sylvia lennon has this report. [ applause ] >> reporter: a small celebration of a first in saudi arabia'srvative history. this woman is one of about 900 women running for office. she and the male members of their campaign team are launching her election website. >> translator: we have been waiting to be given this opportunity as ladies to participate in the political and social decision making in the country. since the door opened for us, i was one of the first female entrepreneurs actually able to participate in decision making. >> reporter: in 2011, the late king granted women the right to play a part in saudi politics. but women are only allowed to run for municipal office. he said women should take up 20% of the council which advises the king. but activists say any changes are minor at best, and women still face significant restrictions. they are discouraged from driving and have to get the approval of a male guardian to travel abroad, go to work, or open a bank account. >> translator: i think there are limitations in being able to meet with the public. so i decided to go to malls, so

but critics say there is still a way to go of the sylvia lennon, al jazeera. >>> time now for the weathere is meteorologist kevin. >> meteorologist: we are going to start over here towards europe first because we have some very nasty weather to talk about. storm system has come in off the atlantic, affected parts of the u.k. being parts of scandinavia. i want to show you the video. the afternoons and the mass destruction with the power of this particular storm, we have seen flooding all across parts of the u.k., with evacuations going on because of the high water across the region. and one station in the higher elevation of scotland reported wind gusts of up to 112 miles per hour. one person in london is -- they are investigating could possibly have died because of weather-related injuries across that area. i now want to take you a is contract western part of united states, we are looking at one storm system now making its way across the western coast but there is another one out here, this is going to be the second one so what that means for the western part of the united states is we wi