and takes effect at 11 o'clock tonight, when the uk will stop following eu rules. millions more people in england wake up to the strictest level of restrictions, tier 4, meaning they will have to mark the new year at home. the pandemic is also casting its shadow over new year's eve celebrations in europe. france is mobilising a 100,000 police officers to enforce anti—coronavirus measures. some secondary school pupils in england face a delayed return to school, with mandatory remote learning for pupils who aren't in years 11 or 13. it comes ahead of a government roll—out of mass testing. formula 1 world champion lewis hamilton receives a knighthood in the queen's new year's honours, alongside members of the public recognised for their efforts this year. now on bbc news,

wuhan becomes the epicentre of a global pandemic, an event that will change everything, as businesses fight to survive. wuhan. china's economic heartland. and the epicentre of a global pandemic. the city at the heart of a public health crisis in china is shutting its public transport to try to prevent the spread of the virus. in the spring of 2017, we set out to follow the fortunes of two companies as they fought to establish themselves in the city's 0ptics valley, a dedicated zone for new technology enterprises. it is part of the move to transform the city's economy. applause. this is the story of some of the people who live and work in the city.

and the story of wuhan before and after the arrival of the coronavirus that would change all of our lives. previously on three years in wuhan: some difficult truths. and tiesen and menghua's relationship falters.

six months have passed, and it's autumn in wuhan. temperatures have fallen, and there is much less rainfall than during the intense summer months. people are preparing to celebrate the mid—autumn festival, a time of thanksgiving. wuhan is a major transportation hub, with a multitude of railways, roads and expressways, linking it with other chinese cities, and many people will return home for the celebrations. tiesen and menghua are reconciled, at least for the present.

although money is tight, tiesen decides to move his office to the heart of optics valley, where graduates can get preferential rental rates. the change of environment has boosted staff morale. the sales team spent the entire summer promoting their software to fruit sellers and have had some success.

the sales team will now cover ten cities in the space of a month promoting software to retailers. for tiesen and the team, this is the moment they have been waiting for. even this programmer is encouraged to stay on. as the delivery deadline for the distillery looms, xu has been given a zero interest loan of 50 million yen, $7 million us, from the government to build brand—new factory

premises for the company. he laughs.

tiesen and his team are also celebrating a second anniversary. applause. they sing happy birthday. laughter.

music plays.

at fenjin robotics, they have put aside their differences. everyone has worked flat out to meet their deadlines.

it has been confirmed that a new virus that has been spreading across china can be passed from person to person... the infection is a new type of coronavirus. .. the rapidly spreading respiratory virus originated in the chinese city of wuhan... hospitals are overwhelmed... there is a degree of panic and concern amongst residents... public transport has been shut down... residents are being urged to stay put... wuhan is in lockdown.

the speed and scale of the lockdown took everyone by surprise. and its impact would be immediate and far—reaching. applause. senguo's attempts to promote software to retailers around china was a huge success and brought in another investor, who injected 5 million yuan, over $700,000, into the business. his intervention also helped get many of the staff back home before the lockdown was imposed.

after successfully delivering their contract, fenjin won several other commissions from major distilleries around the country. but the lockdown in wuhan meant all on—site work came to a complete standstill.

during the course of the lockdown, of the lockdown, fenjin robotics made a loss of 3 million yuan, almost $500,000. though he stayed in constant touch with his family, tiesen decided it would be safer to see out lockdown alone.

for xu's partner, the seriousness of the situation

also took time to set in.

one of the defining moments of lockdown for both xu and tiesen was the night when the city came together with a rallying cry. distant shouting. singing.

for over two months, alone, tiesen tried to keep himself busy.

from his home in the suburbs, xu reflected on his relative good fortune. for both men, the threat of a backlash against people of wuhan was a constant concern.

after 76 days of lockdown,

the trains were lined up and ready to go, the barriers taken down from the highways, and wuhan reopened its links to the outside world.

their offices have reopened, but during the three—months lockdown, senguo, like fenjin robotics, lost 3 million yuan, almost $500,000, completely wiping out 2019's profits. they remain upbeat, but senguo and fenjin robotics

now face an uncertain future. as china tries to reinvigorate its economy.

but the after—effects of the epidemic can be seen and felt across wuhan. and it's difficult to predict what the long—term impact will be on the residents of the city whose name will be forever etched in our collective memory. many, like tiesen, would rather forget.

not only did some wake up to a fresh covering of snow this morning, but last night was not only the coldest night of the season but the coldest of the year, temperatures down to minus 7.5 celsius in north yorkshire, and another cold day continues. still more snow across parts of upland scotland, turning to rain at lower levels as temperatures left, rain and sleet in northern ireland, but still a wintry element to the showers across the west of scotland, devon and cornwall, a dusting of snow in places. most of us will stay dry and bright, lingering fog patches where the winds are lightest towards parts of east anglia and the south—east, but as i said, another chilly day. this evening and overnight, seeing out 2020, wintry showers in northern scotland, rain and sleet in north—east england, and that will continue

into tomorrow morning. away from that, another frosty night, and where the ground is wet, with snow lying, icy conditions into the start of the new year. as for new year's day itself, a weather front from northern england to parts of the midlands, the south—west, the cloudiest zone with the chance of further showers, mainly rain or sleet, snow over higher ground. snow showers as it gets cold in the far north of scotland, much of scotland and northern ireland have a drier, brighter day compared with today, a fair bit of cloud for england and wales, but another chilly one, temperatures below where we should be for this time of year. a frosty night follows into the start of the weekend, but more sunshine for england and wales on saturday. a line of showers from the far west of wales towards cornwall, showers in the north and east, but most will be dry on saturday.

lingering fog patches in scotland limiting temperatures to freezing if not below. and into sunday and the start of next week, the winds go to an easterly direction, and that brings an area of less cold air our way. whatever follows from the sky into next week and the early part of 2021, mainly rain or sleet, snow over the hills. it will still be cold, and you will notice it will be much windier, especially for england and wales.

this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. a bill to implement the brexit deal has passed through parliament and takes effect at 11 o'clock tonight, when the uk will stop following eu rules. millions more people in england wake up to the strictest level of restrictions — tier 4 — meaning they will have to mark the new year at home. the pandemic is also casting its shadow over new year's eve celebrations in europe — france is mobilising 100,000 police officers to enforce anti—coronavirus measures. and this is the scene in auckland as new zealanders hold their new year's fireworks.