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

at a waterworks near bristol — in which four people died. the government pledges to cut uk carbon emissions faster than any other major economy — setting a new target for 2030. loud bang and coming up — what was it that woke up people in edinburgh in the early hours? we find out about the weather phenomenom of thundersnow. good afternoon, welcome to the bbc news. downing street says talks with the european union over a post—brexit trade deal

are ‘at a very difficult point‘. the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier is staying in london for the discussions this afternoon. time is running out — the current rules expire at the end of this month. our political correspondent iain watson has the latest. the music like the weather is sombre. it is so important that the eu chief negotiator michel barnier is staying in london and want returning to brussels. the government says that a deal is still possible. you want the eu to recognise that the uk as a sovereign and independent nation and it is on the basis of that that a deal will be done. it is tricky but we are working hard. last night talks went on until late. government celsius accuse the eu of tabling something unpalatable and reversing progress. fishing quotas have always been a bone of contention. but there seem

to bea bone of contention. but there seem to be a possible compromise of phasing in any changes. more seriously the government said talks we re seriously the government said talks were flagging because brussels had hardened its line of what is known to negotiators over the level playing field and to the rest of us as competition rules. the eu said it had made no new demands but didn't deny the importance of the issue. we wa nt deny the importance of the issue. we want a deal that we can trust. it is not new. the question of the level playing field is key, for the eu. on monday mps will debate a bill that would allow the uk to sidestep parts of the agreement made to leave the eu back in january. of the agreement made to leave the eu back injanuary. russell says this could cast a cloud over future relations. —— brussels says. in any case, a deal has to be reached by thursday when eu leaders meet at a summit to sign it off, or not. because today, the french government made it clear that if they don't

like what the eu and uk negotiators agreed, the deal could be scuppered. translation: france like all of its partners has a veto. we will conduct out owfi partners has a veto. we will conduct our own evaluation of a deal if one exists. that's normal. we owe it to the french. the uk will no longer follow eu rules for —— from 11pm on december the 31st, which means that deal or no deal, there will be big changes at the border, but both sides would benefit from close trading relationships. the question is whether the can move closer in today's talks. iain watson, bbc news. our political correspondent nick eardley is at westminster. everyone just watching and waiting. we have said that so many times. but it really is. haven't we just, jane? there is a strange sense of deja vu to this. downing street saying that time is running very short, and the talks have reached a very difficult stage. the truth is, sitting here in this moment, we cannot say for sure

whether there is going to be a deal in the next few days. it is important, the uk side were saying late last night they didn't think things were going well. that the talks had actually receded and the chances of getting a deal had reduced. however, they talk till 11 o'clock last night. they were back talking again at 11 o'clock this morning. michel barnier was due to go back to brussels. he didn't. he is staying for a reason. the reason is, there is still some hope on both sides that they can come to some sort of compromise. there are three things to bear in mind of the next couple of days. one is both sides have red lines. they want to see whether they can agree on those contentious issues of fishing rights and state competition, without breaking the red lions. boris johnson has to consider whether he can sell his deal at home, whether he can persuade those brexiteers who we re he can persuade those brexiteers who were so he can persuade those brexiteers who were so unhappy with the may but on board with his deal, that this deal

matches the promises that he made at the general election, and thirdly, michel barnier has to think, can he sell this to all of the european nation states? france has been in some ways the bad cop through lots of these negotiations. it has made a lot of noise about things it is unhappy with. clearly, some of those are genuine concerns, but the hope is that if some sort of compromise can be found between the two sites, if they remain talking in london, it is easier to sell back to other european countries, to the european parliament, and for borisjohnson to sell in parliament at home, too. you will be back with us if you hear anything, thank you for now, nick, at westminster. we will stay with this. philip rycroft is a former permanent secretary at the department for exiting the european union. he's now a specialist partner at flint global, a business management consultancy. a very good afternoon. good afternoon. what is your reading of

the latest comments coming from both sides? we are in the endgame. this is typical in an endgame. sometimes it looks as though things are going rapidly downhill, therefore they bounce back up again and something is concluded. very difficult to say at the moment, where things will end up. buta at the moment, where things will end up. but a deal is still very possible, but it is not in the bag, yet. one thing really is now very clear, there's not a lot of time left. particularly with the proposed introduction next week into the uk parliament of the finance bill and the contentious clause is coming backin the contentious clause is coming back in the uk internal market bill, both of these things are seen as quite hostile by the eu, so everybody is very conscious that the next 2—3 days are critical to get this sorted. is that where the

difficulties lay, or, are we still act topics that we have spoken about so act topics that we have spoken about so much, like fisheries and state aid? it is our old friend state aid, and fisheries that appear to be the sticking points. don't forget, particularly on state aid, this is the, this has been fundamental throughout, the eu side made clear way back, very soon after the referendum, that they are a big concern was to ensure that if the uk was to have privileged access to the eu market, it should do so on terms that didn't give businesses based in the uk an unfair competitive advantage. so that's why they have been so strong on this. fisheries is slightly different. it is not so much an economic issue as a political issue because of its totemic importance to fishing and fishing community is notjust in the uk but in france and denmark, the

netherlands and some other eu member states as well. when you were in the department the issue of state aid was live, then. that was part of your daily work, was it? exactly. the political declaration that was signed off by theresa may and then adapted somewhat by the prime minister, the current prime minister, it was a big feature, then. of course it has been fundamental to the discussions between the uk and the eu, throughout this process. the eu, the single market is the jewel in the crown, and that is why they are so keen to protect that, so if you want access to the single market, you have to take some of the obligations that come with that as well. when you explain it that clearly, there will be people watching saying, right, frankly, both sides have

known this right from the get—go. and here we are with what, a couple of days ago? and there's got to be a meeting next thursday to sign this off. you can count the number of decisive weeks we have had in this process over the last few months, it has been seemingly every week! the reason for that is, both sides have seen some advantage, in playing this to the wire. both thought were different reasons that it has suited their negotiating tactics but if you have two size doing that you get this sort of mutual brinksmanship. and from the uk side, the closer we get to the deadline, the closer we get to the deadline, the closer we get to the deadline, the closer we get to christmas, the less time for scrutiny. scrutiny of a deal if it is done is going to be very uncomfortable, for many, because even with a deal, the changes that

are coming down the track for the uk at the end of this year are really very important indeed. that's interesting. so that would be where your focus would be, interesting. so that would be where yourfocus would be, on interesting. so that would be where your focus would be, on trying to make everything work, make things run properly. exactly. a big part of thejob i run properly. exactly. a big part of the job i did run properly. exactly. a big part of thejob i did when i was in government was thinking about what happens if there is a deal or indeed if there is no deal. we now know that even if we get a deal, the change in the uk's trading relationship with the eu is fundamental. there will be a new trade board from the beginning of next year for both goods and services. this is a massive change in the trading relationship with our most important trading partner. lots of as have done a lot of work to get ready for that. most businesses now will know that there are things to do. but there will be many who

haven't put in place all of the things they need to do, in order to be able to try and trade smoothly with the eu, at the beginning of next year. this is a very big change coming, deal or no deal, but i would say that even in those circumstances, a deal is a very much better outcome than no—deal. circumstances, a deal is a very much better outcome than no-deal. very interesting to hear your perspective. that is philip rycroft, who was the permanent secretary at the department for exiting the eu. we will be keeping an eye on those talks throughout the afternoon here. the government has said it is confident the uk will have 800,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine by next week — when the vaccination programme is due to begin. the first batch of the pfizer/biontech jabs arrived here from belgium yesterday. but health leaders are warning that its rollout is a logistical challenge — with the firstjabs expected to be given on tuesday. here's our health correspondent katharine da costa.

the nhs is gearing up for the biggest vaccination programme in its history. 50 hospital hubs are set to receive the first batches of the pfizer—biontech vaccine. huge efforts are under way to prioritise patients over 80, invite care home staff into hospitals, and it's likely some nhs staff will be among the first to be vaccinated, so that doses are not wasted. the difficulty lies with the ultra—low temperature needed to store and transport this particular vaccine. it comes in boxes of nearly 1,000 doses, packed in dry ice. brussels airport has been ramping up preparations, with up to 50% of vaccines expected to be transported by plane. think of a large pizza box, that's the way we are describing it. that's got to be stored in a fridge at —70. to be frank, the only way you can really do that at the moment is to store them inside nhs hospital hubs. it's

you can only move them four times, and you have to ensure that the two doses are administered three weeks apart. so it's quite complex. scotland's announced plans to break up the packs into smaller batches to send out into care homes, but it's not clear what's been agreed with the regulator. nhs england says it still needs logistical issues to be approved by the mhra before the same can happen in england. a the first shipment of doses has now reached the uk. with several million expected by the end of the year. we check for quality, we ship. it's december. we've committed doses to the uk. they will be shipped every day that we can. and you can expect, next week, more shipments to arrive in the uk. i'm confident that we will have all 800,000 available as we start the programme. people should feel confident about this vaccine. the mhra is regarded as the gold standard of regulators around the world by scientists.

but yesterday, the us infectious disease expert dr anthony fauci apologised after suggesting the uk regulator hadn't been careful enough. i just want to set the record straight. i have a great deal of confidence in what the uk does, both scientifically and from a regulatory standpoint. if i somehow came across differently, i apologise for that. the government hopes to have vaccinated the most vulnerable groups by the spring. until then, it is expending mass testing, including the use of rapid lateral flow tests in care homes, to allow relatives to visit. but some have questioned the accuracy of these tests, and say more data is needed. tough restrictions have helped to bring covid cases down across most of england, except in the north—east. with the latest figures from the ons suggesting one in 105 had the virus in the week to last saturday. but with some household mixing allowed over christmas, there is still a risk cases

could surge again in the new year. health leaders warn now is not the time to let our guard down, when help is so close. katharine da costa, bbc news. our health editor hugh pym told me more about who'll be first in line to get the vaccine. it is not totally clear cut, but it is certainly true in england that the major hospitals expect that, when the vaccine arrives, when it was approved, that nhs front line staff would be amongst the first to get the vaccine, along with some patients, on the grounds that we have got the start right there, it has to go to a major hospitals because of refrigeration issues, you might as well do with staff. once the approval came through on thursday and the fine print was looked at, it was decided by health leaders and ministers that, actually, the over 80s were high up the priority list from the vaccine experts. they ought to be

prioritised, so hospital patients who were over 80, inpatients and outpatients coming in will be among the first to get the vaccine next week. care home workers were high up, the original priority list, they will be invited into hospitals, but it doesn't mean nhs staff won't be done. if they are there and they got these big boxes of vaccines and hospital trust leaders will be left to do nhs staff, but there will be more emphasis on patients in scotland, it will be health and care staff who get the vaccine first. the welsh government has been defending tougher coronavirus restrictions which come into force this evening — saying without them, more people would die. pubs, restaurants and cafes are to be banned from selling alcohol — and they'll have to shut at six o'clock, other than for takeaways. our wales correspondent tomos morgan reports. since this morning, chefs in restaurants across wales have been prepping. ready for one last service before

restrictions are put in place once again upon them. at 6pm, the hospitality industry will have to close, and they will every night at 6pm from now on. and there will also be a ban on the sale of alcohol in restaurants, bars and cafes. you've done everything, and then they hit you with another blow. you can't serve alcohol, you have to close after six o'clock. and as i say, you know, 60% of what we do is food sales. the other 40's wet sales. 80% of what we do is after six o'clock. so, you know, is it viable to reopen? we don't know, but we just have to give it a go. around the corner, the two neighbouring pubs have decided they will have to close for now. it appears that many others may be following suit, after brains brewery — the largest in wales — announced earlier this week that they would close over 100 of their establishments from this evening. the company grant that is being proposed will cover about one day of operating costs. so, of course we are grateful

for it, but it does not make enough of a difference. we will lose less money being closed than by being open. and this is terrible news for our employees, terrible news for our customers and, you know, we're really fearful that we won't be open again before christmas. the welsh government have faced a backlash from business owners and opposition parties, forcing the health minister to defend their reasoning once again today. there is nothing that is pleasant about this for the hospitality sector and i'm not trying to pretend that this won't have a very real impact. and i do know that some businesses may not survive and come back. but the alternative is that we don't act, and people can't come back. as well as restrictions on hospitality, punters have been arriving for their last game in bingo halls today before they have to close, along with soft—play centres and cinemas. and these measures will be in place until at least the 17th of december, when the welsh government will review these measurements again

in the lead—up to christmas. as transmission rates continue to rise slowly and the numbers in hospital recovering from the virus is at their highest level in wales, the authorities here in cardiff say these new measures will help save lives. and even with a financial package to help those affected, it's still left a bitter taste to those in the sector that's already endured a cutting year. tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. the headlines on bbc news. the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london in order to continue negotiations. 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 into what caused an explosion at a wastewater treatment works near bristol yesterday, that killed four people. three of those who died worked for the site's operator, wessex water. the company says it is devastated by the incident. from avonmouth, john maguire reports. one day on from the explosion in the force of the blast is all too evident. twisted metal and the roof of the silo turned back. people working in the area described hearing a loud boom up to a mile away. at the warehouses and businesses that occupy the industrial area next to the m5, witnesses say windows rattled and it felt like buildings shook. we literally stood there in shock.

we thought everything was going to fall on us. people started coming out from the warehouses, saying, look over there. all we seeb was people were running. in a message, wessex water, the company who runs the waste processing plant, said we are absolutely devastated that the tragic incident at our site has resulted in fourfatalities. the gmb union that represents workers on site says this is a terrible tragedy. sadly this tragedy is a stark reminder of the absolute need to ensure that everybody has a safe working environment. we are here 100% to support our members throughout this. officers at the scene say the tanks are used to treat waste before it is recycled for agricultural use. now, the investigations are well under way into yesterday's explosion. the question is exactly what happened here at avonmouth, why, and crucially what can be done to prevent it from happening again? police drone operators have been flying over the site today to map

the ground as part of the enquiry. the mayor of bristol marvin rees offered his condolences. it's been a very hard year for the city. this is a real tragedy. it is again for the city to come together and offer all the support that we can. as the police and the health and safety executive search for answers, families grieve, as a day at work costs four lives. john maguire, bbc news, avonmouth near bristol. more now about a coronavirus vaccine — and as we've heard, there are still questions about the rollout of the pfizer jab here in the uk. and around the world, people are asking whether they'll have to have it, once it's given the green light in their country. ros atkins has more. the pfizer vaccine is coming to the uk. soon, it'll be heading

to other countries too, and a huge operation is under way. through 2021, we'll provide 1.3 billion doses. and while many people want this as soon as possible, this some are asking, "do i have to be vaccinated?" well, let's be absolutely clear, the answer in the uk is no. i strongly urge people to take up the vaccine, but it is no part of our culture or our ambition in this country to make vaccines mandatory. that's not how we do things. now, we know some will be exempt for health reasons, but for the vaccines to tame covid—19, around 60—70% of adults need to have one. as one us official puts it... vaccines are useless if they are not, er, used to vaccinate. and that's a cause for concern. in france, the prime minister says, "my fear is that not enough french people will get vaccinated," which is why there's going to be a lot of encouragement in a range of forms. the first is reassurance on the safety of this vaccine.

some politicians are even offering to get the jab on tv. if i thought it would help persuade anybody to do it, i will do it. next, immunisation cards are coming. the welsh government says anyone who's vaccinated will get one, and it's likely that in lots of countries, you'll need proof of vaccine to do certain things. and we know an international travel pass is also in development. it will be in the form of an app on a passenger's phone. so, the data — for example, coronavirus test result that is negative — could be stored on there and, also, proof of a vaccine. the australian airline qantas is going further, suggesting it'll only take passengers who've had the jab. and if airlines can exert pressure, so can countries. we know this from the control of yellow fever. these countries in africa are from a long list of places you can't visit unless you've had the yellow fever vaccine. something similar may happen with covid. australia's prime minister says there could be options where people have the choice of two weeks of quarantine or being vaccinated. "i think that will be

an incentive," he adds. and if that's how we'll be encouraged, in some countries, we're hearing the case for mandatory vaccines for specific types of work. there's a precedent for that. some health workers in the us and finland have to get a flu jab. us authorities suggest the same could happen with covid—19. for now, though, governments are focused on showing that this vaccine is safe and the best route back to normal life. they're are also focused on rolling it out because, let's remember, it will be many months before eve ryo ne who's persuaded can say yes. a mass rollout of the vaccines will be a huge undertaking and that's why 750,000 volunteers have been recruited to help, when the time comes. let's speak to one of those volunteers. i am joined by kendra hutchinson.

what are you expecting, how much do you know? i got an e-mailfrom st john's ambulance because i was a volunteer for the nhs responders already. generally saying would you mind volunteering. i am in my third year of biomedical science degree at teesside university. so, i wanted to help as many people as possible, because the scientists all over the world have been helping create this, we need to get this rolled out now. you will be, do you know whether you will be giving the jab to people, whether you will have the training for that, what do you know at this stage? there are three rows, one of them is just stage? there are three rows, one of them isjust being stage? there are three rows, one of them is just being advocates, helping people navigate the centres, if you are in the hospital, and also there's training, full cpr training and as well giving the vaccine, but with health care professionals next to you to do that. you have got

studying to do as well, clearly. how much time will it take up? they said around 16 hours a month because they pay for the dbs check, they pay for yourtraining, to pay for the dbs check, they pay for your training, to get a good return, it would be 16 hours. so this has to be squeezed in around your studies. given that you are a medical student, i'm interested in whether you have watched the development of this vaccine. we have all watched in amazement at how quickly this has been achieved, and i guess from your perspective it must have been a fascinating time. it has been really interesting, being at university as well, as well as being a mature student and watching everything going on in the world, it has been fascinating but a bit scary, also. that is interesting that you say that. i was about to say, the fact that. i was about to say, the fact that you have volunteered means that you are completely on board with

this and you yourself if you were offered a vaccine tomorrow, you wouldn't think twice, you would be keen to have it. i am interested that you would use that word. keen to have it. i am interested that you would use that wordlj would absolutely get the vaccine straightaway. they have done an amazing job, everyone, to get this vaccine out as quick. and it is safe. otherwise it wouldn't be allowed to be sold or released. i met scary in regards to the anxiety before now. and just during your normal day—to—day life, that is the scary part, especially when you understand it a little bit more. fantastic that you have volunteered. thank you very much. do you have any sense of when you might start? again, how much do you know? the dbs check needs to be done to make sure that everything is safe, but i am ready, whenever. are excellent, lovely to talk to you, kendra. can i

just say as well we have nhs volunteers, if you want to volunteer to do the vaccine orjust be there to do the vaccine orjust be there to help, then that is there, for you. if people are interested in volunteering still, look at the app? yes. thank you, kendra hutchinson who has volunteered and will be one of 750,000 people being recruited for that. the uk will aim to cut its carbon emissions by at least 68% of what they were in 1990 by the end of 2030. the uk will need to work 50% harder to reach its target than it actually is. borisjohnson to reach its target than it actually is. boris johnson is to reach its target than it actually is. borisjohnson is due to chair a climate summit next year and he wa nts climate summit next year and he wants other global leaders to match

this pledge. the government's spending watchdog says meeting the target will be a colossal challenge. a report from our correspondent follows. as wildfires swept the globe this year, politicians are at last feeling the heat. borisjohnson says the uk will reduce co2 emissions by 68% this decade. he's hoping other leaders will follow suit. what the uk declared today is something we're beginning to hear in similar ways from other countries, that ambition for reducing emissions is being ramped up, and we may hear more about this next week at the ambition summit. we've heard about it also for nature conservation from the leaders' pledge for nature that was signed in september by 75 countries. so, we're globally seeing a move towards heightened ambition, and it's great to see the uk being part of that. the arctic and antarctic will continue to thaw, though, because global temperatures have already risen — and they still rise to dangerous levels.

this is a huge missed opportunity on the government's part and shows a lack of, you know, political vision. the government had an opportunity five years on from paris not just to enhance the target, but to bring a credible plan. five years on, there's no plan — to meet this target or old target. meanwhile, climate change will increasingly touch our lives. frequent flyers may be charged extra to curb emissions from aviation. our homes will need better insulation too. and we'll have to shift eventually from gas boilers and install electric heat pumps instead. on the roads, the government accepts that the electric revolution needs a spark. you provide incentives to people. so, whether that is grants to help them put in these measures into their homes or, indeed, the plug—in grant to encourage people to buy electric vehicles. it is a process of offering people

those incentives so they make the decisions that ultimately support jobs, cut costs for them but, of course, at the end of the day, also cut emissions. reducing the amount of meat and dairy we eat won't be so straightforward. scientists say emissions from livestock must be cut, but politicians don't want to tell people what to eat, however worried they are about the climate. roger harrabin, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. we've seen the first significant snowfall of the season so far. heavy snowfall of the season so far. heavy snow across scotland, northern and eastern england. tied in with this pressure system, cold air wrapped around it and lots of weather fronts bringing rain, sleet and snow. through the evening and overnight, looks like the snow will become more confined to the high ground of

central northern areas but some areas could stay wet overnight. some rain getting into wales and south—west of england. skies clearing over the eastern side of england. that means it will turn very cold with a touch of frost and also some ice. generally a cold night. for the weekend, also some ice. generally a cold night. forthe weekend, it'll stay cold, it'll gradually become drier as the low pressure slips away. the strong winds will also ease down by saturday and on sunday we have a slack airflow with fewer weather fronts around so it should be drier for all areas on sunday. it could stay cold with mist and fog around. it stays quite cold and generally settled into next week.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines... the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london for talks as the first consignments of the pfizer—biontec jab arrive in the uk — coronavirus vaccinations once are due to start next week jab arrive in the uk — coronavirus vaccinations are due to start next week. and 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 at a waterworks near bristol — in which four people died. the uk will aim to cut its carbon emissions by at least 68% of what they were in 1990

by the end of 2030. sport now and for a full round up, let's go to 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 odis can be played on sunday, monday and wednesday. our cricket correspondent is jonathan agnew. clearly this is now a serious issue. if 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 the same hotel, and they are in close enough proximity. you do have to wonder how this player picked it up. two south africans tested positive before the series when they came into this bubble, but how a player managed to pick it up while being within this bubble is obviously a concern, and the whole thing is a big issue for south african cricket who need the money. that is what this is all about. it wasn't scheduled for anything other than really south africa some cricket and getting some money in their coffers, so they will desperately be having these matches will go ahead on sunday, monday and wednesday. —— hoping. dundee united will be without nine players for tomorrow's scottish premiership match at livingston after being deemed close contacts of staff members who've tested positive for covid 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. we have changed the training week to make sure we are at our absolute best on sunday. probably learned a little bit from the world cup where

we felt in retrospect we probably underprepared for the world cup. we feel like we've got the right balance in terms of physical and recovery work this week. the boys trained outstandingly well at twickenham yesterday. so we are looking forward to that 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. and we can bring you live pictures of the match between mark selby and neil roberstson from the marshall arena. you can watch this match on bbc two and via the bbc sport website and app. robertson is leading 3—0 frames, however selby is doing well in this frame and might pull that back to 3-1. you can watch this match on bbc two and via the bbc sport website and app. let's see if mark selby can keep his form going as he does in this frame. lebronjames has signed a new two year contract with nba champions los angeles lakers, worth a reported £63m. 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. thanks very much. we will talk a bit more about brexit. those negotiations are continuing. it looks like they will be going into the weekend with the uk and the eu trying to agree a trade deal. with me to discuss the potential route to a deal is our reality check correspondent chris morris who has looked at this throughout. feels like a long road. we are not there yet. i suppose the point is, chris, we have known and we have talked about a lot of these main sticking points for quite some time. we have. one of the obvious ones is fishing. it's been a delicate, political issue on this side of the

channel. today was a good reminder that it channel. today was a good reminder thatitis channel. today was a good reminder that it is also a delicate political issue on the other side of the channel with french fishermen, the kind of people emmanuel macron wants to vote for him in the next presidential election. it is a tiny pa rt presidential election. it is a tiny part of the economy for both sides of the channel, but it is a big deal. it is basically about how much access deal. it is basically about how much a ccess ea ch deal. it is basically about how much access each side gets to each other‘s orders, and how much access the eu will get to british waters, and how you split up the quotas for the fish that can be caught. eu boats catch about £600 million worth of fish in british waters. they say, maybe we will give you just under 20% of that back, and the brits have said, no, we want more. that is what the haggling is about. that is something brexiteers, if there is a deal, will watch closely for the detail because it is such totemic issue. for me the bigger issue is what we know as the level playing field. essentially it gets to the heart of what brexit is all about, how close will the uk be in the

future to eu regulations. it's about competition policy. in issues like environmental and labour regulations, they are trying to work out a baseline, and both sides would agree not to go under that baseline. on state aid or subsidies on business, it is even more complicated. the eu wanted the uk to mirror its own system. have a similar system, mirror its own system. have a similarsystem, independent, but exactly the same. the uk said, no, we are not going to do that. a lot of the argument now is known as the governance of the deal, and especially enforcement mechanisms. a lot of eu countries are saying what they call crosscutting measures. if you violate the terms of the deal of this policy area, we can retaliate somewhere different. maybe we will put tariffs on all of those fish you wa nt to put tariffs on all of those fish you want to sell us. it is those nitty—gritty issues which are important at the moment. the level playing field is basically about billions and billions of dollars of business now and in the future.

so those are some of the key issues. still talking about those, we assume. there is more than that besides, though, isn't there? yes, this is essentially about the free trade agreement and that is only one part of what we are talking about. the other part of the agreement is really important and it's about policing and security. we have completely compressive access to all of these eu databases on things like finger prints, criminal records, etc. senior police officers here are say we use them on a daily basis multiple times right across the country. if there is a deal we won't have quite such good access but there will be decent cooperation. with "no deal", at least for a while, that system could fall apart and senior police officers have warned that wouldn't bea officers have warned that wouldn't be a good position to be in. that's one thing to look out for. another huge issue, northern ireland. it is subject to a separate negotiation alongside the trade negotiations

about how you practically implement the tortured compromise about northern ireland which we saw in the brexit withdrawal agreement. it's only a few weeks to go now. and traders are still saying they have no idea how trade within the uk between great britain and northern ireland will operate after the 31st of december. i have seen a letter sent yesterday to michael gove by the northern ireland sports association saying no matter if there is a deal or not we won't be ready for your new systems at the beginning of next year and appealing as other business groups have done for, if you like, an extension period. you can't call it another transition. whatever, a grace period of up toa transition. whatever, a grace period of up to a year to get all of that done. that's an issue. and there are other things like we haven't talked about the service industry. we are waiting for unilateral decisions from the eu on financial services come on day to come on other issues. will they agree to recognise uk rules as equivalent to their own.

that's really important for the significant financial services industry in this country because it'll make it much easier to trade with the eu in the future. not part of the trade agreement, but funnily enough they haven't made those decisions while the trade negotiations are going on. you have raised some serious, practical issues there. business owners have been talking about that. we will talk about that in the coming weeks. really not much time left. i know we have said this before. we have indeed said that before. before. we have indeed said that beforem is really true now. well, we are measuring it in days are not weeks now, that's the point. here are some data to look out for. next week, the internal market is coming back to the house of commons. there is going to be a taxation bill. both of those contain measures which would override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement on northern ireland. you might remember the full about that. —— you might

remember the conversations about that. then there is the european union summit. a year ago boris johnson would have still been there. we are not a member any more. there is an eu summit. that's an important moment because that is when all of the eu leaders will get together. face—to—face talks is... if on the eu side they cannot necessarily agree what they want to do, that could be an important moment. and it's not just could be an important moment. and it's notjust the european commission who can sign up a deal, all of the european countries have to do so. —— all of the eu countries have to do so. and there are new measures coming in on the 1st of january whether there is a deal or not and that's why the timetable both to agree a trade deal and then to get it ratified is so tight. goodness. deep breath. were just as well you worked in brussels all of those years, all of your encyclopaedic knowledge coming through. —— well, just as well you

worked in brussels. thanks very much, chris. us president—electjoe biden says he will ask all americans to wear facemasks for his first hundred days in office. he also says he will order masks to be worn in all us government buildings and on public transport. mr biden also confirmed that he has asked the top infectious disease expert, anthony fauci, to remain as chief medical adviser. here's our washington correspondent lebo diseko. california readying for its strictest to stay at the governor warning the state is at a tipping point which could see hospitals overwhelmed. california has seen a record surge in new cases, more than 19,000 on wednesday alone. the toll in this one state reflecting the battle the whole country faces. figures reported on thursday show in just 2a hours, the us broke every single record since the pandemic began. the highest ever in new infections,

hospitalisations, and a life lost nearly every 30 seconds. for president—electjoe biden, there is one measure he will take straightaway, as he told cnn reporterjake tapper. in the first day i am inaugurated i will ask the public for 100 days to mask, 100 days. not forever, 100 days. he said that, in conjunction with vaccines, could make all the difference. when anthony fauci says it is clear, that is my measure and obviously we take this and it's important to communicate to the american people, it is safe, it is safe to do this. mr biden said he would keep the country ‘s top infectious disease expert in his currentjob as well as making him chief medical adviser. but on thursday, doctor anthony fauci was at the centre of a different controversy after telling us networks that the uk had rushed its vaccine approval. on thursday, he walked those comments back, telling the bbc he was sorry.

it came out wrong and that was not the way i meant it to be. in the united states, there is such a considerable amount of tension, of pushing back on the credibility of the safety and of the efficacy, that if we in the united states, had done it as quickly as the uk did, and that's nojudgment on the weight the uk did it, that likely would have been pushed back. some now fear the debate over which country has the better regulatory system could make people wary of immunisation. more than 1.5 million people have now died from the virus worldwide. nearly 20% of those are in the us. business news now. the owner of the budget clothing retailer, primark, has revealed details today aboutjust how much the company lost during the latest lockdowns

when stores were closed. we know vivienne nunis, our business presenter, is here. vivienne, what can you tell us about primark? brian mark or its owners have said it has predicted the losses of its sales in the lockdown in notjust england but in several countries to cost at around £430 million. that's a substantial loss. what is remarkable about this is the company has said despite that loss it expects its profits and sales for this financial year to actually be higher than last financial year before we had a pandemic. you look confused! chuckles its because prime arc has been expanding and opening new stores in america this year, one in romejust last week. —— primark. it also has a loyal customer base. you might have seen those pictures after the last

couple of days, keen shoppers queueing up outside the stores around england as prime —— as primark extended its opening hours. that is one of the reasons they are being optimistic. it is in stark contrast to what we were reporting on early in the week where topshop's owner arcadia announced its going into administration, debenhams is closing its doors, meanwhile primark seems to go from strength to strength despite this £430 million loss in sales. we've been talking about lots of businesses. supermarkets handed back some government money they were given at the height of lockdown. tell us about that. early in the pandemic the government might try and help them by giving them a holiday of 12 months from paying business rates. some businesses such as supermarkets have done pretty well during the pandemic because people have been buying more food. others have stayed open like pets at home. pets at home

and a little announced they would be handing back millions in pounds to the treasury and taxpayers because they say it's the right thing to do. -- lidl they say it's the right thing to do. —— lidl announced. you they say it's the right thing to do. —— lidlannounced. you might they say it's the right thing to do. —— lidl announced. you might think, should they have done that yesterday when tesco got the ball rolling? thing is, if one the supermarket does at the others follow suit. some big names like sainsbury‘s and pets at home did pay shareholders dividends despite receiving that tax break. bit of outcry about that. that's why they've announced they are giving that money back. what will it be spent on? labour says it should be redirected to businesses who haven't done well like those in the hospitality industry. the government has said it will be supporting the ongoing efforts to protect peoples jobs and incomes but they haven't given us any more detail than that. we will wait and see what the money might be spent on. thanks very much for now. as we have been saying, pubs and

restau ra nts as we have been saying, pubs and restaurants in wales are under new restrictions from six o'clock this evening. they have to close at six u nless evening. they have to close at six unless they are doing takeaway only. this is all an attempt to stem another rise in coronavirus cases and it comes less than a month since wales's firebreak lockdown, as it was called, came to an end. we can discuss all of this with emma downey. what you think about these new restrictions? it is a devastating blow to all of us in hospitality. —— what do you think. it is soul destroying. we have had goalposts shifted week after week. we've tried our best to stay open and do everything we should be doing. ifeel this isjust going to be the end for a lot of small businesses. we are on our knees and it's a tough one. i guess you know a

lot of other business owners in newport. when you all talk about it, is that genuinely the fear, the fear that, particularly perhaps in the run—up to christmas this would have been a lucrative time for you and you can't sustain it? this is such an important time of the year for us for trading. this is the build—up... from this week pretty much until christmas, and to lose all of that, knowing that we are then going into january, which is a really quiet time in hospitality. it's a worry. i will be meeting up with various distances later where we will just... there is a generalfeeling of doom and gloom. lots of people are upset about it. we've had so much support from locals who are on our side. but it really, really is. and not just our side. but it really, really is. and notjust for us but for our suppliers, all of the lovely small food and drink producers in wales.

it is devastating. it really is. do you feel you've done everything right, you followed the rules, you've done the social distancing, you've done the social distancing, you've put sanitise everywhere, you've put sanitise everywhere, you've done everything that's asked of you, and is thatjust the worst thing about it? absolutely. we've gone above and beyond. we take people to temperature on arrival. we've done everything we can. and we are still in a relatively low covid—19 risk area. it has gone up a little bit, yes, but we certainly would not have been put in tier 3 had we been in england. but this countrywide ban on alcohol and having to make us all close at six. we are flabbergasted. it makes no sense. it's very, very sad. it's a very sad time for us all. at this late stage, what would help you? would it be an amount of money to get you back up and running in the new year? we need a massive support system to come into force. we don't

know what that is yet. the 11th of december is a time where we can have a look at what we can get from the welsh government. but we are not looking at much funding at all between now and january. we've really got to adjust, well, we are going to trade as a coffee shop serving breakfast and lunch for the next month, you know? it'll be tricky. pubs, even worse so, they don't have a day trader, and they certainly won't have a day trade with no alcohol. ifearfor them. thank you so much for being so honest with us under such —— during such a difficult time for you. we wish you the best. those restrictions coming in across wales at six o'clock this evening. we will talk more about that in the next hour. we willjust pause at the moment and catch up with the

weather. for some of us, a very wintry start, we saw a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. significant snowfall in some places, probably the most significant of the season so far. some significant snow here for edinburgh. we also had a couple of centimetres to lower levels across parts of northern and eastern england. there was also more over the high ground. it's all down to this area of low pressure which is sitting on top of the uk for the rest of the day into the evening. bans of shower and dash showers, rain, snow, mainly confined to the hills for the rest of the day and the evening. heavy snow over higher ground. tending to turn to rain in lower levels. it could be quite wet. atrocious road conditions for northern and north—eastern areas of england towards the end of the day. it'll be windy for and eastern parts and across scotland and down the irish sea, gusts of maybe 50 mph, and it'll be a cold into the day as temperatures range from three to 7

degrees. overnight, our area temperatures range from three to 7 degrees. overnight, ourarea of low pressure continues to spin across the uk, bringing bands of rain and showers. again, snow, mainly confined to high ground over the northern half of the uk. dry interludes in between, particularly in eastern england, this is where we could see some frosty and icy patches for the morning. it will stakeholder for the weekend, but slowly becoming dry as the low pressure d rifts slowly becoming dry as the low pressure drifts to the south. for saturday, still an influence on the weather with a couple of runs around giving a rise to further bands of showers and longer spells of rain. —— couple of rounds. elsewhere, we should see sunshine breaking through. the wind is gradually turning lighter. again, another cold day for everyone. into sunday, it starts chilly, there will be mist and fog around. some of that may lift into low cloud and some places could stay grey all day. some

spells of sunshine around. it'll be dry on sunday, we think, and also it will remain cold, temperatures three to eight celsius. the wind is lighter, as well. next week, staying quiet, but on the cool side. by midweek, things could turn unsettled with some slightly less cold air moving off the atlantic ocean.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at 3: the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london in order to continue negotiations important days, and determination. we are in a difficult phase. there is no denying that. there are a number of tricky issues that still have to be resolved. coronavirus vaccinations are due to start next week. the first consignments of the pfizer—biontec jab have arrived in the uk. 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 at a waterworks near bristol — in which four people died. the government pledges to cut uk carbon emissions faster than any other major economy — setting a new target for 2030. loud rumble and coming up — what was it that woke people in edinburgh in the early hours? we find out about the weather phenomenom of thundersnow. downing street says talks with the european union over a post—brexit trade deal are "at a very difficult point". the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier is staying in london

for more discussions this afternoon. time is running out — the current rules expire at the end of this month. our political correspondent iain watson has the latest. the mood music, like the weather, is rather sombre, but take note — both sides are still talking. good morning. how are the talks going? important day. determination. in fact, it's so important that the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, is staying in london, not returning to brussels today. and the government says a deal is still possible. we want the eu to recognise that the uk is a sovereign and independent nation, and it is on the basis of that that a deal will be done. it is tricky, but we are working hard. last night, talks went on until late, but government sources accused the eu of tabling something unpalatable and reversing recent progress. now, fishing quotas have always been a bone of contention, but there seemed to be a possible compromise, which included

phasing in any changes. more seriously, the government said talks were flagging because brussels hardened its line over what's known to negotiators as the "level playing field" and to the rest of us as "competition rules". the eu said it had made no new demands, but didn't deny the importance of the issue. we want a deal, not at any cost. this is not new. and we understand that for the european union, the question of the level playing field is key. on monday mps will debate a bill that will allow the uk to sidestep some of the agreement injanuary. basso says this could cast a cloud over future relations and could basso says this could cast a cloud overfuture relations and could be withdrawn by the government but only if both sides reach agreement this weekend. in any case, a deal has to be reached by thursday when eu leaders meet at a summit to sign it off, or not.

because today, the french government made it clear if they don't like what the eu and uk negotiators agree, a deal could be scuppered. translation: france, like all its partners, has a veto. we'll conduct our own evaluation of a deal, if one exists, that's normal. we owe it to the french. the uk will no longer follow eu rules from 11pm on december the 31st. that means, deal or no deal, there'll be big changes at the border. but both sides would benefit from a close trading relationship. the question is whether they can move closer in today's talks. our political correspondent leila nathoo is at westminster. any white smoke? we have seen in the last few moments more food going into the building where the negotiating are taking place. clearly, they are having such a busy time they cannot pop out for a sandwich, such as the urgency of the negotiations. we know that they are being sustained again this afternoon by ta keaways, being sustained again this afternoon by takeaways, and still at it, at

the table. we have heard the noises last night from the uk side that the talks had gone backwards. clearly, from the uk point of view, they are trying to make up that last round, as they see it. that was not the point of view from brussels, but clearly brussels is saying today the negotiations are at a very difficult point. i don't expect we'll hear anything imminently about an outcome, but clearly, we have heard that this is a very important day, and michelle barnier‘s words as he was going into the negotiations, clearly, the eu site preparing for a full day, but we will have to wait and see, as the hours go on, whether we get anything out of it, but we have spoken so many times about time being a short supply, but it really is now, because we are edging towards the end of the year when the transition period comes to an end. the negotiations are stuck on the same point is that they have been throughout. it is whether they can have a last push, who's going to

give ground where, to get those issues over the line, the issues of fishing, of the rules that will govern future trading and governance arrangements of that trade agreement, both sides saying that they do want a deal, they are working towards a deal, that would be the best outcome for both sides, but clearly, there are red lines that even at this late stage neither side want to give ground on and remember there's a deadline to negotiate the deal, any deal has to be approved by the eu parliament, approved by eu leaders, too. we have heard from the french today talking about them threatening a veto, reminding that that is in their gift, so there's a lot ofjeopardy. it has to go through the uk parliament as well, so we really are counting down the days, now. you will come back to us, i'm sure, if you hear anything. thank you. philip rycroft was permanent secretary at the department for exiting the european union from 2017 to 2019. earlier i asked him whether a trade

deal was still possible at this late stage in the negotiations. it looks as though things are going rapidly downhill, therefore they bounce back up again and something is concluded. very difficult to say at the moment, where things will end up. but a deal is still very possible, but it is not in the bag, yet. one thing really is now very clear, there's not a lot of time left. stocks particularly with the proposed introduction next week into the uk parliament of the finance bill and the contentious clause is coming back in the uk internal market bill, both of these things are seen as quite hostile by the eu, so everybody is very conscious that the next 2—3 days are critical to get this sorted. is that where the difficulties lay, or, are we still at topics that we have spoken about so much,

like fisheries and state aid? it is our old friend state aid, and fisheries that appear to be the sticking points. don't forget, particularly on state aid, this has been fundamental throughout, the eu side made clear way back, very soon after the referendum, that their a big concern was to ensure that if the uk was to have privileged access to the eu market, it should do so on terms that didn't give businesses based in the uk an unfair competitive advantage. so that's why they have been so strong on this. fisheries is slightly different. it is not so much an economic issue as a political issue because of its totemic importance to fishing and fishing communities notjust in the uk but in france and denmark, the netherlands and some other eu member states as well. when you were in the department the issue of state aid

was live, then. that was part of your daily work, was it? exactly. the political declaration that was signed off by theresa may and then adapted somewhat by the prime minister, the current prime minister, it was a big feature, then. of course it has been fundamental to the discussions between the uk and the eu, throughout this process. the eu, is a legal order, the single market is the jewel in the crown, and that is why they are so keen to protect that, so if you want access to the single market, you have to take some of the obligations that come with that as well. when you explain it that clearly, there will be people watching saying, right, frankly, both sides have known this right from the get—go. and here we are with what, a couple of days to go?

and there's got to be a meeting next thursday to sign this off. you can count the number of decisive weeks we have had in this process over the last few months, it has been seemingly every week! the reason for that is, both sides have seen some advantage, in playing this to the wire. both thought for their different reasons that it has suited their negotiating tactics but if you have two sides doing that you get this sort of mutual brinksmanship. and from the uk side, the closer we get to the deadline, the closer we get to christmas, the less time for scrutiny. scrutiny of a deal if it is done is going to be very uncomfortable, from many perspectives because even with a deal, the changes that are coming down the track for the uk at the end of this year

are really very important indeed. pycroft, who was permanent secretary at the department for accepting the eu, until 2019. we have heard in the first few moments that the first doses of the vaccine have arrived in northern ireland. that has been confirmed in the last little while, this is the pfizer—biontech vaccine. the stormont health minister said we have been anticipating this news for months and it is usually welcome to receive the first batch of the vaccine today. i have been clear we still have a long journey ahead of us, but we can be optimistic, so the first doses there, arriving in northern ireland. the government has said it is confident the uk will have 800,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine by next week — when the vaccination

programme is due to begin. the first batch of the pfizer/biontech jabs arrived here from belgium yesterday. but health leaders are warning that its rollout is a logistical challenge — with the firstjabs expected to be given on tuesday. here's our health correspondent katharine da costa. the nhs is gearing up for the biggest vaccination programme in its history. 50 hospital hubs are set to receive the first batches of the pfizer—biontech vaccine. huge efforts are under way to prioritise patients over 80, invite care home staff into hospitals, and it's likely some nhs staff will be among the first to be vaccinated, so that doses are not wasted. the difficulty lies with the ultra—low temperature needed to store and transport this particular vaccine. it comes in boxes of nearly 1,000 doses, packed in dry ice. brussels airport has been ramping up preparations, with up to 50% of vaccines expected to be transported by plane.

think of a large pizza box, that's the way we are describing it. that's got to be stored in a fridge at —70. to be frank, the only way you can really do that at the moment is to store them inside nhs hospital hubs. you can only move them four times, and you have to ensure that the two doses are administered three weeks apart. so it's quite complex. scotland's announced plans to break up the packs into smaller batches to send out into care homes, but it's not clear what's been agreed with the regulator. nhs england says it still needs logistical issues to be approved by the mhra before the same can happen in england. the first shipment of doses has now reached the uk. with several million expected by the end of the year. we check for quality, we ship. it's december. we've committed doses to the uk. they will be shipped every day that we can. and you can expect, next week, more shipments to arrive in the uk.

i'm confident that we will have all 800,000 available as we start the programme. people should feel confident about this vaccine. the mhra is regarded as the gold standard of regulators around the world by scientists. but yesterday, the us infectious disease expert dr anthony fauci apologised after suggesting the uk regulator hadn't been careful enough. i just want to set the record straight. i have a great deal of confidence in what the uk does, both scientifically and from a regulatory standpoint. if i somehow came across differently, i apologise for that. the government hopes to have vaccinated the most vulnerable groups by the spring. until then, it is extending mass testing, including the use of rapid lateral flow tests in care homes, to allow relatives to visit. but some have questioned the accuracy of these tests, and say more data is needed. tough restrictions have helped to bring covid cases down

across most of england, except in the north—east. with the latest figures from the ons suggesting one in 105 had the virus in the week to last saturday. but with some household mixing allowed over christmas, there is still a risk cases could surge again in the new year. health leaders warn now is not the time to let our guard down, when help is so close. katharine da costa, bbc news. our health editor hugh pym told me more about who'll be first in the queue to get the vaccine. it is not totally clear cut, but it is certainly true in england that the major hospitals expect that, when the vaccine arrives, when it was approved, that nhs front line staff would be amongst the first to get the vaccine, along with some patients, on the grounds that we have got the staff right there, it has to go to a major hospitals because of refrigeration issues, you might as

well do with staff. once the approval came through on thursday and the fine print was looked at, it was decided by health leaders leaders and ministers that, actually, the over—80s were higher up the priority list from the vaccine experts. they ought to be prioritised, so hospital patients who were over 80, inpatients and outpatients coming in will be among the first to get the vaccine next week. care home workers were high up the original priority list, they will be invited into hospitals, but it doesn't mean nhs staff won't be done. if they are there and they got these big boxes of vaccines then hospital trust leaders will be left to do nhs staff, but there will be more but there will be more emphasis in england on patients. in scotland, it will be health and care staff who get the vaccine first. and a further update — government scientists say the estimated reproduction number — that's referred to as the r number — has dipped to between 0.8 and 1.0,

down from 0.9—1.0 a week ago. the r number is estimated to be shrinking more quickly than before. let's speak now to eleanor riley, professor of immunology and infectious disease at the university of edinburgh good afternoon. how confident and optimistic are you feeling even though the news we have had this week about vaccines?” though the news we have had this week about vaccines? i think it is fantastic. the first real hope that i have felt for a long time and i'm looking forward to the vaccination programme getting under way. when health leaders say bear in mind it isa health leaders say bear in mind it is a significant logistical challenge, do you think that is a fair point? it is, absolutely. we are used to rolling out the seasonal

flu vaccine to a similar group of people but that is planned months in advance, and then act has been done year after year, this is on top of that, we having to go back to where we we re that, we having to go back to where we were at the beginning of the autumn and start again trying to get vaccines out to a similar group of people. would you feel that the prioritising has already started? for example, the people running this will know who has to be targeted first, how to get the jab to those who are most in need and most at risk. it sounds like they have done a pretty good job. they have worked through it very comprehensively. they have looked at all the competing priorities and clearly there are lots of people who need to get this vaccine and at the moment there is a limited supply, and it is a question of both protecting the people who need to be protected, but also to do that in a way that is efficient and sustainable. we have to think that three weeks later, we have to go back to the same people and give them another dose of the

vaccine, and that means we have to have a clearly thought through strategy of how to reach people not just once but twice. that is another layer of complexity, isn't it, as is the storage issue, the fact that it must be kept so incredibly cold, thatis must be kept so incredibly cold, that is one of the key elements with this particular vaccine. all vaccines have a cold chain, we have to be very careful how we store any vaccine. this one as an ex a degree of complexity because it is an unusual method so we don't normally have to worry about —70, but people who distribute vaccines are used to thinking about the logistics, and most public health programmes are really a question of logistics, getting the right information and the right drugs and vaccines to the right people at the right time. it is not really a scientific question any more, but a problem. absolutely, i take your point. what about the

broader debate? there are still people in some quarters who perhaps have some concerns, and they say at the start of coronavirus we were told are normally long it takes to develop a vaccine and now here we are, ten months or so later, and we have already seen the first approvals. i mean, there are some concerns around that for some people. would you say that those concerns are legitimate? people. would you say that those concerns are legitimate ?|j people. would you say that those concerns are legitimate? i don't think they are necessarily legitimate. we develop vaccines normally in a very steady way. it is less without this huge degree of pressure. we have many vaccines, we have vaccines against most of these significant infections we face in this country, for sure. there are diseases for which it is very difficult to make vaccines and we have been plugging away at this, malaria, and hiv, 420—30 years, but this is different. this a crisis

thatis this is different. this a crisis that is global, and many of the usual rules and by this i mean the rules about putting money out, putting other people in place, being prepared to work flexibly with new data as it appears rather than waiting until the end, all of these are different ways of working, which have made things move more quickly. the risks have been different. the risks is often the financial risk, putting a lot of money into something earlier than the process, putting money into manufacturing a vaccine. there are not things we normally do, but they are the things that in this case have made a huge difference. that's very interesting. a quick final thought about what the various vaccines could achieve, by which i mean, is someone receiving the jab, does that mean that if they come into contact with the virus that they won't suffer as much as i

would have done prior, that people will not fall as ill? what we know is that people who have received any of the three vaccines that have been highest on the list at the moment, they. people getting seriously sick to the level where they would need to the level where they would need to go to hospital. one or two people who have had the vaccine have had some minor symptoms but nothing that we would normally worry about, so we know that the vaccine can do that, and it should, if it carries on to be as effective as we think it is, then it'll keep a lot of people out of hospital which is what we are worried with this pandemic. we don't know if it will lead to levels of population and communities that can allow us to live with the virus more easily. that needs to be looked at in more detail as we roll out the vaccines. really interesting to talk to you, thank you for your time, professor eleanor riley from the university of edinburgh.

the welsh government has been defending tougher coronavirus restrictions which come into force this evening — saying without them, more people would die. pubs, restaurants and cafes are to be banned from selling alcohol — and they'll have to shut at 6 o'clock, other than for takeaways. our wales correspondent tomos morgan reports. since this morning, chefs in restaurants across wales have been prepping. ready for one last service before restrictions are put in place once again upon them. at 6pm, the hospitality industry will have to close, and they will every night at 6pm from now on. and there will also be a ban on the sale of alcohol in restaurants, bars and cafes. you've done everything, and then they hit you with another blow. you can't serve alcohol, you have to close after six o'clock. and as i say, you know, 60% of what we do is food sales. the other 40's wet sales. 80% of what we do is after six o'clock. so, you know, is it viable to reopen? we don't know, but we just

have to give it a go. around the corner, the two neighbouring pubs have decided they will have to close for now. it appears that many others may be following suit, after brains brewery — the largest in wales — announced earlier this week that they would close over 100 of their establishments from this evening. the company grant that is being proposed will cover about one day of operating costs. so, of course we are grateful for it, but it does not make enough of a difference. we will lose less money being closed than by being open. and this is terrible news for our employees, terrible news for our customers and, you know, we're really fearful that we won't be open again before christmas. the welsh government have faced a backlash from business owners and opposition parties, forcing the health minister to defend their reasoning once again today. there is nothing that is pleasant about this for the hospitality sector and i'm not trying to pretend that this won't have a very real impact. and i do know that some businesses may not survive and come back.

but the alternative is that we don't act, and people can't come back. as well as restrictions on hospitality, punters have been arriving for their last game in bingo halls today before they have to close, along with soft—play centres and cinemas. and these measures will be in place until at least the 17th of december, when the welsh government will review these measurements again in the lead—up to christmas. as transmission rates continue to rise slowly and the numbers in hospital recovering from the virus is at their highest level in wales, the authorities here in cardiff say these new measures will help save lives. and even with a financial package to help those affected, it's still left a bitter taste to those in the sector that's already endured a cutting year. tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. greater manchester, rochdale and sheffield councils

are warning their care homes not to use the fast lateral flow tests they're being sent by the government until they've had more guidance in how best to use them. they are intended to allow visitors safely into ca re they are intended to allow visitors safely into care homes. there are concerns that the tests give unreliable results if the people administering them haven't been trained to do so. let's get more on this with professor martin green, chief executive of care england, the largest representative body for independent social care services in the uk. good afternoon, professor. do you have concerns about these lateral flow tests ? have concerns about these lateral flow tests? i do have concerns. one of the things i wanted to see is the department of health giving us evidence about whether or not these tests are delivering accurate results. there is some evidence that you have to be trained and supported in order to do deliver the test. one

of the things the government has not done is put enough money into care homes, to be able to bring in the extra staff, and also to train people, to take these tests. increasingly, we are seeing more and more burdens put on care homes, but we're not seeing the resultant money that should accompany them so that we can increase staffing to deliver new tests. i understand you with like increased staffing, but is the fundamental problem the tests themselves? because if the tests are not giving an accurate result, or if they are not administered properly they are not administered properly they don't give an accurate result, thatis they don't give an accurate result, that is a fundamental problem from the get—go, isn't it? that is a fundamental problem from the get-go, isn't it? yes, it is. that's why we need some clear advice from the department of health and social care, as to whether or not these tests are accurate enough. we also need some demarcation between the department of health and social care, and the local public health directors. at the moment we are in a situation where the department is

saying one thing, local public health directors are saying another, and in the midst of this are car home is desperately trying to ensure that their visiting policy is implemented and that people remain safe. we want to make sure that people have contact with their relatives. we have been trying to facilitate that. and this, we hoped, would be part of the process. but if there are question marks over the reliability of the tests, we need to know that and we need to know what the government is going to do about it. we have been speaking about the pfizer vaccine and potentially others as well, for the care sector, presumably, the roll—out of the vaccine would be what would help you the most, getting your care staff, for example, to be near the top of the queue for that. we were told that care home residents would be the first in the queue for the vaccine. we have now discovered that the pfizer vaccine because of its

need to be transported at a very low temperature, and also cannot be transported very often, that means that not necessarily will cards get that not necessarily will cards get that first. again, another piece of announcement by government without the delivery chain being worked out. i wish the government would stop doing this. they make an announcement stop it raises everybody‘s expectations, then finally they realise that they cannot deliver on it. i would say to them, make sure that you have the delivery chain in place before you make the announcement. it is just basic common sense. this is what has happened in so many instances. announcements have been made then people scrap around to say, how do we do this? we will see whether we can geta we do this? we will see whether we can get a government response to some of those points that professor martin green was making, in terms of

the situation facing care homes up and down the country. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. we've seen the first significant snowfall of the season so far. heavy snow across scotland, northern and eastern england. tied in with this low pressure system, cold air wrapped around it and lots of weather fronts bringing rain, sleet and snow. through the evening and overnight, looks like the snow will become more confined to the high ground of central northern areas but some areas could stay wet overnight. some rain getting into wales and south—west of england. skies clearing over the eastern side of england. that means it will turn very cold with a touch of frost and also some ice. generally a cold night. for the weekend, it'll stay cold, it'll gradually become drier as the low pressure slips away. the strong winds will also ease down by saturday and on sunday we have a slack airflow with fewer weather fronts around so it should

be drier for all areas on sunday. try it could stay cold with mist and fog around. cold it stays quite cold and generally settled into next week. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london for talks coronanvirus vaccinations are due to start next week after the first consignments of the pfizer—biontec jab arrive in the uk. and tough covid restrictions come into force in wales in a few hours time — with a big impact on pubs and restaurants. the uk will aim to cut its carbon emissions by at least 68% of what they were in 1990

by the end of 2030. sport now, and for a full round up let's go to the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. 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 odis can be played on sunday, monday and wednesday. our cricket correspondent is jonathan agnew. clearly this is now a serious issue. if 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 the same hotel, and they are in close enough proximity. you do have to wonder how this player picked it up. two south africans tested

positive before the series when they came into this bubble, but how a player managed to pick it up while being within this bubble is obviously a concern, and the whole thing is a big issue for south african cricket who need the money. that is what this is all about. it wasn't scheduled for anything other than really getting south africa some cricket and getting some money in their coffers, so they will desperately be hoping these matches will go ahead on sunday, monday and wednesday. liverpool bossjurgen klopp has criticised premier league executives for "ignoring player welfare" over the five substitutes rule. the issue was not considered at this week's shareholder meeting and klopp says people need to stop thinking it's just about benefitting the big teams. it's about all the players. it's about management and nothing else. for management getting an advantage.

this covid—19 situation is for football, as well. dealing with the situation in the best possible way. we cannot just ignore situation in the best possible way. we cannotjust ignore it because some people say that it'll be an advantage for others because it isn't about advantage. i cannot say it often enough. 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. despite never having scored a point in his 36 races in spanning two years in formula one, george russell has topped the timesheets in first practice for the sakhir grand prix. it's helped the 22—year—old briton that he's driving the car of world champion lewis hamilton, who is missing due to coronavirus. but russell was still almost a third of a second quicker than mercedes

team mate valtteri bottas, who could only manage fourth quickest in bahrain. andy sullivan is still on course for a wire to wire victory in the dubai championship. a third round of 68 left the four—time european tour winner on 21 under par, two shots ahead of fellow englishman matt wallace and three ahead of ross fisher. 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. neil robertson stormed into a 3—0 lead but mark selby has come back. this clearance pulled it back to 3—2 in the best of eleven frames. and we can bring you live pictures of the match between mark selby and neil roberstson from the marshall arena. this is the sixth frame. you can watch this match on bbc two and via the bbc sport website and app. that's all the sport for now.

i'll have more for you in the next hour. you've been sending in your questions on conditions around travelling across the christmas period. there is that five—day window where people are allowed to visit their families, no more than three households at once. let's go through as many of your questions as we possibly can. here to try and answer some of them is traveljournalist, jill starley—grainger and associate professor in cellular microbiology at the university of reading, simon clarke. thank you both for your time. a whole range of questions. goodness. we expect you to be experts in all form of this policy! no pressure. jill, a question from sylvia who is

asking about travelling generally within the uk at christmas. will trains be able to safely manage social distancing, how much do we know about that? what the government has said is they've put on... they have freed up the timetable. there shouldn't be much in the way of works. so most trains should be running. about 95% will be running toa running. about 95% will be running to a normal schedule. they have put on extra carriages. they've also issued guidelines to train companies for them to adapt to their own services. a lot of train companies are saying they will only operate at about 50% capacity. a lot of train companies are also requiring that you book a seat in advance so they can make sure you are spaced out appropriately. however, like any form of public transport there are no guarantees, and there aren't going to be police going through the carriages checking this. you are required to wear a mask throughout your train journey, required to wear a mask throughout your trainjourney, no matter how long it is, so make sure you have a

mask otherwise you won't be allowed to get on board and you might be asked to get off the train if you didn't have one. beyond that, it is down to the train companies to make the decisions. very few will be running at 100%, though. yes, that'll be something to watch, really, and we will be speaking to train operating companies as we get closer to christmas. simon, train operating companies as we get closerto christmas. simon, question from richard in woking who says i live alone in surrey, am i allowed to travel to my parents who are in neath before the 23rd of december in order to form a support bubble? as long as you and your parents aren't already in support bubble is then that's ok. you should be able to form a new one before the christmas restrictions start. but if not, i am afraid you will have to wait until the 23rd. yes, goodness, this is where it is getting tricky, around all of the dates. another question for you, jill, about trains because

linda in torbay, devon says, are people who live in a tier 3 area still allowed to use train services? during that christmas period, from the 23rd to the 27th in england, scotland, and wales, or 22nd to 28 in northern ireland, yes, you are allowed to use the trains no matter what tier you are coming from or going to. the rules are being relaxed for that period. outside that period, however, if you are tier 3 you won't be allowed to go to another tier. during the 23rd to the 27th, yes, you can use the trains. chuckles i appreciate we are expecting both of you to be absolute experts on all of you to be absolute experts on all of the rules around transportation but simon, again, a valid question from luke who says he's going back to his family on christmas eve but he doesn't say where he is going, but he says wherever it is from that place to get him back home there

simply aren't any trains back until the 28th. am i allowed to do that instead of the 27th? my goodness, i hadn't even thought of that. to remain within the rules, no, there is no extension is, unless you are travelling into or out of northern ireland where the christmas period will run from the 22nd to the 28th. there is an extra day in either direction. other than that, there is an extra day in either direction. otherthan that, the scottish government are advising people to plan well ahead and to resolve those issues before they travel. that's really tough for someone if the train service simply doesn't exist. goodness. that's a tough one. that is certainly your a nswer tough one. that is certainly your answer for luke in terms of the rules. as they stand. we understand that. jill, a question from carol about going abroad. can my husband andi about going abroad. can my husband and i drive via eurotunnel to the french alps for seven days over the

christmas period? french alps for seven days over the christmas period ? i french alps for seven days over the christmas period? i hadn't even thought about leaving the country! your thoughts, jill? the eurotunnel has been operating throughout the whole crisis. it's never stopped. but that doesn't mean you can travel for any reason. france is currently ina for any reason. france is currently in a series of lock is of varying types sort of like the uk is with the different tier groups. we don't know exactly what is going to happen. on the 15th of december, emmanuel macron will be making a decision and the hope is that people will be able to travel freely throughout france without having to carry any special forms. in france right now you have to have a little form printed out saying why you are travelling. if that happens, that's what everybody is hoping, then, yes, you should be able to travel to the french alps. but, none of the ski slopes will be running. the resorts are open. everything should be open depending on what happens with the restrictions. it might be that restau ra nts restrictions. it might be that restaurants are closed or only open for takeaway is, but the ski slopes

definitely will not be open in the french alps during this period. when you go back to the uk, you would still have to quarantine because france isn't one of the countries on one of the travel corridor lists. you would have to quarantine. you could pay to take one of those tested to reduce your quarantine period. the tests cost about 80 to £120, but they only reduce it from two weeks to one week. you take the test on day five, you don't get the results until day six or seven. bear that in mind. it could be costly. u nless that in mind. it could be costly. unless you are ok to quarantine for two weeks when you get back. i'm sure they would be thrilled to have you there in the french alps, even if you just go to see the lovely scenery. good point about quarantine, don't forget about it, if you can work from home when you get back, that is a big chunk of your annual leave disappearing, isn't it? simon, the next question isn't it? simon, the next question is from eleanor. it is shades of what we were talking about a moment

ago. she's talking about the fact she felt the line she was due to travel on between london and the north—east is actually shut. —— from helena. if i cannot travel because of that, are there penalties for people, a bit like luke earlier, who stay longer than the designated period because of that situation. goodness. your thoughts?” period because of that situation. goodness. your thoughts? i imagine there would be penalties. i'm not sure how stringent the rules and regulations will be policed but they will be policed. that requires you to be caught. if you are caught doing it, then stand by for a fine. if you want to take your chances, andl if you want to take your chances, and i am in no way suggesting people should, then you might be able to get away with it. the rules are the rules. they are quite clear that it is the 23rd to the 27th. there are other forms of transport, that's the argument, in the other direction.

maybe you could fly or hire a car. they are not necessarily option is for everybody, but that's why people are advised to plan ahead.|j for everybody, but that's why people are advised to plan ahead. i can just pick up with you on that one, as well, if i may, jill. we were reflecting during the week that the transport secretary was saying a lot of these planned engineering works, we will tweak them, change them, to try and make things better. i suppose perhaps everybody should be looking againjust to suppose perhaps everybody should be looking again just to double—check about rail works. yes, looking again just to double—check about railworks. yes, and looking again just to double—check about rail works. yes, and there in mind coaches are still running. even on christmas day when there are no trains, you could look at coaches as an option. they will be operating under similar guidance to trains. they probably won't be operating at full capacity. i would try and book ahead. the roads. because we are in ahead. the roads. because we are in a condensed period, the 23rd to the 27th, the aa have done a survey, most of their members say they aren't going to travel. but if i was planning to hit the roads, because

everybody will be hitting the road on the 23rd, a lot of people, even if they could take the train, coach, or anotherform of if they could take the train, coach, or another form of public transport, they are not going to want to do it yet because most people won't have been given the vaccine at this stage. i would been given the vaccine at this stage. iwould plan been given the vaccine at this stage. i would plan to leave, possibly, as early as possible in the morning. although the roadworks have also been minimised, the roads could be very busy on the 23rd and the 27th. try to plan ahead and allow extra time on yourjourney. make sure to take food and drink with you in the car. you can stop at motorway services, they have been open the whole time, but you may not wa nt open the whole time, but you may not want to. if you get stuck in the queues of traffic you will want something. so plan for a little extra travelling time. not a pretty picture we are all painting there, is it? another question from beth in exeter, jill, she says she is a university student, she had already booked a train home in advance for the 12th of december. she was under

the 12th of december. she was under the impression she would be able to go. now she is being threatened that if she goes later than the ninth i might not —— she might not make it home. what are the rules for that? it affects all university students, doesn't it? university students, you have until the ninth to get back. but the good news is if you put your train ticket before the 26th of november the admin fees for changing it have been waived. you could try to bring the chain forward if there is availability, or if you need to pushit is availability, or if you need to push it back to the 23rd or 27 period to travel. —— train forward. they should allow you to change it without a charge. if you put after the 26, and they have said the 26 because that is when the new tears we re because that is when the new tears were announced, if you have booked it after that it'll be down to the train company to decide if they want to let you change it for free as a goodwill gesture. —— if you booked it after the 26th, and they have

said the 26th because that is when the new tiers were announced. another message here. they have a steamer booked. your thoughts, jill? that sounds lovely. if that area goes to a tier 3 lockdown it won't be allowed to run. if it is in tier 1. be allowed to run. if it is in tier 1, they should be. in tear to the rules are funny depending on what type of training it is. —— tier 2. stea m type of training it is. —— tier 2. steam trains aren't normally considered typical public transport, they are considered tourist attractions, and i love them, so hopefully it'll be allowed to run. if it goes into a tier 3 lockdown, or it falls foul of some of the rules in tier 2, you should be able to change the train to another date without any penalty. if you can't

move to another date you should be able to get your money back. essentially, you would have paid for a service they cannot provide. even if it isn't the fault of the train company, if you pay for the service and they cannot provide it, they have to give you your money back. let's talk about cycling. simon, a question for you from simon fawcett, who says he is a regular cyclist, am i allowed to cycle from lincolnshire, which is tier 3, through norfolk or cambridgeshire because they are both tier 2, is that allowed? i imagine it would be the same if you were going the other direction. just don't stop would be my answer to that. chuckles keep pedalling! yes. i think he is very fit. that is probably quite a long way. it is. that's quite a ride. a question from sally. why has the government suggested everybody travels to and from their family on specific days? sally is talking

about this key christmas block. surely this is going to increase the spread of the virus if public transport is really busy. simon, from your perspective, i'm interested in what you think about that as a methodology. i'm not sure it'll be any busier than it would be a nyway it'll be any busier than it would be anyway because most people will travel or want to travel on public transport on the 23rd or 24th anyway. the 27th, which is the day they will be coming back, is a sunday anyway. people who have to be at work again on monday morning will be travelling on that day anyway. they are likely to do that on boxing day. i'm not really sure from that perspective it'll make an awful lot of difference. i do hear lots of anecdotal stuff to suggest fewer people will be travelling around the country than ordinary. but there will still be quite a few people. thanks very much for your expert knowledge and we expected you both to know a very wide range of detail

there. thanks very much. we had so many questions and that tells its own story. simon from reading university, and jill, thank you very much indeed. let's talk about climate. borisjohnson has announced plans for the uk to cut carbon emissions by at least 68% from their 1990 level, by the end of 2030. that's faster than any other major economy — but it still means the uk will need to work 50% harder to reach the target than it currently is. the prime minister will chair a virtual climate summit next weekend — and he wants other global leaders to match his pledge. but the government's spending watchdog says meeting the target will be a "colossal challenge". here's our environment analyst roger harrabin. as wildfires swept the globe this year, politicians are at last feeling the heat. borisjohnson says the uk will reduce co2 emissions by 68% this decade. he's hoping other leaders

will follow suit. what the uk declared today is something we're beginning to hear in similar ways from other countries, that ambition for reducing emissions is being ramped up, and we may hear more about this next week at the ambition summit. we've heard about it also for nature conservation from the leaders' pledge for nature that was signed in september by 75 countries. so, we're globally seeing a move towards heightened ambition, and it's great to see the uk being part of that. the arctic and antarctic will continue to thaw, though, because global temperatures have already risen — and they still rise to dangerous levels. this is a huge missed opportunity on the government's part and shows a lack of, you know, political vision. the government had an opportunity five years on from paris not just to enhance the target, but to bring a credible plan. five years on, there's no plan — to meet this target or old target.

meanwhile, climate change will increasingly touch our lives. frequent flyers may be charged extra to curb emissions from aviation. our homes will need better insulation too. and we'll have to shift eventually from gas boilers and install electric heat pumps instead. on the roads, the government accepts that the electric revolution needs a spark. you provide incentives to people. so, whether that is grants to help them put in these measures into their homes or, indeed, the plug—in grant to encourage people to buy electric vehicles. it is a process of offering people those incentives so they make the decisions that ultimately support jobs, cut costs for them but, of course, at the end of the day, also cut emissions. reducing the amount of meat and dairy we eat won't be so straightforward. scientists say emissions from livestock must be cut,

but politicians don't want to tell people what to eat, however worried they are about the climate. roger harrabin, bbc news. finally this lunchtime, people in and around edinburgh had a loud wake up call in the early hours of this morning. hundreds of residents phoned the police thinking there had been an explosion. it was actually just the weather — and a phenomenon known as ‘thundersnow‘. bbc weather‘s alina jenkins explains. 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. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. a wintry mix of weather. for some of us, a very wintry start, we saw a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. significant snowfall in some places, probably the most significant of the season so far. some significant snow here for edinburgh. we also had a couple of centimetres to lower levels across parts of northern and eastern england. there was also more over the high ground. it's all down to this area of low pressure which is sitting on top of the uk for the rest of the day into the evening. bands of rain and showers, snow, mainly confined to the hills for the rest of the day and the evening. heavy snow over higher ground.

some dry weather across the south but it'll be windy in the north and west, gusts of 50 mph, but not as strong in the south—west. temperatures between four to eight celsius. we will continue to see longer spells of rain spinning around the area of low pressure. some snow over the higher ground in northern areas. chances of clearer skies in some areas, and where skies do clear the temperature will drop so there will be a snow and ice risk. for the weekend, so there will be a snow and ice risk. forthe weekend, it so there will be a snow and ice risk. for the weekend, it stays cold, and dryer as the system slips away to the south. in the south—west we will see the strongest of the winds and showers. further north, the isobars wide and so we start to see the wind falling light. in south wales and south—west england, longer spells of rain in the strongest winds here. some winter weather over

the far north. but some dry and windy weather was spells of sunshine. it'll feel colder, for to eight degrees. mist and fog will ta ke eight degrees. mist and fog will take a while to left. but there will be some spells of sunshine. it'll feel colder, three to 7 degrees. it stays chilly but largely settled into next week. signs mid week onwards of things turning more u nsettled onwards of things turning more unsettled from the atlantic ocean, and those temperatures slowly climbing.

this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines: the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london in order to continue negotiations. important days, and determination. we are in a difficult phase. there is no denying that. there are a number of tricky issues that still have to be resolved. coronavirus vaccinations are due to start next week after the first consignments of the pfizer—biontech jab arrives in the uk. tough covid restrictions come into force in wales in a few hours — with a big impact on pubs and restaurants. investigations are continuing, to find out what caused an explosion at a waterworks near bristol — in which four people died.

the government pledges to cut uk carbon emissions faster than any other major economy — setting a new target for 2030. loud rumble and coming up — what was it that woke people in edinburgh in the early hours? we find out about the weather phenomenon of thundersnow! hello and welcome to bbc news. downing street says talks with the european union over a post—brexit trade deal are "at a very difficult point". the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier is staying in london for the discussions this afternoon. time is running out — the current rules expire at the end of this month.

our political correspondent iain watson has the latest. the mood music, like the weather, is rather sombre, but take note — both sides are still talking. good morning. how are the talks going? important day. determination. in fact, it's so important that the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, is staying in london, not returning to brussels today. and the government says a deal is still possible. we want the eu to recognise that the uk is a sovereign and independent nation, and it is on the basis of that that a deal will be done. it is tricky, but we are working hard. last night, talks went on until late, but government sources accused the eu of tabling something unpalatable and reversing recent progress. now, fishing quotas have always been a bone of contention, but there seemed to be a possible compromise, which included phasing in any changes. more seriously, the government said talks were flagging because brussels

hardened its line over what's known to negotiators as the "level playing field" and to the rest of us as "competition rules". the eu said it had made no new demands, but didn't deny the importance of the issue. we want a deal, not at any cost. this is not new. and we understand that for the european union, the question of the level playing field is key. on monday mps will debate a bill that will allow the uk to sidestep some of the agreement it made to leave back injanuary. brussels says this could cast a cloud over future relations and could be withdrawn by the government but only if both sides reach agreement this weekend. in any case, a deal has to be reached by thursday when eu leaders meet at a summit to sign it off, or not. because today, the french government

made it clear if they don't like what the eu and uk negotiators agree, a deal could be scuppered. translation: france, like all its partners, has a veto. we'll conduct our own evaluation of a deal, if one exists, that's normal. we owe it to the french. the uk will no longer follow eu rules from 11pm on december 31st. that means, deal or no deal, there'll be big changes at the border. but both sides would benefit from a close trading relationship. the question is whether they can move closer in today's talks. our political correspondent leila nathoo is at westminster. we understand more takeaways arriving, so perhaps we know what they are eating, but what are they saying? they need more fuel for those discussions that went on late into last night and are still going on this evening. it is clear that nothing has been agreed yet. they are still at the table. that is a good sign in itself that talks are ongoing, neither side has walked away, although yesterday we heard the uk side briefing that they thought the talks had somewhat gone

backwards. earlier in the week there was a bit more optimism that they we re was a bit more optimism that they were perhaps inching towards an outcome, talk of the weekend. it is still possible we could get there over this weekend, but until we start hearing positive noises from both sides, we can't really assume anything. we have spoken so much about time being of the essence, but really these are now the final days, because we are creeping towards the end of the year, when the transition period comes to an end. it is not going to be extended. that is the final deadline to agree a deal. come the beginning of next year, there will be no deal, unless it is agreed in the coming days. so lots at sta ke, in the coming days. so lots at stake, both sides say that they do wa nt stake, both sides say that they do want a deal, but there are significant gaps remaining. there seems to be some debate about whether progress stalled over backwards on some last—minute demands, according to the uk side, from the eu, and that's the night by the eu side, but your hearing noises from france talking about their

possible veto. clearly the fishing issue that has been there throughout issue that has been there throughout is still an issue. rules governing, giving some industries are potentially unfair advantages over others, in any new trading arrangement, that is still in dispute, and any governance of a potential new trade deal, so all of theseissues potential new trade deal, so all of these issues that are now familiar as the sticking point still remain, but michel barnier, the chief eu negotiator, has been in london all week. it is a mass of the intensive phase of negotiations, so we are in the final days, and it is clear it is going to go down to the wire. we can speak now to the former conservative cabinet minister, david gauke. good to have you with us, thank you for joining good to have you with us, thank you forjoining us. i wonder how you interpret the different comments we are hearing from both sides. to be honest, it can be a little dangerous in trying to read too much into what is being said publicly. we can all

sit around and speculate and try to read in to any throwaway remark, a great deal. both sides will want to play to domestic markets. both sides will want to demonstrate that they are negotiating in a tough way, but fundamentally, there are decisions both sides need to make about whether they will make particular compromises, that is what will govern that, and trying to over interpret it can lead you into a bit ofa interpret it can lead you into a bit of a cul—de—sac. interpret it can lead you into a bit of a cul-de-sac. the compromises you refer to, i assume, of a cul-de-sac. the compromises you referto, iassume, ourfishing of a cul-de-sac. the compromises you refer to, i assume, ourfishing and state aid, which they seem to have been all along, quite frankly. do you think the gaps can be bridged?” think you are right to say that these have been the issues for months and months. there is a deal that can be done. i don't think it isa that can be done. i don't think it is a particularly brilliant deal, in terms of the fact that there will be disruption at the end of the year,

as we move into the new arrangements, but it is still much better to get this thing deal than to be left without any deal, so it isa to be left without any deal, so it is a question of whether both sides are willing to make the compromises. probably the eu need to move further on fish and the uk needs to move further on a level playing field provisions, but for me, from a uk perspective, it is in our interest to get some kind of deal. i would have preferred a more comprehensive free trade agreement, but we need to get something, and even if it doesn't satisfy those who take the most purest view of what sovereignty looks like, the reality is, if we wa nt to looks like, the reality is, if we want to be able to have good access to eu markets, there was always going to be a need to compromise. to eu markets, there was always going to be a need to compromisem it necessarily in the uk interest? could you envisage a situation where perhaps there is no deal, then negotiations carry on afterwards or perhaps smaller deals are made? on

smaller deals, the eu have been pretty clear that that is of no real interest to them. i think there will bea interest to them. i think there will be a few areas where they can smooth out some of the difficulties where it suits them, but they don't particularly see an advantage of going down that route, and wouldn't be prepared to compromise on that. as for no deal, then we go back in a stronger position, the atmosphere would be so acrimonious, with both sides blaming each otherfor the colla pse sides blaming each otherfor the collapse of the talks, goodness knows where the uk government might go with northern ireland, but they could be walking away from what was agreed last year. so, things become ever more difficult. and i think the relationship will go into something ofa relationship will go into something of a deep freeze. i hope we are not in that situation. i think the european union's view is that the uk's negotiating position would be weaker. it looks like we would

suffer more, i think it is right that we would suffer more, but i don't think the uk would hurry back to the negotiating table. if the positions might then even become more entrenched, so i hope that a deal can be reached because i don't think the alternative, it is not so much about the terms of the deal reached, it is just that the atmosphere between the uk and the eu will just be atmosphere between the uk and the eu willjust be very difficult indeed, ifa willjust be very difficult indeed, if a deal cannot be reached at this point. we have seen so many deadlines come and go. next week we have important bills coming before the house of commons, the european council meets on thursday. could it be that this deadline, which really isa be that this deadline, which really is a deadline, brings actually some clarity? i think you are right to say that this is a real deadline. the fact that the uk government is bringing back the internal market bill and reintroducing the taxation bill, both of which essentially remained —— essentially renege on

the northern ireland protocol agreed last year, those could be seen as a cts last year, those could be seen as acts of bad faith, and if we get to the position of that happening next week, that makes things very difficult. the eu will not want to be seen to cave into that, whereas a full -- if be seen to cave into that, whereas a full —— if agreement can be reached in the next couple of days the government can quietly drop those provisions and say that they are no longer needed, and things can move on. in that sense, this is a real deadline. we are less than a month now before the end of the transition period. businesses haven't been given clear guidance as to what is going to happen. it has been very ha rd going to happen. it has been very hard for businesses to prepare in these circumstances. it has created a host of uncertainties, when there was enough for business to be dealing with, with coronavirus, as well as business as usual, so the sooner this can be resolved, the better. frankly it should have been resolved months ago. but at least,

you know, there is a possibility that this can get resolved in the next few hours. david gauke, former conservative cabinet minister, good to have your thoughts. thank you. the government has said it is confident the uk will have 800,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine by next week — when the vaccination programme is due to begin. the first batch of the pfizer/biontech jabs arrived here from belgium yesterday. but health leaders are warning that its rollout is a logistical challenge — with the firstjabs expected to be given on tuesday. the nhs is gearing up for the biggest vaccination programme in its history. 50 hospital hubs are set to receive the first batches of the pfizer—biontech vaccine. huge efforts are under way to prioritise patients over 80, invite care home staff into hospitals, and it's likely some nhs staff will be among the first to be vaccinated, so that doses are not wasted.

the nhs is gearing up for the biggest vaccination the difficulty lies with the ultra—low temperature needed to store and transport this particular vaccine. it comes in boxes of nearly 1,000 doses, packed in dry ice. brussels airport has been ramping up preparations, with up to 50% of vaccines expected to be transported by plane. think of a large pizza box, that's the way we are describing it. that's got to be stored in a fridge at —70. to be frank, the only way you can really do that at the moment is to store them inside nhs hospital hubs. you can only move them four times, and you have to ensure that the two doses are administered three weeks apart. so it's quite complex. scotland's announced plans to break up the packs into smaller batches to send out into care homes, but it's not clear what's been agreed with the regulator. nhs england says it still needs logistical issues to be approved by the mhra before the same can happen in england. the first shipment of doses

has now reached the uk. with several million expected by the end of the year. we check for quality, we ship. it's december. we've committed doses to the uk. they will be shipped every day that we can. and you can expect, next week, more shipments to arrive in the uk. i'm confident that we will have all 800,000 available as we start the programme. people should feel confident about this vaccine. the mhra is regarded as the gold standard of regulators around the world by scientists. but yesterday, the us infectious disease expert dr anthony fauci apologised after suggesting the uk regulator hadn't been careful enough. i just want to set the record straight. i have a great deal of confidence in what the uk does, both scientifically and from a regulatory standpoint. if i somehow came across

differently, i apologise for that. the government hopes to have vaccinated the most vulnerable groups by the spring. until then, it is extending mass testing, including the use of rapid lateral flow tests in care homes, to allow relatives to visit. but some have questioned the accuracy of these tests, and say more data is needed. tough restrictions have helped to bring covid cases down across most of england, except in the north—east. with the latest figures from the ons suggesting one in 105 had the virus in the week to last saturday. but with some household mixing allowed over christmas, there is still a risk cases could surge again in the new year. health leaders warn now is not the time to let our guard down, when help is so close. katharine da costa, bbc news. our health editor hugh pym explained more about who'll be first in the queue to get the jab. it is not totally clear—cut, but it is certainly true in england that the major hospitals expect

that, when the vaccine arrives, when it was approved, that nhs front line staff would be amongst the first to get the vaccine, along with some patients, on the grounds that we have got the staff right there, it has to go to a major hospitals because of refrigeration issues, you might as well do the staff. once the approval came through on thursday and the fine print was looked at, it was decided by health leaders and ministers that, actually, the over—80s were higher up the priority list from the vaccine experts. they ought to be prioritised, so hospital patients who were over 80, inpatients and outpatients coming in will be among the first to get the vaccine next week. care home workers were high up the original priority list, they will be invited into hospitals, but it doesn't mean nhs staff won't be done. if they are there and they've got these big boxes of vaccines then hospital trust leaders will be left to do nhs staff, but there will be more emphasis

in england on patients. in scotland, it will be health and care staff who get the vaccine first. government scientists say the estimated reproduction number — referred to as the r number — has dipped to between 0.8 and 1.0, down from 0.9—1.0 a week ago. they added that the number of new infections is estimated to be shrinking more quickly than before. the office for national statistics says the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus has fallen in all regions in england, except the north—east. let's update you with the headlines. the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london for talks. coronanvirus vaccinations are due to start next week after the first consignments of the pfizer—biontech jab arrive in the uk. and tough covid restrictions

come into force in wales at 6pm — with a big impact on pubs and restaurants. the welsh government has been defending tougher coronavirus restrictions which come into force at 6pm — saying without them, more people would die. pubs, restaurants and cafes are to be banned from selling alcohol — and they'll have to shut at 6 o'clock, other than for takeaways. our wales correspondent tomos morgan reports. since this morning, chefs in restaurants across wales have been prepping. ready for one last service before restrictions are put in place once again upon them. at 6pm, the hospitality industry will have to close, and they will every night at 6pm from now on. and there will also be a ban on the sale of alcohol in restaurants, bars and cafes.

you've done everything, and then they hit you with another blow. you can't serve alcohol, you have to close after six o'clock. and as i say, you know, 60% of what we do is food sales. the other 40's wet sales. 80% of what we do is after six o'clock. so, you know, is it viable to reopen? we don't know, but we just have to give it a go. around the corner, the two neighbouring pubs have decided they will have to close for now. it appears that many others may be following suit, after brains brewery — the largest in wales — announced earlier this week that they would close over 100 of their establishments from this evening. the company grant that is being proposed will cover about one day of operating costs. so, of course we are grateful for it, but it does not make enough of a difference. we will lose less money being closed than by being open. and this is terrible news for our employees, terrible news for our customers and, you know, we're really fearful that we won't be open again before christmas. the welsh government have faced

a backlash from business owners and opposition parties, forcing the health minister to defend their reasoning once again today. there is nothing that is pleasant about this for the hospitality sector and i'm not trying to pretend that this won't have a very real impact. and i do know that some businesses may not survive and come back. but the alternative is that we don't act, and people can't come back. as well as restrictions on hospitality, punters have been arriving for their last game in bingo halls today before they have to close, along with soft—play centres and cinemas. and these measures will be in place until at least the 17th of december, when the welsh government will review these measurements again in the lead—up to christmas. as transmission rates continue to rise slowly and the numbers in hospital recovering from the virus is at their highest level in wales, the authorities here in cardiff say these new measures will help save lives. and even with a financial package to help those affected,

it's still left a bitter taste to those in the sector that's already endured a cutting year. our wales correspondent tomos morgan. borisjohnson has announced plans for the uk to cut carbon emissions by at least 68% from their 1990 level, by the end of 2030. that's faster than any other major economy — but it still means the uk will need to work 50% harder to reach the target than it currently is. the prime minister will chair a virtual climate summit next weekend — and he wants other global leaders to match his pledge. but the government's spending watchdog says meeting the target will be a "colossal challenge". here's our environment analyst roger harrabin. as wildfires swept the globe this year, politicians are at last feeling the heat. borisjohnson says the uk will reduce co2 emissions by 68% this decade.

he's hoping other leaders will follow suit. what the uk declared today is something we're beginning to hear in similar ways from other countries, that ambition for reducing emissions is being ramped up, and we may hear more about this next week at the ambition summit. we've heard about it also for nature conservation from the leaders' pledge for nature that was signed in september by 75 countries. so, we're globally seeing a move towards heightened ambition, and it's great to see the uk being part of that. the arctic and antarctic will continue to thaw, though, because global temperatures have already risen — and they still rise to dangerous levels. this is a huge missed opportunity on the government's part and shows a lack of, you know, political vision. the government had an opportunity five years on from paris not just to enhance the target, but to bring a credible plan. five years on, there's no plan — to meet this target or old target.

meanwhile, climate change will increasingly touch our lives. frequent flyers may be charged extra to curb emissions from aviation. our homes will need better insulation too. and we'll have to shift eventually from gas boilers and install electric heat pumps instead. on the roads, the government accepts that the electric revolution needs a spark. you provide incentives to people. so, whether that is grants to help them put in these measures into their homes or, indeed, the plug—in grant to encourage people to buy electric vehicles. it is a process of offering people those incentives so they make the decisions that ultimately support jobs, cut costs for them but, of course, at the end of the day, also cut emissions. reducing the amount of meat and dairy we eat won't be so straightforward. scientists say emissions from livestock must be cut,

but politicians don't want to tell people what to eat, however worried they are about the climate. roger harrabin, bbc news. richard black is the director of the energy and climate intelligence unit. iam i am pleased to say he is joining i am pleased to say he isjoining us now. thank you for being with us. i wonder if you could give some marks out of ten for the government, what they have announced. it is probably an eight, may be veering up to nine. one analysis that has come hot off the presses today by the group called climate action tracker who does analysis of this kind of thing says the uk's commitment puts it on a path consistent with the paris agreement goal of keeping global warming beneath the 1.5 celsius. so it isa warming beneath the 1.5 celsius. so it is a thumbs up from them and it is thumbs up or ran, really. boris johnson says he wants to cut carbon emissions by 68% by the end of the

decade. what does that figure actually mean? i don't think it entails government bringing in any different measures. itjust means bringing in the measures that were going to be brought in anyway but slightly faster, so we know that the uk is on the road to electric motoring. we're just going to uk is on the road to electric motoring. we'rejust going to have to get there a bit quicker. perhaps ina to get there a bit quicker. perhaps in a decade's time, maybe half of the cars on the right would be electric. the previous figure would have been one third. as roger was talking about, the number of home switching to low carbon heat, and you can follow in their better insulation to bring down bills, we arejust going to insulation to bring down bills, we are just going to have to do more a bit quicker. in the countryside, scaling up even further plans to plant trees and reforest and so on and absorb carbon dioxide from the air by those measures, so nothing radical, just a bit more, a bit faster. i admire your optimism. you make it sound straightforward. am i

right to say that we are not even on track to meet current targets? this is right. the ten point plan the prime minister came out with recently kind of half closed the gap between where we were going and the nearer term targets are in one sense it is ok to be optimistic because actually, we know how to do this, but the uk isn't going to do this u nless but the uk isn't going to do this unless government actually gets on with the implementation of policies in some of these areas. in some areas, we are seeing new policies come through, and it should help to put the uk on track, in 2030, we are only going to be buying zero emission cars. we have the green homes grant, which is rolling out insulation to homes. wejust homes grant, which is rolling out insulation to homes. we just need more of it, we need it quicker, and in some areas, the countryside i was talking about, and reforestation, bringing farmland round to being net carbon absorbers and so on, industry is another area, very possibly see

—— need to see more policies coming out sooner rather than later. they are going to have to be radical, this will affect the way that people work and move about, isn't it? this will affect the way that people work and move about, isn't mm will. it will be interesting to see what the legacy of this very strange year that we have had under covid lockdown is going to be. are people who can going to be working from home more anyway because they want to? is that going to change the way that we drive? we don't know, too early to tell, but it is liable that that will have some effect on the way that we want to live. it is having an effect on business. we are seeing some oil companies and airlines probably going to struggle to go back to the previous amounts of business that they were doing. meanwhile, big opportunities for investors in low carbon sector is like wind and solar. today we had some remarkable stats on the sale of

evs which have tripled, even as overall sales of cars have gone down, so some signs up there in the real economy, but there are signs that society is changing for whatever reason, a little bit faster than you might have thoughtjust a few years ago. richard black from the energy and intelligence unit, thank you for your thoughts. the owner of the budget clothing retailer, primark, has revealed details today aboutjust how much the company lost during the latest lockdowns when stores were closed. vivienne nunis, our business presenter, is here. how much have they lost? during the second part of the year when we have seen lockdown is notjust in england but in lots of europe with the second wave, associated british foods, which owns primark, said it had lost £430 million in sales. not an insubstantial son. what's remarkable is that is not the only news the company gave investors

today. they also said that despite those lockdowns, it expects profits and sales for this financial year to be higher than they were last financial year, before we had a pandemic. you might think, how on earth is that possible given not only the lockdowns but the fact that primark doesn't have an online offering, you cannot buy its products online. there are a couple of reasons. it is expanding. certainly against the grain of what other retailers are doing. primark has opened new stores in america, one in rome last week, even today, it opened one in spain. it now has 389 stores worldwide. that's one reason. the other reason is it has very loyal customers. you might have seen pictures over the last couple of days of people queueing. they we re of days of people queueing. they were queueing in the middle of the night as well as during daylight hours. so some really loyal customers. those are the reasons why the owners, abf, can be buoyant about their financial outlook. we

have seen that some businesses are handing back millions in business rates relief. this is something the government did early in the pandemic to help retail, leisure and hospitality businesses to deal with the impact of a pandemic, giving them a holiday from pain this essentially property tax, and companies who have done well during a pandemic, particularly supermarkets, have said we are going to hand that money back, it is the right thing to do. yesterday we saw tesco get the ball rolling. another few major high street chains followed. pets at home, which was classed as essential during lockdowns, as well as lidl, handing back this money, so the treasury looking at almost £2 billion that it hadn't been expecting. what will it do with that money? labour wants it to direct to businesses that haven't done very well, pubs and hospitality businesses, that are still struggling. good to talk to you, thank you.

now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. we've seen the first significant snowfall of the season so far. heavy snow across scotland, northern and eastern england. tied in with this low pressure system, cold air wrapped around it and lots of weather fronts bringing rain, sleet and snow. through the evening and overnight, looks like the snow will become more confined to the higher ground of central northern areas but some areas could stay wet overnight. some rain getting into wales and south—west of england. skies clearing over the eastern side of england. that means it will turn very cold with a touch of frost and also some ice. generally a cold night. for the weekend, it'll stay cold, it'll gradually become drier as the low pressure slips away. the strong winds will also ease down by saturday and on sunday we have a slack airflow with fewer weather fronts around so it should be drier for all areas on sunday. it could stay cold with mist and fog around. it stays quite cold and generally settled into next week.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines... the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london for talks coronanvirus vaccinations are due to start next week after the first consignments of the pfizer—biontec jab arrive in the uk. and tough covid restrictions come into force in wales at six o'clock this evening — with a big impact on

pubs and restaurants. meanwhile, the r number for the uk has fallen to between 0.8 and 1 — the second week running it's been below 1 — suggesting the epidemic is shrinking. investigations are continuing to find out what caused an explosion at a waterworks near bristol — in which four people died. the uk will aim to cut its carbon emissions by at least 68% of what they were in 1990 by the end of 2030, sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins. good afternoon. england's first one—day international against south africa will take place on sunday after being postponed because of a positive coronavirus test within the cricket bubble. the news camejust an hour before it was due to start in cape town this morning.

a member of the home side was found to have the virus. a fresh round of testing will now take place and south african cricket journalist natalie germanos says any more positive tests will put the whole series in doubt. to have an od! which is the first tourin to have an od! which is the first tour in south africa since we have had lockdown to have really one of the games postponed is a worry. there is no guarantee that sunday, monday, and wednesday is going to go ahead because there will be another round of testing tomorrow, as well. all of the hotel staff and players will be tested again. if there is another problem there is no way they will take the risk of us going ahead. it's the worst possible timing for south africa. financially they will take a major hit. it's a worry for the rest of the summer as well because we've still got australia, pakistan, coming here. things have got to change really

quickly. liverpool bossjurgen klopp has criticised premier league executives for "ignoring player welfare" over the five substitutes rule. the issue was not considered at this week's shareholder meeting and klopp says people need to stop thinking it's just about benefitting the big teams. it's about all the players. it's about management. management not forgetting an advantage. management dealing with the problem. covid—19 needs to be managed in football, as well, but it's about managing it in the best way. we cannot ignore it because people say it'll be an advantage for others. it isn't an advantage, cannot say often enough. eddiejones has made one change to his england side that will face france in sunday's autumn nations cup final at twickenham. wing anthony watson replacing jonathan joseph, 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. despite never having scored a point in his 36 races spanning two years in formula one, george russell has topped the timesheets in first practice for the sakhir grand prix. it has helped the 22—year—old briton that he's driving the car of world champion lewis hamilton, who is missing due to coronavirus. but russell was still almost a third of a second quicker than mercedes team mate valtteri bottas, who could only manage fourth quickest in bahrain. finland's esapekka lappi is leading rally monza after five stages in italy. elfyn evans who could become britain's first world champion for 19 years is fourth overall, behind his toyota team mate and title rival sebastien ogier. but the hopes of belgium's thierry neuville of challenging them are over after flooding his hyundai's engine. there are eleven stages to go. andy sullivan is still on course for a wire to wire victory in the dubai championship. a third round of 68 left the four—time european tour

winner on 21 under par, two shots ahead of fellow englishman matt wallace and three ahead of ross fisher. it's quarter final day at the uk snooker championship, neil roberston has just in the last few minutes come out on top against mark selby. robertson stormed into a 3—0 lead in milton keynes but mark selby pulled it back to 3—2 before the australian took the next three finishing with his 750th professional century clearance to win 6—2. jack lisowski and zhou yuelong is the other quarter—final this afternoon. 5—4 to the chinese player. you can watch this match on bbc two and via the bbc sport website and app. that's all the sport for now. brexit negotiations are continuing into the weekend, with the uk and the eu trying

to agree a trade deal. with me to discuss the potential route to a deal is our reality check correspondent, chris morris. shall we start with sticking points. they seem to be the same ones we've had all along. they may appear familiar. 95% of the deal is done but the last 5% is always the most difficult bit for obvious reasons. first of all, fishing. it's a tiny pa rt first of all, fishing. it's a tiny part of the economy on the side of the channel and on the other. as we saw today with some of the comments from france, it is as politically sensitive over there as it is over here. it's basically all about how much access to uk waters eu boats will still have, and how you split up will still have, and how you split up the quoter of the fishing catch. eu boats currently catch about £600 million worth of fish in british waters every year. they have said, we will give you back 100 million of those, and the uk are saying they

wa nt those, and the uk are saying they want more. it is haggling in some ways but brexiteers will look very closely at the small print of what comes out if there is a deal on fishing. secondly, and probably more importantly, not talking about hundreds of millions, but billions and billions now and into the future. the level playing field, competition rules on things like labour and environmental standards. can they agree a common baseline of rules that none of them will go under? then this issue on state aid or subsidies for business. on that, the eu want to say we will have the same rules as you. the uk said no. where we are at the moment is, what are the enforcement measures, what are the enforcement measures, what are the enforcement measures, what are the things you do if you have to resolve a dispute? eu countries are saying we want the ability if you break the rules in one area we want the ability to hit back quite hard ina the ability to hit back quite hard in a different area. that needs to be agreed. that's about the

governance of a deal, what kind of enforcement mechanisms there are to give both sides confidence this is a deal they can enter into an will be respected. those are the three key sticking points. there are others, aren't there? that's basically the free trade deal. it's a narrow area. there are lots of other things that would be involved in a deal. a really important one is policing and security which we haven't talked about much. we've had senior police officers in this country making it really clear that they value access to shared databases on things like fingerprints, criminal records, and so on. at the moment, they have insta nt so on. at the moment, they have instant access to all of them. with a deal they would have some access. with "no deal" they would start with no a ccess with "no deal" they would start with no access at all, which they are very concerned about. another massive issue is northern ireland, which we have talked about a lot. it is subject to a separate negotiation process over the last few months led

by michael gove and by a vice president of the european commission. we still don't know the terms of trade for northern ireland. business groups there are saying we simply cannot be ready, it isn't a case of might not be, they say they cannot be ready for any system even if there is a deal by the 1st of january. that's why they are calling for some sort of grace period for things to be put in place. then there are other issues like financial services and data. again, that's not part of the trade negotiation. these are unilateral decisions the uk is hoping the eu will make to say, we broadly recognise your rules are the same as ours. without that it'll be hard for companies in the city of london to do the kind of business they want to do the kind of business they want to do across the european market. some people listening to you might think they've been talking about these issues for months if not years. we've been talking for months if not yea rs we've been talking for months if not years about the clock ticking. this time it really is, though, isn't it?

we have seen this brexit process kick the ball into the long grass a lot since 2016. you cannot do it any more. we now have the tangible stuff people are going to notice. a few dates to bear in mind over the next few weeks. next week, the government wa nts to few weeks. next week, the government wants to bring the internal market bill back to the house of commons. bits of which override the brexit withdrawal agreement, and that created a storm, as you'll remember. another bit of legislation next week, a taxation bill would do the same thing. that upped the anti. end of next week, there is a european summit where all european leaders meet. that's important because it is a reminder that it's not the european commission that has to agree any deal, each individual european member state has to do so, as well, so they all matter. finally, as we have discussed many times, the brexit transition period ends on the 31st of december. it cannot legally be extended. 1st of january, come what may, we will be

trading with europe deal or "no deal" on completely different terms. a busy few days ahead for you and the negotiators, of course. chris morris, thanks very much. investigations are continuing into what caused an explosion at a waste water treatment works near bristol yesterday, that killed four people. three of those who died worked for the site's operator wessex water. the company says it's ‘absolutely devastated' by the incident. from avonmouth, john maguire reports. one day on from the explosion and the force of the blast is all too evident. twisted metal and the roof of the silo turned back. people working in the area described hearing a loud boom up to a mile away. the warehouses and businesses that occupy the industrial area next to the m5,

witnesses say windows rattled and it felt like buildings shook. we thought everything was going to fall on us. people started coming out from the warehouses, saying, look over there. all of a sudden, people were running. in a message, wessex water, the company who runs the waste processing plant, said we are absolutely devastated that the tragic incident at our site has resulted in fourfatalities. the gmb union that represents workers on site say this is a terrible tragedy. sadly this tragedy is a stark reminder of the absolute need to ensure that everybody has a safe working environment. we are here 100% to support our members throughout this. officers at the scene say the tanks are used to treat waste before it is recycled for agricultural use. now, the investigations are well under way into yesterday's explosion. the question is exactly what happened here at avonmouth, why, and crucially what can be done to prevent it from happening again? police drone operators have been

flying over the site today to map the ground as part of the enquiry. the elected mayor of bristol offered his condolences to the families of those who've been killed. it's been a very hard year for the city. it is again for the city to come together and offer all the support that we can. as the police and health and safety executive search for answers, families grieve, as a day at work costs four lives. john maguire, bbc news, avonmouth near bristol. the latest government figures show there were 16,298 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. on your screen now is the government figures, the

government dashboard. it also shows us that there were 504 new deaths. those were deaths reported from people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. to put that into context, that's an increase in yesterday's number of 90. the headlines on bbc news... the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london for talks coronanvirus vaccinations are due to start next week after the first consignments of the pfizer—biontec jab arrive in the uk. and tough covid restrictions come into force in wales at 6 o'clock this evening — with a big impact on pubs and restaurants.

the queen held herfirst virtual diplomatic audience in buckingham palace — from her windsor castle home. as is tradition, three ambassadors greeted the queen — but this time it was via a video link. a palace spokesperson said it had always been the hope to restart diplomatic audiences as soon as possible. the bank of england is being urged to investigate the whereabouts of around £50 billion worth of banknotes that are unaccounted for. mps on the public accounts committee say not knowing where the cash is raises concerns about whether it may be being used for illegal purposes. our economics correspondent andy verity explains. in spite of talk of moves to a cashless society, demand for cash in the old—fashioned form of banknotes keeps increasing. between a fifth and a quarter of all notes are used or held to be spent in cash transactions. the rest, about £50 billion, could be hoarded as unreported savings, held overseas,

or used in the black market economy. but the bank of england doesn't know where it is kept, who by or what for and, according to the public accounts committee of mps, doesn't seem very curious. the bank of england needs to be sharing information about where that 50 billion might have gone. they won't have all the answers, we are really clear about that, but we are really clear that they need to be sending that information to the relevant agencies. it's a bit of a patchwork quilt, patching together big issues around organised crime. clearly, the bank of england has a role to play in that. the committee is also warning that regulators and the government are not doing enough to ensure people who do need access to cash to spend locally can withdraw it free of charge, especially in rural areas, with the number of cash machines dropping by 12% and many converting to paid—for use. the bank of england disputed that the banknotes were missing, saying members of the public didn't have to explain to the bank why they wish to hold banknotes. andy verity, bbc news. richard holden is the conservative mp for north west durham and sits

on the public accounts committee. thank you forjoining us. £50 billion unaccounted for. where do you think the money might be? good question. nobody seems to know. it really could do with some answers on that because it is a huge amount of cash that is totally unaccounted for at the moment. this is one of the big questions which was raised in our report published today. what sort of answer did you get? not many from the bank of england to be totally honest on where this money is. some of it is believed to be held at the moment because people are concerned about the general economic world situation. some of it is being held abroad. there is a real concern that a lot of this cash could be being used in the black economy. at the same time we are seeing difficulties for our

vulnerable members to get access to cash. i've been trying to get free cash. i've been trying to get free cash machine access for people. this isa cash machine access for people. this is a huge amount of money in bank notes held in the black economy, and thatis notes held in the black economy, and that is something which should be concerning the bank of england, and it's about time they took a bit of responsibility to look at this in detail. andy verity said members of the public don't have to explain to the public don't have to explain to the bank why they wish to hold onto bank notes. have you and your committee got any powers to force the banks to do anything? we certainly have the power to force government to come back with recommendations on how they will respond our committee's proposals. we are hopeful the bank will come backin we are hopeful the bank will come back ina we are hopeful the bank will come back in a constructive manner in the next few months. another of the things we are really pushing on is access to cash. at the moment, nobody is really responsible for ensuring there is enough cash. especially for those vulnerable

groups, people on tight budgets who wa nt to groups, people on tight budgets who want to budget with cash, and particular members of the elderly population who like to also use cash, and to ensure they can have access to it, and there isn't an extra poverty premium on it because we know a lot of these cash machines in our poorer communities have to be paid for to use. i know you are particularly interested in this. i ta ke particularly interested in this. i take your point. in terms of this missing money being, as he put it, in the black economy, explain a bit more as to what you mean by that. there is definitely huge concerns, as we have seen this shift over the last few years, to more card transactions being used, you would automatically expect that the amount of cash circulating in the economy would be falling, as well. we've actually seen huge increases in the amount of cash being held, physical bank notes, being held by people.

that's a real concern as to why are people holding it, what are they doing with it, and where is it circulating? there is a realfear that that is actually behind a lot of the black economy, and we just don't know, and the bank of england need to work with government and the treasury to find out exactly what's going on with this money. it's not only a problem here, is it? other countries and other currencies are affected by this and i'm thinking of the dollar and the euro. you are quite right. that is an issue, as well. what we are seeing here is that this is a big problem which has expanded rapidly in recent years. we think it's about time the bank of england took a look at it and took some responsibility. they are supposed to be managing the cash supply. it would be really helpful for them to be a bit more proactive in looking into what is actually happening with this money. good to talk to you. many thanks. the

government has said the talks about a post brexit trade deal are at a difficult stage. we know the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier is remaining in london for talks. we've been bringing you that knows all this hour. our europe editor has now tweeted. a contact she has spoken to close to the talks has told her both sides are giving it their all. we'll try and get this done this weekend if at all possible. perhaps slightly more positive mood music coming out of those talks than we have been hearing in the last 24 hours or so, and a lot more on that, so stay with us. a light aircraft has made a dramatic emergency landing on an interstate highway in minnesota in the united states. video footage has been posted on twitter

by the minnesota department of transportation — showing the pilot touching down while traveling at the same speed as vehicles ahead and behind. the single—propellor plane appeared to have suffered an engine failure. no one was injured in the incident, although the road was blocked for several hours while emergency services attended. people in and around edinburgh had a loud wake up call in the early hours of this morning. hundreds of residents phoned the police thinking there had been an explosion. it was actually just the weather — and a phenomenon known as ‘thundersnow‘. bbc weather‘s alina jenkins explains.

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. alina jenkins, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. it's been a wet day across central and northern parts of the uk. further sleet and snow mainly over the hills. overnight it stays very wet and unsettled across central and northern and western parts of the uk as this area of low pressure continues to spiral across the country. it'll further snow over the pennines and the hills of scotland. generally it should be rain and

sleet in lower levels. into the weekend, remaining cold, but signs of it beginning to turn drier as our area of low pressure slips away southwards. the pressure chart for saturday shows the centre of the low, just to the south of the uk, over the south—west quadrant. that'll bring stronger winds here, showers and longer spells of rain which will spiral away southwards during the day. an improvement here gradually. further north and east, a couple of showers, wintering s over scotland, but in between there should be sunshine breaking through the clouds. things should turn brighter, not a bad afternoon in central areas but another cold day with temperatures between four and seven for most. the low pressure pushes into the near continent. this weather front could bring some showers to the north—east of england and eastern scotland. foremost, it'll be a calm, quiet, still morning. much lighter winds.

it'll be a calm, quiet, still morning. much lighterwinds. could see mist and fog around which could be stubborn to clear and could lead toa be stubborn to clear and could lead to a grey day in eastern areas. sunshine in favoured spots in the west. it'll be another chilly day, three to 7 degrees. next week, it sta rts three to 7 degrees. next week, it starts dry and cold. signs of it turning unsettled mid week onwards as the atlantic ocean gets back to life again. this is monday, we are in between weather systems, this one could move perilously close to the far south—west. strong winds here, may be for cloud, some spots of rain for western cornwall. the odd shower further north and east. for it'll stay dry. the wind is fairly light, some sunshine around, mist and fog and muck around, too, but temperatures on the low side, between two degrees. —— and murk. temperatures will be climbing very

slowly.

this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines. the government says the talks about a post—brexit trade deal are at a "very difficult stage" — the eu's chief negotiator will remain in london in order to continue negotiations. important day, determination. we are in a difficult phase, there is no denying that. there are number of tricky issues that still have to be resolved. as the first consignments of the pfizer—biontech jab arrive in the uk, vaccinations are due to begin next week. progress on vaccines gives us all a lift, and we can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. tough covid restrictions come into force in wales in an hour's time — with a big impact on pubs and restaurants.