ma'am this is bbc news. the headlines: millions of people in the us and canada are spending christmas in the grip of a severe winter storm. at least 35 people are known to have died and around 175,000 homes are without power. officials in buffalo in new york state have called in the national guard. rescue teams are searching for survivors of an avalanche in western austria. it's thought two people remain unaccounted for after a number of skiers were buried by snow in an off piste area of the lech—zurs resort. initially ten people were thought to have been trapped under the snow.

dozens of people have received hospital treatment for suspected toxic poisoning in serbia after a train carrying ammonia derailed near the southeastern city of pirot. people have been warned not to leave their homes. a state of emergency has been declared after 20 carriages came off the tracks. police investigating the shooting of a 26—year—old woman at a pub near liverpool last night have appealed for the public to come forward with any information relating to the incident. merseyside police said �*it did not believe�* the victim — who was out with her sister and friends at the lighthouse inn in wallasee — was targeted by the gunmun. four other people were also injured in the attack — one is in a critical condition. 0ur north of england correspondent judith moritz reports. late on christmas eve, the lighthouse pub was full of people counting down the minutes towards midnight. it was a lively scene, butjust before 12:00am

the pub�*s neighbours heard a particularly loud noise. i was in bed and i was on my phone and i heard "bang, bang, bang, bang" — four times. i waited, because i thought it was going to be a firework and i thought i'd hear the "ssh". but then i didn't hear the shush. a gunman opened fire directly towards the front door of the pub, his shots hitting a 26—year—old woman in the head. despite efforts to save her, she died of her injuries. herfamily are said to be inconsolable. he also shot another four people, one of whom is in a critical condition. the fact that this has happened on christmas eve makes the tragedy even more unpalatable and shows those responsible have no regard for members of the public who just want to be able to live their lives without fear. at the time the offender fired the gun there were a large number of people enjoying a night out at the lighthouse inn, and the actions of the gunman

were totally and utterly reckless. there's been a lot of focus recently on gun crime on merseyside, especially following the shooting of a 9—year—old girl in liverpool in august. the police tell me that it's too soon to know whether this shooting is connected to any others, but also say that despite what's been happening, the rate of guns being fired in their force area is lower than it's been in the past. this church is almost next door to the pub, and within hours of the shooting its ministerfound himself giving the christmas sermon in the shadow of a crime scene. god in christ is with us, he's the prince of peace, so it made it rather poignant this morning, preaching that message in the backdrop of what had happened a few hours earlier, when someone had lost their life, and the tragedy and the violence

that ensued there. the pub�*s owners have given cctv material to the police, who say they're looking for a dark mercedes a—class car. they're appealing for anyone with information or camera footage to come forward. judith moritz, bbc news, wallasey, on merseyside. now on bbc news, 0urworld: svalbard's climate change fight. deep in the arctic circle, there's a place under threat like no other. this is svalbard, the fastest warming spot on earth. it's out of control. it's... it's really impacting our lives and the wildlife around us. it's scary. it's climate change on fast forward. we know that the clock is ticking, but i choose to stay hopeful, actually. yeah. i can't do anything else. we want to know what's being done to save svalbard as we know it. we are testing new

technology, new systems. but even here, are they really ready to give up fossil fuels in the middle of an energy crisis in europe? they haven't found the perfect substitute yet, so coal - are still here to stay. and now the war in ukraine is undermining the international fight against climate change. one of the consequences is that the official exchange with russian institutions is not possible at this time. it's a dangerous moment for all we meet, those trying to survive at the ground zero of climate change. we're on the top of the world. we have the whole world around us.

my name is 0laf store. i'm an artist living in longyearbyen. i have been living here for 23 years. we've come to meet 0laf and his dog boss at his studio in svalbard's capital. the archipelago's seasons and the unique arctic wilderness have been the inspiration for his life's work. the 10th of february. you have all the possible blue colours around you, day and night. and then you have the pastels coming, the yellowish lights turning a little red. later, the sun comes, and it comes more and more and more of it, till it becomes so much light that you are tired of it. you have light for four months and then the darkness comes. by new year's eve, it's all black. but you have... you have the moon, you have the stars. you can really see the stars here. you can see the milky way over your head. you can see the northern lights, which is like flames over the sky.

this is a land of beauty and extremes. so what's it like to live at 78 degrees north, the most northern permanent settlement on earth? it's impossible to explain to anyone. it's so different. there is nothing between you and the feeling of nature. there is nothing between you and the feeling of something much, much bigger than yourself. maybe it's god. i don't know. you are here and you have to survive. survival is a word that comes up a lot in svalbard. there have always been threats, but this part of the world

faces new ones, as everyone who lives here experiences the effects of climate change first—hand. the summers have become warmer. there are hardly any ice in the fjords any more, so it's changing. someone who has seen these changes is arctic explorer and adventurer hilde falun strom. along with her husband steinar and alaskan malamute ettra, hilde is taking us out on an overnight expedition to show how nature is changing. if we're lucky, we could see whales, reindeers and birds, of course, maybe an arctic fox. and if we're super lucky, i mean, a polar bear? and very soon, we are in luck.

amazing! amazing. they look extremely chilled. very much so. you see the cub sort of teasing her mum a little bit. so... but, yeah, they're super calm. to survive as a polar bear now, i think you have to be super good at hunting because their main source of food, the seals, they are diminishing. and the ice that both the seal and the polar bears are dependent on are diminishing. it's getting less and less ice. and that's really scary. and...nowhere else in the world do you find polar bears

where there are no ice. so, if the ice is disappearing, the polar bears are going to disappear. it's really sad, super sad. and it sort of... the polar bear has to me, and i'm sure to everyone, it's become a symbol of what's happening. since the 1980s, the amount of summer ice has halved, and some scientists fear it will be gone altogether by 2035. the polar bears are so hungry in this part of the arctic, they've been hunting reindeer on land, something they normally wouldn't eat. and it's notjust polar bears. all of the arctic�*s unique wildlife is trying to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. these beluga whales have decided to go for a quick dip, but they're swimming in water that's much hotter than it used to be. and all wildlife here in svalbard is having to adapt to this hotter world. whale calls. you can hear them now.

it's hotter in the water and it's hotter in the air too. maarten, look. the changes are very dramatic, very large. wherever i look around us, i see change. so, it's very profound. climate scientist kim holmen has been documenting these changes for nearly half a century. today, he's our guide and polar bear guard. you need a gun for protection every time you venture off the main road of the capital, longyearbyen. kim was living on the archipelago back in 1990 when the united nations issued its first dire warning of the effects

of climate change. the worst case scenario, the largest emissions scenarios, were dismissed as alarmist or whatever. painfully, humankind has many a time surpassed the worst case scenario. we must actually start turning the tide. and i had no... ..imagination that it would be doing as much as it has. in his time studying svalbard, it's transformed dramatically. it's now warming six times quicker than the rest of the world. this area here was covered with ice when i first came here. it is a very obvious, very strong image of change. we're pretty much done with the ice here. kim explains that warm

air is carried here by the gulf stream, one of the strongest ocean currents in the world. and where the ice melts, the ocean absorbs even more heat. it has implications for all of us. the glacier melting away behind me is pouring out into the ocean and contributes to sea level rise. and all the glaciers here on svalbard are melting faster than ever. sea level rise influences you in the uk. it influences the netherlands, bangladesh, many a place on the planet. many of us live along the shore. the north—south tension in europe, the north—south tension in the world, will be exacerbated by climate change. svalbard is on the front

line of climate change. you can see how this glacier is thinning out, beating a sad retreat. and just have a look at how much ice has already been lost over the years. and scientists warn that what's happening here is a sign of things to come if stronger collective action is not taken 110w. the planet is already committed to further change. so whether you like it or not, svalbard will be different in the future. nevertheless, there are still remnants that can be saved. and the more we save, the better is our future. but the future here feels precarious, partly because of what's fuelling the local economy — tourism. svalbard is attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, putting further strain on this fragile environment. huskies, once used for vital transport, now carry around

the tourists here to witness this disappearing landscape. and not everyone is happy about it. it makes me a little bit sad that mining history is fading away. now, it's like a la la land for tourists. ok, let's go. my name is bentjakobsen. i'm a coal miner in mine 7 in longyearbyen, norway. despite being on the front line of climate change, svalbard still relies on coal, as we're finding out. now we are in one of the two production sites we have here in mine 7, eight kilometres in the mine. this is a world few outsiders can appreciate unless they've seen and felt it for themselves. i feel calm.

so, yeah, ifeel quite safe. i like it. i couldn't imagine doing anything else. but all this is to end, or so we've been told. bent�*s company, the government—owned store norske, has announced that mine 7, svalbard and norway's last remaining mine, will soon close forever. it makes me sad. i'm... you know, being there all my life, almost, and that's what i've been knowing. it was a mining town and now it's coming to an end. it's more and more of a tourist town. what do you say to those who argue coal mining's a thing of the past, it has to finish, if we're going to save the planet from global warming? if you can't get it from here, you will take it from somewhere else. they haven't found the perfect substitute yet, so coal are still here to stay. but what about when the mine closes? what will power svalbard?

during our visit, we were taken to the outskirts of the archipelago, where the mining company store norske is experimenting with alternative energy sources. so now we are heading to our technical building, where we have the diesel engines and the batteries... the idea is that a mixture of renewables will fuel arctic communities in the future. this is quite new, especially in svalbard, so it takes time for the authorities to kind of get used to this idea. and also we need to prove how good it is for both operations, economically and also for the environment. and i think we can prove that with this pilot. but the mining company is still waiting for approval from the authorities, both in svalbard and on the norwegian mainland, about which green energy solutions it will be allowed to pursue. why the delay? we went to see one of the top officials on the archipelago. solutions are there.

why haven't you got a plan in place already to protect this place? the tough answer to that is that we probably haven't been paying enough attention. but we have been really awakened for the last year, to see that we actually need to do things to produce secure energy for the local community. that has been, of course, very important for us. but there's a problem. since our visit, the state—owned mining company has performed a u—turn. it's now delayed the closure of the last coal mine because, it says, europe's energy crisis makes it a more profitable operation now. and in another blow to the climate fight, the war in ukraine has halted cooperation between scientists in russia and in the west. one of the consequences is that the official exchange

with russian institutions is not possible at this time. half of the arctic is russian coastline, and if we are unable to share knowledge and data, it will hamper our ability to understand what is happening. it will. we need each other in order to do good science. and cooperation is needed more than ever here — if the arctic is to be a place of peace, not confrontation. life here, it is so on the limits, so on the edge. maybe we should leave svalbard to the scientists. but we can't do that out of political reasons because this is kind of a political hot spot. the arctic has been and will be. singing

i am the world's northernmost vicar, and i have the whole of svalbard — or spitsbergen, as many says — as my congregation — nearly 3,000 people from more than 50 nations. this is siv limstrand. she's invited us to the wedding of a local couple — ellinor, a teacher, and jan—erik, an ex—miner. we can contribute to the world, like kind of a showcase. you know, "this is what happens "if we continue polluting the way we do. "this is how serious it gets, you know?" so that's also why it's important for us to share our experience. we know that the clock is ticking, but i choose to stay hopeful, actually. yeah. i can't do anything else.

climate—induced dangers hang over the community. if you are witnessing something, like, ringside, you are kind of also kind of obliged to reflect on it and also to act on it...within your reach or your limits. every sunday, when we gather for worship, a part of our intercessions is always about the climate change and the threats. it's something that we always spend a lot of time on. it's deeply connected with ourfaith in a god who created everything to be good. and now it's definitely not good because creation itself is sort of... we messed it up and we are kind of... 0ur lifestyles have threatened people. in that respect, it's very close to us.

this is not now regarded as a good and safe place for the cemetery, so we are establishing a new cemetery just north of the church, in respect of both the living and the dead. with the layer of frozen ground — the permafrost — melting, there's a greater chance of avalanches in the winter and landslides in the summer. we can see the huge landslide from october 2016. and it went on the north...and the south side of the cemetery. and luckily, it didn't kind of wash the cemetery down to the river. and now when i look at it... ..it�*s like a wound, you know? and maybe... ..it reminds us somehow

of this wounded planet. is having to adapt and confront new dangers. in 2015, a devastating avalanche hit the town. it's left a deep scar on the community. and for hilde falun strom, who was there when it happened, the avalanche has had a massive effect. it ended up to be a huge tragedy. two people died, a two—year—old girl and a 43—year—old man. so it's... it's hard to describe how that felt and how scary that it was, that you weren't safe inside your own home any more. it changed the whole community. it's changed me.

the power of nature that i have been so fascinated of was totally out of control. the avalanche inspired hilde to take action. she set up a project called hearts in the ice with a friend, sunniva sorby. they spent nearly two years on their own in the most remote wilderness of svalbard. during this time, they did important work as citizen scientists, generating vital information for professional institutions. we contacted nasa, norwegian polar institute and unis in longyearbyen, and they were all so very interested in us being so remote for such a long time — during the dark season in particular, where they don't have scientists out in the field. so we were collecting data, then, for...two winters.

i guess i had this climate despair, and ijust wanted to...become more actively engaged in the solutions and learn more about it. so hilde�*s mission continues — to inspire as many people as possible to make the changes the planet desperately needs. we have to try. i mean, we need renewable energy. we need different ways of travel. we need different ways...to find ways to feed ourselves. we need different lifestyles. but i don't think that's a bad thing. i think that could be a great thing. for all hilde�*s positivity, elsewhere in svalbard, there's a warning from the past of how once thriving communities can be consigned to history if they don't adapt. it feels very surreal here,

a weird, eerie atmosphere. this place is completely frozen in time, a monument to a bygone age when the coal powered everything here. it was the lifeblood of the whole community. this is the abandoned soviet settlement of pyramiden, the world's northernmost ghost town. today, though, it's a stark reminder of what the future might look like for the rest of the archipelago if solutions aren't found quickly enough. with svalbard on the brink and still no answers to its own energy dilemma, what cause for optimism elsewhere? this latest global climate summit will be dominated by the effects of war in europe. 0ur governments will be asked once again what sacrifices they're willing to make today to save tomorrow.

hello again. i thought i'd start off with confirmation of what you already know, and that is that the vast majority of the uk didn't have a white christmas — not with temperatures like these through christmas afternoon, 13 in chertsey, 12 for london. most parts of the uk had double figure temperatures. and even the far north of scotland, lerwick and shetland had temperatures around seven degrees. it was pretty mild, then, for most, but over recent hours and heading into boxing day, we do have a shot of colder air that's working its way in. starting to see some of these showers in highland start to turn wintry. and over the next few hours, yes, you probably will see some snow working into scotland, with the risk of some icy roads as temperatures dip below freezing here. some pockets of frost as well

for northern ireland and northern england. mild weather further south. it's going to be a much colder day, then, for boxing day, with some accumulations of snow building in to scotland, where we could see 1—3 centimetres at low elevations. but up over the high ground, 5—10 centimetres of snow possible, where, along with the strong winds, we're talking about drifting and some blizzard conditions, so could well be some disruption locally in scotland. away from that, plenty of showers for northern ireland, the north—west of both england and wales. one or two wintry showers mixed in, temperatures a lot lower than they were on christmas day, ranging from around 4—10 degrees in london. ten is still actually on the mild side. now, heading into tuesday, we could see a few more issues as well as this area of low pressure piles into the cold air in scotland. now, it could well be that we see a bit of snow on the leading edge of this system, with the snow then turning back to rain. but to the north of the central belt, over the high ground, well, the snow could last a bit longer. and i tentatively suggest we could see something like 5—10 centimetres.

no warnings outjust yet, but it's worth keeping in touch with the weather forecast across northern scotland for tuesday. further southwards, it's a mild day, quite a windy day, with a band of rain moving its way across england and wales. those temperatures widely still up into double figures, but that colder air refusing to budge, really, across the very far north of scotland. heading into wednesday and thursday, the weather pattern stays unsettled, with low pressures continuing to spin off the atlantic, bringing further zones of rain. and wednesday, we could see some fairly strong winds around as well, so that's something to bear in mind. running up closer to new year's eve, new year's day, it stays unsettled. generally, temperatures are a bit above average, but do expect more rain at times. bye— bye.

welcome to bbc news, i'm monika plaha. our top stories: north america's deep freeze — severe winter weather claims 35 lives across the united states and canada. dozens of people are treated for suspected chemical poisoning in serbia after a freight train carrying ammonia derails. rescuers continue to search for two missing people after an avalanche on the austrian slopes. and king charles pays tribute to his late mother, queen elizabeth, in his first christmas message. christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones. we feel their absence at every familiar turn of the season.