cold weather keeps up the pressure on the nhs. the uk's in the grip of the worst flu season for seven years. it comes as dozens of doctors in wales warn that patient safety in a&e units is being "compromised to an unacceptable degree". we have got patients in the department and we don't have space to see them, and then we're coming back the next day and some of the patients are still here. it's getting worse every winter but this is the worst we have seen. we'll be finding outjust how bad the situation is across the uk. severe gales cause disruption across much of the uk, as fallen trees block rail lines and roads, and tens of thousands of homes are left without power. a summit at sandhurst — the french president holds talks with theresa may as the uk agrees to pay an extra £41; million for channel security. terminally ill — the man fighting for the right to a "peaceful and dignified" death wins the right to take his case to the court of appeal. and the train‘s to blame for a royal

delay, but prince harry and his fiancee, meghan markle, finally make it to cardiff and wow the crowds. and coming up on sportsday — johanna konta says there's no catastrophe, after her shock defeat in the australian open to a player outside the world's top 100. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the uk is in the grip of the worst flu season for seven years. the latest figures show that the number of people who went to their gp with suspected flu rose by 40% in the past week, with similar numbers in the rest of the uk. the cold weather is keeping up the pressure on accident and emergency units.

in wales, dozens of senior doctors have written to the welsh government saying that patient safety is being put at risk to an unacceptable degree. they said planning for a winter crisis had been inadequate and the nhs in wales is "chronically under—resourced". here's our wales correspondent, sian lloyd. we've heard of emergency units across the uk in crisis but today doctors in wales raised their concerns about the system here. a letter signed by more than three quarters of all welsh consultants in emergency medicine warned the first minister that patient safety is being compromised. there is good evidence that in a crowded emergency department that patients have their treatment delayed and that can make their illness more protracted and ultimately it can make people's lives be at risk. so, yes, people may die because of the pressures that we are facing. she had to wait three or four hours for the ambulance. then she had to sit outside accident and emergency in the ambulance. then she got transferred to a trolley in a corridor.

82—year—old joan is now being cared for in hospital but her daughter trisha is horrified at the 13 hours it took for her mother to be treated. as a patient, especially in south wales, you almost come to expect it. you know that once the winter comes, you know that if anything happens that you need an ambulance, get comfortable in the ambulance because that is where you are going to be staying for the next couple of hours. resus is full. trolley bays are full. the team at this hospital in swansea is trying to come up with new ways of dealing with busy times. many of those packed into this room have volunteered to leave their desk jobs tojoin medical staff on the front line. donna is one of them. a personal assistant with the health board, she is now working to speed up the flow of patients through the hospital. i'll come down onto the ward, get the beds' state, see how many beds we have got, have we got any discharges due,

or potential discharges for the various times of the day. and if there is any delay in those discharges then i can chase that up. the scheme is having some success but the nhs in wales is facing many challenges. the latest figures show that in december less than 80% of a&e patients in wales were admitted or discharged within four hours. that is way below the welsh government's 95% target, and worse than a year ago. the welsh government says that this december was the busiest on record. it recognises the challenges faced by staff and says it has invested an extra £60 million to help people working in emergency units like this one deliver their services. we are better prepared than ever before, but there are real risks in where we go. spikes in demand, unavoidable pressures, but also unplanned for pressures, and we have seen some of those. politicians and doctors recognise that this problem isn't going away any time soon.

in fact it is feared that patients could wait even longer unless there is a revolution in the way that health and social care is delivered. our health editor, hugh pym, is here. huge pressure on a&e in wales and now this sharp rise in flu cases across the uk last week. it is all adding to an already overstretched nhs? yes, sophie. public health officials have confirmed this is the worst flu season have confirmed this is the worst flu season since 2010, but it's not as bad at a similar stage as it was then. if we look at people going into gp surgeries with flu—like symptoms, there's been a big increase in the last couple of weeks, since the 1st of january. looking at the figures, since january the 1st, people going into gps in wales with flu symptoms, up nearly 300%, which may explain some of the pressure on a&e. in northern

ireland, scotland and england, still 153% in england, a big rise. public health england is saying it isn't as bad as seven years ago and there is still time to have the flu jab, but there was concern at high levels of there was concern at high levels of the nhs as to where this might go. in england, the a&e performance last week wasn't as bad as the first week injanuary, week wasn't as bad as the first week in january, with week wasn't as bad as the first week injanuary, with not so many patients in ambulances outside hospitals, for example. but i think nobody is being complacent. there is immense pressure on the system, it's not just flu, immense pressure on the system, it's notjust flu, so it doesn't take much to push things over the edge. that is the worry. the society for cute medicine, representing doctors in hospitals, said it is a crisis, and they say the pressure on staff is only really sustainable at this rate for a few weeks. severe gales have caused disruption across much of the uk, with gusts of over 80 miles an hour. tens of thousands of homes have been without power for much of the day in east anglia and the south—east of england. the high winds brought down trees and power cables,

blocking rail lines and roads and damaging homes. robert hall reports. a warning of what was to come. the vital cargo link with the channel islands ploughing through gales and high seas as the latest weather system barrelled in. ahead injersey, mountainous seas breaking over the island's lighthouse, and more alerts warning of coastal flooding. in england, the wind howled through the night, with gusts of more than 80 mph recorded in east anglia. communities have been warned to expect disruption, if anything it was even more widespread than had been expected. this is the main rail line between ipswich and norwich. trees brought down power lines and blocked sections of track causing major disruption. at norwich station, trains were still going nowhere by mid—morning. in ipswich, frustrated travellers moved to buses or simply went home. we were going to get the 11 o'clock

from liverpool street, it didn't run so here we are. it's tiresome but it happens. along a series of major routes, including the m25, the traffic ground to hold for mile after mile. damage to buildings and to woodland was also extensive. this pub near clacton in essex lost most its roof. in county after county, local authorities were at full stretch as they tried to clear trees and other hazards from roads and pavements. trees which all too often left families and businesses without power. more than 100,000 in the midlands and east anglia. through last night and today, these repair crews have been moving from call to call. in the east of england alone, there are 300 of them at work and by the time tomorrow morning dawns it will have covered around 900 locations.

this call centre in ipswich brought in extra staff to deal with the rising number of lines down. first light this morning when the winds hit, we were out there. as soon as it's safe to climb we were climbing, putting those wires back up. in the north of england and in scotland, more snow to compound the difficulties on transport links. these pictures filmed in northumberland were typical, as police again warned drivers not to use the roads unless it was absolutely necessary. the gales may have left us again, but winter has us in a firm and often beautiful grip. the latest from uk power networks is that those waiting for power to come back are now about 8000 properties. that's mainly spread across norfolk and suffolk. 0ne property that has been waiting for the power to come on through today was wes newton village hall. they were expecting a

very special visitor, a special member of their wia, and very special visitor, a special member of theirwia, and i'm very special visitor, a special member of their wia, and i'm told the queen, who lives up the road in sandringham, was offered a generator for the visit but she turned it down, preferring to come and share the wartime spirit and, by all accounts, a good time was had by everybody. i'm glad to say that wes newton village hall now has the lights back on. the severe gales have hit much of northern europe as well. four people have been killed by falling trees or debris where gusts of up to 90 miles per hour have been recorded. across the netherlands and germany, winds caused severe disruption on roads and damage to property. hundreds of flights and trains were also cancelled. theresa may has welcomed emmanuel macron on his first official visit to britain since becoming french president. the prime minister is understood to have agreed to spend an extra £41; million on improving border security at french ports, and to take in more migrants from calais. the talks are expected to underline the leaders' commitment to working closely together after brexit,

as our deputy political editor, john pienaar, reports. nothing like a bit of pomp and ceremony to get the meeting started. monsieur macron and mrs may won't the eu partners much longer. now they are keener than ever to keep in step where they can. to stay in tune. france is a key ally. brexit is coming and the prime minister is treading a delicate line. cooperation now, hoping friendship pays off in future. at the least french goodwill is on theresa may's wishlist. the president came to this sandhurst summit to talk business about milita ntly collaboration and border cooperation. he wanted more cash for border control. he went to a migrant centre near calais this week. and now he is getting £41; million to help with security, fences, closed—circuit cameras.

that has helped ease tension. border control has been a sore point. borisjohnson and a troupe of cabinet colleagues mingled with french counterparts. the two countries are the eu's biggest military powers. today they promised british helicopters to help french troops fighting jihadists in west africa. although the deals and agreements being struck here are important this summit matters more than just the sum of its parts. france will be crucial to britain's chances of getting a good brexit deal, including on trade, and the france— uk relationship will be important in determining britain's clout as a global player after brexit. thank you very much. on the count of three, a bit of a smile. to look at the leaders and their top teams beaming on cue, you'd never know the two countries have been your‘s biggest rivals and closest

neighbours for time out of mind. they still are but exudes both sides to get on well. mrs may certainly hope they will. the leaders' news conference is running late, but both sides seem to have done what they can to make it go smoothly. they were going to see the bayeux tapestry without crossing the bayeux tapestry without crossing the channel. emmanuel macron cannot call him self the european leaders' most strong and stable leader, and this relationship matters more than ever, since britainjoined the old, market 45 years ago. you can expect a lot more high energy diplomacy in the weeks and months and years ahead. our top story this evening: the uk is in the grip of the worst flu season for seven years as doctors in wales warn that patient safety in a&e units is being compromised to an unacceptable degree. and still to come... prince harry and his fiancee, meghan markle, wow the crowds in cardiff on their first official

visit to wales. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... will he, won't he? the arsenal manager says his star striker, alexis sanchez, is likely to move to manchester united, with henrikh mkhitaryan going the other way. noel conway is 68 years old. he's terminally ill with motor neurone disease. he says he feels entombed by his illness and simply wants the right to a peaceful and dignified death. today he won the right to appeal a ruling that forbids assisted suicide. the court of appeal will now consider if he should be allowed help to end his own life. the issue of whether or not there should be a "right to die" provokes passionate opinions. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh has spoken to two campaigners with opposing views. sarah jessiman from warwickshire knows her time left is limited. breast cancer has spread to her spine and the treatment has

at times been extremely painful. sarah, who has an unrelated hearing disorder, fears for the future. the possibility that i'm going to have the painful and prolonged death, and i'm scared. i am very scared of the thought of being bedbound in agony for weeks or months. sarah wants a doctor to be allowed to prescribe her a lethal dose of drugs if her final months become unbearable, but mps overwhelmingly rejected proposals for a right to die in 2015. i'd like the law changed so that i can have a peaceful death at the time i choose, rather than the time cancer might have in mind for me.

sarah, who recently celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary, says people should have a choice over how they die. i don't want to have the kind of death where my friends we well deploy three helicopters. we will continue their help we offer, helping french troops against extremists. the uk and france have also agreed to help peace facility funding for amazon and somalia. closer to home we will stand in the face of russian aggression in eastern europe where france has agreed to commit troops in estonia

in 2019. this will build on the successful joint deployment of in 2019. this will build on the successfuljoint deployment of last year. since the last uk— france summit we have seen appalling and cowardly terrorist attacks in both our countries in which british and french citizens have died side by side. there is no circumstance in which we could envisage the vital interests of uk or france being threatened with out the other one being affected. to tackle this she had let, for the first time in history, all of the heads of uk and french intelligence agencies were brought together in a single meeting, underlining our unique cooperation in this field. this afternoon they believed the president and me on the work we do together. it is clear that this cooperation is preventing loss of life on both sides of the channel

and around the world. today we have discussed ways in which we can increase and enhance our collaboration to keep our citizens safe. the uk and france share a belief in a comprehensive approach to mass migration and as our efforts demonstrate we will work to address the instability which fuels it. president macron and i have confirmed that the uk and france are committed to the two key agreement under which the uk is able to carry out border checks on french soil, to date we have agreed additional measures which will work in the best interests of france and the uk, increasing the effectiveness of our cooperation. we will reinforce the infrastructure with extra cctv, fencing at border points. in 2016 more than 56,000 attemptss by clandestinely to cross the channel we re clandestinely to cross the channel were stopped at the uk's juxtapose

border controls, but further investment we have agreed to did make the uk's border is even more secure. uk and france also share a determination to tackle the people traffickers and migrant smugglers who exploit the misery of those meeting the perilous journey to europe. we are committed to working closely together to close down the networks of smugglers who seek to profit from the misery of others. uk— french economic cooperation is vital to our shared prosperity. we share £71 billion in trade, making france the uk's the largest trading partner, and the uk, france's fifth largest. and this chick continues to thrive following the vote to leave the eu. airbus have today announced a multi—billion pound deal to provide emirates airlines with 36 passenger aircraft, parts of which will be built in both the uk and france, providing a boost to both

our economies. and just down the road from here in farnborough, uk and french engineers are working side by side on the cutting edge high altitude surveillance drone. this collaboration and innovation ru ns this collaboration and innovation runs throughout our relationship and today we have agreed to strengthen big global competitiveness of our world —class big global competitiveness of our world—class researchers and innovators, deepening co—operation between our research. but this is about more than a balance sheet. president macron and i believe that eve ryo ne president macron and i believe that everyone in society deserves the same opportunities regardless of where they come from and we will use our relationship to make this happen, supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds to develop their employability and language skills. we will create a new fund for exchanges between our schools and revitalise the entente cordiale programme with new financing so that stu d e nts programme with new financing so that students can study across the

channel. 0ur shared history will also be reflected in the loan of this there you tapestry to this uk in 2022, the first target will be on british soil and more than 900 yea rs, british soil and more than 900 years, the loan of this tapestry will form part of a wider cultural exchange taking place between britain and france over the next four years. i britain and france over the next fouryears. iam britain and france over the next four years. iam honoured by britain and france over the next four years. i am honoured by the loa n four years. i am honoured by the loan of such a precious piece of our shared history which yet again underscores the closeness of our relationship. we have it needs to build a new generation of links between our people with an ambitious programme of twinning towns and regions, addressing the challenges, harnessing the potential of emerging technologies. the uk and france are forever neighbours, united in friendship, and by our common belief in freedom and justice, both at home and in the world. thank you very

much. thank you for welcoming as. translation: thank you for hosting us in this beautiful place. this summit between france and the united kingdom. we are reminded of the historical bonds between our countries. there are two things that cannot be impact, history and geography, cannot be impacted by changes in institutions. this means that we are facing common challenges and we are sharing the same destiny. i believe that this is what we should be dealing with today and thatis should be dealing with today and that is both this bond, the bond between men and women in both our

countries, and today, as a matter of fa ct, countries, and today, as a matter of fact, many of them live on both sides of the channel and share a common history. our bilateral relationship we should be building together, we should continue to have the same reading in terms of foreign policy, a compact for foreign policy and development has been signed to date between both ministers, we will be meeting and constantly consult on major topics. we both want to work closely together and we also want europe, all of the european people to work together, in particular on iran, which is a topic of great concern. iran, which is a topic of great concern. and as we have been doing from the beginning, we want to stick

to the commitments that be made on the international scene, because thatis the international scene, because that is at the heart of any international commitment. also we wa nt international commitment. also we want to strengthen our action in the region, in order to contribute to a decrease in ballistic operations, and make sure that iran operates within an international framework. we acknowledge major decisions on africa. you noticed your contributions to the initiative a couple of months ago, this is an important and strong signal, it bears witness to our willingness to cooperate and implement joint development policy in africa. the projects with some joint goals when it comes to education, particularly education for girls, when it comes to health issues, or tackling

climate change. this investment, which has been acknowledged today, in the alliance, is the major topic, and fits within this approach. when we have all these joint approach, the trend will form, foreign issues, thenit the trend will form, foreign issues, then it means that we need also to have a strategic and defence joint approach. so we have this defence cooperation with lancaster house treaties, and they are not being challenged or revisited or impacted by the decision taken by the british people on brexit. we have said it once again, making sure that there is still content, the defence relation between our two countries is unique, and it bears witness, as

is unique, and it bears witness, as is shown by our actions together on many theatres of operation. like you said we are able to act quickly and strongly whenever we have agreed upona strongly whenever we have agreed upon a joint call. we also have an opportunity to talk at length about our strategic relationship. you will find the main points on which we committed. i would like to underline the importance of this relationship. our cooperation in the field of arms programme, we are working on cutting edge technology, the combat trauma, we have asked our defence ministers to make sure that we have a programme finalised, then it comes to civilian defence, missile, all of

these projects have been confirmed with a timeline which means that they are now fully operational. our military cooperation is notjust they are now fully operational. our military cooperation is not just a matter of capacity, it is also very much anchored in operational activities. prime minister theresa may announced support to be provided to the operation, this is an important commitment and contribution, the fact that three helicopters will be made available with all that military staff and the maintenance as well, this is a strong token of your commitment, and our joint strong token of your commitment, and ourjoint willingness to work together and fight together for security. in september we worked together in estonia and visited french and british troop 's, just

the few kilometres away, and the context of nato's forward presence, and it was decided again in 2019 to send a french detachment and a british command in estonia. it will contribute to ourjoint willingness to do things together in this region and this country which is dear to us. we also talked about a defence group, there has been developments recently, with the implementation of the permanent structured cooperation and the european defence fund. this will continue within the context of the european union but i think it is fundamental, that the strong relationship between our two countries can still contribute to

the european projects. we will have two set the proper frame but we have already agreed that that should be the case. their defence relationship between france and the uk will contribute to the european intervention initiative on operational matters. we also discussed the management of our joint board, particularly the situation in calais. i visited cally two days ago. it is a topic you are very familiar with, given your current position and your previous one as well, you have been dealing with this topic for a number of years now. on the ground a couple of hours ago i could acknowledge the existing difficulties. what was done already, the fact that the jungle

was dismantled, and the current situation, what the people in calais are going through is not satisfactory and this is the reason why our interior ministers have signed today in our presents a new treaty, the santos to treaty, which will enable us to improve the relationship and the management of thisjoint border. it is the first time in15 years thisjoint border. it is the first time in 15 years that we have signed a joint treaty on that topic and like you said it will enable us to improve the technical operation, the management of our joint improve the technical operation, the management of ourjoint border, also improve. with the transit countries and countries of origin that is about preventing people from moving and more generally means that we