this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 103m: the energy watchdog demands an urgent report from the national grid into a huge power blackout that caused almost a million people to be without electricity and hundreds to be stuck on trains until the early hours of the morning. they try to provide taxes, but the wait was about a0 minutes. which meant i wouldn't have gone home until later, so i had to pay out on my own pocket again. an incredibly rare event, the simultaneous loss of two large power stations. the normal protection systems we have responded normally, but the loss was so large that we we nt but the loss was so large that we went into our secondary systems. iamat i am at king's cross station, one of the worst affected by yesterday's

power outage. today some traits are now starting to resume a normal service. —— some trains. michael gove says there'll be a bailout fund for businesses hit by brexit. real pay for millions of lower and middle income earners is lower than it was a decade ago, says the tuc. liverpool make an ideal start to the season as they thrash newly promoted norwich a—i at anfield. and the travel show heads to lebanon to find out how beirut is trying to regain its reputation as the entertainment capital of the middle east. the energy regulator is demanding answers from the national grid after a major blackout which struck large areas of england and wales yesterday evening. around a million people

were affected by the power cut, which led to major disruption to rail passengers, caused traffic lights to fail and left thousands of homes without electricity. the national grid said the major power cut was a ‘rare and unusual event‘ caused by the ‘almost simultaneous' loss of power at a gas station and an offshore wind farm atjust before five o'clock yesterday. disruption lasted for around 90 minutes before power was restored at 6:30 last night. train passengers were stranded across the network, and particularly at king's cross station, with many not getting home until the early hours. further knock—on disruption is expected to continue until lunchtime today. andy moore reports. darkness at clapham station. the lights went out, the display boards died, even the ticket machines were completely dead. after four hours on a train outside saint pancras, this passenger was glad to see help arrive. the people on board were offloaded and escorted to a nearby station

where water bottles were waiting. 0thers weren't so lucky. this was the message for travellers stuck on a train that finally got into king's cross just before two o'clock in the morning. they tried to provide taxis, but the wait was about a0 minutes. which meant i wouldn't have got home until even later, so i would have had to pay out of pocket again for an uber, which cost me £a0. national grid has given little details about what caused the power cuts, but industry experts say that out for a:58pm the gas—fired plant at little barford failed. —— that at a:58. two minutes later, the hornsey offshore wind farm also disconnected from the grid. there were still problems on the trains hours after power was restored to the million or so homes that lost their electricity. it was about a 5% loss of power over about 90 minutes. that's what happened. so why that led to the heart

of the national transport infrastructure being closed down is a big question that the grid have to address. the regulator, 0fgem, has asked for an urgent report about what went wrong, and enforcement action, including fines, could follow. 0ur correspondent greg mckenzie is outside kings cross station. how have things worked out this morning? is there still disruption? yes, some disruption, albeit slightly. the 10:28am to cambridge from here is cancelled. before that the 8:38am to edinburgh council, so what we are seeing this morning is service is slowly but surely getting back to normal. through those doors are the commuters heading off to their destinations, many of them saying to be this morning theyjust wa nt to saying to be this morning theyjust want to know what happened, i they going to get compensation? some say

they could not get into the station because the police were called to control the crowd numbers. many people stranded here overnight. this morning these services are actually getting back to normal, just one cancelled train in the next hour. all the others are going according to the schedule. questions are being asked, why did this happen? how did happen? the director of operations for 0fgem has said that this was a rare occurrence. he himself had been talking to 0fgem, the uk energy regulator, overnight my they have asked for an immediate urgent report to detail the specifics of why this happened. he has said that lessons must be learned so that they can avoid this from happening in the future. spekaing to bbc breakfast, the director of operation for the national grid, duncan birt, said there were many

lessons to learn from this ‘rare and unusal event'. we saw an incredibly rare event yesterday evening, the near simultaneous loss of two large power stations. the normal protection systems we have responded normally to try and manage that, but the loss was so to try and manage that, but the loss was so large that we went into our secondary systems, and what they do is disconnect small amounts of electrical demand around the country in order to protect the rest of national demand. the power cuts last night made a sick could impact on people's evenings, they were related to those protection systems firing. how much of a shock to it was to national grid? it is rare but we are ready for it. the last time we saw a similar event was in 2008 and the progression of that event was very similar. we saw the system working again and a number of points of

political demand disconnected around the country. 0bviously political demand disconnected around the country. obviously it has a huge impact on people, but ourjob is to operate that network 2a/7 as reliably as we can make sure that people the power they need, but when we have a very rare event like this, that operations continue as much as they can. you say your operation is to operate as reliably as you can, it was the idea of two power generators failing in succession is when you are ready for, but that doesn't really balance up with the chaos that this has caused across the country? we recognised a very sick get out of disruption across the country, and... people were stuck on trays for hours until the early hours of the morning, it doesn't sound as if you are ready for holding up your rent of the bargain in terms of being responsible for our power supply. following the loss of the generators, the systems worked to protect supply to the majority of the country. the supplies were

remade available again within 15 minutes, add distribution networks who operate that process confirmed that power was restored to the supply by 630 pm. so a large amount of disruption going on from that through the evening and that is something we want to sit down with collea g u es something we want to sit down with colleagues across the electricity industry and key partners such as network rail to understand what happened and how we can avoid it happening in future. have you not had conversations like that before? absolutely, it is a regular part of oui’ absolutely, it is a regular part of our review of these contingency arrangements, we wouldn't want to see the kind of effectively dead. we needed a detailed technical examination of the event, we will be sending that report through to 0fgem and will build that analysis over the coming days and weeks as we review it. of that, i am sure we well—known lessons and want to review how this worked to avoid some of those could impact in future.

yesterday, a quote from the national grid says the events were out with their control. that could worry a lot of people. are you in control? absolutely, and when we say that what we mean is that the simultaneous loss of those two power stations is very rare and sits outside the normal standards we would work to, to make sure people have all the power they need 2a/7. that level of extreme vet med we would enter those secondary protection systems which caused the disruption that we saw yesterday evening. let me refer back to something you were explaining to is earlier in this interview that you chose to deliver a cut power to certain services, signals, trains, hospitals. how is that logical? that is something we want to look at. those are open automatic protection systems on the local networks around the country, and those protection

systems, this event happens very quickly, so those signals fire at the electricity demand is removed, and that has had a big impact on transport, railways, hospitals, and newcastle airport. we will want to look at that closely. we would a lwa ys look at that closely. we would always wa nt look at that closely. we would always want to minimise the disruption that is seen even under these severe and unusual events, and of easily what we saw last night, we appreciate the real challenge that put on people and the significant disruption it made to people's lights. —— people's lives. with me is the labour peer and former chair of the national infrastructure commission, lord adonis. the infrastructure commission's job was to ensure resilience in all the infrastructure of the country, this is one of the most important aspects of that. are you surprised with how much power was lost yesterday? as a result of what sounds like a relatively routine outages? this is a serious situation added national

grid has a lot of explaining to do. at one level it is a very rare event, two power stations going down literally a few minutes apart. that leading to a loss of power across the system which then has a trip mechanism that led to people losing electricity. but the resilience of the system is the first issue, and the system is the first issue, and the second is the design of the system that meant that with a 5% loss of power, which is what happened overnight in minutes, one of the first things to be affected bya of the first things to be affected by a national transport system and in particular the electric rail system which is least able to cope with the loss of power of that level. though the national grid are saying today that this was a very unusual event, they designed the systems, and why it is that the systems, and why it is that the systems led to the national rail systems led to the national rail system collapsing, and was the lectures ds on for 90 minutes,

getting everything up and running again isa getting everything up and running again is a massivejob, a big set of questions. if i was still chairing the commission, i would be asking national grid for some really serious evaluation of the design of the systems so that when something like this happens, which i think one can accept sometimes it does, it does not lead to the whole country grinding toa does not lead to the whole country grinding to a halt, which is pretty much what happened yesterday. the national grid's argument is that what happened did so as a textbook example of how this system is supposed to work, in other words it comes under attack in some way or there is a problem, in this case that one of the power generators goes down add a second one goes down, it then switches off power supply to certain things to conserve the power it needs for essential services like hospitals, and on that basis they do not see a problem. services like hospitals, and on that basis they do not see a problemlj did not hear national grid say there wasn't a problem, they say they have lessons to learn. on the basis that

it worked as it was supposed to work, therefore it wasn't a failure. they are not quite saying that either. they have said very little beyond a little explanation of what happened. a number of things failed. you should not have two power stations going down simultaneously. if they do, there should be resilience to bring alternative supply immediately, that clearly didn't happen. which is why the frequency went down below a level head you had to start shutting down supply. but when this last happened, this is not an act of god, it happened ii this is not an act of god, it happened 11 years ago, and something that happens every decade, we should be prepared, it did not happen last time leading to the collapse of the transport system, a little more people losing power for a short period, but a big question that needs to be answered is why, with a 596 needs to be answered is why, with a 5% loss of power across the country, for 90 minutes, which is what happened, the whole of the city

electric train service collapsed. that is to do with the design of the systems. i think national grid have to do systems. i think national grid have todoa systems. i think national grid have to do a lot of work on this, and i'm glad to hear that 0fgem is on to theirs, not just because glad to hear that 0fgem is on to theirs, notjust because of the issue of compensation which is important, but to ensure this doesn't happen again. the two stations that went down, one was gas and the other wind turbines, given that it and the other wind turbines, given thatitis and the other wind turbines, given that it is almost in the nature of wind turbines that they cannot provide guaranteed constant power because of the wind comes and goes, does that not require the system to be even that bit more resilient? so that it be even that bit more resilient? so thatitis be even that bit more resilient? so that it is more likely with the mix of power we now have that these outages will happen, something has to kick in more effectively so that we don't have this level of disruption. my understanding is that what happened with the wind farm, one of the largest in the country, was not that the wind stopped and it

was not that the wind stopped and it was a loss, because that happens gradually, up and down, but what happened was serious technical failings in the distribution of the power from the wind farm into the grid. a big question that needs to be asked is how far back was the national grid's own fault, so i don't think it would be right to get up don't think it would be right to get up and argument that renewables are less reliable. they need to be planned and they do, how they come in at out of the system depending on the availability of wind is usually important. but what you had was the wind farm and a gas power generator going down simultaneously. it looks as if what happened was a catastrophic failure in both cases and not just because catastrophic failure in both cases and notjust because it became less windy. in terms of the kind of work that now needs to be done, 0fgem and the national grid are looking at theirs, i weather if it goes wider. do we need to be reviewing the kind of resilience in our infrastructure

more generally rather than just power generation? give it all the other factors like the effect of climate change, that we are having to be more aware of problems that could arise. we saw that with the dam at whaley bridge. there are two different issues, it is the job of national grid to see that the national electricity transmission system and distribution system are resilient. they have given, when i was cheering it, they gave complete assurances to the government and people doing jobs like my that that was the case. that clearly has proven not to be sufficiently reliable. they need to look at that. that is not the fault of the politicians but the technical people who need to see that the assurances they give are being met. the longer—term issue is about loss of generating capacity as we decarbonise. i'd seen we take decisions in a timely fashion to assure we have sufficient generating capacity in ten to 15 years' time i do not become dangerously exposed in

terms of generating supply. it is important to separate these issues. some people say it is because of renewable energy, but it is essential that politicians do not close decisions, but that is not what is at stake today. it is whether national grid is doing its job properly on the basis of what happened yesterday, it is not doing it sufficiently well. pay rates have fallen for millions of lower and middle income earners in the uk over the past decade, according to a report from the trades union congress. the report said austerity and a lack of bargaining rights had held down pay in working and middle class jobs. a treasury spokesperson said it had given the lowest earners a pay rise, and had cut income tax for 32 million people. the tuc has called for more action to be taken. what we are seeing is people seeing real cuts in their pay packets, people in middle earning jobs actually seeing them pay for. that might bejobs in things like construction, may be in local

government, if you are doing a more kind of administrative job there, you are likely to have seen your pay go down over this period. and of course that has a real impact on your ability to live, your cost of living, your ability to pay your bills as well. homes and businesses in whaley bridge will be able to access emergency government funding, to cover any losses following the evacuation of the town. £100,000 is being made available to help with any costs not covered by insurance. people were moved from the area last week, amid fears the nearby dam could collapse. the fund is part of a bigger £5 million pot for flood—hit communities. michael gove, the cabinet minister in charge of preparing for a possible no—deal brexit, says a support fund for british businesses will help firms to deal with any "bumps in the road". he spoke openly for the first time about what's known as 0peration kingfisher while on a visit to northern ireland. meanwhile, as the government ramps up its no—deal planning, a leaked memo from the department for the environment, food and rural affairs, seen by the bbc, claims there's

"a lot of uncertainty" about the uk's capacity to patrol fishing waters after a no—deal brexit. the note says there are just 12 ships "to monitor a space three times the size of the surface area of the uk". i'm joined now by our political correspondent, tony bonsignore. just on this question first, of the bailout fund, an interesting one, because presumably these are problems that arise to businesses as a consequence of brexit, technical problems, difficulties getting goods in and out. what sort of money is going to be available and how will the government decide? we don't know the government decide? we don't know the details. this is the first we know about 0peration kingfisher or the first that a government minister has talked about it on the record. all we know is we expect it to be discussed in the coming week at the brexit committee. the government says that it wants to help what it

is calling commercially viable businesses who hit temporary difficulties. we don't know what that means. we know that firms may hit all sorts of problems potentially, so higher import course mark external tariffs coming into force, more red tape. it says it was to help those phones with a short—term problem, a cash flow problem, but it begs lots of questions. what sort of practical help? how much money? where will come from? how do uss what a commercially viable firm is, especially after a no—deal brexit when everything changes? a lot of questions for the government to answer. some fresh questions about fishing policy as well. as a result ofa fishing policy as well. as a result of a leaked memo from death row. it sounds potentially worrying fear are only 12 boats to patrol all of those waters was we come out of the common

fisheries policy. —— a leaked memo from defra. what there is memo does is looked at a lot of stories that are being worked on at the moment, one of them around fisheries. ss there is a lot of uncertainty about there is a lot of uncertainty about the uk's capacity to patrol fishing waters after a no—deal brexit, and this astonishing fact that there are only 12 ships to monitor a space three times the surface area of the uk. we have spoken to the government and they say it is just an internal discussion. this e—mail, they say they will have the ships and the expertise to properly enforce security in uk waters. but it doesn't look good. first off, it suggests there is going to be enormous challenges after a no—deal brexit, and secondly suggest that perhaps the government is not as ready as it might be for these challenges. there is not long to go.

we are counting down the days, aren't we? thank you very much. good to have you with us. sport, and time for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. manchester united get under way later. liverpool made a flying start beating norwich in the opening match of the premier league season. four one it finished at anfield, the only sour note an injury to goalkeeper alisson, who had to be substituted. andy swiss was at anfield. bottom of where they are the european champions, but becoming european champions, but becoming european champions, but becoming european champions is what they crave. as been pipped to the title last season, they began this time

against norwich, a big night for the visitors, but their premier league dream soon became a nightmare. an own goalfrom their dream soon became a nightmare. an own goal from their captain set the tone, as zany early liverpool nerves quickly vanished. mo salah scored a totally ruthless second before norwich's defensive frailties were once again exposed by virgil van dijk. it was liverpool at the visitors doubled bass, and by the time that divock 0rigi added a fourth before the break, even the most culinary norwich fan found that ha rd to most culinary norwich fan found that hard to stomach. to their credit, they did not crumble, in fact as liverpool faded, the visitors flourished, finnish striker giving norwich second—half consolation. still a comfortable a—i victory for the host cue, the latest title challenge off to winning start. liverpool's season up and running, they are looking for their first

league title since 1990. could theirs finally be their year? —— could this fa ct fact my when williams argued with the umpire before 0saka went on to win her first grand slam title. ash barty now drops off the top spot, following a run of tough results. wigan have moved to third in super league after beating hull kr. it couldn't have been more comfortable for leeds who recorded back to back wins they beat catalan dragons by a8—8. luke briscoe making it look easy with the last of their seven tries at headingley.

wales, england and ireland all play world cup warm up matches this weekeend as the build up begins ahead of the rugby world cup. ireland take on six nations strugglers italy in dublin first up, before england face wales at twickenham tomorrow, it's an experimental irish side with 12 players to be cut from their squad before the tournament in japan which starts next month. justin rose is three shots off the lead at the halfway point of the northern trust in newjersey. and easy to see why.. look at this.. on his way to making six birdies to move to nine under par. dustin johnston heads the field on 12 under. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website.

eye will be back in the next hour. several hundred families have taken part in a pro—democracy she is protest in hong kong, as activists gear up for another weekend of demonstrations. the peaceful rally, attended by many children, had been granted permission by the authorities. 0ther unauthorised protests are expected later on saturday, with the territory braced for further violence between protesters and security forces. a sit—in at hong kong airport is continuing. stephen mcdonell is in hong kong. another weekend, more protest. any sign yet of a shift by the authorities towards trying to restrict these protest? this gives you an idea of a bit of a shift on both sides, this area of hong kong has seen a stand—off between the protesters and the right police out

the other end of the street. if i come around here, barricades and the like being built, several layers of those barricades. that is to slow the police down when the riot police come for these protesters. why would you want to slow the police down? that is because more and more, instead of trying to control a situation, they are trying to arrest these militant pro—democracy activists, so instead of walking in the police will come running in and grabbing people. ithink the police will come running in and grabbing people. i think they believe that if they can arrest enough people it might start to take the wind out of this movement which has shown no sign of slowing down as yet. apart from this protest, we had a lot of people sitting in the airport in the second day in a row, greeting passengers giving out pamphlets and the like, the government here says it is going to arrest anyone who gathers illegally and the police are put up a sign

warning these protesters that this is an illegal gathering. that is usually the sign we get before they come out hard. the tear gas warning and then the probability warning, that has not come yet. many of these protesters do not want be arrested, they have all started to leave, the word is going around they are discussing where they are going to go and move to another area. the new tactic is a gorilla tactic go somewhere, throw projectiles at a police station or something along those lines, and before the police can grab them they will move to another area. —— gorilla tactic. north korea has fired two short range ballistic missiles into the sea of japan — its fifth major weapons test in under three weeks.

western officials say the test breached eleven un security council resolutions. at least 50 people have been killed after a fuel tanker exploded in tanzania. the lorry is believed to have exploded in the area of morogoro, around 200 kilometres to the west of the capital city dar es salaam. unconfirmed reports suggest people were trying to remove fuel from the vehicle when the blast happened. the mother of the missing 15—year—old girl, nora quoirin, has thanked the malaysian search teams who are looking for her daughter. nora went missing nearly a week ago while on a family holiday. her mother maeve spoke to rescue workers early this morning. we wa nt we want to say thank you to each and every one of you we know you searching night and day for nora, we see you working so hard at also praying with us, being with ours. we know you have given up your time, especially at a special festival

time, to be with ours here. it means the world to us, and we are so grateful for everything that you are doing for us. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. if you have any outdoor plans, the weather could cause a hindrance. a risk of flash flooding, further downpours, but we could also see gales caused issues across england and wales for the rest of the day. when the quite wily, a0—60 mph, especially around the coast, but enough to bring branches down and travel disruption. further heavy rain, part of in the north, thunderstorms in scotland, easington knight, but further downpours can be expected and temperature tonight between ten and 15 celsius. myra, the wind and southern areas will

ease, best chance