severe weather across the uk causes widespread disruption. warnings in scotland are raised to the highest level, red, meaning there is a threat to life. more than 1,000 schools are closed, roads are blocked, trains are cancelled and airports are affected. the area covered by the warnings stretches from the south east to the far north and there is much more snow to come. yes, hearing thornton—le—dale on the edge of the north york moors, they have had plenty of snow over the last 2a hours. more is expected tonight, as the beast from the east continues to bite. we'll bring you the latest from around the country. also this lunchtime... the prime minister rejects proposals on northern ireland setup by the eu in the first draft of the brexit treaty. the withdrawal agreement must contain a solution to avoid a hard border and to protect the good friday agreement in all its dimensions. this is a joint commitment

by the uk and the eu. the draft legal text the commission has published would, if implemented, undermine the uk common market and threaten the constitutional integrity of the uk by creating a customs and regulatory border down the irish sea, and no uk prime minister could ever agree to it. more than 5,000 jobs are at risk as both toys r us and maplin go into administration. and two royal couples on the first official engagement together, to talk about plans for their charity. and coming up in the sport on bbc news... an unbeaten 63. ben stokes is named man of the match as england beat new zealand by 6 wickets to level the one—day series. good afternoon and welcome

to the bbc news at one. heavy snow and freezing conditions across the uk are causing major disruption to roads, railways and air travel. the met office has issued its highest level of alert — issuing a red warning for central areas of scotland, meaning extremely heavy snow is expected to cause widespread damage and people should take immediate action to keep themselves safe. amber warnings are in place elsewhere in scotland, and in parts of england drivers are being warned to take

extra ca re drivers are being warned to take extra care on icy and snow—covered roads and trains are being disrupted across the country with many operators cancelling or severely reducing services. this is the latest picture. this shows the red alert and amber alerts which are in place. the red alert in central scotland. and there is snow falling, of course, in many parts of the country. our first report this lunchtime is from catriona renton, on some of the worst affected areas. 0vernight, the siberian snow swept m, 0vernight, the siberian snow swept in, bringing with it high winds, bad visibility and treacherous driving conditions. the rush hour into work was quieter than expected, as many people took heed of the warning not to travel. but for those who tried, conditions were difficult. trains we re conditions were difficult. trains were cancelled. the runway at glasgow airport was closed for a time, and on the motorways, some slips and slides. it has been snowing on and off all morning, but

it seems that worse is set to come. a red warning, the highest level, has been issued for some parts of southern and central scotland from 3pm today, until 10am tomorrow. that means extreme weather is expected to be on its way. for some, driving conditions have already proved hazardous. this was the scene north of aviemore, the driver suffered cuts and bruises, but nothing more serious. around the scottish capital the traffic was light, as many stayed at home. it has been an unexpected day off for tens of thousands of school pupils. more than 6000 schools around the country we re than 6000 schools around the country were closed today. in the borders, it has been announced schools will close tomorrow. and all 11 of the spfl football matches tonight have been cancelled. the scottish government is emphasising that people should avoid travel in these conditions, as the cold snap continues. the heaviest snow

overnight and this morning has been in the north east of england. and amber weather warning is in place. conditions are hazardous for drivers on major routes across cumbria and the north pennines. the met office is warning that rural communities here might be cut off for several days. many roads will palu —— many roads were closed including part of the ai. at newcastle airport, flights have been delayed and cancelled as teams work to clear snow and ice from the runway. for those travelling by train into durham, the weather has caused disruption. i'm attempting to head back to inverness. i came here last night, inverness delivering a car, stayed overnight and i'm attempting to get back. conditions are not as bad in the north as they are, here. this seems to be the worst affected area. i got the train to durham and they have cancelled most of the trains running through durham, so i'm trying to get straight back home again. the buses are running in newcastle but i don't think they will be by the time we get home. it

has been a slow morning, without much progress. the evening rush are as likely to be worse as strong winds driving heavy snow. scotland and the north are braced for a difficult night ahead. snow has fallen across large areas of eastern england, causing widespread travel disruption. whilst some are enjoying the unusually heavy snowfall, there are warnings that some rural communities could be cut off for days and many commuters are having theirjourneys disrupted. tom burridge reports. the bigger you are, the harder your journey has been this morning. this driver in lincoln needed a little help. in places like norwich, it was a commute to nowhere. in congress, a blizzard. hundreds of schools closed across eastern england. and some

hospitals were affected. —— in tonbridge, a blizzard. it looks great if you're not in one of those cars. closed schools means a day outdoors. and creative ways to have fun. there was snow on scarborough beach. even central london had a decent dusting. not an alpine resort, but parliament hill, just to the north of regents park this lunchtime. london never gets this. not at the end of february, into march. hoping it will last? 0h, march. hoping it will last? oh, yes, oh my god. we hope there will be snow tonight and then proper snow tomorrow. it really doesn't feel like central london today. we woke up like central london today. we woke up to an impressive amount of the

white stuff, and if you cannot get into work or school, then there's only one thing to do, get involved with the fun. cheering in wales, there were tips on twitter about walking safely in the snow from carefully counselled. —— from caerphilly council. in dublin panic buying has left empty showers. this was buckingham palace this morning, breathtakingly beautiful and cold. and this, the scene outside the bbc studio. let's get the latest from oui’ correspondence. wwe'll talk to ben ando who is by the ai near cambridgeshire near peterborough, and our transport correspondent victoria fritz who is at waterloo station in london. but first let's speak to phil bodmer who is in thornton—le—dale in north yorkshire. how are people getting their? it

might look pretty but behind the picture postcard image there has been disruption on the edge of the north york moors overnight. they had six centimetres of snow on top of four centimetres lafell yesterday. they expect worse weather tonight. this is in an amber warning area. across yorkshire, more than 100 schools are closed with many more are expected to be shut tomorrow as well, as this snow sweeps in from the east and traverses the whole of the east and traverses the whole of the county. the whole of the north east affected, pretty much up to the scottish borders. leeds blackwood airport has been closed to flights because of too much snow on the runway, and as quick as they queried, more

-n iii; ; a, . " where , iadhere we , where we are ‘on the ‘ on the. and this is the this is th london, is” ,, -:;;,, f: a" fi . between london, the northeast and of counlepldozenagebicleszrabded several the counlepldozenagebicleszrabded several- the emergency we re were called them out and managed to get the

get them out and managed to get the road open, but things can change very quickly. we have heard from neighbouring lincolnshire along ! very quickly. we have heard from neighbouring lincolnshire along the there has barge :- {er 1152; lee; -.-.l.- 52257 — .. .. . much traffic here at the moment. too much traffic here at the moment. this is a very busy road, it may be that motorists are listening to the warnings and staying at home, rather than coming out and about. 0ur transport correspondent victoria fritz is at waterloo station in central london. lots of train companies taking pre—emptive action, victoria. lots of train companies taking pre-emptive action, victoria. yes, thatis pre-emptive action, victoria. yes, that is absolutely right. i will start with some of the airports. there are plenty more with cancellations. heathrow cancelling some lights, to dublin, washington and brussels, glasgow airport remains closed. it is easier to say

which train companies are operating under more servers, just one, great northern, which operates between peterborough, king ‘s lynn and london. every train operating company is experiencing delays and disruption. this is much worse than what was expected. network rail, the track operator, was hoping to get a bit of a breather today so that they could send out engineers to clear the backlog of problems from yesterday, but in fact it is set to get worse. we have the beast from the east and also, storm emma hitting from the west side, heading wales in the south west so stations like this, london waterloo, which is the busiest train station in the uk, will be affected the most. 100,000 people come through here every day. so expect more delays and disruption. thank you all very much. and you can keep up to date with the weather and travel situation wherever you are, by visiting the bbc news live page.

that is continually updated with all the information. theresa may says that no british prime minister could ever agree to plans published in the eu's first draft of the treaty for britain leaving the eu. she was responding to text proposing a common regulatory area in ireland which would mean that if no agreement was made, the "backstop" option would effectively create a customs border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. the european union's chief brexit negotiator michel barnier also called on the british government to pick up the pace in the negotiations. damian gramaticas joins me from brussels. this text produced by the eu today isa this text produced by the eu today is a result of all those negotiations that took last year. that agreement was reached in december to govern the principles of the exit, the eu has grown up into

hard, legal language and the problem is that it throws an issue on the difficult issue of northern ireland. it takes the idea from december keeping northern ireland under eu regulations and, as you say, the uk government is not happy with that. this was a difficulty that michel barnier presented. on a frosty morning and icy blast in brussels, as the cold facts of brexit begin to ta ke as the cold facts of brexit begin to take shape. michel barnier arrived to prove eu commissioners on the treaty he has drafted governing the uk exit from the eu. appropriately enough this was a breakfast meeting with no cake on offer. the text still has to be signed off by the other 27 eu countries, then the agreed by the uk, and it sets out brexit in stark legal terms. the agreement lays out the way the eu believes that a border can be avoided between the north and south in ireland saying... essentially,

northern ireland inside the eu customs union, which it says would be an area without internal borders in which the free movement of goods is insured. most importantly the court ofjustice of the eu shall have jurisdiction. court ofjustice of the eu shall havejurisdiction. it is, in shell bony says, the backstop option. if the uk can propose better solutions they would take president, but it is the eu's base case. this is the backstop solution that we have completed their withdrawal agreement thatis completed their withdrawal agreement that is the only way to guarantee that is the only way to guarantee that ourjoint commitments will be upheld in all circumstances as the joint report requires. he said there we re joint report requires. he said there were no surprises because the text todayis were no surprises because the text today is a result of all of last year's negotiations between david davis and then sell. then the december drama of two last—minute visits in a week to brussels by theresa may in december, where she

agreed the outline of the exit deal drafted today. foreign secretary borisjohnson this morning said that he believes the eu is using northern ireland to pressure the uk. what's going on at the moment is that the issue of the northern ireland border is being used quite a lot politically, to try to keep the uk in the customs union, effectively the single market, so we cannot leave the eu. that is what is going on. at prime minister's questions, theresa may insisted that she and her cabinet do not want to see a border introduced. the foreign secretary and i are absolutely committed to ensuring that we deliver or no hard border between northern ireland and ireland. that's the position of the uk government. it's the position of the parties in northern ireland. it's the position of irish government and it was what we agreed in the december agreement at that joint report. so there are still tough negotiations to come. the signs in brussels are warning

that it the signs in brussels are warning thatitis the signs in brussels are warning that it is dangerous to tread on perenise, but that is where the brexit are headed. —— to tread on thin ice. ina in a moment we will talk to our ireland correspond and chris page on the border, thirst, to norman smith who has been listening to that. swift comeback by theresa may. we did not quite get mrs may's no, no, no moment like margaret thatcher but she did pretty much today slammed the door shut in the face of the european commission, saying that no british prime ministers could accept these proposals on northern ireland and she would make that crystal clear to the european commission. be that as it may, mrs may certainly cannot compromise. why not? because she is entirely dependent on the dup for the blood and gore survival. and they made clear today that this package could not fly. —— for her

political survival. the deputy leader described it as offensive. so they have one of mrs may's arms behind her back. the tory brexiteers are trying to grab her other arm, one describing the eu proposals on northern ireland as amounting to annexation of northern ireland. so the prime minister has no room to give. the hope is that eu leaders in brussels, in berlin, in paris, will adopt a more compromising approach than the european commission itself. but they will in effect say mr juncker and michel barnier, look, mrs may really cannot give ground on this because of the domestic political situation. you'll have to cut us some slack. in other words, the hope is, brussels will blink. norman, thank you. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is at muff in county donegal near the border with northern ireland. this has been an issue from the get

go and it is still so problematic, chris. that's right. this is the brexit front line, vital in negotiations, this vital issue is playing out in the everyday lives of locals. and just about in northern ireland that a few steps over there cou nty ireland that a few steps over there county donegal in the irish republic. normally when you cross the border the only sign that you are passing from one country to another is a sign like that which tells you that the speed limit is a sign like that which tells you that the speed limits will now be implementers per hour and not in miles per hour. no business people are used to trading freely across the frontier so they were watching developments in brussels closely. 0ne local man isa

is a industry across northern ireland and has been reminding me of the possible consequences for business if any new border controls introduced after brexit. what they don't want is any disruption. they don't want is any disruption. they don't want is any disruption. they don't want additional costs and complexity is. what will inevitably happen if we don't get this negotiation right is that manufacturing firms will bear the brunt of what brexit will look like. that will be damaging to jobs, something that northern ireland can ill afford and the uk doesn't want either. is welcomed the fact that both the uk and the eu have maintained the commitment to avoid any hardening of the border. irish government sources have emphasised that this backstop solution, this idea of a common regulatory area would only kick in if any other options to resolve this border issue couldn't be arrived at in negotiations. the irish foreign minister has said ireland's preferred solution would be that the border issue could be dealt with as a result of a new free trade agreement between the uk and the eu. so the next weeks of negotiations as uk and eu negotiators look at this legal text will be very important.

chris page, thank you. it's 20 past one. the top story. schools are closed, flights are blocked as severe weather across the uk causes disruption. still to come, to royal couples, harry and meghanjoin disruption. still to come, to royal couples, harry and meghan join the duke and duchess of cambridge for their first official engagement together. coming up in sport. former olympic champion greg rutherford has pulled out of the world indoor championships. his focus now is getting fit in time to defend his european title in august. the fishing industry in britain is worth nearly £1 billion a year. but the sector faces an uncertain future after britain leaves the eu. mps are urging the government to publish their proposals for the industry as a matter of urgency. as part of a day of special coverage across the bbc, our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has been to shetland — home to one of the eu's richest fishing grounds.

in the low winter sun off shetland, the crew of the guardian angel are heading home. the waters here can be unforgiving, but this has been a good few days at sea. the skipper of this trawler voted to leave the eu. he believes decisions on who can fish here should be made much closer to home. out on the deep edge, the shetland area, you have got the foreign vessels coming up and down there are plundering the stocks all the time. it's not a good feeling when you see that there, taking the stocks from out in front of you. how does it make you feel? ijust feel bad. it is our fish, our waters. how confident are you that the politicians are going to deliver what you want? at the moment i'm fairly confident, to be honest with you. they are saying all the right things. i am very confident at the moment really. fishermen here say there is much to gain from brexit. the waters around these islands

are rich with fish and it is time, they say, that they got back theirfair share. more fish are landed in shetland than in all of england, wales and northern ireland combined, but there is more to the industry than just catching the fish. there is the processing and selling of it too. at the moment selling fish into europe couldn't be any easier than what it is. if anything changes, to make that more difficult, that will be a backward step. but the problem with brexit at the moment is, nobody really knows what the final deal is. this archipelago is the most northerly part of the united kingdom. the islands are wealthy and have close to full employment. there are many europeans working in industry here like fish farming and a fifth of the staff at this hatchery are from europe. so what of the future? we can't find enough people in shetland for all the jobs,

particularly the specialist jobs we need, and it can be very hard to persuade people, especially on a windy day like this, from the uk, that shetland is a place they want to come and live. very often we find it easier to find people from the eu to come to live on shetland. fishing is not a big part of britain's economy overall, but in places like this, it's vital. shetland's fishermen say they are not naive about the brexit negotiations to come. shetland counts for nothing with the european commission. it's a very remote place that decides things for us without considering the consequences for our community. are you worried at all, that what the fishing community is asking for might get negotiated away? at the end of the day, a negotiation needs to be had and things will given away, concessions will be made. you know, there's nothing to say, there's nothing written in stone that we won't be one of those concessions. britain is an island nation. the fishermen say their industry is more than just symbolically important. as the details of a brexit deal are hammered out, they are determined their voice will be heard. lorna gordon, bbc news, shetland. more than 3,000 jobs are at risk

after toys r us went into administration. the company says its stores across the country will, though, remain open for the time being. and the electronics retailer maplin has also gone bust, putting the jobs of its 2,500 employees at risk. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. it was a forced to be reckoned with when toys are as arrived in the uk its new megastores did a roaring trade. competitors did not stand a chance. it is a different story today. this shop is one of 26 already closing down. it was part of already closing down. it was part of a last ditch effort to turn things around. but how many more will now go? there are more than 3000 jobs at risk, including these workers, arriving in north london this

morning. bit worrying, a little bit when you see and but it happens, don't it. don't know nothing. so what went wrong. you would need a very good reason to get in your car and drive to a toys r us. simply put, they have lost touch with shoppers, they are less relevant today because they failed to invest online and failed to invest in their stores. and they haven't differentiated from the competition. toys r us has been struggling for yea rs. years. the business weighed down by a huge amount of debt. its american owners filed for bankruptcy protection in the states last autumn. and today, this toy story ended with the uk chain effectively running out of cash. then came news about maplin, the big electronics chain. 217 stores, more than 2000 staff, it took collapsed after failing to find a buyer. these are challenging times for retail. we are

experiencing is often in consumer demand, rising costs and increased structural changes for the retail sector, that does not bode well for the future of retail. and a shake-up to come? absolutely. a brutal winter for to of our best—known retailers. it is business as usual for now but for how long as administrators tried to rescue his household names. emma simpson, bbc news. the school in florida where 17 pupils and teachers died in a shooting a fortnight ago will reopen later today. the building where the attack happened is closed indefinitely, but pupils are returning to classes for the first time. a 19—year—old former pupil, nikolas cruz, has been charged with 17 counts of murder. president trump's son—in—law, and senior advisor, jared kushner, has had his security clearance at the white house downgraded. mr kushner, who's had interim clearance for about a year, will now be unable to attend some meetings, and won't have access to some sensitive documents.

the funeral has taken place of the bollywood superstar, sridevi, after police closed the investigation into her death in dubai. a postmortem examination showed that the 54—year—old drowned in a bath after losing consciousness. she was one of india's best known film stars, and had appeared in about 300 movies. thousands of fans lined the streets of mumbai carrying roses and holding photos of the actress. the duke and duchess of cambridge, and prince harry and meghan markle have carried out their first official engagement together. the couples have been setting out their charitable vision for the future and the philosophy behind their royal foundation. 0ur royal correspondent nick witchell reports. they are the foursome who will be the principal force within the royal family for decades to come. and on stage together for the first time, they talked about their motivation. william said their task was to take

forward the compassion and duty they had learned from their parents and grandparents. ourjob is to follow the example of those who have come before us. hold on to the values that have always guided our family, seek to engage in public life in a way that is updated and relevant for our generation. attention inevitably focused on the newcomer, meghan markle underlined the relevance of her agenda, talking about female empowerment. you will often hear people say we are helping women find their voices. i fundamentally disagree with that because women don't need to find their voice. they have a voice. they need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen. and i think now in the climate we seeing, so think now in the climate we seeing, so many campaigns, metoo and time is up, there is no better time than to continue to a light on women feeling empowered and people really helping to support them, men included in that. meghan said she was looking

forward to hitting the ground running after their wedding, sitting next to her, herfuture sister—in—law, how is it working as a force? working as family does have its challenges, of course, the fact that everyone is laughing means everyone knows exactly what it's like! but we are stuck together for the rest of our lives... so! lilley this is true, togetherness at its finest! together and seeking to make a difference. nicholas witchell, bbc news. never more important. hello louise. this is london, would you believe, to 20 metres of snow in northumberland and if you are travelling, bear in mind they will be more disruption due