good morning. welcome to breakfast, with rogerjohnson and nina warhurst. our headlines today: borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, with a pledge to focus on spreading opportunity and delivering for those left behind. canada becomes the latest country to report cases of the new and more infectious variant of coronavirus. storm bella brings gusts of more than 80mph, and amber weather warnings for parts of wales and southern england. the of wales and southern england. winds from storm right the winds from storm bella peaking right about now. those damaging winds combined with the very wet weather, so a risk or concern still

for further flooding and treacherous conditions on the roads. further north, we are back into wintry weather with ice and snow a risk today. history for bryony frost. she becomes the first female jockey to win the king george vi chase, storming to victory on 20—1 shot frodon at kempton. it's sunday 27th december. our top story: borisjohnson has promised that big changes for the uk after securing the post—brexit trade deal on christmas eve. in an interview with the sunday telegraph, the prime minister says his focus will be on levelling up the country and spreading opportunity. but there has been criticism from the fishing industry, as political correspondent iain watson explains. the iain watson explains. prime minister has insisted i would the prime minister has insisted he would be willing to go for no deal when negotiations were going in the wrong direction, but he insisted the deal he achieved would withstand the most ruthless scrutiny by

conservative brexiteers. glad tidings and greatjoy, because this isa tidings and greatjoy, because this is a deal... full agreement with the eu runs to 1200 pages and has now been published but it's attracting some criticism. nationalfederation of fishermen ‘s organisations has described the induction and the value of eu's catch is paltry and says there is a profound sense of disillusionment and betrayal in fishing communities. changing to fishing communities. changing to fishing quotas will be phased in over 5.5 years, as the value of the eu's cat will fall by 12.5%. senior eu's cat will fall by 12.5%. senior eu negotiators admitted they compromised somewhat over fishing but said the eu had done so too. after 5.5 years the eu would the —— uk would be free to reduce access to its coastal waters further. government sources says any measures taken by the eu would have to be proportionate and would be limited to the fishing industry. iain

watson, bbc news. weather warnings are in place for large parts of the uk, as storm bella continues to bring heavy rain and high winds. gusts of more than 80mph have been recorded, and there's an amber warning for wind in place for much of the south coast of england and parts of wales. emily unia reports. returning to survey the damage. flooding forced debbie redford's father from his house flooding forced debbie redford's fatherfrom his house on flooding forced debbie redford's father from his house on christmas eve. now the water's gone down and the cleaning begins. and it went over the sockets, so they have got to be dried out. in bedfordshire river levels rose on the river whose and police told 1300 households to leave their properties. the immediate threat to life outweighed the need to follow tear for coronavirus restrictions. people we re coronavirus restrictions. people were allowed to seek shelter in friends' homes or emergency support centres. we have ended up doing what we have done in the past few years anyway, so oddly enough it has ended

up anyway, so oddly enough it has ended up being a more sociable christmas than we were planning on. overnight storm bella has delivered more disruption stop high winds have brought down trees in wales, devon and sussex, making driving conditions treacherous. the met 0ffice conditions treacherous. the met office has a number of weather warnings in place, including an amber alert for wind across southern and western england and coastal wales. the coronavirus vaccine will be given to millions of people across europe today, as countries including france, spain and italy begin the roll—out of their vaccination programmes. meanwhile, there have been confirmed cases of the more contagious variant of covid—19 in several european countries, as well as canada and japan. tim allman reports. time is of the essence in the fight against covid—19. here at this nursing home in north—east germany, the vaccination programme has begun a day early. health workers said they weren't prepared to wait for

they weren't prepared to wait for the european union's co—ordinated rollout, which was due to begin on sunday. clearly for governments all around the world it could be a real game—changer. but as the vaccine spreads in vans and lorries across the continent, so too it seems does the continent, so too it seems does the new variant strain of the virus. it was first identified in the uk nearly two weeks ago, leading to tough new restrictions for millions of people. despite some countries are effectively closing their borders to travellers from britain, the virus has been found in parts of western europe and further afield. japan and now canada have confirmed positive tests. the new form of the virus is potentially far more infectious, but at this stage it doesn't seem to be any more severe or crucially any more deadly. the big question is — will the new vaccines be effective in combating it? it happens every year, for example, with influenza virus. we

change the vaccine for influenza pretty much every year because of the evelyn every year. the concern will be a similar type thing might happen with the coronavirus. mass vaccinations are due to begin across europe today and there are reports that britain's medicine regulator could approve the so—called 0xford vaccine within a matter of days. a little hope and optimism as the new year approaches. tim allman, bbc news. let's check on the situation in australia. 0ur reporter phil mercer is in sydney. phil, there have been a few new cases that the authorities there are worried about? the sydney cluster of covid—19 has now grown to 122, and that number may not seem much compared to other countries but there are about 180 active coronavirus cases across the entire country. this cluster of cases in sydney is causing a great deal of concern for the authorities.

it is focused in the northern beaches district of sydney. some of those coastal suburbs have gone back into lockdown. there was an amnesty for a couple of days over christmas but those regions are now back under those restrictions. 0ther but those regions are now back under those restrictions. other parts of the northern beaches have stay at home orders imposed on residents. there are restrictions on other parts of sydney as well. australia had been hoping for a covid—safe christmas but this outbreak in syd ney christmas but this outbreak in sydney is causing the authorities a great deal of concern, and these restrictions in sydney will last until wednesday and then they will be reassessed. so, in total since the pandemic began, australia has recorded 28,000 covid—19 cases and more than 900 people have died. phil mercer in sydney with the latest, thank you. the health board which runs wales's largest hospital has issued an urgent appeal for help to deal with a high number of coronavirus patients.

the cardiff and vale university health board tweeted that it was urgently looking for medical students for its critical care department. last week, public health wales warned of "an alarming rise" in coronavirus case rates across the country. authorities in the us are investigating whether a campervan explosion in the city of nashville on christmas day was a suicide bombing. three people were injured in the blast, and dna tests are now being carried out after human remains were found near the site of the blast. no motive has been established and no—one has claimed responsibility. george blake, the former mi6 officer and one of the cold war‘s most infamous double agents, has died at the age of 98. as a soviet spy, he betrayed hundreds of western agents in eastern europe. russian president vladimir putin says blake was an outstanding professional. moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. he had a russian home, a russian

wife, even a russian name — mr evanovich — but george blake was a british intelligence officer who became one of the most notoriously double agents of the cold war. he spied for the soviets for nearly a decade. blake had spent three years in captivity in north korea stopped by the time he returned to britain in1953, he by the time he returned to britain in 1953, he was a committed communist. posted to berlin by mi6, he became a kgb mole. he would take the train to the soviet sector, handover data on western intelligence operations and western agents and then drink champagne with his kgb handler. i don't know but may be 500 or 600. agents? yes. blake convinced himself that what he was doing was morally right. i looked upon it like a sort of voluntaryjob. you know, like people...

oxfam? yes, something like that, yes. he was eventuallyjailed in britain for 42 years. he then was able to escape and was smuggled to east germany and spent the rest of his life in moscow, sort of cocking a snook at the brits who had not succeeded in keeping him. in 2012, he told a russian tv channel that he hadn't changed sides because of blackmail or torture. he'd offered his services voluntarily. in a message of condolence, president putin described george blake as courageous, an outstanding professional, adding that his memory it would remain in russian hearts forever. russia gave him medals and much praise but, to britain, he is the cold war traitor who escaped justice. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.

what a fascinating life he led. truth is stranger than fiction, isn't it? let's take a look at some of today's front pages. the sunday times says the covid vaccine developed by oxford university and astrazeneca is set to win approval within days. the paper says senior government officials expect the medicines regulator to give the green light before thursday. hopes that the jab will be approved soon could mean that the uk is free of tight covid restrictions by the end of february, according to the mail on sunday. but the sunday mirror leads on warnings from mps, doctors and care chiefs that the vaccine roll—out could turn into a "fiasco", with hundreds of gps surgeries and scores of hospitals reportedly still waiting for pfizerjabs.

and online, the bbc news website has the latest updates as storm bella brings heavy rain and high winds to large parts of the uk. particularly in the south and the east. inside the papers this morning they have waited to the sunday spreads to show details of the last moments when the prime minister was closing the deal and i love about it the fa ct the deal and i love about it the fact that you can sense — this is in the sunday times — tension, or boris johnson looking quite happy, but the rest of the team have ahead in their hands. this was monday night when it could have gone either way... tuesday night, sorry. and this one even more. these are all the different things that he had to eat. snacks. this is what i am more interested in, the snacks. how do we get these its of information? other brands of chocolate and soft drink are available. and heineken alcohol free lager. i love the

behind—the—scenes sense you get from the photographs because it could have gone either way at that point by all reports. in the lead up to christmas there was a lot of talk about the closing of the borders because of the new variant of coronavirus and the mail on sunday has a good comparison, it is quite big, but i should let you see it if i hold it up. this is in kent. christmas day. this one is yesterday. all but one or two had gone. very swift and efficient, and the army involved as well to get all those trucks cleared as the border reopened. incredible how quickly it built up but then even more incredible how quickly the backlog was unlocked. a couple of other insides, this is the mail on sunday again by the looks of the type. a p pa re ntly again by the looks of the type. apparently the queen has asked for a tarmac path because the gravel on one of the parts at buckingham

palace is hurting the corgis' paws and this is a picture from 1969 with one of her beloved corgis, the breed of choice for many years. imagine if you are the firm that got that call and you had to ask for the address? imagine if you knocked on the door and asked her if she would like her tarmac done! party like it is 2021 from the comfort of your front room. what are you doing on new year's eve ? what are you doing on new year's eve? nothing! we can't! exactly! this article in the observer talking about different ideas. a beatboxer has decided to get in touch with nasa for the world's first charity rave—athon launched by a retired astronaut. ravers are students at the same time and download an app and cover enough steps while dancing to cover the distance to the moon

and back, so you like you are at a party. sounds right up your street! maybe if i wasn't up the next day! here's helen with a look at this morning's weather. where is that? i'm sure there are plenty of flooded streets like this morning, courtesy of all of the rain we have seen from a storm bellow, of which we are currently bearing the brunt of those winds, and further rain is likely because it will make its way down the river system. it's pretty cold hour following behind this weather front which is whipping through southern and eastern areas this morning, and there are snow and ice warnings out in northern ireland, scotla nd warnings out in northern ireland, scotland and northern england. this mild interlude as storm bella moves through, but then for the next you days it is back to cold weather. as they say, right here, right now, we

are seeing the peak of storm bella. these are the gusts we have seen in the last few hours, 84 inland in heathrow. hence the amber warning from the met office. those damaging winds, a lot of standing water and spray. it is treacherous on those faster roots, on the drive—in i can vouch for that. and you can see how wet it is, what are following in areas where we still have got flood warnings in force at the moment across parts of eastern england. that rain were moving through before the morning is finished. it will have cleared the kent coastline but there are showers following on behind. the winds will slowly ease, but still, really quite brisk further north and west. snow showers to even though levels in the north, temperatures getting to 2—4. to even though levels in the north, temperatures getting to 2—4 . these are the gusts of wind, they ease down but it is still a windy day and

that will accentuate the chilly field. we're starting at 8— nine and falling the day. ice in the north and this evening we have persistent snow coming into scotland, northern ireland, england and wales, and as i say, it's not just ireland, england and wales, and as i say, it's notjust on the higher ground we are seeing snow settling, on lower levels as well, so it will bea on lower levels as well, so it will be a much colder night. temperatures widely getting to freezing or below, and with all the rain we have had, things will freeze over. ice will be an issue as we head into the start of the new week. come the start of the new economic remnants of that lupus is living across southern areas, and that means with the cold air being dragged down, there is a real chance we will see some snow in southern parts as well, and again, not just southern parts as well, and again, notjust in one or two spots, it could be a little more widespread. look showery here, the jury is out. we will have to firm up on the detail as we go to the next 24 hours. all are concerned at the moment with what is happening with storm bella, but heads up, it is

going to be another cold snap of weather to come in the next few days, and we will see some wintry weather, something i'm sure that will excite many schoolchildren but obviously because some disruptions as well. right now the winds and the rain are giving us cause for concern. the details and all of the warnings are on the website. roger and nina stop dank you. —— rogerand nina. thank you. lots of different restrictions remain in place across the world, as countries try to keep the coronavirus pandemic under control. cases are rising in russia, but president vladimir putin says he won't impose a new national lockdown as he tries to protect the economy. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rasinsford reports. red square is its picture postcard best. no sign here covid—19 cancelling christmas, despite the

spiralling infection rate. there are precautions — and many things have been scoured back this year, but it's no lockdown, and people told me they are fine with that. translation: i think there is enough restrictions. lots of people wear masks and i don't think we need anything stricter. translation: we don't need a lockdown, that would stop people earning wages and feeding their families. that happened in spring, and it was really bad. meanwhile, on another ice rink not far away, this is how moscow is dealing with covid. in october, we visited one of multiple giant temporary hospitals. there were not free beds back then, but hospitals now across the country are but hospitals now across the country a re close but hospitals now across the country are close to capacity, and the death rate from covid is rising. that image putin is taking his own precautions. —— voting if you

didn't, this press conference was by video link. the chosen few allowed close to him had to quarantine for two weeks first. but even loyal report is told him things had never been this tough in russia. and mr putin promised he would make things worse with another lockdown. writer is doing its best to look festive, to lift people's moods despite the covid pandemic, but this crisis hasn't only pushed russia's healthcare hasn't only pushed russia's healthca re system to hasn't only pushed russia's healthcare system to the very limits, its hurting the economy, too, and that's an issue for that it didn't, who has always presented himself as the president of stability. ——an issue for vladimir putin. this club was because the months after the pandemic first hit. the dancers are back on stage now, but their clients have far less money to spend. and covid rules mean closing at 11pm — on a dealfor a striptease it's show ——an ideal for

a striptease show. this man tells me business is down 60%. —— not ideal. i had to get a bank loan to pay wages. if there is another lockdown and we have to shut, then that's it, we'll go bankrupt and people will lose theirjobs. so, russians are bracing for another tough year once the festive lights go out. the covid vaccine has brought a flicker of hope, but this virus is one thing the kremlin is struggling to control. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. we watching the racing lately? —— where you? we had the first female jockey to win a grade one race over

jumps. and then kempton park yesterday. she wasn't the favourite, was she? it was a 20:1 shot, one of the outsiders. she is something of a history maker, and made again yesterday at emden park in the king george vi chase. one of the big sporting events on the boxing day calendar — was won by 20:1 shot frodon. bryony frost with another big win, her 175th career win, making her the most successful female national hunt jockey of all—time. joe wilson reports. the horses have no idea what tear kempton may be, but as ever, they raise. in george's boxing day tradition, doesn't mean every year isa tradition, doesn't mean every year is a repeat. look at frodon in front, the blue—and—white silks of bryo ny front, the blue—and—white silks of bryony frost, the favourite is louis, but as the fences are passed, it is still frodon. the trainer

virtually had the grandstands to himself, watching, feeling his sources have dominated this race, but here it was an outsider, leading from start to finish. commentator: frodon when the king george! bryony frost, the first woman to win this exalted race, she only realised that later. we journalists told her. that i had one king george on frodon, yeah, that's the big thing for me. regardless of the big thing for me. regardless of the girl stuff and the winners and the girl stuff and the winners and the numbers. taking in your stride, well, i was doing pretty 20? there wasn't, bbc news. —— how else to and 2020. -- wasn't, bbc news. —— how else to and 2020. —— end. arsenal beat chelsea 3—1 to end their seven—game run without a win in the premier league and ease the pressure on boss mikel arteta, in a result he hopes can be a turning point for his side. goals from alexandre lacazette, granit xhaka and this one from bukayo saka put the game beyond chelsea,

who got a consolation through tammy abraham. arsenal are now six points clear of the relegation zone. everton are up to second in the table after beating bottom of the table sheffield united 1—0. there were just ten minutes left when gylfi sigurdsson scored the only goal of the game. just two points from 15 matches now for sheffield united. leicester are third after coming from behind twice to draw with manchester united. marcus rashford got united's first. but jamie vardy‘s strike deflected in off axel tuanzebe to give brendan rodgers' side a point. it's the first time this season united have failed to win away in the league. manchester city are fifth in the table, one point behind united. they're still unbeaten in december after goals from ferran torres and this one from ilkay gundogan helped them to a 2—0 win at home to newcastle united. elsewhere, aston villa beat crystal palace while fulham and southampton drew 0—0.

those in attendance were very proud to watch the game yesterday. rangers made it 12 scottish premiership wins in a row after a hard —fought victory over hibernian at ibrox. steven gerrard's side had to work for the win, the only goal of the game coming in the first half from ianis hagi. that keeps them 16 points clear of celtic, who were 3—0 winners at hamilton. exeter‘s final match of 2020 went the way of most of the others. they beat gloucester 28—20 to stay top of the premiership — having recovered sufficiently from a covid outbreak in the squad. england forward sam simmonds scored two tries for the chiefs to maintain their perfect domestic record this season. bristol are second after beating harlequins while northampton. —— while northampton, who have been ona —— while northampton, who have been on a pudgy run, it has to say, got a late try to win over 0spreys.

cardiff were winners at dragons in pro14‘s other game on saturday and that is about all of the sport for this morning. is there any other sport where men and women go head—to—head in that way? sport where men and women go head-to-head in that way? darts? i suppose. but not competing in the same way, you know? in their own sport. horse racing... you don't see men and women, you know, competing ona men and women, you know, competing on a level playing field in that way. and it's interesting. 0bviously she is achieving so much for women's sport, but it's about getting the win for the team, and that's all that matters. maybe we should set up a small course around the studio. here is a woman who was a real

trailblazer and at the top of her game for many years. there aren't many people who can boast a career spanning almost eight decades, but that's exactly the case for kay white, the country's oldest postmistress. from world war ii to the transformation of the postal service — kay has seen it all from her village counter. she's even been honoured by the queen. but as this year draws to a close, kay's decided it's time to retire. as geeta pendse reports, she'll be leaving quite a legacy. put your letter through. a life behind the counter. at 93, kay white is the oldest postmistress in the country, assisted by an, a 75—year—old niece. kay white started working at her village post office in clovelly at the age of 14. the postm istress in clovelly at the age of 14. the postmistress asked mother if i would

come and help in the office. and in those days, if your mother says you're going to do something, you do it. and so, that's how i came to be here. kay became postmistress in 1960, and while technology has changed, she still remembers doing the accounts by herself stop mother used to say to me, is there anybody who could help you? used to say to me, is there anybody who could help you ?|j used to say to me, is there anybody who could help you? i used to say, nobody would understand this lot! laughter now after almost 80 years, kay has decided to retire, leaving a big hole in the community. how important is kay to the village? she is very important. it's about being the heart of the village where people come to share their own use. the reverend gary ward says when the post office closed temporarily this year during the rest lockdown, people really felt the loss then. some people come dailyjust to say hello and just to, you know, speak

to kay. so if the church is the soul, then the post office is definitely a very important part of the village and kay is a part of that. every week without fail, kay p°p5 that. every week without fail, kay pops over to the hairdresser is. it's safe to say her departure has become something of a talking point. she started working at the post office when she was 14. linda has known kay all her life. the impact kay has made is immense. she is an absolute character, and the person who will miss the post office the most is kay yourself, because it's just her life. what's your secret, geeta —— kay? just her life. what's your secret, geeta -- kay? ithink just her life. what's your secret, geeta -- kay? i think you've got to like helping people and one another. however you feel on that last day? it will be very strange, really, and

you know, we should be sorry, you know? i never thought i would live till now. i thought i shall die before the place was sold. and i wouldn't have to deal with all this. ididn't wouldn't have to deal with all this. i didn't think i'd be here! is 2020 draws to an end, kay and an will look up for the last time, but there is no doubting the imprint is shropshire postmistress has left on her beloved village. geeta pendse, bbc news, clovelly. it's a lovely story. they are going to miss her, the heart and soul of the community. 80 years. let's take a quick look at the weather. hello, where is that? storm bella is peaking with the strength of its wind in excess of 80 mph, so damaging winds and lots of debris down, easily bringing trees down and power lines, and more rain

to come, and if that were not enough, behind it we are into the cold air, so ice and snow warnings out across the north of the country this morning as well. wintry weather will have all parts in its grip by the end of today, so real changes. we've had this milder, stormy interlude and that is still with us with gusts in excess of 80 mph. even inland at heathrow we have had gusts in excess of 50 mph, so damaging gusts of wind — dawn falls gusts through the channel in the next few hours, causing more concerns and more damage potentially. as i say, it isa more damage potentially. as i say, it is a double—edged sword because we've had some rain with a good inch falling in many parts of the uk, three inches across scotland, but u nfortu nately three inches across scotland, but unfortunately this is falling onto saturated ground. there are numerous flood warnings out, including two severe ones in north—east england.

that fades by the end of the morning and few showers penetrate into south and few showers penetrate into south and east in areas. still brisk winds and east in areas. still brisk winds and it is cold. those showers are falling as snow and they will fall at low levels. the winds will ease this afternoon but it is still blustery, and that will accentuate the trail. temperatures starting at nine or ten the trail. temperatures starting at nine orten in the trail. temperatures starting at nine or ten in the south but dipping away barely above freezing for some parts of scotland — but she'll. a big change for how it will feel if you're out and about but the change will be welcome i'm sure. during the night time period there will be cold airsinking night time period there will be cold air sinking south with persistent snow in northern ireland, northern england and north wales into monday morning. ic after the rain we have seen. temperatures will struggle to live through the day. low pressure is still with us, the remains of storm bella and by then the winds

area light storm bella and by then the winds are a light with not a lot of intense rain with it. but some snow potentially. the devil is in the detailfor potentially. the devil is in the detail for where potentially. the devil is in the detailfor where the snow potentially. the devil is in the detail for where the snow will fall in the next 24 hours added looks likely that even southern areas and low levels in southern areas could see some snow, with a few centimetres over the higher peaks. not ourfirst snow centimetres over the higher peaks. not our first snow event in the south but it could be quite a welcome change for some schoolchildren, but it will cause issues as well. a reminder that at the moment the concern is with storm bella and the warnings are on the website. thank you very much. important to ta ke thank you very much. important to take care this morning. now on breakfast, amol rajan takes a close look at a year dominated by covid—19 and how the pandemic accelerated underlying trends and created new ones in the media year.

hello and welcome to this review of the media year in 2019, and what a year it has been. i hope you and yourfamily are doing ok. when it comes to the media, the pandemic has had a cataclysmic effect. local and national media have had one long nightmare with newspaper and papers facing misery. have been big cuts, yet demand for quality news and entertainment has soared. in the spring broadcasters in particularfaced a huge new set of challenges, how to deliver and produce use safely. especially one in the information

age. and sanitiser. covid-19. there is high demand for trusted news. britain has a range of regulated public service broadcasters doing their best to produce world—class journalism. ratings for news programmes across all channels are soaring, with many presenters broadcasting from home. published data showing transport use across the country... but producing broadcast news is exceptionally hard ina broadcast news is exceptionally hard in a pandemic. i amjust going broadcast news is exceptionally hard in a pandemic. i am just going to script a line about northern ireland ‘s. script a line about northern ireland 's. innovation is the only solution. there is plenty of it about. the nhs scheme only covers england... here correspondentjudith morris is in angest are working on a bbc news piece with her cameraman and editor, rob wood, nearly 30 miles an away in derbyshire. news reports are the result of teamwork between

correspondence, producers, camera operators and studio editors. children can make their presence felt when working from home. keeping both staff and contributors save is a priority. video interviews has become the norm of late. keeping away from interviewees is hard but boom mics and allow safe and high—quality sound. it is notjust television. kitchens and front lounges have been converted into makeshift radio studios, like those of the today programme. here's the bbc‘s david sillito using duvet to increase quality. furnishings can reduce sound and increase echo. apps like skype and zoom are replacing face—to—face daily editorial meetings. jonty, what do you think about using that? broadcasting is a technical adventure, but right now more than ever. always remember that

news is a team effort. thankfully, by the autumn, many of those productions were up and running again, as my colleague, david sillito discovered. david: it's been a while. eastenders returned to our screens after a covid—related break, but social distancing has rather changed filming. for instance, let's look again at that kiss. what you can't see is what's actually between them. there is a screen in between us which you can't see because of the way it's shot behind the railings. the railing is covering the fact that the screen is there, so we are kissing the screen.

it looks like we can be as close as we need to be because of the screen. and here, no screen, but a deceptive camera angle. there's also another solution, bring your own partner. we've had partners bring in their real partners for kissing scenes. so it's a total new way of working. the tv and film industry has had to think on its feet to get production back to almost normal, but for the soaps, coronation street, emmerdale and eastenders, it's been a challenge. for local print newspapers, disruption mostly means terminal decline. despite a few scraps from the likes of google and facebook, the market for local news in this country is broken. there is huge demand for trusted local information, but for now, a lack of willingness to actually pay for it.

there were big redundancies at national titles like the mirror and the guardian too. titles like the london evening standard and metro which depend heavily on commuters were particularly badly hit. but there was plenty of exceptional journalism this year. one of the scoops of the year was a co—production between the guardian and the mirror. i spoke to the mirror's editor, alison phillips, about how breaking a massive story in a pandemic isn't exactly glamorous. back in the summer, we did the dominic cummings story, which was one of those great stories that you live to do. and it was late on a friday night that we finally got enough to get it over the line to get it up online at seven and then in print the next morning. so there was me in my spare room, and then there was our head of news, who was sat by his son's bunk beds working. and our night editor there in his flat. and it was like, this is not how it looks in the movies, is it? when you try to break this important story. i would love to get your side of that story.

this was a big exclusive that you shared with the guardian. we spoke to kath viner. we spoke to pippa crerar, your political editor, about it. just tell us again why you ended up working together with the guardian on that. we had a call really early on, and i think as the guardian had as well, they had gone to number ten and we were being completely stonewalled. you know, as you know, you need to be absolutely certain when you go. and the idea that we weren't getting any response from them just made it really difficult, but we kept on working on it. obviously, we havejeremy armstrong, our reporter in the northeast was on it for several weeks, and photographers, and we were looking at all sorts of different...trying to patch it all together, and then pippa heard that the guardian were also looking at having different sources as well. and then by bringing it together, and i spoke to kath viner, and we knew that together, we had enough to get it over the line. did you deliberately hold back some details to give you a really strong splash over several days? in other words, did you drip feed the story?

no, not intentionally. in that there were some bits of the story that we needed more work on. just to be clear, did you have any agreements with the guardian about what they would do and what you would do? yeah, completely. so we had to make sure that we were going with the same lines on the same day at exactly the same time. alison phillips of the mirror titles there. let's turn now from traditional media to an area that has seen exponential growth. in recent years, an alternative media economy has sprung up, one in which tens of thousands of entrepreneurs become so—called creators, producers and presenters of their own content, their own media. this alternative universe is of course youtube. and in the past year, one of its biggest stars, joe wicks, has become part of the daily routine for millions of us. let's go! good morning everybody, and welcome back to pe withjoe. today's work—out is another wheel

of fortune work—out. whilejoe wicks became an even bigger national star than he already was, countless others are finding fame and fortune as youtubers. i spoke to youtube's managing directorfor the uk and ireland to get inside this revolution. what lockdown and the pandemic and the impact of the lockdown confirmed for us was something that we have known for a long period of time which is youtube is where the nation comes to watch content that they love. you know, what happened during the pandemic was some of those things came much more into the public sphere than the private sphere for us all, and they became really shared moments. what you're talking about really is the creation of a whole new economy. you are talking about a huge number of people, some of whom become very famous or rich, some of whom don't, but hope to and also businesses, which are essentially youtube phenomenon so this is a new economy. that's absolutely right. it's a critical part in my view of the uk's current creative economy. it is, as you say, it includes individuals making very significant money, there will be names in the uk, ksi, zoella, that people will know

of from people who have built their brands, their personality, and ultimately their business on youtube as a platform. but there are also people who set out as businesses. if i think, in the uk, grm daily began as grime daily. grm, the holy grail of black british music. started by two young guys who had a passion for a particular genre of british music and have built themselves into what is today the heartbeat of british youth culture, or a completely different audience, global cycling network, another example of a channel begun by two guys, again around the kitchen table, this time in bath. all you need to do is make a direct connection with an audience that shares your passion, that's as interested about the topics that

you're interested in, and you can build and shape those audiences. 0ur gaming creators, our female gaming creators, a young woman who is called yammy, or her channel name is yammy, yasmin uddin, who's from leeds. my son dante has been requesting me to play this game for a month. every day he says to me... please can you play the henry stickmin collection? she's a young woman who has built a hugely successful gaming channel. she had a child at 16, that would largely speaking rule you out of a career in mainstream media, traditional media, but it hasn't held her back at all. any one of our creators would be able to open their analytics and see what's happened to pricing in which market, where did their viewership come from? that empowers people to make informed decisions. you know, he's not as famous asjoe wicks, but on our platform, he's just as successful asjoe wicks, is a young guy from folkestone and hythe called matt morsia.

the more subscribers i have, ultimately the more i can command in terms of sponsorship. if i go to a company and say i have 1.5 million subscribers, i can ask for more money and get a bigger sponsored video. he's produced multiple video explaining how much he's made, either from an individual video, how much he's made overall. i forget, like, that money, that revenue from this video, that's more money than i've made in an entire year as a teacher. one of the other areas of media making a lot of people very rich is gaming. gaming was one of the big winners of the pandemic. stuck indoors, millions of us travelled into virtual worlds limited only by the speed of our broadband connections. he's hit his head. call of duty, the first—person shooter video game, isn't merely an experience these days. for a growing army of players, it's the pinnacle of a career. that includes 21—year—old sean 0'connor from glasgow. a bit like a top footballer, he plays for the london royal ravens,

one of the best teams in the international league. he's just signed a six—figure deal through his manager, and often trains for eight hours a day. i feel like gaming has a thing for everyone, streaming, youtube, there is competing, there's casual gaming, and i think there is a lot that even the casual or even older or younger can all play and have a good time. and you can do it from the comfort of your room. don't eat the food product! gaming today is more a global social network than a digital version of monopoly or snakes and ladders. global revenues have leapt from under $20 billion annually a decade ago to a projected $200 billion within the next three years. the growth in the uk alone was astounding, even before lockdown led to a huge surge in playing. smartphones and consoles are driving that growth. and britain is benefiting. these vast buildings are now creative studios deployed for making films or games.

if ever there was evidence of new media supplanting old, it's here. a former print work site for the daily mail in 0xfordshire, now owned by rebellion, a british media giant that makes games such as evil genius 2, sniper elite, and this one, zombie army 4. one of the key technologies for us in the games industry is digital distribution across a global population. so the more people that we can connect to with our games, the more people that can play them, and then itjust becomes a challenge of discovery. a key component though is exporting our creativity worldwide, and the audience for our computer games is as broad as we can reach with the internet. it may look like a blank canvas, but sites like this one 50 miles west of london will help video gaming dominate the attention economy. new technologies are making even the most complex games universally accessible. multiplayer titles made gaming

a social experience, and whereas books, films, tv shows and podcasts all have a single plot with an ending, it's in the very nature of gaming for the same content to go in countless attention—grabbing directions. these 3d worlds are great and growing business. new technology is converting gaming from an alternative reality to a way of life. gaming's remarkable growth is being driven, like the rest of media, by the power of the internet. in the uk, regulators are belatedly trying to limit the dominance of a few tech giants, having announced the creation of a digital markets unit in just the past few weeks. in america, the department ofjustice is also on the offensive, taking google to court in the next year. indeed, what we are seeing is nothing less then a global battle for the soul of the internet. a cold war is under way between the world's leading two superpowers. though it's been little noticed this year by voters dealing with a global pandemic.

what started out as a battle over trade escalated into threats over the exchange rate for the un and is now a major conflict. as ever, in battles between ideologically conflicting superpowers, america and china are vying for technological supremacy. two companies illustrate that battle. huawei, with its dominance of 5g, and tiktok, a young entertainment platform already boasting over 800 million users. tiktok is owned by bytedance, now worth $100 billion. its founder, zhang yiming, has pledged deep cooperation with the chinese communist party. that is why politicians of all stripes in america see tiktok, like huawei, as a national security threat, giving china access to the precious data and attention of american citizens.

earlier this year, president trump demanded it be sold to a non—chinese company, and that the us treasury get a cut. it's unprecedented in the us, but such assertions of sovereignty are already standard practice in china where platforms like youtube and whatsapp are blocked, along with foreign sources of news and religious instruction. and where the web is a tool of surveillance. in a sense, then, president trump merely borrowed from china's playbook, and these new methods of control go further than just the us and china. in india, for example, narendra modi's government has banned tiktok and other chinese—owned mobile apps. and other states have used various social media controls monitoring all censorship. tiktok is notjust a platform for video pranks, it proves there's a battle for the soul of the internet in an era of rising nationalism, where governments say that countries, and not companies, should control the web. with almost half of humanity not yet online, how and if this big digital chill spreads could shape the 21st century.

you are watching a review of the media year here on bbc news. it's good to have you with us. as ever, the british royalfamily were all over the headlines. at the start of the year, prince harry's war on tabloid culture led to the departure of him, meghan and their son from official duties. there was a multi—million pound deal with netflix and a sympathetic book about them serialised in the times. all the while, prince harry and meghan are pursuing legal action against several of britain's newspapers. there will be headlines aplenty from court in the coming year. in october, extraordinary allegations re—surfaced that martin bashir‘s astonishing interview with princess diana from 25 years ago was partly obtained through forged bank statements. bashir, who is recovering from a major operation, hasn't spoken, but tim davie, the director general of the bbc, has announced an independent

investigation led by a formerjudge. one of the central figures in that investigation will be davie's predecessor, tony hall, director of news when the diana interview aired. he bowed out after seven years as director general this summer, and is his exit interview, he addressed rows over the n—word and rule britannia, and suggested ways the bbc might need to change in a world ripped asunder by technology. eight years ago, deep editorial failures over coverage ofjimmy savile and lord mcalpine led to the resignation of a director general of the bbc after just 54 days. chris patten, then chairman of the bbc, sent for tony hall, a former director of bbc news, who directed a creative turnaround at the royal opera house. i'm standing on the edge. after steadying the ship, hall's big challenge was to negotiate a new charter for the bbc. central to his deal was the bbc taking on a welfare payment for free tv licenses for the over 755. hall considered this nuclear. did you threaten

to resign over that? i thought about resigning, but at that moment i thought you have got to get in there and try to stop this or ameliorate what they're proposing to do. did you make it clear to them that this is a welfare payment and that's what governments do and not broadcasters? yes, we made all of those arguments. it was one of the most difficult and tense sets of negotiations or discussions i've ever had. the bbc has now said it will only pay for free tv licenses for those on pension credit, a level the government decides on. at the end of that negotiation, which you led for the bbc, the bbc had a time bomb placed underneath it, and that time bomb is going off just as you are leaving. you call it a time bomb, i say we've come to a solution, which is an absolutely fair solution, which is those who cannot afford to pay for the licence fee don't have to pay for it if you are on pension credit. but for a lot of people this

is a very, very painful choice. there are hundreds of thousands or millions of people in this country who love the bbc, who have supported the bbc for years and have gotten used to having it forfree. why are you now actively hurting those people and saying you've got to pay for something you've been getting for free? but you have got to go back and say, who is actually responsible for this? a then—majority conservative government put on the bbc. for many truly national institutions, from the bbc to the monarchy, the struggle to reflect a more diverse, divided and digital britain itself creates deep divisions. injuly, the bbc broadcast the n—word, prompting an outcry. initially it defended the decision, strongly, then hall apologised. i felt using the n—word at that time of day, in that report, was a mistake. these are difficult decisions, and in the end, occasionally, i've intervened as director general when i felt it was right. the future, hall reckons, is a mixed model. i think the news business is one which is very difficult to make commercial sense out of and that's why i've been arguing

with the government to say, give us some more money, we can get to a billion people globally. then we have also been working with itv on a thing called britbox, and britbox outside this country, and i think that could be the breakthrough for us going to many, many more places globally and selling to people directly. lord hall has been an effective director general who probably had the toughestjob of any director general. his tenure was shaped by dealings with a majority conservative government. the same will be true of his successor. the us election was predictably a festival of misinformation, not least from the outgoing president himself, something twitter decided to call out. when trump has made claims about election rigging or missing ballots, twitter now attaches a label declaring those particular claims about election fraud are disputed. note, they stop short of saying they are false, somewhere very few tech companies want to go. actorjohnny depp lost

a high—profile libel case against the sun which had a headline calling him a wife beater. depp has been dropped from the next fantastic beasts movie. 2020 was the year we lost two broadcasting giants, nicholas parsons and des 0'connor both died, and journalism lost one of its greats with the death of sir harry evans. they don't make them like harry evans anymore. as the most celebrated british editor of his generation, he personified the noblest possibilities of both journalism and social mobility in the 20th century. the son of a railway man and grocery store owner, he came up through local papers, first on the manchester evening news, than as editor of the northern echo in darlington, aged just 32. harry evans fell out spectacularly with rupert murdoch, but not before, in 13 years at the sunday times, he redefined journalism itself. a master craftsman, he pioneered a form of brave, investigative,

campaigning journalism, famously winning compensation for the survivors of thalidomide, a drug given to pregnant women who gave birth to children with serious birth defects. it was a landmark victory. it's the most importantjudgement not only for the freedom of the press, but for the citizen's right to know in england. the most distinguished group ofjudges have told the british government, reform the laws, they have got to do it now. the ten years of public campaigning have left their mark on the family. david mason was the parent who first interested evans in the story. his daughter, louise, was one of those affected by thalidomide as a baby. she died two years ago after many years of poor health. i went along to the offices of the sunday times and harry evans got up from the far end of the table, walked down, all the board in there and he said, david, i want to pledge now all the support of the sunday times and all the power that we can muster to take these people on and get the due compensation to which the victims are entitled. he was invaluable,

he really was invaluable and i will miss him greatly. evans moved to america with his wife, thejournalist tina brown, shifting from a golden era in newspapers to one in magazines. now in a new york power couple, he was a long way from his north of england roots, but remained forever a news man at heart. he excelled at everything journalism required. he was a fine writer, he had a great eye for layout and design and typefaces, he had an airing instinct for a story and he believed in investigative journalism, and he took all that and used it to create the modern sunday times. the embodiment of a humble hack taking on mighty forces with nothing but the truth, harry evans putjournalism itself in a debt to him that will never be serviced. sir harry evans. we owe him so much.

the digitalisation notjust of media but of our entire lives will, of course, accelerate in 2021. look out for a new wave of anti—trust measures as regulators everywhere try to break up tech monopolies. the tech cold war splintering the internet further, lots of royals in court, new chairman, maybe a new path for the bbc, and a shake—up of british broadcasting with the arrival of gb news as the battle for our ears, eyes and attention intensifies. whatever you're doing, and however digital your christmas may be, i hope you and yourfamily have a happy and healthy time. thanks for watching.

good morning. welcome to breakfast, with rogerjohnson and nina warhurst. 0ur headlines today: borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, with a pledge to focus on spreading opportunity and delivering for those left behind. canada becomes the latest country to report cases of the new and more infectious variant of coronavirus. storm bella brings gusts of more than 80mph and amber weather warnings for parts of wales and southern england. the winds from storm bella peaking right about now. those damaging winds combined with the very wet weather, so a risk or concern

still for further flooding and treacherous conditions on the roads. further north, we are back into wintry weather with ice and snow a risk today. history for bryony frost. she becomes the first female jockey to win the king george vi chase, storming to victory on 20—1 shot frodon at kempton. it's sunday 27th december. our top story: borisjohnson has promised that big changes for the uk after securing the post—brexit trade deal on christmas eve. in an interview with the sunday telegraph, the prime minister says his focus will be on levelling up the country and spreading opportunity. but there has been criticism from the fishing industry, as political correspondent iain watson explains. the prime minister has insisted he had been willing to go for no—deal when negotiations were going in the wrong direction, but he insisted the deal he achieved would withstand the most ruthless

scrutiny by conservative brexiteers. glad tidings and greatjoy, because this is a deal... the full agreement with the eu runs to more than 1,200 pages and has now been published but it's attracting some criticism. the national federation of fishermen's organisations has described the induction and the value of eu's catch is paltry and says there is a profound sense of disillusionment and betrayal in fishing communities. changes to fishing quotas will be phased in over 5.5 years, with the value of the eu's cat falling by 25%. senior eu negotiators admitted they compromised somewhat over fishing but said the eu had done so too. after 5.5 years the uk would be free to reduce access government sources says any measures taken by the eu would have to be proportionate and would be limited to the fishing industry. iain watson, bbc news.

weather warnings are in place for large parts of the uk, as storm bella continues to bring heavy rain and high winds. gusts of more than 80mph have been recorded, and there's an amber warning for wind in place for much of the south coast of england and parts of wales. emily unia reports. the river has gone back down, as you can see. returning to survey the damage. flooding forced debbie radford's father from his house on christmas eve. now the water's gone down and the cleaning begins. and it went over the sockets, so they have got to be dried out. in bedfordshire river levels rose on the great 0use and police told 1,300 households to leave their properties. the immediate threat to life outweighed the need to follow tier 4 coronavirus restrictions. people were allowed to seek shelter in friends' homes or emergency support centres. we have ended up doing what we have done in the past few years anyway, so oddly enough it has ended up

being a more sociable christmas than we were planning on. 0vernight storm bella has delivered more disruption. high winds have brought down trees in wales, devon and sussex, making driving conditions treacherous. the met office has a number of weather warnings in place, including an amber alert for wind across southern and western england and coastal wales. millions of people living in countries including france, italy, spain and austria will start receiving the coronavirus vaccine today, as the eu officially starts its co—ordinated vaccination programme. but health workers in north—eastern germany said they weren't prepared to wait, and began immunising around forty residents at one nursing home last night. time is of the essence in the fight against covid—19. here at this nursing home in north—east germany, the programme has the vaccination begun a day early.

health workers said they weren't prepared to wait for the european union's co—ordinated roll—out, which was due to begin on sunday. clearly, for governments all around the world, it could be a real game—changer. but as the vaccine spreads in vans and lorries across the continent, so too it seems does the new variant strain of the virus. it was first identified in the uk nearly two weeks ago, leading to tough new restrictions for millions of people. despite some countries are effectively closing their borders to travellers from britain, the virus has been found in parts of western europe and further afield. japan and now canada have confirmed positive tests. the new form of the virus is potentially far more infectious, but at this stage it doesn't seem to be any more severe or crucially any more deadly. the big question is: will the new vaccines be effective in combating it?

it happens every year, for example, with influenza virus. we change the vaccine for influenza pretty much every year because of the evolution from year to year. the concern will be a similar type thing might happen with the coronavirus. mass vaccinations are due to begin across europe today and there are reports that britain's medicine regulator could approve the so—called 0xford vaccine within a matter of days. a little hope and optimism as the new year approaches. tim allman, bbc news. europe correspondent damien mcguinness joins us now from berlin. what is happening there today? the vaccine will start the official rollout today in germany and across europe. italy, spain and france and other countries in the eu are also rolling out the vaccine. that is the official rollout but some people have pressed ahead anyway. a nursing

home in north—west germany decided that every day counts and as soon as they got the vaccine yesterday they started vaccinating around 40 residents. that means the first person in germany has already received the vaccine. it is a 101 year old and she proudly had photos taken of her having the vaccine taken. the health minister said despite the fact nursing home pressed ahead against the unity with which they had hoped to give a message about how the eu had stuck together, he wished her the best of luck. it is being seen as positive because even though germany did pretty well in the first wave of the pandemic, and having much lower infection rates and death rates than most other european countries, the second wave has really hit germany hard. so we have a total now of 30,000 deaths, and that rocketed up from 10,000 for months and months. suddenly in the last six weeks it

has really shot up, so that's created a lot of worry in germany. we are now ten days into a complete lockdown, so this vaccine rollout todayis lockdown, so this vaccine rollout today is a real sign of hope for people here and the health minister said it is a happy christmas message and the eu commission president ursula von der leyen said the fact that the vaccine is being rolled out across that the vaccine is being rolled out a cross m ost that the vaccine is being rolled out across most eu countries is a touching sign of unity. damien comolli. —— damien comolli thank you very much. in ausralia, authorities in sydney are concerned about a cluster of infections in the nothern part of the city. 0ur correspondent in sydney is phil mercer. the sydney cluster of covid—19 has now grown to 122. and that number may not seem much compared to other countries but there are about 180 active coronavirus cases across the entire country. this cluster of cases in sydney is causing a great deal of concern

for the authorities. it is focused in the northern beaches district of sydney. some of those coastal suburbs have gone back into lockdown. there was an amnesty for a couple of days over christmas but those regions are now back under those restrictions. other parts of the northern beaches have stay—at—home orders imposed on residents. there are restrictions on other parts of sydney as well. australia had been hoping for a covid—safe christmas but this outbreak in sydney is causing the authorities a great deal of concern, and these restrictions in sydney will last until wednesday and then they will be reassessed. so, in total since the pandemic began, australia has recorded 28,000 covid—19 cases and more than 900 people have died. the health board which runs wales's largest hospital has issued an urgent appeal for help to deal with a high number

of coronavirus patients. the cardiff and vale university health board tweeted that it was urgently looking for medical students for its critical care department. last week, public health wales warned of "an alarming rise" in coronavirus case rates across the country. authorities in the us are investigating whether a campervan explosion in the city of nashville on christmas day was a suicide bombing. three people were injured in the blast, and dna tests are now being carried out after human remains were found near the site of the blast. no motive has been established, and no—one has claimed responsibility. good morning if you arejustjoining us. weather warnings are in place for large parts of the uk and thousands of people are still unable to return to their flooded homes, as storm bella continues to bring strong winds and heavy rain. yesterday we spoke with debbie radford, who had to rescue herfather from his flooded cottage on christmas eve. she's now been able to asses the damage and joins us now,

along with sue thomas, who helped protect people's homes in bedford. how are you doing, debbie? how is your dad? i am really, really tired! my your dad? i am really, really tired! my father is fine. we were there all day yesterday, so the cleaning up definitely began. we have not up and cleaned and managed to get some things back into some of the cupboards —— mopped up. his kitchen is looking a bit more like a kitchen rather than stuff absolutely everywhere. 0bviously electrical goods still can't be used. is he ok and not too distressed by the experience? no, he did get a tad grumpy! we can forgive him that, i think! i did actually, yeah! yeah, no, he is not too bad. we have got a

great close family so you kind of pull each other through. so, tell us about what happened where you are in bedford. i understand you were making home—made sandbags yesterday? yes, we found out we were at high risk and so i contacted the local organisation i am a member for two asked for help. we had an amazing response. my neighbour and asked for help. we had an amazing response. my neighbourand her asked for help. we had an amazing response. my neighbour and her sons started to make sandbags. we all had help from robert, who came with a truckload he was going to deliver elsewhere but instead he delivered to us. we delivered something like... we made and delivered something like over 300 sandbags to each dwelling. there is a lot of

flooding in our road and a lot of people have conditions and ourselves isolating. so we helped them protect their home so helpfully if it didn't rise too high they would not have to leave. that is just rise too high they would not have to leave. that isjust what rise too high they would not have to leave. that is just what we rise too high they would not have to leave. that isjust what we do. rise too high they would not have to leave. that is just what we do. so, what is the situation now? did you manage to keep the water out? is it still raining? how concerned are you? what still raining? how concerned are you ? what is still raining? how concerned are you? what is the latest? we had lots of storms and rain. we were concerned — even though they said the river is receding and the risk has been lowered. to be honest, is it carries on like this, i am still glad we had done it. i am glad we did something rather than nothing. it has come up before many years ago, and you can see the flood levels where it got up to. hopefully it won't. it comes up through the drains apparently and then it comes

really fast. i have had some neighbours who had bad flooding last time. yeah... i am sure the bedford kindness group on facebook will get even more sandbags if needed. debbie, how do you feel about the cottage, because obviously it has a special place in your heart? my special place in your heart? my grandfather converted it from a house 70 or 80 years ago, and my mother lived there all of her life and she passed ten years ago, so i named the cottage after her — it is rovehs named the cottage after her — it is rover‘s cottage. it is soul destroying. when you go in you can smell the river. such a lot of work to do now, which obviously can be done but we can't get insurance for the property because you are so close to the river, so we have to pay for all of that as well. we are

seeing pictures from inside that you have sent to us. you worry that if you can't get insured, what is the future? is this a 1—off? you can't get insured, what is the future? is this a 1-off? no. it last happened in 1998 but not to this degree. there was two foot of water in there yesterday in the evening... in the early morning and, yeah, everything has to be changed and redecorated and possibly a new kitchen is needed because the water was held in there for a long time. we need some dehumidifiers, dry it out and assess the situation with regard to how bad it will be. will your dad stay with you in the meantime? he's got a wood burner, so to keep the house dry, the wood burner needs to be kept going to keep the radiators running, although that is back up and running. so, he was

happy to go back, he wanted to go back, in fact. happy to go back, he wanted to go back, infact. but happy to go back, he wanted to go back, in fact. but the bedroom's phone, upstairs is fine, so, yeah, we will just phone, upstairs is fine, so, yeah, we willjust go down and help him today. but it was making a difference, i think, today. but it was making a difference, ithink, the today. but it was making a difference, i think, the heating going. and, just a final one to you, you did say, you know, you are still monitoring the situation and you hope the immediate danger has passed, but how concerned are you in the future, we care about, you know, extreme weather events could become more frequent. does it worry you, where you live? i think it should worry all of us, anyone who lives near the floodplain, really. worry all of us, anyone who lives nearthe floodplain, really. parts of the towns have been really bad andl of the towns have been really bad and i know that obviously, if that continues, it'sjust not meant to, it's not the life anyone wants to live, really, having don't worry, and never there's a massive storm. so, hopefully, hopefully, no more this year. itjust keeps giving.

taking some comfort, i'm sure, from the incredible response of the facebook group in your community. that is amazing. i know, the group has been amazing because it started up has been amazing because it started upjust before has been amazing because it started up just before lockdown. has been amazing because it started upjust before lockdown. and it was so many ideas and within minutes there were so many people co—ordinating across the whole town who donated. so, all of us who were doing shopping, prescriptions, phone calls, people making bags and masks for the key workers at the hospital in care homes. 0ver christmas we delivered the 1200 advent calendars and toiletries for homeless and those in hospital. so, it's an amazing group, there's a lot of lovely people here and they do come out and support their community and

their neighbours. they are really lovely. it's a lovely place to live, to be honest. exactly what you need ina time to be honest. exactly what you need in a time of crisis. thank you so much. 2020, the year that keeps on giving. 0nly much. 2020, the year that keeps on giving. only four days left, and then maybe it will give up? well, staying positive. here's helen with a look at this morning's weather. tell us about storm valour, it is obviously still here. and just listening to what you are talking about as well. it is still raining at the moment for storm bella, but once this passes through into the cold airagain, it once this passes through into the cold air again, it doesn't look as if we have got any significantly wet periods to go for the end of this year, just showers, so, any more rain when the ground is saturated is not good news, but no huge swathes of cloud and rain like we have seen through the night and of course last week. but they could be further

flooding of course, because all that rain that has fallen through the night has got to make its way down through the river systems as well as it is still raining in southern areas. i will see the red a picture inafew areas. i will see the red a picture in a few moments. then further north into cold air. cold air will see through the rest of 2020, and when the showers come along, they could present as snow, even at low levels and even eventually in southern parts as well. these are the wind speeds. not just the parts as well. these are the wind speeds. notjust the rain, because of the strength of the wind, of course we did have rain warnings out, the strength of the wind has brought some trees down, as we heard in wales overnight, and there is a lot of debris lying on the roads, even small bits of debris around, it is actually quite nasty out there with spray and water on the faster roots as well. potential aqua planning. and it is starting to ease away across parts of wales in the south—west, the next few hours we will see the west over southern and eastern areas as well and for the rain, the rain is moving to very

steadily now, you have had about an inch from many areas but across england so far, about 10—15 millimetres moving quite quickly. moving away to give us the showers, very few showers following across eastern england, so some dry weather for most here through this afternoon, showers coming through thick and fast ended with north—westerly and a chilly wind, so those showers will fall to snow at the levels and heavier showers across the north and the west. later on today we could see some of this is an snow coming in. the wind speeds are significant as we go into the afternoon but nowhere near as significant as at night. 0nly 2—3 across the north of the country, temperatures dipping away further southis temperatures dipping away further south is a cold air establishes itself. we are in for a much colder night tonight. looking at this snow coming into scotland, northern ireland, northern england and north wales as well, we could see some snow falling of the hills and mountains but even at lower levels missing across the south—west as

well, perhaps the more is having a dusting of snow by morning as well. —— moors, and widespread frost come monday morning. we'll be scraping theice monday morning. we'll be scraping the ice off because first thing tomorrow morning, it will be icy about, highs warnings already in the north, there could well be snow in southern areas through tomorrow as well as the remnants of storm bella, as the low pressure meanders its way out. the devil is in the detail, but the air is cold enough, i think that is what we have to establish here. if the showers are heavier enough, it will bring the snow down to lower levels. different issues as we start the new week attempt is really struggling again tomorrow. but for the here and now, the next couple of hours, expect a battering by storm bella, and we still have heavy rain. all of that detail for the flood warnings are on the website, because there are still two severe weather warnings are numerous flood warnings. we will get an update from

you in half—an—hour. thank you. it has just you in half—an—hour. thank you. it hasjust gone you in half—an—hour. thank you. it has just gone 7:21am. as the year draws to a close, so does one of the uk's longest careers. postmistress kay white has been working in the same post office in shropshire for almost 80 years, and in that time, she's seen it all. from world war ii, to the transformation of the postal service, she's been honoured by the queen as well. it all means that when she leaves, kay will leave a big hole in the local community, as geeta pendse has been finding out. put your letter through. thank you. a life behind the counter. at 93, kay white is the oldest postmistress in the country, assisted by anne, her spritely 75—year—old niece. kay started working at her village post office in clovelly at the age of 14. there we are. mrs drew, the postmistress,

asked mother if i'd come and help in the office. and in those days, if your mother says you're going to do something, you do it. and so, that's how i came to be here. kay became postmistress in 1960, and whilst technology has changed, she still remembers doing the accounts by herself. mother used to say to me, "kay, isn't there anybody who could help you?" i used to say, "nobody would understand this lot!" laughter now, after almost 80 years, kay has decided to retire, leaving a big hole in the community. bells chime how important is kay to the village? she is very important. it's about being the heart of the village, really, where people come to share their news. the reverend, garry ward, says when the post office closed temporarily this year

during the first lockdown, people really felt the loss then. some people come dailyjust to say hello and just to, you know, speak to kay. so, if the church is the soul, then the post office is definitely the heart of the village and kay is a very important part of that. every week without fail, kay pops over to the only other shop in the village — the hairdresser‘s — for a weekly wash and set. and it's safe to say that her departure has become something of a talking point. she started working at the post office when she was 14. linda has known kay all her life. the impact kay has made on the village is immense. she is an absolute character, and the person who will miss the post office the most is kay yourself, because it's just been her life. what's your secret, kay? you've been working here almost 80 yea rs. i think you've got to like helping people and one another.

how will you feel on that last day? it will be very strange, really, and you know, we should be sorry, you know? i never thought i would live till now. and i thought i shall die and the place will be sold. and i wouldn't have to deal with all this. i didn't think i'd be here! laughter as 2020 draws to an end, kay and anne will lock up for the last time, but there is no doubting the imprint this shropshire postm istress has left on her beloved village. geeta pendse, bbc news. i reckon she will be looking over the counter to see if people are doing it properly. some people never retire. mass vaccinations are starting across europe today — as more countries report cases of the new, more contagious variant of covid—19. it was first identified here in the uk nearly two weeks ago.

scientists believe it is responsible for a spike in cases. despite some countries effectively closing their borders to travellers from britain, the new virus variant has been found in parts of western europe. it has also been identified in japan. and overnight tonight, canada has become the latest country to confirm positive tests for it. we'rejoined now from geneva by dr margaret harris, from the world health organization. thank you, as ever, forjoining us. despite the best efforts, the new variant is spreading. despite the best efforts, the new variant is spreadinglj despite the best efforts, the new variant is spreading. i worried should we be? good morning, nina. important to really understand is that the information we have so far, the science is suggesting that yes, this virus may be able to transmit more effectively, but that doesn't change the advice. so what we should be looking at is how well are we really doing the things we know that stop the spread, which is the — avoiding mass gatherings, the

physical distancing, the hand washing, the mask wearing when you're in close circumstances, the improvement of ventilation, not having crowds together, not having a badge of people in your household together, all these things we have been saying, but if everybody looked very ha rd been saying, but if everybody looked very hard at themselves, are they really doing it? it's sticking to the basics, isn't it? and with the rollout of a vaccine and hopefully another one on the way, the oxford vaccine, ina another one on the way, the oxford vaccine, in a couple of weeks, to what extent do you think that makes people bring their guard down a little bit? it is one of our concerns. when you watch a hollywood movie, they get the vaccine and that's it, right? that's not the case stop it will take time. it will ta ke case stop it will take time. it will take at least six months to have any level of immunity in any — any — community, and most of these vaccines are two those courses, so just having the one shot isn't going to give you that level of

protection, you need the two shots, and they are weeks apart, and any large numbers of people to have real immunity. so, to make it work really well, you need to bring the transmission down as much as possible in your community while you are building up that internal immunity. if you do those two things together, then we really have a very good chance of sitting here next year and saying, what happened last year? we can say we really can do it. an interesting decision to be made in other countries. we have seen the first vaccine in the czech republic going to the prime minister, here in the uk, margaret keenan decided to prioritise the elderly immediately. your view, what is the best way of rolling this vaccine out? quite some time ago i identified the groups we thought should be vaccinated first based on

expert advice from around the world. we prioritise health and frontline workers first because they are the ones who are exposed every day to the virus, they are also the ones battling for our lives every day. the next group is the elderly and the people with underlying illnesses, because they are the ones who are going to get the most sick, they are the ones who will need most care. essentially, if you have dealt with those two groups first, then you have taken the pressure off. and you have taken the pressure off. and you could move into other groups. can you summarise for us, we have some pictures of cargo arriving in italy, people carrying the vaccines, the scale of the operation and how long it is going to take to ensure all of the community, globally is vaccinated? people are talked about things like scaling, like a moonshot, like trying to get to mars. the involvement must be worldwide stop lodges suspicions ——

from logisticians, immunity workers to help people understand what it is they need to do, how to find it, all of the infrastructure to set up the places. this is an extraordinary effort. and i have to say those people must be thinking about how their christmases were disrupted. everything we're doing to get to this stage, they must have been working 24/7 to able to start vaccinating just a few days after christmas. it's incredible what is possible with science, but we don't wa nt possible with science, but we don't want people to take their eyes off the ball. what you said people slightly exhausted by the last year and perhaps tempted to stop those basic, basic checks every day? i would say keep at it and double down. when you are getting towards the end of your marathon you think you can see the finish line, and it is the moment when it is a bit further and you have a hill to climb

and you think you just want to stop. this is the moment where you really double down on all those measures stop we all have a part to play. you might not feel ill but you may have the virus. every time you take precautions that prevent anyone else being infected, you could be saving a life. it is a life you may never know about but you could be saving a life. a really simple message to end on. margaret harris from the world health organization in geneva, many thanks. coming up on bbc one at 7:50am, it's match of the day. we're on the bbc news channel until 9am this morning. time now to look back on the year in film, with mark kermode. hello, and welcome to this

review of the year in film. i'm mark kermode, and over the next 30 minutes, i'll be rounding up the highs and lows of what's proved a challenging but also surprisingly creative year for cinema. 2020 seemed to start so well with the uk release injanuary of the personal history of david copperfield. armand iannuccis superb reimagining of dickens' classic which brought 21st century colour—blind casting to this 19th—century tale with genuinely timeless results. your mama is ill. how ill is she? very ill. dangerously ill. she's dead. dev patel seemed to be channeling the pathos of chaplin as he led a thrillingly diverse cast through this wonderfully comedic, absurdist and hugely entertaining adaptation. 0h, donkeys! this is a donkey—free zone! remarkable woman. very kind.

in early february came the oscars, where south korean maverick bong joon—ho made history when his genre—crossing gem parasite not only picked up the award for best international feature, but also beat sam mendes's bafta and golden globe—winner 1917 to become the first foreign language film to win best picture, to the horror of soon—to—be ex—president donald trump, who complained to his supporters about south korea's triumph and how bad the academy awards were this year. he even pleaded, "can we get gone with the wind back, please?" they hound people in this world, anybody who's different. other significant wins this year included renee zellweger winning best actress for playing the divine miss garland in judy. and joaquin phoenix taking best actor for his memorising performance in the divisive

joker. although for my money, the best performance in that movie was given by icelandic composer hildur gudnadottir, who rightly claimed the statuette for best score. then as february slid into march, we were treated to the uk cinema release of portrait of a lady on fire, french film—maker celine sciamma's enra pturing manifesto about the female gaze, for which she had won the cannes screenplay prize in 2019. with stunning performances and painterly visuals, this was another bona fide masterpiece from the creator of girlhood, one of my favourite films of the 21st century. it all seemed to be going so well, and then in the middle of march, lockdown came and cinemas around the uk closed their doors with no clear idea of when they would open again. there had, of course, been warning signs. at the beginning of march, the producers of the bond movie no time to die,

which had already been delayed due to the departure of original director danny boyle, announced that the film's release would be pushed back to november. at the time, this seemed like a drastic move, but it soon became clear that bond was just the first of a string of blockbusters that wouldn't be hitting the big screen anytime soon. and so began the great home—viewing boom of 2020. # woke up in the morning light. # today is the day that i do everything right...#. in april, trolls world tour, the phosphorescent sequel to the 2016 animated hit, became the first major studio movie originally intended for widespread theatrical release to go straight to streaming services in the uk as a direct result of coronavirus. it was a pattern that would continue even as cinemas

reopened, with other high—profile movies like disney's live—action mulan, which had made headlines as the most expensive movie ever directed by a woman, whale rider's niki caro, going straight to disney+ in september, where it was available to rent forjust shy of 20 quid in addition to the cost of channel subscription. some other blockbusters, however, were determined to keep that big screen buzz. can you see him? he's catching up! during the first lockdown, trailers for unhinged proudly boasted that this russell crowe road rage film would be released in theatres, with the studio head mark gill calling it the canary in the coal mine for cinema reopening. across from your friend. he's not a friend, 0k? indeed, at the end ofjuly, unhinged became one of the big movies to test the waters in recently reopened uk cinemas, offering a dumb,

but nonetheless entertaining meld of duel and falling down, with russell crowe doing angry in the way that only russell crowe can. we were expecting you an hour ago. sorry. frank, this is your new guardian. i don't want him. we've all got to do our bit. that same week also saw the uk cinema released of summerland, a lovely, heartfelt film about matters of life and death from 0livier award—winning playwright jessica swale with great performances by gemma arterton and gugu mbatha—raw and some beautiful cinematography by laurie rose that really benefited from being seen on the big screen. we all believe we'd run into the burning building. but until we feel that heat, we can never know. but when it came to blockbusters, the real standout of 2020 was of course tenet, christopher nolan's head—scrambling palindromic thriller that became

the closest thing we had to a summer tentpole release when it opened in uk cinemas in august. john david washington, who'd done such sterling work and spike lee's blackkklansman, led an international ensemble cast that included kenneth branagh, robert pattinson and elizabeth debicki through movie so ambitious, so overwhelming, and let's be honest about this, so baffling that many viewers had to go and see it twice or even three times to figure out what on earth was going on. well, i've seen too much. if you're still confused, fear not, it's just come out on blu—ray, so you can spend the entire holiday studying it frame—by—frame trying to figure out exactly what that red string meant. tenet aside, blockbusters remained thin on the ground in what turned out to be

an unprecedentedly difficult year for cinema. in october — the same month that the first big screen bond, sean connery, died — the latest bond movie announced yet another delay. this late—in—the—day cancellation coincided with cineworld and picturehouse cinemas closing their doors while other chains abandoned weekday screenings, setting alarm bells ringing about the future of cinema itself. as for bond 25, it earned itself the mocking nickname no time to open. it's currently set for release in april 2021, yet for some, this final daniel craig 007 outing already feels like yesterday's news. history isn't kind to men who play god. while cinemas have clearly suffered from the dearth of big releases this year, one unpredicted effect of the absence of big blockbusters has been that audiences and critics alike have turned their attention

towards smaller movies that might otherwise have been overlooked, movies like the whalebone box from british maverick andrew kotting, which premiered on the streaming service mubi in april and followed two journeys, one a pilgrimage to return the titular box to the outer hebrides, the other into the dreams of eden kotting, artist and daughter—cum—muse of andrew. no one makes movies like kotting. although you can find a kindred spirit in cornish film—maker markjenkin, who won a bafta for bait in february. early in the year, boseman co—starred in spike lee's da 5 bloods, which followed a group of vietnam vets returning to the country in which they fought the american war. da bloods is back! nominally, they've come to recover the remains of a fallen comrade lost in battle, but they're also on the trail of gold, a stash which they buried all those years ago and now hope to retrieve. i see ghosts, y'all. having won his first

competitive 0scar as co—writer of blackkklansman last year, lee has been particularly productive across a range of genres. his latest film, david byrne's american utopia, is a concert movie that recently opened in the uk on vod. meanwhile, you can see echoes of lee's 1989 classic do the right thing in another of this year's best releases. les miserables — no, not that one, but a contemporary urban drama which was oscar—nominated for best international feature. written and directed by ladj ly, the film largely plays out immortalising hugo's novel, where a new member of the anti—crime unit learns about that neighbour's rival crime faction by colleagues whose methods blur the line between policing and harassment. les miserables also owed a debt to the 1995 french written and directed by ladj ly, the film largely plays out immortalising hugo's novel, where a new member of the anti—crime unit learns about that neighbour's rival crime faction by colleagues whose methods blur the line between policing and harassment.

les miserables also owed a debt to the 1995 french masterpiece la haine, which got a 25th anniversary re—release this year and looks more relevant than ever. for more recent international fare in 2020 saw the uk release of the county. having breathed bittersweet life into a tale of feuding sheep farming brothers in rams, it peels back another layer of nordic culture as inga finds her voice amid the often chilly silence of agrarian life. heartfelt pain blending

with absurdist humour. from finland came dogs don't wear pants, about a middle—aged heart surgeon whose life falls apart in the wake of tragedy. but who finds unexpected esacpe from grief in the rituals of pain. despite the title, which in english at least has unintended overtones of naff carry 0n—style buffoonery, the result is sometimes shocking, often funny but ultimately redemptive and uplifting with the director taking us tumbling down a rabbit hole with unexpected results. stranger still was patrick, which i think i can safely say was the best belgian nudist tragicomedy of the year. set on a remote naturist campsite in the arden, it tells the story

of a young man worrying about the loss of first his hammer, and then his father. the fact that all this plays out in the nude is actually the least remarkable thing about this beautifully deadpan movie from tim. the director a veteran of tv shows like peaky blinders and legion, whose cast ranges from a dutch stage and screen legend to new zealand comedian musician jemaine clement. sometimes to get what you want, you have to not want what you want. think about it. the biggest chinese film to be released this year was the 800, a historical war drama is set in shanghai's besieged warehouse in 1937. dubbed the "chinese dunkirk", this had spectacle to spare.

shot on vast sets and captured on imax cameras. it may have made little impact here, but in china, the 800 was a resounding box office hit. 0utperforming tenet and providing a huge boost for china's cinema industry. 0n the animation front, kilkenny‘s cartoon saloon teamed up with luxembourg productions for wolfwalkers. some things happen to me. yeah, i can see that. flippin' great! set in 17th ireland, tom moore's and ross stewart's film ru ns in the tradition of princess mononoke. a treat for all ages.

tea ? meanwhile, from australia came relic, a heartbreaking psychological thriller from nataliejames that examined the reality of alzheimer's through the language of fantasy. everything all right, gran? i thought this was where it got in. who? like its antipodean stablemate, the babadook, this is a horror movie with a heart, a profoundly emotional experience. my own favourite films of the year included a pair of 'saints'. do you have a boyfriend? no. a girlfriend? do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend? no. then we have something in common. from america, st francis, where kelly 0'sullivan wrapped a self—determined manifesto about taboo subjects such as menstruation and reproductive rights in the disguise of a ditzy bittersweet comedy about midlife disappointment. ah! go get 'em.

maud is looking out for me, you see — to save my soul, if i understand correctly. and from the uk, came saint maud, rose glass' electrifying debut feature which announced the writer—director as a thrilling new force in british cinema. bless her mind, which is shrouded in darkness. clarke, so great in david copperfield, is mesmerising as the newly religious nurse determined to save the soul of her patient. played with equal force byjennifer ely. the eerie score by adam janota bzowski and sound design help make this a real modern classic. so, where does this all leave us? clearly, the way in which people view movies has changed irrevocably. and the events of 2020 have

accelerated the rise of streaming releases. worth noting, too, that this year's london film festival opened with steve mcqueen's mangrove — the first instalment in a five—part anthology made for bbc television, which further blurs the line between cinema and tv. just because uk audiences watched red, white and blue at home when it premiered on bbc 1, does that mean it is not a film? or that it could also be enjoyed in a cinema? as i've been saying for years, simultaneous releasing is the future, whether you like it or not. and we're increasingly moving toward a situation where audiences will be able to decide where and how they watch movies. whether it's on a phone, a computer screen, tv, or up there on the big screen. but personally, i think the cinema experience is profound and important enough to survive this change. like many people, i know that i get something from seeing a movie in a movie theatre that i cannot get it home. and nothing can ever replace that thrill of sitting

in a darkened auditorium, watching a movie in the best possible environment. yes, the world is changing, but cinema is forever. whoa... let's leave things on a high note and bill & ted: face the music. the belated threequel that put a smile on my face in the middle of the darkness of 2020. in the us, the film was released simultaneously and theatres and on—demand. whereas in the uk it was cinemas only, with digital coming later. having watched them both big and small screens, i can tell you that i grinned like an idiot from start to finish in both formats. and in testing times like these, that's a real treat. yeah! no way! how's it going, bill & ted?

that was a much welcome review of the year in film and inspiration welcome review. helen is waiting for us with the weather. hasn't been the 24 hours for sitting in watching films. and for this morning as well, we have had exceptional gusts of wind, 84 miles an hour, still that amber warning from the met office in force, so we got to save the winds are starting to ease across western areas now, just another hour or two to go across the english channel coast with those battering winds and that heavy rain. again, that is

sweeping through quite quickly, replacing it with showers. we have had an interest so of rain, three inchesin had an interest so of rain, three inches in the north, about half an inches in the north, about half an inch across the east, but those severe flood warnings remain in place and there are numerous other flood warnings that will remain in force, because all of this will make its way through down those river systems. showers for the rest of the day, very few getting into central and eastern areas, the winds gusting in the afternoon, significantly lower than they have been, but still if each of the weather, and given the snow will fall from the showers in the north, that will exacerbate the silliness in the air. temperatures starting at nine or ten in the south but will dip as the day goes on and that cold air filters southwards. don't be surprised if you see some sleet or snow in those hills across wales, the peak district and pennines, certainly the la ke district and pennines, certainly the lake district, north wales and northern ireland have noted that was significant banter snow meanders in from the north and the west. —— that

significant band of snow. so, we have a nice risk already this morning, but a have a nice risk already this morning, buta nice have a nice risk already this morning, but a nice risk more widely on monday and a snow risk because the remnants of this area of low pressure which are the remnants of storm baluster with us, not a storm at that stage but meandering around, the cold air dragging around, so just about anywhere could see snow if you get showers stop showers will be hit and miss. it will be devil in the detail tomorrow, as to exactly where the snow will fall but further north, as well, temperatures only 2-4 north, as well, temperatures only 2—4 generally speaking. it is a chilly monday, and a chilly tuesday as well, the end of 2020 will be a cold and frosty one. snow and ice risks, we have really got that today, but for the next hour or two with those really strong winds, the details are on the website, including the flood warnings. helen, thank you very much. it is important to keep an eye on the weather today.

we did get an e—mail saying women have been competing with horse racing events such as dressage and equestrian long before horse racing. yes, and the vendee globe. so, actually loads. bryony frost made racing history by becoming the first female to win the king george vi chase at kempton. she rode the 20:1 shot frodon to victory at kempton. she led throughout the three—mile race and finished a couple of lengths clear of the runner—up — waiting patiently. she was tearing up trees in her sport. it's been going so well. mr

warhorse won a couple of quid on that. very pleased. -- warhurst. she was an outsider for victory but led and finished a couple of lengths from the runner—up. it was also a record extending twelfth win in this race for trainer paul nicholls. it's frosts'175h career win, making her the most successful female national hunt jockey of all time. having one at king george on frodon, football, that's the big thing for me, regardless of the girl staff and the winners and the numbers and, you know, history and whatnot, it's the horse and the team i have been able

to ride for and the race. a big win for arsenal. the arsenal manager mikel arteta says it was a perfect day for his side as they beat chelsea 3—1 at the emirates to earn a first premier league win since october, and ease the pressure on the spaniard. it's where drew savage starts his round—up of the boxing day action. relief for michael arteta, exactly one year after he took charge of the gunners, engineering and necessary turnaround in arsenal's fortunes. he needed to and the run of seven games premier league win, and did it in style. granit xhaka put them 2—0 by half—time, mike isi committed three, he claims on purpose. arsenal could have scored more, and low a lacklustre chelsea pulled one back, there was an injury time penalty save. please have to come out here

and win the game, and therefore, our supporters, because we have let them down for many weeks with the results, and i think today is a good day to give them something to cheer about. everton also have something to cheer about — they were heading for a goalless draw in the rain against bottom club sheffield united, but it changed with ten minutes to go. a 1—0 win puts them two points behind liverpool who pay less from this afternoon. lester came from behind. brendan rogers' side staysjust came from behind. brendan rogers' side stays just above opponents. manchester city and a fifth in the table, behind united! pep guardiola's side remain unbeaten. crystal palace beaten 3—0 despite having tyrone ming sent off. rounding up the last home game of

2020 with a flourish, up to sixth in the table. drew savage, bbc news. a couple of christmas crackers served up couple of christmas crackers served up in the championship yesterday. two of the best coming in the game between cardiff and brentford. have a look here at cardiff's opener — will vaulks — still inside his own half — spotting the goalkeeper off his line, he hit this superb first time effort. but not to be outdone was brentford's sergi canos. he scored a hat—trick in their 3—2 win with this hooked volley, the best of the bunch. two brilliant goals. rangers made it 12 scottish premiership wins in a row after a hard fought victory over hibernian at ibrox. the only goal of the game coming in the first half from ianis hagi. that keeps them 16 points clear of celtic, who were 3—0 winners at hamilton. in rugby... exeter‘s final match of 2020 went the way of most of the others. they beat gloucester 28—20 to stay

top of the premiership — having recovered sufficiently from a covid outbreak in their squad. england forward sam simmonds scored two tries for the chiefs to maintain their perfect domestic record this season. bristol are second after beating harlequins. a late converted angus 0'brien try earned scarlets a 16—14 win over 0spreys in their derby, while cardiff were winners at dragons in yesterday's other game. now, to cricket. india might be without their star man in virat kohli for the boxing day test against australia in melbourne, but stand in captain ajinkya rahane's century sees them on top after day two at the mcg. kohli has returned home for the birth of his first child, with rahane taking over the reins as skipper, and he's lead from the front, bringing up his 12th test century in style. and he's made the most of some good fortune — dropped here on 104 by travis head. have a look at this. he catches it, but it pops out as his arms hit the

tariff. —— turf. india closing on 277 for 5, a lead of 82. quite the turnaround from the first test, which you might remember was a big win for the home side, with india bowled out forjust 36 — their lowest ever test score. u nfortu nate. unfortunate. he kind of had a hold over it. and then when he hit the turf, it bounced up. thank you, john. stay with us, headlines are on the way.

good morning welcome to breakfast with rogerjohnson and nina warhurst. 0ur headlines today: borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, with a pledge to focus on spreading opportunity and delivering for those left behind. the rollout of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu — starting with italy and the czech republic. storm bella brings gusts of more than a hundred miles an hour — and amber weather warnings for parts of wales and southern england. the winds from storm bella are peaking right about now. those damaging winds, combined with very wet weather, so a risk and concern

for further flooding, wet weather, so a risk and concern forfurtherflooding, treacherous conditions on the road. further north, wintry weather with ice and snow a risk today stop history for bryony frost. stop she becomes the first female jockey to win the king george vi chase, storming to victory on the 20—1 shot frodon, at kempton. it's sunday 27th december. our top story. borisjohnson has promised "big" changes for the uk after securing the post—brexit trade deal on christmas eve. in an interview with the sunday telegraph, the prime minister says his focus will be on "levelling up the country" and "spreading opportunity." but there has been criticism from the fishing industry, as our political correspondent, iain watson explains. the prime minister has insisted he had been willing to go for no—deal when negotiations were going in the wrong direction, but he insisted the deal he achieved

would withstand the most ruthless scrutiny by conservative brexiteers. glad tidings and greatjoy, because this is a deal... the full agreement with the eu runs to more than 1,200 pages and has now been published but it's attracting some criticism. the national federation of fishermen's organisations has described the reduction and the value of the eu's catch is paltry and says there is a profound sense of disillusionment and betrayal in fishing communities. changes to fishing quotas will be phased in over 5.5 years, with the value of the eu's catch falling by 25%. senior uk negotiators admitted they compromised somewhat over fishing, but said the eu had done so too. after 5.5 years the uk would be free to reduce eu access to its coastal waters further but could face retaliatory action. government sources says any measures taken by the eu would have to be proportionate and would be limited to the fishing industry. iain watson, bbc news.

weather warnings are in place for large parts of the uk as storm bella continues to bring heavy rain and high winds. gusts of more than 100 miles per hour have been recorded on the isle of wight, and p and 0 ferry services have been suspended from dover. emily unia reports. the river has gone back down, as you can see. returning to survey the damage — flooding forced debbie radford's father from his house on christmas eve. now the water's gone down and the cleaning begins. it is soul destroying. when you go in there and you can smell the river in there, there is an awful lot of work to be done now. it can obviously be done but we can't get insurance for the property because you are so close to the river, so we have to pay for all of that, as well. in bedfordshire river levels rose on the great 0use and police told 1,300 households to leave their properties. the immediate threat to life outweighed the need to follow tier 4 coronavirus restrictions.

people were allowed to seek shelter in friends' homes or emergency support centres. 0vernight storm bella has delivered more disruption. high winds have brought down trees in wales, devon and sussex, making driving conditions treacherous. the met office has a number of weather warnings in place, including an amber alert for wind across southern and western england and coastal wales. emily unia, bbc news. the coronavirus vaccine will be given to millions of people across europe today, as countries including france, spain and italy begin the rollout of their vaccination programmes. meanwhile there have been confirmed cases of the more contagious variant of covid 19 in several european countries, as well as canada and japan. tim allman reports. time is of the essence in the fight against covid—19. here at this nursing home in north—east germany, the vaccination programme has begun a day early. health workers said they weren't prepared to wait for the eu's

coordinated roll—out, which was due to begin on sunday. clearly, for governments all around the world, it could be a real game changer. but as the vaccine spreads in vans and lorries across the continent, so, too, it seems, does the new variant strain of the virus. it was first identified here in the uk nearly two weeks ago, leading to tough new restrictions for millions of people. despite some countries effectively closing their borders to travellers from britain, the virus has been found in parts of western europe, and further afield. japan and now canada have confirmed positive tests. the new form of the virus is potentially far more infectious, but at this stage it doesn't appear to be any more severe or, crucially, any more deadly. the big question is, will the new vaccines be effective in combating it? it happens every year, for example, with influenza virus. we change the vaccine for influenza pretty much every year

because of the revolution of influenza from year to year. the concern would be a similar type thing might happen then with this coronavirus. mass vaccinations are due to begin across europe today, and there are reports that britain's medicine regulator could approve the so—called 0xford vaccine within a matter of days. i little hope and optimism as the new year approaches. tim allman — bbc news. and in the last hour mass vaccinations have begun across member states of the european union. health care workers were the first to get the pfizerjab in italy, where more than 70,000 deaths have been recorded since february. 0ur europe correspondent damien mcguinness has been telling us what's happening across europe today.

the vaccine roll—out will start in germany and italy. 0ther the vaccine roll—out will start in germany and italy. other countries in the eu are also rolling out the vaccine, such as france and spain. some countries have press ahead —— gone ahead anyway. as soon as they got the vaccine in germany yesterday, they started vaccinating, it started in a residential home. the first person to receive the vaccination was 101. despite the nursing home pressed against the unity of the eu sticking together, the first recipient of the vaccine was given best wishes. germany did pretty well in the first wave of the pandemic and had much lower infection rates in death rates than most other european countries, the second wave has hit germany hard, so we have a total of 30,000 deaths

now. in australia, authorities in sydney are concerned about a cluster of infections in the nothern part of the city. 0ur correspondent in sydney is phil mercer. the sydney cluster of covid—19 has now grown to 122, and that number may not seem much compared to other countries but there are about 180 active coronavirus cases across the entire country. this cluster of cases in sydney is causing a great deal of concern for the authorities. it is focused in the northern beaches district of sydney. some of those coastal suburbs have gone back into lockdown. there was an amnesty for a couple of days over christmas but those regions are now back under those restrictions. other parts of the northern beaches have stay—at—home orders imposed on residents. there are restrictions on other parts of sydney as well. australia had been hoping for a covid—safe christmas but this outbreak in sydney is causing the authorities a great deal of concern, and these restrictions in sydney will last until wednesday and then they will be reassessed.

so, in total since the pandemic began, australia has recorded 28,000 covid—19 cases and more than 900 people have died. the health board which runs wales's largest hospital has issued an urgent appeal for help to deal with a high number of coronavirus patients. the cardiff and vale university health board tweeted that it was urgently looking for medical students for its critical care department. last week, public health wales warned of "an alarming rise" in coronavirus case rates across the country. authorities in the us are investigating whether a campervan explosion in the city of nashville on christmas day was a suicide bombing. three people were injured in the blast, and dna tests are now being carried out after human remains were found

near the site of the blast. no motive has been established, and no—one has claimed responsibility. good morning if you havejustjoined us. we continue to talk about coronavirus. canada has become the latest country to announce a case of the new variant of covid—19. scientists believe it is more infectious and could be responsible for a spike in cases here in the uk. let's speak now to the virologist dr chris smith, who joins us from cambridge. good morning. thank you for taking the time to talk to us again. should we be too worried? 0bviously the time to talk to us again. should we be too worried? obviously it is worrying but too worried about this new variant, or is the vaccine likely to cover us for that, as well? there are a couple of ways of looking at this. on the one hand, i am reassured, because we know that our systems that have been put in place, our consortium of sequencing genomes, is working. it is doing its

job because they found this and it is therefore possible when you know what you are dealing with to keep the spotlight trained on it and therefore see what its movements are, and hopefully anticipate what its next move will be. it's better the devil you do know than the one you don't. at the same time, it is reason to be slightly cautious and concerned because all viruses mutate. but the fact this one is doing this, the fact it is doing it ina way doing this, the fact it is doing it in a way that could ultimately progress towards its ability to sidestep a vaccine, that's why we need to keep an eye on it. for now, we have no evidence that the vaccines we are administering to people aren't going to work. it should all be fine but we are waiting for some formal confirmation. the experiments have been pretty easy to do, so i expect within the next week or two we will see some data which reassures us the vaccine are going to be fine. as this mutation pops up in other countries, can we directly link it to the uk, or could it havejust

mutated itself in the same direction? all viruses mutate. that is the mantra we have given a lot over the past few weeks. therefore it is possible for the same sorts of constellation of changes that we have seen in this coronavirus from the south—east of england which has now spread across the country to evolve independently in other countries. this one we have here has a particular constellation of some 17 changes, genetic spelling mistakes, essentially, that confer upon the virus are different forms of behaviour we are seeing. it is slightly more tricky for exactly the same pattern to emerge in a different geography. so it'll be possible, really, to track down whether we gave it to somebody else, or someone gave it to us. but that would take time. given how many people have been moving around the world and travelling and so on it is more likely it got exported from here in the first place. certainly, there are other variants emerging

around the world, particularly the one we heard about from south africa. that means the same thing could just repeat itself in a slightly different way in any geography that has currently got coronavirus circulating. influenza mutates and the influenza vaccine is changed every year. is it possible to getan changed every year. is it possible to get an unlimited number of variants around the world? we have been reporting changes of the coronavirus since it was first tracked and traced. 17 of them have cropped up in one virus and appear to be conferring these slightly different forms of behaviour and enhance transmissibility of the virus. really, when you are playing with genetic material that can make spelling mistakes when it copies itself, really anything can happen, and the more infections there are, the more transmissions, there are more chances and prospects for

change like this to crop up. the key thing to bear in mind is that when we come along with a vaccine we are going to put in the way of the virus in immunological barricade. that will put pressure on the virus to find a way to surmount that barrier, either by going over it or around it. the way of doing that is by making more genetic changes allowing it to sidestep the vaccine. that's why we have to update the vaccine every year because we are effectively shepherding the virus to change ina effectively shepherding the virus to change in a way that keeps it ahead of the vaccine. we may well do the same thing with coronavirus, which is why we may have to adapt the vaccine again. but this vaccine recognises what covid—19 is and it can attack it, but itjust has to be adapted as the virus mutates? exactly. the new generation of vaccines that have been developed to tackle coronavirus, the pfizer vaccine and also my they are

easy to update because the way they work is that they use the gene from the virus, that the virus uses, to code for the spike protein that allows the virus to infect us. they ta ke allows the virus to infect us. they take that same piece of genetic information and introduce that into the body temporarily so that the body can learn what the virus would do. were it in the body. if the virus changes, because we know this technique can work, it is relatively simple to take the same piece of genetic information and turn that into your vaccine. so it is relatively easy to update the vaccine. so if we see a huge shift on the part of the virus then yes we would have to re—derive the vaccine but we know how they work and we know how to do it now, so it'll be a lot quicker to do that. that's reassuring, isn't it? there is a pole in one of the papers, i think it is the male on and a, 85% of people say they have obeyed the christmas rules. —— the mail on

sunday. it is important, isn't it, not to let our guard down now because an end is in sight? can you put a timescale on when you think we might start getting back to normal? we are anticipating seeing approval for the astrazeneca 0xford university vaccine in the next day or so. that would then lead us to be able to roll out an additional vaccine, which is available at very large amounts in this country. then you have got the fact that in america the mdrna vaccine was approved by their fda, which is another candidate. that means we have on tap now at potentially three offerings to get people vaccinated. the sooner we can do that the better. because the bottleneck at the moment is having enough access to enough vaccines to get it into people. although the figures look encouraging, 1 million people per

week is what we are aiming at, remember there are 50 plus million people in this country who will need to be vaccinated, so it is a year's vaccination programme in order to get the country vaccinated. and that's assuming we don't have to update the vaccine because the virus mutates. we are hoping that won't be the case but we might have to do. also, we don't know how long the vaccine will give protection for. immunity might wane after six months. we don't know at the moment. we hope it'll be longer. but we don't know because we don't have a time machine. there are lots of unknowns. prediction is always very difficult, especially when it involves the future, said by a famous quantum physicist. all of this against the backdrop of 40,000 new cases every day. we are at the levels we were seeing in march and april. it feels inevitable that we are going to need to live with longer lock downs into next year. we

have to be cautious about saying we are back to normal pretty quickly. you are right, 20,000 people being admitted to hospital is a serious issue. that's how many people we have got in hospital coming through the doors with coronavirus. that is sort of where we were at the peak of march and april. we aren't out of the woods as people keep telling us. there will be quite a way to go yet. there will be quite a way to go yet. the light at the end of the tunnel here is from two directions. 0ne, we have these vaccines and we will have more vaccines. we will have more vaccines going into more people and especially more vulnerable people. that will help people we are most worried about catching these lethal cases of the virus. the winter will come to an end, and when the weather improves, that helps us to do more of our own natural physical distance and because we get outside more, we spend more time outdoors, windows and doors open. as a result the virus finds it more difficult to

spread because all viruses love the winter because they can spread better. so we have two reasons why we think the numbers will drop before too long, but we need to get there first and it is very important we do not let our guard down. very encouraging messages. lovely to see this morning, doctor chris smith, the best for you going ahead. really interesting. chris has very quickly morphed into helen. helen, you have news of some pretty inclement weather today. just for the next hour, really, the winds are still battering southern parts of the uk. we've had these wind speeds over night which have brought down trees in wales, for example, and there is a lot of debris around. it is all tied around storm bella. here it is. there is a lot of wet weather, as well. a two—pronged

attack. many areas have had another inch of rain through last night. now we are into the cold air. the cold air in the north is giving issues with snow and ice. for the next hour, that the met office amber warning for those exceptional wind speeds. they are easing in the west end they will ease further east. it'll still be very blustery the following day, making things feel chilly. these are the snow showers. in the next hour or two, we will see this disappear, and there will be showers in eastern areas. but lots of showers further north and west. ice risks, snow risks for relatively low levels in the north. the showers could be wintry over the hills, as well, with cold air filtering south. the winds will slowly ease, but it is still a blustery day, and therefore with temperatures only

two, three degrees in the north, that will accentuate the chilly feel. after starting with 10 degrees in the south, the temperatures are falling away. a much colder night to come and more issues with snow. we have a band of persistent snow for scotland, northern ireland, then going into north wales and northern england for a time, that will slip south and east tomorrow. the cold air by that stage will establish further south. a widely frosty night. and because it has been wet, there will be an issue with ice for many areas, and we could see some snow in the south. that's because the area of low pressure, which is the area of low pressure, which is the remnants of storm bella, will meander around for much of the week. no significant spells of rain to come. good news for those areas with a flood warning. it will instead be cold and wintry. but the devil is in the detail as to where we will see that snow exactly. could see it in southern and eastern areas tomorrow. certainly in the showers for north—east scotland, the north—east,

and northern ireland, could be shower after shower tomorrow. it will be a wintry flavour for most tomorrow. temperatures between two and four after that cold and frosty start. for the immediate future, storm bella is still with us, severe flood warnings out, and all of those details are on the website. keep checking online if you are in one of those areas. lots of different restrictions remain in place across the world, as countries try to keep the coronavirus pandemic under control. cases are rising in russia, but president vladimir putin says he won't impose a new national lockdown as he tries to protect the economy. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rasinsford reports. red square is at its picture—postcard best. no sign here of covid—19 cancelling christmas, despite the spiralling infection rate. there are precautions and many things have been scaled back this year, but there's no lockdown, and people told me

they are fine with that. translation: i think there is enough restrictions. lots of people wear masks and gloves. i don't think we need anything stricter. translation: we don't need a lockdown, that would stop people earning wages and feeding their families. that happened in spring, and it was really bad. meanwhile, on another ice rink not far away, this is how moscow is dealing with covid. in october, we visited one of multiple giant temporary hospitals. there were free beds back then, but hospitals now across the country are close to capacity, and the death rate from covid is rising. vladimir putin is taking his own precautions. this year's press conference was by video link. the chosen few allowed close to him had to quarantine for two weeks first.

but even loyal reporters told him things had never been this tough in russia. and mr putin promised he wouldn't make things worse with another lockdown. russia's doing its best to look festive, to lift people's moods despite the covid pandemic, but this crisis hasn't only pushed russia's health care system to the very limit, its hurting the economy, too, and that's an issue for vladimir putin, who has always presented himself as the president of stability. this club was closed for months after the pandemic first hit. the dancers are back on stage now, but their clients have far less money to spend. and covid rules mean closing at 11pm — not ideal for a striptease show. all in all, this man tells me business is down 60%. covid rules mean closing at 11pm. all in all, business is down 60% here.

translation: we are hardly making ends meet. i had to get a bank loan to pay wages. if there is another lockdown and we have to shut, then that's it — we'll go bankrupt and people will lose theirjobs. so, russians are bracing for another tough year once the festive lights go out. the covid vaccine has brought a flicker of hope, but this virus is one thing the kremlin is struggling to control. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. it's the time of year when many of us take a moment to reflect, and say thank you. maybe for something that has happened this year, or for something that happened decades ago and has had a lasting effect. 50 years ago martin stephen was visiting family in east lothian when he nearly drowned trying to save his cousin. he was saved by the rnli crew at dunbar, and has had the opportunity to say thank you for the very first time. hope webb reports.

it was in these choppy waters exactly 50 years ago that tragedy struck. 21—year—old martin and his cousin david were climbing rocks to watch a storm rolling when a freak wave pulled david into the water. martin was faced with jumping and after input the waves were too strong. david was swept away and martin was left struggling against the swell. a lifeboat was deployed and the crew saved him from drowning and the crew saved him from drowning and now martin is saying thank you. 50 yea rs and now martin is saying thank you. 50 years on, he was able to speak on zoom 50 years on, he was able to speak on zoom to a lifeboat volunteer who was there that day. lovely to meet you at last. what i do remember is feeling the hyperthermia start in my feet thinking, here we go! then i blacked out. yes. i was extraordinarily lucky. you are

totally submerged apart from the top of your head. you simply don't know how you survive it. to this day i don't know why i am still here. crew member david was the one who jumped into the freezing water to pull martin out that day. he has since passed away but now his sonjamie is only learning the true story of the rescue. i only learning the true story of the rescue. | remember only learning the true story of the rescue. i remember my dad coming home soaking wet. if it hadn't been for my mother, who put the plaque up on the wall, we would not have known about the rescue. dad didn't want to talk about it. i loved my dad. but it was certainly an eye—opener on what these people did do and i suppose what they take for granted. my dad, his five brothers, they all we nt my dad, his five brothers, they all went out on the lifeboat, they were all crew members, so it's

incredible. despite the years that have passed, martin says the bravery of those involved that day has changed the course of his life. of those involved that day has changed the course of his lifelj thought to myself, you know, i've been given the most extraordinary christmas present any human being can give. 0ne life was tragically lost on that day but david didn't just save my life, he saved my three sons and my five grandchildren. here we are, i'm 71 now, i've had an amazingly happy and wonderful life which i'm really grateful for, and all because one man and the whole crew on that lifeboat were prepared to put their life on the line for people they don't know and who they've never met. i think that's quite extraordinary. one thing that hasn't changed is the dedication of lifeboat crews up and down the country. throughout this festive

period they will be prepared to head out and put their lives on the line for others if they are called. hope webb, bbc news. what an amazing story. that picture with all of the grandchildren who would not have existed had it not been for that the rescue. such courageous people. such a shame that in these covid times that a reunion like this, which was emotional already, it had to be done virtually. very moving nonetheless. stay with us, the sport is coming up.

hello, this is breakfast with rogerjohnson and nina warhurst. let's catch up with the sport. a busy day yesterday,. bryony frost should have been getting back in to the saddle today after her history making win in the king george vi chase yesterday. she led from start to finish and just keep doing so much for her sport and women's sport in general. but the welsh grand national meeting at chepstow has been abandoned due to storm bella causing parts of the course to be waterlogged.

we have been hearing of the damage it has done. as for yesterday, frost became the first female jockey to win the king george on 20 to 1 shot frodon. joe wilson reports. boxing day sport, jockeys in facemasks. perfectly 2020. the horses have no idea what tier kempton may be, but as ever, they race. the king george's boxing day tradition — that doesn't mean every year is a repeat. look at frodon at the front, the blue—and—white silks of bryony frost. as the fence is passed, it is still frodon. trainer paul nicholls virtually had the grandstands to himself, watching, willing. his horses have dominated this race, but here it was an outsider, leading from start to finish. commentator: frodon has won the king george! bryony frost, the first woman to win this exalted race — she only realised that later, when journalists told her.

i have won a king george on frodon, for paul and the team, yeah, that's the big thing for me. regardless of the girl stuff and the winners and the numbers. taking history in your stride — well, how else to end 2020? joe wilson, bbc news. arsenal manager mikel arteta says he hopes last night's 3—1win over chelsea to end their seven—game run without a win in the premier league will be a turning point for his side. goals from alexandre lacazette, granit xhaka and this one from bukayo saka put the game beyond chelsea, who got a consolation through tammy abraham. arsenal are now six points clear of the relegation zone. manchester united missed the chance to move two points behind leaders liverpool after drawing at leicester. marcus rashford got united's first, but jamie vardy‘s strike deflected in off axel tuanzebe to give brendan rodgers' side a point. liverpool can go five points clear with victory over west brom today. there we go, no crowds watching

those premier league matches. strange on boxing day. usually 20,000 in there, but obviously are not at the moment. a good day boxing day sport. yes, and that a real fixture in the boxing day exporting line—up. that's all from us today, but breakfast will be back tomorrow from six. now wejoin daniela relph for a look back on the key events of the year for the royal family. enjoy your sunday, goodbye. have a good day. a year like no other during her long reign. a masked monarch in covid times. this is a strange, frustrating and often distressing experience. an heir to the throne, locked down with coronavirus. a thank you from the cambridge family, who stepped up while others isolated.

but for the sussexes, a step back, as they withdrew from royal duty. the queen's year started with the regular routine of royal engagements — a visit to m15 headquarters in february, but everything was about to change. here she thanked staff for keeping us safe, unaware that the biggest danger this year would be a health emergency that locked down the uk and changed the way the queen lived and worked. with lockdown imminent in march, she moved out of london. the queen came to windsor and spent the first lockdown behind the castle walls with members of the royal household. the duke of edinburghjoined her, and from here, she worked as a monarch in isolation, but that didn't mean she was out of sight. indeed, her contributions to the national mood were seen

as significant and meaningful. none moreso than her address to the country during the first weeks of lockdown back in april. i'm speaking to you at what i know is an increasingly challenging time. it was a deeply personal message from the longest—serving head of state in the world, during an exceptional moment in her reign. together we are tackling this disease and i want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it. i hope, in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. and those who come after us will say the britons of this generation were as strong as any. that the attributes of self—discipline, of quiet good—humoured resolve and a fellow feeling still characterise this country. the pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it

defines our present and our future. it included praise for the sacrifices being made and ended with cautious optimism. we should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. we will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again, we will meet again. but for now, i send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all. for public duties, it meant the queen had now gone digital and engagements were now mostly online. this one with princess anne to thanked carers. i'm very glad to have been able to join you today. i think we all recognise that we know carers somewhere and maybe we have stopped and wondered how on earth we can help. and her online meetings with the military brought a few surprises. so i'm the pilot for the jamaican bobsleigh team. gosh!

sounds a very dangerous job. it can be quite dangerous. so how do you train? i've been pushing a car up and down the street, i've had to make a gym. laughs. i suppose that's one way to train. that's definitely one way to train, ma'am. there were some engagements, though, that did happen in person, albeit at a social distance. on a perfect summer's day injuly, within the grounds of windsor castle, the queen knighted captain sir tom moore. a special honour for his remarkable fundraising efforts during lockdown, it was the queen's first face—to—face engagement with a member of the public since march. to meet the queen was more than anyone could expect. never, never, ever did i imagine that i should get so close to the queen and have such a kind message from her, that was really outstanding.

the lockdown did mean we were occasionally shown some more personal images of the queen's family life. this, the first photo we saw of her during her isolation at windsor. at 94, still riding in the castle grounds. with her there was the duke of edinburgh, this image marked his 99th birthday injune. and then, a family wedding, smaller and more distant than the usual grand royal affairs. princess beatrice got married in july. the wedding dress was leant to her on the queen's archive of dresses and altered to fit her granddaughter. and from a new marriage to one that has endured over decades — a 73rd wedding anniversary for the queen and the duke in november, including a card from their great grandchildren, princes george, louis and princess charlotte. for the prince of wales, the run—up to lockdown had been busy. here in newquay on the sixth of march, he was still shaking hands.

a few days later in london, the protocol had changed, but it was sometimes hard to rememberfor someone whose life is a constant round of meeting people. in his 70s, his covid risk was high. and on the 25th of march, clarence house announced that the prince had tested positive and was isolating at birkhall, his home on the balmoral estate in scotland. his symptoms were mild and a few days later, he shared his thoughts via a video message. as we're all learning, this strange, frustrating and often distressing experience — when the presence of family and friends is no longer possible, and the normal structures of life are suddenly removed. at such an unprecedented and anxious time in all our lives, my wife and i are thinking particularly of all those who have lost their loved ones in such very difficult and abnormal circumstances, and of those having to endure sickness,

isolation and loneliness. byjune, some in—person engagements had resumed. this one at the gloucestershire royal hospital had the look of a military parade, with staff and royals keeping their distance. it allowed the prince and the duchess of cornwall to show their gratitude. just to have a chance of seeing people who i know have been doing so much literally on the front line and having to endure an awful lot of stress and strain, i think, in that wonderful way. how they do it, i don't know, but delivering everything in the most effective way. before the global pandemic took hold, there was a family crisis to deal with. the duke and duchess of sussex returned to public life in london in january after several weeks living in canada. while away, there had been some soul—searching. the life they seemed to be building in the uk was about to be set aside. harry and meghan had chosen

windsor as their home. they made the break from living and working alongside the duke and duchess of cambridge in london. everyone presumed they'd base themselves here and carve out a public role together. but they were clearly unhappy and wanted something different. and that was a life away from royal duty. going it alone, the duke and duchess of sussex announced they're stepping back as senior royals. even the queen wasn't told before they broke the news tonight. there was clear unhappiness and issues to resolve. on monday the 13th of january, just under a week later, the queen later meeting at her sandringham estate in norfolk, with prince charles, prince william and prince harry. at five o'clock that day, came news confirming the departure of harry and meghan from royal duties, with the queen accepting their desire for more independence. let's go straight to sandringham, talk to our royal correspondent daniela relph who has some latest

developments for us. daniela? yes, hugh, we'vejust had a statement released on behalf of her majesty, the queen, from buckingham palace. the details were laid out in the following days. there would now be no public funding for harry and meghan. they got to keep their titles but agreed not to use 'his or her royal highness' as they were no longer full—time working royals. they would continue to uphold the values of the queen and this would all be reviewed after a 12—month trial period. with the change now confirmed, harry chose a private dinner for his sentebale charity to speak publicly for the first time about his decision. i want you to hear the truth from me, as much as i can share, not as a prince or a duke, but as harry, the same person that many of you have watched grow up over the last 35 years, but now with a clearer perspective. the uk is my home and a place that i love. that will never change.

i've grown up feeling supported from so many of you and i watched as you welcomed meghan with open arms, as you saw me find the love and happiness that i had hoped for all my life. speaking personally, he explained exactly how he felt. what i want to make clear is, we're not walking away, and, we certainly aren't walking away from you. our hope was to continue serving the queen, the commonwealth and my military associations, but without public funding. unfortunately, that wasn't possible. i've accepted this, knowing that it doesn't change who i am or how committed i am, but i hope that helps you understand what it had come to, that i would step my family back from all i have ever known, to take a step forward into what i hope can be a more peaceful life. cheering and applause. before their departure,

there were a few last royal engagements to undertake. some together, others individually. to mark international women's day, meghan visited a school in east london where she sent a message to men. so ijust encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth, to stand for what is right, to continue to respect each other, for your young men, to continue to value and appreciate the women in your lives, and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way, right? you have your mother, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life, protect them, make sure that they are feeling valued and safe. applause. the response to the speech came with a little bit of teenage cheek. applause. she really is beautiful, innit?

cheering and applause. and then, the final farewell. at westminster abbey for commonwealth day in march, it was formal, traditional, led by the queen. all the things they were leaving behind. they sat close to the duke and duchess of cambridge but there was barely any communication between this once close family unit. these had been a difficult few weeks for everyone. and perhaps it showed. as harry and meghan left the abbey, did they feel regret or relief? they were about to embark on a new life for themselves, away from the constraints of royal duty. coming up, the cambridges lead the way in lockdown engagements, and more on harry and meghan's new life in america. for the cambridges, lockdown allowed for some valuable family time.

and like so many around the country, they were all enthusiastic participants in the thursday clap for the nhs. and like so many families, this year has presented many challenges. the cambridge family split lockdown between their home in norfolk and here at kensington palace. despite the restrictions, we have seen a lot of them. with the queen in her 90s and the prince of wales in his 70s, it was the cambridges in their 30s who often stepped up. but first, the duke of cambridge recovered from his own bout of covid. he didn't reveal details at the time but it's believed he tested positive in april and self isolated. honestly, to you and everyone... in those early weeks of lockdown, their royal engagements went online and they focused on thanking key workers. laughs. we should've had our bunny ears on! that's a strong look. these pupils at school in lancashire were the children of front line workers.

i'm catherine and this is william next to me. and are you holding up pictures of your mummies and daddies? yes. this is a picture of my mum and she works for the nhs as an admin for the health service and i'm really proud of her. and in the couple's first interview during lockdown, they again spoke of their gratitude. the nhs workers, front line workers, are used to dealing, sadly, with very sad situations, death, and things like that, but i think the scale and the speed of what's going on in hospitals — bearing in mind also the isolation — a lot of these patients are sadly dying with no family around them. i think for the nhs front line workers, that is very difficult because they are there right next to the bedsides, looking after and caring for each and every patient who's in a critical condition, and i think they take away that pain and sometimes that fear and that loneliness that these patients have to go through, they're the ones who absorb that and they take it home to theirfamilies. i think it's going to dramatically change how we all value

and see our front line workers and i think that is one of the main positives, i suppose, you can take from this. they do an extraordinaryjob, it goes unrecognised daily and now i think all of us as a nation can really see how hard they work and how vital they work is. catherine's going to pick out the first ball. ok. there were lighter moments, too. some royal bingo callers for the residents of shire hall care home in cardiff. one little duck, number two. eight and seven, 87. six and two, tickety— boo. yay! you won the bingo. hello, jo! and a few weeks later, william and catherine visited the care home in person. when asked if their bingo calling was any good, the answer from residentjoan was direct and un—broadcastable. but you said we didn't

do a very good job? laughter. no, you did a bloody bleepjob. raucous laughter excellent. speaking truth to royalty wasn't a problem here. wearing masks but back to royal engagements, the cambridges resumed a more familiar routine as the first lockdown eased, here at a mosque in east london. and just around the corner came a visit to one of brick lane's famous bagel shops. it was a chance to get stuck in. do they like brussels sprouts, too? catherine and william have also focused on their own interests this year. for the duchess, that is supporting families caring for the under—fives. thank you, very much. a survey she launched looking at the early years experience generated more than half a million responses and her royal duties will be built around this area. the pandemic has reminded usjust how much we value living in a world where people care for one another. and the importance of feeling

connected to the people around us. and it's these connections, these relationships, that are founded in our earliest years of our lives. a photographic collection of our lockdown experience was an initiative also launched by the duchess, supported by the national portrait gallery, the hold still exhibition was both moving, funny and sad. the duke of cambridge, prince william, welcome to that peter crouch podcast. thank you. the royal appearance on the bbc podcast with former footballer peter crouch brought some lockdown laughs. recorded at kensington palace before restrictions were brought in, with a pint on the table, william was as relaxed as we've see him. the talk was of stag dos, football and improving men's mental health. guys find it a bit more difficult to relax. we talk about physical fitness, we all want to go to the gym, stay fit, we never really talk about mental fitness, and it's kind of the same thing — that we all have mental health, we all need to stay mentally fit. and to round it off, of course,

there was even a takeaway curry. can you hear all the ducks, the geese, the birds, all the way along our coastline here. but his work on the environment was a big project of the year for william. he launched the earthshot prize, alongside sir david attenborough, looking for solutions to the world's biggest environmental challenges. the earthshot prize is the most prestigious global environmental prize there's ever been. it's a hugely ambitious target, but i do think that positivity and that finding ways through this is better than saying, "it's all doom and gloom, we're all going to perish." i think we've got to harness our ingenuity and our ability to invent some of this out. and for prince george, princess charlotte and prince louis, it was a chance to meet sir david and give him a bit of a grilling. hello, david attenborough.

and there has been another public outing for the cambridge children. in a year that has devastated theatre and the arts, mum and dad took george, charlotte and louis to panto at the london palladium. a slightly tentative red carpet experience for some, but one that allowed the family to show their support for the industry and the front line workers who joined them in the audience. for the duchess of cornwall, royal duties this year included watching the work of detection dogs at their training centre in milton keynes. trials are under way to determine whether these dogs could identify people carrying the covid—19 virus.

this is bbc 5 live! and camilla stepped into the radio editor's chair for the emma barnett show on the bbc‘s five live. well, it's very nice to have you here. clarence house became a radio studio for the day. the focus was on the causes that mattered to her, including domestic violence and the dangers lockdown pose to victims of abuse. you're there, you can't get out, you've probably got children there — that's the worst thing — you feel you can't leave because you must take the children. you've probably got a telephone, but you can't get to it, because probably the abuser is there. i mean, where do you go? she also spoke of herjoy of being reunited with her grandchildren and how her husband's fitness help him beat covid. and it the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall who led the country through remembrance in may, marking 75 years since ve day.

at 11am they led the national tributes at the balmoral war memorial in scotland. this was the start of a unique year of remembrance, with all major events cancelled, something recognised by the queen in her ve day address. instead, we remember from our homes and our doorsteps, but our streets are not empty, they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other. and when i look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, i say with pride that we are still a nation with those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen, who we recognise and admire. in august, the vj day commemorations were centred on the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. carefully choreographed for the veterans who served with this sometimes—forgotten army

in a brutal campaign. thousands lost their lives in the jungles of south—east asia and japanese prisoner—of—war camps. it was the prince of wales who spoke of their courage. today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here, or in their homes, wherever they may be, let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked and cherished with all our hearts, and for all time. and in november, remembrance sunday, too, had a distinctly different feel. in whitehall, the veterans were few, the masked bands socially distanced, and the streets empty of the public who come to pay their respects.

at 11 o'clock, the queen took her place on the balcony and watched as the prince of wales and other senior members of the royal family stood at the cenotaph for the two minutes' silence. big ben tolls. wreaths were then laid, including one on behalf of the queen. for the march—past there were just 25 veterans. but despite limitations, remembrance in 2020, a year in which there has been so much loss and personal sacrifice, felt just as poignant. away from royal duties,

the duke and duchess of sussex are now building their life in california with a new home and lucrative netflix deal. during lockdown they've done work in their community and supported organisations hit hard by covid. on a personal level during this time, meghan also revealed she'd had a miscarriage — an experience she described as an "unbearable" grief. listen, did you hear that? i heard duck sounds — "quack, quack." in the coming year, they'll launch a new charity foundation named after their son, archie, he had his first birthday this year, and it gave us a rare glimpse of him. part of the conversation we have had quite a bit in our calls over the last few weeks surrounding the black lives matter movement, the lockdown months have seen the couple take part in a number of online discussions around issues of race, equal rights and socialjustice. this one with young leaders from the queen's commonwealth trust, where harry and meghan retained their roles as president and vice—president.

in a us election year, they both campaigned to get people to vote — something meghan discussed with a feminist activist, gloria steinem. people forget how hard women like you and so many others before you fought for us to just be where we are right now. well, that'sjust, i mean, when you — if you don't vote, you don't exist. we'll see and hear more of harry and meghan going forward. in the next few months, we'll learn if their move away from royal duty is made permanent, a decision ultimately for the queen. and like all of us, the royalfamily hopes for a better 2021. carefully managed and socially—distanced is what this was, a rare sight this year — the royal family altogether at windsor castle. the queen at its heart, with no prince andrew, no prince harry. this is the royalfamily as we are likely to see it in the years ahead.

this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, with a pledge to focus on spreading opportunity and delivering for those left behind. the rollout of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu — starting with italy and the czech republic. storm bella brings gusts of more than a hundred miles an hour — and amber weather warnings for parts of wales and southern england. from world war two to the transformation of the postal service — postmistress kay white finally from world war two to the transformation of the postal service —

postmistress kay white finally