this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at apm: storm ciara hits the uk. 12,000 people are without power and there is severe travel disruption across the country. there is widespread flooding and a severe warning, meaning a danger to life, has been issued in north yorkshire. at times, the gusts are so strong, you're almost blown off your feet. and in the past few minutes, we've also had lashing rain to throw into the mix too. a person's being treated at the royal free hospital in london after testing positive for coronavirus — bringing the total in the uk to four. a briton in majorca has also contracted the illness. in hong kong, thousands of people who have been stuck on a cruise ship for four days have been allowed to disembark, after tests for coronavirus came back negative. counting is under way

in the irish general election, as an exit poll puts the three main political parties level—pegging. thousands of mourners in thailand hold a vigil for 26 people shot dead by a rogue soldier. and in half an hour, talking movies reports from hollywood, previewing the 92nd annual academy awards. good afternoon. severe gales and heavy rain are affecting the length and breadth of the uk as storm ciara sweeps in — causing flooding and widespread travel disruption. gusts of more than 100 miles per hour have been recorded in the highlands.

and there are more than 300 flood warnings in place, meaning immediate action is required, with one severe warning, meaning a danger to life, in place near pateley bridge in north yorkshire. the whole of the uk is under either a yellow or amber weather warning for wind, meaning more disruption to travel and power lines is likely. and that will continue for the next 24 and that will continue for the next 2a hours along some of the travel routes, where planes have been plucked and some trains have been in the wrong place because they have been cancelled today. —— trains have been cancelled today. —— trains have been blocked. airlines have cancelled dozens of flights, ferry passengers face delays and cancellations and thousands of people have been left without power. with more, here's our correspondent, helena wilkinson. this is blackpool, one of the coastal areas bearing the brunt of storm ciara. severe gales and heavy rain are sweeping across the country, causing difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions. this is as close as i'm

going to get, behind a building, so it's up to everybody, really, isn't it? they know their own limitations. it's crazy, isn't it? i mean, i feel like the abominable snowwoman in all this! it's amazing. it's just coming right over the promenade. you just don't get too close, you know? you heed the warnings, because they're there for a reason. yeah. aberystwyth, in wales, is also being battered by the storm. wales has been hit by the strongest wind so far. it's a similar picture in dover. at the port, ferry services have been suspended, as large waves make it impossible to travel. in west yorkshire, sirens dating back to world war ii warned of flooding, with rivers swelling, like this one in cumbria. across the country, strong winds have uprooted trees. this was a near—miss in essex. the storm has also caused severe disruption on the railway network,

with speed restrictions across much of the country. airlines have also cancelled dozens of domestic and international flights. i've never seen an amber warning this large, which just goes to show how widespread the impacts are going to be due to storm ciara as we go through today. but it's notjust the winds — it's also heavy rain. we've seen in excess of 100 millimetres already. that amount of rain has made flooding inevitable, and fire crews have been called out to rescue stranded motorists. but it's not all bad news. these windsurfers in dorset seem to be making the most of the severe weather, which is forecast to last for the rest of the day. helena wilkinson, bbc news. yorkshire and lancashire are among the areas hardest hit by today's torrential rain. this was the scene a little earlier today in the calder valley in west yorkshire. that is not a lorry being driven

past, it is floating on the water, nobody there to wave it down, i think that is what they call a request stop! outside the local church, cars have been submerged by the flood waters. in whalley, in lancashire, the high street was turned into a torrent. possibly a broken water pipe causing that. possibly a broken water pipe causing that. sandbags have been piled up outside local shops to try to stop waterfrom coming in, while local residents have already started the clear—up operation. and in the yorkshire dales, firemen have been helping residents in a number of flooded villages, including in askrigg and aysgarth and around the river bainbridge, which has burst its banks. and it probably won't be the last to do that this afternoon. and it probably won't be the last to do that this afternoon. meanwhile, in london, euston station has been made exit—only because of serious congestion caused by train delays and cancellations. it isa it is a pretty miserable picture this afternoon as people wait for trains. many services have had to be cancelled and a number of stations

reduced. network rail say they will open the station normally, as soon as there is enough space on the concourse. and in flitwick, in bedfordshire, a man was rescued by road police after being trapped for over an hour in his car by a falling tree. it has made a mess of the car, but it had been a great deal worse and they were thankfully able to get him out of the vehicle, with a lot of skill, to release him in pretty horrible weather conditions even as they were working. simonjones is in dover and, a little earlier, he gave us this update. and i should warn you he wasn't hurt in the making of this piece to camera! one word, shaun, absolutely grim is the word that i would use. as you can see, a lot of people have come down. it has become a bit of a spectacle. even though the coast guard and emergency services are advising people to stay away from here. we're certainly keeping a safe distance from the waves here. but given their size, it's hardly surprising that around ten o'clock this morning,

a decision was made to shut the port of dover to ferry movements. so, only really one ferry in there at the moment, which is very unusual to see it that quiet. and we've also had a dramatic rescue just down the coast from here. earlier, a surfer was seen in the water, deciding to brave these conditions — some would say rather foolishly. he lost his surfboard and was seen by a coastguard team being swept out to sea. now, that prompted a huge search, involving three coastguard teams, the sea rch—and—rescue helicopter, the police on land. and rather amazingly, he was located, in nearby rye bay. when he was found, he was said to be conscious. i've just spoken to one of the coastguard team, who said it's an absolute miracle that he didn't lose his life, given the conditions that we've got here today. i hope it's not something that anyone else is going to make

the mistake of trying to do, because the afternoon, it's not quietening down really, is it, simon? the forecast is still very, very severe weather. yeah, the warning is it's going to be like this for the rest of today. and it's notjust with the ferries and at the coast that we've got problems. right across the country, we've had trees down, causing problems on the roads. and particular issues on the railway network too. there's a lot of speed restrictions, trains unable to go over 50 miles an hour, if they are able to run at all. here in kent, for example — just to give you a microcosm of what's happening right across the country — we've had trees down on the railway line. we had some of the overhead power network came down near ashford, halting trains. we had a train hit a drainpipe that had blown onto the track in erith. and we've also had trampolines blowing onto the railway line too. unusual, but it meant that trains had to be halted while those trampolines were moved and checked it hadn't caused any damage to the track. so, the advice very much is, in conditions like... aah! ..this.

you can see what it's like! as i say, we're keeping safely away, but that doesn't stop me getting drenched by the waves here. but what i was about to say to you, rather prematurely, best to stay away really and stay indoors! i'm joined now by our weather presenter phil avery. we just stay indoors if you possibly can? i have stayed indoors all day, actions speak louder than words! that doesn't look like a real humdinger of a storm, the centre of the low to the north west of scotla nd the low to the north west of scotland by an about tea—time, it will be over in the north—eastern quarter. quite a few alsa bars. the more you see on the chart, the more wind you get. —— isobars. these are the values we expect and rather perversely, we now expect the strongest winds to be that bit further south because we have a weather front and it is stretching eventually from the wash to the top end of lyme bay. ahead of that, that is where we see the squally winds.

and on the weather feature, which eventually pushes into the near continent, but following behind, a real rafter showers. the wind does not dissipate completely. i won't be talking if we were here at midnight and sang 80 mph gusts as we have done today, but we were still widely look at 50, 60,70 done today, but we were still widely look at 50, 60, 70 mph. done today, but we were still widely look at 50, 60,70 mph. this is the start of the forthcoming week. a lot of isobars on that chart. ciara is way up in norway. so tomorrow, our concern is we get to strong wind certainly, but that is probably the most wintry weather we have had across the northern british isles this winter, with snow fall down to really quite low levels across the north of england, northern ireland, scotla nd north of england, northern ireland, scotland as well. and there will be a covering, so scotland as well. and there will be a covering, so some scotland as well. and there will be a covering, so some roots people may have skipped along for most of this winter could be really very tricky indeed. so it is notjust what winter could be really very tricky indeed. so it is not just what we have already had, it is the fact we have already had, it is the fact we have had that and then the added

effect of these winds, so they may be weaker, but that doesn't mean they won't cause structural damage. thus tomorrow of around 60 mph, so a bit of a feature going on across the southern part of england tomorrow —— gusts. so wet and windy weather there. which is why some of the ferry companies across the channel, particularly the western channel, as far ahead as tuesday, they are talking about re—routing services and some cancellations as well. i should just stress as we speak of the wind, you have seen the effects on the waves, but the flood situation is also very concerning. still a severe flood warning from the environment agency you are talking about on that river nidd and 240 flood warnings in england, 59 in scotla nd 240 flood warnings in england, 59 in scotland and 18 in wales, with a lot of flood alerts below that. so still talking about rainfall to come tonight before the weather front clears away. and showers tomorrow. soido clears away. and showers tomorrow. so i do not expect these rivers to respond rapidly by way of lowering

the levels, that would be a concern for many people. we have been lucky today given it has been sunday and we don't have many millions of people on the move as we would in a normal working day. and when they are on the move tomorrow morning, a lot of trains will be disrupted still. flights in their wrong place, some ferries in the wrong place. if you are planning a journey tomorrow, best to check with your operator. indeed, and bbc online and bbc local radio and fell and his team at the bbc weather centre can help with that. just looking here on the weather page. you won't be surprised that the most viewed page we have is the 150 macro in pictures, that is the 150 macro in pictures, that is the most viewed at the moment. —— is there storm ciara in pictures. the images are striking, so look if you can, graphic scenes and good video supplied by viewers. thank you very much for sending that in and keep sending that in. you will see the details at the bottom of the page of

how you suppliers with that to get it out to a wider audience to let people know what is going on. phil, we will touch you again, very much. and we will have more over the next hour. england's chief medical officer has said that another patient in england has been diagnosed with the coronavirus. this brings the total number of cases in the uk to four. the latest patient to be diagnosed is being treated at the royal free hospital in london. a british man has also been diagnosed with the virus in majorca. he had been quarantined, along with his wife and two daughters, who tested negative. this morning, more than 200 people were flown back to the uk from the coronavirus—hit city of wuhan. they will spend the next fortnight being monitored at a special facility in milton keynes. and in hong kong, thousands of people stuck on a cruise ship have been allowed to disembark, after crew members tested negative for the virus. more than 3,000 crew and passengers were stranded on the world dream ship forfive days, while tests were carried out. well, jon donnison sent this

report from milton keynes. the latest british victim is now being treated at the royal free hospital, in north london. they apparently picked the virus up in france from another british person, already confirmed as infected. and this morning, the last uk evacuation flight out of the chinese city of wuhan — epicentre of the virus — touched down at raf brize norton, carrying around 200 british and foreign nationals. we've not got everybody out, we know that. unfortunately, two people failed temperature checks early this morning, they've had to go back into wuhan. a convoy of buses transported those british citizens who made it back to a hotel and conference centre in milton keynes — out of china, but still not in the clear. we understand that there are about 150 passengers on these coaches who have now been evacuated from wuhan.

all of them are, for the moment, we are told by nhs staff, in good health. this will be their home, though, for the next two weeks, where they will be kept in isolation. the coronavirus has now killed more than 800 people, surpassing the number who died from sars back in 2003. more than 37,000 people are known to be infected across the globe, a figure that continues to rise sharply. the question remains as to whether we're in a live phase and the rate of infection may pick up, or whether we're seeing more what is the natural history of the disease, and it's way too soon to tell that. but it is why these clusters are very unfortunate, and we feel particularly sorry for families who get caught up in this. it's a very frightening time. those now in quarantine here in the uk face an anxious wait and, globally, there is no sense the coronavirus crisis is anywhere near to an end.

so, 150 people in quarantine here in milton keynes, that's on top of 100 people still in isolation up on the wirral. and news this morning from majorca that a british man has also tested positive for coronavirus. his wife and two daughters, though, have been given the all—clear. jon donnison reporting there from milton keynes. as i mentioned earlier, passengers have been allowed to disembark from a cruise ship which was under quarantine in hong kong. 0ur correspondent nick beake has been speaking to some of them. these are some of the 1,800 passengers now being allowed off the ship, how was it on board, sir? clearly, a pretty difficult time. for the past four days, they haven't been able to leave the ship, but now passengers are coming out and the reason is, even though there are about 40 people on board who said they had the fever and flu—like symptoms, they have all been tested and it turns out no—one has the new coronavirus. so they are making their way to the taxis and going

on to their homes, wherever that may be. the reason people were concerned is that there was a previous cruise involving the same ship last month and eight people tested positive for the new coronavirus, so that was the concern. but the authorities here in hong kong tonight have said there was no cause for alarm and so there is a lot of media attention, particularly local camera crews talking to people about what it has been like to be confined to the ship. we have been speaking to two of them. charlotte, you are finally... yes, finally on the ground. how does that feel? we were on bored on the ship. actually, most of the facilities are closed. so, most of the time, we need to just stay in our room. and what do you do now, where will you go? home. we are so happy. tonight, we go home. and tomorrow, we're into work. yeah. of course, in contrast,

there is another ship injapan off the coast where many people have tested for the coronavirus. but in terms of the people who have been stuck on the ship here in hong kong, good news tonight, they are now going home to their families. six more people on a cruise ship offjapan have been diagnosed with coronavirus, bringing the number who have tested positive on board to 70. the diamond princess has been in quarantine for a week now, after a former passenger was diagnosed with the virus. over 3,000 people remain on board and have been asked to stay inside their cabins. princess cruises has promised guests that they will receive a full refund of their trip. the headlines on bbc news: storm ciara hits the uk — 12,000 people are without power and there is severe travel disruption across the country. a person's being treated at the royal free hospital in london after testing positive for coronavirus — bringing the total in the uk to four. a briton in majorca has also

contracted the illness. counting is under way in the irish general election, as an exit poll puts the three main political parties level—pegging. 0ne one of the other casualties of the afternoon has been spun —— the sporting fixtures that were cancelled. what remains is under the bdi of 0llie foster. i hope you are stay nice and dry, even if your collea g u es stay nice and dry, even if your colleagues are not! it was a beautiful afternoon in salford and the storm has passed. we will go to sunnier climes, south africa first. england's cricketers have drawn the one day series against south africa. they won by two wickets injohannesburg. south africa were put in to bat first and set a target of 257, captain quinten de kock with 69. england's reply got off to a very rapid start, some big hitting from jonny

ba i rstow. losing some late wickets, england made it home with over six overs to spare. moeen ali on his first return to england duty, after taking a break from test cricket, scored the winning runs, so the series is drawn at 1—1. they now play a 3—match t20 series. in south africa. sheffield united are back up to fifth in the table after coming from behind to beat bournemouth at bramall lane, this was the only match in the premier league today after manchester city v west ham was postponed because of the weather. callum wilson opened the scoring for the cherries inside 15 minutes. they came into the game looking to make it three wins out three in the league. but billy sharp equalised for the blades just before the break, bournemouth failing to clear the danger. and substitute

john lundstram scored the winner in the last ten minutes. they are nowjust two points behind fourth—placed chelsea, but they have played one game more. west bromwich albion are four points clear at the top of the championship after a 2—0 win at millwall. in really tough conditions, they took the lead through a great strike from filip krovinovic. and the baggies sealed victory late on. dara 0'shea with his first goal of the season. defeat leaves millwall10th, five points off the play—off places. holders celtic have eased into the scottish cup quarter finals after a 3—nil victory over league one side clyde. birthday boy 0livier ntcham scored the opener with this effort from outside the box. scott brown added the second before half time, before vakoun bayo got the third, sliding the ball past david mitchell in the 90th minute. hibernian are also through to the quarter—finals, after a mark mcnulty hattrick helped them beat lowland league side bsc glasgow 4—1.

the last six nations match of the weekend is into the second half in paris, france are leading italy 28—10. a good match. the french started off at a blistering pace, teddy thomas scoring the first of two tries inside the opening 20. italy came back strongly, winger matteo minozzi with his sixth try in seven tests, to reduce the gap to just three points, but the home side ended the first half strongly, adding a third try. gregory alldritt helping france to a 13—point lead at half time. he has a scottish father. let's take you live, this match is live on bbc 0ne you live, this match is live on bbc one and they have gone over again for another try, the french. fly—half romain ntamack with it.

france now lead 28—10. about 20 minutes remaining. the women's six nations match between scotland and england was postponed becasue of storm ciara, but ciara griffin led ireland to victory in their game against wales in dublin. they won the 31—12, with four different try scorers and a penalty try, as they battled though the worst of the conditions in the second half. that moves ireland to the top of the table, with two wins out of two. just like the men, for that. the gb women's basketball team have failed to qualify for this summer's olympic games. they had to beat spain in their qualifying tournament in serbia, but lost 79 points to 69. they had already lost to china and south korea in belgrade, those two sides and spain have all qualified for the tokyo games. neil robertson leads graeme dott 5—2 in the opening session of the world grand prix final in cheltenham. robertson is playing in his third consecutive ranking final, having won the european masters a fortnight ago

and he was runner—up at the german masters last weekend. they'll play to a finish tonight. that's all the sport for now. still 28—10 to the french in paris, the italians giving it a good go, but france looking to make it two out of two winds. sonny salford, thank you very much, 01’ sonny salford, thank you very much, or your weather is heading our way and it will get dull and soggy before the afternoon is out! thank you very much. votes are being counted in ireland's general election, chris page has no idea what the weather is like because he has been stuck in account centre. the results won't be getting to us quickly, we have a sense in a shift in irish politics. yes, we certainly do have that sense, although it is the early stages of the official count process. we had an exit poll as

polls closed at night and perhaps more firmly, we have had indications from the party workers in count centres like this in dublin going around doing the tally as ballot boxers had been opened and they have confirmed what has been the story throughout this election campaign and that is the rise of sinn fein, the party that is the second biggest in northern ireland as part of the devolved government across the irish border is now a majorforce in politics in the irish republic. it looks like they are around level with the two parties that have historically dominated government here, both in the political centre, fine gael led by prime minister leo varadkarand fine gael led by prime minister leo varadkar and fianna fail led fine gael led by prime minister leo varadkarand fianna fail led by fine gael led by prime minister leo varadkar and fianna fail led by the man who really throughout the campaign had been favourite to succeed leo varadkar, that is micheal martin. sinn fein leader mary lou mcdonald arrived at the centre in dublin in the last hour and she said they had convinced voters they were a vehicle for change. they presented themselves as offering a strongly left—wing alternative to fianna fail and fine

gael alternative to fianna fail and fine gael, and that had paid off. they may even be on course to be receiving the largest number of first preference votes in the country. although that might not translate into them having the largest number of seats, given that this is a complex count system involving proportional representation. now the coalition calculators are out and can a stable government be formed in the irish parliament, the dail? mary lou mcdonald said she was talking —— open to talking to anyone. fianna failand fine open to talking to anyone. fianna fail and fine gael are still in a state of denial. they are still not listening to what the people have said. and! listening to what the people have said. and i think i want us to have a government for the people. i want us a government for the people. i want us to have ideally a government with no fianna fail or no fine gael in it. i have started the contact with other parties to explore over the next day is whether or not that is a possibility. well, fianna fail and fine gael have both said consistently they will not share

power with sinn fein, they won't go into coalition with them under any circumstances. they have mentioned the party's tax policies and sinn fein ‘s associations with the ira going back to the conflict in northern ireland. sinn fein has emphasised its role in the peace process as you heard from mary lou mcdonald, they have said it would be undemocratic to exclude them from government now they believe they have such a strong mandate. so the pathway to forming a government in dublin is far from pathway to forming a government in dublin is farfrom clear, but as soon as the official results roll in this evening and tomorrow and it could be beyond that, we will have plenty of head scratching going on as to how the numbers will stack up in what way those negotiations will go. 0ne in what way those negotiations will go. one thing is for sure, in what way those negotiations will go. one thing is forsure, it in what way those negotiations will go. one thing is for sure, it is not going to be straightforward. sounds like it. and that was a cheer from —— for chris page in dublin! the thai prime minister says the soldier who shot dead 29 people began his attack because of a dispute over a house sale. the gunman was killed by security forces after being holed up all night in a shopping centre

in eastern thailand. thousands of mourners have gathered for a vigil in the thai city of nakhon ratchasima. buddhist monks chanted prayers for the victims in the city's main square. aaron safir reports. a 15—hour stand—off finally over. thai security forces emerged from the terminal 21 shopping mall in the city of nakhon ratchasima. a lone gunman shot dead, but not before he took many lives. for a long time, it wasn't clear how this stand—off would end. hundreds of people enjoying a weekend shopping managed to escape the rampaging gunman, but an earlier attempt to flush him out failed, with one member of the security forces killed. inside, people ran and hid wherever they could, as news of the attack spread. translation: i saw the security guard officials and a motorcycle taxi driver running for shelter. i didn't know what was going on, and then i heard people shouting, "they're shooting,

there's a shooting!" police have identified the gunman as 32—year—old jakraphanth thomma, a junior army officer. he was caught on cctv at the shopping mall, moving with an eerie calm. but his rampage began elsewhere, at an army base, where he killed two people, including his commanding officer. he also stocked up on weapons and ammunition. and in the early hours of the attack, he posted messages on facebook saying, "death is inevitable for everyone," and at one point asking, "should i give up?" the posts were quickly taken down, but not before they could be seen by people in the area, who are struggling to make sense of what they witnessed. there were bodies in the street, there were cars with bullet holes in them. and very graphic images on social media that were luckily taken down, but very graphic. thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, but a mass shooting like this

is something shocking and new for the country. with the shooting now over, questions will be asked about what motivated the attacker and how to prevent something like this happening again. aaron safir, bbc news. in switzerland, final results in a nationwide vote show nearly two—thirds of swiss voters have approved proposals to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and identity. the country has been holding a referendum on whether to make discrimination against the lgbtq community a crime. now it's time for a look at the weather. storm ciara continues to batter the uk and all areas have already been affected by the severe weather with the potential for a further