this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at noon: the queen leads members of the royal family at their traditional christmas day service. the young royals accompanied her to church, including prince george. three members of a british family have drowned at a holiday resort on the costa del sol — spanish police are investigating. the dean of westminster abbey says britain is in need of the hope offered by the christmas story. the dean of westminster abbey says britain is in need of the hope offered by the christmas story. hundreds of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays, as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years.

the queen and members of the royal family have been attending the annual church service in sandringham, her majesty arrived surrounded by members of her family. we now see her leaving the service which has just we now see her leaving the service which hasjust finished. there we now see her leaving the service which has just finished. there she is emerging with the prince of wales and camilla, duchess of cornwall, behind. kate and william with george and charlotte attending for the first time ever. louis is at home. princess and in the background in purple —— anne. the queen strolling down the path of mary magdalene church. prince charles and prince andrew arrived for the earlier

service and prince andrew is not there for the live am service. harry and meghan are not with the royals this year in sandringham for the norfolk christmas which is so familiar to the royal family. a crisp, bright, day in norfolk and there are lots of people waiting to see the queen on her way in and i'm assuming they are still there to see the royal family emerge now. you can see more members of the royal family coming down the steps behind the queen now as she prepares to get into her limousine to go back to sandringham for the christmas day feast. this is new territory for george and charlotte. you can see

kate and william, let's see if they doa kate and william, let's see if they do a walkabout on their first christmas day service at saint mary magdalen, whether they are going to talk to the crowd at all. and i smile from prince charles. the duke of edinburgh is not accompanying the queen. hejust emerged of edinburgh is not accompanying the queen. he just emerged from hospital yesterday in london, butjust in time to be with the family on christmas eve. we saw prince george earlier this week mixing a christmas pudding with his father and a nice christmas photo release of the entire family of william kissing louis and george and charlotte with a nice smile for

the camera, photograph taken by their mother, and here they are talking to well—wishers outside st mary magdalene in sandringham. this is tradition for the royal family to have a word with well—wishers as they emerge from church on christmas day. charlotte holding her mother's hand.

charles and camilla are going to talk to the crowd there. quite a large turnout in norfolk on this bright christmas day, everyone with their camera phones at the ready and george having a chat with some of those in the front row, flowers and cards, cameras, smiles and laughs. george and charlotte dealing, almost for the first time, with this kind of exposure at close quarters and all the attention from the public.

charlotte holding onto her mum there. there they are both with their dad. lots of flowers. a security presence but a good—humoured crowd and a relaxed atmosphere, even with police sniffer dogs apparently wearing tinsel and having a lot of love and affection from the crowd, a lot of pats and kisses for the dogs.

a happy moment between the royals and the public after what we believe the queen is about to say in her christmas message this afternoon has been a bumper year for the christmas message this afternoon has been a bumper yearfor the royals, starting with the car crash that the duke of edinburgh had in sandringham earlier in the year. we'll go back to events with the royals later. worth mentioning that i said those we re worth mentioning that i said those were live pictures, but i now learn that they came in a couple of minutes ago so they were not quite live, but just in minutes ago so they were not quite live, butjust in the last few minutes. the foreign office says it's helping a british woman, after three members of the same family drowned in the swimming pool of a holiday resort in spain. it's thought a nine—year—old girl got into difficulties in the water, and her 16—year—old brother and theirfather died after trying to help her. the hotel has issued a statement offering their condolences to the family, and say they are assisting the authorities fully with their investigation. nick quraishi reports.

the christmas holiday that turned to tragedy in one of spain's top tourist destinations. police divers visible next to the pool which claimed the lives of the three family members. it is understood that a nine—year—old girl first got into difficulty in the water, her 16—year—old brother and father, who was 52, then jumped in to try to save her. why none resurfaced from one of the many pools here is now the subject of a major investigation. hotel firm clc world resorts, which runs the complex, released a statement. it said: the firm says it's helping the authorities fully

with their investigations into the deaths, while the foreign office has confirmed it's offering assistance to a british woman following what happened. a woman has died in a serious crash on the mi motorway which happened last night on the northbound side nearjunction12. it was one of two accidents on the motorway overnight with police from both hertfordshire and bedfordshire forces involved. the northbound carriage remains closed but the southbound carriageway has reopened. pope francis has delivered his traditional christmas message at the vatican , in front of thousands of people gathered in st peter's basilica. he called for an end to the conflict in syria, and an easing of the humanitarian crisis in yemen. speaking from the balcony of the basilica e also prayed that venezuelans suffering from the political and social crisis there receive the haid they need.

the dean of westminster abbey says britain is in need of the hope offered by the christmas story. speaking before the midnight service, dr david hoyle said he was hoping the nativity could unite people after years of political conflict. our religion editor, martin bashir reports. this is the first christmas season for the new dean of westminster abbey, doctor david hoyle. an ancient cathedral where monarchs have been crowned and poets celebrated, it is at the heart of our nation, a nation that he says is bitterly divided. i see the divisions everybody else sees. i feel them. i get angry. and i get disturbed. i live in westminster where i bump into it all the time. we need some hope in all of this. i think we've become angry and i think we've become despairing. doctor hoyle says that we need an intervention from outside and that the message of christmas offers the possibility of genuine engagement without hostility.

peace isn't the moment when the arguments stop. peace is the moment when we can contain are arguments. contain our arguments. and that's where we are really struggling at the moment, it seems to me. we can't enjoy our variety. you have to be this or that. i think the gospel suggests this and that, they are both god—given. we can do this together. the story of a child refugee born in perilous circumstances is not the image depicted on most christmas cards. and yet, as the dean of this historic abbey makes clear, redemption and reconciliation are possible, though the task ahead is a challenging one. martin bashir, bbc news. hundreds of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays, as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years. figures released by firefighters

in new south wales reveal nearly 1,000 houses have been destroyed. thousands of australians have moved from their dayjobs to help the firefighting efforts and a change in the weather conditions have aided attempts to control the bushfires. thankfully we're seeing a bit of respite here across the state. in the last 2a hours we've seen between 30 and 50 mills of rain falling in northern new south wales. hopefully that will put an end to fires across northern parts of new south wales, but certainly around the sydney area, central and southern parts of new south wales, we have a long way to go with next to no moisture falling across those areas. so, some rain, but how much, and is more forecast? here's our correspondent, shaimaa khalil. there isn't much forecast, and they need a lot of it to get the help that they need on the ground as far as firefighting is concerned. we did get a little bit of rain in sydney.

there is a little bit of it predicted for some areas in new south wales, but many firefighters that i have spoken to have said that really mother nature needs to help us out here with a lot more rain, which isn't forecast. what is actually forecast are soaring temperatures within the next few days, definitely going through the weekend. that is what they are worried about. firefighters are using this lull in the weather with cooling temperatures, to contain smaller flames as they flare up, try for them not to travel, and doing the backfiring, which is a scorching areas around houses and around areas that they are concerned about, for it to be burned out, for the fire is not to travel. but really what they are saying is, as they continue to grow more tired, because they have been nonstop, it is a concern about the rising temperatures within the next weekend. hundreds of pro—democracy protesters have held a rally in a hong kong

shopping centre in the sha tin area. the city has seen anti—government clashes over the past six months due to a controversial extradition bill. protestors were seen putting up posters on walls which read, "we have not won the revolution, we need to keep going." russian and turkish officials say they have been trying to stop an escalation of fighting in the syrian province of idlib. syrian government forces — backed by russian planes — have been mounting an offensive against militia in the province. one of the latest attacks killed eight people — including five children — who were taking shelter in a school. gareth barlow reports: this is the moment an air strike hit buildings in idlib province. members of the white helmets volunteer rescue force search through the dust and rubble for victims. charred remains mark where syrian government forces, backed by russia, have launched their campaign to retake

the region from rebel fighters. dozens of civilians have been killed and injured in recent days. translation: we run away from rockets, battles and explosive shells. we are asking for god's mercy and the united nations to see what happened to us because of president bashar and the russian army. they are killing us. turkey has warned it's struggling to cope with tens of thousands of refugees trying to cross the border. ankara is working with moscow, syria's key ally, to try to halt the fighting. the united nations, meanwhile, has called for an immediate end to the violence. the secretary—general said he was deeply concerned about the military escalation in the northwest and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. he reminded all parties of their obligations to protect civilians and ensure freedom of movement. the syrian government, which has captured tens of towns,

says it's committed to recapturing the region and will try to protect civilians, but for communities who've already endured eight years of conflict — many of whom have been repeatedly displaced — this latest round of fighting is far too familiar and deadly. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the queen attends sandringham for the christmas service. three members of a british family have drowned at a holiday resort on the costa del sol — spanish police are investigating. the mayor of the chilean city of valparaiso has warned of a dire situation as a forest fire continues to encroach there. the authorities say they're investigating suspicions that the fire was lit deliberately. the fire in a poor neighborhood

of valparaiso dominates the skyline of chile's major port city. residents' christmas eve celebrations were shattered — with their homes damaged or destroyed as firefighters struggled to contain the spread of the fire. the entire fire service of valparaiso, a city of more than 250,000 people, has been mobilized to tackle the blaze. crews from neighbouring areas — and even the military — have also been drafted in to help. translation: at least 60 homes have already been damaged. this number is likely to increase because many are in bad shape, so it's difficult to know at the moment. the residents of two districts regarded as high—risk have been ordered to leave their homes. warm, dry conditions, along with strong winds, have aligned to whip up the flames. translation: all the houses are burning and now the fire is coming here and there's my mum's house down here and the fire is up here. firefighters say the fire started in a forested area and spread

into an inhabited area. it's a city known for colourful wood houses, a construction that would have been a particular risk to these homes. the mayor says he believes the fires were started intentionally and this is now being investigated. bethlehem has experienced its best christmas period for tourist numbers in two decades after thousands of people gathered to mark christmas day. the town is honoured by christians and pilgrims as the birthplace ofjesus christ. the festivities centred on the church of the nativity. for the past 20 years, pensioner terrence has spent christmas day alone. this december has been very different for him. since he told his story to bbc breakfast, he's been very busy — and today he's volunteering with age uk. naga munchetty met up with him to find out how his life has changed.

hello, terrance. lovely to see you. how are you? what are we doing today? i'm taking you to my tea dance. show me the way. you've been really busy! i'm dreaming of a white christmas... did you say you had two left feet? so have i! but dancing is lovely, it's a lovely way to meet people. you can see it's a lovely way to meet people. you can see everyone here. it's a lovely way to meet people. you can see everyone here. this is fabulous. terence, you have warmed the hearts of the nation over the last few weeks and encourage more people to make sure that no one is lonely this christmas. what do you make of the impact you had? i'm really glad it has, but i didn't

expect it to go like this, do you know what i mean? as far as i was concerned, all i was doing was telling it like it was, like i a lwa ys telling it like it was, like i always have done, about spending the last 20 christmases on my own, which i have done since mother passed. if i've done it to help age uk, then i'm more than pleased and i've made an awful lot of friends as well. terence's story is not unusual, we have thousands of older people in oldham that are living terence's life. every christmas day, they spend it on their own and that is what has made it special this year, at least those people, neighbours are going to look in on them, people will post a card through the door and make a real difference to those people.

silent night, holy night... when we came to your house and sang for you, it made us feel special.m broke my heart! it was adorable seeing you so happy. from the day you came to my front door, i can't tell you how pleased i am that you have now signed up as a volunteer for age uk. happy christmas. have a good one. we've been sent loads of cards and presents so we thought we would show you some of them. they have been addressed on your behalf, "to terence." why would. . . ? well, addressed on your behalf, "to terence." why would...? well, you've touched the hearts of people.

terence." why would...? well, you've touched the hearts of peoplem some way i want to thank everybody. i'll open this card, "lots of lovely people do care about you."|j i'll open this card, "lots of lovely people do care about you." i think i get very emotional and when you see so get very emotional and when you see so much kindness being given, we a lwa ys so much kindness being given, we always say there is this and there that, but there's an awful lot of extremely kind people and i've found that out, believe you me, i've found that out, believe you me, i've found that out. i really can't thank you all enough, from the bottom of my heart. we have one more surprise from the bbc breakfast team. wait a moment. 0h, from the bbc breakfast team. wait a moment. oh, my god! what do you think? it's a fabulous snowman cake that was on the show, do you remember dan and louise had a cake maker in the programme? that's wonderful! it looks a bit like me!

four stranded deer who were rescued from a river in greater manchester have been named dancer, prancer, dasher and blitzen in homage to their sleigh—pulling cousins. daring dasher escaped and swam upstream, but the other three were reluctant to follow. they were all eventually saved by the rspca and fire service in a rescue that took four hours. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. blue sky and sunshine for the rest of this christmas day so it will be

nice weather for of this christmas day so it will be nice weatherfor a of this christmas day so it will be nice weather for a christmas walk after lunch. the cloud will change things through tonight and into boxing day so we end the afternoon with temperatures in single digits but with some late sunshine and then some clear skies after dark and that will allow some fog to form across eastern and central england particularly. the fog will lift through the night and we will see more cloud rolling in from the west. the breeze will pick up and will start to see some outbreaks of rain through northern ireland, west wales in the southwest of england, turning milder further east in the southwest of england, turning milderfurther east and in the southwest of england, turning milder further east and north, another chilly night below freezing for a time across some parts of scotla nd for a time across some parts of scotland but for tomorrow and boxing day, we see this frontal system pushing eastwards across the british isles and that will bring some outbreaks of rain. this first rain band pushes its way northeast with a bit of snow mixed in over the very highest hills of the pennines and the highest ground in scotland as well. behind that, the skies will start to brighten a little bit. there will be some further showers

and persistent rain working back into the southwest. temperature—wise, many of us are still in single figures but milder than that down to the south, i2 still in single figures but milder than that down to the south, 12 in plymouth. quite a windy day, especially across the far southwest of england, so through thursday night, boxing day night, you might have travel plans and you will see outbreaks of rain drifting northeast. into friday, high pressure to the south tries to keep things settled back to the north we have frontal systems and this warm front will open the door to some much milder air pushing up from the south so we end this week on friday ona south so we end this week on friday on a very mild note indeed. outbreaks of rain tending to clear eastwards, some further rain into the northwest of scotland but a decent amount of dry weather, some spells of sunshine, but temperatures higher than they have been, 10 celsius for aberdeen, i2 higher than they have been, 10 celsius for aberdeen, 12 in birmingham, and we stick with milder weather towards the weekend. there will be a bit of rain in the

northwest but many of us will be dry. enjoy the rest of your day. lunchtime news coming up at mo, but right now it is time for the travel show.

hello and welcome to this, the last travel show of 2019, so what a better time to take a look back on the past year on the programme? here's a taste of what's coming up. it's incredible. oh, my days! that was completely insane. let's kick off with a trip that mike made over to california back in may. we told him that all he would need was a taste for adventure and a head for heights. here's what happened. here in western california, there are complex beings that have lived for over a millennium. redwood trees have become an icon of this state. but some fear that our

changing climate might threaten their survival. so i have come to the most southern tip of their range — where change could hit the hardest — to join a scientist who has been working here to try to find some answers. it's absolutely amazing being out in the forest, i just love it, listening to the birds and watching the sun move through the canopy, it's beautiful. today, we will be climbing this... so these are coast redwoods. they are the tallest tree species in the world, reaching currently about 380 feet tall is the tallest ones. they are incredibly tough and resilient, really important ecologically and they are iconic. so i have been here, trying to get a better understanding of how they are responding to climate change, and how they might respond to future climate change.

and how are they responding to climate change? as the climate changes, temperatures are increasing, it's drying things out as temperatures get warmer, and that's a big, big consideration for these particular trees because they need so much water, it's affecting their water balance and their ability to transport more water to the tops of the trees. but now, it's time to get to work. groans. there we go. so first, we need a sample of the tree's core. this is the halfway mark there, and then when you get to the ground, we'll be able to pull that spoon out with the core on it. and the hidden secrets beneath this bark will be ours! yes! the knowledge will be ours! earlier on, anthony showed me some of those secrets this tree had already revealed. and so, wow! these are the rings here? yeah, each one of those an annual ring, one year's worth of growth you can see here. so it only grows a couple of millimetres each year? yeah, and sometimes less than a millimetre a year,

depending on how the conditions are. we are back hundreds of years right now? once we polish this up and sand it and get a better view of the rings, you know, this is — there could be 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 maybe years here. wow. so this section up here hasn't seen sunlight for 600, 700 years. yeah. it's an amazing archive. alright, so i have one end of the tape measure. we are doing the circumference measurement. yep, yep. so wrap it all the way around that underneath this tubing that. so we are at 7.81; metres circumference. that's a big tree! it is a big tree. to the top! this redwood stands at over 70 metres tall.

climbing redwoods is forbidden in most places, but in this reserve, we have special permission — and what a privilege it is! 0k. a0 metres. i cannot believe how incredible it is up here. i can't believe how beautiful this tree is. there are burn marks on this tree, it boggles my mind. it's incredible up here. as we inched upwards, i am faced with more scorched bark. anthony told me that wildfires are another threat that these trees are increasingly facing in the modern world. bird's nest. i don't think there is anybody home, though. with anthony already at the top collecting samples, i make my final push upwards.

this view... ..is definitely one of the wildest, most incredible views i have seen in my entire life. i can't believe we are 71 metres off the ground right now. condors get this view. condors, and us. it's incredible. this is 700 years old! which is before the colonisation of america, before taj mahal, before machu picchu. it makes you feel like a speck of sand in the sandbox. like, insignificant. yeah, it's a pretty humbling experience, isn't it? if the climate change experience dries things sufficiently, then they might start to feel some impacts, they might not grow as well, may not get as tall, and they might, in the future, even might die back, and that is what we're trying to find out. do i feel the tree shaking a little bit? yeah, it's waving. just a normal thing, i am assuming? yeah.

time for something with a bit more horsepower now, and in march, adam made his first ever visit to dubai. —— adie. let's just say he got to travel style, very very quickly. good to see you. look at this! jump in. all set? let's do it! everywhere we look, i mean, i'm just seeing... we have a rolls—royce going past here, mercs, that is standard. supercars everywhere. what is it with dubai? why are they so in love with their superca rs here? there are a couple of different reasons. one is to show off. as much as no—one wants to admit it,

people do like showing off. then there are the most amazing driving roads in the uae. danny's ninth degree group of local supercar owners hold regular track days and events here. and they even let you hire one of the top—of—the—range models, so that you can get behind the wheel — for a few hours, at least. we are going to go for a spin in this car, and this car is the real deal. it's almost £1 million worth of raw, brutal, unadulterated power. dan, let's do this, man! let's go. oh, yes! screams.

oh, my days! laughs. now, if you are a fan of winter sports, you are going to love this next one, because back in march, christa headed to latvia to try her hand on one of the very few professional bobsleigh tracks that are open to tourists, and it was quite a ride. welcome to sigulda's bobsleigh track, one of the very few in the world where tourists can get the same adrenaline rush as professional racers. we are about to set off, 100 kilometres down a very icy slope. but luckily, i've got an expert pilot, so fingers crossed that it goes very smoothly. apart from the pilots steering the bobsleigh from the front, a team also includes pushers and a brake man. but tourists get it easy. theyjust need to duck

in and hold — very tight! this track is almost 1500 metres long and you need a pretty strong stomach to manage its 16 curves. woo! chuckles. oh, man! woo! i think that is one of the most intense experiences of my entire life. that was like being in a very, very active, very cold tunnel dryer —— tumble dryer for —— tumble dryerfora —— tumble dryerfor a minute and a half. another winter sport that can take your breath away is this — the skeleton. imagine a luge with no brakes or steering aid that you ride headfirst. i don't think i'm ready to try one of the full—blown skeletons,

but there is a tourist version available that is a little bit more my speed. wish me luck. it's called a frog, and for this one, there's no crew to make me feel safe. woo! oh, my goodness! oh, god! laughter. oh, god! how was it? so cool! i could go again! right now, let's go.

good afternoon. the queen will acknowledge 2019 has been a bumpy year, in her annual christmas message this afternoon. this morning, her majesty attended church at sandringham. but the duke of edinburgh was not in attendance. he left hospital yesterday in time to spend christmas at home. charlotte gallagher is in sandringham for us this lunchtime. charlotte. 2019 has been hugely turbulent for the royal family, perhaps reflected in the fact that prince andrew did not go to the main service this

morning. butjudging by the number of people that were queueing up here from the early hours of this morning, it seems the royal family is still incredibly popular. the queen arrives for the christmas day service, accompanied by her daughter—in—law the duchess of cornwall. this service is a tradition for the royal family and for some of the wellwishers, who queue up from the early hours of the morning. but this has not been a traditional year, with the royals generating headlines they would rather avoid. there has been huge speculation about who would attend the service today. a treat for acolytes of the world family when two of the youngest members, prince george and princess charlotte, arrived their parents. others were there missing, including prince andrew, who went to church with prince charles in the morning but missed the main service. for prince andrew not to attend a church is significant, perhaps an acknowledgement of public opinion surrounding his friendship with the

convicted saxophonejeffrey epstein. the prince decided to stay—at—home with his father prince philip who has just been discharged from hospital. the queen will use her christmas message to describe this year as bumpy, christmas message to describe this yearas bumpy, and christmas message to describe this year as bumpy, and for some in the royal family, they will be keen to avoid the media scrutiny in 2020. yes, and there has been a lot of negative headlines, but speaking to people who were queueing up to see the royals, they are still so supportive, and hold the queen in a lot of affection and a few said they felt very sorry for her after the year she had had. felt very sorry for her after the yearshe had had. some felt very sorry for her after the year she had had. some of the people we met had taken four buses and a train to get here. 197—year—old woman who had wanted to meet the royal family and had never done so before, met princess charlotte and catherine, huge smiles all round. others giving presents and flowers to the royal family, so, there was a huge sense of excitement and gasps when people saw george and charlotte coming up the road. before they went into church, there was a sky writer

in the sky drawing hearts and smiley faces. so, despite the negative headlines, there is still a great deal of affection. the foreign office says it is helping a british woman after three members of the same family, two of them children, drowned in a swimming pool at the spanish holiday resort of fuengirola. emily unia has been following the story. emily what more can you tell us? so, this happened yesterday afternoon. we know that a nine—year old girl was in one of the 21 so in full is in this hotel,. her 16—year—old brother and her 52—year—old father jumped into 16—year—old brother and her 52—year—old fatherjumped into the pool to try to rescue her, they all died. we have seen pictures from the scene showing police divers, we understand they may have been inspecting the pump, some questions have been asked about whether this pump was faulty. we don't know for sure exactly what happened. there are also questions about whether lifeguards were on duty, we are still trying to get clarification on all of that. there is a statement

from clc world resorts and hotels, who run the complex, they say... emily, thank you. religious leaders have been giving their traditional christmas addresses. in the vatican, pope francis said, "god loves everyone, "even the worst of us" — thought to be a reference to abuse scandals in the catholic church. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, talked about the darkness of the london bridge terror attack in his address, as john mcmanus reports. midnight mass at manger square, the place where, for christians, it all began just over place where, for christians, it all beganjust over 2,000 place where, for christians, it all began just over 2,000 years ago. this year, a special link to the past, a wooden fragment which the church says it is from the manger of jesus, back in the whole holy land

after 1300 years. the holy family famously became migrants, fleeing from king herod to the relative safety of egypt. and at the vatican city today, pope francis once again repeated his concern for the plight of those forced to leave their homes. translation: it is injustice that makes them across deserts and seas that become cemeteries, that forces them to endure unspeakable abuse, enslavement and every kind of torture at inhumane detention camps. in his sermon this morning at canterbury cathedral, the archbishop of canterbury, who was recently in the war—torn democratic republic of the war—torn democratic republic of the congo, drew a link between the suffering there and the recent terror attack in london. darkness is a monster that lies. its growling claims seem to call out with a

louder volume than the love filled whispers of light. we see the shadows out of the corner of our eyes. they may be violent, as in the congo or on london bridge... and there is one more christmas message still to come, apart from the queen, of course. on bbc one, grime artist storms the will recite a passage from sainte lu ke's storms the will recite a passage from sainte luke's gospel. if he was born this day in the city of david the saviour... the story of the very first christmas. let's have a brief look at the day's other news. two days of mourning have been declared in the west african country of burkino faso after militants killed at least 35 people, mostly women, during a gun battle at a military outpost. the authorities say the militants arrived on motobikes and that at least 80 of them were killed. unrest in burkina faso has been growing after islamist violence spilled overfrom mali in 2015.

a bush fire has spread and destroyed around 50 homes in the chilean city of valparaiso. residents had to flee their homes during christmas eve celebrations with many losing all their belongings. the blaze was fanned by strong winds. police are investigating whether or not it was caused deliberately. the australian prime minister, scott morrison, has praised his country's firefighters in his christmas message. hundreds of firefighters, many of them volunteers, have been battling bush fires in news south wales which first began in september. the public, too, have been showing their gratitude to the fire service, as shiamaa khalil reports. taking a brief christmas break before heading back to the fire front lines. many of these firefighters have been working non—stop for weeks. despite a lull in the weather, with cooling temperatures and predicted rain in some areas, the risk is not over, as teams brace themselves for hot

conditions later in the week. the new south wales rural fire service is the world's largest volunteer organisation, with more than 70,000 members. most are local volunteers, who have taken on the task to protect their rural communities. and many have been overwhelmed by how people have responded to the work. it's just overwhelming support, like, obviously all the presents and stuff for the kids, and i think that's just what they need at the moment. haven't even gone christmas shopping or anything for my daughter. she's about to turn one on january 11th. just thank you, thank you very much. last week's's catastrophic fires have been fuelled by record temperatures of over 41 degrees, as an extreme heatwave swept across the country, combined with strong winds and dry conditions. australia has been fighting wild fires for months. the early start to the fire season

is stretching already scarce water resources. pictures of a thunderstorm in the north—eastern city of brisbane showed some respite in the hot weather. but firefighters say a lot more rain is needed in many more places, with not much forecast over the next few weeks. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. that's it from us this lunchtime. the next news on bbc one is at 11.35 this evening. from all of us on the team, enjoy your christmas day. hello, you're watching the bbc news channel.

it's the bookies' favourite to be the most watched programme this christmas — gavin and stacey is back on our screens with a one—off special tonight. james corden has been telling our entertainment correspondent colin paterson why they decided to bring it back. are you asking me to step in? what? are you asking me to... # step into christmas! # we can watch the snow fall forever and ever... james corden, i never thought this would happen. back on the set of gavin and stacey, what made you decide to do it again? it was more of a sense of i think — ruth and i thinking, why don't we just explore it, see if there's anything there, if there's a story there, it would be interesting to see where they are. we didn't tell the bbc, we didn't tell any agents or anything, we just did what we did the first time around, really, which was sit in a room and talk about it and see what we have.

we used the house up here is our sort of greenroom. and look who you find in any of these houses, it is ruthjones and joanna page, relaxing between scenes. ifeel like i have walked into the show, this is very peculiar. yeah, yeah. it is quite funny, we're sort of like our characters, just gossiping. what are you reading? mind your own business. laughter. for ruth and i there was very much a feeling of like, well, the time to do it is when you don't need to. the last thing we wanted the show to look like was sort of emergency, break—glass quest to get back on television or for relevance somehow, you know? and so, look, it comes with a huge amount of pressure. it's a strange feeling but we hope people enjoy dipping back into their lives for a moment, you know?

they're all hyped up about tomorrow, they are. hyped up? how do you think i feel? we send each other little things like i heard someone say this today in the supermarket and i thought it would be something pam would say. you were as fascinated as the fans are? we are as interested as everybody else in it to see where it is at. we are lucky we get to find out first. we've just been filming upstairs, it's 101. ha! when people watch this they will go, ‘oh, i remember, that was the hottest day of the year', that's what it is. basicallyjames is rushing around in the hot room and i am lying under a very synthetic, thick duvet. the thing with the show has always been trying to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, you know? that's where the show was born from. it's that, like, something so small as two people, seemingly so small, as two people choosing to spend the rest

of their lives together has a monumental impact on lots of other people's lives. this is where we shot a scene the other day, the top of the stairs here. matt and i. it was incredibly tight for space. we always want to try and shoot it in its surroundings. so the famous scene where gavin and stacey talk about the fact that she had been engaged... was on this very doorstep. it was right here, on glenda's doorstep. ijust had a drink with your ex—fiance. oh, my god. how do you think i feel, stace? was it clifford? no. leyton ? no. howell? no, ahmed! but he's moved to swindon! he's home to see his mum. it's an iced, erm, oat latte. it's incredible. there's been a lot of cold acting, isn't there? kind of like... but only when you remember to do it. so there's gonna be some takes where people are going brr, and other takes where they're like, ah...

here we go. have you not got suncream on? no, i haven't. you got it? i don't know what i'm looking at. hello. hang on, hang on. you are back here in barry island. mm. when you think you have a us talk show, it mustjust blow your mind. yeah, the trick is not to think about it too much. because i think it's dangerous to have a sort of rear—view mirror and looking at the things you've done, you have to keep looking at the things that you're going to do or want to do. i think that's the trick to sort of holding yourself together and not perhaps starting to think that you're a bit more of a dude than you really are. fan: hello! hello. anywhere — i don't care. are you sure? yeah, yeah — i'm positive. i'll sign it. but do not get this tattooed. what's going to surprise people about this?

surprises? there might be a couple. you might find some things that you've been wondering about, mostly all we want it to be is a joyful hour. here we are, all set, ready, and action! oh, my god, oh, my god! stacey, would you kindly inform everybody that dinner will be ever—so—slightly delayed? well done, ben. could this become a regular thing, every ten years you revisit the characters? oh, that would be a terrible idea. it definitely will not become a thing that happens every decade. i can guarantee you that. people might watch the special be like ‘that was awful, why did you ruin it?‘ and that's the pressure of it. they all like each other, our characters, really, they‘ re a really lovely bunch to be around.

so it will be nice to see them having christmas day again. the gavin and stacey christmas special airs tonight at eight—thirty on bbc one, and colin paterson's full behind—the—scenes tour is available now on the bbc iplayer. now some christmas weather. hello. after all the wet weather we've had lately, today feels like a christmas miracle — blue skies and sunshine for the rest of this christmas day, so it looks fine if you're heading out for a stroll later on to walk off some of that christmas lunch. but on the satellite picture, you can see this lump of cloud out to the west. that's going to change things a little bit as we go through tonight and into boxing day, so we end the afternoon with temperatures in single digits, but with some late sunshine and then some clear skies after dark and that will allow some fog to form, particularly across central and eastern parts of england. some of that could be quite dense for a time, so do bear that in mind if you are travelling this evening. as we go through tonight,

that fog will tend to lift because we'll see more cloud rolling in from the west. the breeze will pick up and we'll start to see some outbreaks of rain through northern and western wales and the south—west of england. turning milder here as well, further east and particularly further north. another chilly night will get down below freezing, at least for a time across some parts of scotland, but for tomorrow, for boxing day, we see this frontal system pushing its way eastwards across the british isles, and that will bring some outbreaks of rain. this first rain band pushing its way north—east has a little bit of snow mixing in, perhaps over the very highest levels of the pennines and the highest ground in scotland as well. behind that, the skies will start to brighten a little bit. there will be some further showers and some more persistent rain working back into the south—west. temperature—wise through the afternoon — well, many of us still in single figures, five, six, seven, eight degrees, but milder than that down to the south — 11 for cardiff, 12 degrees in plymouth. quite a windy day as well, particularly across the far south—west of england. now, as we go through thursday night, boxing day night again, you might have travel plans. we will see outbreaks of rain continuing to drift northeast with some clear spells as well. now, as we get into friday, high pressure to the south trying

to keep things settled. but to the north, we have frontal systems and this warm front here, as it moves its way through, will open the door to some much milder air pushing up from the south. so we end this week on friday on a very mild note indeed. outbreaks of rain tending to clear away eastwards, some further rain into the northwest of scotland. but generally speaking, a decent amount of dry weather, some spells of sunshine, but those temperatures higher than they have been, ten degrees for aberdeen, 12 degrees in birmingham. and we stick with that milder weather as we head towards the weekend. they'll be a bit of rain in the northwest. many of us will be dry. that's all from me for now. enjoy the rest of your day.

this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at one: the queen leads members of the royal family at their traditional christmas day service. the young royals, prince george and princess charlotte, also joined the annual christmas gathering for the first time. three members of a british family have drowned at a holiday resort on the costa del sol — spanish police are investigating. the dean of westminster abbey says britain is in need of the hope offered by the christmas story. hundreds of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays, as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years. in half an hour's time, we look back on the collapse of travel firm thomas cook and it's far reaching effects on customers and staff. review 2019: the thomas cook story.