some severe weather on its way tonight and through tomorrow, it will be very blustery with rain, some of it heavy and persistent for many. while it is mild tonight come you don't have to wrap up too warmly but it will turn colder through the day tomorrow. for the rest of this

afternoon, more heavy rain, an amber weather warning in force issued by the met office, valid until

music

upbeat music continues

wow, what a display from sydney as australia welcomed in 2025. i think london has something to live up to. the annual sydney fireworks. the harbour bridge lit up and i must say, a shout out to luna, the composer who composed the music that went so perfectly with that display. amazing. we've already seen auckland

and we will be bringing you the best of the fireworks throughout the day and indeed, we have a live page up and indeed, we have a live page up and running on our website with pictures from around the world as we saw that spectacular fireworks display in sydney. but, of course, it isn'tjust display in sydney. but, of course, it isn't just fireworks, display in sydney. but, of course, it isn'tjust fireworks, the new year seems many global leaders taking the time to address their nations. the chinese president has said that no one can stop unification with taiwan and the russian president, vladimir putin, hailed 25 years in power. he said russia would only move forward in 2025. i mention new zealand, let's take a look at some of the fireworks there as they welcomed in the new year. they are displayed

traditionally from the auckland sky tower. you can see some wonderful fireworks bursting out there as they see out 2024 and c 2025 in. it will 26 hours for the world to welcoming the new year because of time zones. you can get more details on why that is possible on the website. here in the uk, i'm afraid the weather didn't get the memo that it's new year's eve as more celebrations have had to be called off, fireworks displays in newcastle and in retaining new yorkshire have had to cancel events and in edinburgh, the hogmanay celebrations have been abandoned, also blackpool. yellow weather warnings have been issued

for northern ireland, scotland, england. the of tonight's sold out fireworks display on the river thames, the weather is being carefully monitored. get more now from katrina renton. you can see how windy it is here. it's been very heavy rain here this morning as well, although we're getting a little bit of respite from that at the moment. but as you can see, the conditions are not good and that is why organisers here had to cancel their outdoor events. the world—famous street party, the concert in princes street gardens that was due to be headlined by texas the scottish rock band, of course. and of course,

those spectacular fireworks that bring in the bells every year. but sadly not this year. now, the last time that this happened, when the outdoor events were cancelled because of adverse weather was back in 2006. so it's not something that happens very often. and of course there's massive disappointment. but organisers here have done this with a heavy heart, but you can see how difficult it would be today to be preparing in these conditions. and, of course, safety has to come first. it looks like the weather will have cleared up quite significantly by midnight tonight. but the problem is today. and if you look at where we are just now, you can see that it's just... it's not ideal. now, i've been in the city centre, i've been talking to people who've come here from all over the world to see in hogmanay, of course, to be here for hogmanay and of course, to to see in the new year. i've met people from australia, from malaysia who came here and of course they're disappointed, but of course also understanding. and the thing that i have been able to cheer them up with, of course, is that here in scotland is, in my opinion, the best place to spend hogmanay and you don't need to be outside to enjoy it.

there's plenty of things to do inside too, and the indoor events that were organised for edinburgh's hogmanay are still going ahead, so you know there's plenty to do, there's plenty to enjoy. but just of course, keeping safe and that street party, the thing that people do look forward to and do come from all over the world to be involved in, is not going ahead. a little later, we should have the london fireworks and i'll be here to bring you those live on bbc news. around the world, and across the uk, this is bbc news.

now to the middle east. injust over a week, six babies in gaza have died from the cold weather — that's according to hamas—controlled health authorities. with hundreds of thousands of displaced palestinians living

in tents, and temperatures expected to drop further in the coming days. the news comes as a new report by the un says israel s attacks on hospitals in gaza have had a catastrophic effect on palestinians access to healthcare — raising serious concerns about war crimes and crimes against humanity. israel doesn't allow the bbc independent access into gaza but our correspondent emir nader has worked with two freelance camera operators in gaza who met families who've lost their loved ones. he's injersualem. it was again last night, a very cold night in gaza with winds and heavy rain. there are hundreds of thousands of gazans living in tents there in the gaza strip. and we've heard from the civil defence forces this morning, the first responders who say that whilst last night was a relatively quiet night in terms of air strikes, they received many calls of families living in tents who say that the tents were flooded or destroyed. now the humanitarian agencies, including the united nations,

are calling for israel to allow more aid into the gaza strip, saying there is a dire need for those goods for winter to keep families warm there. into the gaza strip. now, the report that you're about to see as a warning, just to say does contract does contain some distressing themes. baby sila was just 20 days old when her father, mahmoud, couldn't wake her. translation: i found her stiff like wood. - i took her to the hospital and they told me. your daughter has been dead for an hour due to the cold. i have no clothes, no food, no drink. only god knows our condition. sila was seen by doctor ahmed al farah. translation: she suffered - from severe hypothermia, leading to the cessation of vital signs,

cardiac arrest and eventually death. yesterday as well, two cases were brought in. one was a three day old baby and the other was less than a month old. the cause of this is life in the tents. mahmoud's family have been displaced over ten times throughout the war. here in marwa's camp, tens of thousands of gaza's nearly 2 million displaced live on the beach, suffering from the winter and flooding from the rain and the sea, with almost no infrastructure and a lack of food amid heavy restrictions by israel on aid deliveries to gaza, says the united nations. israel denies it restricts aid. i felt heartbroken for her because of the conditions. i did everything i could to keep her warm, but i couldn't manage to do so. without a phone the family doesn't have a single photo of sila when she was alive. only three weeks of memories and little sila's clothes.

translation: i never thought i would give birth living - in a tent in such cold and freezing conditions, with water dripping on us, water leaks into the tent, pouring down on us. at times we had to run to escape the water for the baby's sake. on sunday, another tragic case. this baby also didn't make it longer than 20 days. her hand is frozen. all eight of us. we don't have four blankets. what can i do? i see my children dying in front of me. my children are dying in front of me. injust over a week, six babies in gaza have died from the cold weather, local health officials have said. under the sound of israeli drones above, mahmoud carried sila's lifeless body to a makeshift graveyard.

translation: we're all sick. our chests hurt and we have colds from the cold and rain. if we didn't die from the war, we're dying from the cold. as the winter cold becomes more harsh and merciless. another preventable death in gaza, where the youngest are suffering most from the cruelties of war. well, there you go. some of the very... ..the very upsetting testimonies of families in gaza who feel powerless and unable to keep their children warm. the united nations is saying that they estimate around a million people in gaza don't have adequate protection for winter. and without an improvement in the situation, many are predicting that this wave of preventable deaths in gaza because of the cold will sadly continue. the ambulance service in wales has declared a critical incident after an increase in demand caused significant delays. the nhs trust said that at one stage, hundreds of calls were waiting to be answered

and ambulances were left queuing outside hospitals. the service is urging people to call 999 only for serious emergencies. to south korea and the latest on sunday's deadly plane crash. the chief executive ofjeju air has given a news conference where he said he was "committed to strengthening the company's safety and maintenance procedures". it follows sunday's crash which killed 179 passengers and crew. plane crash investigators have started to inspect the plane's two black boxes, but the flight recorder has been damaged. four of the victims' bodies now have been released and today their families will begin the funerals, which will last around three days — but most are still waiting. translation: i'm sorry, but there are five - people who have not been identified yet. they need more precise testing for results, and i have heard

it is due to various reasons. for those five, we will try our best and deliver the results before the end of the day. the new year honours list 2025 has been released. they are awarded annually by the king to people — from all walks of life — recognised for their contributions to uk public life. among those leading the honours list is former england manager gareth southgate. he is recognised for guiding the england football team to back—to—back euros finals. the mayor of london sadiq khan has also been knighted for his political and public service and said he was "truly humbled". the actor stephen fry was awarded for his work on mental health awareness and the environment. 800m champion keely hodgkinson, who receives an mbe, is one of several medallists to be honoured following the summer games in paris. and four sub—postmasters — who received wrongful convictions as part of the post office scandal — have also been given obes. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has more. they were once the hollywood power couple with the nickname brangelina. well, now eight years after they separated brad pitt and angelina jolie have reached a divorce settlement. a lawyer for the actress confirmed the pair had managed to "come to a deal". so far his lawyers have not publicly commented.

let me take you to those amazing pictures from the top of the hour from sydney. australia has ushered in its new year with focus on the harbour bridge. london will try to rival it later. the city followed new zealand and other pacific island nations to be first into 2025. people in american samoa will be amongst the last to bid farewell to 2024 and we will have the best of the fireworks throughout the rest of the fireworks throughout the rest of the day. stay with us here on bbc news. good afternoon, severe weather for some of us as we prepare to welcome in the new year, including an amber weather warning valid until five o'clock this afternoon to heavy rain across parts of the highlands. they

could be flooding. the situation has improved here but they could be showers in the area, the heaviest of the rain tracking southwards wherever you are in the uk but it will be very blustery. there is some winter weather across northern scotland so look out for some icy stretches and this is where we are expecting the heaviest of the rain, wales and the midlands. plenty of clout and blustery with winds of 45 miles per hour across the west of the uk. the rain will track its way further southwards. wet and windy with sunshine emerging further north. they will be some winter venus over the pennines and over the cumbrian fails too. those showers will lead into scotland. temperatures going up towards the

south as the day wears on. the rain clears towards the south as we head into thursday and that allows arctic air to spill its way further southwards so cold feeling day with frost and temperatures below freezing. icy stretches where we've seen recent rain. on thursday, many of us will stay dry and they will be some sunshine around. feeling cold, the risk of some wintry showers into northern parts of northern ireland and northern scotland. temperatures getting up to five celsius. that brisk northerly wind will feel even colder than that if it is below freezing. a slight shift in wind direction, some wintry showers for northern ireland and down into the cheshire gap into wales, and across north—western scotland but for many,

dry with sunshine and certainly still feeling very cold. goodbye. good afternoon. if you have just joined us here on bbc news. at two o'clock my colleague will be here to take you through all of the news. i will be back at 11:30pm to help

welcome in 2025 with the london fireworks. now it is time for nobel mines, economics and medicine. now it is time for nobel mines, economics and medicine. in this programme, this year's nobel laureates in economics and medicine tell us why some countries are so much richer than others and what a worm tells us about how complex life emerged. this is nobel minds 2024. nobel laureates, welcome to the royal palace in stockholm. we're also joined by some of your family and friends, as well as students from here in stockholm. before we start, let's just give them a really big round of applause.

renewed congratulations to all of you.