this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at nine: warnings of treacherous driving conditions across large parts of the uk as sub—zero temperatures cause disruption for a second day. hundreds spend the night at stansted airport after flights were cancelled or delayed. i'm in the midlands, where drivers are being told to watch out for black ice. 500 homes still without power, and the met office has issued 11 flood warnings across britain. more evacuations of syrian children, but there's no relief for hundreds still trapped in a suburb near damascus. also in the next hour: the health secretary tells bbc news he would like nhs funding in england to be planned much more in advance.

if we could have a workforce plan underfunding settlement that perhaps lasted ten years rather than three or four years, lasted ten years rather than three orfouryears, i lasted ten years rather than three or four years, i think that would make things a lot easier for people in the system. a record—breaking dave alastair cook in melbourne with a double century and his highest ever score against australia in the fourth ashes test. and join us for weather world. we are with the people who can make snow, are with the people who can make show, none are with the people who can make snow, none of this is real. and we look back at the year's biggest storms. good morning and welcome to bbc news. there are warnings of treacherous driving conditions this morning, as sub—zero temperatures cause disruption for a second day across large parts of the uk. hundreds of people have spent

the night at stansted airport after flights were cancelled or delayed. the met office has issued 15 weather warnings. andy moore reports. the snow had long gone by the time these images were taken at stansted airport, but the disruption it caused has lasted into another day. the airport said up to 300 people were staying in the terminal overnight. it said it was handing out beds and blankets, though some passengers said they saw little sign of them. many people complained of chaotic scenes as they tried to get their luggage back from cancelled flights. this was the scene that greeted passengers returning to luton airport yesterday. no significant snow is forecast today, but the airport is warning there could again be delays because aircraft will have to be de—iced. 0vernight there were warnings of ice and especially black ice in many areas as the snow and slush from yesterday refroze. at the height of the bad weather yesterday, more than 70,000

homes were without power, but by this morning the vast majority were back online. flooding in many places yesterday brought more problems, though not for all vehicles. there are still flood warnings in some locations, but in most places water levels have gone down. driving conditions are likely to remain difficult in many places this morning and the wintry weather is not over yet. there's a met office warning of snow showers across northern england and southern scotland tomorrow morning. andy moore, bbc news. let's go to our correspondent jayne mccubbin who is in leicestershire. some pretty treacherous conditions out there? it looks great now, the traffic is moving freely, the golden

sunrise, but it really is very treacherous. yesterday three lanes we re treacherous. yesterday three lanes were blocked because of the sudden blizzard conditions, and today, these weather warnings are back in place from the met office, severe warnings for snow and ice. have a look down the road, and you will see that the lovely footprints that were made yesterday, today are completely iced over. very treacherous underfoot here. the met office said are two problems. one is that ice has developed in areas that previously hadn't had it and had been treated. the other problem is that rain overnight has got rid of some of the treatment, and produced new ice on areas that had previously

been treated. here in the midlands, some 500 homes are without power today. across the country, 700 homes we re today. across the country, 700 homes were reconnected overnight, so good news for them. good news also at sta nsted news for them. good news also at stansted airport, news for them. good news also at sta nsted airport, because news for them. good news also at stansted airport, because they say they are returning back to normal today, they expect flights to resume today. normal business there today. 0vernight, 300 people had to camp out on makeshift beds, but things are looking better there. another warning from easyjet, that anybody travelling with them should check before they head to the airport today. there may be some delays with their airline. another warning from today, flood warnings. there are six flood warnings in place, the river avon, the river ankara, the river

nene and the river blyth. imminent action should be taken. do take care wherever you are this morning, because conditions are pretty bad. jayne, many thanks indeed, jayne mccubbin us at catthorpe. therefore it's proving to be a busy time for car breakdown companies. we can now speak to pete williams from the rac. he's in our bristol studio. thank you for being with us. as we we re thank you for being with us. as we were just thank you for being with us. as we werejust here, thank you for being with us. as we were just here, plenty for drivers to co nte nt were just here, plenty for drivers to content with, snow, ice, flooding as well. absolutely. good morning. hazardous conditions again on the roads, black ice proving to be a big problem, but we are likely to see a lot of stranded motorists today. yesterday our rac patrol is attended over 9000 stranded motorists with all sorts of problems from battery failure to punctures to mine accidents where they had skidded on

ice, so really the warning is to ta ke ice, so really the warning is to take extra care and drive slowly, leave plenty of space between your car on the vehicle in front and take it easy on the roads today. you have seen it easy on the roads today. you have seen quite a big increase in the number of call—outs compared to this time last year? absolutely, 2096 up, and we expect a similar volume today. we have been rescuing members stranded in snow and ice conditions, but when you think that not many people have actually returned to work, so this is people returning from festive trips, maybe even doing a quick dash to the sales, but running into problems on the roads, ice and high winds and heavy rain forecast, and obviously in the north and south of scotland, more snow on the way. so expect delays, really. so what is the advice if you are heading into pretty large delays?

what sort of preparations should you make? first of all do some quick checks on your vehicle, your oil and coolant checks on your vehicle, your oil and coola nt levels, checks on your vehicle, your oil and coolant levels, screen wash, and check your tyres and make sure you have good tread and they are well inflated, that should keep you safe on the road, they keep you gripped to the road. check the traffic and travel reports, and the weather, and pack accordingly. have your own winter break down kit with plenty of spare warm and dry clothing, a flask, some snacks, a shovel and certainly a fully charged mobile phone. all of these things might sound a bit daft, but if you have a breakdown and get stuck, you will be very grateful that you packed them. and what is the outlook for the next couple of days? do you expect it to be pretty busy for the next 2a, 48 hours? be pretty busy for the next 24, 48 hours? absolutely, i expect it will run on into the weekend with heavy localised ice patches, and it could

get colder again at the weekend, and then beyond that, next tuesday, the second, whenever body is returning to work, we are anticipating that will be the busiest breakdown day of the year as people get back into the car, many people have left their ca i’s car, many people have left their cars idle over the festive period, and that is when we find that people's batteries are tired and exhausted and fail, and that looks set to be a busy day for everyone on the roads, and certainly fathauer patrols out there rescuing people. good to talk to you, good luck with all of that, pete williams from the rac in bristol, thank you. the united nations special envoy to syria has told the bbc that desperately sick children being moved out of a rebel held district near damascus may be being used as bargaining chips. last night, 12 people were allowed out of eastern ghouta — a further 13 are due to leave today. jan egeland, said he understood rebels had agreed to release

captured government workers in exchange for the children — and he believed that kind of deal violates the children's rights. if it has been an exchange, i find it problematic. it is wonderful for the families, wonderful for these children that have had their life saved, but it is not good if they have become bargaining chips in some kind of exchange with detainees. it has been all along an issue here that medical evacuations that should happen in any war at any time, where civilians have the right to be evacuated out of harm's we, have been part of a novel negotiation. jan egeland there. we are talking

about 29 evacuations which took place out of hundreds of people who are in need and at risk of death from treatable conditions. unfortunately we have seen many elements that undermine the operation to help the patients and evacuate. we know that four months ago when we started reaching out to the un security members as well as the un security members as well as the un security members as well as the un leadership, we provided the list of 29 patients back then, the ones in urgent need, and since then the list has grown to 500 plus, and now we are seeing the list has grown to 500 plus, and now we are seeing them approved, but notjust that, notjust now we are seeing them approved, but not just that, not just the starvation is going up in eastern ghouta, but there are many

violations of international humanitarian laws, which makes a suspicious that other deals are in place and using humanitarian needs asa bargaining place and using humanitarian needs as a bargaining chip or some deal to negotiate a better political position. the president of the syria — american medical society. 40 people have been killed 30 others injured ina 40 people have been killed 30 others injured in a bomb attack in afghanistan. the suicide bomb was followed by two other explosions in the area. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, has told the bbc he'd like funding for the nhs in england to be planned much further ahead. if implemented, it could mean budgets spanning periods longer than individual governments. but mr hunt says it would make things easier for those working in the health service.

if i was going to do things differently, well, i would like the nhs to move to a system where we had a longer time horizon for planning, instead ofjust the cycle of spending reviews. if we could have a workforce plan, a funding settlement, that perhaps lasted ten years rather than three or four years, i think that would make things a lot easier for people in the system. the health secretary, jeremy hunt. a group of british doctors, nurses and firefighters are planning to fly out to bangladesh to help with an outbreak of diphtheria in a rescue camp of displaced rohingya muslim is. more than 600,000 rohingya muslim is who fled persecution by the myanmar

military have settled here around the city of cox's bazaar. a lack of sanitation has caused outbreaks of disease, including diphtheria, a de disease, including diphtheria, a de disease largely unknown in many parts of the world you to vaccination. most patients are between five and i4 vaccination. most patients are between five and 14 years old. 0ver the next two days, 40 british doctors, nurses and firefighters will travel to bangladesh to lead an urgent vaccination programme. they are members of the uk's emergency medical team, group of volunteers from the nhs and emergency services ready to respond at short notice to humanitarian disasters. it is the team's first deployment since it was certified by the world health organisation last year, but with warnings that cholera and two but

your laces may also be on the rise, this could just be the start of a long campaign against disease in these vast refugee camps. the united nations says children have suffered shocking levels of violence in war zones around the world, during the past year. in a new report, the un's children's agency, unicef, describes how children have been killed, maimed, used as human shields, or recruited to fight. it's calling on warring factions to abide by international law, and end such violations. it was once a very common sight on british streets, the bobby on the beat, high—profile and reassuring. but a new survey suggests that uniformed police and community support officers are becoming much less visible. i think a presence does make a difference. i think if you see the police on the streets, people are more wary and think more about what they are doing. to be fair, i think the police are doing all right. i think the budget is not enough, but they are doing all they can do. they are doing a good job. the survey by her majesty's inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services found four—fifths of people asked in england and wales thought it was important to have a regular

police presence in their area. but in the last year, 44% of people had not seen a uniformed police officer patrolling their streets, while a quarter said they felt the service provided by local police was getting worse. budget cuts, police numbers are at their worst since 1985, and a shift in resources to focus on things like terrorism and cybercrime are just some of the reasons police chiefs say they are not walking the beat as often anymore. in a statement, the home office said it was announcing an increase of police funding by up to £450 million for local, national and counterterrorism policing next year. chi chi izundu, bbc news. train users could see a big

improvement to wi—fi. the government is proposing that fiber—optic cables and mobile masts be rolled out alongside railtracks, to improve connectivity to all passengers on all main line routes by 2025. what really matters is making sure people can get that connection, whether through the wi—fi or the mobile phone signal because there's nothing more frustrating than being stuck on a train unable to connect if you need to just tell somebody what time you are going to be getting there or if you want to work or stream video and make the time go faster. now, then, record—breaking snow is continuing to affect the us area of pennsylvania where one—and—a—half metres of snow has fallen in 48 hours. the snap is bringing subzero temperatures to large parts of north—east america and canada and ice has created deadly conditions in

several us states, as georgina smythe reports. the white stuff coming in thick and fast. this time lapse of storm—hit pennsylvania ca ptu res lapse of storm—hit pennsylvania captures the intensity of the record effect snow that hit this week. more than 65 inches has fallen in the city and while the snow is easing, this is the reality still facing many residents in northern states with icy conditions having deadly consequences in several states. snowploughs and diggers are working over time but it's slow work moving the snow that fell so fast. we are all in it together, right... but for the yuvening at heart, it's about making the most of the extraordinary snow fall while it lasts. we haven't had a winter like this since we were little kids. it feels good to be playing out here again. for others,

there's no end to the fun that's to be had in this amount of snow. frozen water falls, frozen lakes and even an open draw bridge frozen in position attests to the frigid temperatures experienced by the north us. the cold air that has been feeding down from the arctic is set to continue over the next few days, snow will continue to fall but none so heavy as what has been seen. now, britain is on course for its greenest year ever in terms of electricity generation, 13 clean energy records have been broken in 2017. the government's committed to phasing out unabated coal by 2025 as parts of efforts to cut the uk's greenhouse gas emissions in line with legal obligations. let's talk about all of this with gareth redmond—king, head of energy and climate change and the world

wildlife fund. thank you for being with us. tell us more about what seems to have been a very good year? it's an exciting year in terms of what we have achieved on decarbonising electricity. we have had ourfirst decarbonising electricity. we have had our first day without coal, we have seen the price of off shore wind absolutely plummet and basically we have seen renewables become a much bigger part of the story. that's important because we need to clean our electricity up if we are going to tackle climate change. is this a trend that will keep on getting better, do you think, or was this a year that sort of stands out, obviously, but is this something you see continuing in the years after that? we expect 2018 to be as good, if not better, yes. we need the government to keep on supporting renewable electricity to make sure that we do see that trend continuing and we need to see the government doing more in other sectors of the economy as well. we haven't done quite so well on emissions from our homes for example, or emissions from transport

which have been going up a little bit in recent years. how do we compare with our nearest competitors, for example, industrial competitors? we compare pretty well. we have cut emissions by over 40% since 1990, that is at a time when the economy's grown two thirds. we are on track with our carbon targets to date. the risk comes in the next decade when actually a gap starts to open up between what we need to be doing to continue tackling climate change and what we have got plans for. that is why we need to be cutting emissions from homes and transport, but also why we need to be building more renewable electricity generation. a good year then and how much difference is this making to the whole climate change issue, do you think? it makes a huge change. it proves we can do it. it proves we can cut emissions, that we can change the way that we generate energy. it would have been unthinkable ten years ago to not be

generating electricity without coal. almost just proving that generating electricity without coal. almostjust proving that we are capable of tackling climate change and not that we have to spend a fortune to do it. these technologies have come down in price dramatically, they are contributing tojob growth. dramatically, they are contributing to job growth. you would say we need more investment? it all requires some sort of government support to enable it to get built. we need to make sure solar and wind, they're already the cheapest form, we need to make sure they stay that way and get to the stage where they can be built without any form of government support. that's when we've really cracked it. if we are going to heat our homes using electricity and drive electric vehicles, then of course we need to make sure that we are not putting coal into our cars, we need to be putting clean electricity into our cars. on that point about electric cars, do you think we are on track to make as much progress as you would like to see on that? well, the uk

government's said that it will end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. we think we should be going much faster than that. scotland has said that they'll do it in 2032. india, ireland and austria are doing it in 2030, norway in 2025. the fact is that the car manufacturers are signalling the move towards affordable electric vehicles and over half of british motorists say they expect to be buying an electric vehicle in the next five years, so motorists are on it as well. very good to talk to you, thank you very much. a traffic cop in india has become an internet sensation with his michael jackson—inspired dance moves. the 38—year—old moonwalks across busy intersecond tonnes and —— intersections and has thousands of

followers on facebook. he does give a p pa re ntly followers on facebook. he does give apparently dance lessons to his fellow officers now. he seems to be doing a very good job. as indeed is the sport presenter. hello. it's been a memorable, record—breaking day for england's alastair cook in melbourne. he finished the day three of the fourth ashes fest on 244—0, guiding england to a healthy first innings lead. australia have won the ashes of course but what a an impeerious display of batting by cook as he made his fifth double century. he passed the great west indian batsman brian lara in the all—time list of leading run scorers, a partnership of broad and cook helped england. broad himself made 56. the day belonged to cook as

england were 491—9, a first innings holyrood of 164. it meant a lot last night and today i was proud i managed to back it up after all the emotion came out yesterday, to get a real big one for the team was very important. do you ever doubt yourself? yes, 10096. i doubt myself for 12 years, probably continue to doubt myself but obviously the longer it goes, the harder it becomes. i suppose that's why i can becomes. i suppose that's why i can be quite proud. i was proud last night. delivering a performance like that was just pleasing, it's just a shame it's three—and—a—half, four weeks too late. i'll have to live with that but it's nice to score a few. let us have a look at where that places cook in the all—time list of highest run—scorers. manchester city have stretched their

lead at the top of the premier league to a massive 15 points and their record—breaking winning run now stands at 18 games after a 1—0 victory at newcastle. sterling got the game's only goal on a night where city didn't have it all their own way against benitez‘s struggling side. guardiola's men can now make it 19 side. guardiola's men can now make it19 in side. guardiola's men can now make it19ina side. guardiola's men can now make it 19 in a row if they beat crystal palace on new year's eve. it was difficult to play when the other tea m difficult to play when the other team doesn't want to play, so after the last minute you play in the rhythm and then it's always much easier because the game was not over ati-o easier because the game was not over at 1—0 but we create enough chances to win two, three or 4—0. at 1—0 but we create enough chances to win two, three or 4-0. against a team that is so superior to the majority of the teams they are playing against, you have to think careful about your tactics and how to approach everything. we try to be

compact and counterattack. we have some situations where we could do better but still we were in the game. hibernian manager neil lennon says scottish football's failure to use video footage is making a mockery of the game after a controversial 0—0 game. hibs thought they should have been awarded a goal. the officials couldn't tell if this shot had gone in or not. in the end, it wasn't given and the match stayed goalless. in last night's other games, wins also for aberdeen and rangers. liverpool have finally got the defender they wanted. they have agreed a world record deal to sign virgilvan dijk have agreed a world record deal to sign virgil van dijk when the tra nsfer sign virgil van dijk when the transfer window opens on 1st january. he'lljoin transfer window opens on 1st january. he'll join for £75 transfer window opens on 1st january. he'lljoin for £75 million, a record fee for a defender, and it's despite barely featuring for the team since handing in a transfer request in august. nadal‘s ongoing knee injury's fall

forced him to pull out of the brisbane international. the warm—up event for the australian open. the spaniard hasn't played since withdrawing from the finals last month in london and pulled out of an event this weekend. he does still hope he'll be fit in time to play however at the australian open. that is all the sport. now time for the weather with simon king. after yesterday's rain, sleet and snow and below freezing temperatures, today's risk is ice. it could be treacherous in places but there'll be lots of sunshine through the course of today. showers affecting scotland, north wales and north—west england. it will be a cold day. temperatures two, three, four at best. that little bit milder down towards the south—west where we are going to see more cloud moving in. through tonight, you will see the blue hhue.

—— the blue hue. brighter skies coming behind this, turning milder in the south—west, still cold in the north. bye—bye.