this programme contains scenes of repetitive flashing images. tonight at 10:00pm, storm ciara batters the uk with heavy rain there's been widespread flooding, and thousands of homes, have been left without power. i've been here eight and a half years and this is the worst. never had this before. just a massive cloudburst, and everything's all came

down at the same time, and drains are blocked instantly. much of the coast has been hit with roads left impassable, while travellers were left stranded, and there's further disruption to come. the forecast is for more bad weather, with high winds and blizzards. also tonight... another victim of the coronavirus is confirmed in the uk. history in the making in ireland, as sinn fein gains huge support in the country's general election. and i'm reporting live from the oscars red carpet for the 92nd academy awards. good evening. there's been widespread disruption to roads, railways and ports today,

along with thousands of homes being left without electricity, after the most powerful storm so far this winter battered the uk. storm ciara brought high winds, heavy rain and flooding, with some rivers bursting their banks. winds in excess of 90 miles an hour led to power outages right across england, and parts of south wales. there are now 159 flood warnings in place, and yellow warnings for high winds across all of the uk. the forecast is for snow and ice in northern england, scotland, and northern ireland. simonjones has ourfirst report tonight on storm ciara. storm ciara unleashes herfull force, battering the entire country. this spot in the yorkshire dales is normally popular with walkers — not today. submerged. gale force winds and rain combining to cause chaos. in bainbridge, the rising water led to rising concerns. hundreds of thousands of homes

in the uk were left without power and more than 250 flood warnings were issued. the power of the storm was also clear to see on the coast, from blackpool, to aberystwyth. in wales, there were gusts of more than 90 miles an hour. and in dover the highly unusual decision was taken to halt all ferries. it was just too dangerous to head to sea. here on the coast at times the gusts of wind are so strong it's almost difficult to stay on your feet. add into that the lashing rain coming down too, it's hardly surprising that the advice is stay indoors if you can. what makes this bad weather unusual is that the whole country is feeling its effects. we reinforce what we say to people. respect it, look at it, stay a safe distance from it. it is unusual to cover the whole country but the

risk is the same whether you are in scotland, cornwall or kent, it's really, really dangerous. but this is the reality of what the emergency services were dealing with, a rescue at sea near hastings and making land safely wasn't always easy. this plane attempted a touch down at heathrow only to have to abort the landing seconds later. 0h, touch and go, touch and go. on the roads too the situation wasn't much better. this lorry heading to dover didn't make it and trees kept coming down. in london passing motorists had a lucky escape. while in bedfordshire a man was trapped for over an hour in his car under a tree. on the railways, many journeys were either delayed or cancelled, causing havoc at some of the country's largest stations. we went to king's cross to see what was happening. they wouldn't let us on the platform or anywhere near really so we thought..

we could get to birmingham or manchester and get a trans—pennine across to york but it seems even worse. and the warning is the stormy weather is here to stay. it's relatively fortunate that storm ciara hit on a sunday. however, there is further wet and windy weather to come as we go through monday and through the rest of this week with some significant snow as well, so i do think we'll see some further disruption as people head back to work. it's clear despite a destructive day we are not out of the woods yet. here in dover, the port has finally reopened after being shot for around ten hours, but the wind is continuing to howl around us and it has been raining very heavily. that's not the end of it. in the coming days we expect snow and ice in parts of scotland, northern england and northern ireland. it will be a tricky time ahead. simon jones in dover, thank you. one of the areas worst affected by flooding

has been the west yorkshire region of the calder valley. for many, storm ciara brought back memories of the devastating floods on boxing day in 2015. here's sharon barbour. sirens wail. across the calder valley, residents woke to the grim sound of the flood siren. and the noise of the gale force winds and torrential rain. storm ciara had arrived. i've been here eight and a half years and this is the worst. never had this before. i'm feeling very sad right now. sad for the people that have been flooded yet again. sad that the barrier wasn't finished in time. you know, it's been a long old process. soon, roads disappeared — some up to a metre under water. businesses and dozens of homes were flooded. in her wake, storm ciara has left a mess here in mytholmroyd. storm waters came through today, flooded the street as high as this car behind me. and now, thick with mud. but more than that, it's left a sense of devastation for so many here in the village

— and anger. we are here again and we keep having near misses and we keep being flooded. just the frustrations about being in the same position again. extreme weather, climate change, you know, people's lives and livelihoods being affected by it. i don't know how much more we can take. the good news is the river is receding tonight and the rain has eased a little. but a flood alert remains in place. and as residents clear out and clean up after ciara, they'll be preparing for the next flood. sharon barbour for bbc news in the calder valley. the high winds and rain caused disruption across much of the rail network. richard galpin is at euston station for us this evening. many will be wondering what their rush—hour commute will be like in the morning. absolutely. what we

know is that network rail are saying they will have to check all the lines in the affected areas because, as we know, trees have been falling on the lines and other debris. they could be not just on the lines and other debris. they could be notjust debris but damage to the lines. network rail say they will work through the night to do the assessments and if necessary carry out repairs. but we don't know for sure if they will be able to do that by the morning, so it is possible there will be some disruption in the morning. there is also talk of potential disruption on the lines between london and manchester and on some lines going up manchester and on some lines going up to scotland. the key message to get across is that people very much need to check before they travel. in terms of flights, ba have told me there are far less cancellations going to take place tomorrow. there we re d oze ns going to take place tomorrow. there were dozens of flights cancelled today but now it's down to about ten and in terms of the ferries, again we think they will resume tomorrow but passengers need to check before

they travel. richard galpin at euston station, thank you. another person has tested positive for the coronavirus in england, bringing the total number of cases to four across the uk. a flight carrying more british nationals from china arrived back at raf brize norton earlier today, with passengers being taken to a conference centre in milton keynes for two weeks' quarantine. here's our health editor, hugh pym. a bumpy ride but at least the 120 british passengers on this final evacuation flight from wuhan were a lot closer to home, touching down at raf brize norton in oxfordshire. a convoy of buses set off, similar to one which had taken others to a hospital on the wirral just over a week ago. this group were taken to a hotel and conference facility in milton keynes, block—booked by the nhs for their two—week quarantine. they'll be lent game consoles, tablets and mobile phones

and have access to netflix. as they arrived there was news elsewhere of the fourth coronavirus case in this country. the latest patient who's tested positive for the virus in the uk is being treated here at the royal free hospital in north london at its specialist infectious diseases treatment unit. it has emerged that this case is linked to one announced last thursday — a man in brighton who contracted the virus on a visit to singapore. he had returned from asia and before developing symptoms he went to an alpine ski resort. it was announced yesterday that five britons staying there had been infected. it seems that while in france he had also met the man who is now at the royal free hospital. the chinese ambassador in london, meanwhile, was seeking to reassure the british public. there is no reason to panic, the chinese government has adopted the most comprehensive, strict, conventional, control methods. the world health organisation said it was hard to predict the future

spread of the virus. the question remains as to whether we are in a lag phase and the rate of infection might pick up or whether we are seeing more of the natural history of the disease, and it is way too soon to tell that. quarantining is a key part of attempts to stop the virus spreading in the uk. those who arrived today can only hope they are given the all clear after 14 days. hugh pym, bbc news. the number of people who've died from the coronavirus now stands at 811, surpassing the total for deaths during the sars outbreak in 2003. officialfigures, however, suggest the death and infection rates may be slowing, though the next few days could be crucial, as a long extended holiday period comes to an end, and the country slowly returns to work. john sudworth has more details. it is lantern festival, traditionally marked

with a lavish tv gala. but this year there's not an audience member in sight. the fear of contagion is everywhere, from the fever checkpoints... ..the masks on literally everybody‘s faces... ..and the careful monitoring of people's movements. in the almost impossible balancing act between containing an epidemic and getting its economy moving again, china is turning to its vast network of neighbourhood committees — the old tools of mass mobilisation. but while workers may be trickling back to the cities, the continued uncertainty means all britons are still being advised to leave china. we are currently seeing numbers of infections double every four to five days. we don't know what implications that has.

we have seen the chinese put in place local transport measures — some cities and towns have been closed down so it is getting more difficult to leave china, if that is what people plan to do. so that is why we advise people to think about leaving. we know that the evacuation flight has got out of wuhan. are we confident now that most people who wanted to get out from the epicentre have managed to? we have not got everybody out, we know that. unfortunately, two people failed temperature checks early this morning. they have had to go back into wuhan and we are in touch with them and we will try and support them to get them onto another country's flight. as usual, china's skylines have been lit up for lantern festival. but look closely — the streets below are empty. the virus looms large over almost every aspect of daily life. meals come with their own reminder of china's health emergency.

a note recording the temperature of the chef, the food packer and the delivery driver. in this case, thankfully all fever free. but at a time of year all about new beginnings, there is also perhaps a glimmer of good news. official figures show the rate of increase in infections may be slowing. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. there could be an historic shift of political power in the republic of ireland, with the nationalists of sinn fein set to make significant gains in the general election. an exit poll suggests there's now a three—way tie between all the main parties, including prime minister leo va radka r‘s fine gael. counting is continuing, so let's speak to our ireland correspondent emma vardy, who's in dublin. tonight marks a major change. ireland has been ruled by two main

parties for 100 years, fina gale and fianna fail. now there is a third. sinn fein emerging as equalforce to rival them. as no one party has an outright majority it's highly likely they will have to agree a coalition. this report fashion photography. —— this report contains flashing photography. radio: storm ciara lashed the country over the past few hours. as ireland took a battering from the weather, the established parties were rocked by a new storm. this breakthrough for sinn fein is unprecedented in the irish republic. once a much smaller player, now on a par with the two main parties who've dominated irish politics for a century. we need change, we need a new government. the best outcome is a government without fine gael and fianna fail so that's the first thing that i want to test. sinn fein‘s ultimate goal is to create a united ireland, breaking northern ireland away from british rule. its historical links to the ira caused controversy

during the campaign, but the party appealed to voters with radical left—wing policies on health, housing and pensions. the surge for sinn fein has changed the landscape of irish politics and it raises new questions for the uk about the likelihood of a border poll. but it's still unclear who will form the next government. leo varadkar‘s party, fine gael, and their opponents, fianna fail, had previously said they will not form an alliance with sinn fein. it seems that we have now a three party system, three parties all getting roughly the same number of votes, roughly the same number of seats, and that's going to make forming a government quite difficult. ireland's economy is the fastest growing in europe, but the high cost of living means many voters are not feeling the benefits. i think they're sick of the last couple of years and that things just haven't changed quick enough, hence the vote for sinn fein. a bit disappointing, really. sinn fein, not the kind of politics that a large number of people

in ireland would favour. tonight, counting continues, and tomorrow negotiations between the parties will be in full swing. ireland has reached an historic turning point, but with results so close, working out who will lead the country may take some time. emma vardy, bbc news, dublin. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories... officials in thailand say the number of people killed in a mass shooting by a soldier in a shopping centre, has risen to at least 29. the gunman was eventually shot dead by security forces, in the city of nakhon ratchasima. hundreds of people today attended a vigilfor the victims. supporters of sir keir starmer‘s bid to become the next labour leader have denied claims his team hacked into the party's membership database. the allegations were made against two members of his campaign and have been passed to the information commissioner.

the 92nd annual oscars ceremony gets underway in los angeles later tonight, with the world war one drama 1917, and, from south korea, the film parasite, frontrunners for best picture. but much of the build—up has been dominated by criticism yet again, of the lack of diversity among the nominees. our arts editor, will gompertz is in hollywood for us. good evening. welcome to the oscars red carpet where the stars are beginning to make their way past me u psta i rs beginning to make their way past me upstairs into the dolby theatre for the 92nd academy awards, which as you say have been mired in controversy, a lack of diversity in the acting nominees and no females among the directing nominees has caused a stir. i imagine you'll hear that subject coming up as people accept their rewards tonight. talking of which, hopefully a british accent will be on stage at some point, possibly the newly

knighted sir sam mendes who could pick upa knighted sir sam mendes who could pick up a second oscar 25 years after picking up a first. margot robbie and charlize theron are fox news employees who bring down their seedy ceo, a man who makes sexual harassment part of his job description. both are nominated for an oscar at tonight's academy awards, two years after the launch of the #metoo movement, which saw a new commission set up to look into bullying and abuse in hollywood. can you give me a sense of how you see the scale of the problem? the scale of the problem and the range of the problem, i think, is really enormous. i could pluck you out and move you to the front of the line, but i need to know that you're loyal. i need you to find a way to prove it. we have this history in an industry where people look the other way. what practical measures need to be put into place? we are going to put in place

a report and response system. so our response system includes investigations and what we know is that independent investigations are the most important thing that you can offer. don't you tell me what i can't do! harriet tubman wasn't one to put up with injustice and wrongdoing. if i'm free, my family should be too. i made up my mind, i'm going back. the 19th—century abolitionist is played by british actress cynthia erivo, whose performance could see her win a golden statue this evening. my mouth is dry and it could fall apart! to do so, she will have to beat renee zellweger‘s judy garland. your orders are to deliver a message calling off tomorrow morning's attack. sam mendes' first world war drama 1917 was the big winner at last week's baftas. to repeat the feat in hollywood, the british director will have to see off competition from todd phillips‘joker starring joaquin phoenix — who is hotly tipped to win best actor — and bong joon ho's parasite, a tale of south korean inequality which could become the first foreign language film to win best picture. we will find out if it does later tonight.

will gompertz, bbc news, los angeles. now, with all the sport, here's olly foster at the bbc sport centre. good evening. the england one—day cricket captain eoin morgan says his side has to be more ruthless. they beat south africa by two wickets in johannesburg to draw their series but they made hard work of the run—chase. adam wild reports. in south africa, today is pink day, raising money for charity and having a party. even the players got to dress up. this was south african captain quinton de kock getting proceedings under way. few parties pass without someone falling out. here it began with van der dussen getting out. lbw, said the umpire. van der dussen was given another chance, video replays hadn't been working properly. for south africa, a reprieve. england aggrieved. moeen ali moments later

had the last word. a final flourish took south africa to 256 — despite the celebrations it didn't look enough. especially once jonny bairstow got started. brilliant, at times brutal. once others started chipping in, the chase should have been straightforward. but as late wickets fell, england were getting just a little nervous. victory more tense than it should have been. a special day in johannesburg but ultimately england's day. adam wild, bbc news. the women's t20 world cup starts in australia later this month, england have room for improvement after being knocked out of the tri—series in melbourne. a narrow defeat to the hosts would have been enough to reach wednesday's final, but 116—7 off their 20 overs wasn't good enough and australia will now face india. there was just the one match in the premier league today after manchester city's game at home to west ham was postponed because of the weather. the match at bramall lane did go ahead and there are highlights

coming up on match of the day 2 after the news, but here's the result if you want it. sheffield united are back up to fifth in the table after coming from behind to beat bournemouth 2—1. john lundstram scored the late winner. the blades are now two points behind fourth placed chelsea, but they have played one game more. holders celtic beat league one side clyde 3—0 in the scottish cup and will now face stjohnstone. hibs are also through, beating lowland league side bsc glasgow 4—1. marc mcnulty scored a hatrick. they'll be at home to inverness in the quarters. france are top of the six nations table. they beat italy in paris, 35—22. the french scored five tries to claim a bonus point, and that's two wins from two after beating england last weekend. italy have now lost 2a six nations matches in a row. there were terrible conditions in dublin as ireland went to the top of the women's six nations table — they won 31—12 against wales. scotland's match against england was postponed because of the weather. there's more on the bbc sport

website, including another defeat for the gb women's basketball team and they have failed to qualify for the tokyo olympics. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night.

hello. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. as we've been hearing, tonight sees the 92nd academy awards in los angeles with the first world war epic 1917 one of the movies hotly tipped for several awards. earlier, i spoke to the bbc 6 music film critic rhianna dhillon, and the entertainment journalist caroline frost about the oscars. we began by discussing their picks for best film. you know, i think this is one of the hardest ones out of all of them. i think it will be between parasite and 1917 but i think once upon a time in hollywood has an outside chance because hollywood loves films about themselves. i hated that film. did you? one of the worst films i have ever seen. no? literally. what a waste of time. awful. i think it was beautifully layered and it had velvet colours and great characterisation and then of course,

the violence started and you thought, of course, it is quentin tarantino. i should have expected it. i am not quite sure what it was about. i do not think the film knew what it was about. anyway, not up to me. 1917, a largely british film, not in terms of finance, but in terms of the talent. do you think that has a decent chance? i think it does because it is such an incredible feat of film—making. almost as though done in two shots without any edits. i am amazed it did not get a nomination for editing because the editing is sublime. there is no shot, i think, longer than nine minutes in this but you cannot tell. it is incredible. this is sam mendes at his absolute best. a sort of race through the trenches. yeah. it is breathless. i think what we are seeing is old school storytelling, epic adventure and brave feats of heroism with modern technology and all of the advances that that can bring to the screen and we are the beneficiaries of that marriage. what about best director? who do you see getting that? or does that always go hand—in—hand with best film? it often does.

five out of the last seven have split between best director and best film so actually, bong joon—ho, who directed parasite, could be in with a chance if 1917 wins best film and i would be delighted because he is so deserving of this. i do not know if the academy voters will push for sam mendes. i think it is going to be a man. let's talk about that issue of diversity. safe to say. yet again, no women nominated for director. 2020, no women on the director shortlist despite little women being on the best film shortlist, directed by greta gerwig. there is an obvious omission. we could list perhaps five others that would have been worthy inclusions. similarly in the acting categories, only non—white face. clearly the message that got sent out two years ago, oscars so white, has not reached every part of the academy. that was a major part of the baftas, those speeches, joaquin phoenix amongst other people really angry about that. yeah. are we going to hear the same thing tonight in acceptance speeches?

i know thatjoaquin phoenix, particularly at the golden globes, talked about climate change and veganism and praised the golden globes for changing their dinner accordingly, then, of course, it was representation and diversity at the baftas. who knows what it is going to be whenjoaquin phoenix will undoubtedly win for best actor. i wonder what he will pick up on. we'll have a special programme on the oscars here on the bbc news channel at 9:30 tomorrow morning, but now it's time for the weather with louise. we have it all the storms today. will that continue? —— we have had all. good evening. it has been an awful start to a new week with the worst storm

to push across the whole of the uk for over seven years. storm ciara is starting to ease, but it left major disruption, damaging gusts of winds, flooding rains, and significant disruption to power and transport, right across the country. it is starting to move its way steadily south and east into the near continent, taking damaging gusts of wind and rain south—east as well. behind it, though, a somewhat noticeable difference to the feel of the weather as we see cool air pushing down from the north—west. the winds will remain a feature as well and that will continue to drive in frequent showers, particularly across exposed west facing coasts, but many further inland. some of them falling as snow. icy stretches could be an issue in scotland with temperatures close to freezing by dawn on monday. so a treacherous commute here, and it does look as though we will keep plenty of isobars across the uk for the start of the new working week. a windy monday morning for all, plenty of showers rushing in from the west, and again, these will continue to be of snow above 100, 150 metres in scotland, northern ireland and northern england. a cool feel to the afternoon, 4—8 degrees and some of these showers across england and wales heavy with hail and thunder.