this is bbc news, the headlines... syrian rebels are hearing down on the capital damascus from the north and south, amid little resistance from president assad's forces. a man has died after a tree fell onto his van during storm darragh, as three million people in wales and the south west of england are urged to stay at home. travel has been severely disrupted and several sports events have been cancelled. south korea's opposition fails in its effort to impeach president yoon suk yeol for his short—lived declaration of martial law. the national assembly motion fell short by a handful of votes, as politicians from mr yoon�*s party boycotted proceedings. five years after it was devastated by fire, notre dame cathedral reopens in paris with president—elect trump arriving on his first overseas visit since winning the election.

a man has died after a tree fell onto his van during storm darragh. the man, in his 40s, was driving his van on the a59 dual carriageway at longton in lancashire. the man was pronounced dead at the scene. a rare red weather warning in areas of wales and southwest england has ended, but amber warnings are still in place, meaning a possible risk to life. the national grid says 120,000 homes are now without power across the uk. travel is being disrupted across the whole country. in parts of wales, winds reached 93 miles per hour, with heavy rains. cardiff airport has closed its runway and both rail and coach services have been disrupted. sports fixtures are also hit, including the merseyside derby. 0ur correspondent, hywel griffith, is in penarth in south wales. the wind may have

dropped here in south wales but the impact of storm darragh is still clear to see. 0vernight, there were gusts of over 90 miles an hour in parts of north wales. we have seen fallen trees around the country, a few roofs even damaged overnight. the impact on transport has meant road closures on the a470, the main road linking north and south wales, and the two bridges over the river severn that connect england and wales as well. cardiff airport had to close its runway. 80,000 homes have been left without power. the electricity companies say they're working, trying their best to reconnect people during the day. but now really attention is turning to the rainfall that is expected over the next 12 or so hours. there are 21 flood warnings in different corners of the country as i speak and there is concern because the ground is already saturated following heavy rain over the last two weeks. natural resources wales warning that floods could follow and that debris in the rivers could bring risks as well.

so the impact of storm darragh is likely to be with us for hours, potentially days ahead. let's go to the english seaside town of weston—super—mare now and speak to our correspondent there nickjohnson. what are conditions like this afternoon, nick? it what are conditions like this afternoon, nick?— afternoon, nick? it is still very windy- _ afternoon, nick? it is still very windy- i _ afternoon, nick? it is still very windy. i am - afternoon, nick? it is still. very windy. i am struggling afternoon, nick? it is still- very windy. i am struggling to keep myself upright at the moment. that red warning meaning a danger to life has now expired for this part of the world as well, for weston—super—mare and the rest of the somerset coast and south—west england but the amber warning still for strong winds in place until around 9pm. there are still people up and the seafront here but businesses largely have closed, seaside bars and restaurants and even the peer, they were all due to be opened today, they thought they would open later, we can see at the moment

those businesses remain closed. there is also a seaside ice rink closed for the day as well. the tarpaulin roof cover has been partially ripped off. we have seen footage from bridgwater, another town in somerset further down the coast, a block of flats and some roofing has been ripped off top of those flats by the wind. while that red warning has expired, these gusts are still continuing and it feels like they will continue the rest of the day and into tomorrow. with that, high wind, comes the inevitable travel disruption, the headaches people are facing trying to get around south—west england, be that on the train or on the road as well. train services from here are largely delayed or cancelled. from other parts of the south—west, lots of

other services are not running. the rail operator has urged people to only travel if absolutely necessary. cardiff airport has had to close its runway for most of the morning and bristol airport, severe disruption there as well, many flights cancelled today. it is just too windy at the moment for those planes to attempt take—offs and landings and it feels like those gusts continuing for the rest of the day and probably into tomorrow. we answered our question once we heard your microphone, told us how windy it is. thank very much. jon kay is at the bbc�*s media centre in cardiff and sent us 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. let's see some pictures. there's been a number of number of fallen trees across the country — this was in cardiff. huge waves have also hit the seafront in porthcawl in wales. this tree has come down in oxford street, burnham—on—sea. the storm has also brought destruction to areas all along the coasts of south and north—west wales.

simon harnaman, from redland in bristol, was woken in the middle of the night by his 16—year—old son who had heard a "loud screech and an enormous crack". and this is what simon they saw when they looked outside — the family car, which had just come back from a two—week spell at the garage, covered by a large tree. the seaside town of porthcawl, in bridgend county, often gets battered with strong winds. usually, they bring huge waves crashing over the front. but on friday night, storm darragh also saw a section of roof from this property at rest bay torn off. and there's been plenty of travel disruption, on the roads as well as rail services being affeted. simon calder is travel correspondent for the independent. he's at london bridge train station. paint picture of how much disruption there is on the railways. disruption there is on the railways-_ disruption there is on the railwa s. �* ., , railways. almost anywhere in the country — railways. almost anywhere in the country that _ railways. almost anywhere in

the country that you - railways. almost anywhere in the country that you would i railways. almost anywhere in i the country that you would want to point me to, i could find you some disruption. here at london bridge, there was a fallen tree in the elton which has now been removed, but there are fallen trees across the country and in particular there are problems with the thames link line running from here towards bedford via luton airport. the line is closed at harpenden. similarly in the opposite direction between horsham and arran doll. looking further north between cambridge and king's lynn, there is a speed restriction in place really slowing things down. a have cancelled the direct trains from london and there is now a shuttle service from cambridge and across the country that is being replicated. no trains whatsoever on the north coast of wales from chester across to holyhead in anglesey, or in south wales from cardiff across to swansea and carmarthen.

transport for wales also warning there are problems on the cardiff to manchester line, severe disruption there, and great western railway, who possibly have had more problems than anyone else, other passengers have, nothing running on the local wines in devon and cornwall and nothing going west of plymouth to penzance. furthermore, if you are travelling on that line, great western railways urges you not to, you should expect to be delayed because of speed restrictions. that is the story across the country, putting in restrictions in case they encountered debris that has been blown onto the track or indeed trees and there are loads of these mile away from here. lots of problems to portsmouth.— here. lots of problems to portsmouth. good to talk to ou, portsmouth. good to talk to you. thank _ portsmouth. good to talk to you. thank you _ portsmouth. good to talk to you, thank you very - portsmouth. good to talk to you, thank you very much, i you, thank you very much, simon. let's get the latest on how the roads have been affected

from rac spokesperson simon williams. the impact of the storm on drivers isn't too bad in many ways, because lots of drivers are heeding the warnings and not venturing out. and of course, that's the thing to do in this kind of situation. 0nly drive if it's absolutely essential. and obviously, from an rac point of view, we normally do around kind of 7000 plus breakdowns a day in the week, but the weekends tend to be quieter anyway because of a lack of commuter traffic and business traffic. and of course, many sporting events and other 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 our teams are out there in all conditions ready to help should anyone have a problem. this will take some clearing up. it's obviously a major storm and lots of trees down. i'm just outside bristol. it's been extremely windy here. there are reports locally of trees down. we know the asa has been affected down near

winchester, according to national highways, and that being closed. and i think if anyone's on the road they need to really be very careful, keep two hands on the wheel, slow down, leave plenty of space and watch out for debris. we'll be busy today, probably recovering after accidents and people being affected by the debris. and then, of course, you've got the danger of water on the roads. we're hearing reports now of certainly in wales of lots of heavy rain. so we have the issue of flooding also. aquaplaning could be an issue where, you know, a sheet of water on the road affects the wheels when you're driving a little bit driving a little bit too quickly perhaps. too quickly perhaps. and then you lose and then you lose grip on the roads. grip on the roads. and that could be and that could be very, very dangerous. very, very dangerous. so if you can, stay at home — so if you can, stay at home — that is the message, that is the message, or postpone your journey until the worst or postpone your journey until the worst of the weather has passed. of the weather has passed. wind and rain warnings. earlier on, we spoke earlier on, we spoke to the water safety manager to the water safety manager at the rnli, ross macleod. at the rnli, ross macleod. he explained what he is he explained what he is witnessing at the moment. witnessing at the moment. so the conditions, as has been so the conditions, as has been well reported, are pretty well reported, are pretty treacherous all around treacherous all around the coast at the moment the coast at the moment

with the red, orange and yellow 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,

talk to us about the conditions we have been seeing. the? talk to us about the conditions we have been seeing. they have been horrendous. _ we have been seeing. they have been horrendous. it— we have been seeing. they have been horrendous. it is— we have been seeing. they have been horrendous. it is rare - we have been seeing. they have been horrendous. it is rare to i been horrendous. it is rare to have red warnings and that ended at 11am, have red warnings and that ended at "am, but the amber warning remains in force and thatis warning remains in force and that is for wind gusts potentially in excess of 80 mph in the windiest places and these winds are strong enough to bring down trees. as far as the strongest winds from storm darragh go, we recorded them earlier today and top gusts of 93 mph, that is in the north—west of wales, and not far behind that is devon, 80 —— 88 per hour. peak of the storm is behind us but it has caused real problems, around 200,000 properties without power, 88,000 in wales without power on a a8,000 in northern

ireland, south—west england now 54,500 ireland, south—west england now 5a,500 properties out and there have been about 17,000 511,500 properties out and there have been about 17,000 across the midlands too. 0ver have been about 17,000 across the midlands too. over 200,000 or so, and the republic of ireland has had it worse. 350,000 properties in our neck of the woods out of power due to this storm. the amber warning remains in force. here is the storms, it continues to push eastwards. the amber warning remains in force across northern ireland, scotland, wales and western parts of england. the wind is still strong enough to bring down trees so we are not out of the woods with this storm system. the winds are behind us but potential for damage and destruction is far from potential for damage and destruction is farfrom over. what about the rest of the country?— what about the rest of the count ? �* ., , ., , country? away from these amber warnin: country? away from these amber warning areas. — country? away from these amber warning areas, they _ country? away from these amber warning areas, they are - country? away from these amber warning areas, they are strong i warning areas, they are strong enough to bring down tree branches anywhere as we had simon say, trees are down on

lines around south—east england. it is notjust limited to the amber warning areas but away from that impact our more localised, but still can be nasty. as well as all of that, we have the rain. the rain, the largest accumulations are in wales and we have a amber warning force until 6am, and significantly it is this area that had severe flooding from storm bird just two weeks ago and so these areas are looking at a real threat of further flooding problems building in as a result of this rainfall. when is it likely to start easing? when is it likely to start easin: ? , when is it likely to start easing?— when is it likely to start easinu? , . ., , ., easing? very gradually tonight the winds will _ easing? very gradually tonight the winds will ease _ easing? very gradually tonight the winds will ease but - easing? very gradually tonight the winds will ease but still. the winds will ease but still strong enough to cause issues across eastern areas even tomorrow, bringing localised disruption with branches down. still a few issues are in wales, the focus then shifts to the flooding issue and with the rain working down the river

catchment, the natural resource wales, which issues the flood warnings for wales, they are expecting flooding today and tomorrow. forsome expecting flooding today and tomorrow. for some communities, the flooding situation will worsen as the rain continues to work into those catchments. you have done _ work into those catchments. you have done this _ work into those catchments. you have done this before! and you feel so bad for those caught in the brunt of it. shocking. q. let's get the big picture on climate change from our environment correspondent matt mcgrath, whojoins us from cardiff. what's going on with the weather and climate? lots of elements in a complex storm like this and lots of people will talk about the jet stream and if climate change is impacting that, is there so much heat in the ocean is making these storms worse. according to scientists there are no discernible trends and whether we are getting more of these storms are getting worse,

whether the gusts are much worse. what we can say is the rainfall and impact of that precipitation, we know from what happened last year with the most named storms since we started naming them, we had rainfall from the storms that essentially was four times worse worse because of climate change and on a stormy day, we had increased rainfall by 20%, a significant impact. we see sea—level rises likely to cause storm surges around the coasts. those are the real aspect of climate change, more about the rainfall. ., , . ., rainfall. can we expect more rain? we _ rainfall. can we expect more rain? we can _ rainfall. can we expect more rain? we can and _ rainfall. can we expect more rain? we can and we - rainfall. can we expect more rain? we can and we are - rainfall. can we expect more i rain? we can and we are likely to see it in _ rain? we can and we are likely to see it in the _ rain? we can and we are likely to see it in the next _ rain? we can and we are likely to see it in the next couple - rain? we can and we are likely to see it in the next couple of| to see it in the next couple of days. the atmosphere is warmer, holds more moisture and moisture at a certain point tumbles down and we get heavy downpours. we see this across the world, in valencia and here in wales in the last couple of weeks and now the rainfall that will come down again, even if not as much as last time, will

fall on sodden soil and may accumulate and cause flooding. is this linked to climate change?— change? some aspects undoubtedly, - change? some aspects undoubtedly,