gatwick airport has just closed again after fresh reports of a drone in the area — the runway is now shut. hundreds of flights did manage to depart today but now all flights are suspended. for many passengers christmas and holiday plans have been ruined. just thrown to the wolves, basically. you know? we're left here, i can't go and see my grandma, i can't go to the wedding. it's just not acceptable. deplorable. police are still searching for the operator of the drone — they say they've identified a number of suspects. we'll bring you the latest from gatwick on the situation with flights and the police investigation. also tonight... donald trump loses another key member of staff — the defence secretary quits after the president says he'll withdraw troops from syria. 30 years on from the explosion of pan am flight 103, people gather in lockerbie to remember the 270 people who died. the two towns separated by thousands of cancellations on the one train line between them. and manchester united's interim manager ole gunnar solskjaer says

he wants the team to enjoy playing football again. and coming up on bbc news, we look ahead to a big night of british boxing tomorrow with two fights in two locations at the same time. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. after reopening earlier today, gatwick airport has been forced to suspend flights again in the last half hour after reports of a drone in the area. hundreds of flights managed to get away since this morning but all flights have now been stopped. police have been searching for the person or persons operating the drone yesterday that caused so much chaos and misery for over 100,000 passengers.

so far the police say only they have identified persons of interest. let's go straight to our correspondent duncan kennedy who's at gatwick for us. what more can you tell us? well, this news has onlyjust come through, as you said, in the last half an hour or so. all gatwick airport are saying is that flights have once again been suspended because of what they describe as a suspected drone siding. until now, the last suspected sighting had been ten o'clock last night. we haven't had any reports today until this one this evening. they say as a precautionary measure they have suspended flights once again. as you also said, things have been getting back to normal here. something like 600 or 700 flights getting away today. but all of that is still against the backdrop of delays, which has led to some anger and frustration. first light, and the firstjets finally touched down at gatwick.

some 37 hours after this unprecedented shutdown began. inside, fatigue and frustration made ha rd bedfellows. for inside, fatigue and frustration made hard bedfellows. for those who couldn't get to a hotel, or those who couldn't afford one. among them, virginia from cornwall, who is seriously ill, but who spent the night propped up in an airport chair. it's horrible. it goes against your human rights, doesn't it? it has spread to the bones, for god sake. the airport said tonight that flights had again been suspended because of a further suspected sighting of a drone. already, people like lucy from staffordshi re already, people like lucy from staffordshire say that their flights will not be leaving until sunday. how would you summarise this

experience? it's horrendous, it's a nightmare. how about karen stevens and ian from london, whose flight was cancelled this morning, meaning they will now miss a family wedding in ghana? they are throwing us to the wolves, basically. they left me here, i can't see my grandma, i can't go to the wedding. it's not acceptable, it's deplorable, it's not good enough. their airline's gesture of apology is this bag of chocolate. but what about compensation? well, the insurance industry says people should first contact their airline. they say airlines are not obliged to pay compensation, but say any costs incurred for general travel disruption will be covered by most people's travel insurance. my message to our passengers is my apology for all of the disruption they have seen, to expect to see continued disruption into the weekend, to check with airlines to make sure their flight is

travelling, to expect some disruption, and i'm going to have to continue to ask for their patience through this period. the squeeze at gatwick today said the crash at st pancras. this was the cue for the eu rostar pancras. this was the cue for the eurostar trains to paris and brussels. but others did had to gatwick, hoping their flight would emerge from the chaos. so, they said just go there and see what happens. i wish! but i don't know. just go there and see what happens. iwish! but i don't know. foreign flights into gatwick are also trying to catch up. this family were caught in rome. the fact is, with two children, wanted to get back to see my family, that is the sad part about it. but we will get there. one voice of optimism after a testing few days of pandemonium. frustratingly for passengers, that pandemonium is continuing into this evening. just to recap on the news of the last half—hour or so, flights have once again been suspended here at gatwick because of what gatwick are describing as a suspected drone

sighting. another one. we have had a word with a couple of passengers and they tell us they are getting into line and hoping for the best. fiona. we will come back to you for an update shortly, for now, thank you. with gatwick shut again, the police search for those responsible for closing down the uk's second largest airport has taken on a fresh urgency. the police say it's a difficult job and they're asking the public for help. tom symonds has more. the latest glimpse of what might be the rogue drone. police haven't seen it up close until tonight's suspected sighting, it hadn't been spotted above gatwick since 10 pm last night. the vulnerability of this major international airport airport is now stark. result, the government is under pressure. this is an entirely new kind of threat and we are going to have to move very quickly. one of the things i intend to do very quickly indeed is convene discussions across all of our airports. there are some systems beginning to be introduced in some airports around the world that could have an impact on this, but there is no single,

simple solution off the shelf deliverable very quickly. we have had to assemble a variety of different measures around that airport to make sure it is safe. the police won't say what systems they are using to protect gatwick airport, which isjust over there. some are high—tech, others, well less so. this officer has been placed here as a spotter, looking for incoming drones. he is one of a number dotted all around the airport. we've been told systems capable of bringing them down with nets have been offered to gatwick airport. another system in operation, according to one senior source, is similar to this. it can jam radio frequencies used by the drones within a defined area. but the police admit it took some time to respond. there are always some measures in place. the additions to those took some time to request and to arrive here at gatwick airport. what sort of time?

yeah, were talking hours, rather than days but coordinating that, deploying that, getting that set up at gatwick has taken some time and we have learnt from that. the pilots' union also has concerns about the current rules which banned drones within a kilometre of an airport. the pilots say that is not enough. it kilometre out is about 200 feet so that is only half the height and are allowed to fly a drone at. officially, under the current government numbers if you are a drone flyer you might actuallly think you are allowed to fly your drone very near an aeroplane and you are not. police say they have got a lot of information and what they describe as persons of interest. they want to hear from people who might have seemed drones taking off and landing, and they are continuing to watch the skies for incoming threats. duncan kennedy is still at gatwick for us. with the police and army involved,

there had been suggestions there was there had been suggestions there was the use of technology to protect gatwick, here we are, with a suspected sighting of a drone, back to square one? almost. it must be incredibly frustrating, not only for the authorities at gatwick, but also, as you can see behind me, the thousands of passengers who thought their flights were back on track and they have started arriving again at they have started arriving again at the airport. we spoke to a senior police officer later this afternoon and he said that there had not been another sighting since 10pm last night, and nothing throughout the day. and then just in the last a0 minutes or so, we get this statement from gatwick airport. it is very short, i will read it. from gatwick airport. it is very short, iwill read it. itjust from gatwick airport. it is very short, i will read it. itjust says, we arejust short, i will read it. itjust says, we are just hearing a report of another drone sighting that we are investigating. as we look into it, we have taken the precaution of suspending flights. they find themselves in a very difficult situation. they cannot take any risks. despite all of this new equipment they have brought in, to try to neutralise this drone threat.

it is only a suspected drone threat at the moment. what does it mean? well, more frustration for passengers. about 600 or 700 flights got away today, but that is going to be more disruption, the longer this latest suspension continues. thank you. police in essex say they're dealing with an incident on board an italian cargo ship that's in the thames estuary close to the essex and kent borders. the owners of the vessel said four stowaways had threatened the ship's staff. but police say they're not treating the incident as either a hostage, piracy or terror—related situation, and there are no reports of anyone being harmed. the ship set off from nigeria 11 days ago. donald trump has lost another key member of staff — the defence secretary james mattis has resigned following the president's sudden announcement that he will withdraw us troops from syria — a decision that has caused concern among nato allies and dismayed many republicans. general mattis is understood to oppose the move. there are also reports that the number of american troops in afghanistan is about to be halved. 0ur north america editor

jon sopel has the latest. generaljames mattis general james mattis is generaljames mattis is going. but not quietly. the president announced last night he was retiring. but make no mistake, this is a resignation. the defence secretary, making clear that he disagrees with donald trump's isolationism, his attacks on nato, his failure to criticise china and russia sufficiently. and his searing letter concludes, because you have the right to have a defence secretary whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, i believe it is right for me to step down from my position. the last straw was the president unilaterally announcing the withdrawal of us troops from syria, with no consultation or coordination, against the advice of all of his national security staff. it's also emerged that america is to

poll 7000 troops out of afghanistan, to the horror of america's allies. and concern has been expressed across the board. secretary mattis was one of the few symbols, the few items of strength and stability in this administration. everything that indicates stability, everything that indicates stability, everything that indicates strength, everything that indicates strength, everything that indicates knowledge. it is leaving this administration. and even the ultra—loyal senate majority leader, the republican mitch mcconnell, broke ranks. i am particularly distressed that he is resigning due to sharp differences with the president on these and other key aspects of america's global leadership. at the white house, they are playing down the impact of his departure. they agreed to disagree at times, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with people. he laid out the reasons he was stepping down from his post, and beyond that, think it is absurd to try to question the fact that they worked together for two for years.

foran worked together for two for years. for an administration well used to disruption, the year is ending with maximum turmoil. in the past couple of months the chief of staff has gone, the attorney general, the interior secretary under un ambassador. the stock market is plunging, and today, barring a miracle, the government will shut down ina miracle, the government will shut down in a row over borderfunding. todayis down in a row over borderfunding. today is the shortest day. in the white house, it probably feels like one of the longest. it's 30 years ago today that pan—am flight 103 was blown up in mid—air over the market town of lockerbie. wreaths have been laid and a silence held at a memorial service in honour of the 270 people who lost their lives. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. bagpipes play 0n the shortest day, lockerbie remembers its longest night, remembered the 270 people who lost their lives in the deadliest terror attack the uk has ever suffered.

this, a day of dignified remembrance of those who died. among the passengers on the flight, helga mosey. she was 19 and every year her parents travel to lockerbie to remember a life cut short. we miss our daughter, and we wonder how she would have done, what her musical career would have been like. would we have been grandparents to her children? we don't know. we still remember her as she was, lively. and be thankful we had her for so long. 19 years isn't long, but they were happy years. the only person to be convicted of the bombing, the libyan man, abdelbaset al—megrahi died after being released from a scottish prison on compassionate grounds. his family has lodged a new attempt to appeal against his conviction. there is also an ongoing criminal investigation, with two other libyans are

identified a suspect. for some, like jim swire who lost his daughter flora in the attack, there are still unanswered questions. 0verwhelmingly, the awful thing about lockerbie was the needless death of 270 innocent people, who could have been protected had the government of the day taken appropriate steps. having said that, the refusal of our government, and the american government, of course, to come out with what they know about the truth, has been a terrible added burden to many. 30 years ago lockerbie became tied to tragedy and in the decades since, with kindness, humanity and compassion, the people here have offered comfort to the victims families, remembrance and respect. the time is a quarter past six. our top story this evening. gatwick has suspended all flights again leaving passengers stranded after reported sightings of another drone. and coming up... #we

# we built this city # we built this city # wee bit —— we built this city on sausage rolls... how a family charity song has beaten some of the world's biggest starts to the christmas number one. coming up on sportsday on bbc news, manchester united interim manager 0le gunnar solskjaer says he wants to bring the feelgood factor back to old traford ahead of his first match in charge. this year many train passengers have had to endure delays, cancellations and changing timetables. but spare a thought for the inhabitants of 0rmskirk and preston. figures?obtained?by bbc news show that northern rail has cancelled more?than 2,000 services since may on the one line between the two towns. the boss of northern has told us the situation for all? its passengers will improve after?scores? of services were suspended? in the?autumn. if it doesn't, ?the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, says the company should be stripped of its franchise.

0ur?transport correspondent, tom burridge, reports. is this the worst rail line in britain? it's been for a year now, a year ofjust not knowing when it's going to turn up. people are worried about theirjobs. when you're always late and it's not yourfault. and there are people who had written warnings. in one week last month, not a single train ran. for us passengers, we feel kind of abandoned, forgotten, and generally treated as second—class passengers by this rail company. the fact that i've got to tell work that i'm going to be late for work, or i'm not going to be able to make it that day, and because i get paid hourly, i lose those hours. the line links 0rmskirk to preston, two large towns in the north west of england, with places in between. this is the main way out of the village, the lifeline of the village. 0ur figures show that a third of all services on this

line simply didn't run in the last six months. it's symptomatic of how rail passengers in the north of england have been badly let down. i know that the service we offered in parts of 2018 has just not been acceptable. myself and the team are fully committed to getting that right, and we are seeing that incremental improvement. the improvement hasn't come in the last few months, has it? it's coming now, and we're starting to see a stabilisation of the timetable. are you fit to run this franchise? northern are absolutely fit, and i'm absolutely committed to delivering the franchise and the commitments we got. next year, we're starting to see more capacity, new trains being introduced on the system. the mayor of greater manchester isn't so sure. i think they should be given a clear notice. things have to be improved, certainly by the very latest at the may timetable change next year. and if they don't, they should be stripped of the franchise. back in 0rmskirk, a familiar story. it's gotten even better — 15 minutes late. for some, this isn't just about trains.

if you haven't got a good public transport system and a good rail system in the area, people will not bring money in to invest in the area, to expand. they'll move somewhere else. northern rail says trains were damaged by autumn leaves and so services were moved off this line elsewhere. the government says it's reviewing the performance of rail companies in the north of england. if there has been a breach of any franchise agreement, measures will be taken. tom burridge, bbc news, in west lancashire. the chief medical officer for england has called for a tax on unhealthy foods to try to improve public health. professor dame sally davies also recommends eliminating added sugar and salt in baby foods. she suggests the proceeds of any tax should be spent on promoting healthy eating and reducing the cost of fresh fruit vegetables. the food industry says taxes will not change consumer behaviour. the government has issued further advice to businesses that trade with the eu on how to prepare for the possibility of a no—deal brexit. 80,000 companies have received the emails this afternoon. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent, colletta smith, has spent the day

with a small business in wakefield to see what preparations they're making. that finishes another order, and then that's it for christmas. mark is making a list and he's checking it twice. is this for the assemblyjob at the bottom of the shop? just a few final tasks before the 100 staff here in wakefield can clock off. right, i'm going, mate. i'll see you after christmas. have a good one, yeah? they're making parts for high—tech production lines that'll be sent all over the world. once we pick up components that we need to make sure we getjust in time, here in the uk... while the holidays begin for staff, there's a final assignment that the boss has to deal with. the key thing here is alljust about delay to imports. a last—minute e—mail has landed from the government. 119 pages of info about the new rules and costs of importing and exporting if there is no deal reached with the eu. are you feeling any more reassured? as far as i'm concerned, we just need certainty. i mean, there's nothing here that we haven't actually discussed internally or discussed

with our stakeholders, whether they be key customers or support services. we have to make sure we got a clear vision. we need stability. and if we plan for the worst—case scenario and we can actually cope with that, the downside we can cope with, everything else is up. it's not just bigger companies who are having to navigate this document. there are all sorts of extra costs, extra customs arrangements that they will have to overcome. many smaller businesses have never dealt with that, and they will have to be doing that for the first time. the advice that has been given far from hmrc is only limited. the government say it's important businesses are taking action. we are now ramping up our preparations for no—deal, which means there are certain things that those businesses that expect to continue to export to or import from the european union after a potential no—deal, as unlikely as that is, the kind of things they'll have to do. is going to spoil your turkey dinner?

hopefully it won't spoil my turkey dinner. but it may keep me awake at night, just wondering why orders have not been placed. our customers need certainty, they will not place orders with us until they are certain about their market. off home for christmas, but when businesses gear up after the break, brexit planning remains the biggest issue on many to—do lists. meanwhile the department of health and social care for its part has sent out more details of preparations which hospitals and other parts of the nhs in england are expected to make for the possibility of a no—deal brexit. a new control centre will be put in place to respond to any health care problems caused or affected by leaving the eu, and officials say patients will have access to the latest medicines and health care services under any brexit scenario. the winner of a £76million euromillions jackpot which went unclaimed for six weeks has revealed that he'd left the lucky ticket... in his van.

andrew clark, a self—employed builderfrom lincolnshire , discovered he'd got the uk's 12th biggest lottery win only after his partner, trisha, encouraged him to check. well done, her! manchester united's new caretaker manager has promised to get his players to enjoy their football. ole gunnar solshar, the club's former striker, is back at old trafford afterjose mourinho was sacked earlier this week. tomorrow the team face cardiff city, as our sports editor dan roan reports. solskjaer takes the... 0h, he's scored! super—sub has done it again. as a manchester united player, ole gunnar solskjaer won everything there was to win, but having returned as caretaker manager, the former striker knows he only has a few months to stake his claim for the job on a permanent basis. morning. myjob is now for the next six months just to do as well as i can, and move the club forward as well as i can. and then i understand that there's so many managers that would love to be the manager of man united,

so of course, one of them, but it's not something that we've talked about. they are going to do a process now for it, for the next six months. jose mourinho was sacked this week with united 19 points behind the league leaders and having fallen out with some of his star players. solskjaer has been managing molde in his native norway for the last three years, and while his appointment may have surprised some, he's received backing from the man in the opposing dugout tomorrow. they're all looking at somebody that's been there. he's a hero there, really, a legend. and the players they've got, the young lads they've got, i would think that he can't believe his luck, really. it's an amazing opportunity for him. solskjaer‘s only other premier league managerial experience was at cardiff city. he lasted less than nine months and was sacked after relegation. did you learn from that? are better now?

as a coach and manager? that period in cardiff was, of course, a huge step for me, and i've learned a lot. i've evaluated, reflected on it. i made a few mistakes. but if you don't make mistakes, you're not going to learn. for more than a decade at old trafford, solskjaer was a winner, a fans‘ favourite, but now he must prove himself again. dan roan, bbc news. after beating off competition from the likes of stars such as ariana grande, a dad who blogs about his experience of parenthood has made the christmas number one with a homage to the humble sausage roll. #we # we built this city # we built this city #we # we built this city # we built this city # we built this city on # we built this city on sausage # we built this city on sausage on sausage roll... ladbaby — real name mark hoyle — together with his wife and two sons made the single for charity. they're donating all of the profits from their single to the trussel trust, which runs foodbanks across the country. time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. the sun has set on the winter

solstice, the shortest day of the year. from now on, the days will be a little longer. it was a fairly serene sunset in murray in scotland. this was the scene a few hours ago. —— moray. showers are rattling across wales, the midlands and northern england this evening, and we will see some of those packing in across parts of western scotland and northern ireland. the showers will ease further south, so dry start to saturday morning in the south, and frost free here too. there could be frost free here too. there could be frost in parts of eastern scotland, where we have clear skies. there will be more sunshine and fewer showers. most showers will be across parts of northern ireland, western scotla nd parts of northern ireland, western scotland and perhaps one or two into the north west of england.

elsewhere, you are large likely to avoid the showers. temperatures of 7-12dc avoid the showers. temperatures of 7—12dc on saturday. overnight into sunday, the next area of low pressure m oves sunday, the next area of low pressure moves in from the atlantic, bringing quite as soggy start to sunday for many. particularly through the midlands, wales, northern england and parts of northern ireland. the north, scotla nd northern ireland. the north, scotland should of the bright and dry and weather, though it will be cold, temperatures 6—8dc. further south, 13 celsius or so, though it will still be fairly breezy in the south. through christmas eve and towards christmas day, with high pressure building, it will be mostly dry, some patchy frost and fog, too. there is no sign of any snow in the forecast, if you had been dreaming ofa forecast, if you had been dreaming of a white christmas. fiona. an update on our top story on the suspension of flights from an update on our top story on the suspension of flights from gatwick.

this is just from one suspension of flights from gatwick. this isjust from one news agency, gatwick airport say that flights have now resumed. that is just from one news source. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me. and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: in the last few minutes, there are reports that flights in and out of gatwick have resumed again tonight, after an earlier suspension following further suspected drone activity. we have a number of lines of enquiry and persons of interest, and we are working through those without best investigators, and there is a huge amount of intelligence we are trawling through. the us defence secretary james mattis resigns, a day after president trump announces the withdrawal of troops from syria. a remembrance service has taken place in lockerbie to remember the 270 people who were killed when pan am flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb over the town in 1988.

in a moment, it will be time for sportsday, but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. we'll have the very latest on the situation at gatwick and on the investigation to find who is flying the drones. as measles cases in europe this year are set to be the highest this century, we'll find out why numbers are on the rise. and we'll take a look at tomorrow's front pages after10:30, and at 11:30. joining me tonight will be michael booker, deputy editor of the daily express,