this is bbc news, the headlines... 3 million people are urged to stay home and stop storm darragh hits. live pictures from the south korean national assembly where mps have voted not to impeach a president. and this is the scene outside of the national assembly where up to 150,000 people gathered all in for the president to step down. rebel forces reach the outskirts of syria's third largest city as rebels say that they have led the revolt. five years after it was devastated by fire, notre dame cathedral

reopens, president elect trump has arrived for the opening in his first overseas visit since winning the election. hello. this half hour we'll bring you live coverage on storm darragh. three million people in coastal areas of wales and southwest england have been urged to stay indoors because of the danger posed by storm darragh. an emergency alert was sent to people's mobile phones in the affected area last night —— and a red warning issued by the met office has come into force. winds have exceeded 90 miles per hour, and heavy rain is also predicted for south wales. sports fixtures are also hit including the merseyside derby.

it's been just two weeks since the valleys were hit and of course severe flooding here but what you've seen this time around really is some travel restrictions due to the wind that has uprooted up a number of trees and coastal areas across wales. part of the main motorway in south wales, the main four, have been closed this morning, cardiff airport was closed up until around midday. a number of the trains have been cancelled due to the wind that be have experienced this morning. now, ithink wind that be have experienced this morning. now, i think in some parts like here in penarth near the welsh capital of cardiff the storm wasn't as bad as potentially could had been anticipated but certainly there are some of the more rural and coastal areas across the west of wales the storm has been heavy and the wind has caused disruption with up to around 40,000 homes out of power due to those heavy winds of storms.

john case at the media and scent of this report. well, normally, at this time on a saturday morning a couple of weeks before christmas, the centre of cardiff would be really busy with people arriving for christmas shopping or to open their shops or their christmas market stalls, but right now, as you can see, and i'm holding my phone with both hands because it is so windy, there's hardly anybody out. lots of those businesses aren't opening, this morning at least, sports events have been cancelled. the trains, there's the station behind me, not running normal services and the bridges across the river severn, the bristol channel, they are not operating at the moment either. it's a very weird feeling for a saturday morning. he gave us this travel update.

i am outside bristol temple meads station, one of the major rail hubs for the west and south—west of england. from here, rail services down to devon and cornwall, the midlands, the north and london as well as south wales. most of those services between bristol and cardiff have been delayed, or now cancelled the most of the rest of the day. specific lines themselves, no trains gwr says between plymouth and penzance until at least one o'clock today. between bristol temple meads and portsmouth, no services because of debris on the line near westbury. those delays are likely to get worse as we hear about more blockages on the line in the next few hours, gwr, the operator which runs trains throughout this area, has been persistently saying passengers should wherever possible try to rearrange their travel plans ought not to at all. we have spoken to people who are hoping to keep their plans this weekend,

one a man who hasn't seen his daughter in many months and is trying to get to swindon today but doesn't hold out much hope in getting their and is worried about the journey back this evening even if he does make it there. we spoke to someone else who is trying to see their daughter at university in london, their chains have been cancelled, so a tough time if you're trying to get the train in the south—west of england today. tomos mentioned cardiff airport closed until a little later today, bristol airport is open but lots of flights are cancelled, so a difficult day if you are trying to travel. thank you. travel has been seriously affected by storm darragh. rac spokesperson simon williams has the latest on how roads across the uk are being impacted. good morning, the impact of the storm on drivers isn't too bad in many ways because lots of drivers are heeding the warnings is not heading out and that is

the kind of thing to do in these situations, only drive if it is essential and from our point of view we normally do 7000 plus breakdowns a day in the week but the weekends tend to be quieter because of lack of commuter traffic and many sporting events have been cancelled and people are rightly staying at home, so we will probably have a slower day today in many ways in terms of breakdowns, but of course we are out there in all conditions ready to help should anyone have a problem. we are hearing of trees being felled or trees falling on a rose, how easy is it to clean up after the impact of a storm like this? this will take some clearing up, it is obviously a major storm as lots of trees down, i am just outside bristol, extremely windy here, reports of trees down, we know the a34 has been affected down near winchester, and if anyone is on the road

they need to be very careful, keep two hands on the wheel, slow down, give plenty of space and watch out the debris. then of course you have the danger of water on the roads, we are hearing reports now certainly in wales of lots of heavy rain, so we have the issue of flooding. also aquaplaning could be an issue where a sheet of water on the road affects the wheels when you are driving a little too quickly perhaps and you lose a grip on the roads and that can be very dangerous, so if you can stay at home, that is the message, postpone at your journey until the worst passes. the red weather warning is nearly over here in bristol and south wales and the welsh coast, so it is starting to come down but if you can stay at home i think that is the message today. you mentioned people are heeding these warnings,

do you think we are getting much better at responding to these warnings from the met office? we only had storm thatjust a few weeks ago comedy think that is impacting how we respond? i think people are getting the alert and that is definitely the best course of action and people are taking it on board, people realise how serious this is. we note driving in this country is essential but certainly at the weekend this is a good time for it to hit in many ways because people can stay warm and dry at homes and not be on the roads. simon williams, spokesperson for the rac, thank you forjoining us. as we mentioned, the red weather warning has ended but what is the latest when it comes to those dangerous winds? the red weather warning came to an end to at 11 o'clock this morning. the strongest winds have passed, yes, but we still

have passed, yes, but we still have our amber weather warning in force and that remains in force really threw the rest of today. the winds are still going to be strong enough to blow down trees so in that respect we are not out of the woods of the speak. so far, the strongest gusts of wind have been across north—west wales where we had a top gust of 92 mph and the winter the moment are into the low 80s. now, those are still strong enough to blow trees of us that's why we are still majoring on the disruption potential for the strong winds. actually, it had looked at the transport disruption, the disruption to the airport, to the roads, ferry services across the board. power has been a significant problem as well and increasing over recent hours. the recent figures hundred and 38,000 now without power with northern ireland 40,000 without

power and 30,000 for south—west england to cross these kinds of here is whether going to see further transport disruption further transport disruption further power cuts as the trees get blown over. even away from those amber warned area, the winds have been strong enough to bring down if you treat branches and that brings the threat of localised disruption even away from those amber wind warning areas. the rain is the concern, rememberthose warning areas. the rain is the concern, remember those really nasty scenes from a couple of weeks ago. were looking at a rain accumulation building a p and the met office also have an amber weather warning for these accumulations of rain across the areas. we are expecting flooding so that's another problem to look out for today. explain that the next couple of days are going to look like. even as the system continues to batter the uk, it will gradually push eastwards starting to work into europe as we head through tonight and

tomorrow but even tomorrow, there are still yellow weather warnings out in force. so, it will still be the case of localised disruption with branches potentially being brought down and from all of the ring with sena wales, that has to work into the river catchments and natural resource wealth still expect flooding to be a problem into tomorrow across catchments of that one area of concern even after the last drop of rain stops falling, there still is that essential for flooding to get worse. . ~' essential for flooding to get worse. ., ~ ,, i've also been speaking to the water saftey manager at the rnli, ross macleod. he explained what he is witnessing at the moment. the conditions, as has been well reported, are pretty treacherous all around the coast at the moment with the red, orange and yellow wind and rain warnings, so it's definitely a weekend for putting up the christmas decorations, spending time with family and certainly not

taking any unnecessary risks around the coast. there's big seas out there, so people are at risk of getting swept into the water and at this time of year the water can be quite treacherous, so we're really encouraging people to avoid the coastline for the next 48 hours or so, but also if you do find yourself down there and you do find yourself in difficulty, there's a couple of key things to remember. the first of which is if you find yourself in difficulty in the water, remember to float to live. so this is where you tilt your head back in the water, put your ears in the water and just rest and relax as best you can, to try and relax your breathing and either float until help arrives or you feel you can self—rescue. and the other thing is to call 999 and ask the coastguard if you see somebody else in trouble. and whilst of course we don't want to put our volunteer lifeboat crew in danger to rescue others, they will be there all week in case of emergency. and just tell us, how have you been preparing ahead of storm darragh? of course, we have seen those red weather warnings in some coastal areas. so, the rnli is the charity that saves lives at sea, so for us, we are ready 24/7, 365 days a year, but with

the predicted bad weather, obviously our volunteer crew will be slightly more ready and primed ready to go. but of course prevention is far better than curing these situations, so again just encouraging people to do what they can to prevent that accident from happening and if they are going to be making trips or spending any time anywhere near the coast, it's taking the right precautions, and i'm sure not many people are thinking of going to sea over the next few days but if you are, things like wearing a life jacket like i'm wearing today here at the survival centre in poole is a really sensible move and making sure that you've got a means of calling for help, so you can get that call into the coastguard should something go wrong. our environment correspondent, matt mcgrath is in cardiff and explained why we are seeing so many storms. it's very complicated in relation to climate change, we know that there may be some impact on the jet stream, we know that the oceans of the world are getting warmer. but in the uk, there is no real compelling trends

in terms of storming us, there are no storms as there is not enough evidence to make that known yet but we do know that rainfall associated with storms is much more intense than it used to be. we had a light winter from october to march, one of the wettest on record, and could be fairly said the rainfall we got last year, as a result of climate change. in the stormiest is, that rain was 20% more content so that one of the things that will be in the back of peoples mind now is the storm moves across the uk when the rain accompanying it will be more intense and more deadly as a result. just give us a sense of what could be happening in the next few months. could we be seeing scenes like this again? that's very possible. we heard the most named storms that whether or not there are increasing as a result of climate change

or whether there are other factors at play were not sure but we know that when we get these compound events we get one storm following another. the difficulty, the real difficulty, is that the land and the soil doesn't recover in time to that water tends to flood, tends to build up, and we saw that the compounding nature of the storms when they come one after another is extremely difficult to deal with. we don't know what will come but we know that if storms do come, climate change is likely to make it associated with them much worse. learner drivers are now waiting almost five months to take their driving test, and the backlog has been steadily increasing since february. the transport select committee heard from learner drivers earlier this week — who said they're frustrated and the problem is only getting worse. the driver and vehicle standards agency has apologised and says its "top priority" is to address the issue. 0ur reporter sara smith has more.

so, what do you do? yeah. however good a teacher tony is, emily hughes is keen to throw away the l plates and part company. it's notjust the call of the open road, but the needs of her two—year—old, delilah. i have a daughter that was premature, she was a 24—weeker, and we have a lot of appointments, so obviously i need to be able to get to the appointments and i need to be able to drive. get your white lines set in... but getting a test was far from straightforward. the huge backlog means pupils and teachers have to play the system. i had to originally book it in loughborough and then i paid for a cancellation app that i managed to get one in then for folkestone, and then tony has a group chat that has cancellations for the local area there, so i managed to get one forjanuary there, but if not without that i would have been waiting until 2026. tony, a driving instructor for 35 years, can see the pressure it's putting on his pupils. with the pass rate being

about 50%, they're trying really hard to pass it the first time, they have extra lessons to try and get up to that standard, but then they're under such pressure on the test that it doesn't always go well for them. the driving test backlog built up during covid. in parliament, the transport select committee heard from those frustrated that it's only getting worse. before covid, it was a six—week wait. we're now looking at a national average of 19, which, given the length of time that has lapsed since covid, i think does suggest that the dvsa is not managing to effectively take the right action. here to face the music, the head of the driver standards agency, responsible for sorting out tests. she said they were trying everything to find more examiners. i'd hate anyone to be under the misapprehension that we don't desperately care about getting this sorted out. at dvsa, it is the top, top topic of our management attention and we have worked tirelessly over the last four years to try to address this situation. learners are also losing

out to bots, buying up tests and selling them on for a huge profit. we have seen some for around £180. now, bearing in mind the legitimate tests can be purchased for £62, £180 is a huge mark—up. learners are left with a choice, pay up or wait, and wait for the chance to get your licence. sarah smith, bbc news. the princess of wales has hosted her annual christmas carol service at westminster abbey — the biggest event in her return to royal duties since finishing chemotherapy treatment. the candle—lit event included a mix of traditional carols, music and readings. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph has more. it was a family affair for a princess who has spent much of the year out of the public eye. with her husband and three children, she hosted her annual carol service at westminster abbey.

as the princess met some of those performing at the service, she acknowledged it had been a difficult few months. i didn't know this year was going to be the year i've just had. yeah — the unplanned. the unplanned, exactly. before the service started, the princess spent time with the guests. 1,600 were invited to the abbey, including sir chris hoy, who recently announced his cancer was terminal. the theme of the service was love, empathy, and kindness. every person here was invited because they had supported their community in some way or faced their own challenges. 18—year—old 0livia bowditch helps a charity that sends letters of support to cancer patients. earlier this year, she wrote to the princess of wales. in a world where we see the royal family from a distance, it's really important to remember that these are just people and so i said, "i really hope you're ok, "i understand this is a really difficult time for you, "and i hope you can take the quiet that you need

to spend "time with your family, your children and your husband". for the princess of wales, this carol service was both a public duty and something more personal. she was here notjust as a member of the royal family, but as somebody who has overcome her own struggles this year, like so many of the guests. for lindsey burrow, this will be her first christmas without her husband, rob. the rugby league player died injune from motor neurone disease. her invitation to the carol service — a recognition of her courage. it's those tough times that kind of bring people together and i think particularly at this time of year, for many families it's a difficult time, so to be here surrounded by so much kindness, which is what the service was about, was truly special. the royalfamily has much to reflect on this christmas after a turbulent 2024. this carol service was a celebration of those people around us who help us through the darkest of times. daniela relph, bbc news, westminster abbey.

with me is our reporter meghan 0wen — what's the latest on the fallout from this storm? as we've been discussing, that red weather warning was in place, put in place by the met office from 3am to 11am in the uk. now that that's lifted, the areas that are most affected which have that red warning which have that red warning which include wales and south—west england and now still on amber. that's because there is still being affected by the storm, in fact, south and with mid wales can expect periods of heavy rain throughout the day and there is also a flooding starting to build up in those areas. particularly part of south and north—west wales. natural resources wales has put a flood warning in place and obviously this is a particularly concerning matters of the

people living in this area where there is further flooding so now that they've sort of weathered the storm, we are now seeing the aftermath and the flooding started to creep in. tell us, what is the latest on the disruption and damage that has been caused by it storm darragh? has been caused by it storm darrauh? ~ has been caused by it storm darragh?— has been caused by it storm darrauh? ~ ~ ., ., ., has been caused by it storm darrauh? ~ ~' ., . ., , darragh? we know that travel is the worst part — darragh? we know that travel is the worst part of _ darragh? we know that travel is the worst part of today - darragh? we know that travel is the worst part of today for - the worst part of today for many people because trains have been cancelled and delayed across the country, particularly in wales, we know that national express bus services have also been cancelled and many trees and debris have fallen into the roads so that has been particularly bad but many people being advised to still stay at home at the moment and not go out onto the roads until absolutely necessary. we also know that 60,000 premises lost power this morning as well, including 35,000 in wales and

20,000 in south england as well so people have been battling with a lack of power. of course, this is also a busy day in the lead up to christmas, there are normally lots of events and attractions on but many of them have been cancelled so all of the royal parks in london have been closed, including hyde park's winter wonderland, closed, including hyde park's winterwonderland, if closed, including hyde park's winter wonderland, if also seem christmas markets in other cities such as bath, belfast, winchester and cardiff closed, we've seen safari parks and zoos also close across the uk as well. so, everything is in stansell at the moment as the disruption continues from storm darragh. i disruption continues from storm darraah. ~ ,., .., disruption continues from storm darraah. ~ , ., darragh. i think you could show some of the — darragh. i think you could show some of the pictures _ darragh. i think you could show some of the pictures of - darragh. i think you could show some of the pictures of the - some of the pictures of the damage that's been caused. 50. damage that's been caused. so, we had some — damage that's been caused. 657, we had some pictures come interest from various colleagues across the uk so much as talk through some of them. this voluntary was in burnham—on—sea and somerset which again was in that red zone, that met office wet red

zone, that met office wet red zone so there are striking pictures of that having fallen down during the night. we also have pictures of damage to property coming on. so, this picture is of a property in porthcawl in bridgend county, thatis porthcawl in bridgend county, that is a seaside town, which often get battered with strong winds. usually, they do see huge waves crashing over the sea front. but yeah, on friday night, storm darragh