this is bbc news. i'm ben brown, live in wiltshire. i'm by the m4 motorway at chippenham in wiltshire, where heavy snow is still falling. snow has swept across south wales and southern england, leaving motorists stranded and causing travel disruption. more than a hundred people sought refuge for the night at a pub on bodmin moor in cornwall after their cars got stuck on the a30. around 400 students were also stranded at callywith college in bodmin where they were forced to spend the night. we slid into the back of someone on the way back and deemed it too dangerous to travel home, so we pulled in at a petrol station, and we called our parents and walked back to the school. there are yellow warnings for snow and ice, lasting until this afternoon, covering southern, eastern and north—eastern england,

parts of wales and scotland. the other main stories on bbc news. police appeal for a mother to come forward after a baby girl was found abandoned in a park in east london. tsb records losses of over £100 million as it counts the cost of last year's it meltdown, which caused chaos for thousands of customers. and saving the snow leopard — the conservationists‘ fight to keep the animal from extinction. good morning and welcome to bbc news live from chippenham in wiltshire. we are right next to the m4

motorway, you can see the snow continuing to fall really heavily right now. there are yellow and amber warnings right now. there are yellow and amberwarnings in right now. there are yellow and amber warnings in place right across the country. on the ma, we have just driven along here, pretty treacherous conditions in parts, one lane pretty much unusable as well, and wejust lane pretty much unusable as well, and we just parked our car lane pretty much unusable as well, and wejust parked our car and got stuck in a lay—by, the snow is very heavy now. it is treacherous, according to the motoring organisations and the met office. many schools around the country are closed as well, there has been serious disruption, particularly in cornwall overnight, where about 100 people had been trapped in their vehicles on the a30 at bodmin and had to spend the night in a pub, the jamaica inn. let's just had to spend the night in a pub, the jamaica inn. let'sjust talk had to spend the night in a pub, the jamaica inn. let's just talk you through the warnings that are in place, because just to the east of where i am, along the m4 corridor,

there is an amber alert in place until 11 o'clock this morning, meaning there is a potential risk to life and property. that is in areas including reading and oxford, berkshire, buckinghamshire, 0xford, hampshire all included in that amber warning. and then there are lesser yellow warnings in place for snow and ice in large parts of the united kingdom. as i said, the south—west of england has been the worst affected overnight, some 12 centimetres of snow falling in cornwall. in london, reduced services on southeastern trains. a number of short—haul flights have been cancelled at heathrow airport, bournemouth and bristol also facing disruption this morning. let's get this report from the day's event so far as the snow continues to fall, here is kathryn stanczyszyn. it might mean a snow day for some, but for these motorists the winter snap meant being stranded in subzero temperatures for up to ten hours. more than 100 vehicles were caught

up in heavy snowfall on the a30 on bodmin moor in cornwall. emergency services said they made intensive efforts to get people out but conditions were tricky. paula martin was on her way back home from a business meeting when herjourney stopped abruptly. from getting stuck at four o'clock this afternoon, it's now 1:24 in the morning. we haven't seen any gritters, we haven't seen any snowploughs. the traffic was blocking all of the lanes, and there were abandoned cars and people leaving their cars. but where there's a problem, there's always some helpers. the famous jamaica inn opened its doors to those in need of shelter, making up beds in the restaurant and bar when the rooms were all taken, and providing hospitality for more than 100 walk—ins. and 400 students at callywith college in bodmin had to make it their home for the night because the roads were so treacherous. we left, obviously, when the snow picked up. and it obviously got quite bad quite quick. and we slid into the back of someone on the way back and deemed it too dangerous to travel home.

so we pulled into a petrol station, and we called our parents and walked back to the school. many people across the south and west of england and in wales are waking up to a blanket of white. rail companies are warning commuters that friday morning could be a struggle, with many networks operating reduced services. the forecast is for things to improve from lunchtime, although some parts of the uk will see wintry showers into the weekend. well, there have been lots of stories of heroism, as people have coped with the snow throughout the night, and quite a lot of students at callywith college in cornwall had to spend the night there, about 400 students, because they simply got stranded. let's talk to mark wardle, the principle of the college, tell

us, thank you forjoining us, what happened overnight? yesterday afternoon, about 3:15pm, the snow came down really rapidly, and by 3:30pm the campus was completely covered. we did everything we could to get the 14 buses back into the college, but many struggled to get here, and when we did get the buses here, and when we did get the buses here, they felt it was not safe to leave because where they were having to get the students back to. many stu d e nts to get the students back to. many students live in rural, isolated places, and it would have been too treacherous to try to get them home last night. and what was the spirit amongst the students? was there camaraderie there? oh, yeah, we have a fantastic community spirit, the stu d e nts a fantastic community spirit, the students have taken it in a stride and enjoyed what is probably a one—off experience in their life, staying overnight in their college, spending all our time with their couege spending all our time with their college friends, and they have done

fa ntastically well, college friends, and they have done fantastically well, everyone has marketing, teachers have been cooking dinner and breakfast, and we are delighted to have support from asda, who provided nearly £800 worth of bedding and blankets and pillows so of bedding and blankets and pillows so that we could create is cosy an environment as possible for the stu d e nts to environment as possible for the students to try and get a good night's sleep. and you had donations, i think, night's sleep. and you had donations, ithink, of food night's sleep. and you had donations, i think, of food as well? 0ur catering company opened the fridges and freezers for us so we could make all of the food that stu d e nts could make all of the food that students needed to keep them happy, so students needed to keep them happy, so teachers cooked their dinner last night there is an ongoing breakfast puffy this morning, and hopefully we can all get them home soon. mark, thank you very much for being with us, the principle of the college in cornwall where some 400 students had to do what was effectively a mass sleepover, i suppose, to do what was effectively a mass sleepover, isuppose, at to do what was effectively a mass sleepover, i suppose, at the college. add talk about conditions

on the m4 motorway, kevin andrews is from the rac, pretty treacherous, what is your advice to motorists?“ you have to go out, take extreme care, take everything gentle with the brakes and throttle, the road is very treacherous indeed. my advice is to stay at home, it is not worth it. if you have to go out, please ta ke it. if you have to go out, please take extra care, take two extra coats, one you can put on, what you can sit on by the side of the motorway. make sure the car is prepared, good quality screen wash, water just freezes, no prepared, good quality screen wash, waterjust freezes, no good at all. make sure there is no snow on the car, particularly the windscreen and wiper area, because that can clog up and cause endless problems. notjust for the day but for the future.“ the worst happens and you are stuck in the snow, what do you do? there's not lot anyone can do, other than a helicopter, to get you out! be

prepared, make sure your phone is charged, extra warm clothes, put some extra food in the car, just think — what would you do, what would you need ? think — what would you do, what would you need? at the roads you have been looking out around here, there is traffic moving on the m4, but as we can see, a couple of the lines effectively closed by the snow. this is the m4, and this is really suffering, the main roads are suffering, the snow building up on the road behind us now, it is going to get worse as the day goes on. just be prepared. what about the gritters? have they been out on the smaller roads? personally, i haven't seen smaller roads? personally, i haven't seen one as smaller roads? personally, i haven't seen one as yet, but i see evidence that they have been out because obviously some of the roads are fairly clear. they have been out, but i haven't seen them. it is the smaller roads that will be really treacherous compared to the motorways. exactly, yes, this is kept motorways. exactly, yes, this is ke pt clea n motorways. exactly, yes, this is kept clean as best it can. and it is

still suffering. so imagine what the side roads are like. a real warning to drivers — if you can come and stay at home. put your feet up, watch tv. watch the news channel! kevin andrews from the rac, thank you very much indeed. 0ne kevin andrews from the rac, thank you very much indeed. one person who made an epic drive all the way from cornwall to bournemouth through the night was matt, we can hear his story now. we are on the a30 at the moment, just outside of bodmin. we have been in the carsince just outside of bodmin. we have been in the car since about 4pm when we left redruth, so we have gone about 30 miles in, what, about nine hours? nine and a bit hours. and in the last six hours, we have probably moved less than 100 yards or so. yeah, i see. there is literally hundreds of cars here as well. we we re hundreds of cars here as well. we were coming from redruth, heading back to bournemouth, so we have

still got, what, 150 miles to go? it is about ten miles since we last spoke, we were stationary for much of that time. so we are moving now. it is probably about 15—20 miles, we are probably going 15—20 mph, very treacherous conditions. we are just hoping to make it home at a reasonable hour, if at all, really. there you go, matt talking to us earlier about his experience overnight. let's see what is happening with the airports in particular, we know there has been some disruption at bristol, bournemouth and heathrow airports on short—haulflights bournemouth and heathrow airports on short—haul flights in particular. kathryn stanczyszyn is our reporter there, what is the latest? well, it has actually stopped snowing here now, ben, although i can attest to the fact that there is a bitterly cold wind at the moment. heathrow is open and operational here behind me,

but we know there has been some delays and cancellations, british airways have confirmed they have had to cancel some short—haul flights due to weather conditions. they have also said they are actually offering passengers the chance to post about travel as well today if they have had difficulty getting here, and they are advising, of course, for everybody to check before they travel. they said they have not had similar problems at city airport or gatwick. bristol airport, though, has possibly had the most problems this morning. we heard, before 8am, that it was closed to flights inbound and outbound because of problems trying to clear the runway. it was then updated that it would last until at least midday, and of course there has been heavy snowfall in the bristol area, and into south wales as well. what of the rails? we know that southeastern are running a winter timetable, a reduced amount of trains, warning people that their journeys may take longer. we are

hearing that there has not been any problems on an epic scale, but certainly rail services across the south of england are being delayed, and some cancellations as well, so check before your travel. at the roads, of course, not too bad in urban areas, but some of the rural areas are suffering, and we know about the amber warning in the thames valley area, up from reading into 0xfordshire and through the chilterns and eastbound there, and it looks like that will see the brunt of the next couple of hours of weather there, so be careful if you are travelling in that area. all right, kathryn, thank you very much indeed, kathryn stanczyszyn reporting there from heathrow. let's get the picture in wales, sian lloyd is just get the picture in wales, sian lloyd isjust outside get the picture in wales, sian lloyd is just outside merthyr tydfil with the latest there, what is the picture, sharon? good morning, i am

in the village of bedlinog, where there has been some snow overnight, a couple of centimetres, but certainly not snow —— snowmageddon, we we re certainly not snow —— snowmageddon, we were talking to local people, and they say, when it snows, it really comes down, we are used to getting cut off, but not this morning. we have seen people getting in their cars, driving to work, the buses are running here, and the roads are open, but they have been well prepared. we saw many gritters out last night, local primary schools have shot this morning, we were talking to the headmaster yesterday, he took the decision at around midnight because a lot of the schoolchildren here do come on the schoolchildren here do come on the school bus, so talking to the bus company, that is the decision he has decided to take. across wales, there are some 550 schools which are closed. cardiff airport was shut for a short while while they made an assessment of the runway, that has now reopened, which will be great

news for those welsh rugby fans making their way to france, to paris, for the match tonight. 0n the roads, of course, driving conditions are more dangerous, there is no about, still a yellow warning for ice tonight. the remote mountain roads, some have been affected and are closed, the main arterial routes are closed, the main arterial routes are open, but the warning is, of course, do take care if you have to travel today. 0k, thank you very much indeed, sian lloyd there for us. much indeed, sian lloyd there for us. let's talk to matt, who had a pretty horrendous experience overnight, tell us what happened to you. so i am based in north devon, but i went down to work at st austell, at the children's hospice down there, and i drove down at about, i guess, yesterday morning, no snow, went all the way over the a30. finished about 2:30pm and started driving home. 0nce

a30. finished about 2:30pm and started driving home. once again, no snow in st austell, and as we got higher on the road up to bodmin, it started coming down, it started settling, and it just started coming down, it started settling, and itjust absolutely dumped, and within about half an hour, we were completely stuck, traffic queues for miles. yeah, very icy, lots of ice, very pretty but not convenient. so you were effectively stranded, then? yeah, i was there from about three o'clock until 11:30pm at night, and then we managed... a snowplough came through, which we followed, and i managed to drive back to exeter, and then went back up over the link road to exmoor, which was also quite exciting, an epic journey, to exmoor, which was also quite exciting, an epicjourney, got home at about 2:30am. wow! that is a lot of hours! and did you manage to keep warm in all that time? i must have

had a premonition yesterday, because before i left home, i put a sleeping bag, shovel and food in my car. i didn't really think i would need it, but i was wrapped up in my sleeping bag in the traffic you, so it was a good thing to do, i reckon. so you we re good thing to do, i reckon. so you were remarkably well prepared, you obviously listened to all the advice that we hear from the motoring organisations. yeah, last year, you know, the beast from the east, we had a lot of snow in north devon, andi had a lot of snow in north devon, and i took the kids out to play in some snow, and i kind of wished i had taken a shovel with me, so i learnt my lesson, i think i will a lwa ys learnt my lesson, i think i will always throw one in now! all right! that is good advice for anybody thinking of venturing out, matt, thank you very much indeed for talking to us. the picture on the m4 motorway at chippenham here is that the m4 is, as you can see, traffic on it, not nearly as much as normally at this time, one lane in

each carriageway effectively closed by the snow, but in the last few minutes we have seen snowploughs going up and down the motorway, trying to clear the area. 0bviously, the smaller roads off the motorway are much more treacherous, there has been some grating, and a picture about an hour to the east from here is that there is an amber alert, that means a possible threat to life and property, that can until about 11 o'clock, including the thames valley area, around berkshire, buckinghamshire, 0xfordshire, hampshire, parts of all those counties affected by this amber alert. and a lesser yellow alert in place around many parts of the united kingdom, wadis of the snow and ice, the motoring organisations telling people again and again, please, do not go out unless you absolutely have to do, a lot of

schools are closed around the country, and there is disruption not only on the roads but the railways, so only on the roads but the railways, so you might want to check with your operator, a lot of winter timetables are being put into place, and at the airports too, we have been hearing at heathrow and bristol and bournemouth so far today. we will keep you up to date throughout the day on the bbc news channel, but from here, back to the studio and joanna. thank you very much indeed, ben, feeling a bit guilty about being in the warmth of the studio, going to get a the warmth of the studio, going to geta cup the warmth of the studio, going to get a cup of tea, see you later! let's stay with the weather, which is affecting many of us today, nick miller is from bbc weather, extraordinary to hear what happened to matt, stranded within half an hour of the snow is starting to fall. what happened yesterday, it is the worst timing, the warnings were there for many, but you head out in there for many, but you head out in the morning and it is fine, as he

was saying, and you come home and you get into that snow, falling very quickly. elsewhere across southern parts of the uk and wales, at least a chance to go to bed and wake up and say that's no want to make the decision about the conditions and whether it is ok to head out. —— and to see that snow. ben was talking about the amber weather warning that is still in force, talking about the areas affected, the shaded area on the map, the highest level of warning at the moment, in force until 11. it is fair to say, though, that a lot of the snow that is going to fall has already fallen. i know it is still snowing in places, but we have seen most of the accumulation that is yet to come, and as we take a look at things across the uk at the moment, yes, an area of rain, sleet and snow falling through parts of southern england into south—east wales, parts of the midlands into east anglia — that will continue to weaken through the day. we can't forget some fairly heavy snow showers coming in towards

north—east england and across northern parts of scotland as well. this is why we are going to see a few centimetres in places, and the risk of disruption. if you see one shower after another, there can be quite a shower after another, there can be quitea line, shower after another, there can be quite a line, one heavy shower, a covering, it may brighten briefly, then another coming in to create difficult travelling conditions. the situation in the south, cold, grey day, rain, sleet and snow, just a bit more to come in places, but heavier snow showers affecting north—east england into northern scotland. what about the days ahead? not quite out of the cold yet, frosty nights to come over the next few nights, still quite cold by day. this is the picture over the weekend, not much over the uk on saturday, a ridge of high pressure and fairly quiet, but on sunday and other weather fronts coming our way will bring rain, producing more sleet and snow, particularly across the high ground of northern britain. going into next week, look at the temperature trends, this is the forecast for the capitals of the uk,

some getting back into double figures. still unsettled, mind you, more of us seeing rain, rather than snow, temperatures heading up. i can't say that is the end of winter, a long way to go, but some relief on the way. we did have a mild winter until now, really, so swings and roundabouts! to keep up to date with the situation, go to the bbc news website. we were hearing the advice is not to go out unless you have too, but if you are facing the prospect of driving in the snow and you are not happy about it, there is some guidance on the news website, a little how—to video on the main bbc news page if you want to take a look at that. a newborn baby girl has been found abandoned in a park on one of the coldest nights of winter. she was found in newham, east london, just after ten o'clock last night and was taken to hospital. the police say her condition is stable. officers have appealed for the girl's mother to get

in touch as she may need urgent medical attention. arctic air continues to sweep across much of america's midwest, brought on by a polar vortex. at least eight people have died, with millions told to avoid taking deep breaths and to minimise talking if they're outside. 0ur correspondent chris buckler is in chicago. the snow has been falling in chicago again. and although there are milder temperatures, it's still minus 16, minus 17, minus 18 celsius. it doesn't look much warmer. look at the chicago river. you can see it is frozen over still. and there are many warnings about this weather. for example, in some cases, people are worried about falling ice. and beyond that, people are being told to stay out of these kind of conditions for too long because they could get frostbite. to try and demonstrate that, we, along with others, have been using some pieces of clothing, wet pieces of clothing. this wet t—shirt, after a short amount of time in this weather, is basically frozen solid.

and other people have been sharing those kind of pictures on social media of what this weather can do, along with spectacular pictures of what has been across the midwest a frozen wonderland, but a dangerous one at that. further east, in places like new york and boston, they've also been feeling the cold air. but after the freeze quickly is coming the thaw. here in illinois in the last couple of days, temperatures have reached as low as minus 35 celsius. by next week, by monday, they could be as much as plus ten celsius. and that kind of rapid thaw can cause problems in itself. it could lead to potholes and flooding and problems as far as people are concerned, because it could mean burst water mains. tsb has blamed last year's it problems for a pre—tax loss of more than a £105 million.

the bank says 2018 was its most challenging year. katie prescott is here with more details. that has put a price on it, tell us more. you might remember, this all started when the bank said it was, quite simply, moving its customers from its lloyds computer systems onto its new owners', they said there might be problems over the weekend, but on the night, when customers tried to get into their accou nts customers tried to get into their accounts after this move, they were able to see other people's accounts, they were seeing wrong balances, clearly a major problem for the bank. now, if it had stopped there, that might have been the end of it, but this went on for about three weeks and affected 2 million customers, and the bank was criticised by mps for not communicating with customers, saying things were resolved when it was

not, and ultimately thejob things were resolved when it was not, and ultimately the job of the chief executive, paul pester. we now have a price on it, £330 million, including the cost of all the people that they had to bring into staff the call centres to deal with the complaints. but they have said they're going to give £1500 bonus to their staff as a result of this, and that things are now resolved. customers did vote with their feet on this. they really did, and they said they have lost 80,000 customers asa said they have lost 80,000 customers as a result, there are a number of reports going into what happened, so one big city law firm is still to publish a report, the fca is also looking into it, but i would say the report today ends on quite a positive note. it says things have stabilised, complaints are back to levels of what they were before this computer system moved and all these issues happened. they have a new chief executive starting in the spring, so it feels like a new chapter for spring, so it feels like a new chapterfor tsb. spring, so it feels like a new chapter for tsb. let's talk about amazon, looking not quite so strong

perhaps with a slightly weaker growth forecast. one of these funny things, the chief executive, jeff bezos, said that they were very busy over christmas, a third record quarter of sales, profits up 60% in the last quarter to £2.2 billion. but yet, as you say, their share price has dropped 5% in after—hours trading, and this is really because investors were looking forward, they we re investors were looking forward, they were looking for how amazon will grow going forward, and they have said it will be slightly slower than expected. they say that in india, the new e—commerce regulations will stifle their growth, they have had issues with currency fluctuations, and also competitors are coming into this space. 0r and also competitors are coming into this space. or to put it into context, they are still talking about growth of 10—18%. if you wa nted about growth of 10—18%. if you wanted to buy on amazon share today, it would cost you $1650. it is extraordinary when you say that the share prices have fallen, but at the

same time as profits went up 60%.“ is all about that looking forward from investors, saying, actually, maybe i was not going to have to work much harder to keep up that level of growth in future. —— maybe amazon are going to have to work much harder to keep up that level of growth in the future. sarah has all the weather details, over to you. snow is still falling across many southern parts of the country at the moment, this picture comes from a weather watcher in cornwall, saint pruitt, you can see the extent of the snow, icy conditions on the roads, and that is causing some disruption. if we look at the depth of the snow, quite widely 5—10 centimetres across southern england, parts of south wales, up to 14 centimetres on higher ground. if you are worried about disruption due to snow and ice, tune in to bbc local

radio station, which will keep you up radio station, which will keep you up to date with any school closures as well. an amber warning in force for further snowfall across parts of 0xfordshire, down towards hampshire as well, a lot of snow still falling across central and southern england, further north across the uk it is sunnier, but also snow showers across the north—east of england and northern scotland as well. drier conditions for parts of southern scotland, northern ireland and wales, developing through the day, some sunshine here. a brisk north—easterly wind making things feel chilly out there. top temperature is only about 5 degrees at best, feeling colder in that wind. some of the snow showers turning back to rain across the south—east of england, east anglia. meanwhile, further north, falling as snow towards the north—east of england overnight, and also for the north and east of scotland further snow. 0vernight, temperatures falling below freezing, so another

cold, icy starts to saturday morning, a really sharp frost once again, still some lying snow around too. a quieter day weather wise tomorrow, because we have this ridge of high pressure moving in from the west, but we will still keep some snow showers in the east, so further accumulations of snow for northern and eastern scotland and down the east coast of england too. showers in the south—east falling as rain through the day tomorrow. still chilly but not as chilly as today, highs of 3—7 degrees. sunday will be a different feeling day, we keep the dry and bright weather for a good pa rt dry and bright weather for a good part of the day, particularly in the east. this band of cloud will bring rain until snow further east into the evening, so things turning a little bit milder gradually through the course of the weekend, but we have certainly got chilly conditions with lying snow and ice to watch out for as we head through the day. keep tuned. hello, this is bbc news. heavy snow has swept across south wales and southern england, leaving motorists stranded

and causing travel disruption. there's an amber warning for snow in parts of south—east england and yellow warnings covering southern, eastern and north—eastern england, as well as parts of wales and scotland. police appeal for a mother to come forward after a baby girl was found abandoned in a park in east london. tsb records losses of over 100 million as it counts the cost of last year's it meltdown, which caused chaos for thousands of customers. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. one thing that's got everyone talking this morning is the freezing weather, as we've been hearing, snow has swept across a swathe of wales and southern england, causing problems on the roads, and disrupting rail services and air travel. steve was stuck for several hours

on the a30 in cornwall. he's been talking to bbc radio 5 live. i finally made it home at 4.30 this morning. so, it was a long old drive. talk us through yourjourney. i left poole in dorset, looking at the weather forecast, and decided to leave quite early because all the forecasts i was looking at was saying there could be a dusting of snow across dartmoor. so i thought i'd better get away early, see if i can get ahead of that. a bit of preparation to get home. i left about one o'clock, lunchtime. i managed to get across dartmoor, through dorset, across devon and dartmoor, no problem at all. as soon i got into cornwall, it was heavy rain. just as you get over the border, really torrential rain. and then as we climbed to the high ground, turned to thick, thick snow. and itjust came down so quickly, where it was really heavy rain, washing the roads, that suddenly froze and then turned to this snow. within 20 minutes, there must have

been two or three inches of snow. within a further half—hour, it was six inches. everything ground to a halt almost immediately. i did not move again for ten hours. ten hours without moving at all. and then after... well, it was about 2.30 this morning that i saw my first snowplough or gritter coming by. that was followed by a couple more, police cars and things, that were eventually able to get through. they were stuck in the same traffic we were stuck in. there was just no way through, the number of abandoned cars and everything else that was in the way. i think what is frightening about weather like this is that conditions look relatively benign, and can suddenly turn. as you say, when you move on to high ground,

that is when you get caught out. so, all that time, ten hours you were sitting in the car. what were you doing? presumably you had to turn the engine off. did you have food, water? i had water, i had two bottles of water, thinking just make sure i've got plenty. i was warm, i had a full tank of fuel. realistically, i was ok. i'm a healthy, fit adult. you on your own, you didn't have kids in the car? yeah, my children, their school had closed and they had gone home, they were with my wife. so i was in a better position than many people there. so, ijust sat there, sat it out, listened to the radio. there were lots of other people around. we talked amongst the cars near us, they were in similar situations. listening to the local radio station, bbc radio cornwall, you could hear on there that there were people without their medication, people with young children.

there were people in really quite terrible situations. for me, ijust had to sit it out. lots of people experiencing similar. unsurprisingly the snow is dominating social media in the uk today. there have been about 25,000 tweets about the snow so far. and people are using the hashtag "snowmageddon" to share pictures. well, if you think it's cold here, conditions in the us are far more challenging. in minneapolis, temperatures dropped to a low of minus 48 celcius. 90 million people are now affected by temperatures below minus 17, brought on by a polar vortex. the freeze has brought chicago to a standstill. bbc breakfast has been speaking to some of the british expats living there, to see how they are coping. my workplace told us to stay at home. i think about 12 people have died in the chicago area already. there is a big problem with people that are sleeping rough on the streets. yeah, it is very serious in many respects. talk to me about the area you live

in, tell me what it's like. you spoke about people living rough on the streets. i know as well there was an effort in chicago to get people into warm shelters. what about where you are? where i am, i'm in logan square, and the community's been doing a big workaround to get people coats. you know, there's a lot of neighbourly spirit that's coming out. i had some neighbours coming over asking if they could use my washing machine because their pipes have frozen. i had my landlord, pj, coming over and help with burst pipes. you know, it has brought people together that have never spoken before. really lovely to hear how communities do come together. unfortunately, there are some characters who don't behave too well in this kind of weather. talk to me about certain coats being stolen from people? yeah, not a good time to be wearing one of those canada goose coats. i think they are about a thousand bucks over here and there have been about eight people that have been

robbed so far at gunpoint. so, not great. but they are magnets, asking to be robbed. well, nobody asks to be robbed, let's just hope people stay safe. i understand there is some light at the end of the tunnel, isn't there, in some senses. to us, it would sound really cold, 0 degrees. perhaps almost tropical, coming your way? that's right, it is a balmy 20 right now. and i think it is only going to be about —14, —18 pretty good, i will be going back to work, think, the trains will be running. good to talk to you. thanks very much. stay safe as well. interesting, when you say —14 is balmy. let's talk to lucy now, she is in one of the chicago suburbs, outside of chicago, with her family. you have a four—year—old son, an 18—month—old as well. good morning, to you. just explain, who's the penguin, what is going on?

is the penguin sitting on the heater? the penguin is sitting on the dehumidifier because i am actually in the middle of drying out my frozen pipes. so, i am in my basement, doing some maintenance. is that a daily ritual? how does it work in practice? well, winters here are long and cold. and it is a pretty well oiled machine to keep your house running during these winters. but i have to say, take issue with you saying that chicago ground to a standstill. this city runs no matter what. the authorities, woe betide them if they don't make sure people can get to work. most of the people i know, with the exception of schoolchildren and certain businesses like bart's who gave everybody the day off, have still been working. here we're in another long winter. it takes a lot for this city to shut down, this part of the world

to shut down and take a collective snow day. i think today is one of those legendary days where it almost happened, but not quite. lucy, a point well made. you are probably aware we have some snow problems here. you will know this, often we grind to a halt when there is relatively little snow. tell me more about the practicalities, can the kids get to school? can you get out? how is that working? i have been stuck in a house with two feral children for the past 72 hours. so, i am very, very glad it is going to be nice and warm and only about —20 tomorrow. because it means that we can get out and we can go to the indoor park, we can get out and i can take them to their clubs and their schools, and we will get some sanity back. because being stuck inside is no fun at all. all about perspective, nice and warm at -20,

all about perspective, nice and warm at —20, she is saying. let's look at the most read and watched on the news website. let's see what you are interested in. it hasjust news website. let's see what you are interested in. it has just switched from the weather at the top to the amazon news. the share price dropping 5%, as we were seeing. the second story, a baby found abandoned ona second story, a baby found abandoned on a freezing park in london. let's go down to some of the most watched. there are interesting videos you might want to check out. you have probably seen these pictures, but i love to look at them. what is being donein love to look at them. what is being done in the states to have a bit of fun with the ridiculously cold weather they are experiencing. you have probably seen people boiling eggsin have probably seen people boiling eggs in hot weather, they are freezing eggs and freezing t—shirts, putting out wet t—shirts and seeing how they just turn to ice putting out wet t—shirts and seeing how theyjust turn to ice pretty quickly. my favourite is coming up, somebody blowing a bubble. blowing bubbles and watching them freeze. that is the second most watched

video online. another one that is well worth a look if you are finding yourself having to drive in the snow. there is a video on the news website, explaining exactly what you need to do if your car skids on ice. a video that you might find helpful. the last one is intriguing. shared of the year finalist is a fire station themed pub. if you have some time on your hands and you want to find out why he turned his shed into a fire station pub, it is therefore you. very sad news to bring you about the comedian jeremy you. very sad news to bring you about the comedianjeremy hardy, we have just heard that he has died. his publicist said he died after a battle with cancer. he was 57, best known for his part on the news quiz on radio 4. going back a bit further, he won the comedy award at

the edinburgh festival. jeremy hardy has died at the age of 57. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. we were reflecting on the transfer deadline day. spending was down in the premier league on transfer deadline day, there weren't many big deals, but there was a rather tall one. here's a clue. this is how burnley announced their signing on their twitter feed — who's famous for the robot? it's the former england striker peter crouch — he's back in the premier league at the age of 38. he's signed with burnley until the end of the season. that was probably the most eye—catching move on what was a rather quite transfer deadline day — and in the window itself, there's been a fall in spending for the first time since 2012. let's talk about why

with danjones, from the business advisory firm deloitte. why do you think it was overall? 0ne factor, or a combination of things? a combination of things going on. the big six clubs are pretty happy to wait until summer. even the clubs at the bottom, we didn't see all of them going on spending. a few clubs we re them going on spending. a few clubs were thinking, we have got a settled squad, let's give it a go to the end of the season. if we get relegated, we will rebuild in the summer. and then you have the tv deals, there is not a big bonanza coming through. the tv deals are flat, people are taking a bit more of a muted approach. that said, it is still the fourth biggest january window we have ever had. last year was just such a big window. we can see some of the figures, how much it has changed since last year. this was the net spend injanuary. we can see

how much that has fallen down this time around. that is down to 180. tra nsfer time around. that is down to 180. transfer deadline day itself, the similar pattern we have seen from the 180 in january 2019, similar pattern we have seen from the 180 injanuary 2019, don't hundred and 50 —— down to 150. so they think january hundred and 50 —— down to 150. so they thinkjanuary spending is a risk and they can do it in the summer? i think everybody has thought it is so tight, disruptive, mid—season, not the best time to do business. what you are seeing is that even the deals happening in january are really summer deals. chelsea, their biggest deal of the window, he will not play for them until next season. the newcastle deal, very interesting to see them breaking their transfer record, bringing a playerfrom america. interesting move. for years and yea rs, interesting move. for years and years, newcastle fans have moaned

about the lack of signings. for once, they are dominating headlines. they have broken a transfer record. a very exciting looking player. you might think coming from the us he would find it a big step going to newcastle, but atlanta united is a fantastic success story, he has been playing in a fantastic stadium, huge crowds, the biggest crowds for us soccer for decades. crowds, the biggest crowds for us soccerfor decades. he crowds, the biggest crowds for us soccer for decades. he will find crowds, the biggest crowds for us soccerfor decades. he will find it a step perhaps not as intimidating as you might think. following the footsteps of their signings michael 0wen footsteps of their signings michael owen and alan shearer. newcastle's record signing makes a couple of this morning's back pages. the star have a picture of miguel almiron, who cost them just over 20—million pounds — he joins from the mls side atlanta united and they also say chelsea manager maurizio sarri, has accused his players of not listening to him. the sun, of course, have had fun with their headline — "sarri seems to be the hardest word", they say. and they also have some pictures of tottenham's harry kane

running for the first time since his ankle injury. and the telegraph go with a close—up of england cricket captainjoe root, "rocking in the antigua heat". and here's why. england suffered another batting collapse in the west indies. after being thrashed in the first test they had a torrid time on day one of the second test in antigua. 0peners rory burns and debutant joe denly both fell cheaply. 0nly moeen ali and jonny bairstow offered any resistance with captain joe root out for a paultry 7 as england stumbled to 187 all out. in reply, west indies are 30 without loss. there'll be plenty to discuss then, on the cricket social podcast, which you can find via the bbc sport website. and later, it's the start of the six nations championship across the bbc — radio 5 live sports extra have commentary on ireland against england in the women's competition. and on bbc one later, it's the men — france against wales, live from paris. there's coverage across the bbc — check the website for details. so let's talk about that wales game in paris. the welsh go into the match

on the back of an impressive run of results — and victory in the french capital would be their tenth win in a row. it is massive. we are not looking at focusing on records. obviously it would be nice, we will be reminded, like you have, that's fine, we usually have good performances and get results. we are not going focus to on what could be. we know what we need to do to get the result irrelevant of records, like i say. and there'll be much more six nations news on sportsday at 6.30, but that's all from me for now. let me go back to the sad news that we we re let me go back to the sad news that we were bringing you, that the comedianjeremy we were bringing you, that the comedian jeremy hardy, the we were bringing you, that the comedianjeremy hardy, the radio 4 panel star has died at the age of 57 after suffering from cancer. his publicist confirming that in the last few minutes. i wanted to apologise if you noticed previously

when we were talking about it if you moments ago that we had an on—screen error, if you noticed that, we do apologise for that. very sad news to bring you that he has died at the age of 57. going back further in his career, he made his name on the comedy circuit in the 1980s, and he won the prestigious award in 1980, and also the best live act at the itv comedy awards in 1991. universities will be required to publish information on what they are doing to tackle disparities between students from different ethnic backgrounds. official figures show that record numbers of ethnic minorities are attending university, but only 56% of black students achieve top grades, compared with 80% of their white peers. black students are also the most likely to drop out of their degree course. we are making sure that when it

comes to these participation plans, that we place in these clear requirements to increase diversity in intake. if universities are unable to achieve this, the office for students will look to take further action, further remedial action to make sure that universities recognise this as a priority for the government, and one where we want to ensure they take reasonable measures to ensure that universities reflect diversity. i am joined by amatey doku who is the vice president for higher education at the national union of students. why do you think this is the disparity? i think it is down to a range of a lot of different factors. a very complicated picture. i think the key thing we have to look at is that this is an example across

society, one example of racism in society. we've got to be quite clear and explicit about that. one of the things we have been doing is working with universities uk, looking at what works and universities across the country to tackle that attainment gap. in universities that have been successful in tackling the attainment gap, they have worked very closely with students, making sure that black students are not taking on all of the labour and that there is clear direction and leadership from the top of the institutions. when you say it is racism, just explains ashley what you mean. 0vert racism, orsystemic issues that are perhaps not even understood or acknowledged by some universities? it is both. an example of structural, systematic racism, which manifests itself in different parts of society universities are a clear example of this. if we carry on like this, what we need right now are step changes. if we carry on like this, the disparities will not go away. what universities have done, there is a lot of pressure to

increase the number of students from ethnic minorities going to universities, and that number has been increasing. have they been looking to much at that and not at what is happening once the students are there? absolutely. bme students are there? absolutely. bme students are more likely than white students to go to universities in some areas, but the most elite universities, they are severely underrepresented stuff and when they get there, there has not been the focus on whether or not they are succeeding. that is what needs to be the focus. why is it at that stage, if the students get in, presumably with pretty much the same results, why would there be a disparity at the end? what more is needed? there is a whole range of factors that have been looked at, financial issues, bme students are more likely to come from

disadvantaged backgrounds so there is not the support when they get there. concerns about the classroom, what has not changed over hundreds of years is the way that teaching is delivered. why would that particularly affect students from ethnic minority back ground is question of it comes from a sense of belonging, if you cannot see yourself in the curriculum, that is why some of these successful campaigns around decolonising the curriculum, if you don't have that sense of belonging you are not likely to succeed. thank you for joining us. the snow leopard is an animal in serious danger. native to central and southern asia — there are estimated to be fewer than 10,000 of them still alive. and that figure's expected to go down in the coming years. but conservationists are trying to do something about it — as tim allman reports. there is a bleak splendour to the altai mountains.

cold and unforgiving, you have to be tough to survive here. mergen markov has lived here all his life. he is on the hunt for snow leopards — not to kill, but to photograph, these automatic cameras helping to monitor the snow leopard population. translation: i am really happy i have this job which allows me to spend all this time outside and admire all the animals i've managed to photograph. is it better than killing them? yes, they are so beautiful in the photographs. this is the village of argut. after the collapse of the soviet union, the collective farms went bankrupt. many people took to hunting the local wildlife. the fur of a snow leopard could sell for more than $500.

so the world wildlife fund pays former poachers, mergen included, to try to protect them instead. translation: he quickly understood that if he kept on poaching and selling furs, he would earn money only once with each animal he'd killed. whereas with us, he earns money regularly. local volunteers are also paid to go on patrol and monitor this vast area of land. over time, the hope is the number of snow leopards will rise. these animals will return home. tim allman, bbc news. beautiful snowy scenes, and some of us were beautiful snowy scenes, and some of us were told we would get snow this morning and it didn't come. a mixed bag around the country. a mild

winter until this point. we could have done with the snow at christmas, but we have got it now and it is causing quite a few problems. it moved in across the south—west, cornwall and devon were hit, we saw the pictures of cars being abandoned on some of the roads. that has moved its way northwards. through the night we saw the snow falling through much of southern england and south wales. still falling at the moment. the main band of snow stretches from bedfordshire down towards wiltshire, somerset. the main heavy snow at the moment is around gloucestershire and wiltshire. that is the current snow picture. the met office still has an amber warning picture. the met office still has an amberwarning in picture. the met office still has an amber warning in force. picture. the met office still has an amberwarning inforce. so, around northern parts of hampshire, through berkshire and in towards 0xfordshire. that's no will continue to move a little bit further south and eastwards, affecting those areas. as you can imagine, travel disruption is likely right through

the day, from that laying snow and ice. you can see the snow still there across the south. in the far south—east of england we have a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. snow amounts have been rather more hit and miss across the south and east. through this afternoon, still expect some snow toward central and southern areas. one of two flakes further north. sunshine for wales. sunshine on that rather brisk and north—easterly wind across parts of northumberland, durham, the pennines and snow showers moving into the far north of scotland. elsewhere through scotla nd north of scotland. elsewhere through scotland and northern ireland a very slow start. temperatures down to —15 degrees in braemar. barely above freezing. elsewhere, temperatures between three and 5 degrees. through this evening we will continue with a few wintry flurries, further snow showers moving their way into the north—east of england and across the north of scotland. temperatures will

be widely falling below freezing. —1 or minus four celsius. ice will be a risk as we go into the start of the weekend. let's look at the weekend. 0n weekend. let's look at the weekend. on saturday, we have a ridge of high pressure moving in. mostly fine conditions on saturday. there will still be some of that rain, sleet and snow in the south—east of england. a view showers coming into coastal areas in the north—east. for most of us, it will be one of those crisp, sunny winter days. lots of sunshine. maximum temperatures three or7 sunshine. maximum temperatures three or 7 degrees. 0n sunshine. maximum temperatures three or 7 degrees. on sunday, some frost across eastern areas. a bit of sunshine here as well. in the west, more rain moving in. milder conditions, still the chance of some snow, may be over the higher ground. temperatures generally four six celsius. with heavy snow still around through the morning, take extra ca re. hello, it's friday, it's ten o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire. good morning!

we bring you exclusive new revelations about the warwick univeristy online rape case. one of the women who complained has told us the university's director of press — whose job it is to positively promote the university — was put on the disciplinary panel which decided what should happen to the men involved, and she was questioned about her sexual history. the way we were questioned was very accusatory. we were given a list of male individuals involved, and we we re male individuals involved, and we were taken through it one by one and asked our sexual history with each of them, which obviously was