11/12/2017 Breakfast

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

A fresh weather warning as freezing

temperatures and snow

cause major disruption.

Roads, rail and airports

are all affected and hundreds

of schools are closed for the day.

This is the scene live

in LLangollen in North Wales,

which is one of the

worst affected areas.

We'll be live from there

throughout the morning.

Good morning, it's

Monday, 11th December.

Also this morning -

survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire

say they should be given a central

role in the inquiry as two days

of hearings get underway.

Christmas shopping -

we're spending more on food

and drink but reigning

in on presents, with families

from less well-off parts of the UK

willing to splash out more.

In sport, Manchester City make it 14

wins in a row as they beat

neighbours United at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho says his sides title

hopes are "probably over"

after losing 2-1 as City

extend their lead at the top,

and continue to break

Premier League records.

And it is Christmas Carol season, of

course, but does singing make you

feel better? This week we will be

looking at whether it is really good

for you.

And Carol can tell us

whether the cold spell is set

to continue.

Good morning. Once again this

morning we have a mixture of rain,

sleet and snow in East Anglia and

the south of England. It will also

be windy today. More showers in the

north and west of the UK. Some of

those will be windy. In between we

have dry, crisp and sunny weather.

Wherever you are it will feel cold

with the risk of ice.

Our main story this morning, snow

and freezing temperatures are

continuing to cause widespread

disruption across parts of the UK.

There have in train and plane

cancellations and drivers have been

warned icy conditions are making

roads treacherous. Hundreds of

schools across Wales and the

Midlands have also been closed

today. Simon can this and has more.

-- Clemison.

The snow is falling, but it is

easing. Try telling that to drivers

on the M5 overnight. Conditions

don't get much worse. Large parts of

the UK have been covered by heavy

snow. This heavy. And as it begins

to melt and re- freezes in the early

hours, it means lots of potential

problems this morning with ice. The

Met Office has warnings covering

much of the country. The AA says

thousands were caught out when the

wintry weather drifted south.

Falling trees have affected roads

and train lines. Network Rail

reports further disruption today.

Flights have restarted at earning

airport, but delays are still likely

here and at Heathrow, where aircraft

are not in their starting positions.

-- Birmingham airport. Hundreds of

schools will not open today,

including all of those run by

Birmingham City Council and 200 in

Shropshire. One power company says

it has been working through the

night to get the pullback on. But

the worst of the weather, or the

best of it, depending on who you

ask, is now over. Some people

clearly enjoying the weather on the

weekend.

Our reporter Matthew Richards

is in North Wales which is one

of the worst-hit areas, but first,

let's speak to Simon Clemison

-- one of the worst hit areas.

Pretty treacherous on the roads this

morning?

Yes, yesterday didn't stop

selling for over 12 hours. The snow

has stopped now. You can really feel

it, if you look down to my feet, you

can see that we have had a few

centimetres over the last couple of

days. This was not a record breaker.

Down near the Brecon Beacons, they

recorded 33 centimetres of snow

fall. Parts of England were affected

as well. High Wycombe had 17

centimetres. And the knock-on

effects are being felt today.

Yesterday was a weekend and we are

now back into school and work time.

Hundreds of schools will be closed

across the middle band of England

and Wales. Wrexham, Demisch, over

into Birmingham as well. We have

also had powerlines affected by

trees falling and snow collect him

on the branches of trees. --

collecting. Five and half thousand

customers of SSE electricity are

without power in Oxwich, Wiltshire

and Berkshire, and in Wales in

south-west England about 3000 people

are still waiting to get reconnected

and perhaps get their heating back

on.

Matthew, thank you. We hope you

will be staying nice and warm Paris

this morning. You can get more

information on travel disruptions,

school closures, if you tune into

your local BBC Radio station or

visit the BBC News website for live

updates.

Two days of hearings will begin

later to establish the framework

of the Grenfell Tower

fire public inquiry.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick is being urged

by survivors of the fire to give

them a more central role.

It comes as Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn accused the government

of "failing" survivors with more

than 100 still living in hotels.

Relatives of the victims say it's

vital their stories are heard.

These people never should have lost

their lives that light, -- that

night. And the way they did. We are

extremely determined. We will fight

for as long as it takes to make sure

that this never happens again. Our

loved ones are never forgotten. And,

you know, the right changes are

made.

The chairman of a leading hospital

trust in London has resigned,

accusing the government of failing

to recognise the "enormous

challenges" facing the NHS.

Lord Kerslake, who's a former head

of the civil service,

said King's College Hospital Trust

was struggling financially as it

tried to cope with rising

demand, increased costs

and limits on spending.

The regulator for England,

NHS Improvement, said the trust's

financial performance

was "the worst in the NHS."

A BBC survey has found 40%

of women have been sexually

harassed at work.

More than 6,000 British

adults were questioned.

Many said they'd experienced

inappropriate touching

and unwelcome jokes.

Here's our correspondent

Adina Campbell.

Freelance copywriter Lorrie says she

has lost count as to how many times

she has faced sexual harassment

since being self-employed.

Sometimes it is just background

noise, you hear an inappropriate

comment or someone is talking

to your T-shirt rather

than your face, and other times

you can be subjected to really

inappropriate behaviour,

like groping.

In the latest survey for the BBC,

the results revealed 43% of people

in flexible work had experienced

unwanted sexual behaviour,

compared to 29% who

were directly employed.

Those working in industries

such as hospitality,

retail or the public

sector were more at risk.

And, 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.

So, about a power dynamic.

If you are the youngest

person in a workplace,

if you are new in a workplace,

less aware of your rights and how

to report, or who to report

to, those things make

you slightly more vulnerable.

Campaigners are now calling

for employers to take reports

of sexual harassment seriously,

with protection for all workers.

The Prime Minister will tell MPs

today that there's been "give

and take" between the UK and the EU

in order to move on to trade talks.

Theresa May is expected to say

that she isn't seeking a hard

or soft Brexit but a "bold

new partnership."

Our political correspondent

Chris Mason is in Westminster.

Chris, how significant is this

agreement for Theresa May?

When she comes into the Cabinet

meeting, do you think she will have

a pep in her step?

I think she will.

That is a nice rhyme, for 6:10am on

a Monday morning. I think she will,

because it could have been very

different. We could have been here

this morning talking about how

either the whole thing had

unravelled, or she hadn't yet got a

deal. She does have a deal. That is

not to say it is the end of the

politics. There are disagreements in

Cabinet about the next stage of the

negotiations which are yet to be

given a proper discussion, within

Cabinet, about exactly what flavour

of Brexit, if you like, the UK

should sign up to in the end. But it

was a triumph for her on Friday,

playing out as it was here on

Breakfast throughout morning, that

dashed to Brussels in the early

hours and then being back in her

constituency and Berkshire by

lunchtime. In this statement she

will give in the Commons later on,

playing Brexit Ingo for the phrases

we hear a lot, she will talk about

it not being a hard or soft Brexit.

-- Brexit bingo. She will also talk

about nothing being agreed until

everything is agreed. On the weekend

David Davis, the Brexit secretary,

talked about how the agreement

reached on Friday was merely a

statement of intent. The technical

description, for the reaction of the

Irish government to that, is that

they were a little bit cheesed off,

because they thought it was more

than that and they described it as

bizarre. So Friday was a big moment.

Yes, the politics rumbles on.

Chris,

thank you. Wildfires are still

burning out of control north of Los

Angeles. 4000 firefighters have been

called up to tackle the flames which

are now threatening the coastal city

of Barbara. Hundreds of things have

been destroyed and 200,000 people

have had to leave their homes. And

Carol will have the weather in a few

minutes. We will be reporting from

various parts of the UK which have

been heavily hit by snow, whereas

other parts were expecting big

flurries, and have seen nothing

happened.

We have had... You know,

it is like there are lines around

the country. We had a fantastic

amount of snow. We enjoyed it.

We

were flinging snowballs.

Yes,

building snowmen.

What about where

you are?

Not quite enough for me. I

would like a bit more.

You are

complaining about the lack of snow.

I had lots, I could have given you

some.

Bring some in, next time.

Manchester City became the first

team to win 14 successive English

top flight games in a single season

as they beat United 2-1

at Old Trafford.

After Marcus Rashford cancelled out

David Silva's opener,

the ball fell for Nicolas Otamendi

to hit the winner.

It means the league leaders

extend the gap at the top

of the Premier League

table to 11 points.

It was honours even

in the Merseyside Derby.

Mo Salah gave Liverpool the lead

but a controversial penalty decision

allowed Everton captain Wayne Rooney

to score his first Merseyside derby

goal and snatch a 1-1 draw.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is

snooker's UK champion

for a record-equalling sixth time.

He beat Shaun Murphy 10-5

in the final in York,

and moves to 18 major

titles overall.

And plenty of sport

was cancelled over the weekend

because of the weather,

but not at the Twickenham Stoop

where Ulster beat Harlequins 17-5

in the European Champions Cup.

That result ends Quins' hopes

of reaching the quarter-finals.

I know we are going to be talking to

Carolyn a moment about the weather.

But I have to say, Pep Guardiola, if

you are watching, what am by going

to do for the next few months? What

am by going to talk about?

Manchester City, they say they are

not celebrating yet, they say they

are not there yet, but that title

race, it looks like it is theirs.

Surely they will have a little

slipup at some stage.

I hope so,

because otherwise this is going to

get really dull.

What about this

little spat they had in the tunnel?

Yeah, lots of the papers are talking

about that. The Old Trafford tunnel

has seen some things. And there is a

camera in there. There was a little

bit of a spat yesterday between

Manchester United lost, Jose

Mourinho, and some of the Man City

players. I don't know if you saw any

of the pictures after the City win,

but they really celebrated. They

were obviously delighted. Everybody,

apart from Pep Guardiola, really

celebrated. I think he felt that

perhaps the celebrations were a

little bit too much. They were

playing music, they were...

He

wasn't particular gracious, was he?

He said they were lucky.

He wasn't.

I think he ended up with a carton of

milk thrown at him.

Write! Milk

rage. -- right!.

We are going to

talk to Carol about the weather.

Some people love the snow, other

people don't.

Good morning. We are

likely to see some rain, sleet and

snow in the forecast today. I have

some fabulous Weather Watchers

pictures from yesterday. This was

taken in Leicestershire, and another

in Shropshire. You can see the

extent of the snow, which does look

busy. It was bitterly cold. The

maximum temperature in Braemar

yesterday was -6.2 Celsius. That was

their maximum temperature. We

haven't seen that since Twitty ten.

Here is the snow depth. Lots of snow

fell, you don't need me to tell you

that. You have seen the pictures and

you might well have the needed.

Today we have Storm Anna coming up

from France. That will be binning --

bringing rain, sleet and snow. Where

we had precipitation anywhere

overnight, there is the risk of ice

on untreated surfaces. We have the

rain coming in a cross from the

south-east. The wind is picking up.

Inland, a mixture of rain, sleet and

snow. A murky start in the south.

Patchy fog around. Moving through

Wales into northern England and much

of Scotland we have clear skies. A

beautiful, crisp, sunny winter 's

day. It is cold. Wintry showers

continuing across the north and west

of Scotland, some of them coming in

across Northern Ireland. That sets

us up for the day. We will continue

with those showers in the north and

west, the nature of those. As Storm

Anna wishes towards the North Sea we

will still have some rain, sleet and

snow from the. We are looking at

windy conditions of the coast of

Kent. Through this evening and

overnight, eventually most of those

showers will fade. Where we have

them, there will still be that mix

of rain, sleet and snow. A cold

night, but where we have lying snow,

temperatures will be below -10

degrees. We will also see some fog

forming, which will of course be

freezing fog. That will take its

time to clear through the course of

tomorrow, but when it does, a

largely dry day. Still feeling the

Peter. A new weather front is coming

in. Here it is, the wind is changing

direction. Very salient. Instead of

coming from the north it will be

coming from the west, with an array

of weather fronts accompanying it.

Looking more unsettled as we head

through Wednesday with spells of

rain. The first front brings rain,

the second front comes behind it

doing exactly the same. A few wintry

showers flirting with the north-west

of Scotland, but the temperatures,

for some of us, should be back into

double figures. Quite a contrast

from what we are looking out at the

moment.

Yes, look at those -12

figures. Quite something. You will

be keeping us up-to-date through the

morning, because it is an important

day for weather.

We've got our tree, haven't we? What

do you think of it?

I can't possibly

say.

It's beautiful, I love a

Christmas tree.

It looks gorgeous.

You love Christmas trees, you would

have it triple the size?

It might be

missing a bit at the top. I'm not

sure it tapers off correctly.

I

quite like it.

Needs to be about

6-12 inches higher.

Christmas trees

are better when they're not perfect.

Don't come to our house Ben! How

many have you got this year, four,

five?

Just two.

Are you counting the

small ones upstairs?

No.

Four then!

She loves her Christmas trees!

Only

little!

Lovely to have the Christmas

tree in the studio.

Wait until you

see the picture with the lights!

I

can't wait for this! The Daily

Express, big freeze chaos to get

worse. Travel warning as snow, black

eyes and gales caused disruption. If

you're worried about what's

happening we will have details,

Carol has the weather and we will be

live in Wales and Heathrow and other

places. We will be hearing from the

Highways Agency, you could be a

couple of miles away from an area

and you have no snow. When it snows

in London everything stops! The

front page, here, of the Mail, their

story is about plastic recycling.

Almost 8 million families can't

recycle everyday plastics because

councils refuse to pick them up.

Did

you see Blue Planet yesterday? We

will talk about that later on,

talking about plastics, the end of

the series, brilliant programme. It

was a slap across the face from

David Attenborough yesterday.

Yesterday on ITV, the winner of I'm

A Celebrity. Iain Lee was highly

rated.

It was really good. Iain Lee

ate turkey testicles.

And Black

Monday, snow chaos on the front page

this morning. The Daily Telegraph

have a snow picture. Shoppers

already driven to distraction by...

I'm trying to talk! They are driven

to distraction by the sound of self

checkouts, there will be a new sound

when you do a Visa transaction.

A

little noise. I quite like the

repression and beat.

You know that

you play it that way, don't you?

That's right.

You would love to take

part in this little test?

That is my

dream, that and cutting the grass

for the council, minced by taste and

council grass cutter.

Would you have

a ride on?

I would also like to have

fun with the leaf blower. That sale

even lower! How middle-class of you!

Some noise happening at Old Trafford

yesterday, this is in the Times,

trouble in the tunnel, Jose Mourinho

has milk and water thrown at him By

City players. A bit of celebrating

going on in the tunnel by the

Manchester City players and you

can't blame him. It's a bit like

they had won the title. They won a

derby at Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho

did not like it one bit. I know

we're running out of time. This is

Sir Bradley Wiggins. He has admitted

he is a long way off the pace in his

bid to go to Tokyo as a rower. A

great picture of him from the

weekend.

Cormann does headband.

Tremendous beard. -- tremendous

headband. He heard a phone ring in

the auditorium and it put him off,

he had a false start and he had to

go again. Really annoying, 17

seconds to make up before he's even

considered fit to go onto the water

for the Olympics.

I bet he can do

it!

Of course!

Today we are launching our BBC

Breakfast Sings series and we hope

to spread some joy and happiness

over the festive period and show

that singing really can improve your

mood and help cheer you up. Whether

it's in a sports stadium with tens

of thousands of others, a local

choir or on your own, singing can be

stimulating, relaxing and enjoyable.

New studies have found singing can

help people with hearing impairments

communicate more effectively as

well. John Maguire reports.

This music and singing session for

children with a hearing impairment

experiments with volume, rhythm and

the physical feeling of the way the

children use their voices. Phoebe

Osborne from the charity Creative

Futures takes them through the

various exercises. And with this

computer programme, they're able to

see what their voices are doing even

if there are unable to hear them.

Yours sounds like Eliza's one.

Professor Graeme Welch has been

discussing how singing can help

children with severe hearing issues

for three years now and says singing

can stimulate the brain.

They're all

engaged in their singing but they've

actually improved in their

measurable singing skills and at the

same time there is some evidence of

impact on their hearing as well, so

they're better able to discriminate

sound.

Bring back my bunny to me...

Like an opera singer.

This is multi-

sited in the brain. As far as we can

work out, music touches more parts

of the brain than any of other human

activity.

To understand how singing

affects the brain we've invited Alex

Stobbs, a musician, to a neo-

therapy session. Alex has cystic

fibrosis, he undergoes physical

therapy every day and long periods

of treatment. He says music is vital

to him.

Because of everything to do

with my health it's quite solitary

so music can make it all the better.

It does something that perks up the

brain I feel. Yeah, my life would be

incredibly different without music.

Nadia is a neuropsychologist.

First she measures the electrical

activity in Alex's brain while he is

resting.

Try and stay as still as

possible, as relaxed as possible...

Then she asks him to sing.

Have

yourself a Merry Little Christmas,

let your heart be like...

Once he's

finished and rested, Alex is

assessed again, and the results are

immediate.

It shows that

theoretically within ten minutes of

singing someone can improve clarity

of their mind and also perhaps

emotionally feel more uplifted.

Finally, and you may want to turn

the sound down for this, he sings

with someone else and that someone,

I'm afraid to say, is me.

Through

the years we all will be together,

if the fates allow. Hang a shining

star up on the...

Believe it or not,

the results are even more

impressive.

That's simply the effect

of social interaction with another

human amplifying the positive effect

all the beneficial effect of music.

Hang a shining star up on the...

Songs often sing off the peak to the

music of the heart and the soul, but

it can also be of huge benefit to

your brain. John Maguire, BBC News,

London -- songs often speak forcing.

More evidence a good old singsong is

good for you. We've got a thing on

Wednesday...

Are you excited about

this?

It could be fun.

On Wednesday

we are all going to go and sing a

song together with a gospel choir at

the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester

in front of quite a few thousand

people.

I'm extremely nervous, I

used to be a good singer.

I have

heard this rumour of you making up

an excuse about why you're not a

good singer and in more.

I once sang

with a choir at the Barbican when I

was 12.

And then?

When I was at

university I went to a 24-hour party

and I lost my voice and the doctor

said it would never be the same

again and it hasn't.

What on earth

happened at that 24-hour party?

It

could have been 48 hours! It was a

good party, it was worth it.

Were

you the only one that suffered all

were there others? She lost her

voice and she's never been the same

again -- or were there.

You're watching Breakfast,

still to come this morning:

Blue Planet might have

left our screens last night

but Tim's at a seal sanctuary this

morning where they hope

the programme's message on plastics

pollution will have a lasting

impact.

He's in the aquarium. Good morning.

Good morning. This isn't a seal,

this is a lionfish, part of the

amazing collection of marine life

they have here at Hunstanton Sea

life century and aquarium. Look at

this time, some incredible

creatures, blackfin sharks and a

giant green sea turtle all swimming

around and what an amazing TV series

it has been, raising so many

questions and the episode last night

Blue Planet to really posed the

question about plastics. How

damaging are they and what can be

done and what affect are they having

on marine life? They have looked

after 600 seals here and many have

been damaged by plastics over the

years and through the morning we

will see some of them and talk to

people who have been caring for them

and asking them what they made of

Blue Planet II, what questions they

have after seeing them posed in the

programme. That's coming up

on Wednesday but then getting cold

again for the end of the week --

overnight Tuesday.

I'm back with the latest

from the BBC London newsroom

in half an hour.

Plenty more on our website

at the usual address.

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

We'll bring you all the latest news

and sport in a moment,

but also on Breakfast this morning:

Presents, parties and a turkey

dinner don't come cheap -

we'll be looking at the true cost

of Christmas in just a few minutes.

It's being called one

of the giant evils of our time -

we'll have the results

of a year-long study on loneliness.

Need a big plan! Like a long-range

pencil. Or a ghost who is really

good at maths.

We'll be finding out how dropping

the 'Menace' and giving them a brand

new look has made 'Denis

and Gnasher' a huge hit

with a new generation.

Good morning.

Here's a summary of this morning's

main stories from BBC News.

Snow and freezing temperatures

are continuing to cause widespread

disruption across parts of the UK.

There have been train and plane

cancellations and drivers

are being warned that icy conditions

are making roads treacherous.

Hundreds of schools across Wales

and the Midlands will also

be closed today.

Simon Clemison reports.

Two days of hearings will begin

later to establish the framework

of the Grenfell Tower

fire public inquiry.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick is being urged

by survivors of the fire to give

them a more central role.

It comes as Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn accused the government

of failing survivors with more

than 100 still living in hotels.

Relatives of the victims say it's

vital their stories are heard.

These people never should have

lost their lives that night,

and the way they did.

We are extremely determined.

We will fight for as long as it

takes to make sure that this

never happens again.

Our loved ones are never forgotten.

And, you know, the right

changes are made.

The chairman of a leading hospital

trust in London has resigned,

accusing the government of failing

to recognise the "enormous

challenges" facing the NHS.

Lord Kerslake, who's a former head

of the civil service,

said King's College Hospital Trust

was struggling to cope with rising

demand, increased costs

and limits on spending.

The regulator for England,

NHS Improvement, said the trust's

financial performance

was "the worst in the NHS".

A Department of Health spokeswoman

said they were working

with the trust to

tackle the issues.

Two in five women in the UK and one

in five men have been sexually

harassed at work, according to a

major survey on work -based

harassment for the BBC. More than

6000 adults took part in the study

and the poll found that

self-employed people or those on

zero hour contracts were more likely

to be victims than those who are

employed directly.

Theresa May will tell MPs there is a

new sense of optimism in Brexit

talks after her last-minute deal

aimed at moving them to the next

phase. She expects EU leaders to

start talks about future trade and

security at a summit on Thursday.

The Prime Minister will insist she

has not caved in to Brussels over

the divorce bill.

Wildfires are still burning out

of control north of Los Angeles.

4,000 firefighters have been called

up to tackle flames which are now

threatening the coastal

city of Santa Barbara.

Hundreds of buildings have been

destroyed and damaged,

and 200,000 people have had

to leave their homes.

We will have updates on the

situation with snow in various parts

of the UK. Carol will have the

weather for us, and we are live at

Heathrow and in Wales. We were

saying this morning, people are

waking up, some of them are

expecting snow but haven't actually

got much.

Yes.

Other parts have got

30 centimetres.

Absolutely. Some

people are enjoying it, obviously,

but it causes disruption as well.

All the details here. And we are

talking about Man City as well.

It

was snowing at Old Trafford during

the game?

It was cold yesterday.

Quite nice to watch all about

football at home. On the television.

It was a cold day to go and watch

your team yesterday. Man City beat

their rivals Manchester United

yesterday to become the first side

to win 14 consecutive league matches

in a single English top-flight

season. I know Arsenal have done

that, but it was split over two

seasons. On a day of Derbys, there

was a controversial draw at

Merseyside. The begin at Old

Trafford.

As the records keep falling, it is

difficult to see anybody stopping

Manchester City this season. Even

local rivals and title rivals United

couldn't. David Silva setting the

league leaders on their way before

half-time. And while Marcus Rashford

levelled the match for Jose

Mourinho's men, there was one more

moment that mattered. Nicolas

Otamendi might be a centre-back, but

he has been prolific so far this

season.

COMMENTATOR: The defender scores

again, five for the season for him!

And was it already a title winning

goal?

Impossible. Of course you have

11 points, you are so happy for

that, the goal difference, a 12

point difference. But not yet. Just

in December.

33 miles away from Old

Trafford is Anfield, and there was

an equally eventful derby there.

Liverpool dominated and went ahead

through another moment of most other

magic, despite 77% possession and 23

shots on goal, this power gave

Everton their own chance. -- Mo

Sala. And as an Evertonians, who

else would you want taking the

penalty but Wayne Rooney? His first

Merseyside derby goal, and one that

-- not that Jurgen Klopp was from a

interested in that.

You don't think

it was a penalty?

Right. It feels

unfair, to be honest. Investing

everything to win the game, and now,

it feels really, really average.

Nothing average about the point for

Sam Allardyce and his new team,

although the result that mattered

most yesterday came for another side

wearing blue. So, Manchester City

are top of the table, 11 points

clear of Manchester United. Let's

look at their season so far. A total

of 46 out of a possible 48 points

this season. They remain unbeaten.

Yesterday's victory was their 14th

in a row, the most by a team in a

single English top-flight season. 46

points was enough to secure eighth

position in the Premier League at

the end of last season. So, eight in

the Premier League. Unbelievable.

There was a third Premier League

game yesterday, as Charlie Austin

put Southampton ahead against

Arsenal in just the third minute at

St Mary 's, but his side couldn't

hold on.

Olivier Giroud came off the bench

to rescue the Gunners with an 88th

minute equaliser.

Hibernian staged a great fightback

against Scottish Premiership leaders

Celtic, scoring twice in the last 15

minutes to draw 2-2.

Scott Sinclair scored

both of Celtic's goals,

his sixth and seventh

strikes in the league.

But the home side responded

through Efee Ambrose,

and then equalised

with this from Oli Shaw.

Hibs even came close to ending

Celtic's remarkable domestic

unbeaten run, which now

stretches back 68 games.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is

snooker's UK champion

for a record-equalling sixth time.

He was level at 5-5 in a tense final

against Shaun Murphy

in York, but won five frames

in a row in the evening session

to seal his 18th major

championship overall.

He goes level with Steve Davis

on six UK titles, and if you're

looking for comparisons,

he's now just one trophy behind

Roger Federer who holds 19

major tennis titles.

The records are great, you know? And

to equal it, like Sean said, the

fans this week have been

unbelievable. I want to say a

massive thank you to them, I have

just tried my best all week. There

is nothing left. I've given

everything there is. But I am over

the moon, you know, to win any

tournament, let alone the UK

championship. So happy, yeah.

Premiership champions

Exeter Chiefs suffered an 18-8

defeat in the Champions Cup

at the hands of Leinster.

It means Leinster open up

a 6-point lead at the top

of Pool 3.

Exeter can still progress to

the last eight of the competition,

with the two sides again facing

each other next weekend.

Meanwhile, Harlequins hopes

of reaching the last eight

were ended with a 17-5 defeat

against Ulster at a very snowy

Twickenham Stoop.

La Rochelle thrashed Wasps

49-29 in the same pool,

which means Ulster

move up to second.

Organisers have confirmed

the postponed match between Saracens

and Clermont Auvergne will be

played later today.

I believe that is behind closed

doors because they are concerned

about people being at risk in very,

very slippery conditions.

Thank you

very much.

A good bit of fun, that

rugby.

Yeah. Depends what you call

fun, but yeah.

Six months since the Grenfell Tower

disaster, in which 71 people died,

the equalities watchdog has

announced it's to launch its own

review into the causes

behind the fire.

It comes after criticisms

that the current judge-led inquiry

isn't broad enough.

Our correspondent Elaine Dunkley has

been spending time with the local

community, to hear about

the issues affecting them.

Grenfell Tower is rarely out

of sight or out of mind

for the people of this community.

Families are in such a bad place.

Karim Mussilhy lost his uncle,

Hesham Rahman, who lived

on the 23rd floor.

Uncle Hesham was kind and generous.

In my eyes and in my family's

eyes, he was a hero.

This should never have happened.

These people never should have

lost their lives that night

in the way they did.

So we are extremely determined.

We will fight for as long as it

takes to make sure that this never

happens again, our loved ones

are never forgotten,

and, you know, the right

changes are made.

There have been funerals,

inquests and now a public inquiry,

people here demanding

that they are on the panel.

The time for reflection

has been short.

You know, the people that were out

here helping have witnessed a lot.

For a long time, I was in denial. It

hadn't happened, in my mind. Then

you had a moment to stop and you

realise, it actually did.

This is

the Harrow club. For many children

in the area this place is at the

centre of their lives. Since the

fire it has become even more

important. Many of the children he

lost friends and their homes.

We

have been staying in a hotel for

lack six months. Before I used to

have my own desk and I could do my

homework and everybody was quiet, I

could have my own time, but in the

hotel, I have a lot of siblings and

they like to run around and yell and

you don't really have your own

personal space.

118 families are still

in emergency accommodation.

The Royal Borough of Kensington

and Chelsea Council says the process

has been slow, but they are

beginning to make progress.

Alison Moses has been rehoused.

Here is where I have

all my grandchildren

and my baby stuff.

And has also been reunited

with a memory box found amongst

the ashes of her flat

in Grenfell Tower.

She says families desperately

need stability in order

to rebuild their lives.

They cannot grieve normally.

That grieving probably

won't even take place now

until they have a home

and they are somewhat settled.

Then grieving can start.

This is so is out. There is a lot of

work to be done, Christmas is just

around the corner. People should not

be in hotels at this stage.

People here fear that the world will

move on and forget what happened.

But this community is defiant

and say they will continue to show

strength in the shadow

of this tragedy.

Elaine Dunkley, BBC News.

It is 643 a.m.. Our lead story this

morning is unsurprisingly because of

travel disruption due to the

weather.

You have been sending in

your pictures, sometimes we don't

even ask for them and you send them

in anyway, which is lovely.

Helena

was up in the Lake District. Look at

that. She says it was -6 up there.

But it felt like minus 16. Gorgeous.

I bet it did. This is from Alison

and Dave King, who built their own

version of Stonehenge in rug in

Warwickshire. Very impressive. -- in

Rugby. Geraldine sent this in from

Buckinghamshire. Use a box, don't

you? A box of snow and that it down.

I go for the traditional snowman.

Like this, for example. This is a

very good one. This is Alan, sending

in a picture of his in-laws, from

Hertfordshire. That is absolutely

fantastic.

That looks like the

actual snowman from The Snowman. It

wasn't just humans having fun in the

snow yesterday. This is a female

orangutan, spotted making a snowball

at Twycross zoo in Leicestershire.

Maybe she used a box for that. She

then to get inside.

The orangutan

did not use a box.

That is how you

build an igloo. Take your recycling

box, package with snow...

I tell you

what, if there is still snow today

when I get home, I will try to do

that.

You need to broaden your

smelly horizons. -- snowy.

I'm with you, the old traditional

way of building a snowman, no fancy

boxes!

More snow today but not for everyone

and this is a Weather Watchers

picture of Shropshire from

yesterday, beautiful, Christmas card

scene and another one from later in

the day from Cumbria, you can see

the clear skies and many having

clear skies means it's a cold start

with the risk of ice. The snow faded

through the night for a time where

it was so prolific yesterday and now

we have this system coming up from

France and on its leading edge we

have a mixture of sleet and snow as

well as rain. Disses storm and, so

named by the Portuguese, Spanish and

French Met Office, nothing to do

with the British one -- this is

storm and. Whoever names its first

we stick with it. As we hang onto it

it will bring rain, sleet and snow

and windy conditions in the English

Channel. First thing we have this

rain and sleet and snow and we have

the risk of ice on untreated

surfaces. Also snow showers in the

north and west of Scotland, Ireland

and Wales. Through this morning that

scenario persists, we have the rain

coming in, it is cold and again we

have a mixture of rain, sleet and

snow in parts of the Home Counties

and the London area and the

south-west of England but the

showers mean not everyone will get

one. Brighter skies in much of

Wales, northern England and much of

Scotland and where we have lying

snow, temperatures lower than this,

for some it is -11 at the moment,

especially southern Scotland and the

borders with England. Through the

day there will be a lot of sunshine

and the showers will persist in the

north and west and this band of rain

will slowly edge to the north of the

North Sea and again it will be a

cold day wherever you are. Through

the evening and overnight, we

continue with showers for a time,

wintry for a time, a lot of dry

weather and also freezing fog

forming here and there and it will

be cold. These are the temperatures

we can expect in towns and cities,

below freezing, in the countryside,

especially where we have lying snow,

lower than -10 in some parts so a

bitterly cold night. Freezing fog

slow to clear tomorrow morning and

when it does a lot of sunshine

around and dry weather, but the next

weather fronts coming from the west

will introduce rain, and we might

see some snow coming in on its

leading edge to parts of the

Highlands but no great shakes in

terms of temperatures. Feeling quite

cold. On Tuesday there's the weather

front moving from the west to the

east and another one comes in hot on

its heels. As you can see from the

isobars, the wind changes from the

cold northerly to a warm westerly.

Not as cold but it brings with it

unsettled conditions as two weather

fronts cross, they will bring some

rain, and in the Highlands we could

see some snow at times but

temperatures for some at least not

as low, squeezing back into double

figures.

Thank you, Carol. Lots of people

sending in pictures of box use when

building igloos and the like.

Whatever, Dan!

Oh dear me! A burden

from Carol Kirkwood! Carol, Carol! I

will try later, I genuinely will.

Sean is here, we are talking about

the cost of presence and food adding

up fast at this time of year. What's

going on with Christmas shopping

habits?

In the business team we have got the

gang together to go through a few

figures to see what areas we are

spending more on and what is going

up quicker than others.

Typically spending is up

on essentials like food.

But spending on non-essentials,

like presents, is down.

And much of that is down to price.

Sprouts up 8%, Christmas puddings,

8% on last year. It doesn't seem

much if you are buying £1 of sprouts

and a year later they £1.08. Smart

technologies interesting, a smart

phone is 20% more than last year

because we import all the things in

a smart phone and the final smart

phone, the pound has fallen by that

much.

A big difference.

Something

that is £1000 last year, this year

would be £1200.

Spending less on

presence is a case of Dubai that but

you wouldn't anything else?

That's

why non-essential spending overall

hasn't been going up so much but

with groceries, almost half of

people have been spreading their

grocery purchases over a period of

time. Instead of doing one big

December Christmas weekly food shop

after the pay packet comes in,

people are planning ahead. I have

seen Christmas puddings on the shelf

for months now and people are doing

that kind of thing earlier. When it

comes to how much people are

spending, compare that two incomes,

there isn't that much difference

between the amount people are

spending when you look at the exact

amount whatever their salary is. As

a proportion, those earning less are

spending more of their salary on

Christmas. We've been talking about

this generally in the last few days,

a bit more confidence from those on

low incomes to spend more at this

time of year. It can work like that.

Those on higher incomes spending not

so much on their presence than those

on lower incomes.

Interesting, especially if people

are planning their Christmas shop

over a few weeks.

Good planning is

needed but if people have met their

budget and there's a couple of weeks

left, we will keep an eye on debt

levels over the next couple of

weeks.

The latest series of

David Attenborough's Blue Planet

came to a close last night

with a look at the problem

of plastic in our oceans.

We've sent Breakfast's Tim Muffett

to a sea life sanctuary

in Norfolk to find out

about the work being done to help

wildlife caught up in the pollution.

Good morning to you.

Good morning. What an amazing series

it was, Blue Planet II, came to an

end and we are at Hunstanton Sea

life equerry and sanctuary in

Norfolk, a place where they have

first-hand experience of the perils

of plastic in the ocean, a problem

so visibly highlighted last night in

the programme. Magnificent marine

life and also later we will see some

seals that have been injured and

over the last few years many seals

brought here have been injured due

to plastics. Before we talk to

experts about their reactions to the

series, let's have a reminder of

last night's episode.

In some parts of the ocean it is

estimated that there are now over 1

million pieces of plastic for every

square mile. And we're only

beginning to discover just how

seriously that of tax marine life.

Once in the ocean plastic breaks

down into tiny fragments,

microplastic is.

They're very small

organisms that can mistake these

tiny plastics for food. The larger

organisms eat the plankton and the

larger fish it the smaller fish and

so on and so forth.

Dolphins are at the top of this food

chain and it's now thought that

pollutants may be building up in

their tissues to such a degree that

a mother's contaminated milk could

kill her calf. Industrial pollution

and the discarding of plastic waste

must be tackled for the sake of all

life in the oceans.

Thought-provoking stuff indeed. One

of the standout statistics for me

last night was the fact that in some

parts of the ocean 1 million pieces

of plastic are found per square

mile. Emily, you found that out, how

did you come up with that?

We have

been part of collecting these

samples for the global dataset and

the best part of the last ten years

has involved us sailing around on

our oceans with a trawl trying to

quantify that number of these

plastic fragments in the sea and

what we find is that this plastic

that's going out into the ocean is

breaking down into these tiny

fragments, what we call

microplastics, just smaller than

your little finger nail so that's

what we're trying to measure.

What

can people do? If you were horrified

watching the programme, what can you

do in your day life?

It's about

avoiding single use plastic.

Something like a plastic water

bottle, a plastic bag, something in

your life for just ten minutes, a

few hours, and you don't really

need. And it's thinking about the

clothes we wear, the polyester

clothing that when we wash it, these

tiny fibres also go down our drains

and end up in the ocean.

Fascinating

and alarming. Thanks, Emily. We will

be talking to you later. Here many

seals are brought here that have

been injured and now we can see some

images of some of those creatures

which have been treated here over

the years. It's quite alarming to

see and quite distressing in many

ways as well. Sui, you are from the

Marine conservation Society, were

you surprised by the images we saw

in last night's programme?

Sadly

not, we've been expecting it over

the years. We've been monitoring our

beaches over the last 20 years and

in that time we haven't seen a

decrease in plastic. Last year we

had a 10% increase in litter on our

beaches.

It isn't just about litter

on the beach, there's so much more

to it, it is the small size of the

plastic that is so damaging?

The

smaller the piece the more animals

can eat it right down to the bottom

of the food chain, if they are

eating it and creatures higher up

are eating it and then the toxins

are on those plastics and they get

in the tissues of the animals that

eat it. Then there's the risk to us

if we are eating seafood.

If you put

your plastic in the recycling, as we

arming to do, what else can we do?

As consumers there's only so much

you can do, apart from being

alarmed?

Actually there's a lot we

can do. The simplest thing to do is

to try and not use those single use

plastics, get a reusable cup for

your coffee and a reusable bottle

for your water. There's hardly

anyone who needs a straw but maybe

we all have one, and also most

importantly we can lobby government

and industry.

We will be talking to

you later and we will see some of

the seals that have been injured and

finding out how the staff here there

for them. We will leave with you

some amazing images of these very

lovely, beautiful animals at

Hunstanton SEA LIFE Sanctuary.

If you can hear me, can you go a bit

left with the camera? There has been

a turtle that has been absolutely

wonderful.

There he is.

His name is

Ernie. Ernie the Green sea turtle.

Hears from Trinidad apparently.

Absolutely wonderful.

There he is!

Thank you very much indeed. Somebody

has already tweeted me this morning

about Ernie and there he is on our

screens.

Looks like a gorgeous

little fella.

Beautiful animals. We

will be with him and Ernie through

the morning.

Some important advice,

I feel guilty for having this,

single use plastic, a big issue.

I

know what I'm going to get you for

Christmas! I'm going to get you a

water bottle you a water bottle you

can use everyday.

Has that mean I

get a present?

You might now get a

present!

You're watching Breakfast.

Still to come:

Singing makes you feel excited, it

makes you feel good, it's very

refreshing.

We're celebrating the power of song

here on Breakfast this week

and you don't have to be in a choir

to join us.

You might simply enjoy

singing with your children,

or belting out a tune in the bath,

we'll be telling you how it's

all brilliant for your health

in the next half hour.

It's also really good to sing

together.

And we're going to be

doing that on Wednesday.

in half an hour.

Plenty more on our website

at the usual address.

Now, though, it's back

to Dan and Louise.

Bye for now.

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

A new weather warning as freezing

temperatures and snow

cause major disruption.

Roads, rail and airports

are all affected and hundreds

of schools are closed for the day.

Good morning. It is Monday, it let

in December. -- 11 December.

Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire

say they should be given a central

role in the inquiry as two

days of hearings begin.

Good morning. We know the cost of

Christmas is rising, but research

shows families are still willing to

splash out, even when the money is a

little bit tight. I will be looking

at why that is. In sport, Manchester

City make it 14 victories in a row

as they beat neighbours Manchester

United at Old Trafford. Jose

Mourinho says his side's title hopes

are probably over as City continue

to break the merely records. --

Premier League records.

And it's Christmas carol

season, of course -

but does singing make

you feel better?

All this week we'll be looking

at whether it really

is good for you.

And Carol can tell us all about the

weather. Let's continue like it has?

Good morning. A mixture of rain,

sleet and snow today across parts of

south-east England and southern

counties of England in general. That

will pull away to the east through

the day. Lots of dry weather and the

risk of ice this morning. A risk of

showers in the north and west of the

UK, some of which will be wintry. I

will have more details and 15

minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story.

Snow and freezing temperatures

are continuing to cause widespread

disruption across parts of the UK .

There have been train and plane

cancellations and drivers

are being warned that icy conditions

are making roads treacherous.

Hundreds of schools across Wales

and the Midlands will also

be closed today.

Simon Clemison reports.

The snow is falling,

but it's easing.

Try telling that to drivers

on the M5 overnight.

Conditions don't get much worse.

Large parts of the UK have

been covered by heavy

snow - this heavy.

And as it begins to melt and

re-freezes in the early

hours, it means lots of potential

problems this morning with ice.

The Met Office has warnings out

covering much of the country.

The AA says thousands of people

were caught out when the wintry

weather drifted south.

Falling trees have affected

roads and train lines.

Network Rail reports

further disruption today.

Flights have restarted

at Birmingham Airport,

but delays are still likely

here and at Heathrow,

where aircraft are not

in their starting positions.

Hundreds of schools

will not open today,

including all of those run

by Birmingham City Council

and 200 in Shropshire.

One power company says it has been

working through the night to get

the power back on.

But the worst of the weather,

or the best of it, depending

on who you ask, is now over.

Great fun for some people.

For more information on travel

disruption and school closures tune

into your BBC local radio station

or visit the BBC News website

for live updates.

Two days of hearings will begin

later to establish the framework

of the Grenfell Tower

fire public inquiry.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick is being urged

by survivors of the fire to give

them a more central role.

It comes as Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn accused the government

of "failing" survivors with more

than 100 still living in hotels.

Relatives of the victims say it's

vital their stories are heard.

These people never should have

lost their lives that night,

and the way they did.

We are extremely determined.

We will fight for as long

as it takes to make sure

that this never happens again.

Our loved ones are never forgotten.

And, you know, the right

changes are made.

The chairman of a leading hospital

trust in London has resigned,

accusing the government of failing

to recognise the "enormous

challenges" facing the NHS.

Lord Kerslake, who's a former head

of the civil service,

said King's College Hospital Trust

was struggling financially as it

tried to cope with rising

demand, increased costs

and limits on spending.

The regulator for England,

NHS Improvement, said the trust's

financial performance

was "the worst in the NHS."

A BBC survey has found 40%

of women have been sexually

harassed at work.

More than 6,000 British

adults were questioned.

Many said they'd experienced

inappropriate touching

and unwelcome jokes.

Here's our correspondent

Adina Campbell.

Freelance copywriter Lorrie says

she has lost count as to how many

times she has faced sexual

harassment since being

self-employed.

Sometimes it is just background

noise, you hear an inappropriate

comment or someone is talking

to your T-shirt rather

than your face, and other times

you can be subjected to really

inappropriate behaviour,

like groping.

In the latest survey for the BBC,

the results revealed 43% of people

in flexible work had experienced

unwanted sexual behaviour,

compared to 29% who

were directly employed.

Those working in industries

such as hospitality,

retail or the public

sector were more at risk.

And, 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.

The survey also found people aged

between 18 and 34 were more likely

to report unwanted sexual attention

compared to those over 55.

So, about a power dynamic.

If you are the youngest

person in a workplace,

if you are new in a workplace,

less aware of your rights and how

to report, or who to report

to, those things make

you slightly more vulnerable.

Campaigners are now calling

for employers to take reports

of sexual harassment seriously,

with protection for all workers.

We will be talking about that later,

about 8:10am on Breakfast.

The Prime Minister will tell MPs

today that there's been "give

and take" between the UK and the EU

in order to move on to trade talks.

Theresa May is expected to say

that she isn't seeking a hard

or soft Brexit, but a

bold new partnership.

Our political correspondent

Chris Mason is in Westminster.

Will she have a bounce in her step

this morning when she walks into

that meeting? I imagine she will be

feeling better than last week?

Absolutely. It is one week now since

that big setback when she was midway

through a plate of turbot with John

Collee chunk, the president of the

European Commission, when it went

pear shaped. -- Jean-Claude Juncker.

She had to return to the UK without

having secured a deal and it was

pretty Gemili 18. A few days later,

lots of phone calls later and not

much sleep later, there was that

deal on Friday morning which started

in merging throughout the morning,

as this was on the hour. A bit of

sleep for the Prime Minister through

the week. A Cabinet meeting and a

statement in the Commons and she

will be pretty chipper. She says

there is a new sense of them is

around the Brexit negotiations. --

sense of optimism around. Showers

not going for a harder or softer

Brexit, these terms which she has --

she says have been bandied around.

She will also say that nothing is

agreed until everything is agreed.

What we will get in the New Year is

a whole new plethora of Brexit bingo

terms, alongside the ones I just

mention. Lots of talk about how the

UK's relationship with the EU will

look after Brexit, and crucially,

some sort of trade deals. Over the

weekend we had another one. Canada

plus plus plus. That was the

suggestion from David Davis, the

Brexit secretary. He is talking

about the trading relationship EU

currently has with Canada, which the

UK will hope to match and then

improve upon in the years ahead, to

try to strike some sort of

arrangement over trade to keep

business going under a very new

relationship.

The most destructive wildfire raging

in southern California has expanded

significantly, scorching an area

larger than New York City. 4000

firefighters have been called up to

tackle the flames, which are now

threatening the coastal city of

Santa Barbara. Hundreds of buildings

have been destroyed and damaged and

200,000 people have had to leave

their homes.

Britain has a new tallest mountain.

Mount Hope, which is sited

in the part of the Antarctic claimed

by the UK, was recently

remeasured and found to tower

above the previous title

holder, Mount Jackson.

It measure 3,239 metres

and Jackson is 3,184 metres.

There it is.

It looks very

beautiful. A bit like it could be

right next to us, at the moment.

Because we know there are freezing

temperatures. That is tell you about

what has been going on overnight.

They are continuing to cause

disruption across the UK. Lots of

people enjoyed the snow yesterday,

but now it is Monday and people will

be having problems. Phil Mackie is

in Worcestershire for us. Good

morning.

Good morning. It is not

terribly bad. You can possibly see

the traffic going over Worcester

city Bridge in the background. It

has not frozen here in the city

centre. I know that outside the city

temperatures have much lower, which

is part of the problem. This is

obviously where people have been

trampling down through the snow so

perhaps it is not as deep as it was

off the past. 38 centimetres in

Worcester last night. It snowed for

about 24 hours. There is an area

from Cheshire and Dartford in the

north Downs to Oxfordshire and

Buckinghamshire in the south, where

they have been real problems.

Thousands of schools are closed

today, but that will probably ease

congestion this morning. It was a

bit of a pain yesterday for people

who were trying to travel through

airports. East Midlands Airport was

one of those who had problems.

Problems at Birmingham and at

Heathrow. In fact, Heathrow have

been saying flights are cancelled

today and you should check before

you travel. I think that would be

the advice anywhere that I have

mentioned in that belt, where there

is lots of lying snow. The trains

are also advising people to check

before they travel but most of the

services seem to be able to run,

although with delays. One of the

things, of course, which I

mentioned, I suspect lots of people

will be out enjoying it today

because the schools are closed. It

has not snowed in this part of the

country this much for seven years

now. So it is a rare day. Although a

lot of schools are closed, my

daughter at's is open, so she was

rather grumpy today and she will

have to avoid the snow and avoid

sitting on the sofa in front of the

fire, she will have to fight her way

in.

Thank you for that thought.

Now, we will continue to look at

this subject.

If you thought the snow caused

traffic problems yesterday,

imagine what it can do

to a Monday morning rush hour.

Frank Bird is from Highways

England, which is tasked

with keeping the roads moving.

He's at their headquarters

in Birmingham and we can speak

to him now.

I can see clearly some of the

traffic moving well behind you,

where are the main problems this

morning?

For our network there

aren't really any problems. We've

got all the motorways back to

Tarmac. Some of the three lane

motorways are still only two lanes

but we're working to clear that

through the day today. For the large

part we would say once you can get

to the motorways it is safe

motoring.

Tell us where the snow

fell? One place might have it but a

mile away there might be nothing at

all?

Broadly. If you think of the

central area of England as a box, it

was from the Welsh coast to the

English coast on the east side, and

then to the north it was Manchester

and Leeds, if you roughly draw a

line across that, all the way down

to the motorway for, so anywhere

around that area got a significant

quantity of snow -- the M4.

How have

you tackled this work? You have

thrown resources at it in some ways?

Absolutely. We activated our severe

weather desk at 2am yesterday

morning and apologies for the bleary

eyes because we were all doing 12

and 14 hour shifts yesterday to keep

the roads open. We've had

round-the-clock gritting. We had 56

gritters out on the motorway network

in the West Midlands alone and for a

short period with borrowed some from

the north-west, which spookily they

didn't really have too many

problems, so they were able to lend

us some support, which is why we've

kept the motorway network going all

through yesterday.

We saw some

people stuck on major roads, coming

to a complete standstill, why did

that happen?

A lot of that will be

HGVs, they go up inclines and then

they lose traction. We have three or

four instances of that. The worst

instance was on the 40, where people

were stationary for about 55

minutes, but actually in total that

was the worst of the delay is

certainly in the West Midlands area

-- M40. Otherwise as long as you

took it nice and steady people got

where they wanted. The key thing

here always is to allow plenty of

extra time and especially don't

overestimate your driving skills,

because these are quite challenging,

as your previous reporter said, we

haven't seen snow like this for

seven years so it's been challenging

for all of us.

Challenging for those

stuck on the M40 for 45 minutes!

What can you do to avoid that kind

of thing in the future do you think?

We actually had the gritters right

behind but the difficulty we then

had was getting the critter in front

of the lorry.

Fortunately we were able to bring

the greater the other way down the

motorway -- greater. We have quite a

large menu of tactics and skills to

use and that was one of the ones we

employed yesterday morning around

about 5:30 a.m., 6am, on the M40 and

we got people under way again within