there are reports that president trump has signed the pandemic aid and spending bill. millions of americans lost unemployment benefits when he earlier failed to sign the massive covid relief bill by the midnight deadline. the bill had been passed overwhelmingly in congress. south africa has registered more than a million cases of covid—19 — just a few days after the south african authorities confirmed a new faster spreading coronavirus variant had been detected. some hospitals and medical centres have reported a severe rise in admissions, placing a heavy strain on resources. european leaders have hailed the start of coronavirus vaccinations across the eu as a turning point in the fight against the pandemic. the first in line to receive the vaccine are the elderly and health workers, and the eu aims to vaccinate just over six—million people by the end of the year. storm bella has brought winds

of more than 100mph to many parts of the uk, along with heavy rain. the met office has also issued yellow warnings for snow and ice meaning disruption is likely in parts of wales, north—west england, scotland and the whole of northern ireland. here's chi chi izundu. storm bella making her presence known on british shores. winds of up to 106 miles an hour have been recorded on the isle of wight overnight. bringing down trees, causing damage to cars and homes, and huts alongside brighton beachfront. train operators have issued warnings about delays and cancellations because of debris and flooding on the railway lines. but parts of the uk are still reeling from heavy rains over christmas, like cirencester in gloucestershire. residents trying to adapt. more than 70 homes were without power and the environment agency has warned that

some river levels around the country are still rising. this is ducklington farm in oxfordshire, where farmer helen's priority has been the safety of her animals. the amount of rain we've had in the last few days has made it very difficult for us. we have over 3,000 sheep and we've had to move 1,200 of them in the last three days, so the whole of christmas we've been moving sheep. they‘ re all pregnant, and their welfare is our priority at the moment, but finding dry ground is almost impossible because it's just completely saturated. the met office has issued three yellow weather warnings about snow and ice in parts of scotland in particular, the north—east, areas in the north of wales and northern ireland. officials say they're working hard to help those in need, but have added there may be at least another day of harsh weather to come. chi chi izundu, bbc news. now on bbc news, philippa thomas hears from people around the world about their extraordinary experiences during the pandemic and how covid—i9 has

changed their lives. welcome. 0n coronavirus: your stories, this year, we have been hearing from people around the world about some of the extraordinary ways in which covid—i9 has changed our lives. 0n the programme, we have heard from more than 50 guests across 25 countries. like rachel, a british palliative care doctor, spending her days talking to the dying. there have been times where i have had to pull over on the side of the road and actually stop driving on the way home and sit there and cry to myself in silence, inside my car,

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

and they feel like they are not being heard. dana, a young doctor in damascus, making medical supplies because so few were getting into syria. what we have tried to do is do them ourselves using diy techniques. we were creating designs of masks, facemasks and other ppe through 3d printer, for example, but the main problem was the materials and to find 3d printers because it is not common to have 3d printers around here. what do you think might have happened to you if this intervention had not come along with this kind of lockdown room and help you got? i'll be honest with you, i probably think i would be in prison by now and that is the honest truth. i honestly think i would

be in prison by now. now as christmas approaches, we are revisiting four of these stories. together, they reflect how difficult life has become for so many. losing business and jobs, health worries, stress, above all, losing loved ones to the virus. but they have also been stories of solidarity and hope, of people rising to the challenge in extraordinary ways. in some of the remotest areas of the united states, native american volunteers came together early to help the tribal nations hit hardest by covid—i9. in utah, jo 0verton was clinically vulnerable herself, stuck at home during lockdown, but she felt she had to act and set up a nonprofit from her kitchen table. from my youngest childhood, i remember my mother asking me what are you going to be when you grow up? and what will you do to help the people? there are some areas, especially on the navajo nation, where between 30 and 40 people, 40% of the people don't

have running water. it also means they have no electricity and no cell phone service because they live in a really remote area and that might be ok on a regular basis, but with covid, it means they cannot call for help, they cannot wash their hands. ijust said, i cannot stand here and do nothing. and so, i did something and it has grown and i have an amazing team of people who are incredibly caring and we are all working together to save lives. i was looking for 40 masks and now we can get thousands to people within just days. and also, face shields and gloves, hand sanitiser, it becomes life—saving when you don't have water. nine months on, jo's network is still active and growing.

sending help to tribal lands from south dakota to nebraska. how does she describe the challenge today? it has been just... ..kind of overwhelming emotionally and very difficult to watch people that you love and are part of your family to become sick, to have people that you care about die. more native americans are going to become sick with covid and more native americans will die. they make up 9% of the south dakota population, the native americans do, and they are 19% of the death rate. jo, tell us more about what your network is doing to get some of the basics out there. we absolutely depend on our partnerships, our collaborations with the native peoples. they are our moccasins on the ground.

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

what's driving you on, jo? my people are dying. what would i do, sit here and do nothing? i can't. the most important prayer that we say is that the people may live, not that i may live and i have been guided in my efforts by my ancestors and a deep drive to make my mother proud of me, for her to look on at me and say, good for her, she's doing something important. and it has been what has lifted me in the darkest of times in the midst of this. jo 0verton in utah. this year's panic about the deadly coronavirus among us has led, of course, to long periods of lockdown around the globe. and that's had, that's still having an economic impact, with many families now

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

you think it is, actually means the world. to a lot, itjust might be there world because they are just trying to survive on a day—to—day basis. thank you. since we spoke, cainta was hit by a typhoon season and that meant that thousands have also lost their homes. in desperate need now of food, aid and medical supplies. about two or three weeks ago we were hit by a typhoon. it hit the country, the philippines, including my hometown. so hundreds of household work submerged in floodwaters, causing thousands of people to evacuate into evacuation centres. and it has been a struggle because people have only really started to recover from the lockdown, so from the day the typhoon hit, we managed to send out pack meals to people in evacuation centres. so in just under three weeks, we managed to provide 3,000kg of rice, i,000kg of vegetables, 30 boxes of canned goods and hundreds upon hundreds of grocery kits to almost 10,000 people. crisis or no crisis,

we have each other‘s back. and do you think that you will continue to be organising supplies all the way for the christmas season? i know it is a long season in the philippines. yes, yes. we actually have the longest christmas season in the world, so we start in september and end in earlyjanuary. so basically, half the year. but of course we will be continuing our relief and food programme for as long as it takes. although for some people it seems as though we have lost the christmas because of everything that has happened this year. to me, it's never been more alive. there are people out there on the streets, in their homes, at work or on social media, doing whatever they can to be there for others and to me that's what christmas is all about. community, solidarity, love and hope. shawntel, what's it been

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

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

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

in august, they admitted, that was not all smooth sailing. we got hit by a big low coming over us and we saw winds in excess of 35 knots and we were in the gulf stream and so itjust created these gigantic standing waves and the boat was shaking and getting slammed around and the wind was howling. we blew out a sail. sierra really couldn't come outside because it wasjust too poor a weather. that kind of sail taught me a lot also about my limits and what i feel comfortable with. i mean, we have been out sailing for like, ten years, but sailing with her is definitely different. but now they're in the country with the highest pandemic death toll in the world and now that winter's here, what does this sailing family do next? we decided to sail up north to canada, unfortunately, the border closure is still in effect, canada is not letting any americans in and you really can't blame them for that. and then we had to head

back south again. i mean, the plans change all the time, but i think in general, we are going to head south and probably down towards florida. life on a boat is still the life you want? definitely. yeah. i love it. i love living on the boat. it is a much different world that sierra has come into than the one you expected. definitely. you know what, i ventured into the hardware store the other day. we were walking around and everybody else is wearing masks and to her this is what she is used to now. she sees somebody out in the store wearing a mask and it's not strange to her. we've watched her grow up on this programme, which is lovely to see. and i'm just thinking about what you'll tell her, you know, when she's a bit older about her first year.

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

brian, karin and sierra trautman. on this programme, we have heard a lot from people who realise how much it matters to make connections at a time when we are supposed to socially distance. this year, a lot of people have thought about what matters most to them and what matters in their relationships. so for ourfinal story we are hearing about a couple tested in this pandemic year, not by a physical isolation like trautmans, but by unexpected togetherness. so, for ourfinal story, imagine two friends, world travellers who first meeting in australia. one year later, they meet again in new zealand and romance is in the air. then, pandemic strikes. so canadian katie and brit ryan suddenly find themselves far from home in a small flat, facing lockdown life together for weeks and weeks. how did they react? for katie, one word. panic. laughter please, no. i'm sure it was a shock

for everyone, really. just knowing that we'd be cooped up in a house for a long period of time. and it was really new, so that was really terrifying because we both did not want to live with each other right away. it kind of forced us to understand each other quickly and really get to know each other quickly and, you know, i'm sure if it was not for lockdown, we would not be in this position that we are in at the moment. we wouldn't still be living together. so tell us about some of the understandings you reached. what are you talking about? well, basically... ryan snores and when he snores really bad, he has to go to a different room. understanding number one. and number two... don't mix the dirty laundry and the clean laundry together. it is life lessons, hey? laughter what did you learn, though? ryan, what did you find out about katie?

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

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

what really matters at a time like this. and i see you two of a brilliant example of that. thank you. yeah, thank you. yes, just keeping each other entertained, i guess you can say. i am quite, i wouldn't say stupid, i would say clumsy. so, i'm sure i'm quite funny to be around, i guess. and just communicating and learning to understand each other, you know? learning to understand what is not said as well. my mum has already looked up our horoscope signs and figured out how compatible we are. so we are pretty compatible. my family will get to meet you when the time comes, i guess, when trouble opens back up. they are excited. to canada to the cold. i think they like you better than me already. lucky you. so, describe what you think your christmas is going to be like. 0ur christmas is going to be a different one this year. we are having all of our friends that don't really have anywhere to go, we are all going to be together, well, not nowhere where to go, but no family around. we are going to be together and just... have a big pot luck.

some fun and games and just have a laugh and have a good time. hopefully we can get a sunny day. ryan and katie in new zealand. i am philippa thomas. thank you to our guests for sharing and thank you for watching this special edition of coronavirus: your stories. hello. the weather is taking on a decidedly wintry complexion as we head through the final days of 2020. the satellite picture shows this big stripe of cloud that brought very wet and windy weather through the early parts of sunday courtesy of storm bella, but now we've got these speckled clouds working in from the north, some shower clouds, those showers turning wintry as well with some really cold air digging its way down. and we stick with this northerly air flow right through the coming week.

so, yes, it will be cold by day and by night. there will be a mixture of rain, sleet and snow at times, amidst all of that, some spells of sunshine. certainly a very chilly start to monday morning with temperatures widely below freezing, several degrees below freezing in places. that could well give rise to some icy stretches, and also notice this area of rain, sleet and snow across parts of wales, the midlands, down into southern england. this is going to be moving very slowly through the day, he could give some snow certainly over high ground, but even to low levels don't be surprised if you get a brief covering of snow. elsewhere, some wintry showers continuing in eastern coastal counties. northern ireland, western scotland keeping a lot of cloud. a mix of rain, sleet and snow here. it will be windy in the west, not as windy further east, but even if you get sunshine through the day it will feel chilly. top temperatures between 2—7 degrees. now, as we had through monday night western areas particularly will see further cloud and epics of rain. some sleet and snow. some wintry showers for eastern coasts as well. elsewhere, we keep some clear

spells, again a touch of frost and some icy stretches with temperatures for many dipping well below freezing. so as we go on into tuesday, low pressure will be sitting just to the east of the british isles. high pressure a long way out to the west, but that will be driving a feed of northerly winds once again. another fairly windy day across the west, where we will see showers of rain, sleet and snow. some wintry showers for northern and eastern coasts. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather and some spells of sunshine to come with those temperatures still struggling below average for the time of year. three, four, five, six celsius in most places. and we stick with that very cold weather throughout the rest of the week. a lot of dry weather around, but some showers, some of which will still be wintry.

welcome to bbc news — i'm rich preston. our top stories: president trump belatedly signs a huge bipartisan coronavirus relief and government spending bill into law. south africa registers more than a million cases of coronavirus — hospital admissions rise steeply as a new faster spreading variant is detected. the vaccine rollout begins in european union countries — health workers and the elderly, the first in the queue. new york prepares to say a rousing, if virtual, farewell to 2020.