cloud with a bit of breaks in the cloud with a bit of brightness. christmas chaos — tens of thousands of passengers are stranded at gatwick and the disruption will go on for days. it's all been caused by at least one drone flying over the runway — the police are searching for the perpetrator with the help of the army. passengers flying out of gatwick are left with nowhere to go with family christmas plans disrupted or cancelled. we didn't even get out of the plane, they didn't let us out or nothing. we were stuck on the plane for eight hours. with a baby? with a baby and we now have no luggage, which has all our christmas presents in. flights are cancelled until 7:00pm tonight at the earliest. we'll bring you the very latest. also tonight: a dramatic rise in the number of homeless people dying on the streets. he was asleep in like an alleyway on a bench or something with a blanket. someone thought he was just sleeping, but he was actually dead. how hackers are stealing personal data and money from some of the millions of people

playing fortnite. i didn't have the control any more because i lost my two side wheels because of the other driver. then you arejust like, ok this is going to be a crash. but i never thought this is going to be a really bad crash. but it was. 18—year—old f3 driver sophia floersch tells the bbc it was a miracle she survived. and coming up on bbc news: arsenal say they've identified the person who threw a bottle at tottenham's dele alli in their league cup quarterfinal defeat at the emirates. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the christmas getaway at gatwick airport has descended into chaos for tens of thousands of passengers, all because

of at least one drone being flown over the runway. flights have been grounded since last night and will not resume until 7:00pm tonight at the earliest. the army is using specialist equipment to help more than 20 police units from two forces search for whoever is flying the drones. the police say it's not terror related but is a deliberate act of disruption. about 110,000 passengers on 760 flights were due to fly today. those due to fly into gatwick have been diverted to other aiports in the uk and around europe. the knock on effect of the delays could last several days. duncan kennedy is at gatwick for us tonight, what's the scene there now? what is the scene there now at gatwick? as you can see behind me, it is chaos, as it has been for the past 2a hours. an unprecedented

incident at a major british airport. something like up to 800 flights cancelled and around 100,000 passengers having their travel plans disrupted. we have been speaking to many of them all day long and all kinds of tales of misery about their travel chaos, including one couple who have had to cancel their honeymoon because their flight has been disrupted. the government is to call in the military to help the police try to find this drone operator but so far, without success. these are unprecedented scenes at a major british airport. thousands of people grounded because of a drone. some people have been waiting up to 20 hours for flights to take off. holidays and travel plans ruined. helen and phil from holidays and travel plans ruined. helen and philfrom croydon holidays and travel plans ruined. helen and phil from croydon were supposed to be going to lanzarote on their honeymoon. a trip they've now

abandoned. so this drone incident will be the end of your honeymoon? pretty much looks like it. at least we've got each other. gatwick's destination board was peppered with cancellation signs. she are passengers waiting to depart stretch for more than 100m hurdles the concourse. some people did make it onto the aeroplanes, only to be told they were not taking off. we advise against it, and you have our apologies... nicola and her partner from london, spent eight hours on a plane with their 15—month—old daughter before being told it was cancelled. we didn't even get out the playing, they didn't letters out, we were stuck on the plane for eight hours. with their baby? with their baby and now we don't have any luggage and it has all our christmas presents in. we have heard stories of misery all day long here at

gatwick. by the end of the day, 800 flights will have been cancelled or delayed, involving 100,000 passengers. police spent all day searching for the drone and its operator. this is a team of armed officers were seen near the perimeterfence. officers were seen near the perimeter fence. it's officers were seen near the perimeterfence. it's not clear officers were seen near the perimeter fence. it's not clear if officers have been given orders to shoot up the drone. we have filmed these police spotters on a roof, among dozens trying to locate the drone. each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears. when we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears. it isa the airfield, the drone reappears. it is a deliberate act to disrupt gatwick airport. no british airport has seen a drone related shutdown like this. it began last night when the airport close. but 3am like this. it began last night when the airport close. but sam the ru nway the airport close. but sam the runway reopened, only to be closed again 45 minutes later. there was another drone sighting at 7am this

morning and one more around midday. my morning and one more around midday. my focus is on the passengers trying to provide them with as much welfare as we can, given the situation and working with the police to bring the drone down and get gatwick airport back open again so people can carry on with their christmas travel plans. glasgow was among other airports caught up in the spill—over effects of the gatwick chaos. liverpool saw similar disruption with luton and southampton also having to step in. foreign flights, including those from paris were not spared. with many british travellers are trying to get home. now i know what was going on, everyone was very grumpy, hotand what was going on, everyone was very grumpy, hot and hungry and what was going on, everyone was very grumpy, hotand hungry and not knowing how they are getting home. 0riginally we didn't know what happened. tonight, the government announced the military would be stepping in to help the police at gatwick. sussex police have requested assistance and support

from the armed forces and we will be deploying the armed forces to give them the help they need to be able to deal with the situation of the drones. at gatwick, the misery has continued all day for families like this from kent. it was meant to be a surprise pre—christmas flight to lapland. the children was untold until today. of course, lapland. the children was untold untiltoday. of course, it lapland. the children was untold until today. of course, it has all been cancelled. it would have been a really nice experience, but someone has had to go and spoil it for everyone. britain's second airport has been the target of this incident for 2h hours. a major, international flying her brought to a standstill bya flying her brought to a standstill by a device no bigger than a dustbin lid. duncan kennedy, bbc news, at gatwick airport. so how can a small drone pose such a risk to an aeroplane? and what can be done to stop them? here's our technology correspondent rory cellanjones. here is why there is so much concern

about what might happen if a drone hit a jet aircraft. this experiment shows an extreme and possible unlikely scenario, but after a number of near misses, airport have to ta ke number of near misses, airport have to take a safety first approach. uk regulations mean drones are not allowed within a kilometre of an airport and must fly above 400 feet. they can fly in this west london park a few miles from heathrow as long as they don't enter the restricted zone. this drone, like most sold in the uk has technology on board which prevents it even taking off too close to an or stops it from entering the restricted zone. it appears those used at gatwick did not have the technology or it was overridden. what can airports do to get rid of these u nwa nted airports do to get rid of these unwanted intruders? in the united states the federal aviation

authority has tried out a system developed in the uk that cuts of communications between the drone and the operator. british engineers are behind sky wall which captures the unmanned drone in a net and brings it down with a parachute. the dutch leas have tried to use birds of prey to ta ke leas have tried to use birds of prey to take down a drone. what is readily available is equipment to track drones and the people who are flying them. this is the protection system. as you can see we have a live view of an aircraft that is in our vicinity. it is hard to stop people flying irresponsibly but we can doa people flying irresponsibly but we can do a betterjob to help people use a system we have at the moment. it gives you the real—time information of where the pilot is flying and also where the drone is flying. the police have been using drones for a while but at gatwick they have struggled to catch up with those who have caused so much disruption. this is a big wake-up

call for counterterrorism police around the world because this is the first time multiple drones have been news in a disruptive attack. they might not have had explosive or anything, but it is a major disruption to the economy of the uk. for many, flying a drone is a great hobby and late next year all users will have to be registered and take an online safety test. but that won't make airports safe from those who are determined to break the rules are. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge is here. there have been warnings abut drones and near misses for some time now, how has it come to this? cudmore have been done to prevent this? every time there is a near miss, it is recorded. in 2014 there we re miss, it is recorded. in 2014 there were no incidents, but now there have been over 100. injune, a dream atla ntic have been over 100. injune, a dream atlantic airliner came within ten feet of the drone. it had 250 people

on board. the regulations were tightened on the drones but the pilot's union has been calling for tougher regulation. it wants the exclusion zone around airports increased from one kilometre to five kilometres. the government has a consultation open and is looking at what action to take. possibly more powers for the police and possibly on the spot fines for minor offences. this incident at gatwick will sharpen minds. the only saving grace is we are talking about major disruption for lots of passengers and our hearts go out to the passengers, but it is better than the type of scenario, and more tragic scenario which could be on the cards, of a drone potentially colliding with an aeroplane and causing it to crash. thank you. let's go back to gatwick and get more from duncan kennedy what's the latest, is there any news on what's likely to happen to passengers tonight? so far as the night is concerned, more passengers are arriving and

queues inside the departure lounge behind me. but also the government has lifted the night—time curfew when other airports around the country. so passengers are being taken to those airports and they should be able to get away. if the night—time curfew at gatwick could be lifted if they get the all clear on this drone. they haven't found the drone operator or the drone, so it is unlikely for the next few hours. then tomorrow, another 126,000 passengers are due to travel through gatwick airport. not only is their travel chaos tonight, it is likely to spill over into tomorrow. there is no sign yet whether there will be an end to this travel chaos at gatwick. duncan, thank you. there's a dramatic rise in the number of homeless people who have died in england and wales over the past five years.

the office for national statistics estimates that almost 600 homeless people died in england and wales in the last 12 months alone. that's nearly a quarter more than five years ago. london and north—west england has the highest proportion of deaths. it's the first time the scale of deaths among the homeless have been revealed — more than 2,600 in england and wales over the last five years. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. we give thanks for all the lives of those named, and those whose names we do not know. at a recent vigil in manchester, a small group gathered to remember those who died in the city and elsewhere while homeless. hundreds of lives that ended early, talents wasted. stephan tomkins was a very bright young man who went to university and got a masters degree. daniel was a very talented footballer, went through manchester city's footballing academy. at this charity in stockport, they've long remembered those who died without a place to call home. drug addiction, alcohol misuse and suicide among the most

common causes of death. this year i've been to five or six funerals, and i don't like to remember people by going to their funeral. it's obviously respectful to do that but i'd like to remember people how they were before they died and the times we spent with them here. among the regular visitors to the charity is mark urmston. the last thing i said was i wished him dead, which i regret. he had an argument with his brother, luke, and was rough sleeping. the 31—year—old had a drug addiction to spice. two months ago he died. he was asleep in like an alleyway on a bench or something with a blanket. someone thought he was just sleeping but he was actually dead. rough sleeping is the most visible and dangerous form of homelessness. it has risen rapidly since 2010, often caused by rising rent or problems getting help with mental health or addiction support.

men are most likely to die homeless, but women are just as frightened. we do not need night shelters, we need a hostel, a place where we can stop carrying when we put in the night shelters, in the morning you are told to go out. you have to walk in the cold. and with your bags, and people stigmatise you as being homeless and you feel homeless. this is how they are trying to prevent rough sleepers in nottingham from dying. most mornings outreach workers and a qualified nurse will offer anything from bandages to taking blood samples. what sort of conditions do you come across typically? lots of chest infections, lots of respiratory problems, but there's also really chronic long—term health conditions that you see on the street. homeless people typically die in their early to mid 40s. chris has pancreatic cancer. do you worry about dying out here? yes, i do. i've got children and stuff and the thing is i haven't seen my parents for like 18 years.

ministers say they are spending more than £1 billion tackling all forms of homelessness, aiming to reduce a problem that blight the nation. it's just gone it'sjust gone quarter it's just gone quarter past six. our top story this evening: christmas chaos — tens of thousands of passengers are stranded at gatwick due to at least one drone flying over the runway. police are searching for the perpetrator with the help of the army. and from this horrific crash — to this. the 18—year—old driver says she can't wait to get back behind the wheel. to have success in formula one and maybe be world champion. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... first day on the job — new boss 0le gunnar solskjaer meets his manchester united team for the first time, after replacing jose mourinho. the video game fortnite has recently

launched its seventh season and now boasts more than 200 million players. but a bbc investigation has found hackers exploiting that popularity by selling details of players‘ private accounts in a thriving online marketplace. hackers as young as 14 are able to earn thousands of pounds a week and the uk's national crime agency is asking the maker of fortnite to do more to stop it. 0ur cyber security reporter joe tidy has more. since fortnite exploded onto the gaming scene, its estimated to have made more than £1 billion. most of that has come from in—app purchases, as players scramble to update their free accounts with the latest accessories. and that's what makes these accounts both valuable and a target for hackers. they're stealing them in huge numbers and selling them online to an ever—growing and hungry marketplace, and all over social media victims are venting their frustration. this british hacker was 14

when he got into it. he started off after being hacked himself. he says he is mainly a middleman now, selling on cracked accounts. he knows he's breaking the law and says he wants to stop soon. this is how it works. crackers buy huge lists of usernames and passwords that have been stolen from previous data breaches. they use a tool to import them into the fortnite login in bulk. when they get inside an account, they take it over. at this cyber security competition, young hackers are encouraged to put their skills to the test. 0rganisers say getting talented youngsters on a positive path is proving difficult. it's the ones that are carrying on that haven't been identified who are perhaps not given this

opportunity, who are lured and tempted by a quick buck and get taken down this path. how good are you at fortnite? this prolific cracker agreed to talk. ah, that good. but only if we met in game. he told me he knows what he's doing is illegal and even admits to using his skills to carry out more serious cybercrime. there's a whole thing around no skins, they call it. the national crime agency says authorities around the world are watching them and this is a serious offence. for instance, just the compromise of a fortnite account could come under section one of the computer misuse act

which is up to two years in prison. the nca wants games makers to do more to inform their communities that their activity is illegal. epic, the company behind fortnite, hasn't commented on our investigation but the game maker says it's working to improve security. it also encourages and rewards players who take steps to increase account protection. with the new season of the game freshly launched, even more players will be signing up, and the hackers will continue to make a killing. joe tidy, bbc news. arsenal has apologised to dele alli who was struck on the head with a plastic wattle thrown from the crowd at the emirates stadium. arsenal says it has passed a cctv image of the suspect to the police. the bank of england is warning that "intensified" uncertainty over

brexit is weighing on the economy as it cut its uk growth forecast and kept interest rates unchanged. meanwhile, official retail sales figures show spending in the last three months has slowed sharply — despite a strong black friday for some retailers. 0ur economics correspondent dharshini david reports. anxiety over brexit appears to be directing the festive cheer this year. be it from the bank of england, retailers or shoppers. everyone is worried with brexit and the uncertainty going on and it makes you think twice about what you spend. i spend what i really have to spend. i spend what i really have to spend on at the moment and do what i can only afford to do. online retailers on the whole are beating the uncertainty better than most is now taking more than one in every £5 spent, but even this online gift specialist supplying 4.5 million christmas presents, is working hard. we saw a spike around black friday and cyber monday, we invested behind that and then we saw customers pulling back and we have to monitor

that, but what we have noticed most recently is a push towards last—minute shopping. we see this every year, it gets later and later. household spending drives growth and makes up two thirds of our economy but over the last three months the pace at which retail sales is expanding has slowed, something the governor of the bank of england warned about in august. households look through brexit related uncertainties initially but more recently as the consequences of the sterling for have shown up as a squeeze in incomes, they have cut back on spending, slowing the economy. there is a good reason why consumer confidence is struggling. let's ta ke consumer confidence is struggling. let's take a look at wages over the last decade, they are now growing faster than at any point in that period but if you allow for increases in the cost of living, we are worse off than the start of the financial crisis, meaning our standard of living is lower than it was ten years ago. then there is

stag na nt was ten years ago. then there is stagnant house prices, a weaker stock market and the uncertainty about what lies ahead. so it's not surprising that we may be feeling a bit more cautious about spending. add in dismal public spending and we could be looking at the weakest year for growth for the year as a whole since the financial crisis. what happens next year depends notjust on brexit but also how we react. the bank of england has lowered its expectations for growth. the outcome is up to consumers as well as politicians. the fate of the economy is quite literally in our hands. now do you remember this? it was the formula 3 macau grand prix one month ago, when this happened. i'll just show you that again in slow motion. unbelievably, the 18—year—old driver

sophia florsch, survived — doctors used bone from her hip to repair one of her damaged vertebrae in an 11—hour operation. now, just over a month on, she's looking forward to getting back behind the wheel and she's been speaking to jo currie about her experience. it was the moment the world held its breath. teenage german driver sophia florsch surviving this dramatic crash, that could've easily ended her career and possibly her life. it was a miracle. it happened quite fast. i had a top speed in kilometres of 375. yes, some weeks later i can do nearly everything again, so for me it'sjust to be happy and continue, and see positive. sofia was taking part in a formula 3 race in macau when her car collided with two others, catapulting her through the air, over the safety barriers and into an advertising hoarding. amazingly, just one month on,

she's back home in munich preparing for christmas with her family and taking her recovery one step at a time. i remember everything from the crash. one of my first thoughts was to tell the team over the radio, i'm 0k, please tell my family. but it didn't work and when i was in hospital, the first thing my dad immediately did was a selfie and sending it to my mum and my sister, that i'm 0k. sophia's friend billy monger was honoured at last weekend's bbc sport personality of the year awards — recently returned to motor racing after losing both of his legs in a horrific crash. she says she wants to follow his lead and get back to the sport she loves. i saw this guy who just loves racing, who's happy, who's enjoying life, and yes, i think he's an inspiration to so many people. so you want to get back behind the wheel again, what are your long—term ambitions in racing? my goal is to get to f1 and have success there, and also maybe world champion if possible. after what's been a difficult time and an enforced break,

sophia seems to be getting her life and her motorsport career slowly back on track. jo currie, bbc news, munich. time for a look at the weather... here's ben rich. it is calming down in the run—up to christmas but there are a few days to come between now and then and a bit more rain in the forecast. we saw some hefty showers today and we have more rain to come during tonight. the showers will fade away leaving a dry spell of weather, but then cloud and rain will return from then cloud and rain will return from the south—west, reaching the midlands, northern england and northern ireland by the end of the night. cooler north with a touch of frost for some spots in north—east scotland. this area of patchy cloud and rain becomes stranded across central areas, so for some parts they are likely to see patchy cloud

and rain but to the south of that some sunshine emerging. it will be mild at 14 degrees, and to the north temperatures will struggle at 6—8d. light winds in the north but windy asi light winds in the north but windy as i mentioned in the south, those winds strengthening further as we go into friday evening. to start the weekend things don't look too bad, it's this area of high pressure that will try to take control of the weather. there will still be some showers around but chiefly to the north and west of the country. further south the showers very well scattered, some spells of sunshine and the temperature is about what we would expect a see at this time of year. for sunday, some rain around in the morning for the southern half of the country, we are hoping that will scoot off to the east. in the north it will be coolest. then we get close to christmas. christmas eve could see some rain first thing

in the south, but high pressure moving in and on christmas day we could have some frost and fog to start but then it will be mostly dry with spells of sunshine. something a little,. thank you very much. now lets get more on our main story and the major disruption at gatwick caused by drones flying over the airport. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is there now. we had been hearing the airport might open in the next hour, is there any news on that? nothing concrete so far. it is still closed up concrete so far. it is still closed up until this point, although there have been thousands of passengers still arriving. hundreds of others have been taken to airports around the country to clear the backlog. the military have offered their resista nce the military have offered their resistance to the police to try to track down this drone operator causing the chaos, but tonight this remains an unprecedented incident in terms of the effect on a major british airport, which for now

remains closed. at gatwick, thank you. you can keep up with developments on the bbc news channel but that is all from the bbc news at six and on bbc one we canjoin but that is all from the bbc news at six and on bbc one we can join the bbc news teams where you are. hello this is bbc news, the headlines: gatwick says the drone flights which have shut the airport down have been "highly targeted to bring maximum disruption in the run—up to christmas". almost 600 homeless people died in england and wales last year — a rise of a quarter over the last five years. retail sales jumped more than expected in november, helped by black friday promotions and stronger growth in sales of household goods.