finwur wig this weather front pushing its way gradually west to east through the remnant of tonight. high pressure in charge of the south. we are set to see some of the rain washing across scotla nd see some of the rain washing across scotland and northern england. patchy rain clearing away from northern ireland. some rain in the midlands and southern england. a bit ofa damp midlands and southern england. a bit of a damp start to sunday for some of a damp start to sunday for some of us. could be a touch of frost, particularly east anglia and the south—east where the skies stay clear is longest. most places frost free, a cloudy and make you start to the second half of the weekend. the bring in the east cluzel —— the rain in the east. you can see some spots of drizzle and low cloud over the hills for parts of western scotland and northern ireland. sunny spells for eastern scotland and eastern england. temperatures still doing reasonably well. 10—12 for most of us on reasonably well. 10—12 for most of us on sunday. then e—mailed and settled theme continues into monday, new year's eve on monday that then be mild and settled. weather front to the far north—west. breezy conditions with some rain. the

patchy rain could push further south across scotland later on new year's eve. much of the country you are looking at cloudy skies, the best of the sunshine in the east. could be drizzle further west. miles for new year's eve. looking ahead towards the night—time —— mild. if you are seeing in the new year, most of i should stay dry and mail. fairly cloudy to see the fireworks. could be rain around across parts of scotla nd be rain around across parts of scotland —— mild. it is down to the wea k scotland —— mild. it is down to the weak weather front. it will push south through new year's day on tuesday. for the bulk of the country it is high pressure that will be dominating the weather. reasonably mild and dry weather for new year's day with sunshine around. then you'll notice that the temperatures are taking a dip through the first pa rt are taking a dip through the first part of 2019. they should still be decent spells of sunshine on offer. hello, this is bbc news. we will be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment.

first the headlines: the actress damejune whitfield, best known for her roles in the sitcoms terry and june and absolutely fabulous, has died at the age of 93. the immigration minister has been in dover, as the home secretary cuts short a family holiday to deal with the rising number of migrants crossing the channel in small boats. he's on his way back and he will be at his desk on monday, but yes, he's taken control of the situation. i'm in regular contact with him, and we had a conference calljust yesterday. one person has died and 23 others have been taking to hospital after a minibus overturns on the scottish borders. more than £100 million is to be spent chartering extra ferries to bring in vital supplies in the event of a no—deal brexit. the new year's honours list is announced. they include the british divers who rescued a young football team from a cave in thailand, twiggy, who is made a dame, and michael palin, who is knighted. let's hear more about how the much

loved and respected comedy actress dame june whitfield, who loved and respected comedy actress damejune whitfield, who has died at the age of 93. she had begun acting at the age of three and was best known for her roles in terry and june and absolutely fabulous. many tributes have been pouring into night, including from barry cryer. her command of the voices, and the com plete her command of the voices, and the complete lack of ego. she just wa nted complete lack of ego. she just wanted to be part of the team, and do what was required. she was amazingly versatile. and i know you spoke to her very recently. she had continued her career right into her 905.

continued her career right into her 90s. yes. ab fab was just continued her career right into her 90s. yes. ab fab wasjust mentioned. she never stopped, and it was quite amazing. and there was a radio series called news huddlines, and the actress playing margaret thatcher on it was leaving, and june was playing the fairy queen in a pantomime, and they were talking about this, and june let slip she would love to play margaret thatcher, and roy admittedly thought could she really do that? and in the scene that night in the pantomime, as the fairy queen, she played it as margaret thatcher. and he said she got the part. is there a particular role that you remember with particular fondness? yes, take it from here was mentioned. dick bentley, the australian, and june

playing eth. ron and eth. that was my first introduction to june, playing eth. ron and eth. that was my first introduction tojune, and i think one of her firstjobs, when she was pretty young, when she really got noticed. and of course, she had many different roles, but a lwa ys she had many different roles, but always somehow she was a woman with whom so many people felt they could identify. yes, as i said, i can't think of any other comedy performer who had such a range. she could do any voice required. she could play any voice required. she could play any part required. and people knew this. i mean, the number of people she worked with. every comedy star she worked with. every comedy star she had worked with at some point. she was amazing. and of course, when she started out on her long career, she started out on her long career, she was really forging a role in an acting industry where they weren't that many female comedy performers. that's right. it was an early

breakthrough, really. she was really coming through as a formidable woman performer, in that male dominated world. and in an era, now, when so many act as, actresses, say that they struggle to find roles as they get older, she seemed to be struggling with so many offers. no, it never stopped. and jennifer saunders, of course, knew that and had her back, obviously, in ab fab, and that had been quite a few years. but no, june were still there. and i know that you were a close friend of hers. what are your personal memories of her? well, just how natural she was. complete lack of ego. just talking to her, i mean, if

people didn't know, they wouldn't have known what she did for a living. she was just completely natural and delightful. among those remembering damejune tonight are spice girl emma bunton, who has described the actress as an incredible lady with the warmest heart. fellow absolutely fabulous actress joanna lumley said she was heartbroken to lose such a darling friend, and she would never forget her sensational talent, humour and her generosity. she will always have a most special place in my heart, she said. and comic actor david walliams described dame june's achievements in entertainment as brilliant and incredible. now it is time to take a look at tomorrow's papers. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be

bringing us tomorrow. with me are the independent‘s chief political commentatorjohn rentoul, and lucy fisher, defence correspondent at the times. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. the sunday telegraph has a photograph of damejune whitfield, who has died at the age of 93. its lead story is about calls for the home secretary to get a grip over the channel migrant crisis. the sunday times also has a photograph of damejune whitfield with terry scott, her co—star in the sitcom terry and june. the paper calls her the golden girl of british comedy. it also leads on home secretary cutting short his holiday to handle the migrant issue. the mail on sunday says mps are calling for the migrant boats to be seized in calais. the observer leads on a story about gcses. the paper says private school pupils are gaining an advantage as they are more likely to take what the paper claims

are less—demanding igcses, which state schools are being barred from using. the sunday express reports on the woes on the high street and says that experts predict at least 10,000 stores will shut next year after festive sales failed to come to their rescue. so lots of the papers, as we have been discussing, talking about dame june whitfield. and the telegraph is a lovely story and a lovely picture on the front page of the actress, who has been so fondly remembered this evening. that's absolutely right, i think there are very few actresses who would be so recognisable to so many generations of britons. she had a 70 year career andi of britons. she had a 70 year career and i have read this evening that she made 1300 tv and radio appearances in that time. it is really quite an achievement, and she

was a bit of a trailblazer in her early years. well, indeed, and every one is saying such nice things about her, i wish i had watched more of the programmes she was on. absolutely fabulous, i don't really remember watching that... it is a classic you should watch that. terry andjune classic you should watch that. terry and june was always on the television when i was young, but i never watched it. so not the greatest fa n, never watched it. so not the greatest fan, but... she sounds like a lovely lady, and i do like the title of her biography, which is called and june whitfield, a rather barbed comment on sexism in the industry. and everyone who has worked with her has paid tribute to how amazing she was to work with. that's right, even the make—up artist who dusted our noses with powder this evening mentioned what a warm and wonderful woman she was. i think as well as her talent and kind of enduring career, she is this be

an incredible in nice woman. now, the other main story on the front page of the sunday telegraph, javid told get a grip of migrant chaos as these increasing numbers of desperate people coming ashore only small boats coming across the channel. yes, and you can tell the political crisis bit of a cabinet minister has had to cancel his holiday. the timetable is a little bit opaque. he is getting on a plane sunday night, i think, in order to be at his desk on monday morning. i mean, you could be cynical about sajid javid. he wants to be leader of the conservative party, he wants to be prime minister, he has to be seen to be prime minister, he has to be seen to be responding immediately to an issue like this. but i mean, i think it is good that ministers do feel that they have to respond, because there is a democratic pressure on them to do something about it. it is not quite clear what he is going to do, but, you know, he

will be held accountable in parliament and in the court of public opinion for it. and lucy, it is not clear, really, what the strategy is, is it? we are hearing there is only one of the five ships that should be patrolling looking out for boats like this that is in operation in the channel at the moment. that's absolutely right, there is only one carter, one of these fast craft which patrol the channel, at the moment —— cutter. interesting that sajid javid is set to reject calls for more resources, fearing that could make people want to ta ke fearing that could make people want to take what is in incredibly perilous crossing. gavin williamson on the sunday telegraph is making clear that the army, navy and air force are there to help out. i think what isn't included in the small text here is the fact that if the ministry of defence steps in it expects the other whitehall department that has requested help to pay them back, and it costs £20,000 a day to rent a naval vessel

to do the same job as a cutter, so i am not quite convinced that that is am not quite convinced that that is a solution we are going to be seen in the coming weeks. so ministers looking tough but it is not entirely clear they are going to be actually doing much. they have two, i guess, balance this issue of if you deploy more resources, does that encourage more resources, does that encourage more people to come, thinking they will just be picked more people to come, thinking they willjust be picked up? on the other hand you have desperate people here ina very hand you have desperate people here in a very busy shipping lane. yes, absolutely, and i think people are concerned that we are on the cusp of seeing a human tragedy, potential for drowning in the coming days, if the situation isn't sorted out. consensus seems to be sought oh, my god! forming around the idea that britain needs to be negotiating with oui’ britain needs to be negotiating with our french counterparts —— consensus seems to be forming. and the daily mail's headline, sees the migrant boats in calais. facing theory, sajid javid says, over a dad ‘s army

response to the crisis —— dad's army. i thought they were calling for calais to be invaded. we tried that in the past and it didn't go well. i have now read the full story. it is a conservative mp, and she is actually calling for us to provide the french authorities with money and resources to get them to seize these boats on the french coast before they set off. and that sounds like a perfectly sensible idea, the only question, as lucy was saying, is whether the french have any desire to assist in this, and help enforce our border control.|j mean, there has been a lot of cooperation between the uk and france at calais over this issue of migrants using other routes to get to britain, hasn't there? yes, which has generally been quite successful, and that is supposed to be one of the factors behind the move to boats is that it has been getting

increasingly difficult for them to get through the channel tunnel. the independent has a different take on the story. tech giants are failing on migrant crisis, warns the un, saying some of the social media companies are being used by the traffic is. this story has come up in many guises. this angle is they and what's up. particularly what's up and what's up. particularly what's up provides in strictly —— encrypted messaging services. 0r enforcement authorities cannot see how they are communicating with the people who potentially want to make this journey to the west and the uk. as well as the security aspect of whether border control and so forth can get into those messages, it is the fact that the social media platforms are the perfect way to showcase the prosperity and rich lives that people in the uk have, which might also incentivise people

from war—torn, conflict ridden, and poorer nations to try to make a move. very difficult to know how to tackle that aspect of this. indeed. irememberamber rudd tackle that aspect of this. indeed. i remember amber rudd when she was home secretary making a fool of herself at the time of the attack on westminster, talking about the government needing to get access to what's up messages. it is a very serious and difficult philosophical issue, to what extent people 's privity has to be respected and to what anonymous communication is allowa ble what anonymous communication is allowable in every society. it is difficult to strike the right balance. clearly the big tech companies do have some kind of responsibility. they are notjust neutral ages when they are being used as a of communication by criminal gangs are —— agents. —— neutral agents. between calais and

britain it is not very serious yet, but there are people dying in their hundreds and thousands in the mediterranean as a result of this kind of activity. it is worth bearing in mind that the difficulties we are seeing here in the uk, the numbers coming across the uk, the numbers coming across the channel, compared to the numbers that countries like italy and greece have been dealing with, and spain, are have been dealing with, and spain, a re really pretty have been dealing with, and spain, are really pretty small. that is absolutely right. we are far from being at the sharp end of the migrant crisis. we have seen and 94 migrants make the crossing since christmas day to the uk. in that same time, a charity vessel picked up same time, a charity vessel picked up in the mediterranean 300 migrants, mainly from africa, half of them children. that vessel was denied docking in italy and malta but finally managed to find a berth in spain. those countries on the southern coast of europe have been seeing a far bigger issue. now, we

could not have a saturday night paper review without having a brexit story. the sunday times has liam fox warning that breaks it may not happen. it is quite an interesting story —— brexit. liam fox, you would expect him to be a hard brexit. you expect him to be a hard brexit. you expect him to be a hard brexit. you expect him to be very relaxed about ask leaving without an agreement at all. but is actually a strong supporter of the prime minister's agreement. he is warning those conservative mps who think it is fine to leave without a deal that if they don't support the prime minister's deal than they may end up with a parliament that forces the government to put off brexit and hold a referendum. that is the threat he is trying to drive home to some of his colleagues. threats and counter threats as this big vote looms in january. counter threats as this big vote looms injanuary. there has been a bit of a lull over the recess, but clearly with the vote due onjanuary

14 or thereabouts, there is this whole issue and where we go if the prime minister's deal is defeated. it is about to rock once again. well, quite. —— erupt. this is the fingerprints of number 10 and downing street's seal of approval all over it. it smacks of the desperation that the prime minister is undergoing. as parliament broke up is undergoing. as parliament broke upfor is undergoing. as parliament broke up for christmas and the house rose, it was very clear that she did not have anything near the numbers to pass her deal. it seems to be the strategy of number 10 to hope that people, over christmas, have a chance to mull over the options and if they can strike the fear into brexiteers that there might be a second referendum, that breaks it might not happen, thatjust enough people might go for her deal. i think it is a pretty far—fetched attitude. do you think there will be

enough mps who will find their attitude just softened by all of that mulled wine and christmas cake that mulled wine and christmas cake that they will suddenly change their minds was blue there will be some, but there won't be enough. the bottom line has always been that theresa may will need a loss of labour mps to support her deal in order to offset the opposition in her own ranks. -- a lot of off. she does not have a majority anyway, because the dup are opposed to the deal as well. so she needs is labour boats. so far she has not made much ofan boats. so far she has not made much of an effort to get them. —— needs of an effort to get them. —— needs of the labour votes. this liam fox business is about persuading tory mps to come. at some point they will have to talk to the labour mps. let us have to talk to the labour mps. let us look at the sunday express, 10,000 more shops to close. this is the warning about the decline in our high streets. we have been hearing

in the last day or so, hmv in the hands of administrators. it is not a surprise on several levels. this is the ease of shopping online. i like to do it when waiting for the bus or so to do it when waiting for the bus or so forth, rather than spending my leisure time like weekends traipsing around the shops. you canjust leisure time like weekends traipsing around the shops. you can just do leisure time like weekends traipsing around the shops. you canjust do it from the phone or on a lunch break at the work terminal, perhaps. secondly, many of the things one likes to buy, music, dvds, programmes, all that is done digitally now. we don't need the physical object. it is not surprising that people are not gracing the high street. only 10,000 shops. perhaps this is a good new story. only 10,000 shops to close this year. it is obvious the way trends are going. people are going to be shopping more and more online. the high street is going to have to adapt. we need to start thinking about imaginative ways of reconfiguring the geography. high

streets without any shops. how does that work? high streets with fewer shops and maybe other attractions that will generate traffic and draw people to them. also, you have got to talk about converting shops, given that we don't need that many shops in these locations, converting them into housing, which we do need. certainly, hmv, selling a product i don't suppose many of us were out buying dvds for christmas presents this year. no, ithink buying dvds for christmas presents this year. no, i think that is probably right. many people have switched to streaming services and renting on various platforms. that's thejoke will be renting on various platforms. that's the joke will be on all of us though. it is well known that when you rent these items or they buy them and they go into a digital library, you don't really own them and you certainly don't own them for ever. perhaps those few people who did venture out to hmv will have the last laugh. there are a lot of young people who actually like cds.

whereas i prefer to have it all, being a sort of... and vinyl records making a comeback. being a sort of... and vinyl records making a comebacklj being a sort of... and vinyl records making a comeback. i am just glad to have gotten rid of all that stuff. let us look quickly at the observer, talking about exam reforms, they boost private pupils in boost for you —— race for universities. this is how private school pupils are still finding an advantage in this new system. yeah. i should have done a bit more googling on this. i mean, my impression was that i gcses are the international gcses were harder and more traditional than the current ones. this suggests that they are easier and that private schools are gaming the system. that does not sound right. is a matter of basic fairness, streamlining the system so that there is the same exa m eve ryo ne system so that there is the same exa m everyone ta kes system so that there is the same exam everyone takes would be a better idea. even when you come ——

it when i was at school, the teachers we check to see which exam board was easier. there is a way some sort of level to see who could do better in their area. this does not sound at all fair if independent schools are able to choose a different set of exams altogether to boost their marks a. the observer also has a great picture of the army captain who has walked across antarctica, beating his rival, 56 days travelling across the ice pulling his sledge behind him. days travelling across the ice pulling his sledge behind himm days travelling across the ice pulling his sledge behind him. it is a fantastic story. 930 miles across antarctica. he is the second person ever to have done this solo and without any external help. i am really ha p py without any external help. i am really happy to see this british army officer, captain at louis rudd,

featured here. and he enjoyed hearing podcast, human voices, boris johnson's churchill bugatti was a p pa re ntly johnson's churchill bugatti was apparently his favourite text. -- podcast. i think it is terrible. you have a wonderful and unspoiled part of the world and all wicked thing to do is walk all over at. i doubt he left a ny do is walk all over at. i doubt he left any rubbish there. no. there is no need to go there. and mount everest, let'sjust forget no need to go there. and mount everest, let's just forget that helping existed. on that controversial note we will leave it there. thank you, john rentoul and lucy fisher. that's it for the papers tonight. don't forget you can see the front pages of the papers online on the bbc news website. it is all there for you seven days a week at bbc.co.uk/papers, and if you miss the programme any evening, you can watch it later on bbc iplayer. thank you, john rentoul and lucy fisher. goodbye. good evening. high pressure is well

and truly in charge of the weather at the moment. a loss of dry weather over the past few days. also some fairly windy conditions earlier today. the winds have been easing up. this was the scene during the afternoon in stirling, taken by a weather watcher. there will be a bitter blue sky around on sunday, particularly east of scotland and eastern england. for the remainder of 2018, the last two days, it is looking mostly dry and fairly cloudy. there is a bit of rain around, especially in the north, thatis around, especially in the north, that is courtesy of this weather front. that is moving west to east. high pressure holding on further south. we have seen patchy rain across northern ireland and the next few hours we will continue to seek outbreaks of rain. nothing

particularly heavy. on an or parts of scotla nd particularly heavy. on an or parts of scotland and northern england and maybe down towards east anglia and the south—east by the early hours of sunday. towards the south—east see the high temperatures with cleese prevails throughout the night. —— lowest averages. the cloud in the west will be having some drizzle. sunny spells for the east of scotland, eastern england as well. the rain will linger longest for the northern isles. it is still mild. the temperatures do well, around 10— 12 degrees on sunday. about average for the time of year. as we look towards new year's eve on monday, high pressure is with us. there is a weather front to the north of scotland, tighter isoba rs, weather front to the north of scotland, tighter isobars, meaning a windy spell is likely across parts of scotland. some rain in the north—west edging south through the day. for much of the uk, it new year's eve on monday is a dry story. we have quite a lot of cloud but there will be sunshine for eastern scotla nd there will be sunshine for eastern scotland eastern england. temperatures still mild, about 10— 11 degrees for new year's eve. if you are planning to seek in the new

year, as we head towards midnight, most of us should stay dry. perhaps in mistand most of us should stay dry. perhaps in mist and fog around. the chance of rain across parts of scotland. but for the majority of places it stays straight into new year's day. we have this weak frontjust making its way south, bringing cloud and the odd spot of rain. high pressure dominates the weber. as we look towards the start of 2019, still mild for new year's day for two state —— weather. temperatures will ta ke state —— weather. temperatures will take a tumble. it is turning colder through the first week of 2019. but we should keep some dry, settled, and often sunny weather, too. welcome to bbc news. i'm martin stanford. our top stories: houthi rebels in yemen say they're beginning to pull back from a key port as part of a un—backed ceasefire deal aimed at delivering vitalfood aid. on the eve of a critical presidential election, candidates fail to agree over how to avoid polling day violence in the democratic republic of congo.

with more than 200 people arriving in the past two months, the uk government defends it's handling of the increase in migrants crossing the channel. after the christmas chaos at gatwick, sussex police say some of the drones seen over the british airport may have belonged to their own force. the actress damejune whitfield, best known for her roles in the british sitcoms terry and june and absolutely fabulous, has died at the age of 93.