this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. our latest headlines... france is expected to announce plans to lift the cross—channel travel ban. there are now thought to be almost 3,000 lorries stuck in kent waiting to leave the uk. there's severe disruption in dover, and more than 50 countries have now banned arrivals from the uk over fears of the new coronavirus variant. behind me are some of those 3000 lorries in and around the port of dover. they are stuck here with absolutely no sign of when the gridlock will end. retailers are warning of future food shortages of some products unless the border problems are resolved. the eu's chief negotiator,

michel barnier, promises he'll keep pushing for a post—brexit trade deal, but the prime minister has ruled out extending talks into 2021. we are really in a crucial moment and we are giving it a final push. with a record number of infections recorded in the uk, scientists warn that inaction over the new coronavirus variant strain could costs tens of thousands of lives. the united states‘ top doctor, anthony fauci, receives his coronavirus vaccine and says people should have the jab when it's offered. i want this to be a symbol for the people in the united states to encourage them about the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine. making singing safer during the pandemic — the team of scientists using high

speed cameras to see if wearing a mask could help. hello. the french government says it will announce measures later that could allow transport links with britain to resume and trade to flow across the channel once again. any solution would probably include testing for the lorry drivers. there are around 3000 vehicles stuck in kent more than 50 countries have now banned flights from the united kingdom. the number's been constantly rising. greece and cyprus are now the only countries in europe that have not banned flights from the uk. today, germany extended its ban until 6th january, and in the us, the governor

of new york, andrew cuomo, wants to stop flights from the uk entering new york state. today, the eu commission said essential travel and trade between the uk and eu member states should not be interrupted. meanwhile, with the new variant of coronavirus apparently spreading in the uk, borisjohnson is under increasing pressure to impose a full lockdown in england. let's go to dover now and talk to our correspondent sangita myska. can you hear that noise behind me? all of the lorries that are now gridlocked behind me on this road into dover port are beeping their horns, shouting. ithink into dover port are beeping their horns, shouting. i think ultimately, they're just set up. let me describe exactly where i am. this is the a20, which comes off the m 20. you see all those aerial images of all of the lorries now gridlocked. it's thought up to 3000 lawyer dry ——

lorry drivers are in this area. on that roundabout, a massive sign saying border close. this is the last time they would have taken if they were allowed into the port to turn along this way and onto the ferries. if you see any movement, it's only because the port authorities have had to create another freight area. they‘ re authorities have had to create another freight area. they're trying to allow those trucks. i'm going to break off and get nigel to zoom in. this is a bunch of incredibly frustrated lorry drivers. they have been here for well over two days. they want to be let in and there is no sign that any deal appears to be coming. what they've been telling me is for this entire time, they've not been given access to toilets. they do not have access to water. remember, we are in a pandemic,

we're all being told to wash our hands, keep clean. they cannot do that. the very reason the french won't allow these lorry drivers back is that they're worried there carried the mutants variant —— and they're carrying the variance. these drivers are saying... we've lost the line to dover. but sangita showing us some line to dover. but sangita showing us some of those very angry drivers struck and dover, worried they won't be home for christmas. earlier, our correspondent theo leggett sent this report. seemingly endless queues of parked up lorries stretching for miles along the m20 this morning. there's simply nowhere for them to go. the french border remains closed, the eurotunnel terminal is shut and deserted and in dover, some traffic was coming in on ferries from france but nothing was going the other way. hundreds of trucks now sit

in this giant lorry park, they can find space. this polish driver was among hundreds waiting for news. it's a disasterfor me, you know? it's the first time i'm here in the uk and, like a driver, and it's... it's terrible. as i said, if i knew one day before that... hey, guys, idon't know, europe, uk, border will close in one day — i would never have come here. do you think you'll get home for christmas? i don't know. i hope, but i don't think so. it's not clear precisely how many lorries are now parked up around kent. concerns are growing about the welfare of the stranded drivers, forced to spend days confined to their cabs, farfrom home. the welfare of these drivers should be top of our minds at the moment. we should be treating them much better than we are because they are essential workers that

keep our supermarkets stacked, keep our manufacturing sector working. but also, get our british goods to market around the world, earning us pounds and getting us jobs here at home, in britain. the government says it is in talks with france to find a way of unblocking the border and developments are likely later today. the border was closed because of french concerns about a new and highly infectious variant of the coronavirus. any solution, the government says, is likely to involve testing the drivers. testing of some sort is part of the discussions that the transport secretary is having with his counterpart in france right now. getting those tests up and running, you know, can happen relatively quickly but in terms of the details of that, that is something that both the transport secretary and his counterpart will be discussing right now. so, i don't want to speculate in terms of the nature of the tests and how soon that could be

up and running. what form those tests could take, though, is still not clear. the uk is known to favour so—called lateral flow tests, which are for rapid results. france prefers a lab—based test, which is slower but seen as more reliable. yet authorities in calais have made it clear they want an agreement quickly. i am very sad and i hope — i hope — that really in the next... since yesterday morning when i heard, in interviews, i said it's necessary if that is a condition for the hauliers to come back to france, please start as soon as possible the tests. haulage firms agree a solution needs to be found soon or all of these lorries will be left on the road to nowhere. theo leggett, bbc news. i've just i'vejust got some i've just got some news coming in from tesco ‘s. they are saying us they've reintroduced some essential

products. in an e—mail the customers, they said stock levels are good but reminded people to shop normally. they said they have got temporary purchasing limits on certain essential items. these are understood to include soap, toilet rolls, and washed and we understand tesco did this because they want to ensure customers have access to what they need, that they will have three item limits in—store on a few essential items, including flour, pasta, baby wipes and antibacterial wipes. those limits have been in place for a few months. as of monday, they've introduced limits of one item per customer on toilet rolls, up to three products of eggs, rice, soup and hand wash, extreme limits our preemptive measures to help smooth demand rather than any reaction to change and buying

behaviour. the latest figures show there were 36,804 new cases of coronavirus recorded in the past 2a hours, up from 33,00 and 364 the day before. there were also 691 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test. earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent jonathan blake, who says the government is under pressure to impose a nationwide lockdown. there has been calls from some in expectation from others that it's only really a matter of time before at the very least, more parts of under that higher tier for, or perhaps even the country as a whole is being placed under a national lockdown —— tier 4. i don't think

that's necessarily inevitable at this stage. but there will be discussions, of course, and a meeting up at some point of the government's so—called gold committee, where it is determined which areas should be placed under which areas should be placed under which of restrictions —— which some areas find themselves into higher tiers. it's then followed by further restrictions imposed after that. but no decisions taken at this point. jonathan, let'sjust talk about the list that's come out. those people being elevated to a peerage not just those people being elevated to a peerage notjust for those people being elevated to a peerage not just for the first time. there are accusations of political... a list of name published by the government, put

forward by the prime minister, also the leader of the labour party, sir keir starmer, and a handful of names also agreed as nominations for house of lords. these are life peerages and they are political recommendations which are ultimately confirmed by the queen, and one name is attracting more attention than most. that of the former conservative party chairman and long—time tory donor. he has been put forward for a life peerage, and this is an exceptional case because there is an independent body which assesses all the names put forward to be life members of the house of lords and recommend whether they should go forward or not. in the case of peter, the commissions said it could not support his case. the prime minister though has gone against that advice and in a letter to the chair of the house of lords, borisjohnson said it is vital to

give due weight to their consideration and scrutiny, but there are widerfactors consideration and scrutiny, but there are wider factors to consider. he talked about him making a great comfort to my contribution. back in 2012, he was forced to resign —— making a great contribution. he was caught up in accusations to offering access to david cameron and exchange for bob about he subsequently one legal action against the paper in one of this journalist and was awarded substantial damages. although they were later reduced by the court of appeal. the prime minister says in his letter this is all in the past, and at the time, he stepped back from his role. but there are accusations from the labour party and others that the labour party and others that the

labour party's labour party and others that the labour pa rty‘s deputy labour party and others that the labour party's deputy leader angela rayner saying it's one rule for the conservatives. it has to be said that they are nominations from labour as well. amongst those, jenny chapman, chairof sir labour as well. amongst those, jenny chapman, chair of sir keir starmer‘s labour leadership campaign. those names all going for now and will ta ke names all going for now and will take seats as life members of. let's bring you up—to—date on the latest on the talks to get a post—brexit trade deal. and eu diplomat as quoted what was said to eu ambassadors by the chief brexit negotiator michel barnier saying progress has been made in the talks, but differences remain on fisheries, and they remain difficult to bridge. unfortunately, according to bridge. unfortunately, according to the source, the uk's not moving enough yet to reach a deal on

fisheries. eu negotiations are in a last push now to make progress, but the eu is willing to continue talks beyond the 1st of january. let talk to kevin connolly in brussels. is the deadline the end of the year? as it stands at the moment, just to avoid dragging the audience too far into our hall of mirrors, you can take it to the 31st of december. it's a kind of deadline, i wouldn't put it much further than that. most people here feel if no free trade deal were to be finished by then, you'd start the free trade talks on a different basis simply with the uk no longer being in transition phase. now, there's a lot of legal stuff around this, which is hard to follow. if you wanted to stretch the transition under article 15 of the eu's governing constitutional document, i

think that would need to have been agreed last summer. if you want to stretch the negotiating period now and leave the uk and some kind of transition, i think that can be done with a sort of exchange of legal letters, but into the constitutional long grass, the day—to—day politics is hard enough. the message from that ambassador is clearly, a lot of progress has been made, but fisheries remains a problem. of course, when the european side said the uk hasn't moved enough, the uk side would of course say that you is not being flexible enough —— that the eu is not being flexible enough. after that, it's time to get the lawyers out. in that briefing, there isa lawyers out. in that briefing, there is a sort of good news and bad news. progress being made, according to michel barnier, but still difficulties on fisheries. does that

imply that in terms of the competition element of the deal and the level playing field, that has been all but resolved?” the level playing field, that has been all but resolved? i wouldn't quite go that far. the problem with this is, it's a bit like reporting on greek mythology. this is a situation in which progress towards an in point is always being made, but the end point is never quite being reached. a lot of people here think it was always bound to be like this and that the last few days were bound to be full of briefings of the sort, and don't forget, when we hear from this eu ambassador, he's been briefed by michel barnier, who knows his way around brussels. he knows what he says to those ambassadors will leak into the public domain. this is a bit of pressure on britain to say" we're almost there, a little bit more of a gig on fisheries, and the whole deal is done." could be tied up very neatly before christmas. i think in terms of

parliamentary approval, and terms of the legal status of the talks, it would get potentially difficult beyond january the 1st. having said that, that you has applied a technique and difficult negotiation before when the clock is running down, where it gently declares that to have stopped. in brussels, even if this deal has sometimes seemed impossible, and he kind of manoeuvring always seems possible. greek mythology and a hall of mirrors. even more complicated than usual! kevin, thank you so much. the chief scientific adviser is warning the new variant of covid—19 is now "everywhere" and that more areas may need to come under the toughest tier 4 restrictions. sir patrick vallance says lockdown measures "need to be increased in some places, in due course, not reduced". let's speak to dr mike tildesley from the university of warwick. he's an expert in the modelling of infectious diseases and sits on one of the sage sub committee, scientific pandemic influenza

group on modelling. thank you very much indeed for being with us. give us a picture of what you think coronavirus is doing at the moment and how much of it is being fuelled by this new variant a pillow it -- it clearly is. we have seen a concerning rise of cases in the of the regions. there's been some evidence of this new variant, which is certainly contributing to that. the challenge is, we know with covid, there is always this lag. we see cases, but the individuals reporting and infection today could have been infected up to two weeks ago. the danger is, and this is what the scientific advice alludes to, we may spread in other parts of the country but we've not yet observed it in the cases we seen. that's the

worry that we have that here for has been introduced in the south of england currently, but if we do start to see other parts of the country circulating more widely as we move into the new year tighter restrictions. —— tighter restrictions. —— tighter restrictions will have to be imposed. why is this new variant different? why is it so concerning? absolutely. we don't want people to panic by the idea that we have a new variant to because you're absolutely right, this happens all the time. it's important that we monitor this. the reason we're concerned about this is it seems like it is spreading more rapidly. we don't have evidence to suggest that people get more severe symptoms or are more likely to be hospitalised, but because it's spreading more rapidly, evenif because it's spreading more rapidly, even if the same proportion of people do get hospitalised, that happens over a shorter period of

time. that's the worry, that we put real pressure on our health services because it's spreading more rapidly and we need to deal what we can just slow down the spread and hopefully reduce the transmission. get the r number as low as possible. reduce the transmission. get the r number as low as possiblem reduce the transmission. get the r number as low as possible. if you are advised in the government directly, would you say we need the whole of england to go into tier 4? with the spread of the disease, the problem is as soon as you know there is likely to be a problem, you need to introduce a controlled policy as peras to introduce a controlled policy as per as possible. particularly with coat —— covid, by the time we put in a control policy, the horse has already bolted. the issue is we kind of need to react rapidly so that we can bring confessions down. any measures put in place probably don't need to be in place as long in total

because we caught it before it gets out of control —— infections down. in terms of the new vaccine, we heard from one of the designers of the pfizer vaccine, saying they might be able to adjust their vaccine to cope with this new variant if necessary. they might be able to within a few weeks. are you confident that the vaccines we have will be able to deal with this new variant? again, this is something we are concerned about. there's nothing to suggest that the vaccine won't work against the new variance. —— variance. we see this with influenza. every winter, we have to have a new seasonal flu vaccine because whatever strain is circulating at the time is new and we need to develop a vaccine to protect against that. if we do start to get evidence that may this new variant, the vaccine does not work

against, hopefully companies can do that tweak to ensure we are protected. at the moment, it's not clear that it won't be effective, but again, we'll learn more over the coming weeks. could this new variant delay our escape from coronavirus? we've heard may be around easter, things might get back to some kind of normality. but all that be delayed by the emergence of this new variant —— could all that? delayed by the emergence of this new variant -- could all that? that's not necessarily the case because it's spreading more rapidly and people are getting more infected at a faster rate. it means we may have to have more severe controls in place to keep incidents down. the key uncertainty is the vaccine going to be effective? we hope and believe thatis, to be effective? we hope and believe that is, and if that's the case, really, nothing changes in a sense. but we need to do is hopefully next week or sooner, we'll get some news

about the oxford vaccine getting approved. if and when that happens, we can get that rolled out, we can get the levels of immunity throughout the population. hopefully maybe by the spring or summer, we can maybe by the spring or summer, we ca n start maybe by the spring or summer, we can start to ease out of these severe levels. doctor mike tildesley, thank you very much. first minister nicola sturgeon has been addressing the scottish parliament in her weekly review of scotland's coronavirus tier system. she's said the number of positive tests with a marker relating to the new variant of the coronvirus is increasing. it is not absolutely definitive that every case with this marker will be the new variant. however, this analysis suggests that in the week beginning 9th of december, around 14% of positive cases in scotland already had this s gene drop out. this compares to just 5% at the end of november. and it's not unreasonable to assume that the proportion

may be higher by now, and public health scotland is carrying out further analysis. 14% is, of course, still a significantly lower level than england, where it's thought that the new variant already accounts for 36% of cases and maybe even higher in london and the southeast. however, the very rapid spread in london and the southeast serves as a warning of what we could face here if we do not take firm action to suppress the virus. we have a real concern that without significant countermeasures, we could be facing another period of exponential growth as we enter the new year. let's go back to dover and tents now. hundreds of lorries and vans are stuck there because of the french travel man because of fears about that new virus —— french travel man. 3000 lorries are stuck

in kent —— travel ban. what's the latest there? they do seem pretty frustrated and pretty angry. i've been here for about five hours now, and just to give you a scene set, on this site is the very last round about that takes you into the port. 0n the side, all the way back, hundreds and hundreds of lorries com pletely hundreds and hundreds of lorries completely struck. —— completely stuck. the m 20, thousands of lorries still stuck there. no one has gone anywhere. it has been incredibly calm all day but in the last ten minutes, maybe 15, drivers have begun hooting their horns and getting out of their lorries and then they started walking up to the police and demanding answers but the

police and demanding answers but the police don't have very many answers either. they've been asked simply to stop the lorries. the drivers are desperate to get out of here and get home. there's literally no information on the ground here. many of the guys here don't speak english. they're not being told anything really on the french side, where their bosses are, either. what i need to tell you is over the last 48 hours, what all of the lorry drivers have been telling me is that they have had no running water, there are no toilet facilities, they have to buy food on the who. of course, we're in the middle of a pandemic so they can't do what they might have done in the past, which is go into a cafe and use the facilities there. the weather is absolutely atrocious. they've now spent at least two nights in their cabs, andi spent at least two nights in their cabs, and i think what we're seeing here is a desperate plea for information and a clear idea of what the procedures are to get them home.

around 3000 lorries stuck. it's a huge number. is the destruction we we re huge number. is the destruction we were expecting in the case of the end of the brexit transition period, and that's what the government have been planning for. it's come a bit early because of this crisis. yeah, grant schaap ‘s yesterday was asked what he made of all this. he said this these are the plans we have put in place for brexit. this is an indication of how the system should be, post—brexit. what i think the lori drivers here, and you can see their frustration, this lori drivers here, and you can see theirfrustration, this is what's going to happen —— a lorry drivers. at brexit, we might also see more of this. so lorry drivers frustrated,

wanting answers as to how things are going to move along. we've had a statement from the road haulage association saying no contingency planning was put in place to feed these guys or make sure that they have basic washing facilities. the irony is the reason the french have closed their borders, as have other european nations, is because they are very worried about the mutant version of the virus. it spreads 70% faster than the other version, the first version of coronavirus that landed here. what the lori max drivers are saying and what the haulage association is saying is we are ina haulage association is saying is we are in a vicious cycle. these guys can't keep clean, they are running out of hand sanitisers, they do not have sanitary wiping and they cannot wash their hands. so this is becoming a cycle. what we also heard from priti patel this morning was

that the key to breaking this deadlock and these talks are going on between the government and the french government, is trying to introduce an effective testing regime. the problem is there are still no details about when that testing regime would be put in place and who it is that is going to be dispensing and monitoring those tests. as you know, the talk this morning was about the lateral flow test. also, serious concerns being raised about the efficacy of those lateral tests and exactly how accurate they are. so as you can see, it doesn't look like these lori max drivers have any intention of getting back to their cabs until they have more answers —— lori max drivers. —— lorry drivers. hello there. there could be some minorflooding

for one or two parts of england and wales in the run—up to christmas, and we see yet more rainfall on already saturated ground. not a huge amount of rain so far, but we do have some bursts of heavier rain working its way northwards through the rest of today through parts of the midlands, wales, east anglia. some breaks in the cloud in the south, maybe temperatures around 12—13 here, but chilly into the evening across northern england, scotland, northern ireland with clear skies. could be a frost developing quite quickly for some. a few wintry showers in the far north, but cloud generally increasing. more cloud, more outbreaks of rain across england and wales into the morning and certainly, from the midlands southwards, staying in the milder of the air. temperatures only dropping three degrees down from what we see through the afternoon. into wednesday we go, and cloud, outbreaks of rain coming and going across england and wales. some of the heaviest will be across north wales and through a line through mid wales, the midlands towards east anglia. south of that, you could see a little bit of brightness at times, temperatures of 13. a rumble of thunder possible, but turning colderfor the north. sunshine in scotland and northern ireland.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. france is expected to announce plans to lift the cross—channel travel ban , there are now almost 3,000 lorries stuck in kent waiting to leave the uk there's severe disruption in dover with france one of some 50 countries that have now banned arrivals from the uk over fears of the new coronavirus variant. retailers are warning of future shortages of some products unless the border problems are resolved , with tesco reintroducing caps on toilet roll, soap and handwash. the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier says he is ready to continue brexit trade negotiations into next year , but says the uk is not moving enough yet to secure a deal on fisheries. with a record number of infections recorded in the uk, scientists warn that inaction over the new coronavirus variant strain could costs tens of thousands of lives. the united states' top doctor,

anthony fauci receives his coronavirus vaccine, and says people should have the jab when its offered i want this to be a symbol for the people of the united states, to encourage them about the safety and efficacy of this vaccine. making singing safer during the pandemic — the team of scientists using high speed cameras to see if wearing a mask could help sport and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. we start with the world heavyweight champion anthonyjoshua who's told us he's giving a six figure sum to fund amateur boxing clubs in england, scotland and wales. the sport's been badly hit this year with clubs forced to close their doors

because of the pandemic. last month the government announced a £300 million bailout for 11 british sports, but that didn't include amateur boxing. i can't raise 300 million and a short space of time. but what i can do is come up with a sustainable solution for the long term and in the meantime, make sure that there is something substantial enough to keep them with the lights turned on and see them through this period. but most importantly, i feel it should bring attention to private investors, sponsors, supporting the kids, supporting the community, that will make a big difference. so if we can raise awareness as well, that will be the main thing. the efl have said that they will

continue with... the efl‘s also confirmed it'll review and strengthen coronavirus protocols over christmas to help minimise the risk of transmission. one side currently impacted is ipswich town in league one. they've called off their next two matches after seven positive covid tests within the first team squad and staff, including manager paul lambert. the club's physio says the new strain of covid may mean that english football needs a "circuit breaker" to bring cases under control. 0ur our policies and procedures haven't evolved hugely since july, our policies and procedures haven't evolved hugely sincejuly, in so much that we still do not have access to dressing rooms within the training centre. we are not showering routinely, we are not eating communally, we are still arriving and leaving in our own training kits. if those policies and procedures are being challenged by a new strain, then i will welcome, firstly a reintroduction of testing within the efl, but i think a small hiatus may be relevant to just re—establish protocols and assess transmission rate. the first of this evening's efl cup quarter finals between brentford

and newcastle has kicked off in the last few minutes. it's currently goalless in west london. later tonight, there's a chance for arsenal to do something about their terrible run of form when they play manchester city. mikel arteta's side have lost 5 of their last 7 premier league games, its their worst start to a season in 46 years. the atmosphere in a club is as good as it can be when everybody is hurting. everybody is worried and suffering at the moment because we wa nt suffering at the moment because we want much more. we are working to get much more. in the dressing room, when you are losing matches, it's difficult, because they suffer as well because they care, they want more, they are confident, they want to go through, but the unity is there. fifa's lodged a criminal complaint against its former president sepp blatter in connection with the finances of a museum project in switzerland. it's the latest allegation of financial impropriety against blatter, who resigned from his post as president in 2015

amid a corruption scandal. he's always denied any wrongdoing. and one in five professional rugby union players in england suffered concussion during the 2018—19 season, according to figures released by the rfu. several former players have launched a legal case against the sport's authorities for alleged negligence in relation to dementia caused by playing. the rfu figures show that in 2018—19, for the eighth consecutive season, concussion was the most commonly reported match injury, with just over 20% of players affected. it's an increase from 16% in the previous season to that.

jesse kempson can now be named after a court ruling. the 28—year old was jailed for life in february, for killing grace millane on the eve of her twenty—second birthday. phil mercer reports. jesse kempson has been revealed as a serial sexual predator. you it can now be reported that, before grace millane was killed, he'd raped another british woman in new zealand and terrorised a former girlfriend. he was found guilty in both cases. his identity was kept secret after his conviction for ms millane's murder, so that those subsequent trials wouldn't be jeopardised. kempson is serving a minimum sentence of 17 years for killing the backpacker from whitford in essex. they met two years ago on the dating app, tinder. security cameras showed them in the centre of auckland visiting bars and restaurants. her family said grace was their sunshine and would be missed forever.

she appeared to be comfortable in kempson's company. when she leaves the lift to go with him to his apartment, it's the last time she is seen alive. the british tourist went missing on the eve of her 22nd birthday. her body was found in a suitcase in a shallow grave outside auckland. her family said the suppression of kempson's identity allowed people to remember grace as a young, vibrant girl, who set out to see the world, instead of drawing attention to the man who took her life. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. the number of excess deaths in the uk since the start of the pandemic has now passed 80,000. the latest figures show covid—19 was mentioned on 3,062 death certificates in the week of the 11th of december. that's very slightly lower than the previous week. lincolnshire is one county

seeing the impact of this. a temporary mortuary has been opened there because death figures are double what they would normally be for this time of year. sara barry — is the chair of the lincolnshire mortality planning cell at the lincolnshire resilience forum. thank you very much for talking to is right now. just tell us, in terms of the number of deaths you are seeing in lincolnshire, how many excess deaths, how many would you say are covid deaths? we would say that the majority of the excess deaths that we are seeing are due to covid. just tell us, in terms of your planning, what does that mean that you had to change? since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been preparing this whole death management system. we were lucky in lincolnshire in the spring that we

didn't see high infection rates and therefore, we didn't see high death rates. u nfortu nately, therefore, we didn't see high death rates. unfortunately, a number of weeks ago, we did see higher infection rates and that has led to higher deaths. this has come at a time when, as we approach the christmas period, there are less funerals available, whether in church a crematorium, and therefore, we have opened the mortuary so we can look after those that aren't able to arrange a funeral until after christmas. so we are seeing pictures of it now. tell us about this temporary mortuary. so, it is a purpose—built mortuary, it is built to industry standards, but it is within an raf base at woodhall spa. soi within an raf base at woodhall spa. so i suppose for those families of the deceased, it's quite a distressing time, isn't it. you need to make sure that there is always dignity and respect. absolutely. the

whole facility, dull system that we have put in place —— the whole system that we put in place, is about ensuring respect for families and loved ones. so that they have a choice as to when to arrange a funeral. the facilities run professionally, we have input from both the funeral sector, hospital mortuary sector, so it's both the funeral sector, hospital mortuary sector, so its run to a very high standard. it's manned by a specially trained police team and there is a fire team also helping us out with some transport. there is a fire team also helping us out with some transportlj there is a fire team also helping us out with some transport. i suppose with case still going up, this is a situation that get even worse. do you have other contingency plans. ? we are hoping we are seeing infection rates go down in lincolnshire. so we are hoping that our planning that we have put in place since the spring will be sufficient for the excess deaths we are now seeing. 0k sara, thank you very much indeed, chair of the

lincolnshire mortality planning cell. we have been speaking all afternoon to our correspondence in dover about the frustration and anger amongst lorry drivers who are stranded there because of the travel ban imposed by france, which is a result of the new strain of coronavirus in the uk. about 3000 lorries stuck there at the moment. let's go back now, bring us up to date. so, then, as you say, we've been talking about these 3000 lorries in the drivers that are been stuck here for the past few days. in the last ten minutes, the numbers of lorry drivers that have come out of their lorries and have effectively formed a protest line have doubled, so we are now looking at about 100 lorry drivers also, may be a bit morejust around lorry drivers also, may be a bit more just around the corner.

earlier, there had been two vehicles on the line nearest me, so just behind me, that the police have now been able to move out. we saw about four of five more police officers arrive, that's a total of about 809 police officers at the scene. as i was saying, much of this appears to be the lorry drivers now frustrated and tired, getting no information about how and when they are going to be able to board a lorry and crossover. this is pretty much what has been going on in the past 20 minutes are half an hour. every time you see a vehicle come around that past roundabout, that is the one that vehicles would turn around to get into the port. you can see the lorry drivers just standing in front of them and stopping those vehicles moving through. why? in a way it's only the way they can communicate with anybody. the police officer

during a very good job here. managing to keep things very calm. what the lorry drivers have been telling me is that, and actually this is been backed up by the road haulage association, is that there have been no contingency plans put in place is to make sure that these lorry drivers get water, that they get food, that they get somewhere to sleep other than their cabs. as you can see, the weather conditions are absolutely atrocious. it has been raining here pretty much for two days solid. their cabs have been very cold indeed, and although any long haul driver will tell you, there used to doing that. what they are not used to is the endless and is the endless mess of it all. there is the endless mess of it all. there is no communication, were expecting thisjoint statement is no communication, were expecting this joint statement from the uk government and the french government laying out if you, pardon the phrase, laying out a road map by which mass testing will be introduced to allow these guys through. none of that has materialised today. we are now coming to six o'clock, that

announcement, people had assumed initially would arrive at lunchtime, and then at two o'clock and then three o'clock and so on. even if, as priti patel says, mass testing, lateral testing, lateral flow testing is going to be the solution, when is it going to arrive here? who is going to administer it? how other results going to get these guys? will any of them be able to get home for christmas? lots of questions on zero a nswe rs . for christmas? lots of questions on zero answers. lots of frustration and anger as we can see there as well. many thanks indeed. just to bring you up—to—date on the number of cases, 36,804 and 691 coronavirus—related deaths. biontech, the company that developed the one vaccine that has, so far, been approved in the uk, says it's "highly likely" their vaccine can also deal with the new variant. and the company's chief executive ugur sahin said

if there were any problems, the nature of their vaccine design means they can engineer a new one that completely mimics the new mutations, within six weeks. here he is earlier today. let's speak to dr emma hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist at the university of bern. this new variant of the virus, do you think that the vaccines, the various vaccines, can cope with it? so, this is certainly the question of the hour. the thing to remember is the way that vaccines work is that they actually showed a spike protein to your body so that you can recognise it. it's like showing you a mug shot of a bad guy. just like if that bad guy then went around with sunglasses on, you will probably still recognise him. the idea is the same with the vaccine. just because the virus changes in a couple of places here and there, your body will still helpfully recognise the rest of it and mount a

good response. so certainly, the hope is, the changes that occurred in his new variant will not be enough that your body still doesn't recognise the bad guy virus. we are worried about this new variant, because it's making the virus spread more rapidly, at least that is what we are told. why is it? what is it about the variant that is making it so much more transmissible, so much more easily spread? this is the big question that science is trying to a nswer question that science is trying to answer right now and i think the real truth is that we just don't know. there are some theories, so for example, if somehow the virus is able to replicate itself faster, so that there is more virus in your nose and mouth, then it might be that you then breathe out and cough more virus, meaning that they might be more opportunities for somebody to break that in. this will be a key pa rt to break that in. this will be a key part of scientific work over the next few weeks to work this out. white matter of course, there are mutant variations of a virus all the

time. we should expect more. yes, mutations are a normal part of virus life, we do see different variants of the virus. we have seen many of these through this year and the nice news is that most of these, they are not newsworthy. we observe them, monitor them, and they don't do anything that raises alarm. 0f course, the reason that we are monitoring them is for exactly the situation. when we see one that sta rts situation. when we see one that starts behaving differently, in such a way that we do start to think this might be something that deserves more attention. and the virus does mutate to enable it to spread better, doesn't it? it is important to remember that the mutations that happen in the virus are totally random. they are like making a typo when you are texting a friend. the important thing is that most of the time, the typo doesn't matter, the text is legible anyway. it's a same with a virus, most of these changes don't matter at all. it's not trying to do anything, but every now and againa

to do anything, but every now and again a mutation might occur that means that that virus can, for example, replicate faster and that gives us a competitive edge against the virus is circulating and it could lead to, for example, the situation we are seeing right now with a new variant will stop and i, thank you so much for explaining that. molecular epidemiologist there. the united states continues to have the highest rates of infections and coronavirus—related deaths in the world. president—electjoe biden has warned of a dark winter even as the us approves two vaccines. the challenge now is trying to limit the spread of the virus and vaccinate priority groups — health workers and the elderly — before vaccinating the population at large. dr anthony fauci, the top infectious diseases expert in the us, has just had his vaccine live on tv to encourage americans to do likewise. joining us a short while ago, i asked him how he felt about getting immunized. it makes me feel good for a couple

of reasons, number one, i want this to be a symbol for the people in the united states to encourage them about the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine and to get them to be enthusiastic when their time comes to get vaccinated. but also, especially for me and my group, that this particular vaccine that i will be receiving was actually developed here. which vaccine are you receiving? it's the moderna vaccine. well, that is coming up in 45 minutes. good luck to you. it's strange, all this positive news about a vaccine comes ata time positive news about a vaccine comes at a time where, in the uk and also the country is of course, looking at this variant of the coronavirus, over the past couple of days, restrictions massively coming in that we have been talking about, how concerned are you about this variant? it's something we absolutely need to take seriously

and to follow it and to determine just what the functional impact of the mutation is. there is some suggestion, strong suggestion, that it might be associated with an increase in efficiency of transmission. we need to definitively prove that, but let's assume that that is the case. it does not appear to be any impact on the virulence of the virus, meaning the virulence of the virus, meaning the seriousness of the disease that it causes. there doesn't seem to impact out. there is no indication that it impact out. there is no indication thatitis impact out. there is no indication that it is escaping the protection that it is escaping the protection that you would get from the vaccine, so the critical issue that seems to be occupying people's attention is, is ita be occupying people's attention is, is it a virus that has spread more efficiently? we need to continue to follow it and definitely take it seriously. would you recommend that the united states ban arrivals from

the united states ban arrivals from the uk, as at least 40 countries have done so far? at this point, i'm not recommending that. i'm not sure what the policy would be. i think that might be a bit of an overreaction on our part, however i certainly respect other countries and their decisions on what they will do. i think we should seriously consider the possibility of requiring pre—flight testing before people leave from the uk to the united states, that's something that's on the table that i believe needs to be seriously considered, rather than an out and out ban on all travel from the uk to the united states. so, let's see what happens with that. i look at the us figures every day and it is shocking. were looking at over 319,000 deaths, over 18 million cases. what do you think happened is that it went so wrong in curbing the spread of this virus in the states? i believe it's a complex

array of things that happen that led to this difficult situation we are in. one of them that i've identified and spoken about is that the response to the united states has not been uniform response. 0ne response to the united states has not been uniform response. one of the things about the united states way of governing that is a positive thing is that we are the united states of america, we have 50 states and right from the beginning of our founding fathers, the states were given the power and opportunity to do things the way they feel it should be done specific to the individual state. it's called a federalist system. this system works well on a number of other issues. but when you are dealing with a pandemic that is involving the entire country, i believe it would have been better to have more uniformity of response rather than have different states doing things in different ways and you have surges in one part of the country followed by surges in another part of the country, where a very large

country, we have 330 million people in the country and i believe it would have been better if we did things ina would have been better if we did things in a more uniform, consistent way, when you are thinking about the implantation of public health practices. that's just one of the things that i think is the problem. the other is mixed messaging that we've had. it has been much politicised. in this situation, i think every body realises, there's been a great deal of divisiveness this country. there are people that ta ke this country. there are people that take sides as to what kind of implementation of public health measures they should should not do. bottom line is, rather inconsistent in our response. a giant iceberg that broke off antarctica three years ago has started to break into smaller pieces in the south atlantic. satellite pictures showed more huge cracks in the ice mass, and parts of it drifting away from the the giant iceberg that's been drifting through

the south atlantic since 2017. although cracks were pronounced on monday, they hadn't by that stage cut right through the iceberg known as a68a. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. we have seen contrasting weather fortunes across the uk today. for many northern areas of the uk, we have seen plenty of sunshine. beautiful day earlier in cumbria. whereas the further south you are, it has been grey, it has been damp, , it has been grey. and it has been fairly drizzly, as well. it is southern areas where we are likely to see more in the way of rain during the next 36 hours. this chart shows where rainfall amounts will be accumulating, particularly across england and wales, and especially is one from wales to the midlands, towards east anglia. here we could see 40—70 millimetres of rain. that could just enhance the risk of some more flooding as we go through the coming days. as we go through the rest of today, you can see it is going to turn wet

across parts of wales, central and southern england, mildest of the air here. but into the evening, there will still be some clear skies in northern england, scotland and northern ireland. already turning cold quite quickly. cloud will increase across northern ireland and southern scotland through the night. further rain at times across england and wales. there will be some clear skies around, too, but it will be another mild one the further south you are. temperatures only dropping a few degrees from the day time values. northern england and northwards, though, and there is a chance of frost for some into tomorrow morning. this is the chart for wednesday. bringing that intensification of the rain is this area of low pressure. strong and gusty winds developing later on towards wales and the south—west, too. some of the heaviest rain may be in north—west wales and through that zone from wales, the midlands, towards east anglia. could see some rumbles of thunder with it. there will be sun, though, in the south where the skies could brighten at times. allowing temperatures up to around 13—14. but feeling increasingly chilly further north. scotland and northern ireland enjoying the rest of the weather. one or two showers that are wintry over higher ground. colder air will take place for all of us as we go through the rest of the week. low pressure pushes through. northern when stickers into a bit of a festive gel.

on christmas eve, first of all, it will be a case of a few showers around. those will be when tea, particularly over the hills. most places will have dry and sunny weather at times. some strong winds down the eastern coast of england, making it feel especially cold with an added wind chill. 4—7 the highs. widespread frost will follow to take us into christmas day. it is a festive frost rather than a white christmas for many. there will be one or two showers on the east coast, not ruling out the odd flurry in amongst that. particularly in the north york moors. elsewhere a chilly but bright christmas day.

today at six: the transport crisis at dover is getting worse — almost 3,000 lorries are now stuck on roads and car parks in kent. the queues are stretching for miles, waiting for the french border to reopen, amid concerns about the new variant of coronavirus. well, i'm very frustrated. i'm stuck here for two days. so, we don't know how much time will take to sort this problem. there's still no agreement between the uk and france on getting things moving again. testing all lorry drivers might be part of the solution. getting those tests up and running, you know, can happen relatively quickly, but in terms of the details of that, that is something that both the transport secretary and his counterpart will be discussing right now.