0:00:19 > 0:00:21Good afternoon.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Heavy snow has hit much of the UK - causing disruption to roads,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26railways and airports.
0:00:26 > 0:00:2920 flights have been cancelled at Stansted Airport, while flights
0:00:29 > 0:00:32were suspended at Luton.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34A number of motorways have been covered in snow,
0:00:34 > 0:00:39with police asking people to travel only if absolutely necessary.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41The heaviest snow has fallen in north Wales.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Amber snow warnings have been issued there, in the Midlands
0:00:44 > 0:00:49and in northern and eastern England.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51In a moment we'll be speaking to our reporters
0:00:51 > 0:00:57in the worst affected areas, first this report from Lee Milner.
0:00:57 > 0:01:03This was the scene on the M25 in Buckinghamshire today. Heavy snow
0:01:03 > 0:01:08brought motorists to a standstill. In Llangollen in Wales there was no
0:01:08 > 0:01:11chance of people getting anywhere today.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16This is by far the worst I've ever seen. It's probably the worst snow
0:01:16 > 0:01:20I've ever seen, to be honest, certainly about a foot deep and
0:01:20 > 0:01:26still coming in. The RAC says it is currently dealing
0:01:26 > 0:01:30with five breakdowns a minute and expecting around 7500 by the end of
0:01:30 > 0:01:38the day. With ten to 20 centimetres falling
0:01:38 > 0:01:40in some parts of the UK, quitters have been replaced with ploughs in
0:01:40 > 0:01:42areas like Redditch in Worcestershire. As snow continues to
0:01:42 > 0:01:47fall, the Met Office has issued an number whether morning made Dan
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Ackerman for the East of England and Wales. Passengers are burning and
0:01:51 > 0:01:55other airports have been warned about delays and cancellations. 20
0:01:55 > 0:01:57flights have been cancelled from Stansted.
0:01:57 > 0:02:03Flying over Wales it could be a scene from The Snowman, a thick
0:02:03 > 0:02:08coating of white across the mountings and lakes. For these
0:02:08 > 0:02:11children in the Peak District, finally a chance to play in a winter
0:02:11 > 0:02:15wonderland. I like it because where we live we
0:02:15 > 0:02:20never get snow, it is just sweet. I like snow because you can make
0:02:20 > 0:02:25snow angels and snowmen and I find it really fun to do.
0:02:25 > 0:02:31For many it is a time for fun and enjoyment, but with more snow on the
0:02:31 > 0:02:34way, more disruption is inevitable.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Joining us are Jessica Parker in Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire
0:02:38 > 0:02:42and Matthew Richards in Llangollen in Denbighshire in Wales.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48To you first, Jessica.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54The traffic moving behind you but pretty slowly?Yes, as you can see
0:02:54 > 0:02:58the M25 clockwise is moving pretty slowly but it was at a complete
0:02:58 > 0:03:01standstill and hour and a half ago. We saw a car being towed away from
0:03:01 > 0:03:09the Central Lane on the M25. Highways England is advising people
0:03:09 > 0:03:12not to travel unless they have to. Hertfordshire County Council nearby
0:03:12 > 0:03:19say they have spread up to 1000 tonnes of salt since midnight. There
0:03:19 > 0:03:23have been rail and Tube disruptions into London and, as we have heard,
0:03:23 > 0:03:28disruption at the airports. This is after the Met Office extended its
0:03:28 > 0:03:34amber weather warning to large areas of the South, including
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire
0:03:36 > 0:03:39and Oxfordshire. There have been up to 12 centimetres of snow at High
0:03:39 > 0:03:46Wycombe, just 15 miles from where I am.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Plenty of snow and related disruption in the south, perhaps
0:03:48 > 0:03:53more than was expected.Thank you, Jessica. Matthew Richards is in
0:03:53 > 0:03:58Llangollen in Wales, huge snowfalls where you are?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01It has been snowing very, very heavily across North and mid Wales
0:04:01 > 0:04:06for much of the morning. It does not show much sign of abating. We have
0:04:06 > 0:04:16had over a foot in some places in Powys. A hospital just over the
0:04:16 > 0:04:20border in Shropshire has appealed for drivers of four by four vehicles
0:04:20 > 0:04:23to ferry staff in and out of their shifts, and hospitals across North
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Wales have been using the Red Cross to help transport blood supplies
0:04:27 > 0:04:31under the medical equipment between hospitals. People are keeping a
0:04:31 > 0:04:36close eye on the weather to make sure it does not get worse.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Thank you, Matthew Richards, and thanks to Jessica Parker at the M25
0:04:39 > 0:04:45in Buckinghamshire.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47In the last half hour, it's been announced that
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Max Clifford, the disgraced former celebrity publicist, has died.
0:04:49 > 0:04:50He was 74.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Clifford suffered a heart attack in his cell at Littlehey prison
0:04:53 > 0:04:54in Cambridgeshire yesterday.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55He has been serving an eight-year jail sentence
0:04:55 > 0:04:57for historic six offences.
0:04:57 > 0:05:04Our home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw is here.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07This has been announced by the Ministry of Justice in the last few
0:05:07 > 0:05:11minutes?Yes, a statement from them has confirmed the death of Max
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Clifford in hospital. He was taken there yesterday after apparently
0:05:15 > 0:05:19suffering a heart attack. There will be an investigation, that is
0:05:19 > 0:05:23routine, the department has offered Max Clifford's family its
0:05:23 > 0:05:26condolences. He was serving an eight-year term for indecently
0:05:26 > 0:05:31assaulting four women and young girls, the youngest was 15. He was
0:05:31 > 0:05:44convicted in 2014 after a long trial. He maintained his innocence
0:05:44 > 0:05:46all along, vehemently denied the allegations but was found guilty in
0:05:46 > 0:05:48what was really a ground-breaking case for Scotland Yard's Operation
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Yewtree investigation, it was the first conviction of that. He
0:05:50 > 0:05:53continued to protest his innocence on the case was due to be heard at
0:05:53 > 0:05:54the Court of Appeal in the next few months.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57It has to be remembered that this was a huge downfall for Max
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Clifford, his career was in ruins. He was one of the most powerful
0:06:01 > 0:06:07people in the media, able to make careers, able to manipulate stories
0:06:07 > 0:06:11into the newspapers. Incredible power in terms of celebrity and so
0:06:11 > 0:06:17on, but that was all gone with the conviction.Thank you, Danny Shaw.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Labour has suggested that Britain should stay aligned
0:06:19 > 0:06:22to the European Union after Brexit, allowing the easy movement of people
0:06:22 > 0:06:23and continuing payments to Brussels.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26The party's Brexit spokesman, Sir Keir Starmer, said he wanted
0:06:26 > 0:06:29the UK to stay in the customs union and a version of the single market.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32The Government says it's committed to a broad and ambitious free trade
0:06:32 > 0:06:33deal outside the EU.
0:06:33 > 0:06:41Susana Mendonca reports.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43A moment heralded as a landmark deal in Britain's EU negotiations,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48but this was just the starting point for doing the deal that Britain
0:06:48 > 0:06:51really wants with the EU, which is all about trade.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54And today the Brexit Secretary gave us a clearer idea
0:06:54 > 0:07:00of what the Government wants that to look like.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04If the basic deal...
0:07:04 > 0:07:07I'm being very crude about this, but is Canada plus the City
0:07:07 > 0:07:08or something like that?
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Canada plus plus plus would be one way of putting in.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13The trade deal Canada has done with the EU took seven years
0:07:13 > 0:07:15to negotiate and didn't include the financial sector,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17which is key to the UK's economy.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19But the Brexit Secretary says that isn't the only
0:07:19 > 0:07:21example he's looking at, and services would have to be
0:07:21 > 0:07:22included in any deal.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24What we want is a bespoke outcome.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28We will probably start with the best of Canada and the best of Japan
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and the best of South Korea, and then add to that the bits
0:07:31 > 0:07:33missing, which is the services.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35But Labour are looking towards northern Europe
0:07:35 > 0:07:40as a model for the kind of deal it would be after.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Norway isn't in the EU but has access to the single market,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and pays for the privilege.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Labour's Brexit Secretary revealed he would want a similar setup
0:07:49 > 0:07:52to retain the benefits of the single market and customs union,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56but that could come at a price.
0:07:56 > 0:07:57Norway pays money in.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01They do it actually on a voluntary basis.
0:08:01 > 0:08:02Would you accept it?
0:08:02 > 0:08:06There may have to be payments, that would have to be negotiated.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09The focus now is all on getting a trade deal for Britain,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12but with varying opinions of what that deal should look like,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15and the EU unlikely to want to give the UK a better deal
0:08:15 > 0:08:18outside than it had inside the club, that might prove tougher
0:08:18 > 0:08:21than the deal that got the Government to this point in
0:08:21 > 0:08:24the negotiations in the first place.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25Susanah Mendonca, BBC News.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has held talks with the Iranian
0:08:31 > 0:08:34President in a bid to secure the freedom of Nazanin
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Zaghari-Ratcliff, a British woman imprisoned on charges of spying.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Mr Johnson described the visit to Tehran as worthwhile.
0:08:38 > 0:08:47Our diplomatic correspondent James Robbins joins me.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52James, does it look like there may have been a bit of progress?It
0:08:52 > 0:08:55does, the mere fact of getting access to President Hassan Rouhani
0:08:55 > 0:08:59suggests that. They spent almost an hour together. Boris Johnson has
0:08:59 > 0:09:03deliberately said nothing publicly before leaving Iran, it is so
0:09:03 > 0:09:05sensitive, but the Foreign Office put out a statement saying they
0:09:05 > 0:09:09discuss the full range of issues, including banking matters and are
0:09:09 > 0:09:14concerned about the consular cases of dual nationals. Banking matters
0:09:14 > 0:09:27could include an outstanding debt of £400 million owed by
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Britain to run, Britain says the money is ready to be paid and they
0:09:33 > 0:09:36are making sure they can do it in a way which complies with
0:09:36 > 0:09:38international sanctions. Neither side is linking the money to this
0:09:38 > 0:09:41appeal for prison releases but there is a possibility for progress and
0:09:41 > 0:09:42the Foreign Office says it will build on it.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48The next news on BBC One is at 5:50pm.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Bye for now.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57It has been a winter wonderland for some of you this day so far, but a
0:09:57 > 0:09:59travel nightmare for others.