i am philippa thomas.ou for watching this special edition of coronavirus: your stories. hello. the weather is taking on a decidedly wintry complexion as we head through the final days of 2020. the satellite picture shows this big stripe of cloud that brought very wet and windy weather through the early parts of sunday courtesy of storm bella, but now we've got these speckled clouds working in from the north, some shower clouds, those showers turning wintry as well with some really cold air digging its way down. and we stick with this northerly air flow right through the coming week. so, yes, it will be cold by day and by night. there will be a mixture of rain, sleet and snow at times, amidst all of that, some spells of sunshine. certainly a very chilly start to monday morning with temperatures widely below freezing, several degrees below freezing in places. that could well give rise to some icy stretches, and also notice this area of rain, sleet and snow across parts of wales, the midlands, down into south

i am philippa thomas.atching this special addition of coronavirus — your stories. hello, there. we have a stormy 2a hours ahead as storm bella starts to bear down across the uk and there are still severe flood warnings in folsom over then we have had lately so any more rain on saturated ground and already overflowing rivers is not good news either. you can see from the tightly packed isobars it is notjust the rain. we are very concerned about the strength of the wind. amber warnings out from the met office in southern areas. i will come to that list later. already the rain is with us in western scotland, mountain snow, was still spill into the rest of scotland and northern ireland today. a little bit of brightness perforating the clouded timings and it is relatively mild, mild interlude of weather today and that is because we have got south—westerly winds but they really escalate this evening across scotland, northern ireland, pushing their way southwards, a significant amount of rain falling for many area

i am philippa thomas.nd thank you for watching this special edition of coronavirus — your stories. good morning. many of us woke up to quite a wintry scene outside with frost, ice and snow around, too. and there's more of the wintry mix through the course of today and for the next few days. to summarise the next couple of days, expect further ice and snow at times. that could bring some disruption to travel, some slippery conditions underfoot as well. so it is a mix of rain, sleet and snow but we are all in this cold air. the blue colours, the cold air mass with us and the winds coming in from a northerly direction. wherever you are, it will feel chilly today. we have this area of rain, sleet and snow moving out of northern england through the midlands and the south west, central and southern england seeing some of that later. further snow showers for the north of scotland, some rain, sleet and snow for northern ireland, and one or two showers across eastern parts of england, too but some sunshine, tempera

i am philippa thomas. watching this special edition of coronavirus — your stories. a cold and bright day but it has been a winter wonderland for many. snow as far south as the cotswolds and the downs, we will continue to see some further bouts of snow across the country, different areas one day to the next but always good for a fine balance between snow, rain and sleet. a bit of sleet and snow towards pembrokeshire and cornwall, rain and sleet clearing away from southern counties of england through the rest of today but more showers down the eastern coasts. rain on the coastal strip by the time we hit the evening already temperatures close to freezing, rain along the coast turning to sleet and snow inland, upper parts of sheffield, manchester, leeds, bradford, could see a covering of snow into tomorrow morning. away from that, icy with temperatures widely below freezing. another cold day in store. peak district, staffordshire, towards parts of wales in the south—west so another coating of snow possible for

i am philippa thomas. you for watching this special edition of coronavirus — your stories. the winds from storm bella are starting to ease but we have them in excess of 80 mph and that has caused some damage and disruption as well as that we have had more heavy rain, thatis as that we have had more heavy rain, that is starting to clear away and all parts are getting into the cold arctic airand all parts are getting into the cold arctic air and that will be with us until the end of 2020 now. there are issues with snow and ice, that risk especially in the north for the rest of the day but for all parts heading into the night time. the windsor easing, still windy and the flood warnings and severe flood warnings still remaining. the rain is clearing away, we have sunny spells and showers, plenty of the sunny spells in central areas and these, but the shower is falling snow at lower levels of scotland, parts of northern ireland and northern england, a wintry flavour over the hills in the south. the winds are ea

i am philippa thomas.nk you for watching this special addition of coronavirus — your stories. hello. after a night of wind and rain, sunday won't be as windy. there will be showers around but also sunshine, too. but right now, it's still very wet and very windy out there for some of us. from this area of low pressure, storm bella as named by the met office to raise awareness of the impacts from the wind and rain, but not just that. in areas that have seen the back of the rain and the strongest winds overnight, the colder air moving in — and for some of us in scotland and northern ireland, icy, and a few wintry showers around to start the day. damaging winds from storm bella could cause some disruption, particularly into parts of england and wales and there will be more heavy rain in areas already seeing some flooding. so, that's not going to help. the greatest chance of disruption from the wind will be in the areas where the met office has an amber warning in force, the potential of some gusts up to 80 mph

i'm philippa thomas with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world.mpaign rally in georgia for the first time since he lost the election, and still, he's refusing to concede. britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, and the eu commission president talk at length, but fail to break the deadlock on a post—brexit trade deal. french riot police clash with protesters in paris during the latest demonstrations against a proposed new security law. the world's first mass covid—i9 vaccinations get under way in russia, even though the sputnik vjab hasn't yet been fully tested. and venice lights up for christmas, but you may have to be a local to see this year's spectacular sight.

i'm philippa thomas. in the past 2a hours, and with more patients now in hospitals in england than at the previous peak in april, doctors warn some services are now stretched to the limit. a chinese journalist who reported on the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, has been sentenced to 4 years injail. the british government warns travellers and business people to expect bumpy moments in the months ahead, as they get to grips with the uk's new relationship with the eu. president trump signs a coronavirus relief and spending package, after previously threatening to block it. also in the programme, a major study of the atlantic ocean

welcome back, i'm philippa thomas.d for use in the uk, with the first dose is due to be given on monday. the vaccine has been developed at a pace that would have been unthinkable before the pandemic. our health correspondent, laura foster, explains how the scientific community has achieved it. the reason why a covid—i9 vaccine has come around so quickly is because a lot of money and resources have been thrown at it. these are all the cells normally taken to create a safe and working vaccine, it usually takes at least a decade to co m plete it usually takes at least a decade to complete small but with cove therefore been done in less than a year. as is the case with all medicines, the passing goes through extensive and rigorous testing for can be approved and rolled out to a country bonsai population. —— to a country's population. before any testing happens in humans, the vaccine is tested on animals in a laboratory. in the case of covid—i9, ferrets, mice and monkeys have all been used. that's because they are similarto

i'm philippa thomas. the uk reports a record 40,000 new infections in the past 2a hours. doctors say some services are stretched to the limit. we see patients who are coming in who have covid symptoms, but we also see other patients coming in with other problems who turn out to be covid—positive and, between that, there is a great deal of difficulty getting those patients through into the wards. after president trump finally signs a coronavirus relief bill, democrats try to increase the pay—outs to americans. a chinese journalist who reported on the early days of the coronavirus outbreak has been sentenced to four years injail. also in the programme... a major study of the atlantic ocean has discovered species previously unknown to science. hello and welcome, if you're watching in the uk or around the world, and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. there've been a record number of cases of coronavirus in the uk over the past 2a hours. the figure — more than 41,000 — may include cases not recorded over the christmas period, but it u

i'm philippa thomas with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump is set to speak to supporters at a campaign rally in georgia for the first time since he lost the election, and still, he's refusing to concede. britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, and the eu commission president talk at length, but fail to break the deadlock on a post—brexit trade deal. french riot police clash with protesters in paris during the latest demonstrations against a proposed new security law. the world's first mass covid—19 vaccinations get under way in russia, even though the sputnik vjab hasn't yet been fully tested. and venice lights up for christmas, but you may have to be a local to see this year's spectacular sight. president trump is shortly to speak at a rally in georgia, and we get to the crowds there waiting for him. it's his first campaign event since he lost the presidential election last month. he's in georgia to boost the cause of the state's two republican senators, who need to win runoff elections in the new year if the right is to reta

i'm philippa thomas. the uk reports a record 40,000 new infections in the past 2a hours.patients who are coming in who have covid symptoms, but we also see other patients coming in with other problems who turn out to be covid—positive and, between that, there is a great deal of difficulty getting those patients through into the wards. after president trump finally signs a coronavirus relief bill, democrats try to increase the pay—outs to americans. a chinese journalist who reported on the early days of the coronavirus outbreak has been sentenced to four years injail. also in the programme... a major study of the atlantic ocean has discovered species

everybody has a coronavirus story, and my colleague philippa thomas has been hearing some of them.nteers across tribal lands to help those most vulnerable to covid—i9. 0n coronavirus: your stories, i've been speaking to do this —— to people this year all over the world about how covid—i9 has changed their lives. i revisited some of these stories as christmas approaches. life has become more difficult for many. we've talked on this programme about losing loved ones, jobs, access to healthcare, even food. what there have also been inspiring stories of solidarity and hope. in some of the remotest areas of united states, native american volunteers came together early to help the tribal nations hit hardest by covid—i9. in utah, joe 0verton was clinically vulnerable herself, stuck at home during lockdown, but she felt she had to act and set up a nonprofit from her kitchen table. for my youngest childhood, i remember my mother asking me, what are you going to be when you grow 7 you going to be when you grow d you going to be when you grow up? and what will you do to help the people? there

that report from philippa thomas. years. scientists adjust the timing of this great conjunction as it is known may have been the source ofa it is known may have been the source of a bright light in the sky 2000 yea rs of a bright light in the sky 2000 years ago, which became known as the star of bethlehem. doctor michael west is an astronomer in arizona who live stream the event from his telescope. i went out with my family and we look at it by eye and it was beautiful and last night at the observatory we did a live streaming event on our telescope, so that everybody around the world could watch this, and it was just a beautiful site with these two planets in our solar system getting closer and closer together in the sky. it is a beautiful sight, but beyond that, does it tell us anything in terms of learning or knowledge, do we derive any information from all of this? from a perspective, perhaps not. jupiter and saturn are not actually knew each other physically, theyjust appear close together on the sky, but the deep