this is bbc news. the headlines at seven: heavy snow, rain and strong winds cause disruption in many parts of the uk — weather warnings for icy conditions have been issued across parts of scotland and northern england. labour peer lord adonis resigns as the government's infrastructure chief — with a scathing attack on theresa may for her handling of brexit. 12 people — including four children — have died in a blaze at an apartment block in the bronx. the uk stock market reaches a record high on the final day of trading. also this hour... the dog who's had pioneering treatment to save a leg from amputation. scientists at glasgow university will now begin trials to see if a newly discovered technique for regrowing bone tissue will work on humans. coming up later this hour, withjust

over a month to go until the winter olympics in south korea, i will be checking out some of team gb‘s biggest medal prospects on the path to pyeongchang. passengers at glasgow airport faced delays after heavy snow caused flights to be suspended for a while. there was snow too across northern england and the southern pennines. the rac has warned that driving conditions will be very difficult, if not impossible, in the worst—affected areas. our correspondent judith moritz reports. grounded at glasgow — flights at the city's airport were suspended after snow settled quickly overnight. the airport reopened by mid—morning,

but managers have apologised

working from the control room to makeereihelth—zt impact‘s not too severe. drivers are advised only to travel if necessary, but traffic is lighter than usual, with schools closed and many off work for the holidays... enjoying extra opportunity for snow—themed entertainment. judith moritz, bbc news, wakefield. earlier, our correspondent lisa summers spoke to us

from edinburgh and described how the conditions had been. the rest of the snow has now passed, but the worry overnight is going to be icy conditions, with temperatures dropping rapidly even here in the city. further ahead, we have warnings of heavy rain in the south of england. in scotland, the concern will be about high winds. we have a high wind warning in place for hogmanay, and as you can see, edinburgh is busy at this time of year. 150,000 people are due to participate in a three—day hogmanay festival that starts tomorrow. things like a torchlight procession, a street party, a nine minute firework display, all those things depend on it not being too windy. organisers will have a keen eye on the weather forecast over the next couple of days. i have been told they are expecting the winds to die down during the course of hogmanay, so hopefully, we can enjoy new year without too much trouble from the weather. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages

at 10:40 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are jason beattie, head of politics at the daily mirror, and tim stanley from the daily telegraph. the government's infrastructure adviser lord adonis has announced he is quitting his role with a furious attack on theresa may's brexit policy. in his resignation letter, he said brexit was a "populist and nationalist spasm" and accused the pm of "pursuing a course fraught with danger". he also described the eu withdrawal bill as the "worst legislation of my lifetime". the former labour transport secretary is a high—profile campaigner against brexit. he has chaired the national infrastructure commission since 2015. our political correspondent, ben wright, joins me now. this letter is pretty scathing in

his condemnation of the way the government is pursuing brexit. his condemnation of the way the government is pursuing brexitm his condemnation of the way the government is pursuing brexit. it is an excoriating ta kedown government is pursuing brexit. it is an excoriating takedown of the government's brexit strategy by lord adonis, who has been a very vocal critic of brexit over many months. he thinks it's a catastrophe and should not be happening at all. he has called for a second referendum. that is not labour's position and certainly not the government position, so he has been starkly at odds with the government over months on brexit. it has felt odd for a while that he has remained in his job as chairman of this body which advises the government on its long term infrastructure projects. it is independent of the government, but he is an adviser and that has sat uncomfortably. the government has said he has chosen tojump before he was pushed. i think it was a matter of time before he quit, but it is quite a grenade he has rolled into the debate. we can see some of the letter now. he says "brexit is a populist and nationalists as

u nworthy of populist and nationalists as unworthy of donald trump". he accuses the prime minister of pursuing a course fraught with danger, and goes onto say that brexit is causing nervous breakdown across whitehall and conduct u nworthy of across whitehall and conduct unworthy of her majesty'sgovernment. but as you say, he is a labour peer. how damning do you think all of this will be for the government? not terribly, for all the reasons you say. he is a labour peer. he was a transport secretary in gordon brown's government. for many months, he has been a vociferous critic of brexit, far more outspoken than even his own party. he says in the letter that as the eu withdrawal bill arises in the house of lords over the new year, he will oppose it relentlessly from the labour benches there. so it didn't fit well, being a government adviser. but by saying this in this letter, it is odd how

it has come out because he was intending it to come out tomorrow with an article that was due to be published in the times, but it seems that perhaps number ten jumped published in the times, but it seems that perhaps number tenjumped have the gun on this and have released a d raft copy the gun on this and have released a draft copy of this letter earlier this evening, perhaps trying to dampen the impact it might have. nevertheless, he wants to get the debate going and he is arguing that there are choices. as far as he's concerned, the government is making the wrong choices when it comes to brexit. this comes after theresa may has had some success in at least making the progress she needs in the brexit negotiations. but it is a reminder of the difficulties she could face in the house of lords. that is true. the eu withdrawal bill goes to the house of lords next. far more unpredictable, what will happen there. there will be all sorts of amendments put down in the same way we saw in the house of commons by their peers. lord adonis has indicated for a while that he's prepared to do what he can to try

and geta prepared to do what he can to try and get a second referendum written into the bill. the lords is a far more unpredictable body than the commons, where there was only that one rebellion in the end. it will be interesting to see if others join lord adonis for those sorts of amendments. even brexit sceptical tories in the house of commons are quick to say that if the lords go too far on the eu withdrawal bill and start to pick it apart and add amendments that look like they are trying to unpick the referendum result, you could quickly find yourself in constitutional crisis territory. so we will see how the first weeks of the new year pan out in terms of how the house of lords decides to go about scrutinising the eu withdrawal bill. thanks very much. the mayor of new york says a fire which killed 12 people at an apartment building in the bronx district of new york was started by a three—year—old child playing with a stove. it's the worst fire of its kind

in the city in 25 years. the city's fire commissioner said the toddler who started the blaze was unsupervised at the time. last night's tragic fire, other than 9/11, was the worst loss of life from fire in our city in almost 28 years, the fire which occurred in 1990. so we're in the midst right now of the worst month for loss of life in our city forfire in the past ten years. 12 people tragically died here, seven women, five men, five children, seven adults. four other people remain hospitalised with critical injuries and are seriously fighting for their lives right now. so this fire is...i said last night, historic. it certainly is in our city, to have a loss of life like this. fire marshals have been here all night trying

to determine the cause, and they have determined it. we found that this fire started in a kitchen on the first floor. it started from a young boy, three and a half years old, playing with the burners on the stove. the fire got started, the mother was not aware of it, was alerted by the young man screaming. she exited her apartment with her two—year—old and three—year—old and left the door open. so this fire quickly spread up the stairs. fire travels up, the stairway acted like a chimney, it took the fire so quickly upstairs that people had very little time to react, they couldn't get back down the stairs, those that tried. a few that tried perished. others escaped, were helped out on to the fire escapes and taken down by our members. so although our members got here in a little over three minutes

and bravely entered the building and did everything they could, and did save a number of residents... shock has spread throughout the bronx community — we've been hearing from people in the local neighbourhood who shared their thoughts on the fire. everybody in this neighbourhood is really tight—knit. everybody looks out for each other. and it's a real tragedy. it's sad because we have the new year and now we have to deal with this tragedy. if you are asked to leave your house immediately, you are obviously not packing a bag. i have some children's clothes here and some women's clothes here. hopefully, every little bit can make a difference. in the city, the 100 share index has finished trading for the year on a record closing high.

it ended the day up 7.6% on last year. joe lynam is with me: people will say, we keep hearing these warnings about how the economy is being squeezed by brexit and how there is a squeeze on wages — how come the stock market is doing well? all those things are true. in real terms, there has been a pay cut in the last couple of years. that continues. wages are going down in real terms and the economy is slowing down. it is the slowest in the g7 at the moment. but there is a disconnect between the large companies that are listed on the london stock exchange and the real economy. if you look at the numbers, you can see the numbers that you just said. if you go down to the bottom briefly, you see the dow jones, which went up 26% over the

year. so it is having an even bigger boom. but it is about the disconnect between these giant companies which are global players, and the health of the actual economy. in britain's case, let's look at anglo—american. that is basically a south african company that has come to britain to list and it is a mining company. it drills for copper and zinc all over the world and it is paid in dollars and repatriate those dollars in e2, which magnifies the profits for them. they are earning only a sliver of their money in the uk. glaxosmithkline, the drugs giant, people might know them, but again, they earn the majority of their money overseas. glaxo shares were down 15% this year. anglo—american's shares were up by a third this year. two very different companies, but the big picture is, if you want to look at the health of the uk economy, you need to look at the ftse 250 rather than the ftse100, because the companies are simply too

big. nonetheless, for ordinary people who may be seeing a squeeze on their wages, it can be good news on their wages, it can be good news on their wages, it can be good news on the stock market goes up. it is not a people who are playing the stock exchange will benefit? the vast majority of people out there do not have a portfolio of shares. what they do have without even knowing about it at a pension fund which invests in these shares. so if you are saving for your retirement, and most adults are, they will be invested in the ftse100. they will be invested in the dowjones and certain stocks. that means that in a few yea rs' certain stocks. that means that in a few years' time when they retire, they will yield some of those benefits. but for now, the majority of people will see no major benefits to the ftse100 reaching an all—time record high. joe lynam, many thanks. the headlines: the met office issue is warnings for ice across parts of scotla nd is warnings for ice across parts of scotland and northern england. the labour peer lord adonis resigned

as the government's infrastructure chief with a scathing attack on theresa may for her handling of brexit. the uk stock market which is a record high, as we havejust heard, on the year's final day of trading. anti—government protests have spread to more cities in iran despite a crackdown by the authorities. thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest over rising prices, corruption and the cost of iran's military involvement in regional conflicts. wyre davies reports. these are extremely rare sights. cities across iran hit by large and sometimes violent anti—government protests. this is the western city of kermanshah, and despite the repressive action taken against demonstrators by police, the protests have quickly grown, and spread across the country. iranians have suffered tremendous hardship,

with a huge fall in living standards over the last decade. but what started as a protest against rising prices has grown into much wider anger against strict clerical rule and iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. demonstrators are demanding that political prisoners should be freed, and the government should stop spending millions on foreign wars. there is seething discontent with iranian spending money on wars abroad, on spreading shi'ism abroad, on supporting hezbollah abroad, and that has changed the character of the demonstration into a political one, undermining the whole clerical regime. iran's relatively moderate president hassan rouhani has promised the benefits of economic growth after an international deal to limit its nuclear activities, but those promises have so far failed to materialise.

britain will be watching developments closely. on a recent visit, the foreign secretary borisjohnson raised the detention of the british woman nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, held in an iranianjailfor more than 600 days. it's become a serious issue between london and tehran. it's too early to say if the regime is under serious threat. these are the biggest protests in iran for almost a decade and the government will use greater force if it feels it's losing control. police say a woman found murdered in north london had been stabbed and beaten. the body of iuliana tudos — who was 22 and originally from moscow, but had lived in london for some years — was discovered on wednesday in finsbury park. police say she died of a stab wound

to the abdomen and a head injury. it's thought she might have been attacked on christmas eve. no arrests have been made and a crime scene remains in place at the location. the independent police complaints commission says a former surrey police officer who investigated jimmy savile would have faced questions of professional misconduct over his role, had he still been a serving officer. savile, who died in 2011, was revealed to have abused hundreds of mainly women and girls. the report into surrey police's investigation of allegations of sexual offences byjimmy savile at duncroft school in the 1970s found that the officer had failed to pass on details of an alleged indecent assault by the star at stoke mandeville hospital. two men have been charged with terrorism offences by police who had been investigating a suspected christmas attack plot. 31—year—old andi sami star, from chesterfield, and 22—year—old farhad salah from sheffield have been detained by detectives on charges of engaging in the preparation of an act of terrorism.

they appeared by video—link before london's westminster magistrates‘ court. the nhs in england is considering the routine use of so—called drunk tanks — dedicated units for people to recover from excess alcohol — in order to reduce hospital admissions. up to 70% of visits to a&e departments on friday and saturday nights are by people who've drunk too much. adina campbell reports. at this time of year, britain's binge thinking culture is exposed with its burden on emergency services. but having more of these mobile vehicles, or drunk tanks, on a permanent basis could be a solution — an idea now being considered by nhs england. alcohol recovery services a re potentially successful in reducing pressure on a&e services, which is potentially important in winter. and so if there are ways that we can safely look after people

in alternative settings, then it's really worth looking at these alternatives, and that's what we're doing at the moment. the reality is that people who've overindulged with alcohol can be a big problem for the nhs. up to 70% of attendances to a&e departments in the uk at this time of year are alcohol—related. these friends enjoying their annual festive get—together are divided. i think it's a good idea. i mean, if it helps the nhs and all that. but the thing that annoys me a bit is that it seems to be our generation that's being targeted. it also costs money. i don't think sitting down in a van with a bottle of water is going to sober you up that quickly. if you are in that sort of a state, you want to either go home or go to hospital. the uk's first drunk tank was introduced in bristol three years ago, and since then more have been operating in cardiff, newcastle, manchester and belfast.

rather than dumping those who have gone way over their limit in a police cell or hospital bed, here they're given a chance to recover. but some doctors say this kind of safety net shouldn't have to be offered in the first place. i think the solution is people understanding that they should not be getting themselves into the state that they need to have a facility to sober up in. people need to take responsibility for getting themselves home safely, making sure that their friends get home safely, that they have a plan and that they know when to stop drinking before it becomes a problem. nhs england will make a decision early next year, which could ease the pressure on police, ambulances and hospital services. adina campbell, bbc news. the royal college of gps is asking patients to consider alternatives before making an appointment with their family doctor — such as consulting websites — to try to help ease the pressure on over—stretched surgeries. ben ando has the details. the season of goodwill can also be

a time of bad health, and that means overcrowded surgeries, busy doctors, and a tough time for the nhs. now the royal college of gps is urging people to think twice and take three steps before booking a gp appointment. it wants patients to use the catchphrase "three before gp" meaning that in the first instance, they should try to manage their symptoms themselves. next, they should look at reputable websites such as nhs choices. failing that, the worried unwell should talk to pharmacists, who are better trained than many realise. ifjust 5% of people who wanted to book an appointment today could get self—help, see a pharmacist, sort themselves out by going online, actually, that would save 50,000 appointments for those who really need it. this is about using nhs resources in the best possible way, but also saving time for people as well. doctors‘ leaders say that for a population getting older, fatter and less healthy, there are not going to be enough doctors.

they say that plans for a further 5,000 by 2021 are injeopardy. they urge the home office to add being a general practitioner to the list of those jobs which qualify potential migrants for a fast—track entry into the uk. the royal college of gps says it thinks up to one quarter of doctor appointments could be avoided if patients were willing to take more responsibility and make a trip to the doctor a step of last resort rather than the first call they make. newly—released national archives files have revealed that margaret thatcher once refused to share a flight to washington with london zoo's giant panda. lord zuckerman, president of the london zoological society, suggested that chia chia the panda could share the prime minister's concorde flight in 1981. washington's smithsonian institution had asked to borrow chia chia,

to mate it with us—based ching ching. but mrs thatcher said pandas were not " happy omens" for politicians. researchers in scotland have saved the leg of a dog using a new technique to grow bones in the laboratory. the team from glasgow university now wants to try the technique on humans. the dog, eva, would have had her leg amputated, were it not for this new approach — and the treatment on her is a world first. our science correspondent pallab ghosh has this exclusive report. there's no holding her back, but last year eva's front right leg was broken in a road accident. her vet tried everything, but nothing worked. her entire leg was going to be amputated. she had not been able to get out and have walks for nine, ten months, other than to the toilet. but to fiona kirkland's delight, her dog was saved by an experimental

bone growing technique. it is absolutely fantastic, we're so pleased to have our dog back and fit and healthy. eva's vet showed me the problem. the blood supply to the edge of the bones has failed, so it was not able to heal the break. the scientists coated the dead areas with artificial bone and afterjust six weeks, it was completely mended. the artificial bone mix was made at glasgow university. it consists of sterilised chips that are coated with bone cells and the chemicals that make them grow, like a fertiliser. we want to look at treating more dogs and cats who have had broken bones and other areas we can help these veterinary patients, things likejoint fusion where they've had a tendon injury sojoints can be held together to walk properly. the researchers here are so amazed at the success they have had in treating eva that they want to

try out their technique on people. they plan to be the first researchers in the world to grow bone in the lab and put it into a patient in three years' time. these are the people that could be most helped. it is 20 years since princess diana brought the issue of landmine victims to the world's attention. their limbs usually have to be amputated. landmine campaigners are funding the new research so it can be used to grow some of their bone back and attach an artificial leg. if they are able to have a prosthetic limb, it would make all the difference to their life, being able to provide for the family instead of having to be a burden on the family. it has been a happy outcome for eva and her owners. thousands of people could soon benefit from a technology that has put a spring back in her step. the weather has been causing all

sorts of problems. let's go over to get the latest. turning progressively less wintry, but not a lot quieter as we head through the weekend. still a lot going on with our weather, outbreaks of rain spreading from the west overnight. a bit of hills known for wales and the hills in northern england. maybe snow for a time in northern ireland, but generally, we will get mild air from the south. still chilly across scotla nd from the south. still chilly across scotland and north—east england, where there could be icy stretches. tomorrow, a band of mostly light and patchy rain. snow in scotland will edge northwards. along the south coast, we will see outbreaks of rain, but very mild. a blustery day

generally. into new year's eve, we will see some very heavy rain towards the south—east at first and strong winds too. then a mixture of sunshine and blustery showers. if you're celebrating at midnight, clear skies for many, a few showers in the west. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: weather warnings for ice are in place across parts of northern england and scotland today after heavy snow and blizzard conditions. glasgow airport has reopened after suspending flights earlier today. the government's infrastructure adviser announces his resignation over the handling of brexit. lord adonis says theresa may was "pursuing a course fraught with danger" over the uk's eu departure. the uk stock market reaches a record high on the final day of trading. the ftse100

high on the final day of trading. the ftse 100 finished higher compared with the last day of trading last year. 12 people, including four children, have been killed after fire swept through an apartment block in the bronx. the blaze is the deadliest in the city for 25 years, according to new york's mayor. police believe it's "likely" a missing student from norfolk, who vanished from her home early on boxing day, entered the sea. coastal searches are continuing for 21—year—old sophie smith from gorleston suffers from severe anxiety and depression. she was wearing just a vest and shorts. the coastguard and a police helicopter have been searching the coastline, but strong wind and heavy rain meant a search by volunteers was called off. our correspondent mike liggins reports from the suffolk coast. it is relatively calm here this evening, as you can see, but the weather in gorleston today has been absolutely dreadful. high winds and heavy rain, which led to the cancellation of that search organised on facebook, but despite the weather people have still been searching for sophie smith. a coastguard team

from lowestoft arrive at hopton holiday village to continue a search of the shoreline. four teams have searched from the north to the south. groups and individuals have been out today. we met connor and francesca, who say they have looked everywhere. we have looked into yarmouth, coastal areas, everywhere. yeah, it has been hard, but we won't give up. have a lot of people been out looking for her? there were over 200 people out last night looking for her. some around the top, and we managed to walk all around hopton. somewhere out in the sea. a police helicopter was flying around, while in gorleston on centre missing posters were everywhere. a feigned sophie smith facebook page now has close to 12,000 members. --

find sophie smith. i would like to say thanks to all the searches done, and to the police. it has been phenomenal, and the social media response friends and family on facebook and social media. she went missing from her home on the early hours of boxing day. norfolk police say she had been receiving treatment for anxiety and depression, and it is possible that she went into the sea. however the search for sophie goes on with friends and family hoping she might be found alive. mike liggins. a growing number of rural communities are relying on volunteers to keep certain services going. cuts in funding means that facilities that were traditionally run either by local authorities or private individuals are facing the prospect of disappearing. that means local people are offering to operate them unpaid. danny savage has visited one town in north yorkshire, where it's becoming more and more noticeable. deep in the north yorkshire countryside is the market

town of helmsley. a bustling community, but look a bit closer and you will find a trend here for a reliance on volunteers. every local business has a different tree and they do it with the theme. you will find it illustrated in the parish church. there must be 30 or more trees here. dozens of local businesses have volunteered to decorate it. here we have the antiques roadshow, with all the different experts and their specialities. there is more volunteering these days because of council cutbacks. as the economy has suffered and less funding becomes available, there has to be someone to make up the shortfall. we're lucky in helmsley that people have done that and taken on running several organisations in town. it's just a lovely community feel here. helmsley is a community which relies heavily on volunteers, and it's not alone. other towns in this, england's largest county, have taken over bus services and even petrol stations to stop them from vanishing.

the arts centre and the library are two amenities that wouldn't exist here if it wasn't for locals giving up their time for free. in the nearby water garden, more people are doing their bit by making advent wreaths to raise money for an assisted learning project. yes, we have some garden staff that lead. yes, we have people who help direct in terms of maintenance, and lisa has been helping out with the wreaths today. but 75—80% of the work is done by volunteers. i've been a lot more confident. i've had a great experience here. i've been able to make friends. and yes, we are all a family. and this is a rural town which also needs people to step up for vital roles on top of their dayjob.

chris lazenby is a firefighter. good to go? and in his civvies, he runs an art gallery. myself, i run this gallery. ben is a builder. gav at the butcher's is a painter. we're all ready to go at a few moments' notice if needs be. the crew who are bred to go could be 30 minutes away. the nearest station with crew who are ready to go could be 30 minutes away. this is just a snapshot of life in one country market town, but it shows the rise of vital volunteering which keeps communities functioning in 21st century britain. danny savage, bbc news, helmsley. apple has apologised to its customers after it admitted slowing down older iphones — it says, in order to

protect their batteries. the company said it would never intentionally shorten the life of any apple product, and that it will now offer replacement batteries at a discounted price. the british polar explorer ben saunders has been forced to abandon his quest to cross antarctica unassisted, after he was left without enough food to complete his journey. he was undertaking the feat in memory of his friend henry worsley, who died attempting the journey alone last year. ben saunders is only the third person in history, and the first briton, to have skied by himself to both the north and south poles. at least three people have been killed in two separate attacks on coptic christians in egypt. two shop owners were shot dead inside their premises in helwan district, south of the capital cairo. ten people were killed in a separate gun attack on mar mina church in the same district. over the past year, more than 100 christians have been killed in bombings

and shootings in egypt. more now on those widespread protests across iran. they are being staged across iran in what's being described as the most serious and widespread expression of public discontent in the country since disputed election results eight years ago. a little earlier i spoke to kasra naji from the bbc‘s persian service who explained what's happening in the country. the demonstrations started yesterday in north—east iran in mashhad, and it was supposed to be a demonstration against rising prices, against the government of president rouhani not being able to control these prices and the cost of living, but they quickly got out of control, the demonstrations becoming very political in nature, shouting slogans against the regime and against iran's supreme leader, which we have not had for many years. the demonstrations continued today and spread to other cities, big cities around the country, and smaller towns, but let me add that these demonstrations remain small in terms of numbers, 5000 there, 10,000 there, a few hundred there, but they remain across the country

and the nature of them is very political. people are calling for the freedom of political prisoners. they are protesting against the regime, against the clerical regime, against the supreme leader, they say that the money iran is spending on wars abroad, for example, should be spent at home — wars in syria, iraq and yemen, and supportive of hezbollah in southern lebanon, so these are very political issues, and many people are also shouting slogans in support of the former regime, the regime of the shah, shouting slogans demanding a return to the monarchy, if you like. a huge fire at an office and restaurant complex in the indian

city of mumbai has killed at least 1a people, including young women attending a birthday party. the blaze erupted just after midnight in the popular kamala mills compound, and engulfed the building injust half an hour. sanjoy majumder reports. the fire broke out on a rooftop restaurant in a popular commercial district in the heart of mumbai. within minutes, it spread — first to a bar next door, and then through the entire building. most of the victims were women attending a party at the bar. the bbc‘s gujarati service editor, ankurjain, was at the restaurant when the fire broke out. there was a stampede, and everybody was trying to just rush out. in less than three minutes after the fire started, the whole of the area was engulfed

in fire, and before anyone, including us, could reach the staircase, the first place to catch complete fire completely was the fire exit. the blaze was eventually put out early in the morning — the structure completely gutted. the families and friends of the victims are distraught and raising questions about safety measures. the building was located in a congested neighbourhood that once housed the city's colonial—era textile mills and is now filled with bars, restaurants and offices, some still located in the old factories, others in high—rise glass and steel towers. but many of them lack proper safety standards and emergency exits. an investigation has now been ordered to determine the cause. action has been taken against the restaurant owners, and five city officials have been suspended for negligence. sanjoy majumder, bbc news, delhi. the latest headlines on bbc news:

the met office issues a weather warning for ice across parts of scotland and northern england. the labour peer lord adonis resigns as the infrastructure chief, with a scathing attack on theresa may and handling of brexit. scathing attack on theresa may and her handling of brexit. the uk stock market reaches a record high on the year's final day of trading. the 2018 pyeongchang winter olympics begin injust over a month's time in south korea. whilst concerns about the on—going conflict with north korea and the russian doping scandal have dominated much of the build—up, the british team are aiming to make history at the games themselves. bbc sport's nick hope takes a look at some of the best british prospects in path to pyeongchang. it takes a special kind of athlete to succeed at the winter olympics.

traditionally, british success has been sporadic at best. but in recent years, team gb has finallyjoined the party. lizzie yarnold is the olympic champion! 0h, oh, my goodness! there were four gb medals during sochi 2014. that could be upgraded to a record haul of five. british athletes are winning more major medals now than at any point in history. there is every chance that pyeongchang 2018 in south korea could be great britain's best ever games. one of britain's best medal prospects is elise christie, competing in three events. since the last games, she has become a world champion. but she is looking to put her olympic demons firmly behind her after a devastating sochi 2014.

oh, they've gone down, they've all gone down! i can't believe it! christie's been penalised again. it's been tough. i can't even describe how hard it was. i suffered a lot after it, in my normal life too. i had a crash at the games. the korean girl was taken out. i received a lot of death threats and online abuse from the south koreans. it changed me as a person. you know, i lost a lot of confidence from it. but since then i have actually had a massive turnaround. christie, the first british woman to win a short track world title! people became fans and they were really sorry for how people had treated me. and actually the majority of the south koreans really support me. i think it's nice to see how much

i've moved forward since then. i'm a totally different skater. so i've developed so much. yet i don't know how i'll survive if it happens again and i have a terrible olympics and i mess it up. when i go to the olympics, i'm hoping to win a gold medal. i definitely want it more than anything else. but at the same time, you know, part of me does need it, just with what happened in sochi and to get redemption for what mistakes i made. if i won a gold, it would just be incredible, indescribable. the british bobsleigh four—man team finished fifth, an agonising 0.11 seconds from the medals at sochi 2014. but they are in line for an upgrade to bronze following the disqualification of two russians for doping offences.