good morning. welcome to breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. our headlines today: the terrifying moment thousands of people took refuge on the shore in australia to escape bushfires engulfing their town. we were bracing for the worst, because it was black. like, it should have been daylight but it was black like midnight. and we could hear the fire roaring. the uk government says it's seriously concerned about a fair trial for the british woman convicted in cyprus of lying about a rape claim. the minimum wage for over 25s is to rise by 51 pence an hour. it means a pay rise for three million workers, and comes into force in april.

football's law—makers claim the use of the video asistant referee is being used too forensically as calls grow for changes in the use of technology. wake up to the menopause! 2019 was the year this programme broke the taboo and talked about the menopause. we'll look back at the difference our coverage made for thousands of women. good morning. today we are looking at stay largely dry day. the sunniest conditions in the north of the country, cloudier in the south. if you are celebrating tonight, again, most of the uk will be dry. i'll have more details later. a very good morning. it's new year's eve. our top story: thousands of people were forced to shelter on a beach to escape bushfires in the australian state of victoria. the seaside town of mallacoota, east of melbourne, was surrounded by a wall of flames as the sky turned red. there are multiple emergency warnings in victoria and new south wales. several people are missing.

from sydney, phil mercer reports. stuck in a nightmare. this guy in malla coota stuck in a nightmare. this guy in mallacoota turned a grotesque red as strong winds pushed out of control bushfires towards the popular seaside town about 500 kilometres east of melbourne. thousands of people were trapped and sought shelter on the beach. some waded into the water to escape red hot embers that range down. others fled by boat, but most waited patiently for the danger to pass off or help to arrive. it's still a dynamic and dangerous situation, so we've got embers going into mallacoota at the moment. we've got 4000 people on the beach there that are being very well protected by our firefighters. the australian navy could be brought in to provide food, water, and power to communities isolated by the fires.

once again, very hot temperatures and gusty winds have combined to make this another dangerous and destructive daily. at least two people have died and several others are missing as dozens of blazes rage in south—eastern australia. the authorities say that many houses have been lost. the new south wales rural fire service commissioner, shane fitzsimmons, says this is the state's worst bushfire season on record. the crisis shows no sign of ending. for many australians the new year will bring more anxiety and fear. phil mercer, bbc news. we go now to one of those people affected. david jeffery runs a b&b in mallacoota and was forced to flee to the beach when the fires attacked the area. just tell us what is the very latest and how has it been for you there is yellow you can see the firies are

going out there right now, they are getting cheers, because the fire fronts are reported on earlier, we got saved, really, from that horrendous initial front. but what has gone on since we spoke has been spot fires. we actually had a big section of bush that didn't burn over here to my right, called shady gully, but got on fire when people we re gully, but got on fire when people were thinking about going back to their homes. we don't know yet who has gone back and who hasn't. one lesson is going to go back under any circumstances until it is 100% safe. the homes can be left. because, honestly, what has happened, we have had... it has burnt house by house. the bed and breakfast that we own, sarah andi the bed and breakfast that we own, sarah and i own it, and its over here and i don't know whether it is there. they think it could be at the moment. but it has been horrendous.

we have watched fires spread along this foreshore, trumping the tea tree. and we've watched home after home and, unfortunately, if you have ever seen the hunger games, when someone ever seen the hunger games, when someone dies in the hunger games the rockets or whatever goes off, that gone, well, the fire extinguishers explode as each house goes. it airily reminds me of that movie —— airily. the thing is that people are 0k. airily. the thing is that people are ok. if you look around, we are in a safe location. but what we have been reminded of today is that we were very blessed. there was prayer, many people praying for us, i'm talking about the god of the bible here, i'm talking about jesus, about the god of the bible here, i'm talking aboutjesus, that is who are was praying to, and we have seen him spare oui’ was praying to, and we have seen him spare our lives. don't run back to those material things, don't risk your life... david, it has clearly been a terrifying situation. you talk about being saved. how close was it? don't know there were many

hundreds of you trying to get to safety. what was it like is yellow well, there were thousands, 4000, 4000 just here on the foreshore. if it had come through like a normal fire with that wind pushing it, god only knows how many would have died. they would have been mass casualties. the thing is we were spared. as explained earlier. with that wind pushing right up as it hit the town from the sirens started up. that wind swung like it shouldn't have. eye was witness to it. it sorta put the brakes on the fire, the fire front. then, you know, we we re the fire front. then, you know, we were spared, honestly, honest to god. and i believe prayer has made a huge difference. david, listen, it has clearly been a really terrifying few hours for you. thank you very much indeed for your time we will try to come back to your later. they hope that your house, your b&b, et cetera, a re hope that your house, your b&b, et

cetera, are ok. look, it hasn't been, there is terror, but i've got faith as well, which is a bit different. but they appreciate everyone's love and support. everyone out there can pray, eve ryo ne everyone out there can pray, everyone who knows jesus everyone out there can pray, everyone who knowsjesus can pray, so we can everyone who knowsjesus can pray, so we can still be saved in australia. pray for us. david, thank you, thank you very much indeed. we will try to come back to you later. our correspondent shaimaa khalil is in balmoral, near to sydney, which was almost completely destroyed by the blazes just before christmas. we spoke to yesterday on the programme, and you are telling us about conditions, are there any signs that things are starting to improve? well, we have been here when some of these trees were still on fire. now we are back you could see the extent of that damage. we have been driving around balmoral and as david was describing there,

it was almost house after house after house just raised to the ground with a few houses here and there spared, showing the extent of there spared, showing the extent of the damage, showing also help unpredictable the fire behaviour has been here. but, really, most of the people who have come back have been in shock. the reality really for the community here, the small community of balmoral is coming back to their homes with many people who have lost everything. many have actually been coming and gathering in the local fire station getting updates, but also getting basic supplies from their homes. and as these fire fronts continue to be really, really big, beyond control, this is what people are afraid of here in this community. really good to talk to you. thank you very much. we will continue to update you on that throughout the morning. some of the pictures are quite incredible to watch. it is clearly an ongoing situation. we will try to keep you up—to—date on breakfast. the government says it will raise concerns with the authorities

in cyprus about the fairness of a trial of a british woman convicted of lying about being gang raped. lawyers for the 19—year—old insist she was pressured by police into changing her story. they say she wasn't given a fair trial, and they plan to appeal. the young british woman at the heart of this case hasn't been able to leave cyprus sincejuly. yesterday she was found guilty of making a false statement about a crime the country's gloucesters was imaginary. her lawyers insist both the police investigation and the court process we re investigation and the court process were flawed. they plan to appeal. the young israeli tourists who originally accused of raping the young woman were freed and allowed to fly home after she retracted the allegation. she says she only did that because she was put under huge pressure by police questioning when she was vulnerable. unusually, the british foreign office has made a public intervention. a spokesperson

said the uk was seriously concerned about the fair trial guarantees and what it called the deeply distressing case. it is that it would be speaking to the cypriot authorities about it. women's rights activists demonstrated outside court. they argue that the young woman is a big not a criminal. she told the sun newspaper the judgement was not a surprise, but she would fight it, saying one moment she was the victim, the next the accused. sentencing is due on the seventh of january. later —— jail term of up to one year is a possibility. katy austin, bbc news. the national living wage is to rise by 6.2% from april next year. the hourly rate for people under the age of 25 will also rise. ben is here with the all details. good morning to you. a pay rise for millions of workers had to come in. let me run you through the details. the national living wage is to rise to £8.72 an hour for those over 25. that will affect about 3 million

people. they will see that rates go up. we will see increases for those on the minimum wage, apprentices and those under the age of 25. but to look at the national living figure, thatis look at the national living figure, that is a sip an hour. about four times the rate of inflation. we welcome boost for those on the lowest incomes. similar rises right across the board. when eunice was coming. it is done every year. it is set by the lower pay commission. they look at what the cost living is across the country and what people need to be paid to do that work. it is coming in a little earlier than expected. the government hailing this is a big ray rice. across the country. nonetheless a welcome change, rising to eight points £72 an hour. people might remember carlos ghosn, the head of nissan, there are developments in that case. absolutely astonishing this morning. tramaine pete will who he is, the former boss of nissan, credited with turning around the fortunes of nissan are making it a turning around the fortunes of nissan are making ita big

turning around the fortunes of nissan are making it a big player —— people will remember. he was arrested in november 2018, accused of embezzling funds, using company money for personal gain and for underreporting his salary. so he was arrested and sacked from the company three days later. this morning he has popped up in lebanon. and that's all the more interesting because he was essentially under house arrest injapan. he had to surrender his passports, he was under video surveillance at home. his lawyers had his passports and there were strict bail conditions about him travelling out of the country. just to spend two nights away from home he had to ask the courts for permission. the fact he has managed to get out ofjapan permission. the fact he has managed to get out of japan has raised questions about what he now intends to do when he is there. he says he has not fled justice, but he has escaped injustice. it is a pretty damning statement. he says he will no longer be held hostage by average japanese justice system were guilty as presumed, discriminate and is rampant, and basic human rights are denied. he is coming out fighting.

he denies all the charges against him. and he says he is now able to communicate with the media and the public to let them know, he says, was really going on. very interesting. thank you. we will bring you up—to—date with what is happening with the train companies. all rail companies should be running fully accessible trains for disabled users from tomorrow, but some firms could still be operating services that will break the new legislation. new carriages have been delayed, as have some adaptations to old ones so ten companies have been forced to apply for temporary exemptions. paul plummer, chief executive of the rail delivery group, which represents rail companies, says the industry is committed to making the railway more accessible. more than 800 sightings of whales, dolphins and seals have been recorded in british waters this year. the wildlife trusts' review of the uk's marine environment reveals that thousands of people volunteered to clean beaches — amid growing concern over wildlife, climate change and pollution. 41 new marine conservation zones around england were also announced.

thousands of heterosexual couples in england and wales are expected to enter into civil partnerships from today. it comes after a long legal battle against the law that had previously only permitted same—sex couples to become civil partners. it'll offer the same legal rights as marriage, but without the religious links. hogmanay celebrations got under way in edinburgh last night. the festivities began in the city last night as around 40,000 people joined a torch—lit procession which ended with them forming the shape of two humans reaching out a "hand of friendship". the events will end with the traditional firework display with more than 3,600 fireworks being set off at edinburgh castle at midnight. while. that looks rather impressive. carol has some nice firework shots for us this morning as well. good morning. good morning to you. not quite in the same league as the

fireworks in and relate on tonight. but nonetheless today is going to be not a bad day. it will be mainly dry. little colder than yesterday. in some parts of scotland 4—7d colder than yesterday. we start off with fog this morning. fog across the south of england. we have a weather front which is going to bring in some spots of rain as we go through the day. quite breezy across the far north of scotland. you will notice it will be cloudy across southern england, central southern england as well, in through wales. here we have some of that rain coming in across the isles of scilly, south—west england, the channel islands stop the fog lingering around the hills and the moors, a move north of that, the north midlands, northern england, scotland, and four—time northern ireland we will see some sunshine. only four degrees n and bro this afternoon. ten in plymouth. —— in edinburgh. if you out this evening

celebrating hogmanay or new year coming in, look at all the xcloud out towards the west. it is moving north—eastward. through the course of the midnight hour what you will find is there will be some holes. temperature is about eight degrees in plymouth at midnight. as we come north you can see in thirsk light winds, in belfast by twins, seven degrees, stronger winds across the northern western isles we have a fair bit of cloud. clear skies across the north—east of scotland and parts of eastern england. here you will need to wrap up warmly if you will need to wrap up warmly if you will need to wrap up warmly if you will be out late. and also we will see patchy mist and fog forming —— forming. some of us will have pockets of frost in the morning. a cloudy start to the day. that sets the scene for new year's day. breezy across the north of scotland, quite gusty winds, especially with exposure. still clinging onto this transient ridge of high pressure. further south, not much wind to move the cloud around. tomorrow will be fairly cloudy. again, we will have some drizzle coming out of the cloud

across western parts of scotland, possibly west wales, possibly south—west england as well. temperatures seven in aberdeen in the sunshine. again we are looking at 8-10 the sunshine. again we are looking at 8—10 elsewhere. as we move from wednesday into thursday, changing the forecast. look at the isobars, windy wherever you are. strongest in the north. we have two weather fronts coming our way and they will bring bring rain. a cloudy start to the day. for some, bring bring rain. a cloudy start to the day. forsome, chilly, where bring bring rain. a cloudy start to the day. for some, chilly, where we have had clear skies by note. in comes the rain moving across scotla nd comes the rain moving across scotland and northern ireland, heading steadily southwards. gusts up heading steadily southwards. gusts up to gale force across the north north—west of scotland. as a mentioned, it will be windy wherever you are. for most the weather is required for much of this week. carol, thank you very much, we will see you later. as we near the end of 2019, we've been looking back at some of the big moments on bbc breakfast over the past 12 months. in may, we invited you to ‘wake up to the menopause' and you didn't disappoint.

thousands of you got in touch to share your experiences, and our menopause week was even mentioned in parliament. i've been speaking to some of the women featured about the impact the series has had on them. i'm 47. i didn't imagine, in my com plete i'm 47. i didn't imagine, in my complete ignorance, that that would happen to me at that age. i thought it would be 55 or something. these swings of mood i'm not accustomed to, ithink swings of mood i'm not accustomed to, i think one of my daughters but it really well, ijust don't to, i think one of my daughters but it really well, i just don't feel myself. i don't feel quite myself, there's something like, quite a bit uncomfortable in my own skin. for the first time we saw somebody getting up in the morning to go to work, and during that you can be going through the menopause and you can still be a strong woman who is living life. you know, i'm kind of putting on a face for you when i wa ke putting on a face for you when i wake up every morning and

behind—the—scenes i was holding on by my fingernails, is what i was doing, like probably what most of us are doing most of the time. 26, 27 yea rs' are doing most of the time. 26, 27 years' servers. i was responsible for international police development, and then i started suddenly going to work, my decision—making was becoming shocking. i was becoming quite quickly ineffective at work and i couldn't understand why. without hrt and husband support, i wouldn't be here today, i wouldn't be at work. i would have resigned. one of the big things for me was when i had to take off work, what was a stick with? i put depression. but now we can put menopause—related illnesses. put depression. but now we can put menopause-related illnesses. would you like that across other companies as well? oh, definitely. when you speak about what is happening in the

manchester police, the lightbulb moment happened. a lot of organisations are working towards this around the country in the world. i've become a menobore. wake up world. i've become a menobore. wake up to menopause! even though i'm still going up and down, the days where i have this confidence of power, i feel strong where i have this confidence of power, ifeel strong in where i have this confidence of power, i feel strong in the way i never did before. on my good days, i am invincible in a way i never was before. i used to be quite a shy little girl, sitting in the background. now, some days i'm like, shut up! just the power and strength you feel on those good days. i'm like, if it's like this when i'm on the other side, i can't wait. it is positive, we shouldn't let it define us. positive, we shouldn't let it define us. it's a very difficult

transition. i'm on the other side and it is a fantastic place to be. there is a complete new sense of freedom. we met via the bbc breakfast over twitter. and after bbc breakfast there was very much a buzz of... the genie's out of the bottle. there's a change - something in the air. and energy. i was in the gp's, in the air. and energy. i was in the gp's, looking out all of these posters, and thinking why is there not a poster for the one thing should have? to see a list of symptoms and to be able to join the dots yourself and say this is what is affecting me, for me it would have made such a difference. we are told it's going to going to every gp surgery told it's going to going to every gp surgery in wales. so you've started in wales, and your ambition is

where? there are everywhere. even all over the world. i've taken it up mount everest, the indian ocean... this is the poster girl for you. are incredible. —— she is incredible. this cannot go on any longer. incredible. —— she is incredible. this cannot go on any longerlj incredible. —— she is incredible. this cannot go on any longer. i am going to use the chains tojust make the most of my life. to feel more positive, to feel more good about myself. this made me cry a bit. that

was wonderful. wow. i just wow. ijust wanted wow. i just wanted to wow. ijust wanted to say wow. i just wanted to say that i learnt such an enormous amount from doing that. i feel personally in a much better place and i know a lot of other people do as a result of what we did. thank you to everybody who got in touch over that we, because they think is the kind of people watching and me, we all learn so people watching and me, we all learn so much. hopefully we can go forward and learn more and be more positive. i think it's better to say the start of the week you were really worried about it. i was really worried about telling people. absolutely. i was really worried at the start of the weekend it still feels kind of scary talking about it, but thank you everybody, thank you. you'll make you and everyone else who got involved has made a massive difference. you started big conversations, so thank you. it's 6:23am. and we got the sport, is it va are again? is it killing the

game? yes, it is the ar again. —— var. football's law— makers claiming var is "too forensic" when it comes to settling offsides. lukas brud the general secretary of the ifab says there may need to be a re—adjustment around var and its use. you just wonder of their intervention might see a possible change, but strong words, that is for sure. he said when it comes to offside var should not be "too forensic" and should only be used to reverse "clear and obvious" errors. the big debate is how its affecting things for fans. their enjoyment in the stadium and in the grounds. the brighton head coach graham potter says he isn't sure where the use of the technogolgy will end. the next thing we're gonna do is probably get rid of the referees,

get rid of the linesman, because everything will be so correct, i don't understand why we want that. but if we want everything so correct, in the end just do away with linesman, referees, put drones up, use computers and artificial intelligence. i'm sure we will get all of the decision is correct, but i don't think anybody would really like football anymore. that would be a step too far. david moyes had a strong response to any west ham umnhappy with his appointment as manager. he said winning is what he does and the club are getting a very experienced manager. west ham are 17th in the table, he'll be in the dugout for tomorrow's game against bournemouth. what you getting with me here is a very experienced premier league manager. there are only two or three people. i think i probably got the biggest ring rate does not win rate out of a certain number of managers. so he put it that way, that's what i do. a win. i'm coming here to west

ham initially to get us wins and away from the wrong end of the table. michael van gerwen isjust one match away from successfully defending his title at the world darts championship. the world number one is through to the final after beating nathan aspinall six sets to three. van gerwen is trying to win the title for a fourth time. he'll need to beat peter wright who beat gerwyn price in a bad tempered match at alexandra palace — they did not shake hands at the end. wright last made the final in 2014 when he lost to van gerwen. great trousers. i was going to say that. i think you could get a pair of those, dan. may be over the weekend. thank you, john. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london. i'm tarah welsh.

young volunteer police cadets are being used to help the met fight against knife crime. over the last six months, teams in every borough have helped carry out searches of parks and other public spaces for knives and weapons. we launched it in november, 2018 following a successful operation. i was asked by the head of the crime task force do not sit across the whole of london. this is our six—month operation, and the 26 knife. during that period we have deployed 353 of our volunteer police cadets, and we have surged 135 parts, this is the hundred and 36 park to date —— 136th park to date. it's the last day of 2019. and this new year sees the 20th birthday of the london eye. built for the millennium, it was only meant to be in place

for five years but is now a permanent landmark on our skyline. it was designed as part of a competition with its 32 capsules representing each one of the london boroughs. and the landmark will be one of the key features in tonight's event on the south bank. 12,000 fireworks will be let off from three barges in the thames and from the london eye. and the team only has a couple of hours to rig the display on the eye after it closes to the public at 6pm. it's around about half nine, ten o'clock, we get the eye to lock down. so with 2.5 hours to go, we find out when we have some of it, all of it or not of it. it's a very anxious moment when we run that test at 10pm anxious moment when we run that test at10pm in the anxious moment when we run that test at 10pm in the evening with two hours to go, praying that we have green, green, green across the board. let's take a look at the travel situation now. on the tubes there's are minor delays on the bakerloo line and the picadilly line is closed between uxbridge and rayners lane. great western railway is running a reduced service today because of major engineering works.

on the roads, one lane closed on city road southbound approaching the old street roundabout now the weather with gill brown. the final day 2019 is here and it's off toa the final day 2019 is here and it's off to a very misty, murky start. the fog is around this morning, so please do take care, it is also going to be a cloudy end to the year. we will be hanging onto the cloud, plenty of cloud around, a very grey and overcast day on the whole. it is a little cooler than yesterday, we are still hanging onto double figures — just stop stop temperatures at 10 degrees. the good news is if you have plans to either new year's eve it should be dry. there is a of cloud, but i think nothing if few fireworks can't writing up a little bit later on. overnight, i think we will see those temperatures fall away to around three celsius. so, it's a grey and 22019, a bit of a great start to 2020 as well. it will still be feeling mild, we are hanging onto those temperatures as we get to the end of the week. but it is going to bea end of the week. but it is going to be a very overcast that you 2020,

have a very happy new year, i'll see you soon. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half—an—hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. now though it's back to louise and dan. bye for now. this hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our main stories this morning: thousands of people were forced to shelter on a beach to escape bushfires in the australian state of victoria. many were poised to jump into the sea as their town was surrounded by a wall of flame. elsewhere, two people have been confirmed dead, and several others are still missing in the fires. the government says it will raise concerns with the authorities in cyprus about the fairness of a trial of a british woman convicted of lying about being gang raped. lawyers for the 19—year—old insist she was pressured by police into changing her story. the national living wage is to rise by 6.2%. that's more than four times the rate of inflation. the changes take effect in april. more on all of that in just

under half—an—hour.