storm eunice hits the uk, with powerful winds causing injury, damage and disruption. coastal areas in the south were buffeted by gusts and huge waves, with people urged to be cautious. i don't know what the actual wind speed is but you can barely stand up in it. i'm literally at a 45 degrees angle. it's crazy. the gale force winds pulled down trees, tore through buildings and caused extensive damage in parts of the country. the turbulent conditions made for bumpy landings. and relief for some... it has been a da of and relief for some... it has been a day of chaos _ and relief for some... it has been a day of chaos on _ and relief for some... it has been a day of chaos on the _ and relief for some... it has been a day of chaos on the railways - and relief for some... it has been a day of chaos on the railways with i day of chaos on the railways with delays, cancellations and trees on the line. the red alert "danger to life" warnings have now been lifted, but much of the country remains

on alert for severe weather. also tonight... as russian drills continue near ukraine, the us says russia has built up the most significant military force in europe since world war ii. wow! great britain are in the final! and the women's curling team are in the final at the beijing winter olympics, meaning a second guaranteed medal for team gb. and coming up on the bbc news channel... lewis hamilton says he wants to come back stronger next season, ending doubts over his immediate future in the sport following last season's controversial end to the title race. good evening. large parts of the uk have been battered by one of the worst storms in decades, with major damage to buildings and millions of people being advised

to stay at home as storm eunice hit. two rare red weather warnings, meaning a danger to life, were issued but have now passed. there is still a serious amber warning in place for a large part of england until 9pm, and less severe yellow alerts for snow and ice in northern england and scotland. the strongest gust of wind — a blistering 122 miles per hour — was recorded on the isle of wight at an exposed point of the island. the storm has brought widespread disruption, with flight and train cancellations, school closures, power cuts in some areas and major bridges being closed. ourfirst report tonight is from our correspondent, danny savage, in bristol. in bude this morning, a local landmark toppled. oh, my god, i caught that on video! as storm eunice swept in from the atlantic, the water was whipped into huge waves and coastal areas saw the highest gusts.

i don't know what the actual wind speed is, but you can barely stand up in it. i'm guessing it's 80, 90 mph on top of the cliff. the sea state along the south coast was frightening. by lunchtime, 10% of homes in cornwall were without power, and the isle of wight had recorded a gust of 122 mph. oh, my god, oh, my god, whoa! it's ok. nobody�*s hurt. it's just hurt the brand—new fence. whoa. and it wasn't just trees falling. that's the spire of st thomas's church in wells being destroyed. near bristol, a speed limit on the m4 prince of wales bridge wasn't enough to keep traffic moving. for what's thought to be the first time ever, both bridges here across the severn estuary have

closed because of the high winds. but the severe flood warnings here have now expired. thankfully, the worst case scenario wasn't realised. temporary flood defences were not tested, but authorities say it isn't over yet. on the back of this, we've got more rain coming, so they could be possibilities of further flooding as the week pans out, so let's get today out of the way first, then let's make sure that all of our infrastructure, all of our defences are still in good shape. as the day wore on, the storm headed east. for the first time ever, the south—east of england and london were also in a red warning area. to see these strong winds inland across the south where we just don't see them that often, that has been one of the biggest factors with storm eunice. one of the good things about the storm is the speed at which it has actually moved through, so it's zipped through pretty smartly, but all storms are different,

they all offer different things, but this one has been particularly intense. red warnings are rare, to have two out on the same day is exceptional. gosh, it's flipped it off. in london, the wind ripped off the roof of the o2 arena. it left a gaping hole. a thousand people had to be evacuated from the site. the north of england and scotland escaped the worst of the storms, but it did get some heavy snow. this morning's rush hour was difficult, but things have now improved. the humber bridge, though, was another crossing closed, unusually, to all traffic rather than just high sided vehicles. storm eunice will be remembered for its mountainous seas and wind damage. there were fears it could have been much worse. conditions have improved since earlier and the bridge here over into wales has a traffic moving again and for many areas it is the

recovery phase, devon, cornwall, kent and suffolk, places where there have been lots of power cuts and the aim is to get many of those people reconnected as soon as possible. worth noting what the environment agency said, to keep an eye on the weather over the next three days, more wind and rain is expected but not as bad as it has been today. danny, thank you. in wales, all train services were cancelled for the first time ever. the majority of schools were closed and tens of thousands of homes were left without power, with eunice damaging homes and properties. our correspondent, tomos morgan, has the latest from the worst—affected areas. the sound will never, ever leave me. it was just... heartbreaking to hear my daughter screaming. just before lunchtime, in newport, south wales, ellie price's house buckled under pressure from storm eunice. herfive—year—old daughter, olivia, was playing upstairs. opened the door, i could see all the houses, the roofs were hanging off, and i grabbed my daughter, managed

to grab any clothes that we could, and just took her outside. three homes condemned, for now, in this street, and, thankfully, nobody was injured. elsewhere, the seaside town of porthcawl also felt the impact. the majority of its coastline businesses having to shut. the sea front here in porthcawl really bore the brunt of the weather this morning as, within one hour of the red warning coming into force, it coincided with high tide, meaning that waves came crashing over the promenade, here. i have lived in porthcawl many, many years. i have never experienced it like this before. it is even taking my breath away, it's so windy. strongest i've seen for a long time. you know, the lack of rain was a big help, but i haven't seen a wind as strong as this for a while. at its peak this morning, gusts of over 90 mph were clocked, as eunice turned over anything and everything in its path. for the first time ever today, all trains were

cancelled as a precaution. most schools also made the decision to close. half term started a day earlier than planned. over 40,000 homes have been without power across the country and, although the met office's red warning ended at lunchtime, the whole of wales is now under an amber alert for wind until this evening, and the advice remains to stay indoors and the only travel if absolutely necessary. tomos morgan, bbc news, south wales. in other parts of the country, it's been snow that's the issue. our correspondent danjohnson is near alston in cumbria for us now. yes, it is really cold and wet, windy and wild appear on the pennines. the wind hasjust windy and wild appear on the pennines. the wind has just got stronger and stronger throughout the day and there has been quite a bit of snow, hail and day and there has been quite a bit of snow, hailand ice day and there has been quite a bit of snow, hail and ice that has been proving a problem for drivers as

well. the roads have largely been quiet although there have still been people out. disruption on the trains, concern about the roof of preston station, aries and the irish sea have been disrupted. and there are power lines down already across the north, more than 1000 homes in the north, more than 1000 homes in the north—west without power at the moment. disruption still being caused and another difficult night in store, perhaps, into tomorrow and would you believe it, on the world this afternoon the coastguard had to tell three people not to go swimming in the sea. , ,, tell three people not to go swimming in the sea. ,, g, in the sea. goodness! dan johnson, thank ou in the sea. goodness! dan johnson, thank you very _ in the sea. goodness! dan johnson, thank you very much. _ well, storm eunice has also caused travel chaos across the country. planes have struggled to land at airports and gale force winds brought trees down on railway lines. our correspondent emma simpson is at waterloo station in london for us now. just hide disrupted have services

been? it just hide disrupted have services been? , ., ., , just hide disrupted have services been? _, ., , been? it is fair to say this has been? it is fair to say this has been quite — been? it is fair to say this has been quite a _ been? it is fair to say this has been quite a day _ been? it is fair to say this has been quite a day on _ been? it is fair to say this has been quite a day on the - been? it is fair to say this has - been quite a day on the transport front. the sheer scale of disruption, it has been hard to keep up. tonight, for instance, at waterloo, all services are still suspended. network rail says they are checking the roads to make sure they are clear of debris so that trains are safe to run and that is because loads of trees have been blown onto the tracks. travelling into a storm. stomach churning landings from the skies. the going's rough for this carferry, too. on the roads, the wind too strong for this lorry. and chaos on the rails. a roof lands on the tracks at banbury. the disruption from storm eunice has been far and wide. even before the storm hit, all train services in wales were cancelled. here's why. carmarthen station roof on the platform. services in the south—west

badly disrupted, too. every train operator in england has been dealing with delays and cancellations. disruption on this scale is almost unprecedented. there are trees down all over england and wales. we have got thousands of colleagues out working with chainsaws and other specialist kit, desperately trying to get the railway open as quickly as we can. it's lunchtime here at london's waterloo station. trains were running, and then suddenly every service has been suspended, and every train en route has been told to pull into the nearest stop until the worst has passed. so, we're not going home by train today, no. this group's trying to get home to portsmouth after a birthday trip. i was supposed to come to uni this morning, but they sent an e—mail 20 minutes before the lecture saying that there's no uni, so i'm here for no reason and now i can't get home! at gatwick airport, some planes aborted landings.

across the uk, more than a50 flights have been cancelled today. jane anson was en route here, but didn't make it. the pilot came on again and said that there were no places to land in any of the other london airports, it wouldn't be possible to land there. they considered amsterdam, but that was closed. they considered edinburgh, but they said it was too snowy up there. so we turned around and came back to bordeaux. at dover, ferry crossings also closed. the last boats to beat the storm tugged into safety as storm eunice passes through with all its force. emma simpson, bbc news. storm eunice begin life in the central atlantic and was propelled towards europe by the jet stream. here's helen willetts to explain more. wind roars. the computer models were actually hinting at this

powerful storm just over a week ago, and it started right out here in the atlantic. just a tiny disturbance in our atmosphere, but enough for forecasters to spot that it looks like a powerful storm, and they named it eunice, which is the fifth named storm this season, and the second named storm this week. and as it approached our shores, it underwent explosive cyclogenesis, a scary name which basically means it picked up a lot of energy very rapidly. it's so tricky to compare storms, but eunice has certainly been nasty. it looks like it has brought the highest gust of wind ever recorded in england, 122 mph. but it's also exceptional because of the sheer extent of the warning area, so unusual to see virtually the whole of england and wales under an amberwind warning, and it brought the first red warning to london and south—eastern parts of england since the current system was brought in about ten years ago. 80 mph gusts of wind inland are a big deal. and for scotland and northern ireland, it brought disruptive snow.

it doesn't seem likely, although there are no more named storms on the immediate horizon, the weekend remains wet and windy for many of us. we did have four named storms last year, six named storms in 2019, and if we get another one this winter, it'll be called franklin. to keep up—to—date with the situation where you live, you can listen to your bbc local radio station, and you can find details of your nearest station at bbc.co.uk/sounds. for the picture across the country, head to bbc.co.uk/news, where we have live updates throughout the evening. the time isjust the time is just coming up to a quarter past six. our top story this evening. storm eunice has hit the uk, causing injury, damage to properties

and extensive travel disruption because of powerful winds and it's just been confirmed that a woman has been killed by a falling tree in london. coming up. a warning that children's health services must be prioritised as we emerge from the pandemic coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel... sprinter cj ujah has apologised for doping violations that have resulted in team gb�*s men's ax100m team being stripped of the silver medal they won at the olympics in tokyo last year. us diplomats say russia has now amassed up to 190,000 personnel around the borders of ukraine, calling it the most significant military mobilization in europe since the second world war. moscow has repeatedly denied planning to invade ukraine, but there are reports for a second day of shellfire in the east of the country, which is held by russian—backed separatists. world leaders are meeting in munich for a security conference, but russia won't be attending

for the first time in two decades. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports now from munich. the closest the war in europe for years. these shots being fired in russia's naval exercises in the black sea. but so close to ukraine's southern coast, and much bigger than ukraine's home fleet. a shot across the bow of kyiv. and the country now surrounded by moscow's military might. on the northern border, another show of force. exercises with belarus. today in moscow president putin met the belarusian leader, closest of friends. the long table used for visiting western leaders was gone. president putin tells him they will both participate in new drills tomorrow and sends a message to nato, too. translation: i must state

that these exercises - are purely defensive in nature and do not threaten anyone. a much different message here in munich. us and nato allies shoulder to shoulder, condemning what they call russian aggression. no wonder russia's foreign minister stayed away this year. i think president putin has been a little bit surprised. at the way that nato has come together, the european union has come together. we have come together individually, as partners, institutionally. either way, whichever path president putin chooses, we will be ready to respond. one big question dominates this conference. will russia invade ukraine again? the nato secretary general has seen the same intelligence as the us and british officials who believe it's imminent. there is no certainty about the intentions of russia. but a high probability that there could be something tomorrow,

given what you have seen in the intelligence? i think it is very important to just describe the facts. the facts are that we have russian armed forces amassed at the border of ukraine, that are ready to invade without any warning time. and that is a very dangerous situation. a great danger lies here, eastern ukraine, now a wasteland along russia's border, where russian backed separatists exchange fire with ukrainian forces. last night's shelling was some of the worst in years. ukrainian troops inspect the damage here. even a kindergarten got hit. each side blaming the other. nato accuses russia of seeking a pretext to attack. and russia releases images like this, to show it is pulling out its tanks, pulling away from this brink. but this crisis still teeters dangerously on the edge. lyse doucet, bbc news, munich.

children's health services across the uk must be prioritised as we emerge from the pandemic — that's the call from several major health charities. a report from the nuffield trust and the health foundation highlights growing waits for planned care, delays to cancer diagnoses and a surge in demand for mental health services in england. our health correspondent katharine da costa reports now on two families who've been affected. some days she couldn't walk. getting angry, she was crying sometimes. the children caught up in delays and disruption caused by the covid pandemic. sometimes ijust see tears rolling down his face. gone from the child he was to pretty much a recluse. he's more interested in your fingers. eight—year—old thomas from leeds was diagnosed with leukaemia three years ago. his fortnightly hospital

appointments moved to monthly video calls during the pandemic. his mother says without face—to—face checkups problems with his bladder and liver weren't spotted. it's like all the time in the back of my head, how long has this been going on? would it have been detected sooner had he have been seen? as a mother, i want to take this pain away from him. i don't want to sit and watch him in this pain but i can't do anything. i just feel completely helpless. sorry. as well as disruption to some cancer care, there has been unprecedented demand for children's mental health services and the waiting list for planned hospital treatment grew to more than 300,000 in november — 1,000 young people waiting over two years. remember, crutch first! every day has been a struggle for

13—year—old cerys from nottingham. she has a condition which means that one leg is longer than the other. last summer, she was put on a waiting list for an operation but it was cancelled twice because of covid. there you go, sweetheart. i was really frustrated by the situation. ijust want to be able to be normal and that and not have any pain in my legs. cerys finally had the operation last month to fit a frame on her leg that will help it to grow. it's a relief it's all over. the last—minute cancellations caused a huge amount of anxiety. the whole situation of this, re—booking and cancelling, it's not fair on cerys, she was losing school days. i was losing work days, which i wasn't getting paid for. in response to thomas's case, leeds teaching hospital trust told us it is committed to achieving timely and safe care for all patients. all four uk nations have said

they will continue to prioritise children's care with extra investment in both mental and physical health services. katharine da costa, bbc news. the government's weekly coronavirus figures show a continuing drop in the number of cases recorded. on average 116,990 cases were recorded each day in the last week. hospital admissions have also fallen, with an average of 11,555 patients being treated in hospital over the last seven days. 158 deaths were reported in the latest 24—hour period, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, although some will have died of other causes. on average this week, 147 deaths were announced every day. our health editor hugh pym is here. it's a big day on monday, with an announcement on the future of covid restrictions in england. what's the data suggesting?

well, reeta, the group of scientific modellers who advised the sage group of experts published papers today showing projections of hospital admissions falling further through to the first week of march, perhaps half of where they are now, and daily reported deaths also falling, so government sources feel this is a pretty benign backdrop to the big announcement expected on monday. borisjohnson has already said that legal restrictions are subject to the data will come to an end, including the legal requirement to self—isolate for anyone testing positive. but there is a big question over the future of free lateral flow test. it seems highly likely a date will be set for when they will come to an end. that's not clear exactly when it'll be, and there will be protections for certain vulnerable groups to carry on getting free lateral flow test. ministers feel this is an essential move to opening up and living with covid, but there is a warning from scientific modellers that if you try

to do too much, ending isolation and testing all at once, the virus could yet pick up again. testing all at once, the virus could yet pick up again-— yet pick up again. thank you very much, yet pick up again. thank you very much. hugh _ yet pick up again. thank you very much. hugh pym- _ great britain have been officially stripped of the silver medal they won in the men's 4x100m relay at last year's tokyo olympics. it comes after sprinter cj ujah, who ran the first leg of the relay, was found to have failed a drugs test. the 27—year—old says he "unknowingly consumed a contaminated substance" and the situation is one he "will regret for the rest of his life". at the winter olympics in beijing, team gb is guaranteed another medal after the women's curlers followed the men's team and also won their semifinal match — beating the reigning champions, sweden. meanwhile, the head of the international olympic committee has said he was very disturbed by the way the 15—year—old russian figure skater kamila valieva was treated by her coach after she fell several times during her final yesterday. andy swiss reports from the games:

they've done it! for britain's curlers, another day of elation and emotion. a guaranteed medal and a place in the final. but goodness, what drama. eve muirhead... britain had trailed sweden for most of the match until captain eve muirhead conjured the shot of a lifetime. it's four! but sweden weren't done, forcing the match into an extra end. but when their final stone went astray, the celebrations could begin. great britain are in the final! and so britain's women, like the men's team, now have a shot at gold. i'm pretty speechless right now, but, like, what a moment. yeah, it sounds amazing to to say that we're in the olympic final. but earlier, britain's hopes in the skiing went rapidly downhill. zoe atkin fell notjust once but twice in the final of the halfpipe, and had to settle for ninth. oh, it's massive, isn't it?

the gold, though, was never in doubt. the extraordinary eileen gu of china soaring to her third medal of the games. what a breathtaking talent eileen gu is, and what delight for the host nation. and with her second gold medal here in beijing, she's proving to be perhaps the star of these games. but the name of these games is surely kamila valieva, the russian teenager who failed a drugs test, was cleared to compete, but whose hopes last night ended in tears. today, the lack of sympathy shown by her entourage was criticised at the highest level. it was chilling to see this rather than to try to to help her. you could feel this chilling atmosphere. thomas bach added he was very disturbed by valieva's performance. the pressure is beyond my imagination, he said, especially for a girl of 15 years old.

andy swiss, bbc news, beijing. back to our main story — storm eunice. and as the worst of the storm hit britain, thousands were glued to big jet tv — a live youtube stream of planes trying to land at heathrow with commentary from aviation enthusiastjerry dyer. our correspondent david sillito has more. been, shall we say, an interesting day to be an air passenger flying into heathrow. g0 day to be an air passenger flying into heathrow.— day to be an air passenger flying into heathrow._ and | into heathrow. go on, son! and watchin: into heathrow. go on, son! and watching it _ into heathrow. go on, son! and watching it all _ into heathrow. go on, son! and watching it all and _ into heathrow. go on, son! and watching it all and providing - into heathrow. go on, son! and watching it all and providing a l into heathrow. go on, son! and l watching it all and providing a live commentary on the extraordinary skills being displayed, big jet tv live. it has been a day to marvel at the skills of pilots as they've navigated these extraordinary winds, and following it minute by minute, has been jerry

and following it minute by minute, has beenjerry here on big jet tv. this is where the skill of the pilot really comes in.— this is where the skill of the pilot really comes in. during the worst of the weather. _ really comes in. during the worst of the weather, more _ really comes in. during the worst of the weather, more than _ really comes in. during the worst of the weather, more than 200,000 l the weather, more than 200,000 people were watching on youtube minute by minute coverage of the landings. take this flight from prague at 9.13 this morning. inside the cabin, a certain harsh as it made its approach. and then, touch down. you could feel the relief. applause very skilled individuals. this is where their training and years of experience, some of them are young and haven't been flying for very long, but they do a greatjob. you can do it! come on! long, but they do a great 'ob. you can do it! come omh can do it! come on! jerry's new viewers have — can do it! come on! jerry's new viewers have been _ can do it! come on! jerry's new viewers have been introduced i

can do it! come on! jerry's newl viewers have been introduced to can do it! come on! jerry's new- viewers have been introduced to all sorts of new terms on a day when pilots have truly proved their mettle, and one that many passengers won't forget in a hurry. david sillito, bbc news, heathrow. filth. sillito, bbc news, heathrow. 0h, es! hard sillito, bbc news, heathrow. oh, yes! hard watch! _ time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. you were glued to that this morning, apparently? yes, it wasn't an easy watch. this storm was every bit as dangerous as we thought it would be, and it has brought england its strongest wind gust on record, 122 mph at the needles on the isle of wight. and we have a met office amber warning for the next two hours, northern and eastern england very windy at the moment. this is storm eunice, just on the southern flank where you see this hook

currently going through parts of eastern england, that is where we still have some really strong winds. we have had a lot of snow today, wintry showers continue even down into the south at times with ice an issue for the northern half of the uk. the winds at least will very slowly ease as we head through this evening and overnight, and temperatures will drop away. the weekend looks less severe weather wise but there is still plenty going on. tomorrow we bring in this band of rain from the west, turning to snow over the high ground of wales, may be to low levels for a time, snow for parts of northern ireland and may be southern scotland if this band gets in here, and it will be accompanied by gales, but not as windy as it has been today. through saturday night and into sunday, another frontal system pushing saturday night and into sunday, anotherfrontal system pushing in another frontal system pushing in from anotherfrontal system pushing in from the west. between these two fronts, mild air, and where we have had the snow in scotland, that could start to melt and give flooding

issues. and further south it is rain that will bring the