11/12/2017 BBC News at One

Hundreds of schools are closed

and thousands have no power as snow

and ice cover much of the UK.

We'll have the latest

on the disruption it's causing.

Snow continues to

fall in some places.

Temperatures could fall to -12.

Also this lunchtime.

Six months after the

Grenfell tower fire,

survivors are told that great

importance will be placed on their

stories at the public inquiry.

Huntigton's, a devastating

and deadly disease,

now scientists trying to halt it

think they may be close to the

biggest breakthrough for 50 years.

Russia's President Putin makes

a surprise visit to Syria

and orders his forces there to start

a partial withdrawal.

One of the biggest wildfires

in California's history,

thousands more people are moved

from their homes as the flames get

close to Santa Barbara.

Chelsea will have to get past Lionel

Messi and Barcelona in the Champions

League last 16, we will have the

latest on today's draw.

Good afternoon and welcome

to the BBC News at One.

Motorists have been facing

"treacherous" road conditions

after snow turned to ice

across parts of the UK.

Hundreds of schools across England

and Wales are closed

as the wintry conditions persist,

and there is some disruption to rail

services and flights.

The Met Office has issued

several weather warnings

across the country with

temperatures expected to plunge

overnight and further wintry showers

due in the coming days.

Phil Mackie has this report.

Matthew Richards is in north-east

Wales, and Duncan Kennedy is in

Hindhead, in Surrey, and Duncan,

first, it has been snowing again

this morning where you are.

Absolutely, snow currently

horizontal, not only have snow but

wind, we have arrived here after a

journey up from the south coast and

we have met absolutely every kind of

weather condition going. Self coast,

rain. Up through Hampshire,

Petersfield, Winchester, rain and

sleet. By the time you get here,

sorry, this kind of snow. We are 800

feet, we are getting between three

and five centimetres of this

blizzard like conditions as well. Do

give you an idea of where we are,

below the M25, and next to the

eighth three. Both of those roads

are flowing, quite smoothly, it has

to be said. -- A3. Around here, on

the smaller roads, things are much

more tricky. The roads are open,

they have been gritted, cars

slip-sliding around, as soon as they

get a little gradient, wheels lose

traction. Knocks and bumps and one

or two people have been slipping

over as well, as two schools in this

area, at least a dozen have been

shut in Hindhead area alone, we met

some children who said they did not

get to their school even though that

school was open, others have been

closed altogether, not least because

the schools do not want to risk

children not being able to get home

at the end of the day and also

because playground, concrete all

around schools, are iced over and

they do not want risk of ice and

people slipping over. Speaking to

one or two people around here, they

have been struggling to get to work

in the surrounding country Road

areas. One man worked at a golf

course, could not get there today,

that has been shut up, nobody

working there today. This storm, due

to last for another two, three,

possibly four hours, then, the

warning after that, ice. Treacherous

conditions for cars coming to this

part of Surrey, and treacherous

conditions will continue.

Matthew,

the situation where you are,

warnings as well that temperatures

are really going to plunge.

Yes,

heavy snow of the past couple of

days has stopped, temperatures are

dropping. 600 schools across Wales

that are currently closed, around

500 properties still without power.

Those warnings from police not to

journey out unless you have too.

Council say they are doing their

best to get to the slightly more

minor routes, to make sure more

remote communities can stay

accessible. We have heard warnings

from rescue teams around Wales about

incidents they have been called to,

a 21-year-old man was seriously

injured when sledging in the Rhondda

Valley, last night, he slid off a

hill and into a ravine, and was

airlifted to hospital. A 24-year-old

man suffered injuries to head and

shoulders when he fell 80 metres

while climbing on a mountain in

Snowdonia national park, with a

family group, so the warning is,

though these scenes may look very

inviting, it is still very

dangerous.

Schools in Worcestershire

are closed because of the severe

weather, this report.

VOICEOVER: Large swathes of Central

England and Wales woke up to a

winter wonderland, but the morning

commute was tricky, many areas saw

their heaviest snowfall for seven

years. Some areas saw 20

centimetres, which froze when

temperatures plummeted, driving

conditions were extremely dangerous,

broke down services have been

walking around the clock.

We do

10,000 breakdowns, but yesterday we

did 14,000, 600 of those were

vehicles stuck in snow. The main

advice would be to take it steady,

pack if you extras, like a blanket,

a torch, a mobile phone, make sure

they are charged. Make sure you have

your main contacts in your phone.

Criticism of local authorities after

hundreds of schools were shut,

meaning an enforced day off for

parents who had to look after

children. As you can see, for a lot

of people, it is a snow day, a lot

of fun, but a real problem for

businesses especially because people

cannot get to work, in some places

they have had to stay at home to

look after children. For others,

simply because the high street

should be doing well in the run-up

to Christmas but this is keeping

people away. Snow and ice around, it

will they like for another day. The

snowploughs and gritters have been

working at full pelt throughout the

weekend, for many areas, this is day

four of destruction, the worst

conditions are over the higher

ground in England and Wales, where

they are more used to it and quite

phlegmatic.

Happens every four or

five years, we get a big dump, and

being higher up... We tend to get

more than most, but it is very

pretty.

Everyone is being asked to

help out, including organisations

with four-wheel drive vehicle.

We

offered up a number of them, because

there is a lot of pressure on them.

Getting people to patients, patients

to hospitals. Well trained drivers.

We have vehicles we are happy to

lend.

The cold snap is not yet over,

that means there is no prospect of

an early thaw, so the big question

is, what happens next.

Across the country we have had a lot

of snow and rain and sleet over the

last 24 to 48 hours, tonight,

temperatures will plunge, sunspots,

-10, -11, -12 degrees. With all

those wet and snowy surfaces, could

be some severe ice problems to take

us into tomorrow morning.

Whether

you love it or hate it, it is

undeniably pretty, social media is

filled with pictures like this, so,

this year, many people enjoying some

stunning scenery, and Christmas come

early.

STUDIO: And you can keep up to date

with the latest disruption

on our website at bbc.co.uk/news.

Survivors and bereaved families have

called on the public inquiry

into the Grenfell Tower disaster,

in which 71 people died,

to be headed by a panel of experts,

rather than a single retired judge.

The current chairman, Sir Martin

Moore-Bick,

is holding two days of public

hearings

to set out

the future of the inquiry's work.

Victims of the fire say

they are already becoming

pushed to the sidelines.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent Tom

Symonds is at the hearing

in Central London.

This is the beginning of a long

journey, the police alone have

gathered 31 million documents which

may be evidence, and taken

statements from 1144 people, that is

one enquiry, of several working in

parallel. It is the public enquiry

here that one day will produce the

official verdict on why this tragedy

happened.

The bereaved, the survivors,

the people who lived

in the shadow of the tower.

Their supporters.

They are not going anywhere.

These two days of hearings will set

up the way in which the enquiry

does its job, gathers the evidence.

At first, much of that

will come from the police.

But the enquiry heard the voices

of those who escaped the fire

will be vital.

To prepare a statement

for the enquiry will,

for many of them, be

difficult and traumatic.

And the process of giving oral

evidence to the enquiry, equally,

if not more challenging.

But we must also try to move more

promptly and effectively

with the aim of learning lessons

from this awful event.

In order to save the lives of others

and in order to ensure something

like this can never happen again.

But the survivors and the families

of the bereaved have

a string of concerns.

They are worried, as so-called core

participants, that they are already

being pushed to the sidelines.

Watching as experts and lawyers

discuss matters of life

and death between themselves.

Hearings will be conducted

exclusively by your council and you.

Rendering the core participants

passive attendees.

Able only to give their own evidence

if asked, and to suggest questions,

but never to ask them.

Well, we want to ask questions

on behalf of our clients.

Only the enquiry's lawyers

will question witnesses.

It is led by a single judge,

Sir Martin Moore-Bick.

The families want him,

joined by others, to make up a panel

with people better able to represent

the social issues the fire revealed.

What we're asking for is a panel

of experts

that represent the community.

That diverse, but also

have the expertise that is required.

Their suspicion is not helped

by the fact that six months on, many

survivors have not been rehoused,

with 42 families found homes so far.

It has been much more complicated

and challenging

than we initially thought.

But I think by the time...

You know, we have bought 300 houses

and we are getting people rehoused.

That will build the trust.

It's action rather than words.

That's an ongoing process.

Inquests have described how

the 71 victims died.

The enquiry's job is to decide why.

The police, whether anyone

is criminally responsible.

Difficult jobs in themselves,

made far more difficult

by the trauma this

tragedy has left behind.

That demand for a panel to take over

from a single judge will not go

away, having local people on the

enquiry panel would risk its

independence, some may say, the

families say that is not what they

are asking for, they do not want to

hijack the process, they just want

it to have a broader view. Either

way, any change would be for the

government. When can we expect

results? The first report, looking

at the causes, the basic causes of

the fire and the response to it, is

not due until next autumn.

More than 8,000

people in the UK have

Huntington's disease,

a devastating condition

which permanently affects

their ability to move and think

as well as how they behave.

It's a neuro-degenerative disease

which often starts to affect people

in their 30s and 40s.

And now scientist think they may

have made a big breakthrough,

which could ultimately stop

the deadly disease.

Our health and science correspondent

James Gallagher

has had exclusive access

to the trial and joins me now.

Really is an incredibly cruel

disease, and one which is passed

through the generations.

A blight on

families, terminal, if you have it,

you know you will die, you will have

seen a parents die from this

disease, and there is a 50/50 chance

of you passing it to your children.

It is caused by the build-up of a

toxic protein inside the brain,

slowly killing brain cells over a

lifetime. What this drug does, it is

injected into the spinal fluid, it

will bathe the brain and slow down

the production of a protein. The

hope is that once you lower levels

of the protein, then you can stop

brain cells dying and that might

stop Huntington's disease.

People

will want to know, people have this

already, people could have it in the

future, those people will want to

know, is this a cure?

Today, the

answer is no, because scientists so

far have only shown they can lower

the levels of the toxic protein,

they have not lowered it long enough

to see if it makes a difference, a

decade of animal research suggests

it should but doctors are still need

to do the work in human patients.

The long-term aim is to treat people

when they are 18 years old, because

if you can get them before symptoms

even start, they might never have

Huntington's, that is why one

scientist described this research to

me as potentially the biggest

breakthrough in any

neurodegenerative disease in 50

years.

The Prime Minister will update Mps

in the Commons this afternoon

on the Brexit deal struck

on Friday in Brussels.

It's understood she'll say

she expects EU leaders to agree

to start talks about

future trade and security

at a summit on Thursday.

Our Assistant Political Editor

Norman Smith is in Westminster.

Expected to talk of a new sense

of optimism after Friday.

Is there?

I suspect Theresa May thinks she is

entitled to a little glass of

Christmas cheer, the odd mince pie,

something odd is going on at

Westminster, here we are on the cusp

of a "Brexit" statement, normally

that is the cue for eye gouging and

shin kicking but today, everyone

seems, well, kind of happy, they are

OK with the deal that has been done

by Theresa May on Friday, Brexiteers

think, having paid £39 billion, that

is a lot but kind of enough, the

European court has been

marginalised, and the contentious

phrase about regular to realignment

between Northern Ireland and

Ireland, they believe it applies

only to a few limited areas, leaving

the single market. Remainers see it

differently, they believe regulatory

alignment means they will be cheek

by jowl with the single market,

taking most of their roles and

regulations, the softest of soft

yolk Brexits, they cannot all be

right, but the way the agreement has

been written, it is sufficiently

vague and ambiguous, so that

everyone can pretty much take

whatever they want from it. So,

maybe less the mince pie, and more

the Euro fudge!

Our top story this lunchtime.

Hundreds of schools are closed

and thousands have no power as snow

and ice cover much of the UK.

And still to come.

The UK has a new tallest mountain,

and Antarctic peak has been

remeasured and found to be

Coming up in sport on BBC News.

We'll have the latest

on that milk-throwing

argument between Manchester City

and Manchester United, following

City's record win

in yesterday's derby.

Thousands more people have been told

to leave their homes in California

as one of the biggest wildfires

in the state's history

moves towards the coastal

city of Santa Barbara.

Around 800 buildings have

already been destroyed

in the fires that have raged

across California last week.

Fire fighters are battling six fires

across the state, with the largest

having scorched an area

the size of New York City.

Simon Cullen reports.

It's a battle being fought both

from the ground and from the air.

Fanned by strong winds

and hot weather, fire

fighters are struggling

to get the upper hand on a blaze

which has become one of the most

destructive in California's history.

Hundreds of homes have already been

destroyed and thousands of people

have been forced to flee.

I'm scared to death.

We packed up our whole car.

We got evacuated this morning.

I'm a nervous wreck.

I've only lived in Santa Barbara

five years, so this is the first

time I've experienced a fire.

So I have been in

panic mode all day.

The fire in the coastal areas

of Ventura and Santa Barbara,

has now burnt out an area larger

than the size of New York,

and it's still out of control.

But it's not the only one.

And resources are being

stretched to the limit.

We've been up - I'm at 29 hours

straight every other day.

Everybody on this division

is at 28, 29 hours.

So we are exhausted.

But they are not coming

off until this is done.

Several fire fighters have been

injured, and one person,

a 70-year-old lady, has died

while trying to flee.

Santa Barbara Police Department!

As the flames draw nearer,

the mandatory evacuation

zone has been widened.

Overnight, authorities went door

to door, telling people to leave.

This fire has acted

in an unpredictable manner.

It has been very rapidly moving.

It's going to be a multi-day event,

so please do what you can now

to prepare to evacuate.

The fire front has become so large,

it is clearly visible from space,

giving a sense of the magnitude

of the task ahead.

The US President Donald Trump has

declared a state of emergency

to provide extra resources

to the worst affected regions.

For now, authorities are focusing

on bringing the fires under control.

But soon, the focus will turn

to assessing the damage

and counting the cost

of the devastating fire season.

Simon Cullen, BBC News.

police are responding to reports of

an extension in Manhattan, there are

reports of a number of injuries.

Pictures from the scene show armed

police and commuters lining the

pavement of a busy transport hub a

few blocks away from Times Square.

The New York police Department has

said they are responding to an

instant and a number of Metro lines

have been evacuated. -- an incident.

President Putin has ordered

the partial withdrawal

of Russian troops from Syria,

during an unannounced

visit to the country.

Mr Putin was met by Syrian President

Bashar Assad as he arrived

at a Russian air base.

Russia first intervened

in the conflict in 2015,

staging air strikes in support

of the Syrian Government.

Our Moscow correspondent

Steve Rosenberg reports.

For more than two years, his troops

have been at war in Syria.

Today, Vladimir Putin

made a surprise visit

to the Russian airbase here.

His message - mission accomplished.

Here to see him, and to thank him,

was President Assad.

It's Russia's military

operation which has kept

the Syrian leader in power.

And then it was onto the soldiers.

President Putin told the troops,

their motherland was proud of them.

He expressed Russia's gratitude

for what they had achieved in Syria.

Addressing the troops,

President Putin said

that the Russian and Syrian armies

had routed the most fearsome group

of international terrorists.

He announced the withdrawal

of a large part of Russia's

military contingent.

The soldiers, he said,

could return home victorious.

The Russian campaign

in Syria was controversial.

Western governments claimed Russian

air strikes were targeting

the moderate Syrian opposition.

Moscow ignored the criticism.

Today, President Putin said his

troops had performed brilliantly,

and the operation in the air

and at sea had shown the growing

power of Russia's military.

Russia believes its military

campaign in Syria

has been a success.

Not only in terms of defeating Isis

and keeping a key ally,

President Assad, in power,

but also the Russians

believe the campaign has

raised their country's profile

in the Middle East,

and increased Russia's influence

on the international stage.

Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow.

Two in five women, and one in five

men, say they've been

sexually harassed at work,

according to a new survey

of workplace harassment for the BBC.

The poll found that

self-employed workers,

or those on zero-hours contracts,

are more likely to face unwanted

sexual behaviour than those

in full time employment.

Adina Campbell has this report.

Putting up with sexual harassment

at work is something copywriter

Lorrie Hartshorn has

dealt with for years.

Because she is a freelancer,

she says it is even worse.

If something goes wrong

and you are subjected to these kinds

of behaviours you are uncomfortable

with or are clearly inappropriate,

who do you complain to?

You are frequently dealing

with the top people in the company

and if the behaviour comes from one

of them, your choice

your choice is to either complain

to them and lose the gig,

or not complain.

In the latest survey for the BBC,

the poll revealed 43% of people

in flexible work had experienced

unwanted sexual behaviour, compared

with 29% who were directly employed.

Those working in industries

such as hospitality,

retail or the public sector,

were more at risk.

Overall, 40% of women and 18% of men

had experienced sexual

harassment in the workplace.

The survey also found people aged

between 18 and 34 were more likely

to report unwanted sexual attention,

compared to those over 55.

One problem is organisations don't

realise they have a problem,

they say, we don't have a problem,

we have an open door policy.

Realising first of all

the extent of the problem.

Then providing systems

where people are reticent,

they can step forward.

Unwelcome jokes, unwanted touching

and porn in the workplace were some

of the most common types

of behaviour in the survey of more

than 6,000 British adults.

It is not just at work where women

and men face problems.

People grabbing me, grabbing

the chest area, the bum.

Recently I had someone

take my phone number,

I went to get my laptop repaired,

they took my details

and wouldn't stop texting me.

When you are out in bars,

you feel a bit trapped at sometimes.

With touching.

No, no.

It is mainly just catcalling,

especially older men.

Because I am at college

now, but this happened

when I was still in school uniform,

so it was really inappropriate.

With an even bigger focus

on sexual harassment,

there are new calls for better

protection to people

inside and outside the workplace.

Adina Campbell, BBC News.

Bitcoin.

It's the world's most

popular virtual currency.

It's not tied to any bank,

so users can spend it anonymously.

At the start of the year,

a bitcoin was worth just over

£700.

This month, a bitcoin peaked

at just under £14,000.

Last night, the digital

currency had another first,

as it launched on a futures

exchange in Chicago.

Our technology orrespondent

Rory Cellan-Jones is here.

And that means what?

It gives a measure of respectability

to something which has been seen as

pretty flaky by traditional finance

industries, something used by

criminals to hide their traces are

possibly by people to

money-laundering. Now you can bet on

the future of bitcoin, you can work

out what it might be worth in a

month, on a traditional exchange,

and the reaction has been to bet it

will continue to rise. That has been

going on for 18 months, a bubble

people are expecting to burst.

Everyone in finance says this is too

good to last. But they had a split

view. They want to have some stake

in it but are concerned it is a

dangerous phenomenon. The other

worrying thing concerning regulators

is lots of ordinary people who can't

afford to lose money are saying this

looks good, I had better get in.

Stories of people borrowing money to

invest, properly not a good idea.

The football Association has

launched an investigation after an

altercation following the win by

Manchester City at Old Trafford

yesterday.

There were reports of water

and milk being thrown.

City players were celebrating

their 2-1 win which sent them 11

points clear of their nearest rivals

at the top of the table.

David Ornstein has this report.

Not even halfway through the season,

but already firmly on course

for the Premier League title.

The win all the sweeter

for Manchester City,

as it came at the home

of their closest challengers and

bitter rivals, Manchester United.

Is that it, is the

title race over now?

Have you got it in the bag?

No, no, it's December, not yet.

Impossible.

We have a lot of things,

a lot of games still to do,

but it's important for our

confidence, of course.

We were better, and that's good.

Inside the away dressing room,

scenes of jubilation,

though which we now know to be

the cause of an ugly altercation

between the two sides.

Well, the City celebrations

inside Old Trafford were deemed

excessive by United's manager Jose

Mourinho.

He confronted them and is said

to have had a carton of milk thrown

at him during a heated exchange.

While City's assistant coach,

Mikel Arteta, is understood to have

suffered a cut head.

It carries echoes of October 2004,

when then-United manager

Sir Alex Ferguson was hit by pizza

after a bad-tempered

meeting with Arsenal.

The Football Association has

asked United and City

for their observations,

and given them until

Wednesday to respond.

The incident overshadowed a victory

that extends City's lead over United

at the top of the table

to 11 points.

And there was no mention of it

in Mourinho's post-match interviews.

The gods of football,

they are always behind them.

You feel it, a bit damaged

because of the distance

to Manchester City, but I think

everybody is going to fight

for the points every match until

mathematically it's impossible.

By this morning, the focus of both

clubs had turned to the last 16

of the Champions League.

Manchester City.

With City drawn to play

Basel of Switzerland,

and United up against Spanish side

Sevilla.

However, it's likely the events

of yesterday on and off the pitch

will capture the attention

for a while yet.

David Ornstein, BBC

News, Old Trafford.

The UK has a new tallest mountain.

Mount Hope, which is sited

in the part of the Antarctic claimed

by the UK, was recently re-measured

and found to tower above what had

previously been considered

the tallest peak, Mount Jackson,

also in the Antarctic.

Here's our ccience

correspondent Jonathan Amos.

You would think the entire

world would be mapped

to the nearest centimetre by now,

but not it seems the Antarctic.

Its rugged, icy terrain is hard

to traverse and no one has

yet climbed all its mountains

to measure their peaks.

Cartogrophers rely on satellites

to work out the heights of summits.

When the British Antarctic Survey

did this recently, they found

Mount Jackson long assumed to be

the tallest on the Antarctic

peninsula was surpassed

by Mount Hope.

Satellites showed Hope

to be 3,239 metres high,

just over 10,600 feet.

The existing believed

height of 2,850 metres,

goes back to the 1960s

from overland survey.

Now with the availability

of sub-metre resolution satellite

imagery, we have been able to get

an accurate height to plus or minus

five metres for Mount Hope.

Accurate mapping is vital

because scientists fly

everywhere on the continent.

If mountains aren't featured

or are in the wrong place,

it can be very dangerous.

American researchers are repeating

the British re-mapping exercise

across the entire continent.

It should be finished next year.

That will turn Antarctica

from the worst mapped place

on the planet to one of the best.

Jonathan Amos, BBC News.

A lot of snow in the bulletin today.

Here's Darren Bett.

It is ice which is the major concern

into tomorrow. There hasn't been as

much snow falling today. Areas that

had a lot of snow yesterday are

being generally dry and sunny. When

that picture was taken, it was minus

three. Not as cold as that but

amateurs call -- close to freezing

in Essex, more of a slushy mix.

Becoming treacherous in the night.

Low pressure coming into the

south-east bringing a mixture of

rain, sleet and snow in the

south-east. That will withdraw

towards the near continent and

should become drier, allowing

temperatures to drop. This

afternoon, not very warm, those

numbers may not get above freezing.

Into the evening, some wintry

showers across East and and the

south-east. Those should clear and

temperatures will drop.

Showers wandering into western Wales

and the south-west. Inland, it is

already icy and frosty. Wintry

showers along the North Sea coast

and northern Scotland.

Mostly rain in Northern Ireland this

evening. Many places will become

dry. The confirmation of lying snow

and wet weather, it means ice will

be a major concern on untreated

roads and pavements.

Temperatures fall quickly, we lose

the showers, clearer skies in

Northern Ireland and Scotland. Most

showers down the eastern side of

England. A cold night. Look at that,

-12 in the countryside, especially

with a covering of snow. Potentially

it could get very icy.

Heading into Tuesday, we lose the

showers on the western coast. Those

on the eastern coast will be blown

offshore.

Wetter weather arriving. In the

West, we see highest temperatures.

Tomorrow is dry, cold and sunny.

This weather front may bring a bit

of snow later tomorrow over the

hills of Scotland, northern England,

and the threat of icy conditions.

More significantly on Wednesday, we

are drawing in Atlantic air,

temperatures will be higher, it will

be cloudy and showery. As it

brightens up, the showers that

followed could turn wintry but

nowhere near as cold and severe as

the weather over the weekend.

Minus 12.

A reminder of our main

story this lunchtime.

Hundreds of schools are closed,

thousands have no power as snow

and ice cover much of the country -

with warnings temperatures