:a5 p. m. it was clear something had happened, police were ushering people out of the tube station very quickly. i was ushered onto westminster bridge, but then i looked across to the west pavement and there were bodies, people lying on the bridge being attended to. so i then moved up into the middle of the bridge, looked further down the south side of the bridge and it was clear there were also bodies, people lying on the floor on the western pavement. when i spoke to someone who had clearly been on the bridge at the time of the incident they said that a car had mounted the pavement, or a vehicle, and literally driven the whole way from south to north, up the bridge, knocking people over. i counted eight people the length of the bridge

from south to north, at least eight. one was clearly in a sort of shocked moment, so you are not quite sure what is going on, but as i looked up and down they were being tended to. as i was standing there, an ambulance came over, landed in parliament square and out came an incredible number of security personnel, both obviously from the ambulance service, paramedics, but also suddenly plain clothes people, people with masks on, people with machine—guns. the quantity of armed personnel arriving was very significant very quickly. then as i looked there were vehicles arriving from the embankment, both police vehicles, vehicles with lights on and then a grey van with a number of security personnel. in a sense reassuring to know that there were so many armed security personnel looking after our safety so quickly after what was clearly a pretty dramatic event. we had some loud bangs

and a car crash that we saw from our office. there were many people running around shouting " look at what happened!" we thought it was a bus crash because there were many up and down the road. then i looked out at the carriage gates. the secure gate. there were armed policeman. i saw them storm through the gates. a man attacked a policeman and he went down. another man approached him and the man got up and with his arm outstretched looking like it had a knife in it pointed towards the policeman. then i could not quite see, i couldn't get a vantage point, but then there was gunfire. we knew it was something serious all of a sudden. i could see a car which had

crashed into a gate on the side of westminster. that would appear to be what the bang was. it is still there right now. i can see it. the terrorism threat level in britain has been at severe for some time and security groups have been under pressure to ensure that plots targeting the uk are prevented. under pressure to ensure that plots targeting the uk are preventedm fa ct targeting the uk are preventedm fact they prevented 13 major plots since 2013. last month a barrister appointed to review terrorism legislation warned of indiscriminate attacks on civilians by the so—called islamic state. we still know little about the salient but police say they know who it is. it has highlighted how complex the

issue of stopping terrorist attacks is. there had been so many rehearsals of scenarios like this in all sorts of environments. from the thames to the streets to the london underground, and underlying all the drills, the conviction that whoever inspired today's attacker, the islamic state group, had promised to strike britain. i think it was only a matter of time before an attack like this happened because is had rallied its supporters around the world by saying, "attack wherever and whenever "you can," and what we saw today was a very low—cost attack. it was a vehicle attacking people on the street and this is not something that, no matter how many security measures a country can take, could have been fully prevented. after the nice attacks in which an assailant used a truck to mow people down, islamic state promised again to hit the british. in the past two years, counterterrorist chiefs say

that 13 plots have been foiled in britain. today, though, the met‘s assistant commissioner for special operations had to count the cost of one that had got through. my thoughts are with all those who have been affected by today's attack and, as a service, we have lost one of our own as he acted to protect the public and his colleagues. this is a day we planned for but we hoped would never happen. sadly, it's now a reality. we will continue to do all we can to protect the people of london. the metropolitan police have a tight grip on the illegal firearms market in london and that's given them a confidence they could prevent a type of mumbai or paris sort of attack with multiple gunmen on the streets but of course what they can't stop is an individual using a car and a kitchen knife. what many of these attacks do have in common, and this happened with the murder of lee rigby,

is that the attackers are already well—known to security agencies. it isn't yet clear whether that was the case in london today but with hundreds involved in militant islam, the problem remains one of resources and calculated risks. the uk has one of the best security services in europe, if not the world, and i know that the security services in the uk have foiled a number of plots that the public do not necessarily know about and as i said, the problem is, you can't fully immunise a country against someone driving a vehicle and attacking people that way, but the more complex plots, certainly the uk intelligence services and security services have done a very good job of protecting british citizens from those kind of incidents. there are a great many investigative avenues ahead for the police and m15 now, mapping the attacker‘s contacts,

asking themselves about whether any warnings were missed that gave an indication that he had decided to mount the crimes we saw today. let's ta ke let's take a swift look at the international papers. "london has not fallen" reads the headline of saudi newspaper the arab news. the paper says workers in the uk capital are defiant after the westminster terror attack the front of singapore's straits times shows police officers suurounding the man believed to have carried out the attack. the gulf news shows conservative mp tobias ellwood helping emergency services attend to a police officer outside the palace of westminster after he was stabbed. that is it for now. much more on our website. good morning.

we have an area of rain across the central and southern parts of england drifting its way further west through this morning and here we have temperatures up to six degrees. rain in southern scotland, wet and windy here in the north of scotland, the north—west in particular has light winds and clear skies and lower temperatures, reaching maybe —8 for some. the wet weather moves into the bulk of wales before eight o'clock in the morning and into parts of the south—west as well. the rain becomes light and patchy towards the south—east, something brighter behind. northern england is dry with a shower or two over high ground and fair bit of cloud in scotland and ireland. a little rain to go with that. northern scotland after a cold start stays chilly through the middle part of the morning and we get regular sunshine as well. light wind as well. a decent start to the day. it will be a decent day for many parts of the north and east of the uk as rain is confined to the south and south—west into the afternoon with a breeze and that will temper the temperatures a little bit. 12—15 for cardiff and london.

eight or nine degrees in glasgow and newcastle. through the evening again along the south coast we have thick cloud and outbreaks of rain. rain towards the northern isles but in between fine and dry with clear skies and light winds. that means it will be a chilly start once again on friday. decent rain to be had on friday with the weather front drifting away towards the south. high pressure is firmly in charge all the way to the end of the week and into the weekend. friday again a cold start for some particular southern scotland and northern england we have light winds but here will be a lovely day with plenty of sunshine in light wind. breeze top and tail of the country, a little bit of rain in the south—west and maybe a little bit of rain towards the northern isles. decent day temperature wise for many. a little bit higher, ten or 11 degrees for glasgow and belfast. 13 again for cardiff and london. high pressure remains in charge of our weather through this weekend. that will bring a lot of fine and dry weather, more on the way of cloud developing as we reach sunday. saturday looks a decent day

across large parts of the uk, chilly start but regular sunshine through the day and it should reach 1a or 15 degrees in the south—east and 13 degrees also for belfast and edinburgh. there is always a bit of a breeze blowing across the southern half of the uk through this weekend. a bit more cloud around on sunday but many places will be fine and dry and some spells of sunshine to be had. winds lighter the further north you are. dry through the weekend, if you get sunshine it will be warm but quite chilly by night. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: britain's prime minister has condemned what she called a "sick and depraved terrorist attack". the attacker drove into pedestrians on westminster bridge, causing catastrophic injuries. and then i heard a big sort of crunch, sounded like a car crash, but almost that crunch of a wheel on a kerb. i saw the vehicle mount the kerb and it was coming out so quickly,

and i saw some people being hit in front of me. on the other side of the road there was a body and when i looked further up, there was another body. and then, when i looked over the side of the bridge, there appeared to be a body in the water as well. police shot dead the attacker. they say they know his identity and believe he was motivated by international terrorism. islamic—extremism.