at this point, it's too dangerous to evacuate safely. so you happen to shelter in place and just hunker down. and israel's defence minister warns its response to iran will be "deadly, precise and surprising". hello. hurricane milton has now started to make landfall in the us state of florida, where it could be one of the most destructive storms in the state's history. the centre of the storm is now less than 30 miles from land, and residents are being urged by authorities to shelter in place. milton is now a category three storm as it collides with the coastline in sarasota county. the city of tampa is also near the path of the storm.

here's a live look now at tampa in florida. you can see the walls of rain coming through, high winds, wild weather conditions there at the edge of the hurricane, which isjust beginning to make landfall on the coast of florida. this is from a short time ago in fort myers. you can see the before and after of water coming up over this hotel pool. quite a dramatic amount of water there. and just to show how dangerous this storm is, even with the storm still offshore, it is already causing damage. it has spawned several tornadoes, which have been reported in the state, including in areas that are also seeing flooding. this is a home in fort myers that was hit by one of those tornadoes. you can see the roof is ripped off and the interior already destroyed, and the hurricane

itself hasn't even arrived. these pictures from space give you a sense of the size of the monster storm. you can really see the scale of hurricane milton there, making its way towards the outline of the state of florida there, and just the vastness of that. winds gusts have been measured on land as high as 90 miles per hour — that's 144 kilometres per hour. some areas in florida are under an "extreme wind warning". very, very dangerous conditions there. and more than 250,000 residents are reportedly already without power. it will be a while before power can be restored. of course, milton comes only about two weeks after hurricane helene struck the state. many cities in florida have not yet finished cleaning up from that storm. florida's governor, ron desantis gave this

update on the storm just a short while ago. at this point, it's too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down. category three storm for most places in florida, particularly newer construction, likely the building is going to be able to withstand it, but if you start to get into a situation where trees are snapping, you have to treat it like a tornado. if you are in a tornado warning, that is a duck and cover in a place that's safe in your structure, they can be very, very dangerous, anywhere. already 116 tornado warnings, with 19 confirmed touchdowns throughout the state. flash flood warnings and four additional flood watches, with many, many more to come. numerous counties have reported tornado damage. the

peak storm surge is predicted to be between 5—13 feet, depending on where you are. right now, the peak storm surge looks to be between charlotte lee county line up to anna maria island in manatee county. let's speak now to our colleague sumi somaskanda in miami. we saw some of those tornadoes that have hit florida, what can you tell us about them? that was one of— you tell us about them? that was one of the _ you tell us about them? that was one of the most - you tell us about them? twat was one of the most dramatic parts of the day, caitriona. we knew because weather officials had predicted this, this massive hurricane milton would spawn tornadoes, but we saw the most tornado warnings ever issued in a day, more than 100. about an hour north of miami, as we were filming at an

evacuation centre, we learned two street north of us, a tornado had been sighted, so we packed up and moved on. but because of this very hot humid muqqy because of this very hot humid muggy area, it is spawning these massive tornadoes that have caused a lot of destruction. the tornado warning extending across the southern peninsula of florida. not only causing damage, but as you mention, in areas where there is already flooding, the heavy wind and rain and precipitation coming through, it is adding to the concerns about what hurricane milton will do to this area. you spoke to some of _ will do to this area. you spoke to some of the _ will do to this area. you spoke to some of the people - will do to this area. you spoke to some of the people who - will do to this area. you spoke i to some of the people who were evacuating. as time has passed, those evacuation warnings have now turned into shelter in place orders. how are people in florida there set ahead of this hurricane?— hurricane? that's right, caitriona. _ hurricane? that's right, caitriona. at _ hurricane? that's right, caitriona. at this - hurricane? that's right, caitriona. at this point, | caitriona. at this point, officials are saying to hunker down and stay in place and as safe as possible. a fluid

disaster official recently said, if you hear branches and trees breaking, cover yourself in blankets and pillows. last night a florida disaster official. i spoke to a family friend in port charlotte half an hour ago. she and her elderly mother... inaudible. it is set to be hit pretty hard by hurricane milton. they have boarded up their homes with sandbags. she said the trees are bending sideways because of the extreme wind and rain. but they believed because they had survived previous hurricanes like hurricane ian and helene that they could ride out the storm. most people we know did heed the evacuation warnings and get out of the path beforehand, but there are cases of people remaining, especially if they are on higher land. they are trying to keep up suppliers and make sure they

have water, batteries, generators and food to make sure they can stay in place as long as necessary. we sure they can stay in place as long as necessary.— long as necessary. we heard from president _ long as necessary. we heard from president biden - long as necessary. we heard from president biden earlier| from president biden earlier that he and governor desantis have been in regular contact all day. how is the situation when it comes to resources available to the state for now and in the inevitable recovery? if you listen to florida governor ron desantis, he essentially said the entire state has put resources into making sure everything is ready for the period after the storm. we saw a bit earlier today... inaudible. making sure power lines that are down are taken care of, and remember some of the debris is still in place from hurricane helene. florida national guard out and about, not only in the eeyand ss—f» * ~ and looks to come ashore in the new and about, * ~ and looks to come ashore in the new and about, not * , . cities, tampa and sarasota, but and looks to come ashore in the flex and about, not only . and looks to come ashore in the flex and about, not only in the out and about, not only in the cities, tampa and sarasota, but in the outlining areas. and in the outlining areas. and

local police. people who have local police. have hunkered down, they are making local police. people who have hunkered down, they are making sure those people are safe, sure those those are some of checking in. those are some of the resources that florida checking in. those are some of the resources that florida governor ron desantis was governor ron was discussing earlier today. and governor ron desantis was discussing earlier today. and president biden, the extensive president biden, the extensive federal resources as well. federal resources about 20 million meals. those president biden, the extensive federal resource: meals. those resources at the ready, but about 20 million meals. those resources at the ready, but remember, they cannot be remember, they cannot be deployed until the storm has deployed until the storm has passed. that is what we are passed. that is what we are waiting for at this point. waiting for at this point. thank you. thank you. joining me live joining me live is ryan truchelut, is ryan truchelut, meteorologist and president of weather tiger, based meteorologist and president of weather tiger, based in tallahassee, florida. in tallahassee, florida. thanks forjoining us. what is thanks forjoining us. what is the status of hurricane milton the status of hurricane milton right now? we are seeing it right now? we are seeing it starting to make landfall a starting to make landfall a little bit ahead of the little bit ahead of the expected time. expected time. little bit ahead of the exected time. ., �* , expected time. that's true. hurricane — expected time. that's true. hurricane milton _ expected time. that's true. hurricane milton moved - expected time. that's true. hurricane milton moved a l expected time. that's true. - hurricane milton moved a little faster than earlier forecasts

and looks to come ashore in the

little bit ahead of the expected tim the west to moving east, the west to east track is very unusual, not a lot of parallels looking back in history. what made it form so quickly? well, a favourable environment for upper level winds, and it was moving over gulf waters that were very warm and deep with water temperatures in the mid and upper 805. when those things happen, 5ometime5 hurricane5 can come together and rapidly inten5ify in a way that we don't fore5ee. intensify in a way that we don't foresee.— intensify in a way that we don't foresee. we are seeing some live — don't foresee. we are seeing some live pictures _ don't foresee. we are seeing some live pictures of- don't foresee. we are seeing some live pictures of the - don't foresee. we are seeing i some live pictures of the storm 5tarting some live pictures of the storm starting to make landfall, and the intense wind5 starting to make landfall, and the intense winds and the walls of rain it is bringing. talk to us of rain it is bringing. talk to u5a of rain it is bringing. talk to us a bit about those conditions. a, ~ ., us a bit about those conditions. ~ ., , conditions. hurricane milton is brin . in: conditions. hurricane milton is bringing in _ conditions. hurricane milton is bringing in all— conditions. hurricane milton is bringing in all four _ conditions. hurricane milton is bringing in all four of - conditions. hurricane milton is bringing in all four of the - bringing in all four of the main hurricane hazards to central florida. search, wind,

rain and tornadoe5. —— 5urge. the west central florida coa5tline where it will make landfall, the winds are mostly 5till along the shore, angled in the same direction that the coast is pointing. but as it makes landfall, they will make5 landfall, they will switch to blowing from the gulf of mexico on her land. in places where the winds are already blowing on5hore, charlotte harbour, already 5ignificant flooding, including some of the same areas, fort myers beach, where there was significant flooding two years 5ignificant flooding two years ago with ian. i would expect the forecast of nine to 13 feet of storm surge. anna maria i5land of storm surge. anna maria island and south, to the edge of charlotte harbour, it will come to fruition unfortunately, and there's really no similar in living memory on this part

of the florida coa5tline. additionally, while the maximum wind5 have declined from category five to category three 5trength, it is still bringing in a very intense wind5, 100 in a very intense wind5,100 mph, 5preading over we5t mph, 5preading over west central florida including tampa bay, which looks to avoid the worst of the surge, but they will get 5ignificant wind. the wind is going to continue over the tampa bay area and move inland acro55 the tampa bay area and move inland across central florida, 5preading hurricane force wind gu5t5 inland a5 5preading hurricane force wind gu5t5 inland as well, including potentially the orlando metropolitan area. heavy rain, another huge threat. 10—15 inch rainfall acro55 highly populated area. tampa, 0rlando, up populated area. tampa, 0rlando, up to daytona beach. the

heavie5t rainfall for the longest period, and the longe5t period, and the greatest potential for flash flooding and significant river flooding. and of course we know, after helene, rainfall is every bit of the threat that the wind and the surge are. talking about the storm surge at rates never before seen of 13 feet and heavy rain on top of that, another 12—13 inches or so, of that, another 12—13 inches or5o, how of that, another 12—13 inches or so, how does the water retreat? it comes in and then what happens? what is facing people in florida?— people in florida? sure, well the wall of — people in florida? sure, well the wall of water _ people in florida? sure, well the wall of water that - people in florida? sure, well the wall of water that milton | the wall of water that milton ha5 the wall of water that milton has built up over the southern gulf of mexico, the winds blowing from 5outh—we5t to north—ea5t that will push a5hore. .. north—ea5t that will push a5hore... the water goe5 north—ea5t that will push a5hore... the water goes up onto the shallow continental she” onto the shallow continental shelf at the gulf of mexico and it has to go inland, and then it has to go inland, and then it has to come back out. so 5ometime5 building5 it has to come back out. so 5ometime5 buildings can get

pu5hed one—way by a surge coming in and further damaged by the surge coming back out. eventually the water, if it's ten feet above sea level, it would be pulled back into the gulf of mexico, quite quickly in some circumstances. very serious and _ in some circumstances. very serious and dangerous - serious and dangerous condition5. thank5 serious and dangerous condition5. thanks so much for speaking to us on bbc news. and a reminder, we have updates on the path of hurricane milton and coverage from our team of corre5pondent5 on the ground in florida on our website, bbc.com/new5. there is a live page. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. it has been revealed that a 15—year—old girl who was stabbed to death

in northumberland last year was killed by her ex—boyfriend, who wa516 at the time. ajudge has now allowed holly newton'5 killer to be named as logan macphail, saying the nature of the relationship was a key factor in the case. he was found guilty of murdering her last summer. an investigation looking into the care of children by the orthopaedic 5urgeon ya5erjabbar at great 0rmond street hospital has been expanded to include four other london hospitals where he worked. an earlier review of his treatment of more than 700 children had already concluded that many had been subject to "incorrect" and "unsuitable" 5urgery. the high court has ordered rebekah vardy to pay coleen rooney a further £100,000 as part of their legal di5pute. their barri5ter5 have been back at the high court in a dispute about legal fees, two yea r5 after mr5 va rdy lost her libel battle, when she was found to have leaked private information about mr5 rooney to the press. you're live with bbc news.

us pre5identjoe biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu spoke to each other in a 30—minute phone call on wednesday amid tensions with iran. they talked about israel's planned response to iran'5 missile attack last week. it was the first direct contact between the two leaders in weeks, and follows reports that their relationship has become increasingly 5trained. vice president kamala harris was also on the call. here's what white house press secretary karinejean—pierre told journali5t5 about the meeting. and i think what you've seen from this administration is the continued support for israel's 5ecurity. you saw that over the past couple of days, obviou5ly the past couple weeks when iran attacked israel. the president directed his military to protect israel, he was very proud to be able to do that — and that 5upport continue5. they had, as i said, a direct, productive conver5ation,

a5 they've had for many times. when you think about the president and the prime mini5ter, they've known each other for decades. earlier, mr netanyahu warned people in lebanon that they face de5truction on the same scale as gaza unless they, quote, "free your country from hezbollah". in a video address in english, benjamin netanyahu 5aid lebanon faces a long war if hezbollah continues to fight. separately, israel's defence minister yoav gallant 5aid israel's response to iran will be "lethal, precise and surprising" in a video publi5hed by the israel defence mini5try. israeli raids on gaza'5 jabalia refugee camp are now on their fifth day. in northern gaza, an israeli air strike hit a hospital in the camp, killing at least 15 people. the ho5pital�*5 courtyard wa5 hou5ing di5placed families living in tents. among the dead was a photojournalist, mohammed al—tanani, who worked for hama5—run al—aq5a tv, it is the third time israeli forces have entered jabalia

in the past year. israeli officials say they are targeting hama5 operative5 in the camp, and that they killed 20 terrori5t5 there over the past day. gaza'5 health ministry said 60 people were killed acro55 gaza on wednesday. the death toll in gaza since october 7th last year now exceed5 42,000 people. according to the hama5—run health ministry. expert5 believe the true death toll to be much higher. in lebanon, fighting continue5 between hezbollah and israeli force5. at least ten people were injured and four killed in an israeli air5trike on the village of wardaniyeh in 5outhern lebanon on wednesday. lebanon'5 national news agency says the strike hit a hotel hou5ing displaced families. israel has continued to bomb targets in the capital, beirut. video taken wedne5day 5how5 serious damage in the city's 5outhern 5uburb5, home to several hezbollah building5. and israel dropped bombs

on towns in southern lebanon, including khiam in southeast lebanon, and in tyre, the southwestern port city. the bbc�*5 5enior international corre5pondent 0rla guerin 5ent this report from tyre. the view from tyre — israel's ever—expanding war in the name of 5elf—defence. lebanon being pounded like gaza before it. israel says it's targeting hezbollah, as we watch the strikes get close, then clo5er 5till. well, this 5trike has just come in right behind our hotel — incredibly loud, incredibly clo5e. we can hear 5iren5 now, first aid rushing to the scene. and there are some civilian5 i can see very close to the area of the blast.

emerging from the smoke, a mother and child who had tried to escape the war with a trip to the beach. israel hit this building just off the strand, which houses a pro—iranian tv channel. there was one dead in the strike. hezbollah, too, keep5 5triking, firing rocket5 across the border, killing a man and a woman in israel today. all the air strikes have not put paid to this. neither has the ground inva5ion. this is the latest footage released by israel, said to show its troops on lebane5e soil in the south. here in tyre, a crisis unit is trying to keep the city alive, getting food and blankets to 5helter5 and fuel to hospitals.

thi5 father appears with his children, desperate for help. the director, mortada mhanna, worrie5 for his team, some of whom had to flee their homes. i think it's a critical and very dangerous 5ituation for us because israel, our enemy, israel didn't take care for any civilian people. they haven't. .. no feeling5? no feeling5. but your decision is to remain, you will stay? i will stay. i will stay on my office, on my home, on my land. others are staying, too, de5pite wrenching lo55e5. here, a 5on'5 grief.

he is brought to his knees and con5oled by a grave—digger. hi5 elderly mother, leila, was killed by an israeli air strike — the 18th person to be buried here. war has destroyed the rituals of life and of death in lebanon. while prayers are being said here now, this is a quick burial for one of those killed recently. a mass grave has been dug here. we've been told that people will be buried here temporarily, and they'll be exhumed and reburied when the situation is safer. he rage5 at israel. "until our last breath, we

won't leave our land," he says. "if we die, we will all be buried here." then he helps to lay her to rest — his last act for his mother. 0rla guerin, bbc news, tyre. now turning to israel, where a rocket fired from hezbollah killed two people in the northern israeli town of kiryat shmona on wednesday. the mayor said a man and woman in their 405 were walking their dogs when the rocket fell near them. hezbollah al5o fired a barrage of rockets near the israeli port city of haifa. some were intercepted, while others fell in the area, cau5ing injurie5. there was also a mass 5tabbing attack in the central israeli city of hadera. at least six people were stabbed, in four different locations, by a man riding a motorcycle. police took the suspect into custody.

an update now on hurricane milton which is making landfall along the coast of we5t—central florida. the national hurricane center is warning of a life—threatening storm surge, damaging winds and flooding rain acro55 parts of central and southwestern florida. it'5 making landfall between tampa and st peter5burg a5 a dangerous category three 5torm. this is a live look at fort myers which is just down the coast from tampa, and you can see the camera 5haking there. you can see the walls of rain and the wind, very wild weather conditions. according to the condition5. according to the national weather service, the hurricane i5 national weather service, the hurricane is bringing an excess of extreme rainfall to the tampa bay area, increa5ing of extreme rainfall to the tampa bay area, increasing the risk of deadly fla5h flooding. we've seen a lot of lightning on this camera in the last ten minutes.

lightning, part of the hurricane when the system as it moves in, the winds, rain5 moves in, the winds, rains and storms. florida's governor, ron desanti5 gave this update on the storm just a short while ago. at this point, it's too dangerous to evacuate 5afely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down. category three 5torm for most places in florida, particularly newer con5truction, likely the building is going to be able to withstand it. stay with us for updates on hurricane milton, thank5 stay with us for updates on hurricane milton, thanks for watching. 0ur weather has started to turn a little bit cooler. you might have noticed the change, and the trend is set to continue as well. well, here in north yorkshire,

we had signs of the change, wave5 being driven onto the beaches here by the strengthening north to north—easterly wind. temperature5 on tuesday in rhyl got up to 17 degrees, but it was just 12 degrees on wednesday, a drop of some five degrees celsius. the drop in temperatures came as these northerly wind5 worked in. now, over the next few hours, we've still got some patche5 of cloud and rain to come across england and wales, with clearing 5kie5 further north in scotland and northern ireland. and it's here where we'll have the chillie5t 5tart to the day on thursday. temperature5 low enough even for a nip of frost in sheltered glen5 in scotland. so starting the day on thursday, expect a bit of damp weather for southern parts of england and wales. that should clear out of the way as we go through the morning, and then el5ewhere, loads of sunshine draped around coa5tal fringe5. there'll be a scattering of showers, and they'll tend to come and go, really, through the day. a chilly wind? ye5. temperature5 below where they've been over recent days,

10—12 cel5iu5. although cooler, the5e temperatures are actually a little bit closer to average for the time of year. now, the colder weather is still going to be with us into friday. indeed, we could have a touch of frost to start the day across southern portions of england and wales. further north in scotland, cloud will thicken on friday a5 a weather 5y5tem moves in, bringing 5ome outbrea k5 of rain. some of that rain could just about 5kirt into the far north of northern ireland, but further south in england and wales, it's going to be a beautiful day with barely a cloud in the sky. for the weekend, still some rain left over from this area of low pressure affecting northern areas. sunday looks to be the better of the two days of the weekend as high pressure build5 in. so saturday, some rain around acro55 northern ireland, scotland, northern areas of england, and accompanying that rain, there'll be some pretty strong and gu5ty wind5. another blast of northerly air coming down, really dropping tho5e temperature5, just seven or eight degree5 for northern scotland. for northern ireland, england and wales, meanwhile, we're looking at temperatures around 11 to 1a degree5, which is pretty close to average. a5 that high pressure build5 in, though, for the second half of the weekend, we're looking at a cold

start to the morning, a few mist and fog patche5, but a mostly dry day with 5unny 5pell5 coming and going. temperature5 for most of us between around 10—13 degrees. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we will have

the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. a mcdonald's restaurant. a food supplier to our biggest supermarkets and retailers. not where you'd expect to find modern slavery. it was a big surprise to us because we are aware that mcdonald's are a national company. this is a story about vulnerable victims trafficked from abroad by criminals who put them to work in london and the east of england. translation: you can't undo . the damage to my mental health. this will always live with me. it's exploitation that went undetected for years. translation: i lost six years of my life. | police! right — two in here. a form of slavery that's spreading. clearly, in this case, an organised crime group infiltrated that branch of mcdonald's, and people

were working excessive hours and nobody seemed to notice.