200 britons, being flown back from the chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, will be quarantined for m days. thousands have been infected, more than 130 have died. britons in wuhan say they're relieved to be returning to the uk. it's a good precautionary measure. it's in line with what other governments are doing as well. and i think it gives reassurance to people. it comes as british airways suspends its flights to and from mainland china. we'll have the very latest. also on the programme tonight: northern rail will be taken over by the government, after years of passenger disruption. seriously ill patients are waiting more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive in england.

it's farewell — as the european parliament says goodbye to the uk. and science at the ends of the earth — how climate scientists tackled the extreme conditions in antarctica. and coming up on bbc news: world number one rafa nadal is out of the australian open — beaten by the fifth seed, dominic thiem, in a four—set thriller in melbourne. good evening. welcome to the bbc news at six. 200 britons being flown back to the uk from the chinese city worst affected by the coronavirus will be put in quarantine for m days.

it's not yet known where the passengers arriving from wuhan will be housed. the government says they will be put in ‘supported isolation‘. a flight is expected to arrive tomorrow. british airways has also suspended all direct flights to and from mainland china because of the outbreak. the virus — which was first detected in wuhan — has caused more than 130 deaths, spreading across china and to at least 15 other countries. in a moment, we'll have more from our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, but first to this report from our china correspondent, john sudworth. safely out of wuhan. a plane arriving at a california air base with 200 americans on board. earlier, japan got a flight full of its citizens out, touching down in tokyo.

it's the night before the great escape. but the brits are still only preparing to leave. kharn lambert‘s grandmother, vera, stuck on holiday, is running low on her medications. how do you feel about going home? delightful! there is frustration with the uk government. i think it's been an absolute shambles, to be honest with you. i don't think the government have really known what they've been doing. i don't think they've had as much contact with the chinese authorities as they say, because if they had, you know, i would assume that they would have been getting the same information that the americans had got, that the japanese had got, and they'd have been able to put plans in place sooner. despite the lockdown, infections in wuhan are still rising rapidly and anyone flown home from here faces two from here faces two weeks in uk quarantine. maeve clarke, a lecturer from birmingham stuck in wuhan, says she understands why. i think it's a good precautionary measure. it's in line with what other governments

are doing as well. and i think it gives reassurance to people back home, back in the uk, that the right steps are being taken. much is still not known about the virus, but across china, few are taking any chances. villagers are putting up roadblocks and shutting out the world with great barriers of earth. "no outsiders are allowed in at all," this man tells me. beyond the human cost, for china, there's another impact to all of this — fear. with countries beginning to advise against travel, with airlines cancelling flights, and with whole villages cutting themselves off from the outside world, the economic cost is likely to be severe. my name is nick... for some uk nationals, escape is not an option. nick house is british, but his wife's from indonesia. she's been told she can't get a place on the plane. they face more long weeks

of uncertainty, in a ghost city. even a few hours ago, some brits in wuhan said they were waiting for phone calls to tell them whether they are on this flight and what time it is leaving. in addition, many of them don't even know how they are going to get to the airport. this is a city in which our public transport has been suspended. this was once one of china's most dynamic and connected cities. this virus has turned it into one of the ha rd est virus has turned it into one of the hardest places virus has turned it into one of the ha rd est places to virus has turned it into one of the hardest places to leave on the planet. thanks, john. meanwhile... the health secretary, matt hancock, is chairing a meeting of the government's emergency committee this evening to discuss the british response to the coronavirus outbreak. the world health organisation says the whole world needs to take action to stop the spread of the new virus. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh.

this was the last british airways flight this was the last british airways flight from china. anotherflew in from bashan, it follows the foreign office advising against all but essential travel there. the suspension of ba flights to and from mainland china is until friday, but it may be extended. my worry was, i thought, well, ifi it may be extended. my worry was, i thought, well, if i get it and i go into hospital, i would rather be going to hospital over here than over there where you would just be a number, wouldn't you? i couldn't speak the language! 50, here i am. the health secretary, matt hancock, who chaired a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee, said britain is arriving tomorrow on a repatriation flight from wuhan would be quarantined for 14 from wuhan would be quarantined for 11! days. one option is housing them ata 11! days. one option is housing them at a military base, but the ministry of defence could not confirm this.|j think of defence could not confirm this.” think that this is a pretty balanced response, actually, given the

circumstances. on the one hand, you have individuals who are marooned in china at the moment and there is a responsibility to british subjects to look after their interests. against that, of protecting the british public and making sure that we don't bring back people and actually cause an outbreak of this coronavirus in the uk. the new virus which emerged in china is a variety of coronavirus, they take their name from these surface proteins which look like the tips of the crown. now, a lot of common colds are caused by coronavirus. but in the past 20 years, three dangerous new strains have jumped from animals to humans. the sars virus emerged in 2002 in china and killed nearly 800 people worldwide, about one in ten of those infected. mers originated in saudi arabia in 2012 and has

killed about 858 people one in three of those infected. the new coronavirus seems to be far less dangerous. it is unclear what the death rate is because thousands of infected patients are still in hospital, but it does seem much less refill than sars and mers. it is worth pointing out seasonal influenza, flu, causes up to 650,000 deaths globally each year. as with flu, there is mounting evidence that the china coronavirus is contagious before people develop symptoms. it is passed through the air in cuffs 01’ is passed through the air in cuffs or by people touching droplets and services. the virus infects the lungs, causing a fever, a cough and in some cases, breathing difficulties and pneumonia. the incubation period is generally three to seven days, but it may be up to 14 to seven days, but it may be up to 1a days. the next two weeks will be crucial in seeing whether this outbreak pea ks in crucial in seeing whether this outbreak peaks in wuhan and how much

it spreads in and beyond china. fergus walsh, bbc news. northern rail is to be nationalised. the transport secretary has announced the troubled rail operator will come under government control from march 1st, after years of major disruption. grant shapps has ordered bosses of the company to come up with a plan to improve the service for passengers. tom burridge has travelled across the network and has been hearing how an unreliable train service has impacted people's lives. i've had to move house to be closer to uni because the trains are cancelled, or late, and i really struggle to get in in time for lectures and stuff. so, it's been really hard. you've moved house because of an unreliable train service? yeah. i've, like, moved towns completely. quite a lot of people, including myself, will end up spending an extra £100, £150 a week sometimes on taxis

because the train hasn't come, i need to be in work. so, i'm a head chef at the moment. if i don't get in, people don't eat. because i use the train for university. so, like, if there are delays, i get late for lectures. so, ifeel like it's better if you drive. i've lived in the south—east. there, they've fantastic trains, millions and millions of pounds spent. in the north — north—west, particularly — they've never had any investment, and it's an absolute disgrace! it's all over. this franchise has failed. i've not been on time once to work in four months. it can't get worse, so i'm just... any change is good change, in my eyes! but nationalising this vast network — which runs from the humber, in the east, to places like blackburn, further west, linking communities to cities like leeds — won't change things overnight. the branding might change, but old problems will persist. ancient infrastructure, on a crowded network. it's not going to change immediately because you're going to get the same trains, driven by the same crews, running on the same track.

there's no one party that the blame is attributable to. number one, department of transport, successive governments, because they have failed to invest in the railways in the north for the last 30, 40, 50 years. northern's parent company said it did what it could. we have been trying to put more services on the network, but the network hasn't kept up, and that has meant that services have become far too unreliable and, rightly, a new plan is now needed. this isn'tjust about northern. this train company, transpennine express, has also been losing money and failing its passengers. in parts of the country, the rail franchising system that we've had since the days of privatisation is on its way out. the government wants performance—based contracts instead. so, rather than this franchise system, which i think has now run its course, have a system of service contracts for passengers, perhaps over a longer period of time. and most important of all, they get paid when they actually do theirjob, when trains turn up on time.

at the moment, that is not the system with our network. whatever the system, whoever‘s in charge, passengers want basic things. i'm late for everything i do. i'm not going to lie, like, one time, ijust cried because my train was cancelled! they laugh but it's horrible, because itjust affects all your plans. and when you just want to get home from work, it's just the little things like that, when you just want to go home and spend time with your family, you can't even do that. it's a massive impact. well, the new public company which will run the bulk of services in and out of this station will be called northern trains, not northern. the government has promised to sort out sunday services, they have been abysmal, and get rid of those ancient pacer trains which, put simply, shouldn't be in service. and on those broader reforms, well, the wholesale nationalisation of britain's railways is not on the way, but we are moving toward something which is more similar to a nationalised model. tina. tom, thank

you very much. more than 4,000 calls a week for ambulances in england involve waits of more than an hour for a crew to arrive. emergencies that aren't immediately life—threatening, but include heart attacks and strokes, should require an ambulance to arrive within 18 minutes. nhs bosses say there's rising demand and delays handing over patients at a&e. our health editor, hugh pym, reports. on the trolley. well, you were a bit unconscious at the time. dave relives his lengthy ordeal after suffering a heart attack. he was stuck on a trolley in the hospital. but before that, there was a two—hour delay, waiting for an ambulance to arrive. i thought i was going to die. i had massive chest pain, and then i got a dreadful pain right across my left shoulder, right to the spine. this is when she explained to me the difficulties they were having to have ambulances free to send out. my daughter and i were both getting very worried. he could have sat there and just died in the chair. we didn't know.

category 2 ambulance calls — classed as emergencies that are not immediately life—threatening and include strokes and some heart attacks — have a target of arriving within 18 minutes, but the bbc‘s figures reveal that one in 16 people across england were waiting over triple that target, more than an hour. it's certainly not easy to reach everyone as quickly as we would all like, but let's be very clear, all of our staff are working flat out to keep everybody... first and foremost, to keep all of our patients and everybody as safe as possible and to respond to as many patients within the response time targets. categories are slightly different in wales. there are 1,000 calls per week with waits longer than an hour. there are no comparable figures for scotland and northern ireland. he was a genuine, kind person. mark remembers his partner, darren. he died alone, from internal bleeding, waiting for an ambulance. it took nearly an hour and a half, including a delay mark understands

was caused by incorrect categorisation of the call. the fact is, they told somebody who was dying that no ambulance was available. i don't think, but i don't know, that darren knew he was dying. but the fact is, that is the result of what they did. dave and ruth think they were let down by an under—resourced system. the situation — for our personal level — was a nightmare, but it wasn't the people's fault, it wasn't the staff's fault. long waits like that are often symptoms of wider problems, when ambulances are delayed handing over patients at crowded hospitals, so crews can't get quickly back on the road. hugh pym, bbc news. the time is 6:15. our top story this evening: 200 britons being flown back from wuhan in china — the centre of the coronavirus outbreak — will be quarantined. and still to come, a special report

from the antarctic as we go behind the scenes with scientists. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: shocked and appalled. we hear from manchester united fans as they condemn an attack on the home of the club's chairman, ed woodward, in cheshire last night. the uk's departure from the european union passed another political milestone this afternoon, when the eu's parliament voted through the withdrawal agreement, which sets the terms for brexit on friday. it also marked the final time that britain's meps will take part in lawmaking in brussels. our europe correspondent katya adler watched today's historic proceedings. with a resounding yes from many here with a heavy heart, meps from every eu country gave the green light today to the brexit divorce deal. applause. that's it, it's all over, finished.

there's no stopping brexit now, and the uk's most well—known european parliamentarian was never going to go quietly. i know you want to ban our national flags, but we're going to waive —— wave you goodbye and we'll look forward to, in the future, to working with you as sovereign... inaudible. a controversial figure to the last, mr farage's mic was cut. could we please remove the flags? it's been an emotional day. mindful of future relations with the uk after brexit, the european commission president held out an olive branch, using the words of british poet george eliot. only in the agony of parting do we look into the depth of love. we will always love you and we will never be far. long live europe. applause. but every single eu leader agrees, the block will be weaker without the uk. translation: it's a terribly sad day.

we're losing some fantastic uk colleagues, but we, of course, respect the uk voters. anyway, it's not a goodbye, it's a see you again. there's something slightly surreal about this day, this week of goodbyes here in brussels, and that's because the day after brexit day, we enter the transition period. so, yes, legally we've left the european union, but while we're sorting out a new trade deal, practically, things stay the same. paying into the eu budget, accepting laws made here inside the european parliament, but we will no longer have a seat here at the decision—making table. that is a lot of voices to lose. for some uk meps today, even emptying their post box at the european parliament was a symbolic event. it is a disaster, it's a huge disaster. europe is not going to go away. we are going to have to trade with them, we will come on holiday, we will move around, we want to drive around. the regulations will be made here,

in this house, but there will be no british voice standing up for the uk when those regulations are made. but we're not quite there yet. the union flag has two more days to flutter outside eu buildings here before it's lowered on brexit night. # should old acquaintances be forgot... #. after approving the brexit deal this evening, meps marked the end of the uk's eu membership with song. old acquaintances certainly won't be forgotten here, but the eu—uk trade talks ahead promised to be tough. katya adler, bbc news, brussels. michael gove has said once the uk leaves the eu there won't be a hiding place for politicians, insisting mps won't be able to blame europe for any government policies. he was talking to our political editor laura kuenssberg, who has been looking into how uk politics

could change after brexit. a new era opens, what does it hold? afterfour decades of membership, we are leaving the eu in two days. what is different now? the conservative party i think has changed, it's rediscovered some of the values and instincts that it's had in the past and it's our mission to ensure that we value everyone. after nearly a decade of austerity and the tories presiding over a deeply divisive period, tearing each other apart over europe, some peoplejust period, tearing each other apart over europe, some people just say it sounds an awful lot like brass neck? you learn from experience. in the uk, i think actually we have been blessed because the brexit referendum allowed people to say, we wa nt referendum allowed people to say, we want a reset of our political system. we won't be taking our own decisions until by the end of this year because we are in the transition period... it will end and asa transition period... it will end and as a result, there won't be hiding

place for politicians like me. i can't blame europe. brexit means politicians are no longer able to run away from the voters. high on the tower of parliament are held 500 yea rs of records the tower of parliament are held 500 years of records that tell our nation and europe's story. this is the law that took us into the european community. this is the law, the withdrawal act, that would take us out. and he signed by the queen herself just a couple us out. and he signed by the queen herselfjust a couple of days ago, confirmation we will leave the eu and a couple of days.” confirmation we will leave the eu and a couple of days. i think it might be worth it in the end, but it will take quite a lot of years for that to be really evident. what will the tory party right about now? laughter political parties will always find things they differ... it won't be whether to go ahead with brexit. as a former leader of the tory party, i hope they won't be fighting about anything stop right there won't be that... we are leaving downing

street for the last time. but the eu won't just disappear. street for the last time. but the eu won'tjust disappear. brexit has not been done because we are about to embark on this hugely important negotiation about what kind of future relationship we will have with the eu that's going to affect every business, every part of the country. like half of the country i shall feel sad on friday at the other half will be celebrating but we all have to accept the outcome. acce pta nce we all have to accept the outcome. acceptance is not the same as accommodation. cheering remember what this was like, day after day, night after night, cheers and arguments? they seem faint echoes now. politics is different, already very different, but that does not mean that the tensions and concerns in our country have just melted away. the question of our departure is settled, but a lot is not. our history is written one chapter at a time. laura kuenssberg,

bbc news, westminster. bbc news is cutting around a50 jobs under plans to complete its £80m savings target by 2022. bbc two's newsnight, radio five live are among the outlets that will be hit by the job losses and, as previously announced, the victoria derbyshire programme will be taken off—air. the corporation is also carying out a major reorganisation of its tv and radio programmes. —— news operation. last night, we brought you a report about a glacier the size of great britain in western antarctica, which scientists fear could collapse. the melting of the thwaites glacier would cause a dramatic rise in sea levels, threatening to swamp many of the world's major cities. our chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt, travelled with the team of scientists on the biggest and most complex field survey in antarctic history. today, he looks at the challenges they faced. antarctica is the stormiest continent on earth, and west antarctica is the most remote and stormy part of it all, which makes it an exceptionally tough place

to do scientific research. so, we've been filming out here for, like, i don't know, an hour and a half, and this is the result, and it gives you an idea of why it's so hard to operate here. all the planes are grounded. they're saying we won't fly anywhere for three days. it has taken years of preparation to get the scientists out here. ships brought hundreds of tonnes of fuel and cargo to a remote ice shelf. then specialist snow vehicles dragged it 1000 miles over land, across some of the toughest terrain and toughest weather imaginable. six people can do a huge amount, but we just truck along day from day. nobody really knows where we are, and then we just suddenly turn up! delivering bounty! the us provided air muscle, flying in the scientists and their equipment and ferrying everything down to the camps at the front of the glacier. then, the really hard work began.

digging snow, and lots of it. the scientists need ten tonnes of the stuff to fill what they call the "flubber" — a water container the size of a small swimming pool. this will be the most southerly jacuzzi in the world, i think! a bank of boilers heats the water to just below boiling and then it's sprayed down onto the ice, to melt a hole almost half a mile down to where the ocean water meets the glacier. only now can the scientists deploy their instruments. only by taking measurements here can we hope to get accurate predictions of how sea—level is going to rise in the future. even if it means arousing the curiosity of some of the creatures that live here. in terms of the answers that we can produce over the next six years, and the savings that that represents to people who are trying to predict sea level and build sea defences, this is a drop in the ocean and a really good investment. this year's work has confirmed that

warm sea water is melting the ice here increasingly rapidly, raising sea levels worldwide. the challenge now is for the rest of us, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for the rising oceans we will face in the decades to come. justin rowlatt, bbc news, west antarctica. now time for a look at the weather. here's susan powell. can we expect icy conditions? that is how we started the week, unbelievably about the snow and ice at the start of the weekend for the rest of the week, it will turn unseasonably mild. the milder air has been working its way into the uk, even through the day to day. these are our temperatures represented on a colour profile outside at the moment. many places, temperature is around 8—9 degrees, still a bit more chilly in scotland but as we run the clock overnight, notice how the paler green recedes and things start to warm up. temperatures across scotland will rise as we go through the small

hours. the reason being this weather front, a warm weather front, pushing further north across the uk, taking the milder airfrom the further north across the uk, taking the milder air from the south further across scotland along with it. it will also mean further rain across scotland through this evening and into the night. increasingly becoming isolated to the north—west of scotla nd becoming isolated to the north—west of scotland by the end of the night. windy here as well but these are the overnight lows, 7—9. those are the highs we had yesterday. you can already see how much milder it is about to become. thursday, a lot of cloud around but a mild start, wet and windy for the far north of scotla nd and windy for the far north of scotland and potentially some rain in the south but overall fine weather. best of any breaks in sheltered eastern areas. the south—westerly wind is strong, quite gusty at times to the north of the uk but so mild. temperatures 12, 13 and maybe even 1a degrees. once we are into the milder air, that is where we will stay for the end of the week as well. in any —— in fact,

if anything, a pocket of milder getting ferried away from the atla ntic getting ferried away from the atlantic for friday but you can also see on the chart, the good old weather fronts. there is see on the chart, the good old weatherfronts. there is some rain to come on friday, potentially some strong winds, rain for all of us at some stage on friday. perhaps drier in the north—west in the afternoon as the showers start to drift further south. but even with wind, rain, temperatures still in some spots up to 13 or 1a, maybe even the odd spot hitting 15. much milder prospects for the next few days. look out the thing is getting a little lively on friday. we will, thank you. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: it's the end of the line

for northern — the troubled rail operator is losing its franchise, and being taken back into public hands at the beginning of march. usually, i even don't get on because it's too busy. i've had to wait for the next train, and sometimes, even the train after that. at one point, we had a game with the northern rail twitter account, which was, "how many people can we fit in to your toilet?" which is eight, if you want to know. as the authorities in china fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus — britons being evacuated from wuhan are told they'll have to spend two weeks in quarantine. a lawyer representing the victims of the grenfell tower fire has criticised a request by companies involved in the building's revamp to be guaranteed protection when they give evidence. the european parliament has given its final approval