this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. freezing temperatures are continuing into the weekend after snow causes more travel chaos overnight. being here in the traffic that is stationary for nearly five hours now is not a huge amount of fun. russian president vladimir putin has said that russia is withdrawing from the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty after a similar move by the united states. england's minister for schools says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school. floods in the north—east australian state of queensland have reached catastrophic levels a french fumble and a welsh fightback last night — and there's more six nations action to come today. and in half an hour we'll take an in—depth look at the week's news in dateline london. good morning.

snow and ice is continuing to cause disruption across parts of the uk. in the south of england, dozens of motorists were left stranded for hours, as the wintry weather brought traffic to a standstill. highways england says, overnight, its gritters covered 80,000 miles of roads. kathryn stanczyczyn reports. a nightmare journey home. as the extreme weather continued last night in southern england, some parts of hampshire saw 7.5 inches of snow. it led to chaos on the m3, where motorists were trapped for hours — emergency services struggling to reach them. swirling blizzards made driving dangerous on many other routes as well, including the a339,

where ian crowder got stuck travelling home after celebrating his last day in work before retirement. it's very picturesque, i'm sure, but being here in the traffic that's stationary for nearly five hours now is not a huge amount of fun. sometimes, even the people sent to help struggled. here in basingstoke, willing volunteers pushed this ambulance up a hill when the specialist vehicle sent to rescue it also got stuck. at raf 0diham, a serious covering, but fortunately also the equipment to deal with it. 0vernight, the worst of the snowfall centred on the south—east. in kent, police were exceptionally busy dealing with accidents. highways england says gritters covered 80,000 miles of major routes throughout the night, but travel on many smaller roads will still be tricky. for some, that won't matter... whoo! ..as the weekend means there might actually be time to enjoy it. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news.

0ur correspondent caroline davies is by the m3 near longcross in surrey and sent us this update on travel conditions. if you were planning to travel on the m3 today, this is probably a reassuring sight. the traffic has been flowing freely since we arrived a ffew hours ago. since we arrived a few hours ago. we heard from highways england that betweenjunctions 6 and 7 where many vehicles were stuck overnight, has now been cleared with help from hampshire police. in terms of other travel disruption, we know city airport's runway was temporarily closed yesterday. and bristol airport had some major disruption because of snow. both airports say they expect things to run smoothly today. however, we heard at bristol airport there seemed to be short delays because of de—icing planes. the advice is to check before you travel. southwestern railways say they expect some delays on some services until about midday. if you are going out on the roads, there is a yellow warning in place

for ice, which means gritters have been out on major streets. but if you are going onto smaller roads that have been untreated and might still have ice, the advice is to drive carefully. yellow weather warnings for snow and ice are expected to remain in place across the uk until this afternoon. these pictures, provided by viewers, give a flavour of the weather people have been enjoying — and enduring — over the last 2a hours. looking ahead, the met office is warning that tonight will be the coldest of the winter so far. scotland could see lows of minus 16 overnight into sunday. expect more scenes like this tomorrow morning. let's speak now to mark brooks — an hgv driver — who was stuck

on the m3 for nine hours yesterday and into this morning. thank you for stirring up to talk to us. thank you for stirring up to talk to us. we had a brief chat and hour ago and the phone that is down but we have a better signal now. tell us about your journey. i have a better signal now. tell us about yourjourney. i set off from basingstoke 330 yesterday afternoon, heading to bristol. got about as far as newbury. not very far at all? no, i was stuck on that road for five hours, in traffic. eventually had to turn back and back at the m3 into basingstoke, which took another five and a half hours. a round trip of 9-10 and a half hours. a round trip of 9—10 hours? and a half hours. a round trip of 9-10 hours? about that. in that whole time i did not see a single gritter, no police on that route. i

saw ambulances going through. that was about it. what was the mood? presumably you were just static, did you get much chance to talk to others on the road? yes, the times we we re others on the road? yes, the times we were static, people were getting out of their cars. asking people if they knew what had gone on. but the mood was good. cars that had broken down, all been abandoned, people we re down, all been abandoned, people were helping each other. there were a couple of land rovers that help me out when i was stuck on a hill. they pulled me and the truck up. everybody was joining together to help each other. you are a professional driver and presumably you would not go out into conditions like that without something warm, a hot drink, blankets, just in case you get stuck? yes, to be fair, the

weather, there was no warning of this weather, it just weather, there was no warning of this weather, itjust said light snow. suddenly it changed to heavy snow, it was almost like a michael fish moment. i am sure he will be delighted to be reminded of that! you said you did not see emergency vehicles. i suppose it is possible they were tied up elsewhere?” vehicles. i suppose it is possible they were tied up elsewhere? i went all the routes they said that were in trouble and i did not see any other emergency vehicles apart from ambulances. we have two highways agency depots either side of basingstoke and we did not see gritters. this morning, i managed to dig my car out, made a five minute journey and in thatjourney, one mile, isaw journey and in thatjourney, one mile, i saw four gritters. you could have dong with one of those

yesterday. thank you —— done with one of those. have a nice quiet day indoors! thank you. russian president vladimir putin has said that russia is withdrawing from the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty after a similar move by the united states. president putin insisted the door remained open for negotiations, but he instructed ministers not to initiate arms control talks. he added that russia would start to develop a new mid—range hypersonic missile. but he cautioned against being drawn into an expensive arms race. translation: our american partners have announced they are suspending their participation and we are suspending our participation. that was vladimir putin speaking to ministers about that decision on withdrawing from the arms treaty.

here, children should be banned from bringing smartphones into school according to the minister for school standards in england. the government is preparing to publish new guidance, which is expected to say children should be taught to limit the amount of time they spend online. here's our political correspondent chris mason. schools in england already have the power to ban phones from being brought onto the premises. but government policy is that it's the responsibility of head teachers to determine whether this is appropriate. nick gibb said that it was his own view that schools should ban their pupils from bringing smartphones into school. the government is due to publish new guidance for schools shortly. it's expected to say children should be taught to limit the amount of time they spend on the internet. mr gibb said that while there was nothing intrinsically damaging about spending time online, it reduced time for conversation, exercise, homework or play. the trade union the naht, which represents school leaders, and particularly those in primaries, has expressed scepticism

about the outright banning of phones in schools, saying it can drive use underground. chris mason, bbc news. i'm joined now by patsy kane, executive headteacher at the education and leadership trust, which has schools in manchester. patsy is in charge of three of them, i think. good patsy is in charge of three of them, ithink. good morning. what do patsy is in charge of three of them, i think. good morning. what do you make of what nick gibb said?” i think. good morning. what do you make of what nick gibb said? i can understand and agree with some points he is making. it is good for stu d e nts points he is making. it is good for students and adults to limit their time and it would be a shame if it did affect the take—up of exercise, reading and so on, but i do not think that is necessarily the case. we see young people taking part in exercise, but enjoying listening to music. and also, on the way to and

from school, parents and students feel safer knowing they have a mobile phone, that they can keep in touch or phone home if they need to. it is often the reason why parents give their children phones. albeit obviously some kids now have access to sophisticated smartphones. what about the usage in school time? how do you regulate that? how do you ensure the kids are notjust texting under the desk? teachers have to be aware of everything going on in the classroom. it is a simple rule, if the teacher asks you to get your phone out with a purpose, they can get their phones out. they stay away in learning time if the teacher has not asked them to get them out. in learning time if the teacher has not asked them to get them outm there a value in children having these phones in the classroom? i imagine some adults might think it

will inevitably be a distraction. we know how obsessed at we as adults are with phones. well, across many schools now there is a focus on developing vocabulary and if you wa nt developing vocabulary and if you want students to broaden their knowledge of new words, a quick check on a smart thing can give them easier access and allow them to introduce more wider vocabulary into their work. there are so many brilliant revision apps for science and maths that have video clips and tests online, so they can learn it and takea tests online, so they can learn it and take a test. it gives the stu d e nts and take a test. it gives the students that independence they really value. they can do as much learning as they want and many of them will sit and do revision at lunchtime, on the bus, on the way home, and they have it at their fingertips. there are some really

valuable uses. they might video themselves doing a pe technique with a view to improving it. they might practice speaking in a foreign language and listen back to it for their accent and fluency. they have positive uses. and some negative. i suppose that is the worry nick gibb alludes to, the concern people will use it for online bullying and things like that and because it gives direct access to a child it can potentially make them vulnerable. it would be naive to think if you ban them in school that might not happen out of school a nyway might not happen out of school anyway at evenings and weekends. i think it is an important part of the school approach to anti—bullying, it is part of the education that you can use the internet to be kind, support each other, stay in touch when you are not together at school, say other weekends, and can be used

positively. to prevent bullying online, is a big educational issue but if it does happen, it can happen a nyway but if it does happen, it can happen anyway from home. according to newspapers, the chief medical 0fficer newspapers, the chief medical officer is going to recommend, it is said, that people should not look at a screen for more than two hours at a screen for more than two hours at a time without a break. is that advice you would like to see and could be useful for parents, who often feel slightly adrift? it can be hard for parents because some teenagers get very upset if someone tries to take their phone off them but that is a useful guideline. that would help them if they are using it to revise. to stay fresh they need to revise. to stay fresh they need to ta ke to revise. to stay fresh they need to take breaks and good to have a walk around the block. we have installed walking circuits to encourage students to take a walk at lunchtime and break time. there is a range of strategies. the school can

promote a healthier lifestyle. thank you for being with us. now lots of household items, from electrical appliances and toys, to drinking glasses, have the letters "ce" printed on them. it's the eu safety symbol, but if there's a no—deal brexit, it will have to change, and it could be costly for businesses. the bbc has learnt that the government is about to announce plans for a replacement. our business correspondent rob young reports. kettles, heaters, toys, light bulbs. dozens of items in your average home are stamped with the letters "ce". the mark says a particular product meets legal requirements and has been tested to high standards. consumers have been told to buy goods with this symbol. it's been with us for more than two decades. the ce mark belongs to the european union, so if britain leaves the eu without a deal, items on sale, like these, will have to be stamped with something else to show consumers the products meet the rules.

this is the new logo the government has drawn up. it stands for "uk conformity assessed". this is what it might look like on the back of a smartphone and on the label of a toy. so, if there's no deal, this is the mark we will have to look out for on products in the shop. a uk mark would provide confidence to consumers and to the authorities that these products placed on the market in the uk were meeting uk regulatory requirements, so it provides flexibility for government, should there be divergence in regulations, to insist that manufacturers were committing to that uk regulatory practice in future. if the new logo is to be used, companies would have to change their packaging, advertising and an element of the product themselves. businesses warn it will mean higher costs, at least in the short—term. that's another reason many companies want the government to do some kind of brexit deal with the eu. rob young, bbc news.

the headlines on bbc news. freezing temperatures are continuing into the weekend after snow causes more travel chaos overnight. russian president vladimir putin has said that russia is withdrawing from the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty after a similar move by the united states. england's minister for schools says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school. floods in the northeast australian state of queensland have reached what officials are calling catastrophic levels. the tropical monsoon rains have already destroyed buildings, forced evacuations, and swept away cars and livestock in a large area centred on the coastal city of townsville. saturday alone is expected to see up to 20 centimetres of rain — equivalent to about a month's average rainfall. phil mercer reports.

for four days, parts of northern queensland have been battered by the heaviest monsoon rains in memory. the main reservoir in townsville is so full that vast amounts of water have had to be released, causing majorflooding. the city has been declared a disaster zone. many homes are submerged and streets turned into rivers. dozens of people have been rescued and thousands more moved to higher ground. when we use the words unprecedented and uncharted we use this for a reason. we have not been in this scenario before. there has been a lot of rain that has been falling, especially over the townsville catchment, and some of these levels are unprecedented. there is a warning that the worst may yet be to come. the heavy rain is expected

to continue until at least monday. there is, though, some good news — the tropical monsoonal conditions are likely to bring much—needed relief to drought—affected parts of queensland to the west of townsville. phil mercer, bbc news. the president of venezuela, nicholas maduro, is facing another wave of protests in the coming hours. the opposition leader juan guaido, who's declared himself interim president, is calling for the biggest mass protests in the nation's history. the governing socialist party announced a rival protest in the capital, caracas, to counter the opposition march. juan guaido has been speaking ahead of the protests. translation: i don't fear clashes at all. it happened already onjanuary 23rd — there were massive marches in 53 different points of the country. there were unprecedented marches in venezuela and the counter—march that the regime convened was a small meeting in miraflores.

there are no counter—marches. there is a great majority of the country that asks for change and a small group that refuses to lose their privileges at the expense of hunger, the need and death of venezuelans. dramatic footage has emerged of the moment a dam burst in brazil, releasing millions of tonnes of mining waste that engulfed nearby buildings. at least 110 people are now known to have died in the disaster, hundreds are missing. 0ur science editor david shukman reports from the site of the dam. this is as close as we are allowed to get to the disaster site. you have local people trying to come to terms with what earth happened. let me try to explain how it worked, how the disaster unfolded. up in the hills beyond, that is where the dam was, holding back a lake of sludge.

a torrent of heavy cement like a mud tore down the value, overwhelming the cafeteria where the miners were having lunch and overwhelmed the offices of the mining company itself. it then swept into this area where we are now. right in the middle of this little area was a posada, a small hotel with holiday chalets. that was swamped by the mud. close by, this was basically a farming area, a farmhouse absolutely wrecked by the power of the deluge of mud. what happened next is the mud did notjust stay here, it was moving rapidly. you can still hear the search and rescue helicopters buzzing around and occasionally we see rescue teams. i say rescue, they

are now in the business of searching for bodies. a team we sawjust now had a dog with them and were trying to respond to where ever the dog was sniffing. the wall of mud destroyed this area and carried on over the ridge in the distance and into a valley beyond. where it then tore through a village down below, causing yet more destruction. the question that everybody is the wilderness by is how brazil, which is after all a rapidly industrialised, boston economy, how here, this kind of disaster, whatever failings there were in safeguarding this was allowed to happen course so many deaths and so much destruction. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. if the rest of the six nations can match the drama in paris last night — we're in for a special tournament.

wales trailed france by 16 points in paris, before the biggest second—half comeback in six nations history. 0ur sport correspondent andy swiss was watching. they emerged to a cloud of smoke and a wave of anticipation. france against a wales team going for a tenth win in a row, fingers crossed. but those hopes, it seemed, were soon being swatted aside. louis picamoles rampaging through to put france ahead. and wales's frustration had only just begun. liam williams's effort ruled out after the video referee decided he lost control. it summed up their first half. as careless as france were ruthless, some sleight of hand sending yohann huget clear as the hosts extended their lead in style. and when camille lopez fired over a drop goal just before the break, it was 16—0. wales with a first half to forget.

they needed something remarkable and, out of nowhere, they found it. josh adams was the spark as he sent thomas williams skidding over. and the sublime was followed by the ridiculous — a new addition to rugby's blooper reel. huget with a spot of french farce, much to george north's delight. wales took the lead but france grabbed it back, a penalty making it 19—17, but the greatest drama was yet to come as the hosts simply threw it away. george north with a stunning interception and a 60—yard dash for glory. astonishingly, wales had turned it around. their winning run goes on and it's fair to say the rest of the six nations has some act to follow. andy swiss, bbc news. in the women's competition, england ran in eight tries to thrash ireland in the opening match of their tournament. england are largely fully

professional now and the class showed throughout the 51—7 win in dublin. zoe harrison and emily scott amongst the scorers in the visitors' eight—try victory. and italy ran in four tries. this the pick of them, to earn a bonus point as they beat scotland by 28 points to seven in glasgow. in the men's tournament, scotland and italy, live on the bbc this afternoon. so to another difficult day for england's cricketers in the caribbean as west indies built a lead of 85 runs heading into the third day of the second test in antigua. remember, england had been skittled for 187 and, for a time, it looked like their bowlers would have some revenge, in the afternoon. but the windies' patient approach, mixed with the occasional flamboyant shot, paid off and three batsmen scored more than a0. stuart broad was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, but the west indies will resume in control on 27! for six. kilmarnock missed the chance to narrow the gap on scottish premiership leaders celtic

to three points as they lost 2—1 to hearts. goals from sean clare and steven naismith, in a five—minute spell, did the damage. and although jordan jones pulled a goal back, kilmarnock couldn't avoid theirfirst home defeat in three months. hull kingston rovers claimed the glory in rugby league's hull derby, but only just. they won their opening super league match of the season 18—16 with the last play of the game. jimmy keinhorst the hero, as he snatched victory from defeat. elsewhere, there were wins for castleford and salford. that's all the sport for now. the weather has been dominating the news, let's get the forecast now. hello, a wintry start to february and in central and southern parts of england seeing more snow than we are used to win 10—15 centimetres but there is lying snow in many parts and the ice risk is pretty high not

just through saturday but into sunday morning. snow showers the rest of the day light need to fall across eastern england coming quite far inland on the breeze. mostly north—eastern parts of england. wintry showers in cornwall, pembrokeshire and perhaps into north wales. 0ne pembrokeshire and perhaps into north wales. one or two for northern ireland. they are easing in the western side but continuing in the north. the ridge of high pressure is the reason with most of the snowfall through the early part of the day and then around 4—6dc from mid afternoon, which is higher than it has been. with sunshine and light winds, it will not feel as cold as recently, but it will turn very cold overnight, we think the coldest night of the winter so far. starry skies for many except perhaps northern ireland. —12 potentially

over the snowfields of scotland and -io over the snowfields of scotland and —10 over the snowfields in the south and that is very cold indeed but it does not last. from tomorrow we have low pressure systems and atlantic weather fronts coming in. low pressure systems and atlantic weatherfronts coming in. yes, cold to start with and icy, but then we have sleet and snow in the hills of northern ireland, scotland, northern england. here it should stay dry over central and southern areas of england and wales still after dark but a day of change and not particularly warm. we have cold air on the ground and it will turn foggy particularly over the hills. the first weather front fizzles out ahead of the next system coming in. snow at lower levels potentially as we head towards monday morning and still the frost. still the potential of more snowfall possibly disrupted but we have weather fronts and milderair but we have weather fronts and milder air pushing in which is the theme next week. milder compared

with this week but with heavy rain and windy weather. hello and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week, questions for the united states in venezuela and in yemen. and the british prime minister wins parliamentary backing for something?sort of. my guests today: eunice goes, the portugese writer american broadcaster michael goldfarb alex deane,