this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2pm: at least m00 at least1400 homes in parts of wales at least m00 homes in parts of wales and england are without power as the uk struggles with the bitter winter conditions. people in cardiff have been describing the situation. that's my car there, so that's not going anywhere and then all the local trains and buses are cancelled, people are just going around on sledges on the main road, it's quite entertaining. several flood warnings have been issued for parts of england due to high tides and strong winds. continued disruption is expected on roads and railways. jeremy hunt says the prime minister's honesty in her brexit speech yesterday helped bring together remain and lead supporters. the use of var

throughout and coming up — how a new dam on the nile could trigger tensions between ethiopia, egypt and sudan — that's in 30 minutes here on bbc news. good afternoon. hundreds of people in the north of england and in north and mid—wales, are without power — as the uk struggles with the continued effects of the week's bitter weather. motorists and rail passengers have been told to expect continued disruption, with scotland receiving the heaviest snowfall, and some of the lowest temperatures, in the uk. elsewhere it's expected to get milder. as the snow begins to melt, the environment agency has 12 flood

warnings in place for parts of the north east and south west england. our correspondent dan johnson reports. another day of britain taking a battering. after the snow comes a high tide and the flood warnings. the sea has taken over the railway line. in the outskirts of cardiff, the snow is still hanging around. 400 homes across wales are without power, some people have now seen enough. very pretty and all that, but i must admit it is getting on my nerves now. it has affected me in not being able to get into work. the motorway across the pennines was deserted for more than a day because of heavy snow and high winds. leeds and manchester were finally reconnected this morning. the traffic may be flowing here, but most of the roads across these hills are still blocked with snow and there are strong winds

in places too, potentially causing more snow drifts. further north, the a1 has reopened, the a66 is still blocked. over the border, just look what the trains are having to plough through in scotland. with even more snow expected to fall. rail travel is difficult across the uk. as well as snow and ice, services northern and merseyrail are affected by strike action. thousands of flights have also been affected. teams are battling to keep runways open. in manchester, officers searching for a man who had gone missing, found a body in the canal. the long ball may now have begun but more problems are still to come. 0ur correspondent tomos

morgan is in cardiff. it looks not too bad behind you, how are conditions today in cardiff? it's been snowing on and off all morning but now the rain has begun, it's getting slightly warmer but it is around freezing point here. this road actually is quite clear, one of the better roads in cardiff. but the majority of the suburban areas and residential streets are still covered with snow. we were out earlier on and the community were shovelling up the streets so they could get their cars out finally after this winter spell. the transport across wales has come to a standstill over the past few days, cardiff airport completely closed yesterday. it has reopened but because of the cancellation of flights yesterday there has been a knock—on effect into today. trains

are still disrupted to some degree gci’oss are still disrupted to some degree across the country and there are still some roads, some main roads that are shut across wales, mostly in the northern areas. around 400 homes without power in north wales. scottishpower is looking to get the power back on by tea—time. the yellow warning that had been due to come to an end here in wales for eyes was supposed to come to an end at 11pm eyes was supposed to come to an end at ”pm but it has been extended into tomorrow, around midday tomorrow in wales. i wasjust going tomorrow in wales. i wasjust going to say, that snow has compacted and the warning now is in coastal areas yes we have the high tide but it's the freezing rain isn't it? yes, that's exactly it and i think we are beginning to feel it now, that freezing rain which will come. it will probably for this slightly compacted snow quite quickly. i was

walking along this street this morning around 6am and the street was still quite treacherous and in a matter of hours as it's gotten warmer and the snow has developed into rain it's bored very quickly and it's become much more passable. there are blockades in some of the residential streets which should thaw quite quickly but that could also see problems of flooding from the snow across parts of wales. emergency services have also been significantly affected, yesterday the welsh ambulance service were calling on staff and volunteers, anybody that had four by fours to ta ke anybody that had four by fours to take people into hospital, staff. the snow is turning into rain and

the yellow warning in place until about midday tomorrow. 0ur correspondent catriona renton spoke to us a little earlier from glasgow central station. it's still far from a typical saturday here at glasgow central station but services are starting to run. still no trains between scotla nd run. still no trains between scotland and england but final checks are happening and it's hoped the west coast main line will be up and running later today and scotrail tell me they hope for a full train service tell me they hope for a full train service tomorrow. tell me they hope for a full train service tomorrow. looking ahead that looks good. 0n service tomorrow. looking ahead that looks good. on other travel, airports and on the roads, still ta ke airports and on the roads, still take extra care and check before you travel, we do have forecasts for more snow here so of course untreated roads are still i say. the scottish government have urged people to carry on the community spirit we have seen over the last few days and to keep helping each other out. the picture across the rest of the uk, as we heard, it is

gradually improving but there are still warnings were icy roads so they remained treacherous. then the next thing, when the snow starts to melt and there are flood warnings in place for parts of the south west and north east of england. but with all this disruption we have had over the last few days around the uk of course it will take some time to get everything back on track. 0ur correspondent andy gill has been at sunderland football club, which is doing its bit for the community this weekend. they've opened up the stadium of light here in sunderland for homeless people in the extreme cold weather in case they need to come and keep warm. they have opened up what they call a warm room, it has warmed food and one drinks. somewhere to sleep. any homeless people with pets, a lot of them have dogs and they can bring them as well. the club do not want us to film inside because of the potential vulnerability of some of these people but they are keeping this facility open until certainly nine

o'clock on monday morning, possibly longer if the cold weather continues. yellow warnings of ice still in place in some parts of england, in the south—east and the midlands, also in northern ireland as well. the yellow warning for snow in scotland was mentioned and an early couple in south scotland this morning have been dug out of the home, rescued after 12 foot snow drifts. they had run out of wood for their wood—burning stove and could not get to the coal shed but they have been rescued and taken to some neighbours. road and rail disruption continues, the east and west coast main line is between here and scotland, the real root is not running at the moment. minor roads also affected, but motorways are reopening. in the early hours of this morning, the m62 reopened after more than 24 hours shut by snow and

hundreds of vehicles stranded. we think that is the longest time that the m62 has been shut. airports also continue to be affected, some of them reopening but still a lot of delays and cancellations and the advice with flights as always is to check before you travel to the airport. despite the chaos the snow has caused it's brought out the artist in many of our viewers across the uk. vermillion captured this magical shot of icicles frozen to a tree in the lake district. the owner of this car in harrow in north london would have had a lot of trouble trying to start the engine this morning. some of our pets don't seem to mind the wintry weather. more car trouble, this time in kent, thanks to kathykate for this picture.

lakes around devon are freezing over. the heavy falls have given children the chance to build snowmen. storm emma made road conditions very difficult for drivers around gloucestershire. and morning amble captured just how bitterly cold it has been in worcestershire. and it's notjust the uk that's in the grip of this severe weather. sub—zero temperatures are affecting swathes of europe. these pictures just in from the netherlands show people making the most of the bitter cold snap to go ice—skating on canals that have frozen solid in amsterdam and in delft. the dutch media is calling the wintry weather

"the siberian bea r". you can keep up to date with the weather and travel situation wherever you are, by visiting the bbc news live page, that's at bbc.co.uk/news. you can also get live updates on the bbc news channel and your local radio station. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, has said the prime minister's brexit offer showed that it is possible to get "frictionless" trade with the european union while leaving the single market and the customs union. theresa may's speech, which she made in london yesterday, has largely been welcomed by leave and remain supporters in the conservative party. mr hunt said the prime minister's vision should please all shades of opinion. the prime minister and i think this

is why the speech has worked in terms of bringing people together is very honest about it. she says eve ryo ne very honest about it. she says everyone is going to do compromise, eve ryo ne everyone is going to do compromise, everyone will be able to find things that they can nit—pick but in reality for people who are passionate about brexit this is a package which gives the british parliament control over the destiny of the british people and therefore restores democratic control. but i think for the people on the remain side one of the biggest worries was that we would lose that close business relationship with the european union and here you have got a vision which goes as far as when it comes to pharmaceuticals, chemicals, aerospace, becoming an associate member of european agencies and potentially becoming subject to some ecj rules in those areas. labour mp hilary benn chairs the brexit select committee and i can talk to him now via webcam. thank you forjoining us. first off,

you have in the past been seeking clarity, did you get it on friday?” think we got a dose of realism. so no more will we hear, we are getting the same benefits and the easy trade negotiations. i think the prime minister was very frank and said we will have less good access to our largest market, the other 27 member states of the european union than we have at the moment. i welcome what she said about seeking to remain a member of some of those agencies. because that is something that is right for business and many people have called for. we also heard her say that there is going to be a lot of our regulations are going to remain the same and the thing that surprised me is i did not hear much

in the speech about this ambitious managed divergences the prime minister had been talking about before. but i think the last thing i would say is that there is still not an answer to the problem of the border in northern ireland and for me the arguments that the prime minister set out point in the direction of the wisdom of remaining ina direction of the wisdom of remaining in a customs union with the other 27 member states which is something she has explicitly ruled out and continues to do so and i think that's a mistake. why? how would a trade deal look for you? the evidence is very clear. all agreements in the world involves checks on the border, on the select committee we have been taking evidence on that yet for northern ireland, for all the reasons we understand the government has set a very high threshold. no checks, no infrastructure. you cannot do that if you have a free trade agreement because free trade agreement involve

some checks. so remaining in a customs union with the european union would help to solve part of a problem in northern ireland. it's also what the cbi has called for in also what the cbi has called for in a significant announcement that the director—general made in january a significant announcement that the director—general made injanuary and iam director—general made injanuary and i am sorry to say that the government continues to fail to listen to those arguments. we heard about creative solutions from the prime minister, what you think us to happen next? we have to wait and see what the reaction from the 27 member states s. later this month they will bejoined up states s. later this month they will be joined up their guidelines for the negotiations on our future relationship. my fear is we may see options closing down once those guidelines have been drawn up. the second thing is we must secure the transitional period because business needs that certainty, there is a huge amount of uncertainty at the moment and businesses need to know there will be a transitional period

and it'll be on the same basis that we are at the moment. but the third thing is negotiating this new partnership, this new relationship with the european union will take a long time. it will undoubtedly in my view move into the transition period so we don't know what the future relationship looks like by the time the parliament is asked to vote on the parliament is asked to vote on the withdrawal deal in october and i hope that parliament will continue to say to the government, now we have got some realism, but you need to make some choices if you want to minimise the extent to which our economic future is undermined by having what the prime minister described as less good access. why would you want to go into a negotiation admitting you're going to come out with something which is less good than what we have at the moment as far as businesses and the jobs that depend on them are concerned? a lot of people are making the point that theresa may needs to stop working within the party itself, just around 12 months to go, do you think we will get the

finishing line. she needs to to europe. that is where the negotiation matters and look, thus far, in the almost 20 months since the referendum result was declared we have had a lack of certainty about exactly what that future relationship is going to lookalike. we know a bit more about the government ‘s objectives but in the end it depends on what the 27 member states are prepared to agree and the government is not able to give the leadership which has been required because the conservative party, the cabinet, is deeply, deeply split on this question. you come to a point where you cannot forever calibrate trying to police one lot and reassure the other lot. you have to make some decisions and i think the big decision which has not gone away asa big decision which has not gone away as a result of this beach is that parliament will face a choice as to whether it thinks we should remain in the customs union with the 27 member states and however long the government puts off a vote on a

trade deal eventually it'll have to put it to the vote and we see what links. the body which sets the rules for world football has approved the use of video replay technology throughout the sport. the system has been used on a trial basis in several countries including some cup matches in england, but it has proved controversial. 0ur sports correspondent richard conway is here with more. what does this now mean for the world of football? it means any competition, any league or cup which wa nts to competition, any league or cup which wants to use video assistant referee is free to do so but it must apply to the lawmakers to demonstrate they have the technology, the capability to do it properly. but it means in effect, it's a fundamental change in the officiating of the game. the laws of the game were codified over a yea rs laws of the game were codified over a years ago. one of the most significant moments in modern football history. we will see it in

leagues and competitions, we will see it in the world cup at russia, that decision will be rubber—stamped ata that decision will be rubber—stamped at a meeting next month. will we see it in the english premier league? we have to wait on that. the clubs will meet later this year and i understand there is reticence at the moment given some of the teething problems the video assistant referee system as demonstrated so far. problems the video assistant referee system as demonstrated so fanm problems the video assistant referee system as demonstrated so far. is it needed? the premier league are not particularly confident in it at the moment and fifa have said they are happy to use it, there's the game need it? if you look back to previous fever leadership they were opposed to the use of technology in the game, they said it was a human game which needed human decisions and the stakes are part and parcel of what made the game so popular. but what we've seen in recent years isa number of but what we've seen in recent years is a number of key decisions being made mistakes, the rise of the sport, the popularity of it, the money involved has led to calls for

technology to be used and when football looks around at other sports such as cricket, rugby and tennis they see the technology being utilised very effectively. football is of course a different game, it does not have that stop start element so making sure that the system works football, that it does not necessarily take away from the natural ebb and flow of the sport is critical. the two your trial has seen a thousand games used and experiment with a pawn and they now say there is enough evidence to show it does work and it can be used effectively. thank you very much for that. the international monetary fund has joined international condemnation of president trump's plan to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium. it says such a move will not only hurt other countries, but also the united states. stock markets have fallen since the announcement. 0ur washington correspondent chris buckler reports. steel is essential to america's economy. but inside the us for many years, it has been an industry in decline. president trump

blames cheap imports. however, his solution of new tariffs has sparked fears of a trade war and led to increasingly heated language from many of america's trading partners, including china, mexico and canada. we are impressing upon the american administration, the unacceptable nature of these proposals that are going to hurt them every bit as much as they will hurt us and we are confident that we are going to continue to be able to defend canadian industry. the president announced his plan for 25% tariffs for steel and 10% for aluminium at a meeting with industry executives but it came as a surprise to many. apparently, including some inside the white house where details of the policy are still being worked out. many companies who rely on imported metal, as well as some of the president's own republican supporters, are worried about the potential impact on the us economy, particularly with the growing threats of international retaliation. european leaders made a point

of singling out the most american of products. translation: we will impose tariffs on harley—davidson, on bourbon, on bluejeans, levis blue jeans. this is, well, highly regrettable. we are not en route to start trade wars. we would like to have a reasonable relationship with the united states of america but we cannot simply bury our head in the sand. president trump himself doesn't seem worried, tweeting, trade wars are good and easy to win. words probably not intended for the international community, but instead communities in the former industrial heartland of the us where some old steel mills lie derelict. it was here president trump found huge support with his america first message. however, it's the modern supply of steel that worries many businesses here as well as abroad.

they are concerned. their costs will rise with tariffs and that could prove to be the hard truth of this protectionist policy. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. a new one stop service to test for prostate cancer will cut diagnosis times from six weeks to a number of days, according to the nhs. the programme is currently being trialled at three hospitals in west london. with me is dr hashim ahmed from imperial college london — is one of the professors piloting the new tests. thank you forjoining us, how significant breakthrough could this proved to be? this is a massive breakthrough for men who are suspected of having prostate cancer. normally they have to come in repeatedly over a number of weeks and have lots of tests and visits and have lots of tests and visits and this pilot study within west london supported by nhs england is trying to convince men to have it

all in one day. they can have their mri scan, they can get reviewed by a clinician and if necessary they can have a biopsy on the same day and get a diagnosis within a few days. there must be a certain level of confidence for this trial the go—ahead, what have you seen in tests prior to this, how reliable has it been? the key element is to do an mri scan before a man has a biopsy and an mri scan is very accurate in telling us whether there isn't any cancer or if there is a suspicious area we can use very new technology to suspicious area we can use very new technology to target our needle to the right area in the prostate. we can diagnose aggressive and high risk cancers much earlier than we we re risk cancers much earlier than we were doing before. so are you saying there is no need for a biopsy, you can go straight to treatment, is this the difference? the difference

is that men have an mri scan first, if the mri scan looks normal week and reassure them that same day and discharge them back to the gp. there must be other benefits because a biopsy is pretty invasive, what other benefits are there to the patients? a biopsy normally done under most hospital care is a random you take biopsies in the hope you will hit the cancer. if you have an mri scan beforehand you can target that area using precision technology that area using precision technology that overlays the mri images onto the ultrasound during the biopsy. three get accurate biopsies and the risk of infection using this new type of biopsy is much lower. we are talking things like sepsis? you might guess, life—threatening infections. where and how long will the trial be held for? we started it

at charring cross hospital recently and it's going to be rolled out across another two hospitals in west london. what we are hoping to do over the next year is sure the nhs this can be done, that it can be done cost effectively and we can improve the outcomes for men in a much better way we were doing previously. i am very confident that within the next 2—3 years, provided we can prime it with further funding into the cancer alliances across the uk, we are doing this with them the partners cancer alliance but we need to do it across the nhs on a much wider scale and if we can weaken series benefits for all men, not just in west london but across the uk. exciting times. thank you very much. tomorrow night hollywood will celebrate the film industry's achievements with the 90th academy awards. it's the first ceremony since the harvey weinstein scandal exposed a culture of sexual harassment in the industry

and sparked the metoo and times up movements. 0n the eve of the oscars, our correspondent, rebecca jones has been looking at what, if anything, has changed for women on both sides of the camera. he is not here, and yet he is everywhere. harvey weinstein's presence looms over the 0scars' preparations, with one artist creating this golden sculpture of the disgraced producer. a reminder, right here on hollywood's walk of fame, of the movie industry's shameful past. this year we have got harvey weinstein, clutching an oscar in his hand, dressed in a bathrobe, which sadly so many people had to experience. harvey weinstein has denied allegations of nonconsensual sex and that he blacklisted women who spurned his advances. the actress heather graham has made a film inspired by her own experiences of sexism in hollywood. let's just go and have sex in my office. no.

and she has her own harvey weinstein harassment story. he called me into his office and he had a pile of scripts on his desk and he said, "choose one of these scripts. i think you are so talented, i want to work with you." and then he said, "and my wife and i have an arrangement — when i am out of town i can have sex with whoever i want." long story short, i did not get together with him and he never worked with me. welcome to femme fatales. but women working in hollywood were not listened to in a system that favoured the powerful and silenced the powerless. now they are being heard. the root of the harassment issue is actually inequality in employment. these female directors meet once a month to share stories, support and ideas. whether that has shifted, whether women are now being hired more, i'm not sure. and they're right to be cautious because the figures speak for themselves. of the 100 most popular films here in the united states last year, only eight were directed by women. go left, go left!

greta gerwig might be up for best director at the oscars for her coming—of—age film, lady bird. come to the left. but she is only the fifth woman in the academy's 90 year history to be nominated in that category. and for her work on the drama mudbound, rachel morrison is the first woman ever to be nominated for best cinematography. a former oscar winner is under no illusion that change will be swift. when i first started work on film, it was 99.9% male. now it's 75% male — we've still got a long way to go. meet two women determined to make a difference. they formed a company committed to producing more diverse films with more women behind and in front of the camera. the majority of the audience is female and the majority