hello, good morning. this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the prime minister will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee later after france closed its border with the uk for 48 hours. many other countries in europe and elsewhere have restricted travel to and from the uk due to the new, more infectious variant of coronavirus. retailers play down fears of food shortages as a knock—on effect of the ban on lorries leaving dover. the transport secretary says he's in talks with his french counterpart. it's primarily french and european goods which are exported rather than british goods leaving the country. it's balanced in that direction, so of course it's in their interest to get it resolved as quickly as possible as well. the easing of northern ireland's coronavirus rules over christmas will be reduced from five days to just christmas day when three

households will be allowed to mix. the news dominated today by covid and the knock on effects of the virus. do send us your comments on how this is affecting you. the prime minister will be discussing an emergency meeting the movement of freight. the transport secretary grant shapps will be speaking to his french counterpart. he pointed out that france uniquely of the eu countries at the moment was insisting only unaccompanied freight could go to and from france to the united kingdom. now, that means hauliers themselves are effectively queueing up, as we heard from simon, at dover. grant shapps is hoping to unlock that quickly. this is what he said. we must remember that passengers shouldn't be travelling at this moment in time

in the tierli be travelling at this moment in time in the tier 4 requirements, it says stay at home and stay local. people shouldn't be travelling in any case was that it is the holy side of things we need to get moving. when i spoke to my french opposite number, they are keen to unlock that in the next 48 hours. the eu countries are getting together to mount a collective response. matt hancock had said the virus was out of control, so it is possible there will be more rather than fewer restrictions. one good morning. a growing number of countries have shut their borders to britons in response to the spread of the new variant of coronavirus. there are fears of lorry queues stretching for miles after the government said it expects severe disruption at ports in kent. the road haulage association warned of the "devastating effect" of the travel ban on supply chains that are already under pressure from brexit and christmas stockpiling. the prime minister will discuss the growing crisis at an emergency cobra meeting later today. france has now suspended all travel links, including freight lorries, with the uk for 48 hours. the move means means no lorries or ferry passengers will be able

to sail from the port of dover for the time being. nations including germany, italy, belgium, the irish republic, turkey and canada are suspending uk flights. the measures vary and are initially short—term. an eu meeting on monday morning will discuss a co—ordinated response. coronavirus cases in the uk rose by 35,928 yesterday — nearly double the number recorded the previous sunday, figures show. it comes as health secretary matt hancock warned that a new variant of the virus was "getting out of control". the prime minister, borisjohnson, is now set to chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee, cobra, to address the mounting coronavirus crisis. we'll bring you the latest news from that meeting as soon as it happens and we'll be live at the port of dover in a few minutes, but first this report from jon donnison. after queues of up to 20 miles into dover last week amid brexit uncertainty, things could be about to get worse. the port is now shut to all outbound freight and passengers after france closed its border with the uk for 48 hours, amid fears about the spread of the new strain of coronavirus.

this is an absolute hammer blow after all the queues we have had at ports in the last week caused by brexit stockpiling, and of course the christmas rush, so there's real confusion, real uncertainty in the industry tonight. the transport secretary grant shapps has urged hauliers not to travel to kent. incoming freight is still permitted, but there are fears some lorry drivers won't want to come to the uk for risk of getting stuck. dover usually handles around 10,000 lorries a day, delivering nearly 20% of all goods bought and sold here. the food and drink federation has said it is worried about the supply of fresh products over christmas. and it's notjust freight affected. this was heathrow last night, where passengers were left stranded amid travel bans from much of europe. eurostar and eurotunnel have also suspended all outbound traffic.

we must, i'm afraid, look again at christmas... two days after the prime minister announced the new restrictions, he will chair a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee this morning to discuss the coronavirus crisis. meanwhile, government sources have insisted the travel bans won't affect the delivery of covid vaccines. and all this as trade talks with the eu remain gridlocked as the december 31st brexit deadline edges closer. john donnison, bbc news. let's go to dover now — our correspondent there this morning is simon jones. begin by painting a picture of what it's like they are today. begin by painting a picture of what it's like they are todayli begin by painting a picture of what it's like they are today. i think the sign behind me says it all, it says french border is closed, and there are a number of officials in high vizjackets. we have also seen

the police here, and if any lorry is turning up wanting to get across the channel, they are being turned away. it's the same with passenger vehicles too because there will be no travel to france for the next two days after this travel ban was introduced by the french authorities. for lorry drivers, this isa authorities. for lorry drivers, this is a hugely problematic issue. 10,000 pass through the port each day, perhaps even more at this time of year because of the christmas rush. now suddenly they are not able to go anywhere, and it is likely to cause huge problems on the roads around kent. on that note, kent police have put 0peration stack in place to manage this disruption. have you any sense if there is a build—up yet? have you any sense if there is a build-up yet? i think lorries are starting to queue or stack up there which is part of the contingency planning. i don't think we are

talking huge numbers yet but it is early on in the day, and for holly isa early on in the day, and for holly is a very difficult situation, potentially facing the next two days sitting in their cabs on the motorway. i spoke to one lorry driver who last night was in a queue at the port of dover trying to get one of the last varies across to france. he couldn't get on it in time. he's locally based in canterbury so he decided simply to go home. he will now lose money for that and the people he was delivering two will lose their goods. but think of all of the foreign hauliers trying to get back across to the eu where they don't have the option of simply going home. they face potentially a long wait. as well as 0peration stack there will also be possibly a disused airport in kent which could ta ke disused airport in kent which could take 4000 lorries if needed. that gives you a sense of the scale of theissue gives you a sense of the scale of the issue we are talking about. and so the issue we are talking about. and so really all eyes on france and the

rest of the eu about how long this is going to go on for. france saying initially two days at least, so even if it is just those two days it will cause a huge backlog, potentially huge traffic problems in kent, and that will take time to shift too. thank you for that update. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson is at westminster. a perfect storm really with transmission of the new covid variant growing, a growing list of countries banning travel from the uk, and we are not even mentioning we are ten days away from the brexit transition period, but what is the subject of this cobra meeting first of all? it is freight movements in and out of the country. that what seems to be uniquely different about the french situation. there have been travel bans at various times

during the whole coronavirus crisis. the government are saying they are going to put emergency contingency plans in place so that will be one of the main topics of conversation at the emergency cobra meeting later today. earlier grant shapps told the bbc he had been in touch again with his french counterpart to try to see if they could, after this 48 hour ban by france, start to lift the ban and put them in line with other countries which at least would allow hauliers if not general travellers and passages into the country. the most important thing is to get it resolved as quickly as possible. i was on the phone to my opposite number of france last night, jean—baptiste djebbari. he's very keen to see this resolved as quickly as possible, particularly the hauliers aspect of it, because it's actually primarily french and european goods which are exported rather

than british goods leaving the country. it's balanced in that direction. so, of course, it's in their interest to get it resolved as quickly as possible as well and that's what they want to do. i'll be speaking to them again later this morning. so we will see what comes of that call, and the cobra meeting chaired subsequently to that. it's not impossible there will be more restrictions because the eu want to have united response. there's been some talk of potentially having a lot of drivers for example tested as they leave britain into france and that might be one way of unlocking this in the future. but there is also growing discontent on the conservative benches about the new gear restrictions and the fact we might well be in tier 4 in large parts of the country, in south—east england, eastern england, perhaps other parts of the country too for many months yet, and there have been

calls from the former conservative leader iain duncan smith, mark harper and others to have parliament recalled at this time to debate the current crisis, the restrictions and the change in those restrictions. there is one bit of good news on this gloomy day though, grant shapps and other government ministers are insisting that at least the supply of the vaccine, the one vaccine that has at the moment been approved, the pfizer vaccine, supplies come from belgium and apparently they will not be affected by the freight ban. iain watson, thank you. richard burnett is the chief executive of the road haulage association. richard, we really appreciate your time this morning, an incredibly busy period for you and the ban on vehicles entering france of course simply adds to that. is it possible to assess yet what impact this is having on the movement of lorries that would have been travelling from the uk to france over this period, and vice versa? it is an evolving

situation so at this point in time we don't have absolute clarity. we know the port of dover was cleared last night and eurotunnel was also clear, so we are seeing a build up this morning of vehicles that have beenin this morning of vehicles that have been in the uk probably prior to the weekend and over the weekend that have tipped and are beginning to make their way back to europe. so this will be a building and evolving picture over the next 48 hours. i think in terms of flow from europe into the uk as well, we need to assess and understand what that looks like, but the retailers are being very reassuring in saying we we re being very reassuring in saying we were transition building anyway. we had significant levels of ambient stock. there might be challenges with chilled and fresh, but at this stage there is no need to panic by. that is a really important message to get across because panic buying, as we saw earlier in this pandemic,

only exacerbates the problem. if people shopped in a normal way at normal levels it would be a much easier situation for retailers and hauliers to handle, wouldn't it? exactly, and it's an important message we need to get across today which is there is no need for panic buying. the retailers are in strong control of what they are doing. like isaid, we control of what they are doing. like i said, we have done transitional building of stock to make sure there is stock ready for the transition in january so that has put us in a good position at this point in time. we will get a clearer picture as the day goes on and probably give further reassurance at that stage as well. and you will be looking very closely at that meeting of eu officials later today to find out whether these bans are more than temporary. so in terms of your planning, how quickly do you think there could be pressure on supply

chains? because you have been speaking about this, and what would the key pinch points be? it is key to understanding of this will go on beyond 48 hours. i spoke to grant shapps last night and this morning, and he's very confident of their ability to try and find a way through this, whether that is some sort of testing of drivers before they depart and go back to europe. i think if it goes beyond 48 hours we will see some significant challenges because those inbound vehicles coming in from europe, because those inbound vehicles coming infrom europe, many 0peration —— many hauliers won't wa nt to 0peration —— many hauliers won't want to come into the country if they will be stranded for christmas. i think it is an evolving, moving situation. we have got to stay close to it and address whatever issue is thrown at us over the next 48 hours. for the drivers caught up on this side, obviously 0peration stack has swung into action with kent police

operating that, but what are the facilities to help drivers who may be potentially caught up for a while sitting in their cabs? at this stage we know government was beginning to roll—out and test its contingency forjanuary. they will have to bring that forward. we are concerned about facilities, but again we are getting reassurance back from that they will be putting facilities in for their drivers. that is the message we are getting at the moment, we need to make sure those facilities and support for drivers is absolutely there, because it will be misery for them otherwise. richard, i expect we may be talking to you again quite a bit over the next few days. richard burnett from the road haulage association. thank you for your time today. let me read out a few of the

comments you have been sending in. not so much about the situation with this travel ban, the travel situation for hauliers a cameron james said, i'm affected by this ban, how can the government claim this is to protect the french people when they are still allowing travel to the uk? but then if i can find a counterpoint to that, andy is saying, because travelling to the uk won't because the virus to go into france, returning to france will, which they are not allowing. so no, not a brexit stunt. a few other people talking about the importance of staying at home, but the toll that might take on them. we will of course be answering lots of your questions. we are receiving lots of tweets, for example, "do experts think the new mutation could affect

the efficiency of the covid vaccine?" and we will be talking to experts at 9:30am. christmas bubbles in northern ireland will be reduced from five days to one day. it's understood that the stormont executive agreed the change last night. there is expected to be some flexibility around which day people come together to accommodate those who have to work on christmas day. the government says it will provide refunds for rail and coach journeys in england booked for previous christmas travel window bought before the change in regulations and guidance that were announced by the prime minister on saturday. the transport secretary said the refunds will apply tojourneys in england booked on or after the 24th november, when the christmas travel window was announced. the government said travel operators will be able to issue refunds immediately and that passengers should check the website of their operator for how to claim.

the introduction of the strict restrictions for million of people has been blamed on the rapid spread of a new variant of coronavirus. but what do we know about this new strain? the government's advisers on new infections say they have "moderate confidence" that the variant has a higher rate of transmission. early studies show that the new strain could be up to 71% more transmissible, and that it could increase the r—number by between 0.39 and 0.94. the r—number indicates if an epidemic is growing or shrinking. but all this work is at an early stage and contains huge uncertainties and a long list of unanswered questions. i'm joined now by professor ravi gupta from the university of cambridge. he's a professor of clinical microbiology at the cambridge institute for therapeutic immunology and infectious diseases, which has been researching the evolution of covid—19, including

the emergence of the new strain. professor, very good to have you with us today. lots of questions to try to get answers to, of course. what is the latest information you have been able to give to the government, and what are the key that as a priority for you still need to be answered about new variant? our analyses has shown the new variant has emerged without many close relatives, in other words the number of mutations is quite significant, and we can't really find any viruses that are closely related in terms of finding where they originated from. so it is difficult to know whether this has come from a population that was not very well sampled, or whether this evolution happened within one or two 01’ evolution happened within one or two or three individuals. that's what we are trying to answer. in terms of

the impact of the mutations, that is another big question, that we need to know what this virus is capable of. we can see from the rate of spread of this variant that it appears to be more transmissible, but we need to know what the mechanisms are in terms of the mutations driving this, and that is the work we are doing in my laboratory. when did you become aware of this new variant? we became aware of this new variant? we became aware of this new variant? we became aware of it in my group because we we re aware of it in my group because we were studying a case of an individual who had developed some mutations following use of convalescent plasma and antibody therapy. 0ne convalescent plasma and antibody therapy. one of the mutations is found in the new variant, and therefore we went looking on the global databases for other therefore we went looking on the global data bases for other examples of the mutations we saw and we stumbled across a deletion, removal of two amino acids in the protein spike which is crucial for binding to target cells and is also the target of antibodies that we

produce. we found this deletion in 5000 sequences worldwide and that's when we started noticing there was a big chunk of these deletions in the uk and this was associated with multiple other mutations and spike in other parts of the virus. when roughly was that? some of the earlier sequences with the deletion going back to sort of april, but the early sequences with the multiple mutations are probably something like a month ago. ok, and we heard at the news conference on saturday, didn't we, i can't recall if it was professor whitty or sir patrick valla nce professor whitty or sir patrick vallance that taking londoners for example, on the 9th of december the new variant was causing 62% of covid cases, up new variant was causing 62% of covid cases, up from 25% less than a month previously so we can see how rapidly cases caused by this new variant we re cases caused by this new variant were growing. does it surprise you, i don't want to get too political

with you, you are a scientist, but does it surprise you that the government was not factoring this in sooner? i think the announcement actually came atjust the right time because you have to strike a balance between understanding what's going on and being alarmist. so of course there would be huge criticism of the government if they had falsely made people worried around the christmas period when in retrospect potentially, so i think it has been spot—on this time, and that is as a scientist. when we look at the response of countries like france, belgium and germany and their concerns about the transmission potentially of this variant from the uk to them, are you surprised that the rest of england is not already

in tier 4? because if countries like france are worried the virus could get to them, surely the virus could get to them, surely the virus could get from the south—east corner where it seems to be mainly focused to the rest of england. that is a very good point. the reason other countries have locked down is because they had the opportunity to stop it arriving on their shores. it may already be there. we know that because sequencing is still rather sparse in many parts of the world that the viruses may already be there, but whilst they are gathering the information they don't want to take any chances. do you think it is too late to stop it reaching other parts of england? we know there are measures being ta ken of england? we know there are measures being taken for example on the border with scotland, but in terms of looking at england itself, do you think that it is too late to stop the transition of this new variant ina stop the transition of this new variant in a significant way to the rest of england ? variant in a significant way to the rest of england? so i think the

variant is probably spread fairly widely already, but of course if people are exercising distancing and the relevant measures, then many of those infections may not travel any further. so the question is whether the spread has occurred, and whether thatis the spread has occurred, and whether that is continuing to form clusters of new infections. that is really ha rd to of new infections. that is really hard to know at this moment. and whether therefore sharper or had a lockdown measures would curb the rise of the variant in other parts of the country. unfortunately i really can't comment on that at the moment. good to talk to you. professor ravi gupta from the university of cambridge. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has called for borisjohnson to try to get an extension to the brexit transition period. she says the uk faces a "profoundly serious situation" because of the new variant of coronavirus. brexit trade negotiations are continuing in brussels later despite a warning by the european parliament that it

would not vote on a deal this year if it had not been agreed by last night. lord peter ricketts is a former national security adviser and joins me now. very grateful for your time today as well. just on that point that nicola sturgeon was making. do you think it's a good idea there should be this transition given this perfect storm that is facing the uk government right now? yes, i do think that's right because it is an exceptional crisis we are in at the moment and that's not really the circumstances at which governments can take cool—headed, rational decisions with long—term implications for the country. we are clearly in the last throes of this negotiation about dealing with the eu. they say 98% of it is done, still some hard issues to deal with, but i don't think either side, certainly not the british government, has the bandwidth to make those decisions now so i would

be in favour of a short technical extension so we can cope with this immediate crisis, and then come back and settle it early in the new year. and that technical extension, how possible do you think that is? there have been so many extensions already. yes, as you mentioned in the introduction, the european parliament already said there is not enough time now for them to ratify the deal even if it was done today or tomorrow in time for the 31st of december, so there would be some uncertainty anyway december, so there would be some u ncerta i nty a nyway early december, so there would be some uncertainty anyway early into next year. i think on the european side there are always ways of freezing things, stopping the clock, giving a bit of extra time, but it would also need the british government to ask for it. so far borisjohnson's government have been adamantly against the idea of an extension. i think in changed circumstances they could change their mind on that. borisjohnson is also facing internal pressure from backbenchers

over his handling of the pandemic, pressure as well from them about getting out of... the uk has already brexited, but what would you say to the backbenchers putting pressure on him? do you think they need to allow breathing space given the exceptional nature of what is going on? yes, i do. although we have formally left the eu, we haven't really because of this transition period. but as of the 1st of january it will be another massive shock, not least in the core supply injury, the hauliers getting goods through customs and regulatory controls. all of that will become much more difficult, as well as all sorts of other things such as passenger travel between the uk and the eu.

all of that on top of pressures created by the pandemic. clearly if we can get a deal done, then the disruptions are less. there could still be disruption, but in the event of no deal it will be additional chaos added to the confusion that already exist. i don't think the british economy or british people should be expecting that now. it isn't time to add more chaos to the situation. talking is a former national security adviser, you are focused on what the risk to security cooperation, intelligence sharing will be, and just remind our viewers what your concerns are. if we get to the 31st of december and there is no deal. first of all, i'm a lwa ys there is no deal. first of all, i'm always surprised to hear that eve ryo ne refers always surprised to hear that everyone refers to the trade talks going on with the eu. 0f everyone refers to the trade talks going on with the eu. of course there's an awful lot of other areas that are also vital to keep going, and one of them is security cooperation. intelligence is different, intelligence agencies

will go on cooperating outside the eu anyway, but police cooperation, justice cooperation. the british police use all sorts of alerting systems and data bases, police use all sorts of alerting systems and databases, getting real—time access to data in the eu to help with solving crime, catching fugitives from justice, working effectively against international crime rings. a lot of that will stop as of the 1st of january next year, and what we understand from the police is the workarounds are more cumbersome and slower. in security terms, speed is safety. so if we are working less efficiently in a more cumbersome way with european cou nterpa rts cumbersome way with european counterparts on police and justice cooperation, then i think we are all less safe. that is an inevitable deduction to draw. lord ricketts, we thank you for your time. i want to

draw your attention to some tweets from our business editor simon jackson. —— simon jack. from our business editor simon jackson. —— simonjack. france has banned travel from the uk. to france. for 48 hours. there is a concern lorries may decide not to travel from france to the uk in case they get stuck here. our business editor tweeting he has been speaking to sainsbury‘s supermarket, they are saying all products for the great british christmas lunch are already in the country and we have plenty of these, we are also sourcing everything we can from the uk and looking into alternative transport for products sourced from europe. sainsbury‘s goes on, if nothing changes we will start to see gaps over the coming days and lettuce, salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli, citrus fruit, all of which are imported from the eu at this

time of year. we hope uk and french governments can come to a solution that prioritises immediate passage of produce and food. that very much chimes with what we heard from the road haulage association a little while ago, saying when a pinch point comes, if it comes, it will be those fresh items such as the ones simon mentions that sainsbury‘s are talking about, that will be the first if you like, products we will notice missing from the supermarket shelves. we will keep a close eye on whether any of the supermarkets mentioned this as well. more than £33 billion has been wiped off the ftse 100 within minutes of opening, dropping more than 2% over fears of a no—deal brexit and new coronavirus restrictions. understandably, there are a lot of questions this morning about the financial repercussions of these new restrictions and the disruption to cross channel trade. let's try to clarify some of them with our business presenter ben thompson.

many questions. your reaction first of all, and put into context that drop in the ftse100. good morning to you. we should be very cautious about reading too much into numbers as far as the stock exchange is concerned because remember, but those traders who trade on the stock exchange are doing is essentially making an educated guess about what happens next and we know amidst all of this uncertainty, there are very few clear answers and so what they are looking at is what could be the implications for the businesses that they invest in. we've seen the value of certain firms all sharply, no great surprise it is things like haulage firms, transport firms and travel, things like airlines, taking a hit on the stock market this morning but remember, as i said, they are taking an educated guess about what will happen in future as opposed to what has already happened and so we know markets are volatile, whether it's a period of uncertainty what the markets are essentially telling us is this is a bit of a

perfect storm. as you've discussed, coming to the end of the transition period with no deal in place as yet and then these additional restrictions that have been put in force for all of our travel but also haulage across the channel, particularly, which could affect the fortu nes particularly, which could affect the fortunes of businesses that rely on crucial trade routes and submarkets, yes, falling, about 2% lower than when they first opened, now about 1.296 when they first opened, now about 1.2% for the ftse100 and we will see lots of volatility, the pound down against things like the dollar and euro but nonetheless, i think they are trying, like all of us, trying to work out what happens next and at the moment, very few clear a nswe rs. and at the moment, very few clear answers. talk to us more about the supply chain, especially with regards to food, we mentioned simon ‘s tweets in conversation with the supermarket sainsbury‘s. clearly, fresh produce is a pinch point so if a solution is not found pretty quickly, then we are liable to see more supermarket saying similar, aren't we? yes, and you're

absolutely right. the crucial thing in all of this as you heard from sainsbury‘s, christmas is seasonal, the reason we eat all that stuff at christmas is because it is seasonal and grown in the uk so its root vegetables, turkey, things like that. the stuff that is not perishable, the supermarkets have been planning all year for this so they have enough wine, crackers, jane, they have all of that in stock so shortages of those are not expected. but you're right, it's the perishable goods that could cause a concern. if this goes on for much longer. you heard from sainsbury‘s, things like lettuce leaves, salad, citrus fruits, broccoli, cauliflower, those of the things we import at this time of year that we don't grow enough of here and so if that disruption goes on much longer, that disruption goes on much longer, that could be a problem. we've actually just heard that could be a problem. we've actuallyjust heard from the department for transport, have been talking about dover being closed to traffic for trade across the channel. normally, at peak times, dover would handle about 10,000

trucks, given how busy it is at this time of year anyway. add onto that a bit of brexit stockpiling that the retailers may be doing. we've just heard they may be now preparing to open marston in kent, huge lorry park that can store around 4000 trucks so what telling hauliers to do is not going to dover because she can get in and you won't be able to get across the channel, they say go instead, when it is open to marston in kent, that huge post brexit lorry park they park they created, they are preparing to open that, 4000 lorries could be diverted there. it does give you a little sense that if dover normally handles 10,000 lorries a day, marston can hold 4000, it starts to give you a sense of where those lorries may be ending up of where those lorries may be ending up and whether there is enough space andi up and whether there is enough space and i know we've been speaking to our correspondent at dover, they are beginning operation stack to park the lorries on the m 20 as well. but nonetheless, the lorries had to go somewhere and we've been hearing from all sorts of shrewd providers

who at this time if you're are pretty busy. that would already have fresh produce on trucks, going to the continent. so that, big question over whether that will get there and also, as you've been touching on, many of the hauliers that will be coming from the continent to the uk, at the moment, they can't do that but they are worried about being able to get back at so it's very unlikely a haulier will want to come from mainland europe to the uk, if they cannot get that truck back on what is a hugely busy time of year. ben thompson, thank you for that. 0ur ben thompson, thank you for that. our business presenter. elizabeth tweeted to say how about emergency free quick covid test for exiting lorry drivers, sent teams down the lorry drivers, sent teams down the lorry cues, testing to lorry registration numbers. we will have much more are you coming up in a couple of moments. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood hello again. it's been a pretty wet

started the day for england and wales, that whether pushing northwards and eastwards, getting into southern scotland and northern ireland. in the north and west, showers merging to give longer spells of rain and this afternoon about 400 metres it could be wintry across the hills and mountains in scotland. behind the ring, a of cloud, gusty winds, highs of 15 degrees in the south—east. tonight, we continue with cloud and rain in southern areas, the wind easing, strengthening across the far north of scotland, we hang onto some showers, it will be cold enough locally for a touch of frost in the north but still very mild in the south. , once again, we have some cloud and outbreaks of rain across southern areas but for north wales, northern england, northwards, through scotland and northern ireland we see more sunshine, still some showers. the cooler air getting a little bit further south. hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh.

the headlines... the prime minister will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee later after france closed its border with the uk for 48 hours. many other countries in europe and elsewhere have restricted travel to and from the uk due to the new, more infectious variant of coronavirus. retailers play down fears of food shortages as a knock—on effect of the ban on lorries leaving dover. the transport secretary says he's in talks with his french counterpart. it's primarily french and european goods which are exported rather than british goods leaving the country. it's balanced in that direction, so of course it's in their interest to get it resolved as quickly as possible as well. the easing of northern ireland's coronavirus rules over christmas will be reduced from five days to just christmas day when three households will be allowed to mix. brexit talks continue but are still said to be tangled on the topic of fishing rights — scotland's first minister calls

for the transition to be extended. sport and time for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. we cannotjoin we cannot join sally we cannotjoin sally nugent. i think we need something lighter, some cheer. can you bring that to us? i am going to bring you some glitz and glamour, just for five minutes anyway! glamour, just for five minutes anyway! good morning. at the end of a record breaking year in formula one, lewis hamilton was named the bbc sports personality of the year for a second time. the sports personality of the year is lewis hamilton! one of f1's all—time great drivers, he equalled michael schumacher‘s record of seven world titles with his fourth consecutive championship in 2020. in a public vote, liverpool captain jordan henderson finished second while jockey hollie doyle was third at an awards ceremony held with a virtual audience. i really want to say thank you for everyone that's called

in and voted for me. i really wasn't expecting this, knowing there's so many great contenders. but i think we are all winners. and i really want to send a merry christmas to everyone. i know it's been such an unusual year but all the front—line workers, all the children around the world, please try and stay positive through this difficult time. i'm sending everyone positivity. again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. there were plenty more awards on the night, including for captain sir tom moore who was given the helen rolleson award for his fundraising during lockdown. marcus rashford was given a special award in recognition of his work to raise awareness of child food poverty in the uk. the manchester united striker‘s campaign meant that around 1.3 million children in england were able to claim free school meals vouchers during the summer holidays. at the beginning of 2020, it was down for everyone, to come out of

this year with something to be happy about, that we've taken steps in the direction, it's actually been a good thing for me, mentally, because at the beginning, i was injured. then covid happened, everyone was in lockdown. so to get to the end of 2020 with the few positives, is very good. and tonight on bbc one you can see our documentary following marcus rashford's campaign to help feed the uk's poorest families. it's on bbc one at seven o'clock, you can also find it on the iplayer. away from sports personality of the year, the game of the day in the premier league was at old trafford, where manchester united beat leeds 6—2. it was hugely entertaining, both sides intent on attacking. united's scott mctominay made a bit of history, becoming the first ever player to score twice in the opening three minutes of a premier league game. it's a win that takes man united to third in the league, and into the race for the title. meanwhile, leicester are just ahead of manchester united in the premier league table after a 2—0 win at tottenham. jamie vardy scored a first half

penalty and was involved in their second, when his header was turned into his own net by toby alderweireld. and sam alla rdyce lost his first match as west brom manager. they were beaten 3—0 by aston villa, bertrand traore with the pick of the goals at the hawthorns. brighton drew 1—1 with sheffield united in sunday's other game. it was a historic weekend for celtic, who completed the ‘quadruple treble' — winning all 12 domestic trophies in scotland over the course of four seasons. they did it by beating hearts in the delayed scottish cup final, and chris mclaughlin was watching. 0n glasgow's southside, the festive cup final had flames, but no fans. initially, there was familiarity, though, in the strangest of times. celtic dominating when it mattered. the first was sensational — take a bow, ryan christie. it was two before the half hour. a helping hand from

christophe berra... penalty! ..was followed by the cheekiest of chips from 0dsonne edouard. but wait, liam boyce gave hearts hope minutes after the break. stephen kingsley gave them the equaliser. 0h, they're claiming it's over the line. it's a hearts goal! they're level. game on. it was to go all the way to penalties. both teams scored in extra time, and kristoffer ajer won it from the spot. for the cup... and he's done it! they did it the hard way, but it's the quadruple treble for celtic. the history—makers are celtic football club! chris mclaughlin, bbc news, hampden park. for me, i am so proud. and it means so much to me, for my career, and so much to me personally. and it's the sum of all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. winning games isn't easy and that's been proven today. you know, the players have covered

themselves in glory and we'll be talking about this on 30, 40, 50 years time. and andy murray was back in action this weekend. he beat dan evans at the battle of the brits event in roehampton. murray looked to be in good form too, given that it was just the seventh match he's played this year and a first since october. that's all the sport for now. back to you. i hope that has done the trick! and your sparkly top. looking lovely. thank you so much. we could do with some cheer. millions of us found out this weekend that our plans for christmas will have to change after the prime minister announced new rules for the festive season. household mixing has been scaled back to just christmas day across the uk and those in the newly created tier 4 will only be allowed to celebrate with members of their own household and support bubbles. let's speak to khloe lightholder —

she's a teacher, she lives in chigwell in essex, which is now in tier 4. thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news today. how different, i love your christmas tree, and you're looking very cheery! i have to ask you, how different does your christmas look now compared to what you planned ? christmas look now compared to what you planned? it's devastating. absolutely devastating. it's me, my mum, my dad, it was only going to be six of us, it's just one those silver lining is that we were so looking forward to and now it's been taken away from us. considering my dad has been a key worker, working really ha rd dad has been a key worker, working really hard since lockdown. i have been working since the first day of the first lockdown, i just been working since the first day of the first lockdown, ijust believe key workers should have christmas day with at least just one key workers should have christmas day with at leastjust one blood relative in the same tiered system, we are careful, we understand, i work with children with special needs, i do understand the risks and

i understand how dangerous and invisible this virus is. but this one day, everyone was looking forward to so much, spending so much money, you know, really looking forward to it and really making an effort, the happiest day of the year, you know? we've had such a terrible, rubbish year, now i feel that's been taken away from us and especially, where we work come up with children, you are more into it, you know? we are devastated, absolutely devastated and i'm worried for the people come up with their mental health, it's not in a great state, that's what worries me the most. people with mental health issues, that are going to be alone on this christmas day. itjust brea ks on this christmas day. itjust breaks my heart, massively. we just had a little bit of drop out of the sound at the beginning, can ijust clarify, there was supposed to be six if you? it's now three, you, and your mum and your dad. it was going

to beat my auntie and uncle and my sister. that was it. do you accept what you are hearing about the science? —— it was going to be. do you accept this is what has to happen? i understand a lot of people are going to see me as a horrid, horrid person, my god, this is a terrible thing, how can she be so against it? but i am not against it, i understand how serious this is, but with christmas date they shouldn't have done this last minute, they shouldn't have done this so last minute and waited until people spend so much money and put so much energy into it. and how it's been taken away. i don't think so. if they want to do a lockdown, totally fine, i work for special needs schools and there's cases literally, going up the roof, more and more children isolating and i believe, yes, shut the school stamp that if we are going to do lockdown,

fairdos, buti that if we are going to do lockdown, fair dos, but i think we should do a com plete fair dos, but i think we should do a complete lockdown but except for christmas day, have one other, you know, member of the household, in a different gear, from the same tiered system, that's it. i think you should be allowed that. you know? i just want to ask if you have a question for our experts in just a second, we are going to do your questions so if you have a question i would love to put that for you to our experts. i have loads! my main one is, to be honest, i work for special needs schools, i am not a teacher, i am seeing cases crawling up teacher, i am seeing cases crawling up the roof and more children self isolating. why on earth are they shutting everything else but schools? i don't understand. children arejust as schools? i don't understand. children are just as easy to spread anything than anyone else in this whole pandemic. children do spread things a lot quicker. children are

not as aware about it, more than half the time, you know? especially children with special needs, they are extremely vulnerable, why on earth and they at least shutting special needs schools down? it's frightening. we will get that question to our experts in just a minute but we do wish you a lovely christmas with your mum and dad. i hope the day is a good one. and you too. now it's time for your question's answered. with me to answer your questions is the epidemiologist professor sian griffiths. and also i'm joined by dr bharat pankhania head of public health medicine at the university of exeter medical school. very warm welcome to both of you, as ever and thank you for your time and

answering questions today. i want to begin with what chloe said working ata begin with what chloe said working at a special needs school, i hope you are able to hear the interview, sian and she was talking about the growing number of cases with children isolating. her question, why on earth, she said, our school is not being shut down? the whole issue with schools is that it was decided for very many reasons, that children will be given priority in their education will be given priority because it's notjust the academic learning, it's all the other social skills, social support, particularly for vulnerable children at schools provide. i think schools are now actually on holiday, i'm not sure if chloe ‘s school is still open, certainly all my grandchildren are now on holiday and at home which will provide a natural break in terms of the transmission of the

disease. when we have looked at the epidemiology of the cases, over recent weeks, there had been an increase in the numbers of cases of secondary school children, whereas it had been university students earlier on, back once a go. who do get the disease but aren't necessarily spreading it more easily. and often don't get the symptoms. but in fact, the real issue here is in the south—east we have seen a rapid increase in the numbers of cases, particularly of this new variant and i think the decisions that were made about the five days of christmas and three family bubbles, was made during the terminal part of lockdown, numbers going down and everyone was feeling more optimistic. unfortunately, this new variant transmits 70% faster

than the previous variant of the disease, that's because of genetic mutation and it is this very rapid change that has caused notjust the government in this country to introduce stricter regulations, but also, we were hearing earlier about all the issues around the ports, air flights being cancelled and and the whole issue of can we better understand whether this variant disease can be controlled? let me, ifi disease can be controlled? let me, if i may, bring in the doctor before we look at the other question viewers have sent in. children, the ability to transmit this disease, or children do you think of is going to be enough evidence to say whether children are adversely affected by this new variant? i don't think the children are more adversely affected by the former virus or at the new variant but the big issue is, and we

haven't really addressed it properly, infections do occur and contrary to what has been said repeatedly, children do transmit infections, we know this. we just haven't been able to address it properly. we have chronic underfunding of schools for many, many decades and this is the problem. how do we teach children safely, keep their education going as well as keep infection control down? it is a big problem and we haven't really tackled it properly in the country. we've got a lot of questions to get through so i will ask you to keep your answer is relatively brief so we get through as many as possible, please. sian, from kevin, can you explain how the new strain of the virus is more transmissible, how is it able to be transmitted more readily, can it get through it masks more easily, as it carried in the air for further distances? kevin, ithink most carried in the air for further distances? kevin, i think most of these questions are very valid but they will only be answered as we study this virus in more detail. and

i'm not actually ate virologists so i'm not actually ate virologists so i'm not actually ate virologists so i'm not really able to give you any more information than that at this current time, other than i know it's all being studied across the country. collaboratively, between infectious disease doctors, immunologists and many other researchers and the answers will become apparent over time. researchers and the answers will become apparent overtime. researchers and the answers will become apparent over time. a lot of work going on to answer these sorts of questions. doctor, if i have recently of questions. doctor, if i have rece ntly ha d of questions. doctor, if i have recently had coronavirus, asks jane, cani recently had coronavirus, asks jane, can i get this new variant and if i have had coronavirus can i spread the new variant? yes. we feel the change in the spike protein, the mutation, the new strain, is not that dramatically different so that you will get a second infection and be infected. having said that, we are actively looking for people who may get a second infection, just so we know for a fact, goodness me, the new variant is so different that it

is going under the radar of your existing immunity and causing you a second infection. at the moment, we haven't picked up that evidence but we are looking for it. people obviously need to be careful, don't become until we get these answers? professor, lynn in west yorkshire says i am a staff nurse working a 13 hour shift on christmas day, plan to see my family on boxing day, can it not be people in my situation change their christmas day festivities to boxing day. northern ireland has made an exemption for this sort of circumstance but lynn is in yorkshire. i'm really sorry. the rose at the moment are it is only the one day and that is christmas day. when families get together. northern ireland has taken a different approach and said you can't nominate one day of the period but as it stands, and i know it's very ha rd but as it stands, and i know it's very hard because i'm sure you have been working flat out for months, i am very sorry, the rules at the

moment arejust for am very sorry, the rules at the moment are just for christmas day. it's tough, really horrible for people who have been working on the front line, like nurses. then, i'm so sorry that's not the answer you we re so sorry that's not the answer you were hoping for. william in basildon, doctor, sympathies, your family is in a terrible situation, william. his wife, her mother is being treated for terminal cancer, her life expectancy is three to six months and her family has early onset dementia. william says he and his wife had been in strict isolation since the 12th of december, can we get an exemption for travel, he asks? the answer is no. i know this is very painful, very difficult and i have solutions with this which is talk to your local health leaders and see if there are special circumstances that will allow you but overall, one person 's strict isolation is another person 's i will be partying

but i am going to tell you i have been under strict isolation so it becomes very difficult to monitor, police infection control so the answer is this is very difficult, very painful. take local advice from your director of public health at the local authority or similar, to see if you can have any manoeuvrability on this. william, i hope that helps, i am so sorry for the situation you and your wife are in. lynn in kent, professor set out with the new rules for london and the south—east affect care home visiting? should the south—east affect care home visiting ? should we the south—east affect care home visiting? should we continue to go ahead with lateral flow testing and allow visits or review things in light of the new rules and the higher risk? i think you need to review the rules because the guidance actually says the personal visiting in tier 4 should discontinue but you can still visit if you have other safety measures such as screens or windows. i read

this and i thought, well, i wonder how the care homes are interpreting this so i think you need to talk to your ca re this so i think you need to talk to your care home, if you're going to visit a care home to talk to your ca re visit a care home to talk to your care home about the advice they've been given because again, the local public health directors will be able to give support and advice visit will depend on the sort of home, the sort of precautions that can be taken and the sort of regimes that are working are present. very important question from lynn. angela, doctor, says i am meant to travel to wales to be with my family for christmas, i am a single person living in england, they are my bubble, cani living in england, they are my bubble, can i go? it depends on which tiered system you are in england. my advice overall for all people is we have a crisis on our hands, it is better to curtail all your travel plans whatever tiered syste m your travel plans whatever tiered system you're in, call it a day on 2020 and forward to 2021 is a better

year. whatever combinations, permutations of plants you have, if you can possibly say call it a day, it would be a better thing and a good thing to do. very quick answer, professor, to joanna, can good thing to do. very quick answer, professor, tojoanna, can we travel across tiered systems to pick up children to look after them as their pa rents a re children to look after them as their parents are key workers? yes, we can and we can also travel to wales on christmas day but only on christmas day. professor, doctor, thank you both so much for your advice today. for our viewers and thank you for sending in your questions.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. as france closes its border with the uk for 48 hours, borisjohnson will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee. many other countries in europe and elsewhere have restricted travel to and from the uk due to the new, more infectious variant of coronavirus. india has announced it will suspend all flights to britain until the end of december. supermarket group sainsburys says gaps could appear on shelves in days if the ban extends beyond 48 hours. the transport secretary says he's in talks with his french counterpart. it's primarily french and european goods which are exported rather than british goods leaving the country. it's balanced in that direction, so of course it's in their interest