daniela relph, bbc news. that was daniela relph.ix—week lockdown has begun with nonessential shops forced to close. hair salons must also shut while pubs, cafes and restaurants are restricted to takeaway and delivery services. the measures will be reviewed in four weeks' time. here's our ireland correspondent, chris page. as soon as christmas day ended, the lockdown began. there are no seasonal sporting events in northern ireland on this 26th of december. racecourses and stadiums are silent. shoppers and sales are absent too. instead, belfast city centre is shuttered down. one festive tradition that is allowed, though, is a brisk and breezy boxing day walk. people said tighter restrictions were for the best. oh, i think it's very necessary. it's a good thing and anything to keep us safe. i think it'sjust best everybody stays safe. had to happen, unfortunately. but we just have to do it. i think it's ok. the lockdown's in place from today until early february. and for the first week, the rules will be more strict. shops which sell es

daniela relph, bbc news.nds of more than 80 miles an hour to the uk. the met office has issued warnings for parts of england, wales, northern ireland and southern scotland, with coastal areas expected to be worst hit. more than 1,000 people in bedfordshire have already been advised to leave their homes due to flooding. here's anisa kadri. a rise in the river levels here caused rising anxiety. 1,300 households were told to evacuate. police said the flooding situation overrides the requirement to stay in your own home, according to tier 4 coronavirus restrictions. we've ended up doing what we've kind of done in the past few years anyway, so oddly enough, it has ended up being a more sociable christmas than we were planning on. debbie ward had police turn up at the door late on christmas eve telling her she should evacuate, but she chose not to. you worry, you panic, you know, it was rising quite fast and has come up but luckily, it has not reached the top of our step and coming in the house. bedford internation

now on bbc news, wejoin daniela relph for a look back on the key events of the year for the royal family 2020: the royal year. a year like no other during her long reign. a masked monarch in covid times. this is a strange, frustrating, and often distressing experience. an heir to the throne, locked down with coronavirus. a thank you from the cambridge family, who stepped up while others isolated. but for the sussexes, a step back, as they withdrew from royal duty. the queen's year started with the regular routine of royal engagements, a visit to mi5 headquarters in february, but everything was about to change. here, she thanked staff for keeping us safe, unaware that the biggest danger this year would be a health emergency that locked down the uk and changed the way the queen lived and worked. with lockdown imminent in march, she moved out of london. the queen came to windsor and spent the first lockdown behind the castle walls, with members of the royal household. the duke of edinburgh joined her and, from here, she worked as a monarch in isolation, but that didn't mean she was out of s

daniela relph, bbc news. new strain variant, which was first found in the uk in september, carries a genetic fingerprint that makes it easy to track, and it happens to be one that is now common. with france being the latest country on saturday to disclose a case, in the last several days, the world health organization has reported that nine cases have been detected in denmark, four in spain, and one case each in the netherlands, germany, italy and australia. switzerland is also saying the variant is most likely present in the country, and it has been recorded in sweden. japan also confirmed its first five cases, leading it to ban all non—resident foreign nationals from entering the country from the 28th of decmeber. meanwhile, researchers say that the virus found in south africa, while having similar properties to the uk variant, has developed independently. parts of the us city of nashville remain cordoned off after a camper van exploded in the early hours of christmas day. three people were injured and wide

nicholas witchell, bbc news. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph is at windsor. windsor. morning there. but nt public beautiful morning there. but no public site, even socially distance, of the queen or any members of the royalfamily this of the queen or any members of the royal family this year. that's right. no plans for any public sightings come at all, which of course is very different from what we normally see for a royal christmas. that would normally be up at sandringham led by the queen and the duke of edinburgh with their widerfamily all the duke of edinburgh with their wider family all in attendance, going to church on christmas morning and then a christmas lunch at the main at sandringham. not this year. just the queen and the duke of edinburgh here behind the castle walls at windsor. we are told by royal officials they will be spending christmas quietly, just the two of them, like so many other families this christmas. they have had to make the compromises, difficult decisions. they were made at the beginning of this month, actually, about what the qu

daniela relph, bbc news. willingness of people to get vaccinated against covid—i9 appears to have increased since the first two vaccines were authorised by the fda, and healthcare workers and nursing home residents began to receive the shots. fresh surveys suggest attitudes have shifted, and a clear majority are now eager to be vaccinated, although resistance has not entirely vanished. mohamed younis, editor in chief of gallup, told us more. well, as the pole ended in november, 63% of americans are now willing to take a vaccine at no cost approved by the fda. we saw with the astrazeneca trials cam down where one of the participants had an adverse reaction, back in september, that number dropped down to 50% of americans so at this point most are willing to take the vaccine at no cost and it is a backup eventually to where we started injuly with 66% of americans. although there are interesting political differences. what drove some of the original scepticism towards the vaccine? i think the timing of the poll w

daniela relph, bbc news.s we've been hearing, in northern ireland, a six—week lockdown has begun with nonessential shops forced to close. hair salons must also shut while pubs cafes and restaurants are restricted to takeaway and delivery services. the measures will be reviewed in four weeks' time. here's our ireland correspondent, chris page. as soon as christmas day ended, the lockdown began. there are no seasonal sporting events in northern ireland on this 26th of december. racecourses and stadiums are silent. one festive tradition that is allowed is brisk and breezy walk. oh, i think it's very necessary. it's a good thing and anything to keep us safe. i think it's best everybody stays safe. we just have to do it. i think it's ok. lockdowns are in place from today until early february. pubs and restaurants have been hit particularly hard at what is usually a popular time of year to eat out. i know the health of people is just paramount and it protects the nhs, but we were given very, very short notice on so

daniela relph, bbc news.bc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000158 707. it's four months since a devastating explosion tore through the centre of the lebanese capital, beirut, killing around 200 people and injuring many more. an investigation, which was promised within days, has yet to detail the cause of the blast. dozens of arrests have been made, but nobody has been held responsible and none of the victims compensated. the epicentre was beirut port, where the country's only cruise ship, the orient queen, was docked. from there, our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, sent this report. lebanon is living in a state of aftermath, a country turned on its head. this was its only cruise ship, the orient queen. four months ago, it took the full force of the explosion at the port. only the crew was on board. they watched as a warehouse fire took hold, not knowing what was to come. the ships home port, its safe harbour lay in ruins. the orient que

daniela relph is there for us this lunchtime.ed some of the same difficult decisions that so many people have had this year, and it is a scaled down royal christmas, plans for the usual celebration at sandringham were abandoned early this month. no public walk to church, no greeting wellwisher, it is just the queen and the duke of edinburgh, here at windsor castle and officials say they will be marking the quietly. for the rest of the royal family they are spending time quietly in their own smaller family units but some of the traditional royal christmas has been retain. there will be the queen's traditional message today, we can expect that to offer a message of hope and reassurance in light of the challenges of coronavirus, and we are told the queen has worshipped privately within the castle walls. many

daniela relph, thank you very much.as day alone in the middle of the ocean? 70—year old frank rothwell is currently taking on the biggest challenge of his life. he's rowing across the atlantic ocean as he aims to become the oldest person to complete the task. here's how he was feeling before setting off. i have been looking for a challenge. something that is worthwhile doing. for ages. and i couldn't find anything actually difficult enough. in training, i have been doing 70 miles in two days. and you can't walk 70 miles in two days. and you are rowing, half a tonne of boat, and in the darkest moments of the darkest night, the thing that is going to be motivating me is thinking about my grandchildren. ho—ho! who built the christmas tree? i will be wearing my father christmas suit. myjacket and hat and beard. and i will be playing the part, rowing along in the mid—atla ntic. in the sunshine. for my christmas dinner, i will have something freeze—dried. i mix it with boiling water, for seven minutes, and then give it a quic

daniela relph, bbc news.o provide grief counselling services to people that need this pandemic? is clearly an incredibly difficult time for the past nine months, we have had the 60,000 people die of covid, and in effect millions of people bereaved, have lost their loved ones from covid under the illnesses, so at cruse, we have a team around the country. we converted to phoney video support and were chilly her to make sure those brief people who need us most in these difficult times can still access port —— phone and video support. how quickly were you able to transform the model that you able to transform the model that you use for counselling services to go virtual? literally overnight. in march, when we had locked down, we did provide some telephone support. we quickly rolled it out for volunteer survey could work consistently over the phones, so people can get their support normally once a week but up to six times a week, from volunteers. we trained them, through zoom and other video technologies, we have

ready—to—wear collections and putting his name on everything from underwear to pens. 0ur correspondent daniela relphexcited womanhood what they simply must be wearing by easter. pierre cardin, the fashion world‘s supreme innovator. for decades, his designs ripped up convention and shocked the establishment. his thirst for the new and surprising was never satisfied. born in 1922, he left school at 1a to train in making cloth. a fortune teller told him he‘d be famous. he asked if she knew anyone who worked in fashion. she did. he moved to paris, clutching an address. he designed costumes forjean cocteau‘s film beauty and the beast in 19116 and was soon unnerving the fashion industry itself. his 1950‘s bubble dress took liberties with the female silhouette. he moved young men out of boxyjackets, creating a new look for the 1960s. the beatles, in their collarless cardin suits, said he was one step ahead of tomorrow. he irritated his fellow high—fashion designers, launching ready—to—wear collections for the middle classes. and indulged in futuristic fantasies, inspired by the space age. some of it, impra

edinburgh are spending the festive period at windsor — instead of sandringham. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relphave also been deprived there for of the pictures of queen arriving for a church service, the queues of small children delivering posies and presents to the monarch, and the usual excitement. is there anything happening, are people aware even the visitors in windsor that the queen is still in residence?” think some of them obviously will. they will be able to tell by the flag pefr the castle she is in residence here but there isn't much going on, and that is exactly what the palace wants, they did not want people turning out today, in the hope they might see the queen, and they had said early on, at the begin of the month this would be a private christmas, just the duke of edinburgh and the queen here, there wouldn't be any public sightings of the queen so it would be different the queen so it would be different the kind of christmas we are used to seeing up at sandringham in norfolk. but they made it very clear there would be no public sighting of the queen and they wanted people to st

ready—to—wear collections and putting his name on everything from underwear to pens. 0ur correspondent daniela relphtown by storm and reveals to breathlessly excited womanhood what they simply must be wearing by easter. pierre cardin, the fashion world's supreme innovator. for decades, his designs ripped up convention and shocked the establishment. his thirst for the new and surprising was never satisfied. born in 1922, he left school at 1a to train in making cloth. a fortune teller told him he'd be famous. he asked if she knew anyone who worked in fashion. she did. he moved to paris, clutching an address. he designed costumes forjean cocteau's film beauty and the beast in 19116 and was soon unnerving the fashion industry itself. his 1950's bubble dress took liberties with the female silhouette. he moved young men out of boxyjackets, creating a new look for the 1960s. the beatles, in their collarless cardin suits, said he was one step ahead of tomorrow. he irritated his fellow high—fashion designers, launching ready—to—wear collections for the middle classes. and indulged in futuristic fantasies, in

now on bbc news, we join daniela relph for a look back on the key events of the year

daniela relph, bbc news.uk/actionline, or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000158 707. a driver who claimed to have sped down the length of britain in record—breaking time has been acquitted of charges of dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice. thomas davies, who's 29, travelled by car from john 0'groats to lands end in 2017. police only began investigating his journey after he posted a blog over six months later. mr davies told the court the online post had been exaggerated. the environment agency has launched an investigating after a protected river in herefordshire was found to have been severely damaged. almost a mile—long stretch of the banks of the river lugg, which is home to rare wildlife including otters, appears to have been bulldozed, with trees and other vegetation removed. conservationists described the river as "immensely valuable" and said the damage would have "huge repercussions" for its ecology. police in edinburgh received hundreds of call

daniela relph reports. high restrictions have returned and it shows.christmas day done at the centre of southampton is empty. as new areas of southern and eastern england now find their lives restricted by even tighter rules. it's very, very quiet. it's unusual at this time of the year. so, yeah, it's strange and different stops some people are totally not seeing their family. it has caused friction in families. it would be nice if it could all come to an end and we could all come to an end and we could all come to an end and we could all be back to normal. the blue areas on the map are all now in tier 4, where you must stay at home u nless tier 4, where you must stay at home unless you need to travel for work or education. you may only meet one person at a time outside. nonessential retail closes, and you shouldn't leave a tier 4 area. but elsewhere, there is a familiar look to boxing day. the prime minister had warned people to think carefully and avoid sales crowds. in leeds, though, still in tier 3, the prospect of a bike and drew some people out o

here's daniela relph. harsher restrictions have returned and it shows.of southampton is empty as new areas of southern and eastern england now find their lives restricted by even tighter rules. it is very, very quiet, very unusual for this time of year. it would be nice if it would all come to an end and we could all go back to normal. but elsewhere, a familiar look to boxing day. the prime minister want people to think carefully a nd minister want people to think carefully and avoid sales crowds. in leeds, still in t3, the prospects of a bargain drew some people out. i always go to the south on boxing day for the bargains andl the south on boxing day for the bargains and i don't like doing it online so i want to support the shops and enjoying it so far butjust a shame we cannot go for a coffee or a glass of wine. a lot quieter than we are expecting, a bit. but we got what we needed and it was nice and the staff looked not as festive as well, so, definitely a different feeling. there is one activity the heartiest despite restrictions. open water swimming

let's go straight to sandringham, talk to our royal correspondent daniela relph, who has some lateststy the queen, from buckingham palace. the details were laid out in the following days. there would now be no public funding for harry and meghan. they got to keep their titles but agreed not to use ‘his or her royal highness' as they were no longer full—time working royals. they would continue to uphold the values of the queen and this would all be reviewed after a 12—month trial period. with the change now confirmed, harry chose a private dinner for his sentebale charity to speak publicly for the first time about his decision. i want you to hear the truth from me, as much as i can share, not as a prince or a duke, but as harry, the same person that many of you have watched grow up over the last 35 years, but now with a clearer perspective. the uk is my home and a place that i love. that will never change. i've grown up feeling supported from so many of you and i watched as you welcomed meghan with open arms, as you saw me find the love and happiness that i had hoped for all my life.

now wejoin daniela relph for a look back on the key events of the year for the royal family. us safe, unaware that the biggest danger this year would be a health emergency that locked down the uk and changed the way the queen lived and worked. with lockdown imminent in march, she moved out of london. the queen came to windsor and spent the first lockdown behind the castle walls with members of the royal household. the duke of edinburghjoined her, and from here, she worked as a monarch in isolation, but that didn't mean she was out of sight. indeed, her contributions to the national mood were seen as significant and meaningful. none moreso than her address to the country during the first weeks of lockdown back in april. i'm speaking to you at what i know is an increasingly challenging time. it was a deeply personal message from the longest—serving head of state in the world, during an exceptional moment in her reign. together we are tackling this disease and i want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it. i hope, in the years to come, ev