into the mid teens. more wet weather starting to arrive into the western scotland and northern ireland yet again. but the emphasis still is with a good deal of dry weather developing this week and from wednesday onwards, high pressure is likely to built in from the west. it is just a level of uncertainty, whether we could see a bit of rain into england and wales, perhaps thursday into friday. worth bearing in mind but generally speaking, not a bad week for many of us, with lots of sunshine to look forward to.

good afternoon. the health secretary matt hancock has confirmed that people over the age of 70 — and those with certain health conditions — will — in the coming weeks — be asked to stay at home to protect themselves from coronavirus. he said measures the government is looking at to combat the virus will disrupt the lives of "almost everybody in the country". he also said manufacturers will be asked to switch to making ventilators — which are needed to treat people with breathing problems. here's our political correspondent nick eardley.

for weeks we have been told to wash oui’ for weeks we have been told to wash our hands more, but the government is increasing its response to coronavirus. already if you have a persistent cough and fever you are to steer at home and new measures could be coming soon. many of them will be focused on those most at risk, in particular elderly. they could soon be asked to shield themselves from the virus by staying away from other people for months. protection of the vulnerable and elderly by asking them to stay away, to stay—at—home, that is in our action plan, but we do not want formally to see yet that people should do that, and the reason for thatis should do that, and the reason for that is this length of time that they would need to stay self isolated, stay—at—home, to protect themselves, is a very big ask. it is a very long time. the scottish government says its plans for the elderly focus on reducing contact

rather than complete isolation but soon families are likely to be asked to isolate together as well of someone to isolate together as well of someone in the household show symptoms. engineers will be asked to produce as many ventilators as possible. the government needs more and has said it will buy as many as can be produced. there are plans to ta ke can be produced. there are plans to take over beds and private hospitals that the nhs comes under too much pressure. i think this response is going to be one of the biggest challenges that our generation faces. some questions are being asked about the response including about the idea immunity can be built up about the idea immunity can be built up by about the idea immunity can be built up by protecting the most vulnerable while others get a mild illness. ministers say that is not the plan, despite the government's chief scientist suggesting it was part of the approach. labour wants more information about how decisions are being reached. we do that not to undermine the government, because we wa nt undermine the government, because we want the government's strategy to succeed, but it is important to

reassure ourselves the government is taking the right approach. the prime minister is holding talks with officials this afternoon. emergency legislation will be published in the coming days and new measures are likely to be introduced soon. our home editor mark easton is here. we heard from the health secretary earlier. what is the latest government thinking? the strategy is to try to decrease infections and deaths while increasing capacity in the health service. it is not happening yet but millions of older people and those with underlying respiratory conditions may be asked to isolate themselves potentially for several months and it is a strategy that is going to pause agonising questions that every family. do we continue to visit grandma and care for an elderly neighbour? there is a balance between shielding at risk groups and exposing them to depression. the

government talking about a national community effort. the other half is increasing the capacity of the nhs are using operating theatres as emergency wards, more ventilators, using hotels as an overflow with retired staff and volunteers supporting and treating patients where possible. ministers do not wa nt to where possible. ministers do not want to spread panic with the infection but they want to prepare the country for some very difficult times ahead. thank you very much. british airlines have warned that many of them won't survive the coronavirus crisis unless the government offers them emergency financial support. in a starkjoint message, the companies say the prevarication has to stop. jenny kumah is at heathrow for us. senior industry figures were said to be livid that the budget on wednesday didn't contain any specific measures to help the airline industry. they are calling for financial

airline industry. they are calling forfinancial support airline industry. they are calling for financial support in particular in light of the us travel ban which has been extended to include the uk and the republic of ireland. they say this will impact on vital routes for airlines and we understand virgin atlantic will be writing to ministers tomorrow calling for financial help. the trade body atlantique uk, sorry, airlines uk, see unless the government pulls itself together who knows what will be left of the industry. the government says it is engaging with the sector's leadership to support workers, businesses and passengers and it has influenced the eu commission to relax flight slots and treasury stands ready to help all businesses including the airline industry affected by coronavirus. jenny, thank you. let's take a look at some of today's other developments. the foreign office is now advising against all but essential travel to the united states from tuesday. the advice follows america's announcement that it would include the uk and ireland in its european travel ban.

meanwhile, there has been chaos in some american airports as new health screening measures for people returning from europe came into force. in france, local elections are going ahead — despite sweeping restrictions on public life being introduced. last night the government ordered the closure of cafes, bars, restaurants and many shops. schools in france will be closed from tomorrow until further notice. in spain — where almost 200 people have died — a state of emergency is in force. for the next 15 days, people will be confined to their homes — apart from going to work or shopping forfood or medicines. kathryn stanczyszyn reports. another european capital city almost deserted. spain has declared a lockdown, meaning people are banned from leaving home except for buying essential supplies and medicine, orfor work if they can't do so remotely. authorities have decided to use

drones to encourage those out on the street to return to their houses. schools are shut, museums and sports venues closed, and restaurants and cafes can only do home deliveries, a huge adjustment for society. a week ago, we were fine. we were all dancing, partying, out on the streets, and, within seven days, we are now confined to our homes, so this is something very serious to consider, and the spanish culture is to be outside, so it's very hard for people. the uk has advised against all but essential travel to spain, but british citizens there already are being allowed to fly home. with 191 deaths, spain is europe's worst—hit country after italy, with confirmed cases rising by 1500 injust21i hours. italy has now recorded more than 11100 deaths. it began a nationwide lockdown almost a week ago. yesterday, there were coordinated outpourings of gratitude

across spain and italy for health professionals battling the coronavirus. the state of emergency in spain will last for two weeks. it could be extended as the spread of coronavirus continues. supermarkets are urging shoppers to stop stockpiling during the coronavirus outbreak. the british retail consortium is asking customers not to buy more than they need — as our business correspondent katy austin reports. queues outside supermarkets and shelves emptied of essentials like loo roll, hand wash and long—life foods show many shoppers have not heeded the official advice that there is no need to stockpile. people at this store in london felt there had been an overreaction. there's no nappies, toilet paper, nothing, so it's going to be a struggle. i think that somebody needs to put kind of a cosh on it and say, you can only take so much.

it's a little bit over the top, frankly. one of my friends said, like, you've got to get bog roll, tea bags, and i was like, why? don't know, she's frightened me, so i'm out to get it all. supermarkets have had to adapt quickly by speeding up supplies, increasing warehouse space and running online delivery services at full capacity. they are also being allowed to extend their delivery hours, but still many shops are limiting the purchases of the most in—demand products. here at aldi, customers are being asked not to buy more than four of anything. now they've written to customers, asking them to be considerate in the way they shop, telling them that buying more than is needed can sometimes mean others will be left without. shoppers are reassured, though, there is enough for everyone if we all work together. the risk is that we alljust buy that little bit more than we actually need, and, if we all did that, then that would cause more of a problem in terms of making sure that we've got the right supplies coming through the system. today's letter is a plea

to all customers to stop panic buying for fear of overstretching the system and leaving the most vulnerable without what they need. katy austin, bbc news. that's it from me. the next news on bbc one is at 6:35pm. you're watching the bbc news channel with ben brown. let's get more now from the health secretary, matt hancock, who as we've been hearing has warned that the measures the government will take to combat the coronavirus will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in the country. he confirmed that in the coming weeks, older and vulnerable people would be asked to self—isolate. quite soon, anybody over the age of 70 is going to be asked to stay inside their house for up

to four months. is that a realistic thing to ask to do? the protection of the vulnerable and elderly by asking them to stay away, to stay—at—home, that is in our action plan. but we do not want formally to say yet that people should do that. the reason for that is simply this length of time that they'd need to stay self isolated, stay—at—home, to protect themselves is a very big ask. it is a very long time. we do know that if you ask people to do this sort of thing, then they can tire of it. we know it has negative impacts and real negative impacts. sorry tojump in, it is notjust all of those millions of people staying inside their houses, it is also presumably anybody who is caring for them. there are 5 million carers in this country, 600,000 people caring

for someone with dementia, but there is no point asking them to stay inside their houses, unless you're taking the same measures for those who are going to be bringing in food, helping change their beds and so forth. you have got to make sure that if people stay—at—home they get the support they need, of course. that will notjust be the social care system, we are putting a huge amount more extra cash into the social care system, but it isn't so much about the money it's about having the people. so we are going to need a massive community response. that a massive community response. was matt hancock secretary that was matt hancock, the health secretary speaking to andrew marr. earlier, our political correspondent nick eardly explained the thinking behind what the government is doing. the argument that ministers are continuing to make is that they're going to be guided by science. the message from matt hancock this morning was they are absolutely prepared to take whatever action is required to try and stop the spread of coronavirus, but they want to do it at the right time.

as you say, i think it's fair to say that the criticism and the questioning of what the government has been doing has been increasing. we have been hearing from politicians and others, some of our viewers, i'm sure, who want to know more about why the government is taking different measures to other places in europe, for example. now, the immediate response to that is the government is going to publish more of its scientific advice. but i think we are going to see over the next few days and weeks, a ramping up of the measures designed to help stop the spread of the virus. so matt hancock saying this morning that in the next few weeks, we are likely to see elderly and vulnerable people asked to self—isolate. potentially for quite a long time, potentially for a period of months. likewise, the advice is likely to change some point soon from what it is at the moment, that if you or i have a fever or a cough we stay—at—home for a week.

that will change to mean that if someone in your household, a family member or a flat mate, something like that, if they have symptoms then you are all supposed to self—isolate. we don't know exactly what that will look like and it's important to say that advice hasn't been issued yet. but i think more is coming and it's clear the government is starting to ramp up its response. and some of the papers today evoking a kind of wartime spirit. and in terms of specific measures, the government are calling on big companies to start producing ventilators and they are also trying to see if the nhs could use private hospital beds, trying to get everybody working together on this? that's right, the health secretary also using that wartime comparison, saying that the country almost needs to draw on the blitz spirit from the second world war. i think it's fair to say the government thinks this is the biggest health challenge in a generation and for all of us, you and i and for our viewers, there is going to be a massive effort required that everybody needs to, you know,

sacrifice something over the next few weeks. the first step of that is asking major manufacturers to make ventilators. the uk has about 5,000 at the moment, there is a feeling there needs to be far more. so the government is basically saying to anybody who can make ventilators, do it. no matter how many you make we will buy them. likewise, they are saying to private health companies, to private hospitals, we might need some of your beds and putting in place measures to make sure that if any chest beds are full, some of those private health service beds can be used as well. absolutely, the government is starting to really move up a gear in its efforts to tackle the virus. but as i say there continues to be that questioning politically and some medically as well, saying we need some more information and perhaps to take some extra measures and the government is still facing questions on that. as we heard a little earlier, spain is the second worst hit

country in europe and a state of emergency was declared there last night. earlier i spoke to travel journalist and editor ofjetsetjourneys.com, jill starley—grainger who gave me the latest foreign office advice for the country. the foreign office has now advised against all but essential travel to spain and i expect several other countries will follow, given what is happening in france where they are now not allowing people to go out in the streets. poland, croatia, lots of countries going on lockdown so you can expect that advice to change quite quickly. the whole industry is suffering massively, both businesses and passengers. passengers, we will come to them in a minute. but in terms of the industry, the hotels, the airlines, this is going to be desperately difficult for them and some just won't recover from this?

no and i already know businesses that have practically shut down overnight because of this. when italy came in, italy is a hugely popular destination for people from all over the world, so lots of company specialise in italy and they lost their business pretty much overnight. whether they can recover once this is all sorted out, i don't know. i think it is very worrying and i do not think the government has done anything whatsoever to provide support for the travel agents and the travel businesses that have already been affected. i know the government has brought in these measures to help high street shops with business rates, but this is doing nothing to help the majority of the travel agency, which has already suffered huge losses. people have been made redundant left, right and centre. it is quite extraordinary. in terms of travellers and holiday—makers who have booked holidays, hotels and air tickets, what broadly, obviously every case is different, but what rights do

they have to compensation? there is no right to compensation, which is what you would get if there is a cancellation, you might get some money on top of the refund. but there are rights to refunds. because this is obviously a forced measures situation, none of the airlines all the travel agents can possibly be held responsible, you would not get compensation on top. but what you should do is get your money back for anything that is cancelled. if you are at a destination right now and you need to get back, as we have heard earlier, the airlines are trying to put on rescue flights. but if you miss that or are unable to get to one of the rescue flights and you have to try to figure out another way to get back, what you will have to look to in your travel insurance is something called curtailment cover. most of them have that. it is worth bearing in mind, if you get stuck in the destination you will need to get travel disruption cover.

the airlines are not responsible if you get stuck there and neither are the travel agents. i would encourage anybody in any of these countries to try your best to get on one of these flights back to the uk, if you are in a country that is going into lockdown. we are seeing more and more countries going into lockdown, more and more restrictions day by day, hour by hour. is this something you think that will go on, not just for the next few weeks, but potentially for months? i do think there are plans that this could happen for a few months. i have been speaking to various industry bodies and they are trying to make plans, worst case scenario plans, if this goes on. financially, companies have already lost all of their finances in many cases overnight. so they may not be able to sustain this. i do think this is probably at least going to be a few months and also, it's worth noting that if you are thinking of booking any

new trips, make sure you check those travel insurance policies because in the last 48 hours, several insurance have said they are no longer going to offer travel disruption cover, which is what would cover you if you were to be quarantined in a destination. many of them are putting in clauses where they will not cover anything to do with coronavirus at all. people watching you now will be looking ahead and thinking about their summer holidays injuly, august and so on, wondering whether those will be able to go ahead. i would be very hesitant to book those right now, but if you already have one booked you know, wait and see. it might all calm down within a month or two, and in which case your holiday might be fine. if you already have a holiday booked, hold fire. but if you are nervous, especially if it is in one to two months, contact your airline or travel agent because almost all of them are being flexible with allowing people to change dates

for their trip. but this is important, one thing you should not do is do not accept vouchers or credit if you can avoid it. it is much better, your rights will be much safer if you actually make a booking for later in the year. ideally, before the end of the 31st of december 2020, which is when we are technically leaving the eu. under eu law, if you have a booking and the company goes bust and you paid on a credit card, your rights are much stronger. but if you are left with vouchers or credit and the company goes bust, it is very difficult. many people with thomas cook vouchers found they were absolutely useless, while those who had thomas cook bookings were able to get money back from that when the company went bust. just a line of breaking news on

coronavirus from the netherlands, who are now reporting eight more deaths due to the coronavirus, taking the total there to 20. the dutch national institute for public health said that the number of infections had risen by 176, to 1135, so eight more deaths taking the total to 20 in the netherlands. spanish police have been using drones equiped with loudspeakers to tell people in public spaces to go home. the message broadcast from those drones, you can see one in the picture, telling people stay off the streets and go back to your homes. just an indication of how the police in spain are maintaining that

lockdown in the streets of spain. here with football matches off and panic buying in supermarkets, it is affecting almost all of us, but it has also brought out great community spirit, as alexandra mckenzie has found out. at this london nursery, children are learning that washing their hands is important, but also can be fun. they are filming a music video with a specially composed song about hand washing. they want to encourage families around the world. excellent. i think it is important to wash your hands because you get germs in your hands and you get ill all the time. he wash your hands to

get the germs are. stops germs spreading around because people are sick. so to avoid the germs, you have to wash your hands. the message seems to be getting through to these youngsters, washing our hands often helps us slow down the spread of covid—19 and other germs. helps us slow down the spread of covid-19 and other germs. if i can save the lives of one child, if they are going to see our campaign and the importance of it, then i would be so happy. here in stenhousemuir in falkirk, it is the elderly who are being looked after. these shop owners have spent around £2000 of their own money on hand sanitiser, wipes and masks for some of the older people in their community. this is for you and your wife.|j older people in their community. this is for you and your wife. i am concerned because of my age, but i am also, i also think the job they are doing is magnificent. what ever

age we are, the next few weeks are bound to bring more uncertainty as covid—19 tightens its grip across the uk. alexandra mckenzie, bbc news. for the latest development on the coronavirus are bred, including what symptoms to look for and how to reduce your risk of being infected and advice for those with underlying health conditions, you can visit our website. now, let's get the weather. the band of rain seems to have slowed up across the west midlands and into lincolnshire. the cloud brea ks and into lincolnshire. the cloud breaks and we will get some sunshine but there will be showers, particularly in scotland. the band of rain pushing towards east anglia and the south—east of england and

temperatures dropping to eight or 9 degrees. we see the back of the rain in the southeast this evening and the showers elsewhere are largely dying out. but there will be an area of cloud that moved southwards away from scotland into northern england, parts of eastern england, keeping the temperatures up here. but elsewhere we will have a frost and it will be coldest in scotland, i think. most of us will start sunny tomorrow and the cloud breaking in northern and eastern parts of england but increasing in scotland and northern ireland, as the winds pick up through the day and afternoon we will see some rain coming in. for england and wales it is likely to stay dry and after the chilly start, with some sunshine around temperatures will live to around temperatures will live to around 11 or 12 celsius. —— lift.

hello, this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines: the health secretary warns that measures to combat coronavirus will disrupt the lives of everybody — and older people and those with health conditions will be asked to stay at home. the protection of the vulnerable and elderly by asking them to stay away, to stay at home, that is in our action plan, but we do not want formally to say yet that people should do that. british companies are urged to join a "national effort" to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment "at speed". supermarkets urge shoppers not

to buy more than they need, saying there is enough for everyone if people are considerate. the foreign office advises against "all but essential travel" to the united states after president trump introduced a travel ban on the uk. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's richard. premiership rugby are considering a 12—week suspension of top—flight rugby due to the coronavirus outbreak. a special meeting will take place tomorrow when clubs will discuss a range of potential next steps, including a four—week suspension and continuing to play until government advice on mass gatherings changes. the pro14 competition has already been suspended ferrari has suspended it's formula one team operations and closed its car factory until the 27th march as a result of coronavirus. in a statement the company said

it's taken the decision