the headlines... in the last few minutes the us federal reserve has cut interest rates for the second time in less than two weeks. the us central bank said the coronavirus outbreak posed risks to the economic outlook and that rates were coming down to a quarter of i%. in spain, a near total lockdown is in place with strict rules on who can leave their homes, but there has been a spike in deaths from the virus. as the european death toll from the virus rises, the continent's largest economy germany has announced border controls with its neighbours, france, austria, switzerland, luxembourg. and south korea has

reported fewer coronavirus cases, although the country has the highest number of cases in asia after china. at ten o'clock we will have a full round—up of the day's news. wuhan, central china, with a population of 11 million, it is bigger than greater london. this is where the coronavirus outbreak began, last december. injanuary, as it started spreading across china, the government took an unprecedented step, to lock down wuhan. two residents began to film.

police barricades ring the city. all roads out are shut. lin wenhua, a travel vlogger, heads out with his camera. lin has lived in wuhan his whole life and knows the bustling city like the back of his hand, but today it is empty. many factories, offices and shops are closed.

the lockdown is a huge gamble to stop the spread of the virus to the rest of china by shutting off wuhan. residents do not know what it will do to infections within the city and there is no word on when it will end. two dozen people have already died. wuhan central hospital is the epicentre of the outbreak. it is under unprecedented strain. li ting is a nurse in the emergency department.

she has been treating patients for several weeks and shared her concerns with her husband, cai kaihai. but the hospital needs workers like li ting. despite herfears, she believes it is her duty to carry on.

the government has shut all public transport — it has paralysed the city. lin wenhua has been contacted by a doctorfriend with a request for help. even those on the frontline fighting the virus are unable to get to work. lin arranges to pick up his first passenger, a nurse.

after driving several doctors and nurses to work, lin drops in on his friend, lil lil. it is chinese new year.

families often travel across the country to be together at chinese new year. the lockdown was implemented to avoid this epic movement of people and stop the spread of the virus beyond wuhan.

the people's liberation army now arrives in wuhan. construction starts on two new mega hospitals to be run by the military. 40,000 medical workers from around china are drafted in and, to solve the transport problem, the government organises buses and hotels for hospital staff, but doctors have struggled to understand the virus

and protect themselves from it. many are becoming infected. cai takes his wife, li ting, to her shift in the emergency department. she is not feeling well. soon after, she calls him. li ting is told the hospitals do not

have space to treat her so, like thousands of others, she is sent home to self quarantine. avoiding infection requires extreme measures.

it has been over a week since the lockdown. new infections have grown by 500%. there are reports that people with the virus who have stayed at home are infecting their families and neighbours, and that some are dying in their homes but, with hospitals full, the self quarantine policy continues. li ting has now had the virus for five days. but her condition has worsened. cries.

until a bed becomes available, the couple are stuck at home. 10,000 wuhan residents have become infected in the last week.

the two new mega hospitals have opened. sports stadiums and conference halls have been converted into giant mass—confinement centres. everyone suspected of having coronavirus now has to be in hospital. only a country with china's command system could react this fast. lin wenhua is helping to deliver medicine. although there is currently no cure, the government has advised that hiv drugs may help ease the symptoms. hiv patients have donated their drugs to people with the virus who cannot get them through the hospitals.

breathes heavily.

nurse li ting needs to go to hospital. it is the first time she has been out of the house for 12 days. the doctor is checking her lungs with a ct scan. they have to go home. cai desperately calls the hospitals asking for an available place but no luck. in bed, li ting speaks to him by phone in the next room.

the next day, li ting is finally admitted to hospital. lin has now driven over 1000 miles around wuhan. there are thought to be up to 50,000 volunteers like him. it is a lifeline for the city. but they are exposing themselves to extreme risk.

but lin has finally hit a dead end. in a bid to self isolate, residents have cut off the entrance to their district.

the lockdown has slowed the spread to the rest of china. but in just one month, nearly 50,000 people have become infected in wuhan. now, the government escalates the lockdown. it orders every residential complex must close its gates. cai goes to pick up a delivery.

food supplies are now organised by the management of each apartment block. anyone who tries to leave risks being arrested. fewer new infections are now being reported. li ting is still in hospital but she is finally on the mend. lin wenhua is also now confined to his complex.

he is unable to carry on his volunteering work and he is having to miss a big family event.

the details for the end of the week and the outlook have changed a bit but what i'm going to show you over the next two and a half, three minutes, is a band of rain staggering southwards over the week ahead with milder air for a while ahead of it before colder air returns again. we start with colder air on monday. this ridge of high pressure means a frosty start from any but the weather front coming in to the north—west is the one that will hang around in one form or another over the next few days. that will push into scotland and northern ireland, the wind picks up, cloud amounts increase and through the afternoon we will see some rain arriving as well. for england and wales, it's still dry in the afternoon. some sunshine around. wind will be lighter and after a cold start temperatures will reach a healthy 12, 13. during monday evening

that cloud and rain, heaviest over the hills of western scotland, will sink down into northern england and wales. the weather front bringing it will get so far south across the uk and then weaken and then come back again from the atlantic on that little wave in the weather front, which enhances the rainfall. a weak weather front moves into england and wales, bringing a bit more cloud, may be some light rain and drizzle here and there, and then the wave comes in, the cloud thickens across northern ireland, western scotland, and it turns wetter later in the day. for eastern parts of england, a good chance you will stay dry, with sunshine at times. here it will be warmer, 1a or 15, with south—westerly winds returning. south—westerly, milder air ahead of that weather front and colder air to the north of it. wetter weather on tuesday night across the northern half of the uk. again, as the weather front moves south, it will weaken with the rain becoming lighter and more patchy, mainly over the hills in the west, but we will see more cloud moving south. the northern half of the uk

gets into colder air, with wintry showers across northern scotland. a colder feel here, certainly. whilst it is quite cloudy in the south—east, we are still in the milder air so temperatures of 15 or 16. here is the change, thursday into friday, because the weather front will stick around, this time across the southern half of the uk. still pretty weak at this stage on thursday, so it's more a band of cloud, but we have another little wave enhancing the rainfall and coming to the south—west later in the day. northern half of the uk, colder air and the wind is not too strong. a few showers in the far north but temperatures lower at around eight or nine. not as mild in the south—east on thursday. because we are getting that cold air, round, that high pressure from the north and milder airfrom the neo— continent, the weather front gets a bit more active with rainfall developing more widely, becoming more steady and heavier across the southern half of the uk to stop further north, a cold wind picking up in the far north of scotland and blowing in wintry showers.

across the board, those temperatures will be lower, typically 7—9. we end up with an area of low pressure close to the weather front which will be anchored over biscay. we should see the wet weather move away during saturday and sunday and this high—pressure moving close to the uk. rather than right over the uk, the centre is now probably going to be across scandinavia so it's in a different place. the weather still looks quite similar, generally dry as we head through the weekend and beyond. temperatures not too bad, not quite as cold, but feeling a little bit chilly, and for many of us it will be rather windy.