this is bbc news. lam carol i am carol walker. the headlines at 11pm. sub—zero temperatures and heavy snow are forecast for parts of the uk overnight — with the eastern areas subjected to weather warnings. in a speech clarifying labour's position on brexit, jeremy corbyn backs uk membership of a customs union with the eu. after five people died in an explosion at a shop in leicester, police say they're still looking for survivors. and and on newsnight, the party views on brexit have been sharpened up, so what we're doing tonight is looking at where this leads. can we trace a line from here to a tory rebellion on the customs union to a government crisis and even yet general election? good evening and welcome to bbc news.

it's been one of the coldest days of the winter so far for much of the uk and weather experts say the freezing conditions will continue for the rest of the week. there are yellow and amber warnings of snow in scotland, wales and central, eastern and southern parts of england. some rail companies have already taken the decision to cancel services tonight. our science editor david shukman has the latest. the first wave of the storm. norwich this afternoon, blanketed in white. not enough to stop the postmen or the rubbish collection, but this is just the beginning of what is forecast. london had an icy start this morning, and the bands of dark clouds are a hint of heavy snow to come, along with plummeting temperatures. already, some areas have felt a wind chill of minus 15. would you like soup? so, busy times at the largest

emergency shelter in london. the charity glass door has decided that it's too cold to turn anyone away tonight. the homeless are at greatest risk. you feel more vulnerable. you've got to have two sleeping bags, or... this morning, i was waking up with a snowflake just dropped in my eye. i'm just dreading what it's going to be like tonight. at least there's been plenty of warning. nearly a dozen rail companies in east and south—east england announced early on that they would be limiting or stopping services altogether. at this station, which this evening looks almost abandoned, this is how the disruption was announced. during the night, some empty trains will be run to try to keep lines open. so, what's behind this icy blast? well, it's all about the circulation of the winds high above the arctic — moving in a way that means warm air is descending towards the north pole — and that's why temperatures in greenland have been

slightly above zero. now, this pattern in the weather also affects the jet stream. normally it flows from west to east bringing us mild weather. but now it's reversed, which is like opening a door of a freezer, allowing extreme cold from siberia to flow our way. knocking. hi, david! in lincolnshire, meals on wheels went smoothly today, but the elderly are warned to get ready. it doesn't bother me unduly. provided you are prepared for it, you've got stuff in the fridge and everything of that nature. you've got your boots ready. in essex, gritters are being deployed. if the forecasts are right, they will be even busier at the end of the week. today has been a taste of what's on the cards. the real challenges come overnight and in the days ahead. david shukman, bbc news. let's speak to our weather presenter louise lear. louise, an awful lot of talk on the

conditions. it certainly felt pretty cold today. how serious is it? conditions. it certainly felt pretty cold today. how serious is mm conditions. it certainly felt pretty cold today. how serious is it? it is just starting to develop, actually. we have two areas of heavy snow showers at the moment. one across the north year —— northeast around new castle. these are the two ember weather warnings. we can show you those end of the graphics and a little more detail. two main weather warnings to point out to you. one in the southeast, as i say, across the essex and kent and the other up into the far north and east and so we could see as much as 5—10 cm of snow from these two areas. this is due tomorrow. there will be some disruption, amber weather warnings to be prepared for some disruption. the emphasis changes as we go through the week. on wednesday, we are looking a potential for that's not to threaten further north and east. still snow sours, not to threaten further north and east. stillsnow sours, but not to threaten further north and east. still snow sours, but got frequent snow showers. the

difference on wednesday is that it will be wetter snow. it will be windier, so that's good adrift and it could push the snow showers further inland. this will affect northeast of england and scotland. top of that, you have to kind of the mixer you pinpoint the three areas. thursday into friday could be significant snow, as well. this is a really deep area of low pressure that will move up from spain and france. one of the leading edge of that, because we have had a week a bitterly cold, dry air, we could see some significant snow quest central and southern parts of england and northern ireland. this is the one where there is a real level of uncertainty. you will going to keep watching to forecast because this could cause havoc, but it may well just be a little bit further west. this one still a long way off thursday and friday. you have to keep watching the forecast. it could be pretty substantial 60 days. many thanks for taking us through the details of the weather ahead. if you wa nt details of the weather ahead. if you want more information on the weather we re

want more information on the weather were you are. . . you can follow the latest forecasts and weather warnings online at bbc.co. uk/weather. if you're out and about, bbc local radio will keep you up to date on disruptions to traffic and travel in your area. and of course, throughout the week, we'll bring you the latest pictures and breaking weather news here on bbc news. jeremy corbyn has laid out labour's approach to britain's trade relations after brexit. he says he wants the uk to enter into a permanent customs union with the european union, a deal which he says would put people's jobs and living standards but theresa may has already ruled out staying in the single market or a customs union, as our political editor lauren kuenssberg reports. cheering and applause bit by bit, piece by piece. a clearer view on brexit, ifjeremy corbyn was in charge. labour wants to keep our customs deal with the eu essentially the same for good.

so, labour would seek to negotiate a new, comprehensive uk — eu customs union to ensure that there are no tariffs with europe and to help avoid any need, whatsoever, for a hard border in northern ireland. but listen very carefully, there is a big if in there. the option of a new uk customs union with the eu would need to ensure that the uk has a say in future trade deals. a new customs arrangement would depend on britain being able to negotiate agreement for new trade deals in our national interests. other countries with similar kinds of deals have very little control. we would have to have a meaningful say in how those negotiations went and what the agreement was. so we would not end up as simply passive rule takers. but what if they say no to your proposal,

as is very likely, given what the european union has said? listen, we would want to make sure and would make sure that britain had a say in our trade relations. how? by negotiation. negotiations require understandings of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, by the degree of the manufacturing industry, of agriculture, food industries that operate on both sides of the channel and also, as i say, we are not going to undercut the whole of europe. but what is your plan b? the plan b is to continue negotiating in order to achieve plan a. whether it is a or b, it is seemingly tilted towards after brexit, even though most labour seats ——towards a softer brexit, even though most labour seats in coventry and around the country voted to leave. but some brexit—backing labour mps questioned whether it is real. there is no way they are going to agree that we would have our own customs union, that we would stick our noses

into any trade agreements they want to do and that jeremy has kept faith with his long—term objective that we must be free to negotiate our own trade agreements. for many voters, there has been enough dancing around the details. a clean break. a total clean break. yeah. why do you say that? because, like, we need to get great britain back to great britain. and how it used to be. they say we should stay as close as possible, i don't think we should stay as close as possible, because i don't think it is a good idea to be in the eu. it is not beneficial to everybody, really. i could speak to these two guys now and they would tell me one thing and the people behind them would... everyone is the same, mixed up, we just want an end to it now, i think. if a labour voter said to you, i'd back brexit, and i did not think that would mean still having a trading relationship with the european union, they wanted something more dramatic, a more dramatic break, what would you say them? i would say... i would say to them, think this thing through. we have a lot ofjobs that depend on sales back and forth,

across the north sea or across the channel and we have to ensure those jobs. this isn'tjeremy corbyn tearing up labour's plans for brexit, it is a more careful step along the way, trying to contain the tensions inside his own party, those on both sides of the argument and the many labour voters who backed brexit in 2016. it does also, though, politically conveniently draw a clear difference between the labour position and the conservative plans. thanks a lot. thanks for coming, guys. it is notjust his fans, but some tory mps want to keep our customs links, too. labour's firmer position, and parliament, could cause trouble for number 10. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, coventry. the number of people known to have died in an explosion and fire in a building in leicester yesterday has risen to five. search and rescue teams recovered a body from the rubble earlier today. five people remain in hospital,

one is critically ill. emergency crews have been continuing to search the ruins of the property, as our correspondent sima kotecha reports. the damage, fully exposed, in daylight. last night, just after seven, an explosion. a shop and the flat above it were destroyed. flames shot up into the air, around seven metres high. towering over the surrounding buildings. ijust heard a big bang. the owner of the shop was inside at the time. rubble? under the bricks and rubble. how are you feeling at the moment? i don't know how to tell you. never i feel how i am now.

the shop was a polish supermarket. it had only been open since january. today, firefighters spent hours inside, wading through the rubble, trying to find survivors. police have confirmed that five people died inside the building, and several are in hospital with injuries, but there could be more. we can't confirm exact numbers so we are working on the possibility that there could be people still within the building and we will sweep through, with our search and rescue teams, with the help of a search dog, to make sure that we have located everybody that could possibly be in there. investigators will now begin looking for the cause of the explosion, once the search and rescue effort is concluded and the area is declared safe. sima kotecha, bbc news, leicester. a fifth briton has died, following a helicopter crash in the grand canyon earlier this month. ellie udall was on honeymoon

with her husband, jon, when they were involved in the crash. he died last week. a preliminary report in to the accident failed to establish a cause. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight with evan davis. labour would seek to negotiate a new, comprehensive eu customs unit, to make sure there are no tariffs with europe... 20 months since the referendum, and it's a brexit milestone. for the first time, we now have the two main parties committed to completely different outcomes. most people had never thought about a customs union two years ago, now the choice over whether we stay in one, is stretching partly loyalties. we now know enough detail about the party's positions, the parliamentary arithmetic and the fracture points to say we're entering new territory. what is certain is we're heading for a parliamentary bustup. are labour expecting this could eventually bring about a general election?

and will tory rebels really line up with jeremy corbyn, against a central plank of their own government's policy? also tonight, should we be worried, should china be worried, that president xi jinping seems keen on ruling indefinitely? no matter, keep on... biscuit... going down! performerjess thom takes on samuel beckett, and her own tourette's syndrome. i'm often surprised by my ticks and they can be, biscuit, funny, and surreal, in a way only the subconscious part of me can dream of... biscuit, biscuit! also this — believe it or not — it's unseasonably warm in greenland, not that you can tell by looking — but it's very cold in britian. a meteorologist there explains why.

is from the committed himself to backing... potentially turning politics upside down. if that sounds like an exaggeration, let me be clear. it may turn out not to have any clear. it may turn out not to have a ny affect clear. it may turn out not to have any affect at all. it is all going to hinge on the next few weeks. and whether mr corbyn can master a majority in favour of his new post customs union stands. if he can come of the whole box of negotiation will change. but here's the thing, tory rebels now do we decide whether we go for the softer brexit