i thought we'd never see you again. it's wonderful to see you. yes, it is, isn't it? good morning welcome to breakfast with louise minchin and chris mason. our headlines today: a man and a woman are arrested by police investigating the drone disruption at gatwick. today, more delays are expected but flights have resumed in the past hour. we'll be live at the airport with the latest. also this morning: the defence secretary, gavin williamson, tells the bbc the arrival of a royal navy warship in ukraine sends a strong message to president putin. natasha ednan—laperouse was just 15 when she killed by an allergic reaction to a pret a manger sandwich. as they fight to change food labelling laws, her parents tell us how she'll never be forgotten. christmas for us

isn't just christmas. it's also her birthday. it will never be the same really because we find it too difficult to be here on christmas day because she is missing. sport — liverpool, top of the tree jurgen klopp‘s team will be top of the premier league for christmas after beating wolves 2—nil. some sunshine on the rain today, more cloud and rain tomorrow and i will be taking a closer look at what the weather has in store. it's saturday the 22nd of december. our top story. police have arrested two people on suspicion of illegally flying drones over gatwick airport. flights were halted for more than a day after the first sighting on wednesday night. thousands of people have had their christmas travel plans disrupted. sussex police released this

statement overnight. "as part of our ongoing investigations into the criminal use of drones which has severely disrupted flights in and out of gatwick airport, sussex police made two arrests just after 10pm on the 21st of december. "our investigations are still on—going, and our activities at the airport continue to build resilience to detect and mitigate further incursions from drones, by deploying a range of tactics." our reporter munaza rafiq has more. after hundreds of cancelled flights, this was the reaction when passengers heard they were up and running again. it came after the airport was closed forjust over an hour after the sighting of another drone. they told us that the flight was cancelled and that we had to collect our luggage.

after unprecedented disruption, flights had resumed just after 6:00 on friday morning. many woke up after a night on the airport's floor. virginia goncalves from cornwall is seriously ill and spent the night in an airport chair. it's horrible. it's...it goes against your human rights, isn't it? i have stage four cancer, widespread to the bones, for god's sake. last night, sussex police said they had arrested two people suspected of involvement in the illegal use of drones. meanwhile, flights have continued throughout the night at the country's second busiest airport as it attempts to deal with the severe backlog of passengers. munaza rafiq, bbc news. we can speak now to our reporter ben schofield, who's at gatwick for us this morning — what's the latest ben? it's looking further, i think is the

honest assessment. passengers streaming through. the airports as they are hoping to learn a full schedule of flights. it is more than 750 flights. there are some cancellations already this morning. tu why from barbados and an easyjet from milan, all cancelled or they voted. its cause disruptions and cancellations to more than 1000 flights. there will be some relief that the military and the police will remain at the airport to keep the airfield open. thank you, i know you will keep us posted. four stowaways found on a cargo ship in the thames estuary have been detained under the immigration act, after the vessel's crew was threatened. the grande tema left nigeria 11 days ago. the group are thought to have armed themselves with iron bars, forcing crew members to retreat

to the bridge of the ship. no—one was injured. hundreds of thousands of federal workers in the us are facing christmas without pay because of a partial government shutdown. dozens of so—called drunk tanks have been funded. we have been out with one of them. a little too much christmas spirit, a hangoverfor the nhs. on christmas spirit, a hangoverfor the nhs. 0na christmas spirit, a hangoverfor the nhs. on a friday and saturday night, up nhs. on a friday and saturday night, up to 70% of visits to accident and emergency oui’ up to 70% of visits to accident and emergency our alcohol—related and a solution could be drunk tanks or alcohol recovery services on the streets helping those in need. nhs england has invested £300,000 on

drunk tanks in a bid to ease the pressure on hospitals and emergency services over the festive period. this one in central london's soho is bolstered by angels, volunteers who make sure those who had a little too much get the help they need. kitted out with water, that pops and sick bags, they've even set up a triage area to treat the more serious cases, like matthew's partner. at this time of year especially, people do have too much christmas spirit and end up needing some help. whether it be alcohol or other su bsta nces whether it be alcohol or other substances or just getting whether it be alcohol or other substances orjust getting too carried away and having a fight or whatever so having someone who is looking after them having a good time and get home safely is invaluable. drunk tanks are already being used in problem areas across england. a report into whether they are easing pressure on front—line staff isn't expected until next year and while emergency staff want party—goers to have a good time,

they want the festive cheer to be less of a stumble home. hundreds of thousands of federal workers in the us are facing christmas without pay because of a partial government shutdown. it's because democrats refuse to sign off on funding for president trump's mexican border wall. roughly a quarter of federal agencies are affected — including the departments of homeland security, transportation and national parks. donald trump has warned that it will last for "a very long time" if the funding isn't granted. a british warship has arrived in the black sea in response to russia's seizure of three ukrainian navy vessels and their crew last month. the defence secretary, gavin williamson, says the presence of the royal navy will send a strong message to moscow. 0ur defence correspondent, jonathan beale has more. these are the increasingly volatile and contested waters of the black sea. and navigating his way through them, britain's defence secretary steering a ukrainian gunboat. just a month ago, russia seized

three sister boats nearby off the coast of crimea, land now also occupied by russia. but he's here to visit a royal navy warship docked in ukraine's port of odessa — hms echo, a lightly armed service vessel, or what moscow calls a spy ship. it's meant to send a clear message. what we are saying to russia, what we are saying to president putin, they cannot continue to act with no regard or care for international laws or international norms. this is why he's intervened. in november, a ukrainian tugboat was rammed by a russian vessel. shots were fired at the accompanying flotilla, blocked from entering the narrow kerch straight. to do what we can do, working with you to ensure your loved ones

are back home with you. 2a ukrainian sailors are still being held, these their anxious relatives waiting for news. the uk's defence secretary listened to their pleas for help — they even sent a letter to the queen. viktor has not seen his wounded son since he was captured. he says, "i feel pain, i feel helpless. "we are looking for the support of britain to get them released." the presence of this royal navy warship here in odessa is to provide ukraine with reassurance in the face of what they see as russian aggression but britain is not looking for a confrontation with russia, and this warship is not expected to sail through the kerch strait. does anyone else want one? the defence secretary says this is not a provocation, but a show of solidarity. the crew of hms echo will be here for christmas. it's quite a long stint, isn't it?

and other british warships will be returning next year. jonathan beale, bbc news, odessa. spinal surgery for unborn babies with spina bifida is to become routinely available on the nhs from next spring. the procedure, carried out during pregnancy, involves repairing spinal tissue — which can improve mobility. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has more. i might not go too much deeper, frank, because we might need membranes in a second. this hospital in belgium has trained british doctors to carry out surgery to repair spinal defects during pregnancy. now families won't need to go abroad for treatment. thank you very much. hands crossed. spina bifida develops during pregnancy when the bones of the spine don't form properly. this can cause a bulge from which spinal fluid leaks out. the condition can cause a range of lifelong health issues such as paralysis, bladder and bowel problems, and affect brain development. the delicate surgery happens

at around 26 weeks pregnancy. the womb is opened and the baby's nerve tissues are pushed back into the spinal cord, which is then closed. the pregnancy continues for another three months. this must be my baby! hello! this is baby ayesha from belgium meeting the british surgeon who corrected her spina bifida when she was in the womb. doctors expect she will walk normally. two pregnant women in the uk have had the surgery this year. now it will be routinely available in england. a combined team at london's university college and great ormond street hospitals hope to treat 10—20 babies each year. fergus walsh, bbc news. a builder who has claimed a £76 million euro millions

jackpot says he found the winning ticket tucked under the visor of his van, six weeks after the draw. andrew clark had a stockpile of tickets in his van and discovered the winning one in the stash after being asked to check by his partner. the 51—year—old says he will still be having a quiet christmas, but plans to celebrate the win with a meal at a restaurant in skegness on new year's eve. a rare albino orangutan has been released into the wild in indonesia, nearly two years after it was rescued from captivity. alba, the world's only albino orangutan, was rescued in borneo in april last year when she was five years old — suffering from stress, dehydration and a parasite infection. during her recovery she's shown excellent climbing and social skills.

a conservation team will keep an eye on herfor the next six months to ensure she remains safe and healthy. let's return to our top story now — police say they've arrested two people — a man and a woman — on suspicion of being behind the distruption at gatwick airport, caused by drones flying over the runway. at the peak of the chaos, gatwick‘s chief operating officer said that 120,000 passengers had been affected. one of those was rob holland, who is stuck in new york with his family. hejoins us now. ultimately, who is to blame? 0k, there is now up to 150,000 people

have been affected. 1000 flights cancelled over the last three days. as you are hearing from ben schofield, not too bad at all today. a few people sleeping on the floor but nothing like the numbers for the past two nights. so it's very straightforward. if you're one of those 150,000 people and your flight is cancelled, the airline immediately has a duty towards you. you can abandon your trip and say, i will have a refund or you can say, i still want to travel and at that point, the airline has a must do list. it must book your flight on another airline as soon as possible if it can't get you on its own flights. i've been talking to a number of passengers who say, we didn't have anything available after boxing day. while you're waiting for the flight, providing you with a hotel room and it has to your meals. the stories i've been hearing multiple times is that airlines have

not always provided all those things. they perhaps been very slow with replacement flights. a number of them, including uk alliance, have said, oh, no, it wasn't ourfault, we said, oh, no, it wasn't ourfault, we don't have to find hotel rooms. the rules are absolutely specific. if the flight the rules are absolutely specific. if the flight is cancelled, it doesn't matter what the reason is, drones, volcanic ash, security alerts, the airline is responsible for caring for its passengers. cash compensation, nobody is going to get that. this counts as extraordinary circumstances under the european passenger rights rules and one other thing, if you are on a long haul destination, not lying on a european airline, the hotel entitlement doesn't count either. a copper hence a briefing. stepping back to this

whole extraordinary series of events over the drone or drones, you keep a keen eye on all things travel, how surprised were you by what has happened this week? it is one of those things where, when you actually study the preparation that the airports have made, you think, crikey, this could have happened. indeed, security experts i was speaking to yesterday were saying that whoever was responsible may actually have done us all a favour by revealing the vulnerability of airports to drone activity without causing any harm, apart from wrecking 150,000 people is travel plans. it came from nowhere. we have had the odd bit of drone activity, a drone going off course or some idiot seeing if they can get close to an aeroplane, but nothing like this before. every airport around the uk and around the world is we'll be

looking at what has happened at gatwick trying to make sure they put some protection in place. unprecedented. it is the season to be jolly, having spent time talking about chaos on the plains, let us talk about trains for a moment or two. some potential sticky moments for those wanting to get home for christmas on the train today. yeah. let us talk about the rail strikes, south—western railway, which runs trains in and out of waterloo station, the busiest station in written, strikes today, northern rail has as 29th day today. delays between now and the new year for voters networks. engineering works really begin in earnest tomorrow. where ever you are going check your connections before you set off. many thanks. merry christmas to you. take a deep breath. 150,000 people affected by what is going on at gatwick. one of those passengers is

rob holland, stuck in new york with his family. good morning to you. when were you match to be back? -- meant to be back? we were meant to be back yesterday morning. when will you be back? we will be back in the morning of the 26. ok. when it going wrong for you and your family? with the time difference we heard probably about 12 hours after gatwick had shut. when we woke up we hope that gatwick had shut and we had an e—mail from hope that gatwick had shut and we had an e—mailfrom the airline carry out saying that our flights had been cancelled. did they give you any more information about when you might geta more information about when you might get a new flight, what was it like? no, they didn't. basically we had to go to their website and click ona had to go to their website and click on a live chat. that was not very successful. eventually after about three hours we got hold of customer surface, hejust

three hours we got hold of customer surface, he just said you are not going to be flying for the next 48 hours at least, so go to the airport is and then we will direct you from there. and that it was just a case of keep calling back the number they gave us. the first available flight was the 25th, so they told us. but subsequently we found out there are still flights available on the 24th, even still flights available on the 24th, even though they are not allowing us to get on them. 0k. tell us a little bit about how it has affected you. presumably you have got to look after yourfamily, find presumably you have got to look after your family, find a presumably you have got to look after yourfamily, find a hotel, et cetera. yes. we were lucky enough that as soon as we found out, we did not know what the case would be, i went on and booked an apartment in newjersey with airbnb. we got a taxi over here yesterday. the company did put us up in a hotel overnight atjfk, on the first

night, and then said you are on your own from now and keep the seats, you may get a refund, you may not. but i don't expect to get a refund. it is not theirfault don't expect to get a refund. it is not their fault that this has happened. right, 0k. tell us what your plans were for christmas. the same as everyone else. spend it with family. have christmas dinner, do the normal festivities. family. have christmas dinner, do the normalfestivities. that has been put on hold. we will now try and do all of that on the 27th or the 28th. presumably new york is not a bad place to be sort of, as it were, stranded. but how are you all doing? we are doing fine. we are much luckier than some other people, because we have managed to have our holiday and we have been delayed coming home, where we understand that there are thousands of other people who haven't managed to reach their destination and have had their holiday plans ruined. you make evra good point. good luck with the

return trip. —— a very good point. time to check in on the weather. louise is there. no, susan is here. i looked across and saw you.|j louise is there. no, susan is here. i looked across and saw you. i think it would be better if you did. that has woken up. a very good morning to you. not a bad day to come across the uk today. if you have plans to head out on some sort of christmas dash there should be some decent weather around, dry weather. tomorrow's prospects look grey. there will be some rain, particularly to the south of the uk courtesy of these two weather fronts waiting out in the atlantic air the moment. today there little ridge of high pressure will increasingly start taking care of things. this morning we start with showers in the north and west. as the day goes on those will tend to fizzle out. scotla nd those will tend to fizzle out. scotland still keeping some into the afternoon. perhaps the odd isolated

one drifting into eastern england for the second part of the day. the sunshine, hazy at times thanks to high cloud. maadan up in the south. chillier across northern scotland after a frosty start —— miles. this evening, showers across western scotland, but a largely fine story. it will turn a little chilly during the latter part of the evening. heading into the early hours of sunday beat averages are picking up again as the weather front started coming to the south—west and the rain arrives into northern ireland, wales, and the south—west of england. —— temperatures. across returning to scotland. scotland on sunday, out to the north away from this area of cloud and rain. the police to be for the best of the dry and fine weather on sunday. some uncertainty as to how far north the rain will sit on sunday. it may not be such a gloomy picture as we have pork northern ireland and northern england. it will be worth checking with the details for tomorrow. —— we

have in northern ireland. some fairly persistent rain and cloud around. still miles. further north, cooler, staying chilly in 12 spots. -- still cooler, staying chilly in 12 spots. —— still milds. there could be the chance of freezing fog and monitor spots. into the start of the new week, not just the spots. into the start of the new week, notjust the start of any new wii, but christmas week. monday is christmassy. high pressure is building. the weather fronts to the south starting to be weakened away by that high pressure. bit of rain in the south this thing on monday. turning to fizzle out as the day goes on. the cloud could linger. a slightly grey day for many. the best of the sunshine north east of scotland, perhaps across eastern england. temperatures in double figures to the south. further north, a little chillier, especially if we get lingering mist and fog. finally, a look ahead to the big day and for christmas day, at the moment, i think we are facing more grey than anything else. again, the chance of

fog lingering in 12 spots. chilly first thing. then we could get some lingering cloud. —— 12 spots. that isa lingering cloud. —— 12 spots. that is a festive prospect is shaping up for the moment. susan, susan, susan, thank you very much. as a pretext to make upfor thank you very much. as a pretext to make up for getting it wrong earlier on. “— make up for getting it wrong earlier on. ——i make up for getting it wrong earlier on. —— i say it three times. at christmas we all like to relax, have fun and indulge — and if you have dogs, there's no doubt they'll be keen to enjoy some of the merriment as well. however, the festive period can be a dangerous time for our pets. let's find out more — we're nowjoined by the yorkshire vet, peterwright, herchy boal from the rspca and el, a dog who was abandoned last christmas — she's here with her owner karl. she is here with her owner antony. she had a bit of a bad christmas

last year, but she is in a much better state now. she was abandoned just before christmas. as you can see behind us, that is what she looked like when we first got her in january. she was abandoned, dumped ina january. she was abandoned, dumped in a sports bag with glitter, of italy was for christmas decorations. she was found by a couple. they rushed her to the vets and got a go find me page to pay for her vet bills. after that they read home is el to us. me and my husband, we were the lucky ones that got her. she is looking at the floor manager. she has completely fallen in love. she

isa has completely fallen in love. she is a really sweet, affectionate dog. we talk all the time. coming up to christmas, about pets at christmas. you really have a clear message from the rspca. yes, this christmas and any christmas we are talking about kindness to animals at christmas. over the christmas period we get a real rise in the amount of calls that we get, people leave them, they go away for the weekend, go on holiday, we deal with so many abandonment is. it is time to get that message out there that pets are for life, they are a real commitment, really think before you buy a puppy commitment, really think before you buy a puppy online or anything, really. it isjust about, the story of el highlights what can happen. el was dumped a few days after christmas in this horrific state. peter, this whole issue of dogs in the family home, when there are all sorts of treats for humans lying around, mince pies and chocolate in turkey and the rest of it, what do

pet owners need to know about what they can and cannot touch and the danger of if they have too much is something they should not have?- this time of year it is very dangerous for pets. there are all sorts of temptations available. chocolate, mince pies, christmas pudding. chocolate has a stimulant that we can break down very easily but dogged struggle with. it can cause, in minor cases it can cause sickness and diarrhoea, in extreme cases it can cause heart problems and if they really went to town on chocolate it will cause death —— dogs. say some before this christmas realises their dog has eaten a large amount of chocolate or any chocolate, what we do as owners? as owners you need to make your dog sick. that is not easy for an owner to do. contact the veterinary surgeon. it is the chocolate i would not be too concerned at all.

particularly the milk chocolate. dark chocolate is the worst type. any significant quantity of chocolate they need to get in touch with the vet who will make the dog sick as quickly as possible. that is often the end of the problem. right. and just simple things like, i don't know, baubles on a christmas tree. we get patients eating all sorts of things over christmas, bones, children's toys, it is surprising what we have to extract from the stomachs after christmas. presumably thatis stomachs after christmas. presumably that is in operation in some cases. in some cases it is. we call them foreign bodies. if they are small enough they will pass through the gastrointestinal tract. enough they will pass through the gastrointestinaltract. if they enough they will pass through the gastrointestinal tract. if they are to realise they will cause a blockage, the dog will be sick, and we have to remove it from their bodies. herchy, to what extent are pets still given as christmas presents? it is very common. every single year. and around christmas people are giving dogs or cats or animals as presents. and we see a

rise in the amount of dogs and cats that we take in over the christmas period and also into january. a few days later or a few weeks later the novelty wears off and those animals are being dumped or we get a high rise in people asking prostatectomy. evenif rise in people asking prostatectomy. even if it doesn't come to that, kubecova peter's point, you are studying for the first time with a dog when there is all of this stuff around the house that they could be eating —— you are starting for the first. a pet is a lifelong commitment. could be 15, 16 years you could have a dog or a cat. please do your research. christmas is probably not the best time. everyone's houses are quite erratic over christmas. as somebody who was adopted, effectively a rescue dog, how much difference as having her around made to you guys? she is everything to us now. we are a foster home as well. so we foster children. obviously the happiness it brings to a child as well, who is obviously going through stuff, she

is really calming, she is a bit hyper at times. like now. she is very affectionate. she is. i am getting the impression she likes a lot of walks. she likes to be on the go. thank you very much for bringing her in. thank you very much. very good advice. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. stay with us. we had the headlines injust a