hello, this is bbc news. lam ben i am ben brown. the headlines... millions of people in the uk wake up to tougher covid restrictions as rule changes come into force. as the uk grapples with a new strain of coronavirus, france confirms its first case of the variant. millions of americans face losing unemployment benefits, as the standoff between donald trump and congress over a coronavirus stimulus package continues. more than a thousand people are told to leave their homes in bedfordshire as another severe flood warning is issued overnight.

now on bbc news... philippa thomas hears from people around the world about their extraordinary experiences during the pandemic and how covid—19 has changed their lives. welcome. on coronavirus: your stories, this year, we have been hearing from people around the world about some of the extraordinary ways in which covid—19 has changed our lives. on the programme, we have heard from more than 50 guests across 25 countries. like rachel, a british palliative care doctor, spending her days talking to the dying. there have been times where i have had to pull over on the side

of the road and actually stop driving on the way home and sit there and cry to myself in silence, inside my car because i have felt so shocked by the speed of the pandemic and the relentlessness of it, the sheer numbers of people who are dying too quickly and too often. it is like nothing any of us have ever experienced. it is like a battlefield environment. nadia and leanne who mobilised community action in cape town. we are cooking food for the whole communities so every day at 12:30pm they come. as long as their food to cook, i will cook. this is my family cooking for our neighbourhood. angela in missouri urging others to wear masks after she lost her mother to covid—i9. and it hurts, it hurts me and i know that there are so many people in this... ..in this country and this world everywhere that have lost people prematurely and they are scared to leave their homes

because they know what this virus can do, they have seen it. and they feel like they are not being heard. dana, a young doctor in damascus, making medical supplies because so few were getting into syria. what we have tried to do is do them ourselves using diy techniques. we were creating designs of masks, facemasks and other ppe through sd printer, for example, but the main problem was the materials and to find sd printers because it is not common to have sd printers around here. another person we spoke to who lives in london and was homeless before getting alockdown hostal space. what do you think might have happened to you if this intervention had not come along with this kind of lockdown room and help you god?

—— and the help he received. i'll be honest with you, i probably think i would be in prison by now and that is the honest truth. i honestly think i would be in prison by now. now as christmas approaches, we are revisiting four of these stories. together, they reflect how difficult life has become for so many. losing business and jobs, health worries, stress, above all, losing loved ones to the virus. but they have also been stories of solidarity and hope, of people rising to the challenge in extraordinary ways. in some of the remotest areas of the united states, native american volunteers came together early to help the tribal nations hit hardest by covid—i9. in utah, jo overton was clinically vulnerable herself, stuck at home during lockdown, but she felt she had to act and set up a nonprofit from her kitchen table. from my youngest childhood, i remember my mother asking me what are you going to be

when you grow up? and what will you do to help the people? there are some areas, especially on the navajo nation, where between so and 40 people, 40% of the people don't have running water. it also means they have no electricity and no cell phone service because they live in a really remote area and that might be ok on a regular basis, but with covid, it means they cannot call for help, they cannot wash their hands. ijust said, i cannot stand here and do nothing. and so, i did something and it has grown and i have an amazing team of people who are incredibly caring and we are all working together to save lives. i was looking for 40 masks and now we can get thousands to people within just days. and also, face shields and gloves, hand sanitiser,

it becomes life—saving when you don't have water. nine months on, jo's network is still active and growing. sending help to tribal lands from south dakota to nebraska. how does she describe the challenge today? it has been just... ..kind of overwhelming emotionally and very difficult to watch people that you love and are part of your family to become sick, to have people that you care about diet. —— to — — to have —— to have people that you care about die. —— to have people that you care about die. more native americans are going to become sick with covid and more native americans will die. they make up 9% of the south dakota population, the native americans do, and they are 19% of the death rate. jo, tell us more about what your network is doing to get some of the basics out there. we absolutely depend

on our partnerships, our collaborations with the native peoples. they are our moccasins on the ground. without them, there would be no distribution, especially to those that are in more need. the ones that are more remote, the ones that don't have transportation. they are bringing food and face shields and right now, our sewing expansion is sewing a request for great plains, which covers all the tribes in south dakota, north dakota and nebraska and one in iowa. for 60,000 cloth masks. this is a nonprofit, a network, jo, that you set up from your kitchen table. what has been happening to you? i have been basically on lockdown in my house since march and the most difficult part for me has been how much i miss my grandchildren. and i have not had a hug or a case or a snuggle.

i have not had a kiss or a snuggle. it is... incredibly difficult. what is driving you on, jo? my people are dying. what would i do? sit here and do nothing? i can't. the most important prayer that we say is that the people may live, not that i may live and i have been guided in my efforts by my ancestors and a deep drive to make my mother proud of me for her to look on at me and say, good for her, she is doing something important. and it has been what has lifted me in the darkest of times in the midst of this. jo overton in utah. this year's panic about the deadly coronavirus among us has led, of course, of long periods

of lockdown around the globe. and that has had, that is still having an economic impact, with many families now running short of funds to buy even the basics like food. in the philippines, we heard from a family which set up an aid programme to help thousands of neighbours for whom lockdown meant losing access to theirjobs and to food. chantel told us about her hometown. because the lockdown has spanned for months‘ long, people have ended up using up all of their savings. people have ended up selling almost all of their items at home just to be able to get whatever form of income they can. people in the communities, especially those that we've reached, that we've helped give milk to, give relief packs to, would send messages, would send videos and pictures of their children with the milk or with the food, reallyjust thanking us for the support. to them, what you give, regardless of how small you think it is,

actually means the world. to a lot, itjust might be there world because they are just trying to survive on a day—to—day basis. thank you. since we spoke, her hometown was hit by a typhoon season and that meant that thousands have also lost their homes. in desperate need now of food, aid and medical supplies. about two or three weeks ago we were hit by a typhoon. it hit the country, the philippines, including my hometown. so hundreds of household work submerged in floodwaters, causing thousands of people to evacuate into evacuation centers. and it has been a struggle because people have only really started to recover from the lockdown, so from the day the typhoon hit, we managed to send out pack meals to people in evacuation centers. so in just under three weeks, we managed to provide s000kg

of rice, ioookg of vegetables, s0 boxes of canned goods and hundreds upon hundreds of grocery kits to almost 10,000 people. crisis or no crisis, we have each other‘s back. and do you think that you will continue to be organising supplies all the way for the christmas season? i know it is a long season in the philippines. yes, yes. we actually have the longest christmas season in the world, so we start in september and end in early january. so basically, half the year. but of course we will be continuing our relief and food programme as long as it takes. although for some people it seems as though we have lost the christmas. because of everything that has happened this year. to me, it has never been more alive. there are people out there on the streets, in their homes, at work or on social media, doing whatever they can to be there for others and to me that is what christmas is all about.

community. solidarity. love. and hope. chantel, what has it been like for you this year stepping up, not once, but twice? it has changed your life. this pandemic has shown me what is most important. the floods have shown me what we can do to help others, especially when we are together. that was chantel in the philippines. i am philippa thomas and you are watching... coronavirus — your stories, a programme about how covid—i9 has changed lives around the world. we are revisiting some of the stories that people have shared with us in this extraordinary year. as the world went into lockdown, we saw countries shut their borders to limit new infections. this put many seafarers in an unpredictable situation. we heard from a ship's captain and a young engineer,

both key workers on important shipping routes, but effectively stranded at sea. we also heard from american and swedish couple brian and karen who had been sailing the world for years now with a baby, sierra, on board. we first made contact with them on an uninhabited island in the bahamas where they had been living their lockdown for more than 100 days. we are out here in an island that is completely uninhabited. there are no stores, no people, no cities, just us, the bush and a few other boats. and you are managing with a baby who i think is going to be ten months old this week. how are you surviving? yes, she is actually going to be ten months old and three days. i feel like we are doing quite well. we are feeling very fortunate to be out here. it is a beautiful place and we are normally

set up on the boat to be self—sufficient for months at a time and so we are able to make our own electricity with the sun and wind, we can make oui’ own water with the desalination plan, we even make our own alcohol with a still we have on board, so we are pretty well set up to be out here and we are just taking it day by day, month by month. we catch our own food a lot here, brian is able to go spear fishing. when the lobster season was in full swing, we did that. having a baby on board, you think about things differently, right? it is changed the way we feel like we want to be a little extra safe. we are going to move north fairly soon since we have heard this is going to be a pretty bad year for hurricanes. with hurricane season approaching the caribbean, brian and karen decided to head north to the us state of maine on the canadian border. they made it to harbour, sailing past some iconic sites, strangely empty of tourists

because of the lockdown. when i talked to the couple in august, they admitted, that was not all smooth sailing. we got hit by a big low coming over us and we saw winds in excess of s5 knots and we were in the gulf stream and so itjust created these gigantic standing waves and the boat was shaking and getting slammed around and though wind was howling. we blew out a sail. sierra really couldn't come outside because it was just too poor weather. that sail kind of taught me a lot also about my limits and what i feel comfortable with. i mean, we have been out sailing for like ten years, but sailing with her is definitely different. but now they are in the country with the highest pandemic death toll in the world and now that winter is here, what does this sailing family do next? we decided to sail up north to canada, unfortunately, the border closure is still in effect,

canada is not letting any americans in and you really can't blame them for that. and then we had to head back south again. i mean, the plans change all the time, but i think in general, we are going to head south and probably down towards florida. life on a boat is still the life you want? definitely. yeah. i love it. i love living on the boat. it is a much different world that sierra has come into than the one you expected. definitely. you know what, i ventured into the hardware store the other day. we were walking around and everybody else is wearing masks and to heard —— and to sierra this is what she is used to. she sees somebody out in the store wearing a mask and it is not strange. we have watched her grow up on this programme which is lovely to see. and i am just thinking about what you will tell her, you know, when she is a bit older about her first year. because we make the videos, we will be able to not only tell her

but show her what it was like, which is going to be pretty cool to look back in a few years and see her grow from a four—month—old baby to now this 16 month toddler walking around and destroying everything on the boat she can get her hands on. 0h, is that funny? when you look back at this year, the year of coronavirus, what do you remember most? i feel like even though it has been a lot of struggles and we have not been able to meet people in the same way, there is still all lot of really amazing people out there and connections you can make in a safe manner and it has been... it has been really, really special in a more challenging way. laughter. in a weird sort of way. can you wave goodbye, sierra? come on, we are going this way. oh, there she goes.

goodbye! brian, karen and sierra. on this programme, we have heard a lot from people who realise how much it matters to make connections at a time when we are supposed to socially distance. this year, a lot of people have thought about what matters most to them and what matters in their relationships. so for ourfinal story we are hearing about a couple tested in this pandemic year, not by a physical isolation like troutmans, but by unexpected togetherness. so for ourfinal story, imagine two friends, world travellers who first meeting in australia. one year later, they meet again in new zealand and romance is in the air. then pandemic strikes. so canadian katie and brit ryan suddenly find themselves far from home in a small flat, facing lockdown life together for weeks and weeks. how did they react? for katie, one word. panic.

laughter. please, no. i'm sure it was a shock for everyone, really. just knowing that we would be cooped up in a house for a long period of time. and it was really new, so that was really terrifying because we both did not want to live with each other right away. it kind of forced us to understand each other quickly and really get to know each other quickly and, you know, i'm sure if it was not for lockdown, we would not be in this position that we are in at the moment. we wouldn't still be living together. so tell us about some of the understandings you reached. what are you talking about? well, basically... ryan snores and when he snores really bad, he has to go to a different room. understanding number one. and number two... don't mix the dirty laundry and the clean laundry together. it is life lessons, hey? laughter. what did you learn, though? ryan, what did you find

out about katie? i was searching for someone that was similar to me and i was searching for someone that wanted to explore and travel and see the world and... you know, we would go on adventures all the time together and i haven't really had that before. so when we got back in touch this month, there was one key question, katie and ryan, are you still together? yes, we are. we are still together. and we are moving into our own place, so that is a major new thing. you said something about having to learn to understand each other, because you had to, you are in lockdown. we heard, for example, ryan's snoring and we heard about ryan wanting to have a travelling lifestyle, both of you still getting out on the road. so now your lockdown is over, i wanted to catch up. are you still doing the things

you want to do together? are you still travelling? oh, yes. we have been to a few places, not as many as we would have liked. it has been kind of hard. we have been away for a few weekend trips, been on a lot of hikes around the area. luckily, there are so many nice walks nearby. for all of us, it has been the year of pandemic. if you look back at what has happened, what stands out about how you have both coped with the crisis and the lockdown and everything that has happened? i think learning to just go with the flow and accept the things that are not in your control. no—one could have predicted this. and we are just rolling with the punches and crossing bridges as we come because you will drive yourself crazy if you don't. on this programme, we have talked to a lot of people and something that comes up again and again is the importance of relationships. you know, people think

what really matters at a time like this. and i see you two of a brilliant example of that. thank you. yeah, thank you. yes, just keeping each other entertained, i guess you can say. i am quite, i wouldn't say stupid, i would say clumsy. so, i'm sure i'm quite funny to other people around, i guess. and just communicating and learning to understand each other, you know? learning to understand what is not said as well. my mum has already looked up our horoscope sign and figured out how compatible we are. so we are pretty compatible. my family will get to meet you when the time comes, i guess, when trouble opens back up. they are excited. to canada to the cold. i think they like you better than me already. lucky you. so, describe what you think your christmas is going to be like. our christmas is going to be a different one this year. we are having all of our friends that don't really have anywhere

to go, we are all going to be together, well, not know where to go, but no family around. we are going to be together and just... have a big pot luck. some fun and games and just have a laugh and have a good time. hopefully we can get a sunny day. ryan and katie in new zealand. i am philippa thomas. thank you to our guests for sharing and thank you for watching this special addition of coronavirus — your stories. hello, there. we have a stormy 2a hours ahead as storm bella starts to bear down across the uk and there are still severe flood warnings in folsom over then we have had lately so any more rain on saturated ground and already overflowing rivers is not good news either.

you can see from the tightly packed isobars it is notjust the rain. we are very concerned about the strength of the wind. amber warnings out from the met office in southern areas. i will come to that list later. already the rain is with us in western scotland, mountain snow, was still spill into the rest of scotland and northern ireland today. a little bit of brightness perforating the clouded timings and it is relatively mild, mild interlude of weather today and that is because we have got south—westerly winds but they really escalate this evening across scotland, northern ireland, pushing their way southwards, a significant amount of rain falling for many areas, and other potential inch and those winds gusting in excess of 70mph could easily bring them to use our power lines. they could bring the combination of those gusty winds, very gusty in land as well so some storm force winds around exposed coastlines but the combination of the winds and the rain making for some treacherous conditions

on the roads so most likely to be some disruption. that rain, the strong wind still abound in the morning so a wild night in a well stuck to our sunday but behind the cold air establishes itself so some icy patches in the north, some snow in the showers to lower levels and eventually that wintry weather, that cold are will filter southwards through the day. most of the re—showers will be across central and northern areas but i think by the time we get to monday, that area of low pressure is meandering close to southern and eastern areas we could have a taste of winter here as well. not that we haven't seen snow already in some areas but we could have snow even to lower levels as we head into monday across southern and eastern areas as well. by that stage the winds are starting to ease a little bit but daytime temperatures will struggle to get much more than 2 degrees above freezing. it will feel bitterly cold indeed but with some sunshine in between as wintry showers. and that cold air stays with us well

into the start of the new year. as say, though, there are plenty of warnings out, floods and severe flood warnings, warnings out for wind and for rain.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. millions of people in the uk wake up to tougher covid restrictions — as rule changes come into force. as the uk grapples with a new strain of coronavirus — france and spain confirm their first cases of the variant. millions of americans face losing unemployment benefits — as the standoff between donald trump and congress over a coronavirus stimulus package continues. former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has died aged 98 in moscow. more than a thousand people are told to leave their homes in bedfordshire, england — as another severe flood warning is issued overnight.