this week is quiet, just the fog which you have to be wary of. this is bbc news. the headlines at midday. rescue workers continue the search for survivors of the tsunami in indonesia, more than 280 people are now known to have died. there are fears the death toll could rise with warnings of more deadly waves triggered by volcanic eruptions. ministers discuss security arrangements at airports following the drone activity that led to the closure of gatwick. thousands of rail passengers face disruption over christmas because of major engineering works. respect and understanding — the queen uses her christmas speech to deliver a message of goodwill to all. chris evans bids a festive farewell to listeners as he hosts his final radio 2 breakfast show. and in half an hour, the travel show heads to finnish lapland to meet the local sami people fighting to preserve their culture.

good afternoon. in indonesia, at least 281 people were killed and more than 50 are still missing, following the volcanic eruption and tsunami that swept through sunda strait on saturday. thousands of people who live on the islands of java and sumatra have been forced to evacuate to higher ground as the tsunami hit coastal areas. in the last few hours, there have been more eruptions from the anak krakatau volcano, fuelling fears of another tsunami. caroline rigby reports. homeless, exhausted, frightened. like so many others in the region, trying to come to terms with this devastating tsunami.

translation: i'm afraid. i'm really afraid. i've not gone home in the last two days. with the dawn of a new day in indonesia, the scale of the destruction becomes clearer. hundreds of buildings have been heavily damaged, many homes completely destroyed. officials in one of the worst affected areas say most of the victims were indonesian holiday—makers. among those who flocked to the region at this time of year. police have now begun the grim task of trying to identify the bodies. translation: the number of dead is increasing. we are still using facial identification while faces can still be recognised. hospital workers say they are struggling to cope with the huge numbers of injured people, and with many still missing, rescue workers have stepped up their search for survivors. all too aware that the threat from the nearby anak kra katau volcano remains.

spewing ash and smoke, it continues to erupt, and with fears that could trigger further tsunamis, residents are being warned to stay away from the beaches. caroline rigby, bbc news. our corresponent rebecca henschke is in carita, a district of villages in the banten province that has been hit by the tsunami and sent us this update. villas like this one here in carita are built right on the ocean, and they didn't stand a chance when the huge waves hit. this, the state of the swimming pool. it would have been packed at this time of year with holiday—makers for this season. over here, rescue workers, the military, teams from the national disaster agency, are clearing up some of the rubble smashing through the concrete and the metal there to clear it away to begin what will be a slow rebuilding process. over here you can see the remains of the villa

and cars that were parked here at the time smashed together. heavy building equipment has now arrived in the area to help people with the clearing up. phone and power lines are being restored today to this area as part of the recovery effort. presidentjoko widodo visited and promised that this area will be rebuilt. people are being told to stay away from this area if they don't have to be here, but along the coast, people have come back to these ruins of buildings and homes so they can take with them anything of worth that is still in reasonable condition. rebecca henschke, bbc news, carita. aid workers are assisting national agencies in locating survivors. earlier, kathy mueller from the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies told us about the rescue efforts.

it's a big operation. there's a wide area of land that has been impacted by this tsunami. basically, the entire west coast ofjava has been impacted. there are a lot of areas that have still not been reached. we have just heard from our teams on the ground with the indonesian red cross that they have been alerted to a community of about 800 people who are stuck and have not received any sort of aid since the tsunami struck. the teams are on their way there now. they are bringing them basic needs, things like blankets, tarpaulins and clean water to be able to drink, along with some volunteers who are trained in first aid to be able to treat anyone who is injured. these are the sorts of things that we are coming up against. it is a wide, wide area that needs to be reached and it's going to take some time before every area is touched. we have heard from other

disasters in the past, miracles where people have survived weeks in the rubble of an earthquake or a tsunami for that matter. people can survive quite a long time without food, as long as they have water they have a better chance of surviving. it is the rainy season here so there's always the possibility that if someone is trapped, the rain is trickling through and they are able to take the rain drops of water that are coming through. then of course we do have teams, and we're not alone. we're working alongside the government responders to try and reach anyone who may still be trapped. ministers have discussed security arrangements at aiports this morning following last week's closure of gatwick airport after drones were sighted close to the airport's runway. let's get more now from our correspondent lisa hampele. do we know what was said? we know

that the conference call was chaired by the transport secretary chris grayling and others are taking part we re grayling and others are taking part were david leading ten —— liddington and the home secretary and the aviation minister. there was also a defence minister. the first thing they talk about was whether this line that has been coming out in the last couple of days past that they weren't any drones, yesterday the senior officer in charge leading the investigation, he was asked whether he thought that is a possibility. he said that is a possibility. what they have said today, the government has said, this was a miscommunication and there were drones. this did happen. we know there were 67 verified statements, 200 people said they thought they had seen drones but 67 of them have been verified and statements have been verified and statements have been taken. they are doing

house—to—house enquiries and they are investigating still. we are told from this meeting as well that gatwick airport have been looking at their systems on—site to prevent further problems like this. we know they have been looking at what they can do. also, ministers are worried about, they have been discussing copycat problems and what will happen in other airports. they say the mod and the home office is going to be responsible for looking at what can be done, what can be rolled out to try and prevent this happening at top other airports in the uk. one other thing that came out of this was they once more to be done for the public to be aware that it is illegal to fly drones around airports. lisa, thanks. the queen will urge people to treat each other with respect, during her annual christmas message which will be broadcast tomorrow. the comments, which have been released by buckingham palace, are likely to be seen as an attempt by the monarch to calm the debate over brexit.

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. throughout her reign, the queen has always been notably cautious whenever it has come to making a comment which could be construed as an observation about the political debate. but with the nation divided over brexit, it would be strange if the head of state, in her one personal message of the year, did not make some attempt to address people's concerns. her christmas message was recorded earlier this month at buckingham palace, when the brexit debate in parliament was at its height. in the broadcast, she will say this. the context of those remarks isn't clear from what buckingham palace has released. it may be doubted whether the queen has said anything explicit about brexit. but it is clear that the palace is hoping these few words, and a reference to the need for the christmas spirit of goodwill to be heeded, will be construed as an attempt by the monarch to soothe the brexit debate.

theresa may has written a letter, published in the daily express, urging people to put aside their differences over leaving the eu, and to focus instead on what they can achieve together. in a separate christmas message to british servicemen and women, the prime minister praises the work done after the novichok attack in salisbury and their role in fighting international terrorism. in his christmas message, the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, praises the compassion of those who help the homeless and refugees. pakistan's former prime minister nawaz sharif has been sentenced to seven years injailfor corruption. a court in islamabad found him guilty of having overseas investiments beyond his declared sources of income. drivers are being warned delays on the roads today as half of all motorists are expected to make christmas journeys. meanwhile, thousands of rail passengers travelling over the christmas period will face disruption because of planned engineering work.

let's get more now from travel expert simon calder. simon, a tricky time of year to travel and people making these journeys. best look at the railways first. engineering works on the lines, why do christmas engineering works go together? very simply, network rail says the demand for rail services is half what it is a normal times and therefore, because they were inconvenienced the minimum number of people, they always close over christmas. there are no trains whatsoever on christmas day in the country. this year they seem to be going out quite a lot longer than they normally do. normally key lies that opening until the new year. they are deploying 25,000 people spending ems million over christmas and anaemia. the idea is we will have more reliable, faster services

with more capacity. that is the plan. word is the disruption worst? i'm going to do a countdown. may be in fourth place, london euston and west coast mainline which includes milton keynes area. a lot going on in chester, north wales. lots of delays due to the hs2 work mostly. high speed lines at third place, paddington. completely shut down and it will be reopening on thursday but then closing again on the 30th of december, this is all to do with the overrunning crossrail project, but will affect services to south wales in the south of england as well as the cotswolds. made more complicated bya the cotswolds. made more complicated by a strike by south—western railways guards on thursday. second place, this is victoria to clapham

junction. the second busiest station in britain. busiest interchanges and on the main london, gatwick, brighton line. that is closing into the new year. but you can travel by bus. but a top place, they used to be an old saying that east anglia was cut off on three sides by the sea, and by the fourth by british rail. that has come back. you've got the main line, you've got a cat trained ingatestone, get on a bus, go to newbury park which is on one of the outer reaches of the central line of the london underground and try your luck. that is going to continue right through to the new year as well. i shouldn't laugh because anybody cut off like that, it isn't any laughing matter for them. that's the situation on the railways. what about on the roads? it is pea ky railways. what about on the roads? it is peaky christmas eve busy right

now. as you say, half the motorists are going to be taking main roads all motorways with lunchtime the worst. in terms of the worst arose, the mi between junction 21, leicester, and 26, nottingham, that has been singled out as the worst. but the 40, the m5, m6 and the m25 and all likely to see quite a lot of congestion. that will ease as the afternoon draws on. staying at home. simon calder, many thanks. four men who arrested on cargo ship in the thames estuary have appeared in court charged with affray. the grande tay—ma left nigeria two weeks ago. the group were detained after police boarded the ship on friday following reports that the crew had been threatened. around 3,000 people have been evacuated from an apartment building in sydney after residents heard a "loud crack". police say, the newly opened

opal tower had moved "i to 2 millimetres". residents are now preparing to spend christmas eve, in an evacuation centre, as an emergency operation takes place, to determine the extent of the damage. fire and rescue, specialists, ambulance, paramedics and public works engineers will be making enrtry to level ten to investigate the cause of the crack and to determine whether the building is safe to inhabit, or if any further remediation works are required. the headlines on bbc news — rescue workers continue the search for survivors of the tsunami in indonesia, more than 280 people are now known to have died. ministers discuss security arrangements at airports following the drone activity that led to the closure of gatwick. thousands of rail passengers face disruption over christmas because of major engineering works. sport, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre.

mauricio pochettino says it's too early to consider spurs as title contenders but a 6—2 win at everton has kept them in touch with the top of the table. it was the highest scoring match in the premier league so far this season. everton actually took the lead and had a goal disallowed. before son heung—min took full advantage of a defensive mix—up to equalise. dele alli then reacted first to a jordan pickford save to make it 2—1. harry kane gave them a comfortable lead at half—time, before christian eriksen scored a fantastic half—volley just after the break. everton pulled one back but son and kane got their second goals of the match. this was the pick of them, an 18 pass move to complete the rout at goodison park. i still believe that liverpool and manchester city are the real contenders to win the premier league, and then we are there. chelsea, arsenal and manchester

united are still a long way. i think it's still a long way to say if we're a real contender or not. i think it's still early. we scored one goal first. we scored the second goal first. the referee didn't give us, i don't know why. and after, the game doesn't finish. we have to keep our organisation, keep strong. after the mistake at 1—1, they were stronger than us. well, that result leaves tottenham just two points behind manchester city and six behind leaders liverpool. there managerjurgen klopp believes the achievement is even more impressive considering the difficult start they faced to the campaign. football games, it is difficult to

win football games at these times. sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't work out. i cannot see more than that. they were just unlucky in those last two games in that happens from time to time. there was plenty of domestic interest as the sydney thunder beat rivals sydney sixers by 21 runs in australia's big bash. jos buttler top scored for thunder, hitting 63 runs as his side went on to reach 169 for 9. steve o'keefe took the wicket of buttler, as he did with england captain joe root, who contributed just nine of those runs. tom curran was facing his england team—mates as he top scored for the sixers with 62 runs, their total of ms though meant they fell 22 runs short of the total they needed for victory. british number one johanna konta is confident of an upturn in fortunes next year with new coach dimitri zavialoff. konta's form dipped after reaching the the semi—finals

of wimbledon in 2017 and rising to fourth in the world. she will go into the new year 37th in the rankings but feels "better equipped to deal with challenges on court" after a "very strong pre—season". last year's winner rob cross claimed an emphatic victory over spaniard cristo reyes at the pdc world darts championship. cross was rarely troubled and took the match four sets to nil to move into the last sixteen at alexandra palace. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. christmas can be a difficult time of year for young people who have recently left ca re, they often have no family to spend the festive period with and friends tend to be with their own loved ones. our reporter ashleyjohn—baptiste, who himself grew up in care, has been to north—west england where volunteers are busy making plans for care—leavers to celebrate the big day together.

a glimpse of christmas spirit. volunteers gathering to organise a festive dinner for young people who have left the care system. we're at a location in wigan where volunteers have come together to prepare for a christmas dinner for care leavers. now, i grew up in care in south—east london, and i never had this sort of event put on for me when i was in care and when i left care. so i'm really excited to see how this will impact the care community here in wigan. should i help? it's great, susie, it's great. come on. alex and susie are siblings who were split up in care. having spent eight years without seeing each other, they were reunited at a christmas eventjust like this one last year. just being able to be together is really nice. christmas is like meant to be a time for family. we looked down upon christmas,

because it was a time when we didn't have much as kids. and now we come back now. you get presents, you get food. it's good. it's a nice place to be at christmas time. you don't feel out of place. it's like being at home. it's like your own family, you go home with a big bag of presents at the end, it's nice. when you feel like you are on your own and you chat to people who have been through that — "oh, i've been through that i rememberthat," it's nice. what would christmas be like for you both without this christmas dinner? really, a happy time of year, that is what we missed for so long, it's normally a time for family, and that brings all the negatives back for us, i think. this is one of scores of dinners taking place across the country for care leavers. the initiative comes from the poet and campaigner, lemn sissay, who also grew up in care. christmas is not the easiest time for a lot of people who've left care, because they're not used to having family around, they're not used to getting presents.

it's just a way of... this christmas dinner is a way of letting them feel love from the community. wigan council is now working alongside lemn sissay‘s foundation to support young people at the dinner. volunteers of staff from the council, local groups and individuals donating all kinds of gifts. are young people who are leaving care in wigan being supported enough by the council? in wigan, i think we have a good relationship with our care leavers. and i do feel that we take our corporate—parent responsibility very seriously. growing up between four foster families and a care home, i know first—hand the unique set of challenges confronted by many young people when they leave care. merry christmas. hey!

and while it will take more than a dinner to solve their problems, events like this at christmas, when most people are with theirfamilies, aim to give care leavers a sense of home. yeah, i do feel love, 'cause obviously, you make your own little family and create your own atmosphere and i want to feel belonging at christmas. ashleyjohn—baptiste, bbc news. the news agenda over the last few months has been dominated by the twists and turns of brexit. reality check correspondent chris morris has been getting to the bottom of the technicaljargon. today he takes a look at the irish border backstop you may have heard about the backstop. it is a baseball term really, so what does it have to do with brexit? think in terms of the safety net and you get the general idea. the backstop is key to talks over the future of the irish border after brexit. why? this line between the irish

republican and northern ireland will be the only land border between the uk and the european union. that matters for trade because in theory there should be checks on stuff crossing the border after brexit. but no—one wants new inspections at the border, they'd bring back memories of 30 years of conflict in northern ireland. checkpoints could become a target. the uk and the eu hope to agree a trade relationship in the future that keeps the border as open as it is now. if they can't, or if there is a delay, that is when the backstop comes in. it is illegal guarantee to avoid a hard border under all circumstances. the trouble is the uk and the eu don't see eye to eye on how the backstop should work. the uk says the eu's version could undermine the union between northern ireland and great britain. the eu says the uk's plan could damage the integrity of its economic area, the single market. for both sides, these are really important principles

so they are looking for a compromise before time runs out. the backstop has to be part of the withdrawal agreement that needs to be signed before brexit is due to happen in march 2019. without a backstop, there will be no brexit deal at all. chris evans has bid a festive farewell to listeners as he hosted his final radio 2 breakfast show this morning. he's stepping down after almost nine years presenting europe's most popular radio show, and will be replaced by zoe ball in the new year. chris evans finished his final broadcast at 9.30, going out with song. # goodbye, get lost, get out! ta—ta! applause

cheering speaking outside radio two's studio, chris evans said that he would back at the bbc for strictly come dancing. the kind of show we wanted to do today, we really wanted to leave them laughing not crying because there's been a lot of tears throughout the show, you know, hopefully for all the right reasons. but enough now, enough. happy christmas everyone. and you had nicole. nicole kidman. i thought we had somebody on the phone who was requesting a record, which is fine because they called in to request

one, what i didn't know was the team had called nicole kidman and she was hanging on the phone for 14 minutes from a beach in australia. apparently, she loved it. and the pyjamas. these are our brussels sprouts family pyjamas. brilliant. which we wear every christmas. are you feeling nervous about your next project? no, well, i've done it before! i think we'll be all right. any chance you'll be back, you think? never say never, any chance you'll be back? strictly come dancing, baby. come on. you're tipped as the winner for that. i'm not. lovely to see you all. thank you for coming, thank you for being nice to me and have a the christmas carol silent night is celebrating its 200th birthday. the carol was first performed in austria, in the village of oberndorf near salzburg on christmas eve 1818, after a priestjoseph mohr, asked a school teacher and organist, franz gruber to set his words to music. bethany bell reports from salzburg.

# stille nacht # heilige nacht it's one of the world's favourite christmas carols. silent night, or stille nacht as it's known in german. oh, i think it's the best christmas song ever. it's familiar, we learned it when we were a child, and everyone sings it. the carol is 200 years old this christmas and it comes from austria. this is where silent night was first sung, on christmas eve 1818 in the village of oberndorf near salzburg. the original church doesn't exist any more. it was badly damaged by floods at the end of the i9th—century and had to be demolished. this little chapel was built in place. a priest called joseph mohr wrote the words. he asked franz xaver gruber, a school teacher and an organist, to compose the melody.

according to legend, the church organ had broken down, damaged by mice chewing at the bellows, so they had to sing it with this guitar. but historians believe that the mice and the broken organ are probablyjust a myth. it was, with the guitar, more people friendly and with an instrument which was very common outside, of course, the church. you can take the guitar wherever you go and therefore also the song itself was known very quick all around the world. silent night quickly spread across europe and on to the united states. it was sung across the trenches during the first world war. and for many people, it's simply the carol which means christmas. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz.

thank you. we are in for a silent night. it is very quiet on the weather front right now but we have got some mist and fog on the way later tonight. through the course of christmas eve, it is progressively going to turn for gear and full gear sci’oss going to turn for gear and full gear a cross m ost going to turn for gear and full gear across most parts of england. as far ss across most parts of england. as far as the weather goes, cloudy skies sci’oss as the weather goes, cloudy skies across the south—west of the country but we've got some sunshine in the north. it has been around freezing in some parts of scotland all morning. the temperatures by early on christmas day will be around minus four in eastern scotland but much barmy in plymouth, around nine degrees. that is a lot of fog on the way across parts of england first thing in the morning on christmas day. they're that in mind if you are travelling. across the midlands,