this is bbc news, the headlines at 11: the uk is facing more heavy snowfalls with an amber weather warning issued in many parts of the country. drivers are being asked to be prepared. some road will be better than others and with any forecast it can change, so and with any forecast it can change, so it is a case of keeping your eye on the media and we will do our best to keep what we can open, but with the snow forecast there will be problems. there will be problems. boris johnson has met iran's president this morning as he continues efforts to win the freedom of the british woman nazanin zagari—ratcliffe. students could save thousands of pounds on tuition fees with a proposal for shorter, two—year degree courses. the brexit secretary has warned that the uk could still refuse to pay its divorce bill if it doesn't get a trade deal with the eu. so, number one, no deal means we

will not do it. and we have datelined later on. good morning and welcome to bbc news. heavy snowfalls across parts of the uk are causing widespread disruption this morning. an amber weather alert is in place for wales, the midlands and southern england. wales has been particularly badly affected with over 20 centimetres of snow falling in parts of powys. police are warning of treacherous driving conditions and several roads have been closed. we will be like in some of the areas affected shortly. simon clemison reports. it could be a scene from the snowman.

white the new green, as you fly over parts of wales. sledge down it, sculpt it, throw it. it might not look any different to the snow which has already fallen in shropshire, but it is coming from a different place, and that could mean it has a much bigger effect. a band of rain, this time persistent, is drifting in from the south—west and is set to push against the cold air, potentially leading to heavy and continuous falls across wide areas of wales, the midlands, and into northern england, with the possibility of 20 centimetres accumulating in some spots. it could also go further south than originally thought. scotland and northern ireland are on alert. a fair amount has already arrived on the weekend but so far it originated from showers, covering some towns but not others. this hospital is calling on people with 4x4s living nearby to help bring staff to work, with the met office urging people to be prepared. for many, for now, the snow is anything but a problem. we have been sledging down the hill and it is superfun. we don't get snow very often,

we brought the kids out and it was good fun. just having loads of fun in the snow. the met office says road, rail and air delays are likely. the hope will be that a sunday will help lessen the impact, because lots of people are not at work or school. in fact, they're here. in a moment we'll chat to navteonhal in nottinghamshire, but first let's speak to matthew richards, who's in llangollen in north east wales. is it still snowing there?” is it still snowing there? i do not know if it is tempting fate, but it seems to be easing off since the early hours of the morning, but it has been snowing here since about five o'clock. the row behind me is one of many across wales that have

been closed today simply because conditions are far too dangerous for vehicles. only farm vehicles have come up and down so far today. looking on social media you get snapshots across the region, like then bishop, wrexham and powys, the west affected areas. there has been an appeal for snowploughs to dig out the entrance to a residential care home so that the star can get in. since the heavy snow on friday hospitals in north wales have been using the red cross to help ferry blood supplies and other medical materials around the area where staff are unable to get with their vehicles. please mention warnings about not making journeys unless they are absolutely necessary and if you have to take journeys, the they are absolutely necessary and if you have to takejourneys, the rac say they expect to deal with around 7500 incidents today, they are urging people to have a pack in your car in case you do encounter problems, to dig yourself out of the

snow, or to have a warm flask of drink and blankets with you in case you need to be rescued. as we speak ican you need to be rescued. as we speak i can see one of the cars braving the road behind me, although not many drivers will be taking a chance today. no, it looks pretty atrocious. let's go to nottinghamshire. what i conditions like there? abdelbasset ali al—megrahi welcome to a very wintry place where the snow arrived around seven o'clock this morning and i can still feel it crunching underneath my feet. it looks very picturesque. you can see the snowmen that have been built already and plenty of people have been sledging down that big hill behind me. but as lovely as it looks, it has been causing plenty of disruption. birmingham airport

has had to suspend its flights today as the airfield is cleared. at east midlands airport flights coming in and out of the airport have been delayed and the runway has been suspended until at least midday. also on the roads there have been precautions taken. there have been disruptions to local bus services and highways england has had to deal with incidents around junctions 16 and i7 with incidents around junctions 16 and 17 earlier this morning. it has been snowing very heavily and is expected to ease off by this afternoon. we are expecting between 5-10 afternoon. we are expecting between 5—10 centimetres of snow, but we have just seen a parade of sledges go past us and there are plenty of people trying to make the most of the weather however long it lasts. here to tell us more is the independent‘s travel editor simon calder.

we were hearing the issues with airports. give us the picture on flight airports. give us the picture on flight nationally. it is getting worse i'm afraid. east midlands and birmingham airportare worse i'm afraid. east midlands and birmingham airport are hoping to openin birmingham airport are hoping to open in about half an hour. they are showing they have got arrivals coming in. whether that goes ahead, we do not know. meanwhile, stansted airport is where the large numbers of passengers will be affected. they are currently closed at the moment. because this is ryanair‘s main base across europe it means the airline cancels flights as soon as disruption is happening. there are already dozens of cancellations to and from italy, germany, poland, and asa and from italy, germany, poland, and as a result tens of thousands of passengers are likely to find themselves out of position. it is now affecting europe's busiest

airport, heathrow, with long delays and some cancellations although not all of them are because of problems with the weather here. a lot of them are to do with conditions on the continent, particularly in amsterdam. wherever you are going by air, be prepared for disruption. what about the railways? west midlands railway and london north western railway, it is their very first day to day of running trains, that they are not. they took over at two o'clock in the morning from london midland and sent out a joint message saying, do not travel today. if you have got advance bookings for today, the tickets will be valid for tomorrow. virgin running trains to london euston and said they have removed all ticket restrictions, but there are likely to be cancellations. travel by train in these conditions is generally the safest way, but there is still

disruption. and on the roads? the error a0 is particularly badly hit with stories of cars breaking down and cars not getting up and down the slip roads. that is blocking the motorways. the police say unless you absolutely need to travel, please do not. you can see what it is like out there from those pictures. that will be repeated on a large number of motorways up and down the uk. that is in hertfordshire, and looking at a standstill. the message to drivers is that if you do venture out and you think you might get stuck, be prepared. 0h, you think you might get stuck, be prepared. oh, yes. warm clothing, food, water, a shovel. but it is much better, having been cycling around london which is relatively lightly affected, i would almost

certainly stay indoors today. do you ta ke certainly stay indoors today. do you take a shovel when you cycle? no, i just go very slowly and carefully! very good advice from simon calder as ever. keep up—to—date with all the latest on the bbc news website. keep up—to—date with all the latest on the bbc news website. to keep up to date with all the latest for your area go to the bbc news website and tune into your bbc local radio station or bbc radio wales. we have full weather forecasts every half an hour here on bbc news. the foreign secretary borisjohnson has met with the iranian president, hassan rouhani, this morning on the second day of his visit to the country. it's believed that he continued to press for the release of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british—iranian aid—worker who's been held prisoner in the country since april 2016. she denies charges of trying to overthrow the iranian government. but she faces the possibility of a further court appearance today after mrjohnson appeared last month to contradict her claim she was on holiday in iran at the time of her arrest. i am sure it will make a difference.

i am sure him being there, i'm sure him raising her case, i'm sure him raising her case in the context of lots of other stuff can only help improve relations and can only help... improved relations can only lead to a better case for us. i think that's right, that i'm not expecting that on monday morning, he comes back with her on the plane. our bbc persian correspondent kasra naji has been following this story and joins me now. what do we know of the progress of mrjohnson's talks in iran? what do we know of the progress of mrjohnson's talks in iran? in the last hour we are hearing that boris johnson has in fact left that money is one of the key issues

that have to be resolved. it has to be resolved before other outstanding issues are resolved. thank you very much for bringing us up to date. that is the latest on boris johnson's trip to iran. the brexit secretary, david davis, has said the breakthrough deal reached by theresa may with the european union in brussels on friday, is "conditional on getting a transitional and trade agreement". meanwhile, labour's shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, has insisted that the uk must stay close to the single market. our political correspondent susanna mendonca has been giving me more details. when david davis was asked whether 01’ when david davis was asked whether or not their work impact assessments being done at that time he said the government was looking at the impact

on 58 different sectors. however, last week that the select committee he was asked again about it and he said basically there were no impact assessments at all being done. today he was challenged about that on the andrew marr show and he was i suppose it was more about the terminology. he was saying it was not impact assessments in the sense of looking at whether or not there would be a cost for us is leading the eu, instead he was talking about sectoral analysis which is basically looking at different aspects, like the size of an industry and that type of thing, that that work had been done and there were 850 pages of that work that had been done. but the sectoral analysis, the more detailed analysis, had not been done. trying to defend his possession but there will be those who still thinking perhaps misled parliament. he was also asked about

the breakthrough deal that the prime minister managed to get in brussels after looking like maybe that was going to fall apart after the dup's intervention at the beginning of the week and finally it happened on friday. what did he say about that? there is a question around what full alignment means. people are saying you cannot have full alignment and britain effectively sticking to the rules, the customs union and the single market. he made the point we would stay out of the customs union and the single market and he said in terms of the full alignment it is about the outcomes rather than the methods that you get. for example, you can have different structures in terms of the way you work with the eu, but have the same outcomes. this is what he said. we are not looking to create a circumstance where animal welfare is worse in britain than elsewhere. we are not looking to create a circumstance where

safety of food is worse or indeed pollutions and waterways. we will meet the outcomes but not do it by just copying or doing what the european union does. in terms of the deal he said that britain would look for in terms of the next stage in the negotiation, he wants something called canada plus, plus, plus, the deal that canada has. canada does not have services included in it to steal. that is a key stage for britain because of our financial services industry. if you look at the canada deal that took between 7-10 the canada deal that took between 7—10 years to pin down so there will be people asking questions about whether or not he can do it in the time frame. he said it was not that difficult to do a trade deal. i guess we will find out. canada plus, plus, plus. that is a new one. his opposite number, so keir starmer was appearing on the show as well, what

did he say? he was talking about the deal labour wants and what they want is to be as close as possible to the way the single market and the european union works. as far as labour is concerned, they would want to have a close relationship. they talk about the relationship the eu has with norway. a lot of people will remember back to the eu referendum campaign and people are talking about the norway relationship where they have to pay in but they do not have any say over the rules made. people will be thinking perhaps that is not the deal we want. certainly that is the kind of model keir starmer was suggesting labour might pursue. do you really think the agreement theresa may struck this week means that britain in perpetuity will stay very close to the single market and the customs union? yes, and i think thatis the customs union? yes, and i think that is the right thing and we should hold her to that. that goes to the heart of the question what

sort of britain we want to be? do we see europe as our major trading partner or do we want to rid ourselves apart from that? this week we have got the eu summit and we will get more information about the deal done on friday and the process of moving things forward. we have also got parliamentarians are putting forward amendments to the eu withdrawal bill. what they really wa nt withdrawal bill. what they really want is to be able to have it set in stone that parliament will have a meaningful vote at the end of all of this on the deal that britain finally comes to. our political correspondent. the headlines: there is travel disruption on roads and at airports because of the heavy snow thatis airports because of the heavy snow that is falling with an amber weather warning issued to many parts of the uk as more snow is forecast. borisjohnson has left iran in the last hour after talks with the country's president over the detention of the british iranian

woman and other dual nationals. new proposals to launch a two degree courses could see students save over £5,000. all the latest sport now. two derby today. yes, but the bigger one is in manchester. this time round the stakes are high. city are premier league leaders and they could open up an 11 point lead on united in second and there is a record to break as well. win today and city would have won 1a games in and city would have won 1a games in a row. not that pep guardiola is thinking about that. we are not going to play one game thinking about the record. you forget. it will be nice because we won, but sooner or later the record is going to be broken. it is what we have to do to win the game, that is my

concern. i don't want us to feel any kind of pressure. i want us to feel it isa kind of pressure. i want us to feel it is a match like we are going to have another one two days later against bournemouth. we want to win, we want to play well. we are going to try. let's see the reactions of the game. before that showdown at old trafford there are couple of other tasty looking games. southampton face arsenal at noon and there is the small matter of the merseyside derby with sam allardyce's merseyside derby with sam alla rdyce's everton making merseyside derby with sam allardyce's everton making the trip. the whole occasion is a great test for the players that we have. it is an occasion that they need to rise to. it is a one—off. however good liverpool are playing at the moment it isa liverpool are playing at the moment it is a derby match and anything can happen. or i can ask the players to do is to give their best, play their best game. it might not be enough because of the form they are in.

they have just got five at brighton and seven in the champions league. ronnie o'sullivan will look to equal steve davis' record of six uk snooker championship titles when he faces shaun murphy later today. o'sullivan beat stephen maguire whilst murphy saw off ryan day. for the a0th anniversary, it will be contested in the final my two of the game's great entertainers, ronnie o'sullivan, a five times winner, and shaun murphy, a previous winner himself. shaun murphy beat ryan day this evening and it was a good win and it showed what he is capable of and it showed what he is capable of and what prospect have we got for tomorrow? to be honest i cannot wait. both players are playing at the top of their game. great break builders and great potters and they will be quick for a snooker. it is going to be quick firing staff. what

difference does it make that for the first time in a longer match just a few weeks ago last month shaun murphy had the better of ronnie o'sullivan. how does that factor into the equation? shaun murphy is confident enough to beat anybody in the world. does it put the seeds of doubt in ronnie o'sullivan? possibly. ronnie will know he is in for a fight. he will have been keeping an eye on this match and everyone will have been telling him how great shaun murphy is playing. if he continues like that, he will have the best pop success. ronnie is after jointly holding have the best pop success. ronnie is afterjointly holding this man's uk record of six crowns. he has an amazing record in the tournament since he won it when he was only 17. it is his birthday this week as well. a fantastic record, but he will have to play as well as he did back then. i look forward to it. we

do indeed. one o'clock on bbc two is when it all gets under way. tom curran has boosted his chances ofa tom curran has boosted his chances of a place in the england team ahead of a place in the england team ahead of the third ashes test starting in perth on thursday. the surrey fast bowler took five wickets and scored an unbeaten 77 with the bat yesterday. captain moeen ali also found a bit of form with a second innings a7 in the match that england drew against a cricket australia 11. that is all the spot for now. we will be back in the next hour. students in england are being encouraged to study for undergraduate degrees in two years rather than three. the university's ministerjo johnson says these shorter courses will save thousands of pounds in tuition fees even though universities would be able to charge nearly £2,000 more per year. andy moore reports. it was a conservative manifesto promise to introduce more across the south west, said gales, battering parts of cornwall, devon,

parts of the channel. gust of 70, maybe 80, 90 miles an hour parts of the channel. gust of 70, maybe 80,90 miles an hour in places. damaging gusts of wind, further north, disruption from the snow. the far north of england coming to scotland and northern ireland, fine afternoon, crisp sunshine, dry apart from a few snow showers. football matches, quite damp, quite windy in southampton. for the derby in manchester, looks like the odd flake of snow. a cold one. largely dry. overnight, the bigger risk is is, which will for widespread, in northern areas in particular. also the south—east as sky is clear. these are the towns and city values. much colder in rural places. could be looking at temperatures into minus double figures across the fast north of england and scotland. that is the area of low pressure pushing off into the continent. further south low pressure will bring damaging

winds and heavy rain to parts of france. the northern edge will clip the south in the south—east of england. gale force winds, heavy rain, we could see some sleet and snow across east anglia and the south—east, particularly over highgrove. further west, better looking day, if you showers, widgery in nature, also sunshine. tuesday, cold, frosty start, risk of ice to start the day. at least we are in between weather systems, much quieter, plenty of wintry sunshine. that is the latest weather. it is time for dateline london. hello and welcome to dateline london.

i'm shaun ley. recent days have tested the proposition that in relations between nations it's negotiation rather than innovation that wins the day. on friday, after brexit talks went to the wire and beyond, theresa may appeared to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. has she improved the odds for a successful departure for the uk from the european union? on wednesday, president donald trump went the other way, declaring that the united states would unilaterally recognise jerusalem as israel's capital, ending 70 years of studied neutrality on one of the issues that has prevented a settlement of the conflict between israelis and palestinians. could breaking out of positions adopted more than a lifetime ago be