today at six — the message gets tougher on who you see and what you do over christmas whatever the rules, whatever the guidance — leaders across the uk want us to exercise extereme caution. we all want to send the same message. a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas, and a shorter christmas is a safer christmas. what does it mean for you and your family as you plan for a covid christmas? a festive season like no other. it isa it is a bit risky giving five days. we had three pesos together but it willjust be as now.

and we'll be asking if areas in the north of england could move down a tier. also tonight: nine—year—old ella died following an asthma attack. now — in a landmark ruling — a coroner has listed air pollution as a cause of death. we've got the justice for her which she so deserved. but also, it's about other children, still, as we walk around our city of high levels of air pollution. heath experts say ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to the coronavirus — so why are they less likely to take the vaccine? a little light at the end of the covid tunnel — look what happened when a music teacher took her lessons online. and coming up on bbc news: the use of concussion substitutes has been approved, with the premier league expected to vote in favour of a trial in the top flight when they meet tomorrow.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. just when you thought you had your christmas plans all sorted — along comes some new and tougher guidance. this afternoon the prime minister said the four nations had agreed to stick to the existing regulations they issued three weeks ago, but he warned people to "exercise extreme caution". in scotland nicola sturgeon gave further advice to go alongside those regulations, and in wales mark drakeford says the law will be changed. laura kuenssberg reports we are all being left with a choice — make full use of what the law allows or follow the advice of leaders in the nations of the uk. even sorting the tree hasn't seemed straightforward this year. politicians give a promise we would

be able to gather together at christmas, a glimmer of light at a grand time, but along with gifts, new concern about the virus is arriving, so permission to see friends and family comes with stern advice. we are keeping the rules the same but we all want to send the same but we all want to send the same message. a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas and a shorter christmas is a safer christmas. you are still allowing a five—day period to go ahead when people from all over the country will be able to get together. we did not now be safer, clearer and perhaps braver to ditch the plan is to relax the rules over christmas? we do not want to, as i say, to ban christmas, to cancel it. i think that would be frankly inhuman. what we are seeing is that that guidance, the three households on the five

days, that really should be regarded asa maximum, days, that really should be regarded as a maximum, but we are also relying on people's strong sense of personal responsibility. readers around the uk have tried to stick to the same approach. there will be some limited extra freedom over the festive period. in scotland, where soon 80% of people will be living under tougher restrictions, there will be no huge knees up for this family. we come from a really big families anomaly we have a huge christmas, lots of drinks, lots of partying, all the kids, but this year obviously it is completely different for us. the chris relaxation of the rules will go ahead but with a similar call for caution. i have to say i hate with every fibre of my being standing here trying to regulate how you spend christmas. the reality is this christmas simply cannot be normal but we have every reason to hope next year will be much more normal.

the picture is bleaker in wales where the law is being tweaked so only two households can get together. plans are already changing. we had three households together but i think it is just going to be as now. the numbers are increasing at the moment so it is a worry. pressure is intense on the health service and with the spread of the disease wales is going back to the limited lockdown straight after christmas. nobody wants to be ill at christmas and none of us want to give this deadly disease to our closest fa m ily to give this deadly disease to our closest family or friends. in northern ireland, winter illness conspired with covert to fill hospitals to bursting last night, meaning ambulances queuing for as long as 12 hours and that is before any of the rules are eased up. no surprise politicians are telling people to take care. being risk aware at all times. remember the

situations and activities that help the virus spread, so keep your distance, stop your contacts with others outside your household or christmas bubble. the political decisions about christmas were never designed to create a free for all but the worsening pattern of the disease has forced a rebrand if not everything. some families were worried about the consequences. what is going to happen as it isjust going to spiral out of control again andi going to spiral out of control again and i think they are wrong for doing it. i think it is too late. and i think they are wrong for doing it. ithink it is too late. people have made their plans and if they change it people are going to do what they were planning to do. politicians must balance the dangers of the pandemic with the cost to our lives. this year what is meant to be a time of celebration is a time of real risk as well. the big headline from all these different politicians talking about this is that the easing up of the rules that christmas is still going ahead but

they are urging everybody to think very carefully about exactly what they plan to do. it is clear from hitting senior medics and scientists today and in the last few days that the risk of people getting together is very serious indeed so you might wonder why politicians are not going further and calling the whole thing off, but i think there was concern about whether that will have practical with many people have they made their plans, and a real realisation that many people might do this anyway and it was better, politicians decided, together safe structure and a set of guidelines to allow people to get together in a limited way, but if there is a spike in the weeks that follow this easing up in the weeks that follow this easing up of the rules there could be some awkward questions for politicians looking back in retrospect. it is a decision that of course none of them would have wanted to take but what they are saying to the public as this is a dangerous moment and the final decisions are not up to them, they are up to go. laura, thank you

very much. so — as we've been hearing — the picture across the uk is now more complicated. in a moment we'll hear from james shaw in glasgow and emma vardy in lisburn, but first to sian lloyd in cardiff. here in wales, tighter restrictions are on their way. nonessential shops and close contact services like hairdressers together with fitness and leisure centres must close from the end of trading on christmas eve and all hospitality venues must shut from six o'clock on christmas day. the five—day window that had already been agreed remains in place but the welsh government has said they can only form of a bubble of two households by law although i think a person canjoin households by law although i think a person can join them. from the 28th of december wales goes into lockdown which means people are expected to stay at home and public facilities will cause. there is no end in sight to these restrictions but we are told they will be reviewed every three weeks.

in scotland the restrictions around christmas are already a little tighter than in other parts of the country saw only eight adults from three households should meet endorse, not including children under 12, but big guidance to delimit even more what people are supposed to do. the scottish government says you should only meet on one of the five days of christmas, the amount of time and the number of people involved should be as small as possible and you should not stay on someone else pose ‘s house unless it is absolutely necessary. also travel between high—risk and low—risk areas should be avoided. the location of us here in northern ireland means people have been given an extra couple of days for travelling over the christmas period so people told they may travel to and from northern ireland between the 22nd on the 28th of december, a narrower window though for the christmas bubble, people are allowed to meet up with other households

between the 23rd on the 27th of december and it is up to three households that can form a christmas bubble. for those heading out for some christmas cheer, pubs and restau ra nts some christmas cheer, pubs and restaurants that serve food are allowed to stay open for now but there is a limit on opening times which here in northern ireland is 11 o'clock, but there's still a lot of concern here about high numbers of cases. recent restrictions have not had the impact ministers had been hoping for so there is still the possibility of further restrictions on hospitality to come. when the three—tier system was introduced in england we were told that areas could move up — or down — depending on what was happening to infection rates. many towns and cities in the north of england have seen falling infection rates and some leaders are asking tier 3 areas to move down a tier. here's our north of england correspondent danny savage. it's beginning to look nothing like christmas.

nobody is allowed to enjoy the decorations in this pub in leeds at the moment in what should be the busiest week of the year. so how long did it take you to put this lot up? this took, if one person had done it, it would've been 340 hours worth of work. the landlord here says he'd love to get some customers back, but not if it's just a temporary period before infections rise again. if we're going to go from tier 3 tier 2, back to tier 3 in two weeks, we'd rather not open. it will cost us so much more money to open and close down again, furloughing all staff, cancelling all bills, negotiating rent again. it would make more sense to stay in tier 3 until it's viable to open in tier 2 for the long—term. leeds has been under the toughest restrictions since the start of the second lockdown, but civic leaders here now believe that the area has met the criteria to move from tier 3 to tier 2, and other towns and cities in the north feel the same. we do still believe there is a very strong case for a substantial part of the city region to be placed in tier 2.

and we would ask the government to give regard to the fact that we have been under restrictions now for four and half months. in leeds, for example, at the start of the second lockdown, there were a16 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. the latest bbc analysis shows that this has now dropped to 138 cases per 100,000. the government will decide tonight whether places like these —— leeds and in manchester can drop down to tier 2. i think it'd be nice, yeah, to go down to tier 2, see more friends and family. i think it should stay in tier 3, to be honest. because people just go mad when they lower the tier. regardless of what happens, this restaurant will stick to takeaways only. they don't believe any increased freedom will be long—lived. we are planning for a lockdown or a tier 3 in january. i thinkjanuary is going to be really, really tough. measures are changing, though.

last night, london, along with parts of essex and hertfordshire, moved up into tier 3. but with cases broadly on the increase again, is there the will to ease restrictions in some areas? danny savage, bbc news, leeds. our health editor hugh pym is here. if you listen to laura's report, the torn and the language around christmas has not really changed. yes, i think the mood changed at westminster at the end of last week and the weekend with a sharp increase in cases in the south—east of england. the mood has got gloomier in wales for reasons we have been hearing about and in other parts of the uk as well. two things struck me from the briefing from professor chris whitty about the realities of christmas and he said first of all any kind of period where people come together in groups that otherwise would not meet leads

to an increase in risk and that will lead to an increase in hospitalisations and deaths. in other words a very stark message that whatever happens at christmas you will have consequences with people getting seriously ill and not surviving. then he went on to say we are tantalisingly close to the stage where everybody who gets into trouble would have been protected in the years, and other words the vaccine is going to be rolled much more extensively through january so if people can hold off that would have a benefit, but he and other health are clear there are mental health are clear there are mental health benefits, benefits and people pose like well—being, from some meeting over christmas, people living on their own needing to see family, so there is that balance as well. from the beginning we have been told it is all about making sure the nhs can do itsjob. how serious is the situation in the health service? the south-east of

england rang alarm bells for london to be put into tier 3 as of today, not part of the decision—making going on tonight about tears and the rest of england. 0f going on tonight about tears and the rest of england. of course cases are falling in other parts of england. so it is not a uniform picture but the worry is that you have more cases, more people go to hospital, the figures from around the uk for the figures from around the uk for the total number of patients with covered in hospitals is more than 17,000, the highest since april, which is an indication of the pressure building up and with the added pressures in january pressure building up and with the added pressures injanuary it could lead to get more strain on hospitals. thank you. within the last few minutes, the latest government figures on coronavirus have been released.

55,161 daily cases were reported in the last 24—hour period. more than 130,000 people have now been given their first dose of the new covid vaccine. however, new research suggests that people from minority ethnic backgrounds are less likely to take the vaccine. a survey carried out for the royal society for public health found that 79% of white respondents would take the vaccine — against 57% of people from black, asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. also, 70% of the lowest earners would say yes, compared to 84% of the highest. our community affairs correspondent, adina campbell, reports. the impact of coronavirus on people from black, asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds has caused a great deal of anxiety and distress over the last few months. but with a vaccine now in sight, many of us are now starting to breathe a sigh of relief. some, though, are still fearful. the pandemic has thrown up so many questions

about our health, and caused a huge amount of uncertainty. but what is clear from a number of reports and studies over the last few months is that black, asian and other ethnic minority groups are twice as likely to be infected with coronavirus, compared with white people and are more at risk of dying. so, why is there so much scepticism about the vaccine in these communities? in my minority of people, we have our natural remedies. if we have a cough or a cold, then we do our own thing with garlic, ginger, honey, lemon. so far, it is god that is protecting me. i am under his divine protection. i will never catch any disease. i will take the vaccine because there is no problem and there is no consequence. i will take it and protect my family. if it's got a chip in it to track people, that's the reason why i wouldn't go for it. where have you heard that this vaccine has got a chip? from the whatsapp and all this. the vaccine does not contain a chip

and the government says we should be cautious of misinformation and conspiracy theories. even with my two kids, people sort of send whatsapp videos and all sorts of messages. if you don't know where that's coming from, then it is very likely to be inaccurate. this is an incredibly well developed, scientific endeavour. and therefore i would urge everyone, take the information, read it, look at it and then make your mind up. are you happy? yes. researchers say the evidence is clear. with higher death rates in these communities, coupled with underrepresentation in clinical trials, scientists insist getting vaccinated is the safest way to help end the pandemic. adina campbell, bbc news. our top story this evening... the message gets tougher on how you

see and what you do over christmas, as leaders across the uk want us to exercise extreme caution. coming up... three and a half years after grenfell why are thousands of families still paying for round the clock patrols to keep them safe from fire? coming up on sportsday on bbc news, the top two meet in the premier league. can tottenham become the first team to beat liverpool in the league at anfield since 2017? a nine—year—old girl who died following an asthma attack has become the first person in the uk to have air pollution listed as a cause of death. ella adoo—kissi—debrah died in 2013. she lived near the south circular road in south—east london — one of the capital's busiest roads. in the three years before her death, she had multiple seizures and was admitted to hospital 27 times. today — in a landmark ruling — a second inquest into her death found that air pollution "made a material contribution"

to her death. 0ur environment correspondent claire marshall has this report. ella was a healthy child before suddenly starting to suffer asthma attacks so severe she would be put on a ventilator. ella coughs this cough, an early sign of the damage being done to her lungs. we know now, without doubt, by air pollution. today's decision was the result her mother has been campaigning for four years. we've got the justice for her, which she so deserved. but also, its about other children still, as we walk around our city, with high levels of air pollution. the coroner found that levels of the toxic gases and pollutants and exhausts were way above levels set by the world health organization, and without doubt they contributed to her death. i wanted justice for her. i wanted the real reason why she went through what she went through. i hope through this, her legacy may be a new clean air act.

i think the only bit i got a little bit angry was, in court, when it turned out that lots of people knew about it, and yet the response has been so slow. these were the roads she walked along to school. despite going to five different hospitals during the three years she suffered, air pollution was never mentioned as a possible cause. now we know it was behind her illness. she was drowning in her secretions, each time she had one of these there terrible attacks. and the fact that they clustered together and these were in the winter and autumn months, when the air pollution was worse in london, putting all that together, it suddenly started to make sense. this isn'tjust about london, this is about the whole of the uk. 0ne expert witness said that for children, breathing in these fumes should be treated as seriously as if they are breathing in second—hand smoke. perhaps parents should be advised to take a different route to school.

the experts are now calling for lessons to be learned from ella's death. it will mean that we can protect children's health going forward. what we do need to do is develop the education and the tools needed to talk about air pollution and, hopefully, the government will take air pollution reduction as a national priority. she would be very proud that her name is being used to do something really positive. because i've always said to you, she was incredibly kind. so this is the sort of thing she would approve. the government says that it is spending almost £4 billion on trying to clean up air pollution, and it is setting new ambitious targets. today's decision will dramatically increase the pressure. we now know beyond doubt that air pollution can kill. claire marshall, bbc news. three and a half years on from the grenfell tower fire, up to a thousand buildings in britain still have round the clock fire patrols because they haven't had

flammable cladding removed and other fire safety issues fixed. in london alone the patrols are estimated to have cost £170 million this year — most of the cost being borne by flat owners. they say the bills are causing financial ruin for a problem they didn't create. sarah corker reports. emma is a single mum of two. she is out of work and relying on food banks to help feed herfamily. her building has such serious fire safety faults it needs fire wardens on site 2a hours a day, known as waking watch. it's costing flat owners more than £400 a month each. i'm angry. i'm actually furious at it. this is ruining people's lives. it's not our fault. we didn't buy these properties thinking there was something wrong with them. emma was a first—time buyer when she bought this one—bed flat in south london 12 years ago. my greatest fear, if i'm to be honest, is yeah,

i will be made homeless and have to file bankruptcy. because i cannot afford the bills. after the grenfell tower fire, waking watches were introduced by the national fire chief council to keep residents safe. it's supposed to be a temporary measure while fire safety faults are fixed. but it's become controversial. at this block in ipswich, a warden was filmed asleep under a desk in the middle of the afternoon. the company said he was on a break. and here in north—west london, residents say wardens removed wall sensors that were supposed to be checked as part of their patrol. flat owner charlotte says there has been problems with two different companies. they themselves are creating fire hazards, blocking and opening fire doors, blocking ways. the operatives gather in corridors. a lot of my neighbours feel quite threatened by them. we actually found one waking watch operative relieving themselves in a bin store. so, it's not been good.

and we are dreading getting the next load of invoices for that. and here in manchester, the cost of this building's waking watch has just tripled to more than £20,000 a month. steven lives on the 14th floor. he says the building only has a small amount of dangerous cladding. it's the strip which runs between our master bedroom and spare bedroom. flat owners not only have to pay for the three fire wardens, but may also face bigger bills to fix the blocks‘ fire safety issues. who do you think should pay for this? the original developers have got a huge part to play in this. and i think the government are the only people that can actually make the developers pay. and if the government need to put the funds up first, the government should make sure that people are living in safe homes. the people are living in safe homes. government says should the government says waking watches should not be used as a substitute for the swift removal of unsafe

cladding and they are committed to supporting leaseholders. the building leaseholders for the blocks in this report say costs only passed onto flat owners as a last resort. but for those spending christmas in unsafe homes, brings little comfort. sarah corker, bbc news. let's take a look at some of today's other news... the supreme court has ruled that the owner of heathrow airport can build a third runway, overturning an earlier legal decision to block the plan on environmental grounds. heathrow airport has welcomed the decision but they still have to persuade a public enquiry of the case for expansion. the uk's inflation rate fell dramatically to 0.3% in november from 0.7% in october. lower prices for clothing, food and non—alcoholic drinks made the biggest contribution to the fall. however, games and toys increased in price. the killers of pc andrew harper will not have their sentences for manslaughter increased

after judges rejected the attorney general‘s case that they were unduly lenient. henry long was sentenced to 16 years, while albert bowers and jessie cole were handed 13 years each. pc harper died afer he was dragged for more than a mile behind a car in berkshire last year. teaching children music has been a life passion for emma hutchinson. so when lockdown was announced she shifted to online teaching — and the impact this had on her children was stark. her efforts to draw out something positive from the experience led to her writing a christmas song — and, to her surprise. it's gone global. here's emma's story. # la, la, la—la, la, la... # when lockdown was announced, i was at home, in devon. our whole professional world turned around overnight to zoom lessons. it's lovely to see you here today. are you ready to roll? # something is tapping in my box...#

a lot of families said, oh, this is good fun, let's all have a go at doing the digital thing. but i think, after several weeks, you could get a sense of screen fatigue. smash! over the nine months, we noticed that many of our children are more reserved. they're less responsive to engaging with each other. language delay is becoming more evidenced. # christmas is here again, all around the world...# i was thinking, how can i make this a positive experience? how can i write something that is going to look forward to the future? i wrote four christmas songs. # christmas is here once more # family, neighbours, knocking at the door...# i gave my song to moonbug entertainment as part of a collective of christmas songs for children to enjoy.

and then they got back in touch and said, thank you very much, we'd like to use christmas is here again as our christmas single. # christmas bells are ring, ring ringing # everyone is sing, sing, singing... being deaf, i have to say, has been initially a nightmare. and then it became quite funny. having a mask on, suddenly i couldn't see their face. and i rely a lot on lip—reading. # love and peace, as my candle burns # singing my christmas song. # if we can hold a candle up together on christmas eve, wouldn't that make a difference? just so they know they are not alone. # everyone is sing, sing, singing # whoever you are, wherever you roam # ringa—ringa, ring, ding, ding. #

time for a look at the weather here's darren bett. a mild day again, but another dose of wet and windy weather. the rain that was here in hampshire is now further east, across eastern part of england. we have wet weather coming to western scotland briefly. showers will continue, particularly across western areas. clear spells developing, breezy out there. temperatures will fall away to three orli temperatures will fall away to three or 4 degrees. tomorrow morning, a case of sunny spells, scattered showers, mostly in the west and in particular affecting western scotland. though showers should become fewer, but only because we have more cloud coming from the atla ntic to have more cloud coming from the atlantic to bring rain into northern ireland. the wind is picking up as well. it will be another mild day. temperatures like today, nine or 12 degrees. you could stay dry with more in the way of sunshine for eastern scotland and eastern parts of england. the rain in the west will push eastwards during tomorrow evening and tomorrow night, and that

it peters out. there