you're watching bbc newsroom live. these are today's main stories. for the first time, a government minister acknowledges brexit may have to be delayed. the foreign secretary says extra time could be needed to finalise legislation. if we ended up approving a deal in the days before the 29th of march, then we might need some extra time to pass critical legislation. more than 20,000 physios, pharmacists and paramedics are to be recruited to work alongside gps — to allow doctors to spend more time with patients. temperatures in the uk plummet, making it the coldest night of the winter so far — more snow and freezing temperatures are forecast. meanwhile it's minus 30 in chicago — as cities across the us midwest come to a standstill, in a deadly cold snap — known as a polar vortex. the number of rough sleepers in england falls for the first time in eight years. but in london numbers are up by 13%.

and a heart—warming reunion — the chance to say "thank you" to the stranger who saved this woman's life. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm joanna gosling. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, has acknowledged that brexit might have to be delayed, if a deal is agreed only at the last minute. speaking to the bbc‘s today programme on radio 4 the foreign secretary said that some extra time may be needed to pass the necessary legislation. this morning, the leader of the house of commons, also told mps they should expect to continue sitting the brexit impasse. during the february recess in order to try to resolve the brexit impasse. but in the last few minutes the prime minister's 0fficial spokesman has reiterated that the uk will be leaving on the 29th march. let's go to westminster where i'm joined by our assistant political editor, norman smith.

crikey, norman, what is it, then? we definitely leaving or not on march the 29th? maybe we are leaving on march the 29th, maybe we are not. at least the foreign secretary seems to have opened up that possibility, saying that if the latest batch of negotiations go right up to the wire in late march, we might have to ask for a bit of extra time to get the crucial legislation through. why does this matter? well, because how often have we heard the prime minister say, we are leaving on march the 20 night, come what may, and if we are not sorted out, it is no deal. perhaps not, perhaps we might have to ask for a little more time. we heard from the leader of the house, andrea leadsom, last week, suggesting that we might have to ask for an extra couple of weeks. but what makes it fraught is not just because of the prime minister's previous words, but because of the fear that a couple of weeks could

stretch maybe into a couple of months, maybe into brexit delayed. have a listen to what the foreign secretary, when asked on the today programme if they could now be a technical delay. i think that depends on how long that process takes. i think it is true that if we ended up approving a deal in the days before the 29th of march, then we might need some extra time to pass critical legislation. but if we are able to make progress sooner, then that might not be necessary. we can't know at this stage which of those scenarios would happen. but your sense is that it might go right at the end of march? i think it's difficult to know, but what i would say is that whereas a week ago none of us knew whether this was going to be possible, we are now in a situation where it clearly is possible. there are lots and lots of hurdles, no one is saying that this isn't going to be challenging, but we do now have a consensus in parliament and we can use that. meanwhile, in a further sign of the

time pressure now on the government, the leader of the house, andrea leadsom, announced this morning that they can forget a holiday in february because their recess days have just gone up february because their recess days havejust gone up in february because their recess days have just gone up in smoke. they will have to stay here to try and get through the necessary legislation. this is her telling the house the bad news. mr speaker, the house will know that recess dates are always announced subject to the progress of business. in this unique session of parliament, and in light of the significant decisions taken by the house this week, it is only right that i give the house notice that there are currently no plans to bring forward a motion to agree dates for the february recess, and the house may therefore need to continue to sit to make progress on the key business before the house. i realise that this is short notice for colleagues and house staff, but i do think our constituents will expect that the house is able

to continue to make progress. so, calm and collected, not panicked by de laet? i don't think there will be any delay, the prime minister has led several times that we will be leading on the 29th of march. it is in the act that we have already passed, that you can delay the date bya passed, that you can delay the date by a little while. but that would mean that the eu doesn't really negotiate properly with the prime minister until right up to the deadline, and that would be very stupid of that eu, but then again the eu are often very stupid. negotiations can drag on, getting

legislation can drag on, it could go into months? that is no good at all. the only way you will get an agreement is if you have a deadline. if you push the deadline back, the eu will extend and extend. they have i'io eu will extend and extend. they have no incentive to do a deal other than to have a fixed time, and the 29th of march is clearly the deadline. if the eu isn't going to engage with the eu isn't going to engage with the prime minister, the prime minister has said what she wants and what the british parliament wants, and if they won't engage on that, then we will come out on a no—deal basis, no problem with that, and it will happen on the 29th of march, so it is in the eu's corner. lets talk backstop. are you convinced that the prime minister will not accept anything less than a renegotiation of the withdrawal treaty?” anything less than a renegotiation of the withdrawal treaty? i think thatis of the withdrawal treaty? i think that is right, because she has said she is going to have a legally binding text, so i'm not sure how she can do that without reopening the withdrawal agreement. that is absolutely what should happen. she

we nt absolutely what should happen. she went down to the biggest defeating commons history, so the original defeat clearly is not acceptable, andl defeat clearly is not acceptable, and i have to have fundamental change. says she comes back with a legal addendum or codicil on memorandum on the backstop, not good enough? it has to be the treaty being rewritten to take on board the concerns over the backstop? i'm not a lawyer, but the lawyers in the house say that unless the text of the withdrawal agreement is changed, that trumps anything else. so we just need to make sure whatever changes completely legally binding. given what you have heard from europe, then saying we are not going to look at reopening the withdrawal treaty, that means presumably no deal, then? if you took the eu at face value, that would be the case. but you have seen italy going to recession today, they want to trailers, and they want our £39

billion. so i expect they will agree a last minute. and of course the eu has form on this, it has so many times. so what is happening now and where we will be on the 29th of march is very difficult. how seriously do you another brexiteers ta ke seriously do you another brexiteers take the threat that if you play ha rd ball over take the threat that if you play hardball over the withdrawal agreement on the prime minister can't quite get that, you put brexit itself at risk? how far are you prepared to compromise? with all due respect, that is nonsense. you know andl respect, that is nonsense. you know and i know that there is an act of parliament that says we are coming out on the 29th of march. unless there is legislation to stop that, thatis there is legislation to stop that, that is what is going to happen. people saying brexit will be lost if we don't have a deal are completely wrong. of course it would be better to have a deal, and the prime minister has the backing of parliaments to get a deal. if the eu won't play ball, it will be the eu the stops the deal, not theresa may.

peter brown, thank you very much for your time. worth saying that number 10 has sought to play down the idea of this delay, and that we are still going to leave on march 29, at least thatis going to leave on march 29, at least that is the intention. it is all under control, thank you, norman. and coming up we'll be finding out how the fishing industry and farmers in europe are preparing for brexit. just a reminder. if you're finding any of the language around brexit confusing, you can use our online jargon busting guide to check the most used terms and phrases. all you need to do is go to bbc.co.uk/brexit or the bbc news app — and click on brexit jargon explained. and we're looking at the state of readiness for brexit all day here on the bbc news channel. later today at 3.30, we'll be putting your questions to our experts. get in touch using the hashtag #bbcaskthis. you can also text on 61124 and email askthis@bbc.co.uk 20,000 more staff, including, physiotherapists and paramedics,

will be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. the nhs says this will allow doctors to spend more time with the patients who need them most and increase the range of services at local surgeries. our health correspondent catherine burns explains. so we're going to do your blood pressure now... gps in england see a million people a day, but they have been warning for years that they need extra support, that they are dealing with more patients with ever more complicated health problems, and not enough doctors. it is estimated they are about 6,000 short. but now, nhs england has announced what it is calling an army of staff to help gp practices. it will be paid for as part of the £45 billion investment announced in the nhs longterm plan earlier this month. we're going to see see an opportunity for more physios, more pharmacists, more practice nurses, and that will in turn free

up gp time, so that they have more time to spend with the patients who need their care most. and there is genuine optimism over this. the royal college of gps says it hopes this means we will finally turn a corner towards making general practice sustainable. but there is a question, too, about where these 20,000 extra staff will come from, as many other parts of the nhs are also having problems hiring and keeping enough workers. catherine burns, bbc news. a coroner has ruled that inquests into the deaths of five people who died in the 1974 guildford pub bombings are to resume — more than 40 years after they were suspended. four soldiers and one civilian died when the ira blew up a pub they were in. duncan kennedy sent this update from woking. this all goes back to that night in

0ctober this all goes back to that night in october 1974 this all goes back to that night in 0ctober1974 when the ira did bomb two pubs in guildford, and in one of them, five people died, three men and two women, and an inquest was opened shortly after. but it was adjourned because of the criminal proceedings that then began. that in turn led to the conviction of those four people we now know to be called the guildford four, and after that, after they went to jail for life, the coroner said, there is no point in having another inquest, because all the facts came out at the criminal trial. but then fast—forward 15 years to 1989, and the guildford four had their convictions quashed because they are innocent. still there was no inquest, and 30 years later now, after pressures from the families of those who died, the surrey coroner here, richard travers, said he will finally after 45 years resume those inquests because it is in the public interest, and because the families of those bereaved people want it to happen. duncan kennedy.

asda has lost the latest round of a long—running legal battle with its staff over equal pay. the decision means that lower paid shop staff, who are mostly women, can compare themselves with higher paid warehouse workers, who are mostly men. giving judgment at the court of appeal, seniorjudges dismissed asda's appeal and ruled thousands of retail workers, mostly women, should be paid the same as those working in the supermarket‘s depots. mps say social media companies should be subject to a legal duty of care to protect the health and wellbeing of younger users of their sites. in a report, the commons science and technology committee calls for a regulator to oversee social media. the nspcc, which has been calling for the changes, has welcomed the report. investment in the uk car industry has fallen by nearly 80% in the past three years according to the society of motor manufacturers and traders. the group says that brexit uncertainty has put the sector on "red alert", but has also blamed uncertainty about diesel cars and falling sales in china. more on today's main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel,

but now we say goodbye at least seven people have died after a blast of polar air hit parts of the us and canada, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 40 celsius in some places. the authorities are warning people to stay indoors as much as possible, and not to breathe too deeply or talk whilst outside. efforts are also being made to bring homeless people off the streets. kim gittleson reports. eerie steam over lake michigan, and a wall of white in illinois. it is hard not to be cold just looking at the images out of the midwestern united states, where icy airfrom the north pole has led to the coldest weather in a generation, bringing life here to a standstill. the weather is frigid, blizzard—like. the wind is ridiculous. doesn't stop, you can't see anything. temperatures fell to —30 degrees celsius in chicago,

colder than parts of antarctica, and a state of emergency is in place in illinois, wisconsin, and michigan. authorities have warned that the extreme temperatures are life—threatening, and thatjust minutes outside can lead to significant frostbite. and, after utility companies made an appeal to conserve energy, general motors said it would suspend operations at 11 michigan plants. businesses, schools and government offices have been shut, flights grounded and travel disrupted. but it's not all misery. some use the extreme weather as an opportunity for experiments. yeah — stiff as a board, frozen shirt. and, at temperatures this cold, boiling water tossed into the air turns immediately to snow. although temperatures are expected to rise above freezing by the weekend, scientists have warned that climate change makes these extreme weather events likely to happen more often. kim gittleson, bbc news.

that water to snow trick is pretty cool that water to snow trick is pretty cool, isn't it? well, here, the uk has had its coldest night of the winter so far, with temperatures dropping to minus 14 celsius in aberdeenshire. yellow weather warnings are in place for snow, ice and fog with widespread travel disruption also expected. southeastern trains said 21 trains were being cancelled or altered and the rac has warned it's expecting at least five call—outs per minute. earlier i spoke to our weather presenter nick miller. if you want the decimal point, i can give you —14.4, and we have had the lowest points in all four english

—— gritty home nations. it has been extremely wintry, foggy, icy conditions, and there is worse on the way. there is snow on the way, we have a low pressure area coming m, we have a low pressure area coming in, bringing moisture into the cold air, it isjust in, bringing moisture into the cold air, it is just showing in, bringing moisture into the cold air, it isjust showing how in, bringing moisture into the cold air, it is just showing how cold it is in cornwall the moment, but that will turn across snow in parts of the southwest and into parts of wales in the midlands and on towards east anglia as we go through the night, so you can see the advance of this weather system here. conditions are certainly going to get worse from the south—west through this afternoon, and elsewhere as it pushes further north and east through this evening and overnight. an indication of some of these snow totals, the higher numbers you see tend to be on the higher ground, but there is now a met office amber warning that has been issued, that has been upgraded for the area you can see shady amber here, from

hampshire across large parts of south—west england with the exception of cornwall. there could bea exception of cornwall. there could be a very quick 3—7 centimetres of snow accumulating according to the met office in this warning area, so conditions deteriorate very quickly, and then more of southern england, the midlands, wales and east anglia will wake up to a covering of snow tomorrow morning, and we will know what sort of effect that can have. and in terms of the colder because, how long will it last? we are clearly in the grip of it at the moment, but after we cease all potentially snowy weather systems over the weekend, especially on sunday, something might start is snow before turning to rain, but next week looks like it will turn cold. nick miller talking to me earlier about the weather. an update on the headlines right now: the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, has said britain's withdrawal from the european union could be delayed if a brexit deal is not agreed until late march. 20,000 more staff, including, physiotherapists and paramedics, are to be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. temperatures in the uk reach minus 14 — making it the coldest night of winter so far —

with more snow is forecast today. let's catch up with the sport. good afternoon. let's start with rugby union, because eddiejones hasjust named his side to play ireland in their opening six nations match this weekend in dublin. and there's a first start in the competition in six years for this man — manu tuilagi. he'll play at outside centre in the absence of ben te'o who's injured. elliot daly will start at fullback, with mike brown left out of the matchday squad entirely. it's deadline day in england and scotland. the rumour mill in full flow as you'd expect. let's tell you about a couple of deals that we know are happening. marouane fellaini's on his way to china. he's leaving manchester united after nearly six years and willjoin shandong luneng in the chinese super league. there's also a return

to the premier league for this man. 38—year—old peter crouch is on his way back to the big time with burnley. sam vokes is going the other way to join stoke city. keep an eye on everything that's happening on the bbc sport website. arsenal have just confirmed the signing of denis suarez on loan from barcelona. that's bbc.coc.uk/sport. liverpool extended their lead at the top of the premier league table. but it could have been more after they were held to a 1—1 draw by leicester city. it was a cold night, snow on the pitch at anfield, sadio mane opened the scoring after a couple of minutes to give liverpool the perfect start. but england defender harry maguire levelled for leicester to mean that liverpool are five points clear. all last night's results are on the bbc sport website.

the leaders extended their advantage in the scottish premiership as well last night as celtic moved six points clear with a 2—0 win over stjohnstone. there were a couple of lovely goals for fans at celtic park to admire — the first came from callum mcgregor. before his fellow midfielder ryan christie impressed with a little bit of skill and a finish to match. away from football, it's a big day for this man, joe denly. he'll be making his test debut for england at the age of 32 in the second test against west indies later. he replaces keatonjennings who's been dropped after that heavy defeat in the first match. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. let's return now to brexit and retailers have warned that a no—deal brexit could result in empty shelves in stores and the possibility of higher food costs. earlier this week sainsbury‘s, asda and mcdonalds were among those who signed a letter from the british retail consortium, warning that stockpiling fresh food would be impossible. our business correspondent colletta smith is in a warehouse in trafford park in stretford

in greater manchester. yes, i'm here in this huge warehouse space, which is by and large empty at the moment, and the company that own it have taken on this space specifically with the knowledge that brexit was on the cards, and in the next couple of months they are expecting to see this place fault to the brim, and some of the stuff they have in here already, we have some gluten and starch piled high here, some of this has come from other warehouses which are full, so they are already seeing an overflow from other companies passing things on. i have a couple of destiny, sue richardson from kpmg. you are spending a lot of time talking to retailers, and increasingly you are filling your day with talking to them about brexit planning? definitely. we are really encouraging companies to do whatever they can to plan for a number of

different brexit scenarios, so making sure people are very clear on their full supply chain, where are their full supply chain, where are their products coming from and where are their suppliers getting their products from? so if you have uk suppliers, do they themselves are suppliers, do they themselves are suppliers coming from europe, which ports do your products come through? to make sure they understand where all the risks are. to make sure they understand where allthe risks are. foreign to make sure they understand where all the risks are. foreign currency is another potential issue. if we do see uncertainty in the markets over the coming months, we have seen a lot of people put hedging in place to try and mitigate that risk. and then there are simple steps as well, so then there are simple steps as well, so for many schools, the easter holidays begin on the ist of april, so we are holidays begin on the ist of april, so we are expecting lots of people to be an daniel levy, so businesses should think about who needs to be in their business immediately after the 29th of march. it is worth saying that, the 29th of march is a friday, so most companies will only face these issues first thing monday morning, they will come into the office and suddenly have to face a

different scenario. absolutely, so working out who needs to be around, making sure as well that you are engaging with all your workforce, particularly european workers so that they understand what is happening, and you are doing what you can to support them and retain them in the business, and that goes right the way through your business, thinking about cleaners, it support, management staff, staff in warehouses, making sure that is happening. thank you. the company here, they say they have had a real upsurge of interest from a lot of companies, and they are getting more and more e—mails each day, mostly in the last couple of weeks since theresa may lost the crucial vote in parliament from a lot of businesses saying, could i please have some of the space in here to put some of my goods? shane is here with us from the food storage and distribution federation. is that a familiar picture with a lot of companies now saying, please can i have some space ina saying, please can i have some space in a warehouse somewhere to make sure that i can keep fulfilling the

orders? absolutely. our experience in the food storage industry is that they have been inundated with demands ever since the second half of la st demands ever since the second half of last year, pretty much full from about september onwards, so if you are looking for storage space today, you are probably going to be disappointed. and those companies that are looking for that kind of space, are they feeling pressure, do you think, from bigger companies to make sure that the orders can still keep coming in once we get into april? where is the pressure coming from for them? the pressure is coming always, but that said, there isa limit coming always, but that said, there is a limit to how much we can store in our capacity is a limit to how much we can store in ourcapacity in is a limit to how much we can store in our capacity in the uk, so what we are really doing now is planning to cope with the shortages that will inevitably come rather than looking to avoid those shortages. so in terms of customers when they are looking in shops and supermarkets, you are saying there will be products missing? there will be products missing? there will be products missing? there will be products missing but not completely

empty shelves. a lot of people are thinking carefully about how we can maintain the shelves being fully even though they were necessarily have all the goods people would expect to see. thank you very much for joining expect to see. thank you very much forjoining us. hopefully some useful advice, some encouragement, evenif useful advice, some encouragement, even if you are just only starting to think about things, a couple of practical things to be doing, particularly thinking about who is on duty at the start of april, who needs to be in the office ready to deal with whatever the outcome might be. car thank you very much. the number of rough sleepers in england has fallen for the first time since 2010, according to official statistics. figures show thatjust over four and a half thousand people were sleeping outside on a single night, down 2% from 2017. earlier we spoke to our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan who explained the stats. a single night snapshot, they have a count of the number of people out on a particular night. a mixture of counting and estimates. essentially they have gone down by about 2% on last year,

that is the first fall since 2010, it is only a small fall, but certainly it will be welcomed by the government. the fall in the number has been driven by what has been happening in the rest of england as opposed to in london. in london the numbers have actually gone up by 13% this year, and in the rest of england they have gone down by 6%, so there is evidence that people are coming to the capital, and if you look at the detail, coming to cities as opposed to leaving some of the surrounding areas. you mention that this counting is done on a single night. how accurate is it because of that? there are complaints about it, and certainly the charities, a lot of homelessness charities and outreach teams involved amongst rough sleepers, they say they are inaccurate, doesn't matter, the numbers have consistently gone up since 2010, they are now 165% higher than in 2010, and every year the numbers go up, the charities say the numbers are inaccurate. so if you are in a rural

area, you might not be able to find people. there is an issue to do with tents, if you come across a tent but you can't engage with a person in the tent, sometimes a person is disqualified if they person counting is not sure if they are rough sleeping or maybe just out for some other reason. so there are criticisms of them, but these are official figures, they are the way they have been counted since 2010 which is why we can say that the numbers are much higher of rough sleepers since 2010, but also they have fallen slightly last year. i have just spotted in the detail 64% of these people were uk nationals. what is the government saying at the moment about what it is doing in terms of policy in this area? what they have been doing is for the past few months they have powered up this thing called the rough sleepers initiative, so in england they are spending tens of millions of pounds opening essentially in the short term some

hostels and shelters and things, hoping to move into some longer term strategies to try and deal with the overall problem. their goal is to eradicate rough sleeping by 2027. michael buchanan talking to annita a little earlier. now it's time for a look at the weather. we can get the latest from chris fawkes. hello there. there is a very high chance of seeing some transport disruption through this afternoon and evening in the south—west. this amber weather warning is in force for south wales, parts of the south—west and hampshire, but the snow will come down really heavily, and it will be quite difficult to keep some roads open. the m5 and the a38 looking vulnerable. this weather

front is going to weaken further to the east, and the amount of snow we see will vary significantly. either way, as we go through the rest of the afternoon and overnight, heavy snow and ice is likely to bring some transport disruption. away from the snowy south, some fog patches across parts of yorkshire will linger for most of the day, and overnight, a few wintry showers the northern and eastern scotland, north—east england, and with the temperatures plummeting once again, things will turn very icy again. hello, this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, has said britain's withdrawalfrom the european union could be delayed if a brexit deal is not agreed until late march. 20,000 more staff, including, physiotherapists and paramedics, are to be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. temperatures in the uk reach —14 —

making it the coldest night of winter so far — with more snow forecast today. meanwhile temperatures in the united states are again falling, with the prospect of a record low being recorded in the mid west overnight. the number of rough sleepers in england has fallen slightly for the first time in eight years. but in london numbers are up by 13%. and coming up in ask this at 3.30 — we'll take a look at the state of readiness for brexit and what preparations are being made both here and across europe. police could soon be able to impose curfews and limit the social media use of individuals, to crack down on knife crime. that's according to plans announced by the home secretary, sajid javid. knife crime prevention 0rders could be imposed on anyone over the age of 12 who police believe to be carrying a knife. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani has this report. police rushing to a young man's aid.

this was the scene in an ordinary north london street on tuesday. neither they nor paramedics could save 17—year—old nedim bilgin, stabbed to death in the street. and never came home. the eighth killing so far this year in london. detectives are interviewing teenaged suspects. and now, ministers are asking parliament to create a new power to take more knives off the streets. the proposed knife crime prevention orders would target suspects bases solely on detectives' suspicions that they're involved in knife crime. courts will be able to ban suspects from social media, used to whip up gang tensions. they'll be able to impose curfews and bar meetings with other suspects. and the suspect could be forced to sit anti—knife—crime courses to change their behaviour. the home secretary, sajid javid, meeting police in south london last night, said he has listened to their concerns. i want to make sure

that we are doing everything we can to stop some of this senseless violence that is taking place on our streets, traumatising so many communities, and ending too many young lives. and that means making sure, first of all, police have resources, and we're increasing that, making sure also they have the powers that they need, and this is a new power. this confrontation with a so—called zombie knife led to the attacker being jailed yesterday for 3.5 years, just one of the 40,000 knife crimes that led to a rise in violent crime last year. critics say that, if ministers really want to stop crimes like this, they need to go back to basics, and find the cash for more police on patrol. dominic casciani, bbc news. the bbc has been told about hundreds of cases of children with learning disabilities and autism being physically restrained, and sometimes injured in special schools. in the uk, there is no legal obligation to report restraint, or notify parents that it has been used, but some are calling on the government to change that

and be better at monitoring how the most vulnerable children are treated in the classroom. a warning, this report from jayne mccubbin contains images that some of you might find distressing. he was just a broken child. he was crying all the time with night terrors, panic attacks. we couldn't understand any more. no. deirdre and rodney tell me they couldn't figure out a change in their son's behaviour until they saw his school diary. his feet were tied, his waist was tied, there was a weight on there. all of these methods of restraint. harry has no mobility issues, but he has a learning disability and autism. he might drop to the floor or run when he doesn't want to do something, as he often did in school. but because he's totally, nonverbal he has few other ways to communicate. his parents say they knew a chair was being used for mealtimes, but not to this extent, or in this way. he was in a chairfor playing,

he was in a chairforfeeding, he was in a chairfor learning. it's very easy to put someone in a chair and strap them in to make life easier for the staff. maybe it wasn't a good thing for harry. social services referred this to police, writing to the family to say this could be classed as physical abuse. the school say they are unable to comment because of that investigation. we have been given information from hundreds of cases passed on to charities which are calling for action. photographs of the rooms where children are locked up. injuries after physical restraints. some say there is another way. very good. brilliant. mo is one of around 400 pupils here in one of england's biggest special schools. this used to be the room for seclusion. richard says it's a sensory room where shalia and jeremiah are catching fish. while we film, one girl bolts from a classroom. here they have a hands off approach.

it has cut restraint incidents by over 80%, and it's won the school awards. you have got rid of the isolation room, no kids are locked in. you don't strap children into chair, but there are situations where it is very difficult and maybe restrictive practices are needed? very occasionally. we are not dealing with naughty children, we are dealing with young people who are trying to communicate their needs, and it is understanding what their behaviour actually means and what it is saying. so they are not the problem. often as adults we are the problem. charities tell us their evidence is the tip of the iceberg, but there is no way of knowing for sure, because there is no legal obligation for schools to report incidents. the department for education in england told us there is no need for schools to report all restraints to parents or authorities but should consider if staff need training. scotland said restraint should be a last resort and should be carefully monitored.

in wales and northern ireland, schools are strongly advised to keep records. as for harry... he is back to himself, laughing and giggling, he loves socialising, being around other people, getting out in the car again. all of the things he had totally regressed from, he's doing again now. the chair isn't used at all? not at all, no, not at all. juan guido says he's had secret meetings with the military to win support for forcing president maduro from office. meanwhile in the capital caracas, the protests against the maduro government continue, as guillermo 0lmo reports. anger continues in venezuela. the suffering and shortages few discontent and demonstration. we do

not have any medicine and food, we are living in extreme poverty. we are living in extreme poverty. we are demanding that the state solves these problems. it is the latest attem pts these problems. it is the latest attempts called by the opposition leader, juan guido, to increase pressure in hopes of bringing about a political change. i am here because i am tired of being under a dictatorship. i am tired of not having food, water and public services. i have to walk everywhere because there is no public transport and that i know is parts to fix them. iam here and that i know is parts to fix them. i am here because i wantjuan guido for my president. but nicholas maduro insists he will remain in power and resist what he calls this attack. to achieve that goal on state tv he has asked the venezuelan people to pray for him. translation:

you can count on the always. people to pray for him. translation: you can count on the alwayslj people to pray for him. translation: you can count on the always. i asked that you prefer me. i ask that you give me your blessing for the future of venezuela. but as long as the crisis continues, the political situation will not effect. people are here protesting against the government. all of them have come down from surrounding lines and issue the same feeling, they want nicholas maduro out of power. —— mike they share the same feeling. nantes football club has paid an emotional tribute to their former striker emiliano sala, at the team's first game since he went missing in an aircraft over the english channel last week. fans were visibly upset, while argentine flags and ‘sala' scarves were waved in the stands. an underwater search for the plane that was carrying the footballer will take place later this week after cushions were found on a beach in france. it's two months to go until britain is due to leave the european union —

all today we are looking at the impact brexit could have on businesses and the economy on both sides. there have been warnings of empty shelves in supermarkets if britain leaves without a deal — but would that really happen? anna holligan reports now from the netherlands, which exports fruit and vegetables worth 1.2 billion euros to the uk every year. fresh dutch onions ordered this morning — they will be arriving in the uk tonight. birmingham, manchester, liverpool, bradford, derby — trucks are being loaded same day they'll reach the market. if that process is going to be impacted, it will mean that, one, the speed of which we can deliver goods is going to lower. we will not have access to markets. secondly, the freshness of the product and, in the end, of course, the price. the uk is the netherlands second—most important export market. dutch producers want to ensure brexit does not disrupt this just—in time supplying chain. an hour away, they want to keep the traffic moving as well.

they are looking at a green lanes concept, a digital pre—clearance system, suggested by dutch growers to fast—track perishable products at the ports which would in theory allow customs procedures to be conducted before the trucks enter the terminal and uk customs officials could check the lorries loads remotely before they disembark. green lanes or fast lanes would be a good idea in order to speed up the process. are you able to implement them now? no, not at the moment. to be honest with you, we will not be able to do that before the 29th of march when brexit may be in effect. we only have three in gates which we really need now for the number of units we deal with every day. they are in the process of building extra capacity here. pro—brexit politicians have said warnings of delays are exaggerated but, of course, you have to tackle any tariff avoidance

and maintain security. a spokesperson for the uk customs authority told the bbc... the existing customs free trade zone has essentially enabled the netherlands to act as the uk's back garden. the supply chain is so efficient that the retailers do not require high levels of stock. that's all been done here at source. the moment the retailers cannot have the product the same day or the next day they are required to have stocks. a number of british supermarkets have warned they do not have the capacity to stockpile fresh food. and these dutch vegetables will become even more vital in march when uk produce is out of season.

the eu believes the risk of the uk leaving without a brexit deal has increased in recent days. planning for that outcome is being stepped up, with the european commission publishing the last in its package of contingency measures. belgium is one of the countries that would be hardest hit if there's no deal. their fishermen are particularly at risk, because more than half of their catch comes from british waters. adam fleming reports from the belgian coast. back to its home port in belgium after nine days at sea, sea currently shared among eu countries. the crew have been catching gurner and cuttle fish off the coast of cornwall and east sussex, which means every single fish being unloaded now has been caught in british waters. proof of belgium's reliance on the uk's rich fishing grounds. if there's no deal, the eu has said things can stay broadly the same until the end of this year, if the uk promises the same, but no—one knows for sure and

the owner of this boat has nowhere else to go. the boat is too small to go to deeper water and also to go north. so i really do not know what i am going to do. if a no—deal brexit means karel and his crew cannot fish, brussels has said it will provide some compensation. at the daily auction in 0stend fish is bought and sold at the click of a button. the uncertainty is clear. if you are worried about a no—deal brexit — no deal — put your hands up. yeah, no deal. oh wow, nearly everyone. they are worried about the rules for their boats using british ports and if no deal means extra paperwork. there's also a big question for the belgian government. if a belgian fisherman catches a fish in uk waters, is it belgian or british?

if it is british, then in future it could be subject to more checks because it would count as an import from a non—eu country. the industry here says things would be clearer with a 21—month transition period that's in the brexit deal. there is not much you can be within the eu and certainly without fisheries representatives know about this. i understand that prime minister may is opening up negotiations again. the eu there was already a response that there is not a lot of room for manoeuvring. how this is going to end up, we don't know, i don't know. 0n the belgian coast, if you pardon the pun, they feel they're caught in the middle. adam fleming, bbc news, 0stend. the headlines on bbc news... the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, has said britain's withdrawalfrom the european union

could be delayed if a brexit deal is not agreed until late march. 20,000 more staff, including, physiotherapists and paramedics, are to be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. temperatures in the uk reach minus fourteen — making it the coldest night of winter so far — with more snow is forecast today. an 11 year old boy has become the first nhs patient to receive a pioneering new cancer treatment which uses the body's own cells to fight the disease. the patient, who has leukaemia, received his own immune cells at great 0rmond street hospital in london after they had been modified in a laboratory. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. yuvan from watford was diagnosed with leukaemia five years ago. but conventional treatments failed, so he has become the first nhs patient outside a clinical trial to have this personalised immunothera py. the cancer treatment is known as car—t therapy. first blood is taken

from the patient, and then immune cells known as t—cells are sent to a laboratory in the united states, where they are modified to detect and kill cancer cells. they are modified and infused back into the patient. doctors at great 0rmond street hospital say it is too early to know whether yuvan‘s treatment will work. his parents say it is their last hope. in a trial, half of patients with leukaemia who received car—t treatment were cancer—free after one year. this therapy cost nearly £300,000 a patient, but nhs england has agreed a lower, undisclosed price with the manufacturer. up to 30 children and young adults a year will be treated. a woman has told the victoria derbyshire programme that the kindness of a train driver who helped her when she intended to take her own life, saved her and helped her to turn her life around.

liv pontin is backing calls by the samaritans for anyone who suspects that someone is having a mental health crisis to step in and try to help. 0ur reporter andy smythe reunited liv with the train driver in this special report. i was in crisis that night but he was the one who saved my life. they kind of get forgotten about a little. he's such a good human. in march 2017 liv decided to take her own life butthe actions of train driver ashleigh john saved her. in all honesty, it is something i had been thinking about for quite a long time. because i ultimately lost work as a result of my mental health. i spent some time in hospital and came to the conclusion that i had no future because if i could not work then i was not useful. it was only ashley's second shift as a train driver. i was going through my normal

procedures, i had applied the brake and was slowing down to come into the platform at the time. in that instant, i saw a face appear and hit my horn quickly. that was probably hit me that i did not take that stop. got into the station and stopped as normal and obviously was a bit what it was going on. she was in total shock. i called, are you 0k. she turned around and we had a conversation. he was trying to find out what was going on and what i was trying to do. and why. he asked me a lot about my family and my dad and he told me he had a son and he was so calm and caring. that is the thing that makes the biggest difference, when you're with anyone in crisis. there were 249 suspected suicides on uk railways in the last recorded year.

the charity the samaritans says six times as many were stopped because of conversations with concerned strangers. 18 months on, liv and ashley are reunited. liv, how are you? yes, how are you? how have you been? yeah. good. every time i go into that station i looked out for you in a positive way. i was in crisis, you see someone at the worst point their life, you don't know anything about that person. you are seeing all of you almost. then you never see them again normally. it was lovely to see you again. thanks.

i am so glad you have got somewhere to go. thank you, you really helped. liv is now working with police forces to improve mental health training for their officers. you can see the film in full on the bbc news website at bbc.co.uk foreward slash victoria. two—time 0lympian snowboarder charlotte bankes came close to quitting the sport last year after a car crash which left her with a fractured pelvis. despite being born in britain she's been competing for france, where she's lived since the age of four. now though, she's decided to represent gb. nick hope has been finding out why. i was born in the uk, my parents are british. the whole family moved to france when i was four because we love this is a stunning backdrop here in the french alps. what was it like growing up, it must have been amazing? yeah, it was amazing. we did not spend much time inside. i was trying to follow my brothers

and keep up with them. her older brothers both raced internationally but it was charlotte who would reach the olympics and four years after her debut she entered pyeonchang as a medal contender. she takes advantage. she was left injured and left frustrated after a crash but also by the french team who had been unable to help her recover from a serious injury. i broke my pelvis and since then i have been impedance struggling with that. we have not found a solution in france. i was thinking would i continue snowboarding orjust give up. then it was like if i wanted to continue, i could not continue with the french. how difficult was it to break the news to the french team that you want to switch to gb?

i don't think at the start they believed it was going to happen. thet said, we cant do this on the sport in the time when i was thinking should i stop or what, i did not have much support so i thought afterwards, it is too late. her full—time switch to gb was confirmed in november and she has been near pain—free after intense rehabilitation. decisions that have been made ub the team so that i will perform and since i broke my hip i have never been able to train like this and i am really enjoying it. the southern alps make for a stunning setting and provide perfect situation for her training but this week that training is over as she has for the us for the freestyle championships where she will make her debut for great britain. i'm looking forward to it, it will be a good event and actually having fun again snowboarding.

i am not looking at one year but i am looking much further ahead with the goal of the olympics. more than 2,000 dehydrated and orphaned flamingo chicks have been rescued from a drought—stricken dam in south africa. kamfers dam is one of the only flamingo breeding grounds in southern africa but often becomes dry due to poor rainfall. conservationists say poor infrastructure often makes the problem worse. kathryn armstrong reports. dinner time for this flamingo chick, farfrom home. dinner time for this flamingo chick, far from home. on dinner time for this flamingo chick, farfrom home. on the menu is a liquid concoction of eggs serial and prawns. it is one of hundreds of the beef is rescued from certain death after being abandoned by their pa rents. after being abandoned by their parents. just outside the northern cape city of kim —— camilla is one of the few thumbing sanctuaries in africa but the area is experiencing a date. hundreds of chicks have been taken to a sanctuary in cape town where they will spend some months in care. most of the parts arrived very dehydrated so they are very small. in the wild, their parents would

feed them every two hours, very regularly. they would receive water from their parents. they get transported in boxes, put on a plane and year so it has been a few hours since they got water. a tough start to life but it is hoped all the birds will make it to adulthood. as for the future, it is not clear whether the flamingos will be released back into the wild in cape town or ticking back to their natural home. —— taken back. in a moment it's time for the one o'clock news but first it's time for a look at the weather. hello there, we are looking at disruption for the uk. this weather front for blended snow, rain or turn to snow and the

snow, rain or turn to snow and the snow will come down heavily, especially a crossed south—west england and parts of southern wales. the net of his/her issue this amber warning. five to ten centimetres of snow is expected, coming down quickly for these areas which brings the risk of significant transport disruption. the m5 looks vulnerable. greeters might struggle to keep it open. further southwards and eastwards, the weather front gets wea ker eastwards, the weather front gets weaker which gives us quite a variable amount of snow we could see. some places don't see too much and other places quite a bit. as we go through thursday and into friday it looks like we will see transport disruption a debate from the combination of heavy snow and also ice. away from the summary says, those innate into friday morning, we are looking at when she showers affecting scotland and north—east

england. these will bring ac conditions and it will be another very cold night with a widespread and sharp. full into friday, a little bit of snow still around in the south. the risk of disruption here, also went to chavez for northern and eastern scotland along with eastern england where we could see accumulated snow into yorkshire and lincolnshire. 0therwise some spells of sunshine but steam cold, temperatures around three or four celsius. —— but remaining cold. the threat of wintry showers for the weekend, i cold, frosty, locally ac start to the day but most are visible have sunshine and temperatures around or five celsius. the second half of the weekend could see some further problems, another area of low pressure moves on from the atlantic bringing snow, especially to hills in the north.

that show weather. —— that is your weather. the foreign secretary says britain's departure date from the eu could be delayed if a deal is only struck at the last minute. downing street insisted the government was committed to leaving the eu on march 29th, butjeremy hunt said that could slip. if we ended up approving a deal in the days before the 29th of march, then we might need some extra time to pass critical legislation. car manufacturers have blamed uncertainty over brexit for a dramatic slump in investment and production in the uk. as the prime minister continues to hold talks to try to secure backing for her brexit strategy, we'll bring you all the latest. also this lunchtime: brutal cold in the us, with temperatures lower than in antarctica. at least 12 people have died. a drop in the number of rough sleepers in england,

but london sees a 13% rise.