today, the lack of sympathy shown by her entourage was criticised at the very highest level. it was chilling to see this, rather than to try to to help her, you could feel this chilling atmosphere. as ever, needs to be inch perfect. meanwhile, britain's women's curling team are currently playing their semifinal against sweden. victory, and team gb's second medal of these games will be guaranteed. andy swiss, bbc news, beijing. time for a look at the weather. here's nick miller. hi, nick. by, jane. i know it was parts of the south of england and wales and saw the worst of it. that standout gust of 122 mph on the isle of wight, but

the wind is really ramping up now in london and south—east england and east anglia as well. 70—80 mph gusts, this is clearly a danger to life, damaging gust of wind with widespread disruption. and why? satellite picture. a day or so ago, the area have found in the atlantic has wound into a deep low pressure system moving right across the uk. everywhere is affected some way or other, but the strongest pens on the southern flank of the system, are now transferring further east, and more on this pertinent morning area now, seeing this excessive, extreme gust of wind, including into london, and that met office amber warning area. risk to life in these damaging gust, we know there is widespread destruction out there. it is not just the wind that has got us talking. in scotland, snow has been piling up, particularly into the higher ground, but several centimetres at lower levels, and

that continues this afternoon, across southern parts of scotland as well, more of the pennine starting to see that snow falling. here's a picture from aberdeenshire today. that is a source of disruption here. temperatures, quite a range from north to south. my oldest in the south, but we know it is very windy. a bit of snow in northern ireland as well. , it will take quite chilly, with further outbreaks of snow in scotland and northern ireland for a time of the high ground. in return the very same places to, but the most important thing, out into the north sea by this stage, will be storm units, which is moving away and sensibilities. i wish i had like the lead for the weekend, because it was for wales, in wales, northern england and parts of the midlands may see a bit of snow. first test of time. 50—60, not as padded. stay

posted for white people are feeling day. put simply, yet another watson the uk. widening the survey. these are some of the costs, but through it will turn colder again by sunday night and across monday. for wet and windy weather will be moving in. the important part in brackets there, it is not as bad, but after today, so much clearing up to do and so much damage to sort out, that will not help things. keep it was the latest weather warnings, and there are more than for the weekend. thank you, nick. that's it from the views that one team for today. and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are.

good afternoon. you're watching bbc news. i'm olly foster with the latest from the bbc sport centre. great britain's women are playing their curling semifinal against reigning champions sweden at the winter olympics. the swedes started strongly, going 4—0 up after the first end. eve muirhead's team pulled it back to 11—3 straightaway, but it's been cagey since then, before a steal in the fifth end, despite sweden having the hammer, the final stone, they couldn't stop the british quartet from levelling the semifinal at 5—5. sweden have the hammer again in the sixth end. they have won the scoring stone but there are still in a couple of stones to go. the ioc president, thomas bach, has criticised kamila valieva's

coaching team in beijing for having no compassion towards the teenage figure skater. in response, russia's deputy prime minister says it's "inappropriate and wrong for bach to weave his own fictional narrative on the feelings of their athletes." the 15—year—old figure skater, who has been allowed to compete for the russian olympic committee, despite being investigated for a failed drugs test in december, fell a number of times in yesterday's individual free skate routine and dropped from the gold medal position to fourth. her coach, eteri tutberidze, confronted her as she stepped off the ice, saying, "why did you let it go? why did you stop fighting?" when i afterwards saw how she was received by her closest entourage, with what appeared to be such a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this. rather than giving her confidence,

rather than to try to help her. lewis hamilton says he's ready to "attack again" ahead of the formula one season that starts next month. speaking at the launch of the mercedes car, alongside his new teamate george russell, the seven—time champion admitted that he had "a difficult time" coming to terms with last season's title climax, when he was pippedto the world championship by max verstappen on the final lap of the abu dhabi grand prix. the race director, michael masi — who was removed from his position yesterday — failed to follow the the rules correctly during a late safety—car period. it was a difficult time for me and it was a time where i needed to take a step back and focus on being present, i had my family all around me, creating great moments. it eventually got to a point

where i decided i would be attacking again and coming into another season and working with toto and george. it is exciting seeing george come in and bringing his energy, i can already feel that throughout the team and i think it will be an exciting season. rugby union's six nations championship takes a break this weekend, but ireland's first choice hooker, ronan kelleher, will miss the rest of the tournament. he was forced off with a shoulder problem during the first half of their defeat to france last weekend. he's started the last seven games in a row and has 18 caps. dan sheehan came off the bench to replace him in paris and is expected to make his first start against italy next weekend. that's all the sport for now. better news for england. courtney lawes should return for that game against wales. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website — that's bbc.co.uk/sport. the curling semifinal, still waiting

for sweden to through the sixth stone in the sixth end. i'll have an update on that in the next hour. you are watching bbc news. we are focusing right now on the story that is dominating so much people. with millions of people warned to stay at home, thousands without power and travel disrupted across many parts of the uk. the met office has taken the unusual step of issuing two red warnings today — meaning there has been a danger to life from flying debris, and warnings of damage to homes, power cuts and major travel disruption. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has in the last hour been outlining preparations in the capital. for the last few days we have stood up the strategic coordinator

group with the met office because we were concerned about eunice, the worst storm in three decades the city has faced. the first time ever the met office has issued a red weather warning. that means londoners should stay indoors unless they have a really good reason to leave. i was recently on a call with the london fire commissioner and one of the things we were worried about is the storm leading to debris flying around, roof tiles, scaffolding, garden furniture, that could hit somebody and cause serious harm. parks across our city have closed, concerned about trees falling over. the city airport is closed for the day, heathrow and gatwick are delaying their planes, all the tourist attractions across our city have closed for the day, it is really important, as long as the met office has this red weather warning, we fully advise to stay indoors. some people are saying it at this

point it seems ok right now and obviously on that basis they might go where they are going but they might find it hard to get back potentially later. what would you say? it is deceptive. when i looked out my window earlier i could see blue skies and it looked like a pleasant lovely day, three minutes later the bushes in my garden, the trees were blowing aggressively. you don't want to be outdoors when you see the consequences of the high winds. up to 80 mph in london. there are at least 60mph even though it looks pretty calm indoors, don't be deceived by blue skies. follow the science and evidence as well, which is that the met office don't issue red weather warnings as a matter of course. the first time ever in london. storm eunice is the worst storm we faced in three decades in london. it is really important you err on the side of caution. we know from the pandemic,

it is possible to be productive, even working from home. this is the key part of the red warning, flying debris, and you listed garden furniture potentially and other things in that. it seems it might be sensible for people to take as much stuff as they can inside or make sure it is tied down somehow, it may not be practical, but what would you say? what you can, please do. i was in my garden this morning trying to bring in some of the garden furniture into the shed that is not heavy, things like bins outside. one of the things the fire brigade are doing this morning is dealing with building works, scaffolding coming loose, sheets flying off, roof tiles flying around and that is why staying indoors means you're less likely to be hit. but you can do stuff to avoid things that you are responsible for flying around as well, so if you have bins with lids that

can fly away you might want to bring them where they don't fly away. if there is garden furniture that is light and may fly awway bring it indoors and put it in the shed, do what you can to avoid being a factor for other people's danger but the best thing you can do is stay indoors and don't try and be a hero to try and bring in something and facing the consequences of roof tiles, scaffolding flying around. enormous travel disruption. and it spied on the roads and at airports, but it is a really bad for a lot of people who otherwise might want to use the trains in many parts of the country.

the main rail line into kent has been closed — paul prentice, the media relations manager for southeastern railway, gave us this update a short time ago we are still very much telling people not to travel. we are experiencing severe disruption on our network throughout today. in the space of about 25 minutes, we had six trees down on our network. our colleagues over at network rail are doing an amazing job of trying to clear those trees as quickly as possible but unfortunately the severity of the wind and the impact of this storm means we are having to close quite a lot of our routes. the main lines into kent have now been closed. we as yet don't know when we will be able to reopen them. right now the message to people is, please don't travel and please don't make any plans to travel. if you were planning to, then please don't in the kent area. our correspondent, craig duggan, has been giving us the latest

disruption also at london waterloo, problems at paddington. the advice is to not travel unless you really have too. we have been affecting today that all chains have been counselled across the whole of wales. that apparently is the first time that has ever happened. there is literally no trains running across the whole of wales. our correspondent, craig duggan, has been giving us the latest from aberystwyth in north wales. as you can see, the wind is still blowing very strongly here in aberystwyth, we are in the amber zone in mid wales, where they are forecasting wind speeds of around 60—70 miles an hour. you can see maybe some of the waves crashing against the sea wall behind me, up towards the pier and the old college there. seen its fair share of storms over the 150 years since aberystwyth university was established. but i guess eunice is going to be up there with one of the worst. i have to say, high tide

was about two hours ago. i was here then and the wind was much calmer. people here were fearing that if there had been a combination of those 60—70mph winds and a high tide, a spring tide, overfive metres high, if those two things had happened at the same time there was concern on the seafront for properties here. there are sandbags out near front doors, trying to hopefully keep the worse of any water that would have got over to that side out of cellars. that didn't happen, thankfully. the wind has picked up maybe in the last half an hour or so, but it is still very strong. we are sheltering here by the bandstand out of the worst of the wind, but as i was walking across to get here earlier i was feeling the resistance from the very, very strong wind. that is a sense that this may not be as bad as people feared, that eunice may not be as bad as some other storms we've had in aberystwyth over the years. storm barra just before christmas caused damage to the promenade just along the way there, that still hasn't been repaired. so there were concerns

that the damage that was done then could have got worse had eunice been as bad as forecast. it's still very bad, you still need to take care. but as i say, the high tide happened when the wind was a relatively calm. possibly that meant the sea did not get as far into the promenade as was originally feared. but that's not to say it is over yet. as you can see, the winds are still crashing against the sea wall. eunice is very much here in aberystwyth. let me show you some pictures that have come into us in the last little while. you may recognise this. it is the millennium dome. we are being told that a section of the ref has been lifted off by the strength of the wind. that is extraordinary in itself that has even happened. so many parts of the country affected, millions of people in different

parts of the country hit. this just reminds us of what meteorologists have been telling us, that it is a very rare to get winds of less strength and speed in the capital. you can see one whole slice of that white roof ripped off the millennium dome in east london. famous for concerts and more besides. goodness, thatis concerts and more besides. goodness, that is a real shredding of the riff they are. a red weather warning currently in place to live for one thing and the south—east of england. that is the latest images in there. you can keep up to dates with local information on bbc radio. and on our website you can also find some guidance on how to stay safe before and during the storm. recommendations issued by the met office include —

secure any loose objects such as garden furniture, one of the key issues as just do not travel anywhere that is a red warning, unless you really have two. that will be updated regularly. there is a light page now up and running, updating you on the situation around the country. local and original broadcasting is the place to be at a time like this to try and keep up—to—date with what is happening in your area. let's return to canada. reports from there say key organisers of the truck protest in the capital ottawa have been arrested. earlier police warned protestors of "imminent action" to clear them from the area and end a crisis that

prime ministerjustin trudeau warns is threatening public safety. large numbers of officers have been seen moving into the city centre. aru na iyengar reports. freedom. this is forfreedom! downtown ottawa — police putting up fencing around government buildings, around 400 trucks are still here. the centre still paralysed. leaflets are handed out. they're telling the truckers to leave the area now or risk arrest and vehicle seizures. we've been bolstering our resources, developing clear plans and preparing to take action. in the past few days, we've been communicating directly with the unlawful protesters. we've told them they must leave and we have warned them the consequences of disobeying these rules. nearby in parliament, prime ministerjustin trudeau defended his decision to use the rarely invoked emergencies act. it gives him a wide range of temporary powers to deal with the protesters. we did it because that's what responsible leadership requires

us to do for the good of all canadians. the illegal blockades and occupations have to stop and the borders have to remain open. police have set up a secured area with almost 100 checkpoints. only those with a lawful purpose will be able to enter. that excludes anyone wanting to join the demonstration. when our government starts to become a tyrannical government, that's what gives us the right to stand up and fight the government. we have that in law. we're going to win. we already are winning. the protests began as opposition to mandatory covid vaccines for truckers crossing the us—canada border, but it's broadened out to opposition against pandemic restrictions and justin trudeau's government. they've also threatened us—canada trade. this blockade at ontario's ambassador bridge is north america's busiest land border crossing. it was cleared last weekend. this weekend, bad weather could complicate any policing action in ottawa.

up to 30 centimeters of snow is expected to fall. aruna iyengar, bbc news. chinese leader xijinping has called for hong kong to take "all necessary measures" to bring the coronavirus outbreak under control. its a rare intervention from china's leader. hong kong has been overwhelmed after two years of tight controls, with some patients treated in beds outside hospitals. hong kong health authorities say they will try their very best to move all patients indoors by tonight. over 3000 new cases have been reported today. here's our china correspondent, steven mcdonnell, on the chinese leader's rare intervention. it's interesting hearing from the chinese leader offering their suggestions that everything should be done, you know, pull out all stops to try to tackle the latest covid outbreak in hong kong. on the face of it, people might hear

those words and think, so what? you know, it's kind of broad language and as if people in hong kong wouldn't be doing their best already to try and tackle the crisis. two things, though, that are very significant about this. one is that this is the first time it seems since wuhan, when this all started, that he's so directly injected himself into the way a city is handling this crisis. so, we've had other outbreaks in xi'an, in nanjing, you name it, but we didn't have xi jinping offering this sort of direct instruction in the same way we're getting for hong kong. what this shows is how concerned the chinese government is about the situation there. and i think chinese officials, they're having the communist party leader so directly placing himself into this, it will focus their minds and, you know, try to get some new way to solve the crisis there.

but they've got a couple of massive problems. one, the hospitals are being swamped, partly because older people in hong kong are not getting vaccinated in big enough numbers, for some reason, people over the age of 80. you know, there's some figures around that only 20 or 30% of people have been vaccinated. well, that's well short of what's needed to try to stop a crisis. and in fact, it's getting so bad that there are reports that mainlanders living in hong kong have been having to sneak or decided to sneak back into the mainland to escape the crisis in hong kong. we think the reason for this is that they can't get places in the covid isolation hotels on the mainland side of the border. so, when you come to the border and you cross into the mainland, you need to be able to show the authorities you have a booking, you know, so you can do your quarantine. well, those hotels are all full.

people want to get out of hong kong, get back into the mainland, so they're getting caught sneaking across the border. would you believe, fleeing covid in hong kong?. so a very serious situation there indeed. now, as we go to the latest weather forecast, just to bring you some music that has come through in the last few minutes. at been reported by our te in ireland that no man has died there after he was struck by a falling tree. he was out squealing storm debris we are told and was struck by a falling tree. that is the information we have at the moment. very, very difficult conditions for millions of people. we will keep you up—to—date throughout the afternoon. right now we will pause and take a look at the weather prospects with nick miller. hello. we are in the midst of an extremely

dangerous storm moving across the uk on the satellite picture a day ago, it was just a strip of cloud. but look how in the past 2a hours it's really taken shape this swirl of cloud on the satellite picture, and it's now moving across the uk with the strongest winds on the southern flank of this system roaring through particularly wales and across much of england, and the strongest winds transferring eastwards. all the while. and still this met office red wind warning covering a large part of south—east england, a danger to life from these extreme winds gusting 60 to 80 miles an hour. but that's part of a broader amber warning area that continues on into this evening, the strongest winds continuing to transfer eastwards. again, 60—80mph gusts bringing widespread damage and disruption. not all about the wind, too. we have wind warnings affecting northern parts of england, northern ireland and southern scotland, still 50—60 mile an hour gusts, but also a lot of snow falling in scotland, particularly to the higher ground, but quite a few centimetres to lower levels in places as well.

here's a view from aberdeenshire. so the snow causing some disruption into scotland, some of the higher parts of the pennines, as well. quite a range of temperatures from north to south across the uk. but it is these strong, damaging winds really concerned about. they will gradually ease from west to east as we go on into tonight, though, it still stays blustery, mind you, and there'll be further snow around across parts of scotland and indeed northern england, where we've seen some wet weather today as temperatures drop away, icy patches too. further wet and windy weather over the weekend more rain moving in, particularly into parts of wales and england, could see a bit of snow in the northern flank of that north wales midlands, into yorkshire, for example, before that moves away. another windy day. there'll be higher gusts than this towards south wales. the coast of southern england may be 50 to 60 miles an hour, not as bad as today, but hampering clean—up efforts on a day where more places see temperatures in single figures and another swathe of wet and windy weather coming our way during sunday.

concern about rain totals over and to the west of the pennines. and very gusty winds, particularly across parts of scotland, northern ireland and around some irish sea coasts. so, further wet and windy weather coming over the weekend, though not quite as bad as we're seeing at the moment.

this is bbc news, i'm rebecca jones. the headlines. storm eunice is battering parts of the uk. forecasters say it could be one of the worst storms to hit the country in three decades. i don't know what the actual wind speed is but you can barely stand up in it. i'm literally at a 45—degree angle, it's crazy. the dome of london's 02 has been shredded by the winds, with damage and disruption across the country. a gust of 122mph has been recorded at the needles on the isle of wight — provisionally the highest gust ever recorded in england. you're being urged to avoid travelling if you can. there are snow and ice warnings in northern england, scotland and northern ireland. all trains in wales have been cancelled and there are further cancellations and delays across the uk.