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. and reunited — liv pontin meets the train driver who saved her life. and coming up on bbc news:

it's transfer deadline day, and marouane fellaini's on his way to china from manchester united in one of the biggest deals of the day so far. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the foreign secretary says that the uk may need to delay its exit from the european union if an agreement is only reached in the final days. jeremy hunt said "extra time" might be needed, meaning an extension to the deadline of march 29th, depending on how much progress is made in the coming weeks. number ten has insisted that the government is committed to brexit in two months‘ time. here's our political correspondent, iain watson. the uk is due to leave the european

union two months from now on time again, the prime minister has said the departure date is march the 29th. today, one other cabinet minister suggested there could be some flexibility. 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, that might not been necessary. report from the independent institute for government, a think tank linked to the civil suggested the uk isn't ready to leave the eu at the end of march unless there is at the end of march unless there is a deal. you heard from jeremy hunt this morning that getting a deal signed in brussels is one part of the challenge, and the next part will be getting mps to back it, but after that you still have to pass

legislation. that's why they could be the need for an extension even if things go to plan in two weeks' time for the government. but mps will be working hard to try to meet the agreed eu exit date and we are told today their february half term break could be cancelled. it is only right idid could be cancelled. it is only right i did notice that there are currently no plans to put forward a motion to agree dates for the february recess. the government still things it can get a deal by replacing the northern ireland backstop t0 replace a hard border with alternative arrangements. sunset clause, an agreed date when the backstop would expire, or technological solutions. the slight flaw in all of this is that brussels has already rejected time limits to the backstop, or a unilateral uk exit, and the prime minister herself has previously given short shrift to

yet to be invented technological solutions. today, senior mps have beenin solutions. today, senior mps have been in downing street to discuss exactly what to say to brussels on the backstop, but the leader of the opposition believes all of this is rather late. i asked the prime minister about this yesterday and she was incredibly vague, both in the commons and the meeting i had with her later on, and it's possible there would have to be an extension in order to get an agreement, because we cannot leave the eu on march 20 knife without an agreement. frosty relations between the government and opposition and between britain and brussels may have to thaw if the uk is to get a sustainable deal. our assistant political editor, norman smith, is in westminster. just how risky would it be for theresa may to delay brexit? potentially hugely risky, because although downing street are now saying, we hope to leave on march 29

and, if there was any delay, it would be for a short period to get legislation through, i think many people will think, in an a second, how many times have we heard government ministers saying we are leaving on march the 29th? one tory mp says that mrs may said no fewer than 67 times in the commons we are leaving on march 29. many people would think this looks like a double backward somersault by the prime minister. the risk is any short delay could morph into a long delay, because getting legislation through can be hugely tricky, providing all sorts of opportunities for your political opponents to play jiggery—pokery and political opponents to play jiggery-pokery and delay and political opponents to play jiggery—pokery and delay and small things up and, if it got delayed longer than a couple of weeks, there would be fewer readers on the tory backbenches. lastly, if there is to be delay, we have to ask the eu if they will allow us to delay, and they will allow us to delay, and they may say, well, we can cut you a

bit more time, but there will be a price to pay, and who knows what that might be? they might say, we'd rather like you to greet our withdrawal agreement that pesky backstop. so delay is not an easy option. —— we'd rather like you to agree to our withdrawal agreement. businesses on both sides of the channel have concerns about what a no—deal brexit may mean for their industries. adam fleming has been speaking to fishermen in belgium, who rely on british waters for more than half of their catch. back to its home port in belgium after nine days at sea, sea currently shared among eu countries. the crew have been catching gurnard and cuttlefish 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 is 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 has nowhere else to go. the boat is too small to go to deeper water. and also to go to the north waters. so i really don't know what i'm going to do. if a no—deal brexit means karel and his crew can't fish, brussels has said it will provide some compensation. at the daily auction in ostend, 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, wow. nearly everyone. they are worried about the rules for their boats using british ports, and if no deal means extra paperwork. there is 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's british, then in future it could be subject to more checks, because it will count as an import from a non—eu country. the industry here says things would be clearer with the 2i—month transition period that is in the brexit deal. there is not much you can do within the eu and certainly not as fisheries representatives about this, so i understand that prime minister may is now going to open up negotiations again, and that in the eu there were a lot of responses about there is not a lot of room for manoeuvring. so how this is going to end up, we don't know, i don't know. on the belgian coast, if you pardon the pun, they feel they're caught in the middle. adam fleming, bbc news, ostend. new figures suggest investment in the uk car industry has fallen nearly 80% in the past three years. the society of motor manufacturers and traders said brexit uncertainty

had put the industry on red alert. simonjack is in our business unit. these look like alarming figures. yes, investment in the car industry is pretty lumpy at the best of times, as new models come in and old ones are retired, but even allowing for that, these figures look stark will stop in 2015, the industry invested £2. 5 will stop in 2015, the industry invested £2.5 billion in the uk, and that's fallen every year, and last year it was 585 million, a fall of 80%. it's been a tough period for the car industry, not all brexit related. we've had a fall in china sales, new regulations have held up production, but the industry itself is clear that brexit is the biggest threat to the competitiveness of the uk car market in a generation, and

they are obviously super—sensitive to these supply chains, these finely tuned pan—european supply chains, and any hold—up, even a component arriving at a production line, can stop production lines in total. we have seen thousands ofjob losses already, and many people are saying that the lack of investment means that the lack of investment means that investment today is about the jobs of the future, and a fall in investment now means fewerjobs looking forward. if you're finding any of the language around brexit confusing, then you can use our jargon—busting guide. it's on our website — bbc.co.uk/brexit — and also on the bbc news app. at least 12 people have died in the united states as a result of some of the coldest temperatures in the country for a generation. in chicago, record lows are expected as a result of the bitter cold caused by airfrom the north pole. several states have declared a state of emergency, with many schools, colleges and businesses closed. chris buckler sent this report.

it is minus 27, 28 celsius as i speak to you at the moment. it has been dropping. we are expecting it to get to about minus 30 celsius. but here in the windy city, there are warnings about wind—chill that is making it feel even colder, and in some parts of the midwest, it has already felt below minus 50 celsius. now, there is snow and there is ice, and as you just mentioned there, if you take a look behind me, you will see that the river is completely frozen over. here in chicago, it is so incredibly cold. the only way to describe it really is it is painfully cold. my face, my ears, my fingers are very, very cold, despite the fact that we are taking precautions. and of course, that's one of the big concerns for people. there are people who are homeless, they have been taken to warming centres in some cases just to try and keep them warm tonight. but this is dangerously cold, and already there have

been some people killed. in traffic accidents because of the ice and snow, but also from just being exposed to this cold. it is so cold at the moment but meteorologists will tell you thatjust ten minutes standing in this kind of temperature can give you frostbite, and already apparently people have gone to the hospital because of that problem. and i will say that we have shelter just beside us here, we are at a hotel where we can get heat and we can get warmth, we are not too far away, and we are also wearing plenty of equipment. but that is the worry, that people are going to go out into this, and i have to say, here in chicago, people in my opinion have been sticking to that. as we were driving into chicago this evening, the roads extremely quiet. as i talk to you now, around me, very, very quiet streets, people are staying off the roads. and it is, very simply, a once—in—a—generation kind of cold, this. there are chances that this could become a record for chicago tonight.

they think it's probably going to be a couple of degrees off the record for all—time cold. but there are also people who are frankly enjoying it. you've probably already seen that there are people who have been using water pistols, putting hot water into water pistols and then firing it, and it immediately freezes as you hit the cold air. i have got myself a thermos mug here, and this will give you an idea of how cold it is. if ijust unscrew this and i throw this in towards the water, you will see it immediately goes into steam and ice, and thatjust gives you an idea of how painfully cold it is at the moment, but very simply, people have been advised whenever they can to stay in and to stay out of this kind of cold. chris buckler reporting from chicago. demarco morgan is in minnesota for us. how are people coping? they are trying to do the best they

can. it is actually freezing out there. chris just talked about how dangerously cold it is. when you factor in the wind—chill, —50 degrees below temperature, so that is enough again, according to the national weather service, if you are out here for ten you can get frostbite. we have talked to a number of people who have been impacted. it is pretty much at a standstill, people are pretty much paralysed, not going anywhere for the a lot of people are heeding the warnings and staying inside. the frostbite count is significantly down from 2014, when close to 200 people suffered from frostbite, and they are trying to take it slow, but everything has been impacted, and also in the windy city, where chris is, and across the midwest. when you talk about school closures and air travel, and utility companies, which are asking people to dial back on using natural gas in their homes, on

the coldest days perhaps of the year. it's having a huge impact on people but, for the people living in this area that are used to these cold temperatures, at the end of the day, this is extremely dangerous, and it has proved to be deadly. we had a chance to ride around with some local police officers in minnesota, and we pulled up by a homeless man by the name of sunny, and he didn't have anywhere to go, but he didn't want to leave. he had layers of blankets to cover them up, but it took police officers to coax him into the ambulance, get in the ambulance, it's dangerous, and eventually he did the right thing and went inside. we can't stress it enough, for people in this area, if you have loved ones in the midwest, tell them to stay inside until it warms up. tell them to stay inside until it warms up. a good morning. a severe weather warning has been issued for this afternoon as heavy snow is expected in parts of the uk. the amber alert, issued

by the met office, covers parts of the south west of england and south wales. it means there is likely to be transport disruption and power cuts are also possible. there will be much more on this in weather at the end of this bulletin. our top story this lunchtime: the foreign secretary says britain's departure date from the eu could be delayed — if a deal is only struck at the last minute. and coming up — we hearfrom olympic cyclist chris boa rdman, following the death of his mother by a driver who's beenjailed for careless driving. coming up on bbc news: there'll be a first six nations start in six years for manu tuilagi when england play ireland in their opening match of the tournament in dublin this weekend. 18 months ago liv pontin was in such despair that she attempted to end her own life by throwing herself under a train. she was saved by the driver of that

train — ashleyjohn — and has gone on to rebuild her life. in the last recorded year, there were 249 suspected suicides on uk railways — and it's thought that six times as many were prevented because of help from concerned strangers. liv and ashley were reunited recently — and our correspondent andy smythe was there to see them. i was in crisis that night, but he was the one who saved somebody‘s life, and they kind of get forgotten a little bit — but he's such a good human. in march 2017, liv pontin decided to take her own life. but the actions of train driver ashleyjohn saved her. in all honesty it had been something i'd been thinking about for quite a long time, because i ultimately lost work as a result of my mental health and spent some time in hospital, and i came to the conclusion that i had no future, because if i couldn't work then

i wasn't useful. it was only ashley's second shift as a train driver. i was going through my normal procedures. i'd applied the brake, i was slowing my train down to come into the platform at the right speed. literally in an instant i saw a face appear, hit my horn quickly. train horn blares. and i think that was probably what hit my brain enough that i didn't take that step. i pulled into the station, i stopped as normal and obviously was a bit worried what was going on. she was in total shock. i called after her, "are you 0k?" she turned around and we started having a conversation. he was trying to find out a bit about what was going on, about 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. he was so calm and he was just so caring. that's 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, but charity the samaritans says six times as many were stopped because of conversations with concerned strangers. 18 months on, liv and ashley are reuniting. liv, are you 0k? yeah, i'm all right, thank you. how are you? how are you, are you 0k? yeah. how have you been? yeah, yeah, very good at the moment. good. every time i go into that station i do look out for you, in a positive way, i do look out for you. well, i was in crisis. like, you see somebody at the worst point of your life and you don't know anything about each other, but theyjust happen to be seeing the most private and personal things in your head. seeing all of you, almost. then you never see

them again, normally. it was lovely to meet you. both my legs have gone all stiff. i'm so glad that you've... thank you. that you've got somewhere. it did really, really help. liv‘s now working with police forces to improve mental health training for their officers. andy smythe, bbc news. the scottish government is struggling to pass its budget the number of rough sleepers in england has fallen for the first time in nearly a decade, according to the latest figures. just over 4,500 people were sleeping outside on a single night last year — slightly less than in 2017. but in london, numbers went up by 13%. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. when you're homeless, you rest where you can, hoping for sleep. at this shopping centre in east london, dozens of people bed down each night. their reasons vary. they may have mental health problems, addictions, or have travelled here in search of work. in michael's case, he'd run out of money. on the benefit that i'm on, i couldn't afford my flat.

as i said earlier, i got a £400 water bill. that's without my gas, electric. i just couldn't afford it. rough sleeping continues to rise in london, but has fallen overall in england. today's figures show there were 4,677 people sleeping rough on a single night in 2018. that's 2% down on last year, but since 2010, the number of rough sleepers is up by 165%. we need to make rough sleeping a thing of the past, and whilst these figures today underline some progress, and it's important to know that, i know that there is a lot more work that we need to do, and that's what i'm determined to lead. today's figures are a snapshot of one night, a mixture of counting and estimates, but rough sleeping sites like this one can be hard to find. here in east staffordshire, john anderson and his team counted 41 rough sleepers last year. today's official figures, however, say there are just 11 in the area. we know who is on the street.

our local council knows pretty well who is on the street. and to come up with an accurate count just seems a complete pointless waste of time and probably an expensive waste of time as well. this costs money that could be put to the cause of helping those homeless people. this used to be something different, then, didn't it? yeah, it was a children's home. in greater manchester, they've been opening hostels in shelters since november, part of mayor andy burnham's a bed every night initiative. more than 1,200 people have been helped so far, over 300 of whom have moved into permanent accommodation. today's figures show rough sleeping is up in the city of manchester, but down by almost 20% across the region. we're seeing high demand. you know, i could probably fill this twice. and basically, we do need more provision in manchester, and we are actively working with the council to look for more provision. the government says they want to end rough sleeping in england by 2027, and have committed £100 million

to that goal. labour have described today's figures as desperately disappointing. michael buchanan, bbc news. the scottish government is struggling to pass its budget for the coming year. the scottish national party needs the support of another party in the scottish parliament. in previous years they've been able to rely on the sottish greens, but the smaller party's backing this year is proving harder to get. our correspondent lorna gordon is in holyrood. just how unusual is this? well, it's not unique, but it is certainly unusual. the last time this happened was a decade ago, back in 2009, when the snp, a minority government then, failed to get its budget through and that then first minister alex salmond threatened to call an election unless the deadlock was broken. again, it's a minority snp government, so again, it's reliant

on at least one of the party here at holyrood to back its budget. the labour, the conservatives, liberal democrats, have all said they'll vote against the budget, so it comes down to the greens, who want millions more for councils. scotland's finance secretary derek mackay has said he's open to compromise to get the budget passed. he's also said the ongoing uncertainty, in his words, caused by brexit meant, that there has never been more need for msp ayes of all parties to act responsibly and not add to that uncertainty. talks have been ongoing all week the language has changed a little, i think. i think the talks look like they are coming toa think the talks look like they are coming to a deal with the first minister nicola sturgeon at first ministers questions a little earlier saying that work continues perhaps in areas of concessions, perhaps in areas like more money for councils and reform of local taxation. areas like more money for councils and reform of localtaxation. 0k, lorna, many thanks. the inquests into the deaths of five people who died in the guildford pub bombings 45 years ago are to resume.

three men and two women died in october 1974 when the ira blew up a pub in guildford. four people accused of carrying out the attacks had their convictions quashed and were released after serving 15 years in jail. violence and self—harm in prisons are "unacceptably high", thejustice secretary has admitted, after figures showed a 20% rise in the number of assaults in the year to last september, compared with the previous year. david gauke said the statistics for england and wales were "disturbing", with over 33,000 incidents. labour says staff and budget cuts are to blame. the government wants to give new powers to police and courts to tackle knife crime in england and wales. under the proposed knife crime prevention orders, suspects as young as 12 could be monitored and restrictions imposed on their movements, whom they associate with, and their use of social media. breaching an order would carry a jail term of up to two years. 20,000 more staff, including physiotherapists and paramedics, are to 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 sickest patients and to increase the range of services at local surgeries. gp leaders have welcomed the move, but warned extra doctors were also needed. an 11—year—old boy has become the first nhs patient to receive a pioneering cancer treatment. the technique uses the body's own cells to fight the disease. the boy has leukaemia, and he received his own immune cells at great ormond street hospital in london after they had been modified in a laboratory. our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. yuvan from watford was diagnosed with leukaemia five years ago. but conventional treatments failed, so he's 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're multiplied and infused back into the patient. doctors at great ormond street hospital say it's too early to know whether yuvan‘s treatment will work. his parents say it's their last hope. in a trial, half of patients with reistent leukaemia who received the treatment were cancer—free after one year. this car—t therapy costs 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. fergus walsh, bbc news. a driver who killed the mother of olympic cyclist chris boardman has been jailed for 30 weeks at mold crown court. 33—year—old liam rosney admitted causing the death of carol boardman, who was 75. jon donnison has been speaking to chris. just like her famous son, carol boardman, seen here out for a ride with two of her grandkids, loved her bike,

but the 75—year—old fell off on this roundabout in connah's quay in north wales injuly 2016. as she lay on the road she was run over by a pick—up truck. today, the driver, liam rosney, arrived at mold crown court to learn his fate, having eventually pleaded guilty to death by careless driving. the court was told he'd been on his phone shortly before the collision and had been distracted. he was jailed for 30 weeks. chris boardman, who now campaigns on cycling safety issues, told me the laws need to be toughened. we don't treat crime committed in cars as serious crime, so somebody can be careless and crushed somebody else to death and it's classed as careless. i actually don't want to see lots of people going to prison. i think i'd like to see a lot more people having the ability to do harm taken away. throughout chris boa rdman‘s career his mother, once a competitive cyclist herself, had been by his side.

asked to provide a victim impact statement for the court, chris boardman said he'd struggled to find the words. how do are you actually put something into a few paragraphs that sums up somebody‘s life, somebody who took you swimming on the beach, took you out on a bike, had grandchildren, and it's just gone. and he says it's his dad who's been hit hardest. he's lost his partner of 50 years, which has just been absolutely gutting to watch, and we just carried on and then, when you turn around and see that's considered to be careless and just a shame, it'sjust, i don't think that's a place where anybody really wants to live. the former olympic champion says his mother's death has only strengthened his resolve to get more people cycling safety. jon donnison, bbc news. time for a look at the weather.

here's chris fawkes. we've seen brutal temperatures in the us but we've had our coldest temperature of the winter this morning, haven't we? the lowest temperature was in braemar, —14.4 degrees celsius, but if we compare that to the uk record temperature, that is set into the upper —20s, —27 or 28 degrees. compare that to north america, we've got temperatures i've seen in manitoba in the last 24 hours that have got down to —46 celsius, we're talking about record—breaking cold, significant wind—chill, so conditions very, very dangerous out there. the coldest weather seen across north america for decades. what have we got installed here? the cold weather is part of the story, we've had the