our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow, to the white house where he can continue his treatment course. here, the prime minister warns there could be "a very tough winter" ahead, as the country deals with coronavirus. i have got to tell you in all candour it is going to continue to be bumpy to christmas, it may even be bumpy beyond but this is the only way to do it. the cinema chain, cineworld, is expected to close indefinitely in the uk and elsewhere with more than 5,000 jobs are at risk here. now on bbc news, anna holligan travels across europe to see how people are getting on their bikes and asks if the surge in cycling is the start of a much bigger change in the way we travel. from the bubonic plague to tuberculosis, pandemics have historically changed the way our cities are designed, and the coronavirus

has been no different. coronavirus is a moment in which every policymaker can make a u—turn. lockdown made our capitals quieter, greener, and we've seen wildlife blossoming like never before. it's like a paradise for me now. you can see maybe tens of thousands of bicycles everywhere. we are travelling around europe, meeting the people who are trying to implement the biggest changes in cities we've seen in decades. three months ago, here, you had a lot of cars in this path, 0k? now it's for bicycles. but this rapid shift towards pedal power has created a problem. i just went there and it was empty, you know. there were no bikes. could the pandemic see a shift to more environmentally friendly modes of transport?

or will we simply return to the way we were? dutch bike lanes are the envy of the world. it's so much part of us. it is as if we are all born with a bike. like you take a shopping bag, you take your bike. but it wasn't always this way. maatje van putten was a dutch politician. this is me and my son, 1976. "the netherlands‘ traffic is in europe the most dangerous for children."

maatje was a key player in the movement that transformed dutch cities in the 1960s and ‘70s. the start was there in the ‘70s when people got alarmed about the figures of children on the way to school. the accidents — the numbers were so high that we had to do something, and that's how it begun. here, the action groups — and this is us — "we want a car—free sunday at least once a month" — that was in the oil crisis... in 1973, maatje launched a campaign called stop the child murder. we sat together and said that this can't go on. we have to do something. and so more and more actions were taken. we were blocking roads in the rush—hour — people on their way home — drivers totally overtaken and surprised about mothers in a circle on the corner of the road, blocking it.

and there you were, right at the front? maybe, yeah. me and this... maatje‘s efforts have been immortalised as the heroine of a new children's book. here we went through the tunnel, under the water, here in the — and then, on the other side, the police was there. the amount of space by the car traffic was so enormous that that was, well, eating up the space for cyclists and also pedestrians. the whole infrastructure of the netherlands was totally focused on — on, yeah, let's say, priority of cars. bikes was not an issue. today, amsterdam has 767 kilometres of cycle lanes and more bikes than people. but even here, the pandemic is changing the way people get about. because of covid—19,

it didn't feel right to go by tram any more, so it was actually the right time to now get a bakfiets cargo bike. judith and johan hartog bought an electric cargo bike at the start of lockdown. we're not really going on a — on a vacation now, so, like a staycation, we stay in holland and we do a lot by bike now, so it's — you can put a lot of things in, you can get the bags and go out, like here in the park or maybe — and we're going to the beach by bike so it's easy for days — days off. could you have imagined having this, being this dutch mum, six months ago? no, we would never have thought. so, yeah, it's fun. it's — it's different and it's also a bit cliched, but yeah, we like it — we love it.

the pandemic has been a catalyst for many people here to invest savings they wouldn't otherwise have had. it's not only mobility anymore, you know, because it's also fun. they're singing in the bike and they have fun, you're in nature — it's a whole different way of going out. the netherlands already had world—renowned infrastructure but the coronavirus has still significantly shifted behaviour. cargo bike sales have gone up by 53% this year and the e—bike is now the most commonly sold type of bicycle. brussels, the capital of belgium. since march, it's built a0 kilometres of new cycle paths. i've been here for two weeks and then, all of a sudden,

the world changed, so of course i decided that i want to, you know, take all the measures that i can to stay healthy. when brussels went into lockd own, vesseli na foteva decided cycling was the fastest, safest way to travel, and went out to buy a bike. ijust entered the bike shop and had an image of myself, you know, buying a beautiful bike and matching with the nice helmet. but i just went there, and it was empty, you know? there were no bikes. i wanted to order one, but they said that i need to wait at least two months to get the bike. so i said, "ok. no way. i cannot wait so much because, you know, the whole summer will be gone." a friend of mine, really by accident, told me that she heard about this subscription—based service, where you can pay a monthly fee and get the bike at your home. so i told her that

that's really cool. commuters make up the majority of those who've subscribed to this particular scheme, swapfiets. the dutch company is expanding into three new cities to capitalise on a spike in demand that came with covid. when it was already official that we are living in a global pandemic, i decided that i will avoid as much as possible public transport. so this is probably the main reason to decide to have a bike. but it's notjust commuters who are switching to two wheels. cycling traffic surged in brussels during the first week of the return to school, with a 75% increase compared to last year. milan was one of the first cities to embrace cycling as a way to get its residents moving around again.

this is one of italy's most polluted cities, and it's also in the heart of the region that was the epicentre of the outbreak in europe. pepino drali is one of italy's most famous bike manufacturers. now, at 92, pepino has been building bikes for more than 80 years. and the crisis has meant an unparalleled pressure on pepino and his apprentice, alessandro...

..as the demand for their handmade bikes has soared. but pepino isn't convinced the boost in their sales is reflected in the number of actual cyclists on the streets. are you hopeful that in the future, it will again be like it was when you were a boy? and there are many who hope pepino is right, that the surge

in cycling is just a phase. claudio severgnini is slipping back into his old routine. he's been driving passengers around milan for more than two decades. that's incredible, so you have to cross the cycle lane to go into your taxi rank here? but the roads he knows like the back of his hand are being altered and he is worried about cars being pushed out.

claudio is concerned these bike lanes through the heart of his city have appeared too fast without enough consideration for cars. no? chuckles. it's already caused a lot of conflict. transforming the roads, making room for cyclists, involves taking sections away from the drivers. and this side is also new? yes, that side is correct.

the parking over side. 0n the pavement? oh, so now they park...? so not space. wow.

but there is an urgency in this part of italy, as everyone we meet has been touched by the pandemic. this time has forced reflection. for some, the changes are not going far or fast enough. most of milan's new bike routes are only temporary paintjobs. environmentalists are using the current situation to push for permanent infrastructure. coronavirus is a moment in which, you know, every policymaker can make a u—turn, completely, and change their own cities.

anna gerometta is an environmentalist and activist. she believes curtailing car use and backing bikes is an investment for a healthierfuture. climate groups have warned people living in polluted cities are more at risk of contract and lung infections like covid—i9. the failure to have the courage to change now, in a situation in which you have some time to prepare the people, can be really disastrous. this is a major concern for the people gathered here tonight. they are the critical mass and they are, you know, a movement that has been going on for years. they ride every thursday night and they want to show our policymakers that citizens of milan really want a different kind of city.

there are a few lanes that have been built but compared to the need and the necessity of this city and the will of people and the wish of the population of milan to have a different mobility and way to go around, they are really a drop in the ocean. it's a matter of a completely different quality of life. if you have a city where you — your air is so polluted that you get sick and your children get sick, that is an important topic that you, as a public, policymaker, you should be addressing. the regional government has so far spent 115 million euros to stimulate cycling, but milan's urban planner told us many italians just aren't ready to get on the saddle.

it's absolutely not true. probably the mentality of the politicians is too old and they are not seeing what the people really want, and their capacity of their own population and citizens to accept large changes with a very happy heart. the french capital is spending record amounts transforming the streets to try and make cycling a viable option for everyone. it's going to be so interesting to see how this massive investment in cycling is actually changing the way people are moving around the city. it is like a revolution, you know, because before, we had a city with cars, only

cars, and now we have a city with bicycles, with walking, with public transportation, but it is good for ecology. i know we have some problems but it is a priority for the next month to solve this problem, and i'm sure we can solve this. here, it's before. now, it's a new world. 0k! the most iconic change is here on the notoriously petrol—filled rue de rivoli. sections are now completely car—free. david belliard is the deputy mayor of paris. he's a green politician who has been pushing for these measures for years. three months ago, here, you had a lot of cars in this path, 0k? now, it's for bicycles. the more you give space for bicycles, the more they use it. yeah, build and they

will come, they say. yeah, look at that. it's like — it's a big traffic jam, you know? people here have been telling me how they went into lockdown and then came out to this — a whole new world. these types of changes normally take decades. because of the pandemic, there was an urgency, which meant they happened here overnight. cycling levels after the lockdown increased by 27% compared to last year. paris is in a big transformation, a big bang of mobility, but a big bang with public space. we will organise city to allow you to take your bicycle safely and we will change rules and we will make you more bicycle path and we need to give back some space to parisians.

it's a profound culture shift that's taking some adjusting. we saw cyclists being pulled overfor running red lights and cycling with headphones on. it's clearly not clear to everyone who has the right of way. which means for some people, it's time to go back to school. speaks french this isjoel sick. he's an instructor at maison du velo cycling school.

since the coronavirus struck, the french government has invested 20 million euros in a push to get more parisians using bikes. these classes are now free to anyone in the city who wants to learn to ride. it's like a paradise for me now. you can see maybe tens of thousands of bicycles everywhere, so it is very becoming so popular. remy dunoyer is a bike mechanic. his repair shop in downtown paris stayed open through lockdown. in response to the pandemic, the french government started contributing to the cost of bike repairs. we have a name for a new

service which is out of the basement service. with dusty bicycles, like this one, or any other one, so we have a special service for this use in which we include help from the government — they have 50 euros to help people to fix those bicycles. sometimes they are very, very rusty and hard to fix so it is cheaper for the people to reuse this one than to buy a new one. while other businesses have been shedding staff or cutting down, remy has been hiring and opening new stores through the country. it was an opportunity for us to open a new city which is in strasbourg. we open a second one in bordeaux, so two shops in bordeaux, one in paris and maybe soon a second one in paris and in strasbourg too. across europe, more

than a billion euros has been spent and 2300 kilometres of bike lanes created since the pandemic began. reduced car use has seen pollution fall by 50% in some of europe's biggest cities. but whether this covid—related trend continues depends on the scale of the continued investment and how many of us are committed to keep cycling, changing cities possibly forever. hello there. some parts of the uk have had their 0ctober‘s worth of rainfall in just three days. and it's because low pressure got stuck across western europe. this area of low pressure here.

and its spiralling bands of clouds were very slow—moving as a result, which means that where the rain was falling it fell for hours — over 100 millimetres in places, which led to numerous flood warnings being issued across the uk, and you can keep up—to—date and find out the latest on from that the bbc weather site here. not just the flood warnings, but the weather warnings as well. now that area of low pressure is not going anywhere, it's staying with us through the next couple of days, just migrating a bit further north wards. it does look as if the cloud bands will become more fragmented and the rain more showery in nature, but it is certainly not dry. it will be difficult to get detail therefore. so some sunshine in between the showers, as we start our monday morning. we've got rain, though, potentially still that band of rain across western parts of ireland, moving back in to western scotland, northern ireland, wales, southern and western parts of england. still a brisk wind, although that will be easing down all the time, and with some sunshine in between showers elsewhere, it does look as if it will a bit

warmer than during the day on sunday, particularly in the south. now we'll notice that through the rest of the week, it is relatively mild, with the brightness and the sunshine. but we keep that low pressure with us, so that band of rain works its way a little bit further northwards and eastwards during the course of monday night into tuesday. picking up more of a brisk wind again in the south. it is not going to be particularly chilly, there could be a few pockets of fog i should imagine in some of the river valleys, but really tuesday is going to be a bit breezy in southern areas, so we will see those showers whisking through for england and wales and northern ireland, they could be heavy with some hail and thunder thrown in, more persistent rain still spiralling that low across northern and western scotland, slow—moving showers here, but again with the sunshine, 1a to 16 degrees celsius. by wednesday, our lows migrating further northwards, and that area of rain is expanding across northern and western scotland, but it looks like we may see fewer showers further south. the reason for that is because we have potentially got another nasty area of low pressure brewing up in the atlantic. now there is quite a lot

of uncertainty surrounding where this area of low pressure is going to go, but it is set to give more wet weather and more potentially very windy weather across the united kingdom as well. so it could be at this stage looking like it's the southern half of the uk seeing another bout of really wet weather, but there will still be showers and longer spells of rain further north, remnants of that weather front here. still relatively mild air because it is coming in off the atlantic but, as we go through thursday night and friday and we clear this area of low pressure out of the way, as i say, still a lot of detail uncertainty but once that does clear away it allows a change of wind direction. a colder north or north—westerly wind will flood southwards across the uk, so if you are sheltered from that, feels pleasant enough with fewer showers, but if you are in that breeze, a definite chill. but that breeze shouldn't last too long, because high pressure is coming in, which will settle the weather down, cut off that northerly feed and allow a few days, we hope, of drier weather, although not for too long in the north and west, these weather fronts, these low pressures brushed to the north, the weaker feature pushing

into southern areas may give the odd drop of rain. but for many it does look like it will be drier as we head through next weekend and into the coming week. but for the meantime, still quite a bit of wet weather around and about. as ever, you can keep up—to—date on the website.