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. and coming up...

in the first trial of its kind, ten people in the uk have been given antibodies as a form of emergency protection after being exposed to coronavirus — we'll be speaking to the team behind the trial. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. six million people in the east and south east of england have joined those living under the strictest coronavirus restrictions, in tier 4. those restrictions now affect around 2a million people in england, more than 40% of the population. the toughest measures mean the closure of all non—essential shops, as well as hairdressers, swimming pools and gyms. a national lockdown has also started in northern ireland, and measures

have been reimposed in wales after being eased for christmas. all of mainland scotland has moved into the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions — with the rest of scotland in tier 3 restrictions. france and spain have both confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus variant recently identified in the uk. and millions of americans face going without unemployment benefits after saturday, amid a political standoff over a $900bn coronavirus stimulus package. ourfirst report today on the millions entering the toughest set of restrictions in england is from emily unia. a return to lockdown, with more shops, pubs and restaurants across the uk forced to close to try and slow rapidly rising infection rates thought to be caused by a new strain of coronavirus. the government has done the right thing. the variant in the coronavirus is out of control,

so they had to do something. i was expecting it, at the end of the day, with the numbers going up. and everyone has to live through this, so if it's going to keep us safe in the end, that's really good and i'm quite happy. the tougher measures could be in force for months. but we mustn't give up now. we know that we can control this virus. we know we can get through this together. we're going to get through it by suppressing the virus until a vaccine can make us safe. that's been our strategy, and that's what we must do. new tier 4 restrictions were imposed on london and parts of essex and hertfordshire at midnight on sunday. this morning, most of southern and eastern england are joining them. the rules are similar to the last lockdown in england. you must stay at home unless you need to travel for work or education. you may only meet one person at a time outdoors. nonessential shops should shut, and unless you have a genuine reason

like caring for someone or going to work or school, you mustn't leave a tier 4 area. other parts of england are also moving into higher tiers, with only the isles of scilly now left in the lowest, tier 1. in northern ireland, a new six—week national lockdown has begun, with an 8pm—6am curfew in operation untiljanuary 2nd. all of mainland scotland has moved into its toughest level of restrictions, and after a brief relaxation of rules for christmas day, wales has returned to a full national lockdown which began on sunday. emily unia, bbc news. in scotland, which operates under a different tier system, level four lockdown measures have come into force across the mainland for three weeks. let's speak to our correspondent, alexandra mackenzie, who's in glasgow. just to talk us through what the measures mean for the next few weeks

for people in scotland? well, from midnight most of scotland went into level four. that was all of the mainland, plus the isle of skye and rn. other island communities, that includes the western end on northern isles, they went into level three from midnight last night. so straight after christmas day. level four is the strictest, as you say. that pretty much means lockdown. none essential shops haven't been able to open up today, so no boxing day sales. their shops will have to stay closed. hairdressers, gyms have had to close. so pretty much lockdown for a lot of the country. nicola sturgeon has said this is preventative. she says it is to preventative. she says it is to prevent the virus from getting out of control as we head into january, a difficult time anyway, with flu for the nhs. she says the number of

cases have been increasing in scotland, but not as much as other parts of the uk. there were more than 1000 new cases yesterday. that was 1165 cases yesterday. so the government reaction to those cases increasing has been to put most of the country into level four. thank you very much indeed. and you can find out what the rules are in your area of the uk, by entering your postcode in our interactive tool — you can find it online at the bbc news website or on our app. as the uk grapples with that new strain of the coronavirus — france has confirmed its first case of the variant. the country's health ministry says the patient arrived on french soil from london on the 19th of december. president macron shut the country's border with britain last sunday after the new — more transmissible variant — was found to be spreading

in the south east of england. spain has also confirmed its first case of the variant. millions of americans face going without unemployment benefits after saturday, amid a political standoff over a $900bn coronavirus stimulus package. direct payments of up to $600 per person, eviction protection measures, and a paycheck protection programme were all approved by congress on monday. but president trump has refused to sign the bill into law. aaron safir reports. the 60—vote threshold having been achieved, the motion to concur is agreed to. in a year when the deep divisions in american politics were laid bare... today is a good day. ..monday saw a moment of hope. democrats and republicans passed a $892 billion coronavirus relief bill and funded the federal government until september 2021. the measures are a lifeline to america's battered economy and its millions

of struggling people. two unemployment programmes, a $300 weekly federal boost for the jobless until mid—march, and direct payments of up to $600 per person. after months of difficult negotiations and compromise, all that's needed now is president trump's signature. mr president, what do you say to those who are waiting for covid aid? but so far he's refused, saying that he's holding out for bigger direct payments. and while he went to florida for christmas, democrats in washington tried to amend the bill so that workers would receive $2,000. republicans countered with proposals to cut the foreign aid bill. it is christmas eve but it is not a silent night. all is not calm. for too many, nothing is bright, and for too many they are not sleeping peacefully.

president trump returned to the topic on christmas day, tweeting... the bill has even been flown to florida for the president to sign, but he's not budging and time is running out. the last of the jobless benefits will go out tomorrow to individuals who've been on unemployment for many weeks already and for those who had the eligibility because of the carers act, because of the earlier relief package, so those two groups, tomorrow's the last day and the president absolutely has to sign it to get those back on track, and all of the rest that's in the relief package. the democrats have promised another attempt at upping the stimulus cheques on monday, meaning republican lawmakers will have to decide whether or not to defy their president. but the wheels of government

can move slowly, and even if the president does sign the bill on the weekend, many americans will likely suffer a break in payments of several weeks. aaron safir, bbc news. in the uk, the met office has warned of 70 miles—per—hour gales and heavy rain, as storm bella approaches the uk. three severe flood warnings are in place in england. in bedfordshire, police officers have visited more than 1,300 homes near the river great ouse, advising residents to leave as it reaches record levels. paul fuller is the chief fire officer for bedfordshire fire and rescue service. thank you very much indeed for being with us. how bad has it been in your area? well, over the last 36 hours or so, as area? well, over the last 36 hours or so, as you area? well, over the last 36 hours or so, as you say, the police have visited around about 1300 homes, advising people to evacuate or to

ta ke advising people to evacuate or to take measures to try and protect themselves from flooding. the peak in bedford has now passed, it seems. but obviously the towns and villages further downstream are still at risk, and severe warnings are still in place. obviously evacuating people from their homes at christmas is not an easy thing to do. have most people been willing to go when they have been asked to go?m most people been willing to go when they have been asked to go? it is of course a dreadful thing. when we have faced all of these months of difficulty and restriction, and then at christmas time to then go to people to say we want you to evacuate your home is because there isa evacuate your home is because there is a real danger you are going to be flooded, of course that is a terrible message to deliver. but people have absolutely been very cooperative. some have elected to stay at home and try to protect

themselves. some have gone to alternative accommodation. and a few have gone to the rescue centres. whatever your officer has been doing specifically in the last day or so? of course, we have been responding to incidents. we been trying to divert difficult volumes of water. we we re divert difficult volumes of water. we were entirely in partnership with others, andl we were entirely in partnership with others, and i think the work that has been done by police, environment agency, localauthorities, has been done by police, environment agency, local authorities, volunteer organisations, all come together with the fire and rescue service to try to avert the worst of the crisis, and ifi try to avert the worst of the crisis, and if i tell you that these flood levels were on a par with the floods of 1998, which were some of the worst we have seen, and yet the impact of them has been minimised, thatis impact of them has been minimised,

that is partly because of the informed process that we have been through, partly because of the effect of the arrangements that were put in place after 1998, and subsequently 2005. so i think it is a tribute to those organisations that we have been able to avert the worst of the crisis. i realise that for the people affected it is still very, very terrible. thank you so much for being with us on bbc news this morning. an update with all of the lorries that have been stuck in kent after france said it is imposing a travel ban a feud days ago, because of that new variant of coronavirus. thousands of lorries we re coronavirus. thousands of lorries were stranded in kent.

i think the manston airfield, where the lorries have been packed up, is 110w the lorries have been packed up, is now empty. that is a picture. boxing day, it is empty at nine o'clock on boxing day. and that compares to christmas day, where you can see it is absolutely packed. there were at one stage thousands of lorries there, and a lot of very frustrated lorry drivers who were missing christmas with their families because they could not get back across the channel. but as grant shapps says now, manston is now empty. lorries should no longer had their pleas. the message from the transport secretary. one of the most notorious cold war spies — george blake — has died in moscow, aged 98. blake was a soviet double agent working in the british secret service. he was caught and jailed in 1960, but escaped from prison in london

five years later and fled to the soviet union. edward lucas who is a security expert and the author of the new cold war said george blake is enormously important in the history of espionage. well, blake was really enormously important, i think — ranking along with the traitors like kim philby in terms of the damage done to british and american attempts to spy on the soviet empire during the 1950s. and it was notjust that he was in a position where he could do a lot of damage. after he'd been sentenced for 42 years — allegedly one for every agent he betrayed — he then was able to escape from a supposedly high security prison. he was smuggled to east germany and then spent the rest of his life in moscow. in a way, sort of cocking a snook at the brits who'd succeeded in catching him but failed to keep him. the latest headlines on bbc news... 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. scrutiny of the brexit trade agreement with the european union has begun after the full document was published less than a week before it is due to be implemented. the agreement runs to more than 1,200 pages — and will be put to an emergency vote in the british parliament on wednesday. our political correspondent leila nathoo has the story. in brussels yesterday, a christmas day briefing for eu ambassadors on the deal by the man who led the negotiations for their side. mission accomplished.

what's in that blue folder sets out how the eu and uk will trade and co—operate from january, a success for both sides to have more than 1,200 pages of text setting out a new relationship. writing in the times this morning, the cabinet office minister michael gove says the deal will allow the uk and eu to enjoy a special relationship as sovereign equals. he was one of the key figures in the leave campaign. he writes that the debate over brexit was at times ugly and he hopes the agreement will allow british politics to move into a better place. the deal was done in the nick of time, with the uk already out of the eu and transition arrangements expiring within days. mps and peers will have until wednesday to digest the detail before being called back to parliament for a debate and vote. the eu is now weighing up how the future looks with the uk outside. member states will be reviewing the legal text in the coming days before what's on paper becomes a reality. leila nathoo, bbc news.

here in the uk, ten people have been given antibodies as a form of emergency protection after being exposed to coronavirus, in the first trial of its kind. the antibody treatment is being offered to people who have been in close contact with a confirmed covid—19 case within the past eight days. if it proves effective, it could protect vulnerable people who have not yet been, or cannot be, vaccinated. and it could help to contain future outbreaks. the trial is being run at university college london hospitals nhs trust, by a team lead by virologist dr catherine houlihan — and shejoins me now. thank you for being with us, catherine. just tell us a bit more about these trials. quite small scale at the moment, just ten people, but they could be very important? absolutely. small scale, as you say, but we hope to enrol hundred people just that you see lh,

and then across the globe 1000 people in order to show whether this treatment has any effectiveness at preventing people to go on to develop covid—19 after an exposure. but you are quite confident it does? i'm quite confident in the science. monoclonal antibodies are a combination of two different antibodies which are given by injection to the muscle, and they are directed against the spike protein and should offer someone immediate protection in the setting where the vaccine would have too long to have an effect. it could be a game changer in that sense, so that somebody that has been exposed to the virus and has not got time to get the vaccine, it could offer them protection. absolutely. we have got rapidly developing field, i think the nhs is showing just how great we can be out doing research very quickly in these settings. and hopefully this is going to be one more of the portfolio of treatments and preventative is that we can

offer patients and the general public in terms of preventing them from developing this horrible disease. and explain a little bit more about the science behind this, and how it works? so, when summe becomes infected with a virus or a bacteria, we develop antibodies as well as other immune sponsors. and antibodies are proteins that bind on to viruses and neutralise them, and prevent them from infecting more sales and increasing the infection. this is two different antibodies directed at two different parts of the spike of the virus, and they are injected into the muscle, and when somebody comes across the virus these antibodies are already in the system. they should bind to that virus. i know it's early days, but we have been talking a lot the last few days about the new variant and the dangers of future variance when

the dangers of future variance when the virus mutates, as all viruses do mutate. would these antibodies work against all sorts of the different variants that there could be? yeah, the monoclonal antibodies that we are trialling were developed by astrazeneca, and they pay particular attention... this is one of the reasons i was interested in dissipating in the trial. if you have two monoclonal antibodies directed at different parts of the virus, it gives an ability to prevent on—board replication of the virus, even in the setting of its high level of the mutation. so you are right, as you said, viruses mutate persistently, so they have planned for this in advance. well, it all sounds very exciting and really important. as always, the question with a sort of research and

the sort of trials is how long will it take? when might we see this kind of antibody treatment available, do you think? yes, you are absolutely right. we will follow the trail procedures and have some interim analysis and some ongoing analysis, and what we really need are more participants to be enrolled. there are multiple sites across the uk enrolling participants, and so hopefully we will get to the point of having enough people in order to show efficacy. it is a randomised controlled trial. people will either be given the treatment are given a placebo. they will not know and we will not know which has been given. and we will follow them for a amount of time that allows them the potential to develop the infection and the disease. so we need to allow enough people to be in the study, and then enough time to pass. i'm hopeful that we might be able to look at results early in 2020,

sorry, 2021, so that towards the middle of the year we have got something so that if effective we can start offering in the nhs. very good luck to you. thank you so much for being with us. thousands of shops across the uk won't be opening for the traditional boxing day sales today — because of the lockdowns in wales and northern ireland, and tough new restrictions in england and scotland. but shops are still open in tier 3 and below areas, let's go to one of them now — phil norton is in leeds — what's it like? apologies for that interruption. and i must apologise for any language you may have heard. i think it is best to hand back to you. we will come back to you a little later on there on the boxing day shopping in

leeds. because we want to hear a bit more about it. that is going out to nashville. three people were injured and widespread damage was caused when the van that was broadcasting a warning that a blast was imminent blew up in the city centre. here in the uk, a former member of parliament has died. he was elected twice to represent northampton south. he died at northampton general hospital yesterday. the time is coming up to 25 past 12.

now before we go — a rags to riches tale for a cat... who went from imminent death... to becoming an honourary deputy minister. it sounds like a miracle but it's true for this feline, who experienced a lucky escape from a russian waste centre near moscow. if you look at the man on the right side of the conveyor belt — cutting open a plastic bag — only to find a black cat... the cat has since been adopted by the local region's environment ministry and is living the good life. three friends made and handed out more than 2,000 christmas dinners for homeless and vulnerable people over the course of four days. the trio, from leicester, prepared and cooked the meals at a bar and restaurant and then charities helped distribute them to those most in need. the majority were given to the homeless in the area.

you are watching bbc news. 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 force from all the rain 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 ice about 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 later. already the rain is with us in western scotland, mountain snow, was still spill into the rest of scotland and

northern ireland today. that's because we got south—westerly winds. they really escalate this evening. a significant amount of rain falling for many areas. another potential inch. and there is winds gustin potential inch. and there is winds gust in excess of 70 mph, could easily bring down trees or power lines. very gusty in land as well. some some storm force winds around. the combination of the winds and the rain making for some treacherous conditions on the roads. the roads to be micro —— there is likely to be some disruption. a wild start to our sunday. but behind the cold air establishes itself some icy patches, some snow, and eventually that wintry weather, that cold air will move south. most of the showers will be across central and northern areas, but by the time we get to monday that area of low pressure, we

could have some rain here as well. we could have snow even to lower levels as we head into monday across southern and eastern areas as well. by southern and eastern areas as well. by that stage, daytime temperatures will struggle to get much more then three degrees more than freezing. it will feel cold indeed with some sunshine in between those wintry showers. that cold air stays with us well into the start of the new year. we have plenty of warnings out for wind and for rain.

hello, this is bbc news with ben brown. the headline... 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. former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has died aged 98 in moscow. and coming up... we'll tell you about the sport that is high—speed and environmentally friendly — welcome to the world of extreme e — backed by f1 champion lewis hamilton. just to tell you we have had some more information about the lorries that have been stuck in kent because of the french travel ban on all lorries coming in across the channel. the