now more about the havoc wreaked by storm eleanor. here is louise lear. gusts of wind is in excess of 100 miles an hour but generally speaking up miles an hour but generally speaking up to 75,80 miles an hour quite widely. still quite windy out there at the moment. these are the gusts in the last half an hour. but it will ease as we go through the afternoon. now storm eleanor is sitting in the north sea and is left behind a trail of shower clout and blustery wind. some of the shower is heavy with sam hilland some of the shower is heavy with sam hill and thunder. across central and southern parts of england and wales it is an improving story through the day. some showers through the north and west, some of these giving longer spells of rain but a beautiful day in the far north of scotland. with the sunshine further

south, ten or 11 degrees to end the day. going through the night the showers in the north west begin to fade away. looking down to the south—west, low pressure bringing in some wet and weather and some gales on coast. a pretty unsettled start the day. a different story again further north, cold and frosty with some possible icy stretches on the roads. but for much of england and wales are roads. but for much of england and wales a re pretty roads. but for much of england and wales are pretty dismal early morning rush hour with some quite persistent rain. it stays quite persistent rain. it stays quite persistent across north wales and through northern england. then heading over into the isle of man and northern ireland, some sleet or wet snow possible across the higher ground. a cold and frosty start across the far north—east. an improving picture to england and wales with some sunny spells. the weather front grinds to a halt but

again some wet snow to the higher ground. it is going to be a cold day on friday. friday we have showers and longer spells of rain across the country and temperatures between four and country and temperatures between fourand 9 country and temperatures between four and 9 degrees. the wind now coming from the north across the far north of scotland and is colder air will be the story as we head towards the weekend. descending right across the weekend. descending right across the country into the weekend. so colder, crisper with ea rly—morning frost but drier and brighter and fingers crossed a little more sunshine. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime. the health secretary says sorry to nhs patients in england who've had their operations delayed because of winter pressures. i want to apologise for the fact that we have had regrettably to postpone a number of operations.

that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. have a good afternoon. time for some sport on bbc news. hello. england face the ominous task of trying to win a consolation ashes test against an australia side restored to full strength for the final match in sydney, which begins tonight. captain steve smith insists his back is fine after missing training yesterday. and the leading wicket taker in the series mitchell starc is fit again. smith has already amassed more than 600 runs so far... and if he hits a fourth century of the series, at his home ground, he'll become only the fourth batsman to do so.

that would be nice. it has been good for me, but also good for the team. we have still got some heart is in front of us. he has probably been the difference between the two teams. especially the last games, perth, and games, perth, and president. probably been the difference in the results. those fantastic 100s. and the partnership with marsh. it is frustrating as an opposition captain he has been in that form. credit to him. colin munro created a bit of history as new zealand beat west indies by 119 runs in the third and final t20 international. munro scored 104 to become the first batsman to make three centuries in t20 internationals — as new zealand hit a mammoth total of 2113 for 5. west indies were bowled out with three overs remaining. new zealand take the series 2—0.

reports in spain claim barcelona are preparing to make another bid for philippe coutinho, although liverpool haven't yet received a renewed offer. now the january transfer window has opened, it's thought a bid will be made imminently after three were turned down by liverpool in the summer. the last of which was £118 million. but both barcelona and the brazilian are still interested in the move. liverpool haven't publicly stated that coutinho is not for sale as they did last year. west ham are investigating what led to a confrontation between west brom's jake livermore and home fans during their match at london stadium last night. after livermore had been substituted in the second—half, the midfielder was involved in a heated exchange with some west ham supporters. he then needed escorting down the tunnel. the only thing i know about that, i

saw him in the crowd. that stopped me. i do not think he would do that u nless me. i do not think he would do that unless he was provoked severely. manchester city's david silva has revealed he has missed recent matches because of the premature birth of his son. the midfielder didn't play against newcastle and crystal palace for what were described as personal reasons. in a statement he said his son mateo was "born extremely preterm and is fighting day by day". with manchester city appearing to stroll to the premier league title, chelsea have the chance to open up a ten point gap between themselves and arsenal in the chase for the remaining champions league places. the two teams meet tonight at the emirates it was always tight results. apart

from a fall last year. i think 3—0. the it has always been about battles. chelsea have come back in good form. inconsistent recently. it has been a good challenge for us. you can get commentary of that on the radio this evening. i've also the radio this evening. i've also the website. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you. back to the nhs — and the prime minister theresa may, and the health secretary jeremy hunt, have both apologised by the problems in the nhs as it comes under extreme winter pressure. mr hunt said some of the extra pressure came from an upsurge in flu, and that while there was a longer term funding issue, the decision to postpone operations allows for a planned, methodical and thoughtful approach. he spoke to our health editor, hugh pym. what is your message to the patients held up in a&e? and the staff under

extreme pressure? first, staff. this is a period where the country wants to say thank you. they have been going beyond the call of duty, working very long shifts, extremely difficult shifts overnight. notjust me. the entire country is incredibly proud of the front line staff. this is always the busiest week of the year. and they could not be doing more to keep the patients safe. with respect to the patients, i want to apologise for the fact that regrettably we have had to postpone a number of operations. we are trying to do things differently this year. last year we cancelled any operations at the very last moment, people got a telephone call the day before. that is obviously very undesirable. we want to do this with more planning. the hope is that the total number

is not going to be significantly higher this year than last year. signs are we are managing to keep the occupancy levels relatively lower than last year. but we are dealing with the uptake in flu. the nhs cannot be running properly under your government if you're having to cancel a month's worth of operations! it is important to recognise that these pressures we are seeing all over the united kingdom, scotland, wales, where the nhs is being run by difficult political parties. all over the world. it was also a difficult season in australia, last year in france, this is just a characteristic of health care systems. do we have more longer—term questions to address? of course. one million more over 755 coming down the track in ten years. those are bigger questions

that we have got to answer. but as far as this government is concerned, we want to continue to be proud of the nhs and support it through this challenging time of the year. under this government, it seems the nhs is only running properly 11 months of the year! that can't be right? under this government we have got more doctors, nurses, the outcomes have dramatically improved. but it is a very pressured time of year. we are trying to do the winter planning better than last year. that is why over the course of last year, to give you an example, we have seen an extra £1 billion for social care, extra 200 doctors in a&e, and if you looked at the last monthly figures, over half of the accident and emergency departments are doing better than last year. i think some signs that things are getting

better. but this is a difficult period and we do not know what is good to happen with flu. surely the planning was not adequate? you have had to make this announcement through nhs england about cancelled operations? 0n the contrary, it is because of the planning that we are doing something different to last year. we're looking at the figures, at what happened with respiratory illness, occupancy levels and thinking ahead. we have taken this decision. waiting until the last moment that we needed to take, but we are still giving good time, allowing hospitals to focus on emergency care. but you have changed the advice since christmas. ramping up the response. that suggests it was last minute. we set up the emergency panel and we are asking them to monitor what is happening on a daily basis and you do not know what is going to happen

with things flu. and respiratory illness. we have been monitoring numbers and decided that on balance when we looked at those numbers yesterday, this justifies taking the measures that you would obviously only take up the last possible moment. could things get worse injanuary? we're having to monitor this on a daily basis. the situation on the ground is changing. we want to deal with the pressures that we face in a planned way. we recognise that staff are working incredibly hard and i think the decision is going to make things easierfor staff to cope. the uk's first dedicated treatment centre for people with rare genetic diseases and skin conditions has opened in london. the centre at st thomas' hospital has been designed with the specialist needs of its patients in mind, including curved furniture

and ultra—violet free lighting to prevent damaging delicate skin. graham satchell has been to meet one patient who hopes the new unit will help to change his life for the better. st thomas' hospital in london. 24—year—old james dunn is heading to the new rare diseases centre. hello. nice to see you. james is here to get some news. 0k, come on in, james. thank you. welcome. nice and spacious. a couple of weeks ago, a consultant found a cancerous lump in his left hand. so, last week, you came, and we cut that out for you. i can tell you the good news is it is completely out. there is no cancer left. thank you. which is really great news. thank you! i have been worried about that. thank you. i was really nervous. luckily, it hasn't spread, so it is fantastic.

yeah. we will celebrate later. you wrap it good. james has a life—shortening rare genetic skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa, or eb. it affects around 5,000 people in the uk. james's skin, as delicate as a butterfly‘s wing. my type of eb means i am missing the anchors and glue between each layer of skin. i would say 80% of my body is covered in chronic wounds. i have to bandage all of the wounds. so, although you can only see my arms, i have this type of bandage from my neck down, right to the bottom of my feet. it is hard. yeah... i can't explain it. it is like your body is like this. burning.

your dad says he is over the moon. it brings together specialist services for rare conditions in one place for the first time. it will mean better conditions for people like james and more collaboration between experts. i think there are reasons to be cheerful. where before we had medicines and we just tried to patch people up, now we can have gene therapy, or some therapy, and hopefully, one day, a cure. in germany, this nine—year—old has had successful treatment to replace 80% of his skin. the new treatment will not work for everyone with eb, but it could help with a condition that is severely life—limiting. the last 3—4 years, we noticed a huge difference, from bandages to experimental treatments and research that's going on all around the world. thanks.

take care, safe journey. thanks. james is going home. for all of the debilitating pain of his condition, he and his mum remain resolutely upbeat. we have a good life, don't we? yeah. you don't know what is around the corner. we keep fighting, don't we? keep fighting every day. james knows his time may be running out, but with the help from the new rare diseases centre and his remarkable spirit, there is always hope. graham satchell, bbc news. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: theresa may says it's ‘disappointing' and ‘frustrating' for the tens of thousands of non—urgent nhs operations that have been delayed in england until the end of january, due to winter pressures. storm eleanor sweeps across the uk causing flooding,

damage to homes and disruption to motorists following gusts of up to 100 miles an hour. six people have been arrested across the uk on suspicion of being members of the banned far—right group national action. the business news now. nojanuary blues for next as the retailer reports pre—christmas sales up by 1.5% compared to the same period in 2016. high street store sales did fall by 6% but online sales were up more than 13%. we'll have more on this shortly. carillion, the troubled construction firm, is being investigated by the financial conduct authority over what it says is the ‘timeliness and content‘ of announcements it made between december 2016 and july 2017. carillion is one of the firms involved in building the high speed rail line hs2 — its share price has fallen by more than 90% in the last year. rules designed to help keep a closer

eye on banks are being introduced across the eu today. mifid 2 — as the new regulations are known — will govern the way financial services are sold and are designed to improve transparency for investors. some critics have said that they already need updating. we're starting to get the first retail results through that tell us how firms fared over christmas. yesterday research firm springboard said that fewer of us hit the high streets over the festive period and this morning, clothing and homeware firm next is the first of the big retailers to publish their figures. it said trading was actually better than expected, with sales up 1.5%. but that increase was from online sales. sales in its high street and out of town stores were down 6%. natalie berg is director of retail insights at planet retail. i think at best we can be cautiously optimistic. some bright spots. may have expected them to be slightly in

decline. certainly some good news. 0nline retailing performing very well for next, but the physical sales from stores, falling. i think thatis sales from stores, falling. i think that is a pattern we are going to keep seeing across the sector. increasingly, shoppers go online for clothes. that there's a another challenge. consumerspending clothes. that there's a another challenge. consumer spending habits are changing. buying online but not as many clothes. instead, spending money on things like eating, the cinema. black friday was a success for a number of retailers, shoppers hit six weeks of discounts. i think now that the magazine are coming to an end, we're going to see some tightening of the belts. the most significant changes to europe's financial system since the financial crisis come

into force today. the eu's new rules are known as mifid 2 — the markets in financial instruments directive — and are intended to protect investors, and make europe's financial services industry more competitive. one of the biggest changes centres on the research investors use to decide which shares to buy and sell. it will now have to be charged separately rather than bundled with other services. to improve transparency all parties to financial transactions will need to provide a unique number known as a legal entity identifier. 368,000 were issued between october and december. but it's already proving to be expensive — banks and asset managers are believed to be spending around £1.5 billion implementing the new rules. vicky pryce, board member at the economic consultancy cebr joins us. the objective of these rules, it is

to protect investors and meet europe's financial industry more competitive. i think it is going to ta ke competitive. i think it is going to take something. i think what we are actually finding, and other international institutions, just not prepared. the interesting thing about this change, is that cities in at capturing electronics. we want evidence of what is actually going on. we want to have every single e—mail and text backed up. this is huge. it is going

to ta ke backed up. this is huge. it is going to take something for the system to cope with this. when it comes to these changes, some have already managed to get an extra year's suspension of the rooms being implemented. big changes. what about individuals? what difference in the random person on the street notice? the rooms are harmonised. a lot more transparency. that includes research, the advice that was given by brokers to fund managers. going to have to have a proper charge taking place. it is interesting to see how that takes place. it may not be forthcoming. the idea is that it becomes more transparent and overall cheaper for the investor. it follows these things add up, it remains to be seen if retail investors do

better than not. some critics have said these already need to be updated. starting in 2011. and people said that the treating speed means that they are already out of date. these are meant to capture high—frequency, electronics. if they will be able to cope with that, given the support that needs to be available, we do not know. of course, it has been huge time devoted to consultation, improvements and i think those rules would probably need to be constantly revised. it is unsettling for anybody involved in treating. thank you. in other business news... growth has slowed in uk construction, according to the latest study of the sector.

the index fell to 52.2 for december, that's down from 53.1 in november. economists had expected it to remain steady. drinks giant diageo is suspending all its adverts on snapchat globally after the advertising watchdog ruled its captain morgan's rum campaign, which let users alter selfies to look like the brand's pirate, was inappropriately targeted and was likely to appeal to under 18s. the music streaming service spotify is being sued over allegations it used thousands of songs, including those by tom petty and the doors, without paying the relevant music publishers. californian firm wixen music publishing is seeking damages of at least $1. 6 billion. the markets... carillion looking at some of the

announcements made. 17p per share. january last year, 238. that's all the business news. a ryanair passengerfed up with waiting on the tarmac after landing in spain is said to have forced open an emergency exit and tried to leave via the wing! a fellow passenger took a video of the fifty—seven—year—old polish national setting his hand luggage down before perching on the wings edge. it's reported the traveller was frustrated the plane had left stansted late and was held for half an hour on arrival in malaga. by spanish police... right... time for a look at the weather... the storm arrived through the

evening, and by the early morning rush—hour, going towards the sea. nevertheless we have seen generally gusts of 50—60. brightening up, fewer showers. light winds. the far north—east of scotland, it is a different story after the frosty start. dry, sunny. temperatures still likely to be struggling.

0verlaid, lull. touch of frost for north—east scotland. the pressure moving from the south west, more wet and windy weather. nothing near as strong. gales across the channel coast. wet rush hour. in london, the midlands, the b coming later as we go through the morning. the far north—east of scotland, starting cold and frosty. icy stretches. 0ff as we go through the day, and improving picture to the south. main band of rain. grinds to a halt. that is across northern ireland, central england, becoming wintry with

height. milder drierfurther south 12-13. height. milder drierfurther south 12—13. friday is a mess. noticeably cooler. we could get some more snow, because the cold air set to win. slowly starting to filter south. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2: ‘i‘m sorry‘ — health secretary jeremy hunt apologises to patients who have had their operations cancelled because of increased pressure on the nhs. wa nt to want to apologise for the fact we reg retta bly want to apologise for the fact we regrettably had to postpone a number of operations. thousands without power, travel misery, and warnings of flooding — as storm eleanor leaves a trail of disruption in its wake. mine‘s bigger than yours — waving his flag, president trump tells north korea his nuclear button is more powerful than theirs. and his works. coming up on afternoon

live, all the sport. looking ahead to the final ashes test and a debut for england? that's right, australia bring back the old but england are bringing in the nude for the final test