there were some interruptions to sleep last night, as thunderstorms moved across parts of scotland. but these were not your usual thunderstorms. thundersnow was reported in edinburgh, and the sound was so unusual, concerned residents contacted the emergency services, fearing there had been an explosion. i woke my husband, who is really hard to wake, and i said to him, "what was that noise?" and he said, "it's thunder." and i said, "no, i don't think you can get thunder with snow." i thought it might have been a bomb going off or something. maybe a building being demolished, you know? it took me to go on to twitter to find out it was thunder, anyway, but it was particularly loud. while thundersnow isn't that common, it does happen here in the uk and it's the same mechanism which creates thunderstorms in the summer — instability in the atmosphere and lots of energy. but in this case, the air was cold enough that instead of rain, it was snow. like summer thunderstorms, the winter counterpart can produce

a lot of precipitation in a short amount of time. a couple of places over higher ground in eastern scotland saw close to four centimetres of snow in just a few hours. the blanket of snow muffled the thunder, which might explain why it sounded like an explosion. there was also lightning, which appeared brighter than normal as it reflected off the snowflakes. so, it may sound like a ‘70s pop group, but thundersnow is a meteorological phenomenon, though we might have to wait a while until we see it again. very dramatic, that takes us to the latest weather prospects, wherever you are. everything this morning, rain, sleet, snow. and lightning. has been significant snowfall, impressive accumulations behind me in the edinburgh area. it wasn'tjust scotland, parts of northern and eastern england is well done to

lower levels, we saw accumulations of snow in suffolk and more than that over the pennines. tied in with this area of low pressure, massive area covering western europe. it has been dragging out very cold air from the arctic which has been wrapped into the system and we have seen the street and the snow. during the day, it looks like snow levels will rise so it will be mostly on the hills of wales, the pennines and higher ground of scotland during the day. it will be very wet to lower levels, particularly eastern scotland. try it in the south, but windy away from the south east. gusts of wind a0 to 50 mph in the north and the west. it is going to feel cold and that will exacerbate the cold, temperatures ranging from two to 7 degrees. 0vernight come is stationary, longer spells of rain spinning around this area of low pressure across northern and western areas, snow falling over higher ground in northern england and scotland. dry air across eastern england where we see clearer skies and we are likely to see frost here and we are likely to see frost here and ice developing. into the weekend, staying cold, but the good

news is it will becoming drier as areas of low pressure slip to the south. at its centre is the south—western quadrant of the country and we will see the strongest winds and most of the showers here. elsewhere, isobars starting to suck and so the winds will turn later. wales, south—west england see the showers and longer spells of rain and strongest winds and showers pushing to northern and eastern scotland and eastern england. when tunis over the higher ground again and many places will be dry or turning ground again and many places will be dry orturning dry ground again and many places will be dry or turning dry with increasing sunshine. another cold day with temperatures of a—7 , typically. low pressure slips away further into sunday and the weather fronts disappear and there is barely any isobars. so it is a cold and still start to sunday, much later wins come up with problems of mist and fog which could be dense, stubborn to clear and could lift into low cloud so some areas staying grey. there will be some sunshine around and for most of us it will be drier,

but still stay in chilly with temperatures 3—7 . chilly but generally settled into next week, but hints of it turning less cold by the end of the week as the arctic low moves on to bring more unsettled weather. thank you. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me. and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. good afternoon, it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news... hello i'm sarah mulkerrins at the bbc sport centre. we should have been bringing you the latest from england's first one—day international against south africa at newlands — but that was dramatically postponed this morning — just an hour before it was due to start, after a member of the home side tested positive for covid—19. a fresh round of testing will now take place — and there's hopes that the three 0dis can be played on sunday, monday and wednesday. 0ur cricket correspondent is jonathan agnew.

clearly this is now a serious issue. of clearly this is now a serious issue. of any more south african players test positive, i suspect the series will be off, it's as simple as that because although they are in separate bubbles, they are in this hotel, and they are in close enough proximity. you do have to wonder how this player picked it up. two south africans tested positive when they came into this bubble but how a player managed to pick it up while being within this bubble is obviously a concern, the whole thing isa obviously a concern, the whole thing is a big issue for south african cricket we need the money. that is what this is all about. it wasn't scheduled for anything other really getting south africa's cricket and getting south africa's cricket and getting some money in their coffers, so getting some money in their coffers, so they will desperately be having these matches will go ahead on sunday, monday and wednesday. dundee united will be without nine players, and their entire management team, for tomorrow's scottish premiership match at livingston after being deemed close contacts of staff members who've tested

positive for covid i9. those include manager mickey mellon, with the whole coaching staff now having to self isolate. academy coach thomas courts will take charge of the team for tomorrow's game. manchester united are to install 1,500 barrier seats early next year as they prepare to trial safe standing at old trafford. work will begin early in the new year, to put the seats into the north—east section of the stadium. last year, wolves put rail seats into the sirjack hayward stand as a response to persistent standing by supporters. eddiejones has made one change to his england side that will face france in sunday's autumn nations cup final at twickenham with wing anthony watson replacing jonathanjoseph, who was injured in last weekend's victory over wales. the rest of england's starting 15 remains the same from that victory in llanelli. this match comes just over a year from defeat in the world cup final to south africa, a match eddie jones

is still reflecting on. they probably learned a bit from the world cup were they felt like we had under prepared for the world cup, so you feel like we've got the right balance in terms of physical and recovery work this week, and the boys trained outstandingly well at twickenham yesterday, so we are looking forward to this game on sunday. it's quarter final day at the uk snooker championship in milton keynes, with a match up between two former winners taking place right now. with a match up between two former and we can bring you live pictures of the match between mark selby and neil roberstson from the marshall arena. robertson taking the opening frame to lead i—0. you can watch this match on bbc two and via the bbc sport website and app. and lebronjames has signed a new two year contract with nba champions los angeles lakers, worth a reported £63 million. james

helped the lakers to their first nba title in a decade in october, and his new deal will expire in 2023, 20 years on from his nba debut. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories, and the latest from first practice at of the sakhir grand prix, on the bbc sport website. good afternoon. i'm here to take you through the next few hours of coronavirus coverage. i'm keeping an eye on the brexit talks as well. we will start with coronavirus. just in the last few moments in fact, we have just been sent the latest are a number. the r value now standing at between 0.8 and one. so a slight improvement on last week which was between 0.9 and one, so it now

stands between 0.8 and one. we are going to talk more about that with oui’ going to talk more about that with our health correspondent after two but for the next few minutes, we will take a look at many of your questions all about the coronavirus vaccine. this was recorded a little earlier with my colleague anita mcveigh. we've had the very significant announcement this week that the uk has become the first country in the role is to approve the pfizer biontech vaccine. what does that mean for you and your family? biontech vaccine. what does that mean for you and yourfamily? we will answer your questions with the help of two experts. i'm joined now by peter 0penshaw, professor of experimental medicine to me that it —— mike —— imperial college london and the former head of the royal couege and the former head of the royal college of general practitioners. great to have you with us. taking the time to answer our viewers model might question subtly forced on i will put to years from alexandra, who has written just to say, i'm a

sexy one—year—old female who had covid during the first lockdown and subsequently tested as having antibody verified by a hospital lab test was that my question is, should i still have the vaccine when my turn comes and what effect does having or having had antibodies have only vaccination the antibodies interfering —— will the antibodies interfere with the vaccines protect feature 7 interfere with the vaccines protect feature? also -- almost certainly the fact that you do —— you have had the fact that you do —— you have had the virus and have been primed... means you have a high level of antibody which shouldn't be protected for much longer. we are in early days, the vaccines have obviously been tested on people who have never been infected but it's not going to be an exclusion in terms of having the vaccine, the fa ct terms of having the vaccine, the fact you have antibodies. those who have antibodies, because they've been infected, will still be eligible for vaccination and we will give much longer protection. the

a nswer to answer to her question, should i still have it when my turn comes, is absolutely yes? yes. a very clear answer on that, hopefully that is helpful. for you, steve has contacted me to ask for clarification regarding transmission of the virus after vaccination. he said claims he says that people who have been vaccinated will not transmit the virus but evidence, experts say, is not forthcoming. the question is, presupposing when you get the vaccination, you may be has the —— at the vaccine at that point oi’ the —— at the vaccine at that point orare the —— at the vaccine at that point or are asymptomatic. that's a very interesting question because i think it's based on some of the live vaccines that we do give in clinical practice such as mmr where there is a warning not to mix with pregnant women, but this is not... we are not injecting the virus? —— we are not injecting the virus? —— we are not injecting the virus? —— we are not injecting the virus. different vaccines differ from what is going

in the body and peter can elaborate on that but there is not a risk of infection or spreading once you've had it. and once again, the plan is not to test people for the pre—existing antibodies, so we don't need to worry people who think they might have had covid and now have not been tested and should they shouldn't they go and get the jab and call for it. we will not do pretesting, we will assume everybody requires that that is in the groups. picking up on that, peter, with this pfizer biontech vaccine, none of the coronavirus is injected into us, is it? no, it is quite an extraordinary situation that the science has advanced to the stage where we can actually just give this advanced to the stage where we can actuallyjust give this synthetic rna so no virus has ever been involved in any case at making this vaccine other than the sequence of the virus being first discovered in january and february, which was provided to those who can make this synthetic rna, but it is this

photosynthesis process where there is nothing put into making that vaccine at all. it doesn't come into it because there isn't any of the virus in there in the first instance? never any virus in there at all, though. ifi canjust instance? never any virus in there at all, though. if i can just add, the astrazeneca one, as far as i'm aware, doesn't use the covid virus to start off with, it uses a common cold virus, so it is even more ingenious. even more interesting. the last one from carlos asks if it is safe for people who are being treated with immunosuppressive. would you like to pick up on that? yes, i'm confident they will be, actually. the rna vaccine, all that does is deliver a signal through the wonderful mechanisms that are present within our cells to make the

protein. they are recognised and there is no virus at all. there was an issue with people within this not responding strongly to the vaccine but it isn't an indication to having it. our bodies are very good at detecting it in the wrong place. there will nationally be a response from people who might be feeling a bit foolish in some cases but no side effect —— make those are side effects are uncommon. they are developing a good response is expected to a potent vaccine. and a similar theme for the next question for you, claire, which is from andrea, who has written in to say she has a son with a suppressed immune system which means he cannot have a live vaccine, nor can anyone in her household. she said, i can't

see any information about that, so can vulnerable children, adults and theirfamilies have can vulnerable children, adults and their families have this vaccine if it is life? thank you. what we've heard is this isn't a life vaccine. this is not even the virus. this is a tiny recipe in order that the... if he is on immunosuppressants or has chronic immunological disease, he will be immunised that it will be very safe and understand that additional vaccines have good immune response. people in the same household will not be infected. there is no transmission between the sun and the remaining members of the family. really interesting, that discussion, are really having the

nature of this particular vaccine because of people are thinking back to more traditional vaccines were a bit of the virus is actually included in the vaccine, that is not the scenario you are very clearly explaining with this one. can i explain, i think what you're seeing isa explain, i think what you're seeing is a really exciting involvement with the public in patients around a very located area which is immunology. it is very complicated. even myself, having left school many yea rs even myself, having left school many years ago, much of this is new to me, andi years ago, much of this is new to me, and i think it's not about misconceptions because we never had the conception in the first place. it's a very exciting time and a credit to the immunologist such as peter and the scientist able to see these things and ask these important questions. there is a huge amount of public engagement which is a good thing. i think they have to be kept ata thing. i think they have to be kept at a temperature of —70. how will they get it to all the different ca re they get it to all the different care homes to vaccinate the

vulnerable and elderly? this is a real logistical nightmare. actually to try and make sure it gets right down to the final stage in care homes, and it is currently being worked really hard. according to the regulations, my understanding is you're only allowed for transitions between the factory and the delivery point, and when you work it out, then that doesn't allow the final transition of making sure they have vaccines directly and take care home. i think there are ways for people who are trying to solve that one, the best way to deliver all these, the biontech pfizer vaccine is to go into the very place where the most vulnerable hour, and it is a big logistical problem but it is, i understand, being solved. and phil right, has it been tested on why the age right, has it been tested on why the 5, right, has it been tested on why the age ranges, including those in vulnerable adult sand in those more

elderly citizens who are apparently likely to be more adversely affected by the virus, and what has been the effect? i think the only group that has not been tested in and maybe peter can clarify, our pregnant women. and i think children at the vaccine has been tested, unlike many drugs that we have available at the moment, have been tested in the whole wide range of places including in the elderly which is unusual and what you've actually found with the vaccine is they are just as effective in the elderly as in young people, which is really important because most vaccines are not as effective in older people, so maybe peter could say who they haven't been tested in. i agree. the thing about pregnancy is whether you regard it as a medical condition people need to be cosseted and wrapped in cotton wool is actually pa rt wrapped in cotton wool is actually part of life. cani part of life. can i interrupt you they are, because one of our questions is

about pregnancy and we are told health care workers has priority for vaccinations but what about pregnant hospital doctors and other pregnant health care workers who are told they cannot be vaccinated until after childbirth but are still working in hospitals and the nhs in general? yes, it's a really difficult one because we don't have the evidence in pregnancy and my instinct as an immunologist is actually these vaccines will be perfectly effective in pregnancy and perfectly effective in pregnancy and perfectly safe but they may be licensing issues which would prevent this from being used in pregnancy, so it's not an immunological question so much as one of the regulations and what those say. i'm sorry if that is slightly sidestepping it here.|j sorry if that is slightly sidestepping it here. i think it is something we will return to at a later point, an interesting question there. the next one is from brian, which i will give to you, claire. how will those people are at the age of 80 or still fit you notified that

they are eligible for the vaccination? what are your thoughts on that question? much in the same way they are notified at the moment. their flu vaccine will be through the registered list and the good thing about the nhs as we know everybody who is here in the country because we have the money registered list. we also know how many of 80s we got, how many i6—year—olds with complex diseases and they will be invited very much like they are under the —— invited for a flu vaccine, irrespective of whether they are fit and healthy or unwell. clear cut. i will try to squeeze into more questions that i have if i can. monica has written to ask why other countries have not yet approved it, is it because they are more cautious and prudent? interesting in light of those comments from anthony fauci in the states. the comments have been clarified from fauci and what he was trying to emphasises each country

has a slightly different way of regulating. 0ur regulators in recent yea rs have really regulating. 0ur regulators in recent years have really come round to the that they have to work wisely with people from a steady age to make sure they are doing everything in a regulated way and having seen some of these close—up, i can say the regulation is extraordinary. you should have to jump through our remarkable and our own regulators are remarkable and our own regulators a re every remarkable and our own regulators are every bit as meticulous as anyone else's but they are doing it ina way anyone else's but they are doing it in a way that allows the process to be extended because we appreciate that you cannot wait 12 or 18 years for a vaccine. you have to be able to do things quicker and i'm pleased to do things quicker and i'm pleased to say they've responded, but they have responded. final one, if you travel a lot and have the first dose in the uk, possibly pfizer, could the secondly from oxford or madonna?

i will hazard a guess and say no.|j think the answer probably will be yes but let's wait for the... for the science. i think what i gather, we can mix and match —— might not mix and match normally but i think these can be used together. what is your sense? that was not the answer i was expecting. the immunological one is absolutely. if you've been infected and that has primed your immune system and you come in with a vaccine, you will have an even better response in the immune system thatis better response in the immune system that is shared. that is slight protein predominantly. in designing effective vaccines, sometimes you do have this primed boost scheduled where you have one kind, boosted with another anti—shed bit gives you a brilliant immune response. from immune ontological point of view, absolutely but if it is —— immunological point of view, absolutely but otherwise it is not

tested. that is the last time i try to hazard questions on science and immunology. interesting point raised there, fascinating discussion. thank you both very much and thank you to you both very much and thank you to you as ever for you both very much and thank you to you as everfor sending you both very much and thank you to you as ever for sending those questions in. that's we stay with vaccines because the government is confident that it will have 800,000 coronavirus vaccine doses by next week which is when the vaccination programme is meant to start with the first consignment of pfizer arriving in the country yesterday. the first minister for scotland, john swinney, —— deputy first minister for scotland, john swinney, set out some of the plans there.

i want to talk about the vaccine implementation plan. as the first minister stated, we expect the first delivery very soon which will allow vaccinations to begin on tuesday of next week. 0bviously vaccinations to begin on tuesday of next week. obviously we will start by vaccinating those who will be vaccinating everybody else. we will then follow the independent advice that we have received from the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation. they have recommended prioritising those with the greatest clinical need specifically front line health workers. and people over the age of 80. these will be the first groups of the vaccine. with regards to the pfizer vaccine, there are conditions attached to authorisation which make it difficult for care homes. we are in the process of looking at how that can be done. provided the volume of

vaccines being delivered allows other vaccines gaining supply approval like pfizer, we aim to have the first part completed by spring. clearly, if there are delays, they will impact on timings but we will move as efficiently as vaccine supplies allow. the joint committee sets out a clear order of priority for delivery. around 90% of preve nta ble for delivery. around 90% of preventable mortality from covid—i9. 0nce preventable mortality from covid—i9. once the vaccination of these groups is completed, we will seek to vaccinate the rest of the adult population is while the risk of organisation is much lower, it is still a serious risk of debilitating illness. the very fact that vaccinations in scotland are scheduled to start in four days'

time is fantastic news and it brings hope that the end to the pandemic is in sight however the end is not here yet and it will not be for some time. the fact that vaccinations and that vaccination is now a prospect gives us the hope we can do everything we can to keep our loved ones safe and ourselves. the best way to do it is thick to the current rules and guidelines. john swinney, scott and's deputy first minister. much more from too. let'sjust scott and's deputy first minister. much more from too. let's just pause and catch up with the weather prospects. hello. it's been a cold start to the day and a wintry one in places, too, with snow falling in parts of eastern and northern

england, but especially in scotland where travel on some of the higher routes will stay quite difficult as we go on through the rest of the day with a bit more snow to come. a deep area of low pressure sitting right across us. it's not just wet but windy as well. for many of us, if you have seen a bit of snow so far today it will turn back to rain, that's away from the higher hills in scotland. but there will be another dose of quite heavy rain running through eastern scotland through the afternoon and into the evening and that could bring some flooding and disruption in some spots. mostly rain in northern ireland, a bit of sleet and snow to the higher hills here as there will be across parts of northern england, north wales and the midlands, but for many of us at low levels it willjust be a cold rain. parts of south wales and southern england will get to see a few sunny spells but even so, it will stay cold. that's the picture as we go through the rest of the afternoon, low pressure system, bands of wet weather circulating around that. that's where it is turning much wetter across parts of eastern scotland again, but this particularly in the form of rain this time, and then we get to see a few sunny spells to the south. it's not just wet but windy as well.

some wind gusts in excess of 50 mph in some spots and that's just reinforcing just how chilly it feels out there today. into tonight, we'll continue to see some rain, again a bit of sleet and snow, particularly into the hills. some clearer skies developing more widely across the eastern side of england. this is where we are most likely to have a frost with temperatures at freezing orjust below as we go into saturday morning. as for the weekend, that area of low pressure will pull away and it will turn drier, but it is going to stay cold and it will still be some wet weather around on saturday, mostly in the form of showers. still quite windy, particularly to the north and west, gusty winds with showers in south—west england that could have hail and thunder with them. also some drier weather around and a few sunny spells occasionally too, although they do nothing for the temperature. part two of the weekend on sunday as the windfalls light, there could be fog at the start of the day and a frosty start. some of that fog might linger particularly through parts of central and eastern england. a few showers in northern scotland. most dry, but still cold.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines: the government say the talks on a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator pledged to work towards an agreement: important days, and determination. we are in a difficult phase. there is no denying that. there are a numberof is no denying that. there are a number of tricky issues that still have to be resolved. as the first consignments of the pfizer—biontec jab arrive in the uk — coronavirus vaccinations are due to start next week. tough covid restrictions come into force in wales in a few hours' time — with a big impact on pubs and restaurants. investigations are continuing to find out what caused an explosion