26/12/2017 Breakfast

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Steph McGovern.

Universities are warned

they must protect free speech

and allow students to both hear

and challenge contorversial views.

The Universities minister says

academic institutions should be

places which open

minds, not close them.

Good morning.

It's Tuesday the 26th of December.

Also this morning -

The Boxing Day sales have used to be

big news for bargain-hunters,

but new BBC research suggests

that the traditional post-Christmas

spending spree is losing its appeal.

In sport - the Boxing Day

test is under way.

The task for England is to avoid

a 5-0 whitewash in the Ashes series

but so far, Melbourne

is being kinder to Australia.

Some parts of the UK officially had

a White Christmas but what can

we expect this Boxing Day?

Philip has the weather.

Good morning. Yes. At least for

some, there was a white Christmas. I

will have all the details on whether

many more of you will see something

a bit like this.

Good morning.

First, our main story.

The Universities Minister,

Jo Johnson, will use a speech today

to give his clearest warning yet

that academic institutions must

protect free speech.

He'll say students must be able

to both hear and challenge

controversial views

during their years of study.

Some universities and student groups

have refused entry to speakers,

Edward Curwen reports.

The body said it would not allow

legitimate debate to be stifled.

Millions are expected to head out

to the Boxing Day sales,

marking the start of a what has

traditionally been a crucial period

for retailers across the UK.

Our reporter John McManus

is on Oxford Street in London.

There aren't many people here. 300

shops are here on Oxford Street. I

counted less than ten people here

this morning who are waiting for the

shops to open at nine o'clock for

the Boxing Day sale. We know that

many people out across the high

streets today trying to grab a

bargain but perhaps those Boxing Day

sales are not as spectacular as they

were in the past. A survey has

said... INAUDIBLE. A BBC survey has

said some of the shine had been

taken of the Boxing Day sales

because of the Black Friday sales

before Christmas. INAUDIBLE.

Sorry

about the line. Basically, because

we have been shopping a lot on Black

Friday and the run-up to Christmas,

it is not looking like a big deal

with the Boxing Day sales. We will

be speaking about it later on. We

will get the line sorted with John

as well.

The Royal Navy says there has been

an increase in the number of Russian

ships travelling through,

or near the UK's territorial waters

over the festive period.

On Christmas Day, HMS

St Albans was sent to escort

a Russian warship through

the North Sea as it passed close

to UK waters.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson

said he will not "tolerate any

form of aggression".

A British woman being held

on suspicion of drug-smuggling

will appear in court

in Egypt later this morning.

Laura Plummer was arrested

in October when officials found 290

tramadol tablets in her suitcase,

which are legal in the UK,

but not in Egypt.

The shop assistant from Hull claims

she was carrying the pills

for her Egyptian partner,

who suffers from back pain.

A tropical storm that was

threatening southern Vietnam has

weakened and is expected to

dissipate within the next 48 hours.

Yesterday, hundreds of thousands

of people were told they may need

to evacuate their homes

as forecasters warned

that up to 200 centimetres

of rain could fall.

A 20-year-old man will appear before

magistrates this morning charged

with murder after a fatal stabbing

in a restaurant in Middlesbrough

on Christmas Eve.

Efreeqi Mohamed Siddig is accused

of killing 41-year-old

Mazhar Ali from Stockton-on-Tees

who died in hospital yesterday.

The NHS has promised to cut back

on prescribing gluten-free biscuits,

pasta and anti-dandruff shampoo.

A study by the Taxpayers Alliance

has found many items

which are prescribed by GPs

in England are available

in supermarkets - often

at a much cheaper price.

Nick Quraishi reports.

The taxpayers Alliance has

highlighted a number of items it

says was prescribed the NHS last

year. They include this sunscreen, a

nonbranded version is available for

half the price. Branded gluten-free

biscuits, significantly more

expensive than the supermarket

equivalent. Argue present, away from

the NHS. -- ibuprophen.

In response, and NHS England a

spokesman said...

The health service says it is

already reviewing ten items it

claims are ineffective, unnecessary

and inappropriate for prescriptions.

If you've enjoyed a day

of festive excess -

eating and drinking

a little too much -

perhaps the most you want to do

to exert yourself is to try

and reach for the remote control.

So - spare a thought

for the competitors

of the Wingsuit Flying World Cup.

They spent most of their Christmas

jumping out of planes or balloon

as Tim Allman explains.

You know what they say -

what goes up must come down.

A principle they understand

all too well at the

Wingsuit Flying World Cup.

Teams from around the globe

competing in this extreme

and hair-raising sport.

TRANSLATION:

I travelled

more than 400 kilometres

to see this.

We arrived here early

in the morning, just to watch

the wingsuit flying show.

It's spectacular!

You can say that again.

A couple of skydivers perform

a 360-degree rotating nosedive.

While others piggybacked

from their teammates.

But not everybody was happy

with how things turned out.

TRANSLATION:

I think our performance

this time didn't reflect our real

strength.

We will get to our best

through regular competition.

I hope we perform better next time.

The Chinese team

finished third overall,

behind the winners, France,

and the United States,

who came second.

It is a non-profit

event, and the local

school received a cheque

worth more than $30,000.

So some charitable spirit,

combined with a little

heart-stopping terror.

How can you get more

festive than that?

It has officially been a white

Christmas in the UK for some,

with areas of Cumbria

and the south of Scotland

recording light snowfall.

The last officially white Christmas

was recorded three years ago,

when parts of the Northern

Isles in Scotland saw some snow.

More wintry showers are expected -

we'll get the latest from Phil

in the weather centre

in ten minutes.

Lovely pictures from yesterday.

Out of all the photographers waiting

to snap a picture of the royal

family at the Christmas Day

service in Sandringham,

it was a mum from Norfolk

who managed to capture

the perfect image.

This photograph taken

by Karen Anvil has now been used

by journalists from

all over the world.

She says she hopes its sale

will help with her daughter's

university costs.

That picture is on a lot of the

front covers this morning. We will

look at the papers later.

For many people Christmas can

be a very lonely time,

but there are hundreds of volunteers

across the UK trying to help those

who feel isolated.

Children from the Ahmadiyya Muslim

Youth Association are writing

Christmas cards, visiting care

homes and giving out food

to those in need.

Joining us now are the head

of the organisation Abdul Lodhi

and the Yorkshire regional youth

leader Nadeem Ahmed.

Yesterday we were out all over the

country.

Visiting care homes and

spending time with elderly members

and just doing all sorts of welfare

activities, leading homeless people.

We don't actually celebrate

Christmas ourselves at it is a time

where we joined the nation, as the

majority do, to show solidarity and

that is how we get involved, I

serving a local community in any way

possible. Yesterday we were in

Yorkshire. I was with Nadeem.

Did

you get a good reception?

As you

know, these people get lonely

towards Christmas. We just go there

to put a smile on their face and as

an act of charity. We go out of our

way, at our own expense, and spend

the whole day with them. We provide

a free taxi service. There is no

public transport here. So we go out

in our own cars and go to these

centres, pick them up and take them

to their reception where they have

every Christmas Day and replayed

bingo. We provide toiletries and

sleeping bags for the homeless

people that attend and give gifts to

the orphans that are also there.

Basically, as Muslims, it turns, we

are duty-bound to provide assistance

and it is our right to fill the

rights of God and to have filled the

rights of man.

Is that the reason

you do it?

This is purely driven by

our faith. As practising Muslims, it

is our obligation to serve humanity

and mankind. It is not just

Christmas, we do at all throughout

the year. We plan our activities, we

get all our youth members involved,

to practise their faith at this

level. Not just, we can say Islam

means peace but we try to practise

what we preach. It is a way of

showing it, by helping those who are

most vulnerable and this is ongoing

throughout the year. Not just in the

winter, around Christmas time, but

throughout the year. Children as

young as the age of seven and up

until 40 in the Ahmadiyya Muslim

Youth Association get involved.

It

works both ways. We were talking

yesterday about loneliness at

Christmas and it can be really

tough. Especially if you have some

of your youth teams meeting the

elderly.

They get really happy

seeing the young members. There is

so much people can do, especially

young members, invest their time. --

in their spare time. To see the

young people take part in these

activities, I think it is

encouraging for me to see as an

organiser, that these guys want to

do this. This is all driven by their

faith and true teachings of Islam

and it is how we are all brought up

within our community.

Nadeem.

Are

senior citizens have given a lot to

this country. There is no point

sitting at home. We might as well

get engaged. We go out and visit and

meet these people as well and we get

a good response from them and they

acknowledged us as well.

I bet you

do. You have the big clear up coming

up as well.

To conclude our winter

campaign, on New Year's Day we get

together, we have over 130 branches

across the UK and we just encourage

everyone to engage the local council

and work with them, identify an area

that needs attention for clearing up

and that's it. Our members go out

and they just clear the roads.

It's

just picking up rubbish, basically.

Yes, across various areas. We work

with many organisations but it is

mainly with the council because they

help us with giving us equipment and

things like that. It is great.

Again, a lot of the youth members

come out in the early hours of the

morning and we spend a few hours

every morning on New Year's Day and

it's great to see for think probably

around, -- it is great to see. We

get lots of people. These guys come

out and clear up with a smile on

their faces.

When you have finished

that, you can come and do my house.

Thank you so much, good luck with

everything. Time to find out what is

happening with the weather.

Full of festive cheer, still?

Yes!

On a personal night, going back to

that previous item, if you are

suffering from loneliness, from own

personal experience I can tell you

that going out and litter picking in

your local community is a great way

of breaking down those momentous

barriers and getting people to say

hello and how are you and all the

rest of it. It works very well. And

there is plenty of litter out of

there, I can assure you. Enough of

the public service broadcast. We

were talking about when she weather

getting into the central belt last

night. Lo and behold, a white

Christmas. . It is pretty confined,

but lots of folk up and down the

eight and the higher ground on

either side of the eight workup

today covering this morning, several

centimetres in some locations. --

the M8. There are plenty of reasons

to be out and about today, the sport

is on some shops are open, so be

aware of the ice issue. That threat

of snow pulling away into the North

Sea but leaving behind a peppering

of showers which will become

increasingly wintry across the

northern half of Scotland as we go

through the day. Showers to be had

as we go into Northern Ireland

across the high ground of northern

England. Generally speaking it is a

much brighter and much fresher they

then we have had lately. No more

than ten or 12. As you can see, it

is actually start. Make the most of

the relatively bright start in the

south-west, because I lunchtime we

should have the first signs of more

wet and windy weather piling into

the south-western quarter and

becoming ever more extensive across

good parts of the southern half of

the UK as we get through the UK.

Yesterday, this was ten or 11 or 12

territory. The wind freshening up as

well. Away from that zone, there is

plenty of sunshine around. 12

isolated showers but they will be

the exception to a dry rule in that

central swathe of the British Isles.

These showers becoming increasingly

wintry, and they will be coming down

to low levels. Now we are not done

with the wintry stuff just yet. All

of that cold air is lurking there.

All this moisture coming in

underneath. Look at this. A

conversion. As that cool a row on

the Northern Ireland western flanks

of the low pressure sinks down

towards the peaks and the Pennines,

coming into the Welsh hills and into

the Midlands, and then for

Wednesday, we'd just wished that

threat of snow a little bit further

south and a little bit further east.

Lots of wet weather in there as

well. If you stay with the rain, my

word, that is 35 or 45 millimetres

of rain. Once that is gone, there is

a bright day and actually won as

well. Lots of weather going on at

the moment. I will be back tomorrow,

probably telling you about slow for

the southern half of the UK. Then it

gets a bit unsettled those who go

into that second half of the week

with the fronts coming in from the

Atlantic.

Philip, I must ask, how

was the BBC Christmas canteen

dinner? Yesterday?

It was right

upper there, along with all the

other years I have dragged the

family in. That makes it sound like

it is against their will, actually,

they volunteer me to work so they

can come in and enjoy the

hospitality of the BBC.

Well, that

says lots about your cooking. Thank

you.

You're watching

Breakfast from BBC News.

The main stories this morning:

Universities are warned

by the government they must allow

students to hear controversial views

in order to protect free speech.

Boxing Day bargain hunting

could be losing its appeal,

according to new BBC research,

as shops open their doors

for the traditional sales.

Let's take a look at

this morning's papers.

No papers yesterday, of course.

These are the first ones which have

lots of pictures of the royal family

this morning. Holly joins us to go

through the sport pages as well.

This is the picture on a lot of the

front covers this morning. What is

interesting about this is that it is

not an official photographer which

took this, despite lots of Karachi

on the Sandringham estate yesterday

to capture the pictures of the royal

families on the way the church

service. -- paparazzi. This was

actually taken by Karen, he was

there with her iPhone. -- who was.

Meghan Markle was the focus of lots

of people there yesterday. She got

on with her first official trip with

the royal family. The story next to

it on the Times this morning, just

talking about universities opening

their minds of students, not closing

them. This is to do with that story

were talking about this morning from

the universities minister, Joe

Johnson, who is morning academic --

warning academic institutions today

that they should allow free speech,

so allow any controversial speakers

to be a will to speak within

academic settings. The Daily

Express, that picture again of the

royal couple there. The story there

about Boxing Day sales, they say £4

billion will be spent in the shops

today. We will be talking this

morning about how that will compare

to previous years. There is some

speculation that, actually, we are

not looking too attractive for the

Boxing Day sales. The Daily

Telegraph, this is a story this

morning which is connect it to the

Christmas Charity appeal. They say

the homeless were denied food left

to waste. Michael Gove has said that

much, much more must be done to

tackle food waste. Producers are

incentivised to send their surplus

food to green energy plants rather

than to charities to feed the

vulnerable. Lots of stories about

the royal family and a couple of

others. And sport, it is all about

cricket?

It is, though we haven't

had much action over the past few

days, so lots of the back pages are

dominated by pale blue. We are

talking about Boxing Day sales as

well. This time it is the January

sales we are referring to and I

don't there will be many bargains.

Reading the headlines, unstoppable,

is the Premier League over already?

Man City miles ahead of anybody

else. They are looking ahead to how

much they will be spending. This

caught my eye. During the Ashes, it

seems they are managing to have a

bit of fun down under despite the 29

or 30 degrees heat. Jonny Bairstow,

Tom Curren and Stuart Broad enjoying

Christmas festivities with Santa

Claus in the background as well.

They were only going to get away

with that on Boxing Day, they would

criticise them to Christmas Day. Did

you have a good day yesterday?

Yes,

I ate far too much, like everybody

else, but it was lovely. It was

really nice to relax and see family

and eat far too much turkey.

You

didn't fancy throwing yourself into

the sea, did you? Lots of people

seem to have done that yesterday. It

is really interesting. I go to the

Boxing Day version, up in the

north-east where I am from, and all

the people who, in various costumes,

will run into the ocean.

It is

incredible. Who wants to do that on

Christmas morning?

Lots of people,

apparently. There is a group of

people dressed as mermaids. It must

be absolutely Baltic. Hundreds of

Christmas swimmers, they say,

enjoying a festive dip, singing as

they ran in. You would have to sing,

just to...

Just to keep your mind

off it. I think I will stick to the

onesie.

Yes, the onesie in front of

the telly. Now, more about cricket?

Well, talking about being cold, that

isn't a problem for the England team

in Australia. They are into their

fourth test now, the penultimate

test. But already, as we know, the

series has already gone to

Australia. They have won the Ashes.

We just need a bit of pride, don't

we? It can't be 5-0?

Can you

imagine? This is the concern now, a

whitewash, which has happened in the

past and it is something England

will be trying to avoid.

England have some work to do

if they're to avoid going 4-0 down

in the series.

David Warner punished

the England bowlers again,

making a century.

The tourists did recover slightly,

taking two wickets between lunch

and tea, and another

in the final session,

but Tom Curran's debut hasn't gone

as he'd have liked and Australia

are now 208/3.

Football's festive fixtures continue

with eight games today,

leaders Manchester City play

Newcastle tomorrow but in this

afternoon's early kick-off,

Tottenham meet Southampton

with Harry Kane looking to break

a record held by Alan Shearer.

Kane's hat-trick in Saturday's win

over Burnley put him level

with Shearer on 36.

Manchester United's task today

is to narrow the huge 14-point gap

between themselves and Manchester

City at the top of the table.

They're at home to Burnley today.

United slipped up at the weekend,

allowing Leicester to equalise

in injury time, but Burnley manager

Sean Dyche knows that doesn't

mean his side will

get an easy ride.

They still look a high-quality group

of players to me. I was there

recently, about to dig in and get a

win, actually, but that is a mark of

a good side. If it is not quite fair

day or the other team are playing

well, still out with a result. I do

think we are going there expecting

it to be anything other than a tough

game.

In the late kick-off,

Liverpool host bottom of the table

Swansea, who are still looking

for a new manager after sacking

Paul Clement last week.

Liverpool's last game was their 3-0

draw with Arsenal on Friday,

so they've had an extra day

to recover for this match -

but manager Jurgen Klopp knows

a side in trouble is a dangerous

one.

They are under pressure. And that's

clear, because they are fighting for

the league, 100%. We will be ready

and we will perform.

Just one game in the Scottish

Premiership this afternoon with

champions Celtic away to Dundee. We

will be keeping an eye on England

over in Melbourne to see how they

are getting on, but fingers crossed,

we don't want another whitewash.

Yes, that would be embarrassing.

Are the Boxing Day sales

still enough to get us off the sofa

and down to the shops?

With Black Friday forcing many

retailers to cut prices as long ago

as November, the majority

of shoppers surveyed by BBC Radio

4's You & Yours programme said

the sales had lost their sparkle,

as Samantha Fenwick reports.

Savinda and her daughter Jotie meet

up every weekend to go shopping and

look for bargains.

I have waited

with people outside, and then gone

into the store, and found lovely

bargains.

But this Boxing Day, the

high street sales don't have the

same appeal.

Sales are on all the

time and I'm always getting emails

from shops saying, you can it

cheaper beforehand and things like

that. So I don't be doing anything

like that, I'll be in bed.

They are

here again, the sales and the

queues. You can't afford to miss a

good light in these days. Some

all-night cures receive a morning

surprise, a cuppa to warm them up

for the battle ahead.

The post-

Christmas sales, a festive tradition

in the UK. Retailers called it the

golden quarter, the discount

starting on Boxing Day when

important part of the three months

at the end of the year. Retailers

hope to boost their profits and

shoppers to get a bargain.

You can

get almost anything at these sales.

It has changed over the years,

though. This is the Boxing Day sale

only five years ago. Shoppers didn't

cube quite a sedately as in the

1950s. But would they do the same

today? We asked more than 1000

shoppers what they thought of the

Boxing Day sales, and more than half

of them think they have lost the

appeal they once had. Virtually

nobody we survey said they would be

getting up early this morning to

beat the queues. They have in

overshadowed by other sales that run

throughout the year. Particularly

Black Friday. This year, over 40% of

us bought something on Black Friday,

and that means we spent a lot of

Christmas money already on the can't

spend money twice. Shoppers expect

things to be discounted and

discounted heavily, and if retailers

don't offer great deals, shoppers go

somewhere else. Yet despite this

apparent addiction to discounting,

62% of people we survey believe that

if a shop always has a sale on, it

devalues the brand. Jenny Parky is

the co-founder of Country Attire, an

online shop selling 180 different

brands.

It can be extremely damaging

for a brand to always be on sale. It

is important to be very strategic

about when you discount. The brands

which are doing well never really

have blanket discount sales. They

are the ones which are really

forensic as to what pricing they go

out, and when they go.

Have you got

everything you need?

Nothing is more

frustrating than when you buy

something for price and the prices

are constantly getting slashed down.

It feels as though they must be

struggling. How can they afford to

sell it so cheap?

Retailers are

struggling. On petition to get

shoppers spending is as fierce as

ever. Online and on the high-street.

And with family budgets predicted to

get tighter next year, it looks like

the year-round sale is here to stay.

An incredible hat. Snapper is here

to tell us more.

Good morning. He

was giving us a round of applause

with his legs.

They are cracking,

these hats, aren't they? On the

topic of sales, this is something I

talk about a lot on this programme

with retailers struggling, it does

feel, doesn't it, like we just of

sales or the time. Constant sales

all year round. They may have

started before Black Friday but

there is a real impetus on Black

Friday and from Black Friday right

up until Christmas, right up until

today.

They will be on sale. If you

look at your box, there will be lots

of different sales offering you 30%

of this 40% of that, and you wonder

how some of them can actually do

that. What they are doing, I think

they are trying to get us to buy

more stuff at a discount --

discounted price. That is how they

make their money back on the sales

they have going on.

Is there a

difference, in terms of generations,

between how people spend during the

sales and the festive period?

Our

survey shows it is merely a people

who are shopping in the sales, but

the Black Friday sales and the

people that we have asked, we asked

them if they thought they might be

shopping today in the post-

Christmas sales, and it is mainly

people under 35. The other

difference that we have seen since

five years ago when we saw people

queueing up at Next, people are

shopping online, so they are using

their tablets and their phones. They

are checking out deals. So if you

are going to go and look for

something today, look online first,

see where it has got that will act

at the best price and either buy it

online or go to a shop and buy

there, because that will save you

lots of time.

Yesterday went online and there were

so many e-mails and you get sucked

in. It is easy to get sucked in.

You

think you are getting a bargain.

Do

you fall for it?

Yes. We are meant

to know better.

Hello, this is Breakfast

with Steph McGovern.

Good morning.

Here's a summary of today's main

stories from BBC News.

The Universities Minister,

Jo Johnson, will issue his clearest

warning yet that universities must

protect free speech.

He will say students must be able

both to hear and challenge

controversial views

during their years of study.

Some universities and student groups

have refused entry to speakers

advocating disputed points of view.

The body representing British

universities said it would not allow

legitimate debate to be stifled.

Millions of shoppers are expected

to head out to the Boxing Day sales

today, marking the start

of a what has traditionally been

a crucial period for

retailers across the UK.

But the majority of shoppers

surveyed by BBC Radio

4's You & Yours programme believe

online shopping and early

Black Friday deals have

made the post Christmas

sales less appealing.

A 20-year-old man will appear before

magistrates this morning charged

with murder, after a fatal stabbing

in a restaurant in Middlesbrough

on Christmas Eve.

Efreeqi Mohamed Siddig is accused

of killing 41-year-old

Mazhar Ali from Stockton-on-Tees

who died in hospital yesterday.

A British woman being held

on suspicion of drug-smuggling

will appear in court

in Egypt later this morning.

Laura Plummer was arrested

in October when officials found 290

tramadol tablets in her suitcase,

which are legal in the UK,

but not in Egypt.

The shop assistant from Hull says

she was carrying the pills

for her Egyptian partner,

who suffers from back pain.

The Royal Navy says there has been

an increase in the number of Russian

ships travelling through,

or near the UK's territorial waters

over the festive period.

On Christmas Day, HMS

St Albans was sent to escort

a Russian warship through

the North Sea as it passed close

to UK waters.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson

said he will not "tolerate any

form of aggression".

Dr Who fans were given a glimpse

of the first ever female Doctor

in action in last night's

Christmas special.

Jodie Whittaker appeared

in the final two minutes

of the episode, which saw

the departure of Peter Capaldi,

as well as the show's

writer Steven Moffatt.

Now on Breakfast, it's a white

Christmas for Sarah Keith-Lucas

and Nick Miller, as they take a look

back at the year in weather.

This time, we have come

to a winter wonderland.

Or have we?

Look very closely in the next

half-hour, because all is not

as it seems.

So...

Let it snow, let it

snow, let it snow.

Welcome to Weather World!

Also on the programme,

2017's biggest storms.

Tropical deluge, floods that carry

a house and everything in it.

Safe from the storm,

near impossible escapes.

And even record rain cannot

stop another wildfire

crisis in California.

Humber, west or south-west,

five or six...

Plus, we celebrate 150 years

of the Shipping Forecast,

its distinctive tones loved

by sailors and landlubbers alike.

And weather, but not as we know it.

I will be taking a deeper look

into space weather and the impact

it can have here on Earth.

This time on Weather World,

we are having some fun.

We have come to a company

in Gloucestershire, Snow Business,

which for 35 years has been making

real and fake snow on demand.

It is mostly for film

and television.

They are the biggest winter effects

company in the world.

Some of their work includes

the James Bond films and Star Wars.

Later I will be looking

at the materials they use

to make this snow.

I am off to meet Darcey, the owner,

and he is going to show me how

you create a wintry scene.

We've got a fairly green scene now,

but we are going to transform it

into something more

white and wintry.

I can't wait to see

what it will look like.

How are we going do this?

We have a brand-new machine,

we have some specially torn paper

which locks together,

we spray it with water so it sticks

to anything it lands on.

We can transform this

into a winter scene.

Let's get started, then.

MUSIC.

This looks amazing.

It's as if we have

stepped into Narnia.

How do you create the

illusion of falling snow?

For that, we have a special machine,

which mixes a fluid with air

to create snowflakes.

Wow!

I feel like I'm in a

snowstorm in Lapland.

So, creating this kind of snow

is a really big business.

In fact, you are the world

leaders in winter effects.

How did you get into this?

Purely by chance.

I worked for a company which made

paper and a film company came along

wanting a lovely,

biodegradable snow.

And they got us to make paper snow.

It turned out to be a world beater.

So, this is artificial snow.

And a little bit later

on we are going to take a look

at how they also make

real snow here as well.

This is real snow.

But there is still

something unusual here.

Our weather review of

the year begins in January

on Greek island beaches.

Rarely does Arctic weather on this

scale reach so far deep into Europe.

And the bitter temperatures

brought fears for migrants,

at camps such as this one in Serbia,

with calls for them to be moved

to better, warmer conditions.

Then disaster in Italy.

29 people are killed

in the deadliest avalanche

in a century.

Amazingly, some survived,

rescued more than two days later.

February in the UK,

and Storm Doris blows in,

with high winds and

some lucky escapes.

And here is another

remarkable escape.

In Peru, as a mudslide churns up

the debris of what was once

somebody's home, a woman emerges.

Slowly she's able to

scramble her way to help.

But the flooding here did claim

the lives of about 100 people

in the first few months of the year.

Disaster in Colombia in April.

Torrential rain sends a mudslide

into the town of Mocoa.

More than 250 died here.

In Chile in January,

a different problem.

Drought, heat, strong

winds, then fire.

This was the town of Santa Olga,

destroyed by wildfires,

said to be the worst

in the country's modern history.

Severe drought hit hard in Africa.

This is Somalia, where a disaster

was declared in February.

Whether it's drought

or political unrest or both,

millions across east Africa

started the year facing

starvation and famine.

In California, after years

of drought, a remarkable

transformation took place.

Flooding rain from a succession

of winter storms all

but obliterated the drought.

So much water so quickly that

car-swallowing sinkholes appeared.

Any hope that the soaking start

to the year would offer long-term

relief went up in flames,

as we will see later

in the programme.

We often show pictures

of the aurora borealis,

or the Northern Lights.

This is the southern

hemisphere equivalent,

the aurora australis,

putting on a spectacular display

above New Zealand in May.

When and where we see the light

depends on the behaviour of the sun,

and trying to predict what the sun

will be doing has created

an emerging area of

science - space weather.

Matt Taylor has been

finding out about it.

Imagine a few hours without traffic

lights or your smartphone.

Sounds appalling, doesn't it?

Add to that trains, flights,

your weekly shop, even money.

And not just for hours.

Potentially days,

weeks or even months.

It could become a reality.

It is all down to the impact that

space weather could have

on things like this.

Satellites shown here

at the Science Museum in London.

The systems on it,

as well as electricity grids

all around the globe.

To the purists, space weather is not

strictly meteorology,

but it is driven by the same thing,

and that is the sun.

In this case it is all about coronal

mass ejections and solar flares.

To tell us about those I am joined

by Professor Tim Horbury,

from the Imperial College London.

Professor, tell us more

about what solar flares and coronal

mass ejections are.

Most of us think of the sun

as a fairly boring yellow globe

in the sky.

But as we study it more we realise

it is a dynamic object.

Solar flares are enormous releases

of energy from the sun.

They accelerate particles to high

energies which can arrive

at the Earth and damage satellites,

and they also release enormous

amount of energy,

coronal mass ejections.

This matter floods out

through the solar system and can

arrive at the Earth and impact us.

You are the head of a mission

investigating the sun.

What does that involve?

It is called Solar Orbit,

being built by the ESA

at the moment.

We will be going closer

to the sun than ever before,

closer than Mercury.

We'll be measuring what comes

off the sun and travels

past our spacecraft

on its way towards the Earth.

And it's the magnetic fields

which are important when it comes

to impact on Earth, isn't it?

Yes.

At Imperial College London,

we're building the instrument

which will measure those

magnetic fields in space,

and when those fields arrive

at the Earth and interact

with the Earth's magnetic field,

and it is those interactions

which drive things like the aurora

and geomagnetic storms.

Will this help us ultimately

forecast space weather?

Solar Orbiter itself is not

a space weather mission,

but it is designed to study

the fundamental physics of what's

going on in the sun

and inter-planetary space

and by understanding that

that we hope to do better space

weather forecasting in the future.

Thank you.

We will find out later

in the programme a bit more

about forecasting space weather

and the impact it can have

here on Earth.

At the start of the programme

I said, look very closely this time

on Weather World, because all

is not as it seems.

It might look like I have

entered an icy cave,

but there isn't any ice in here.

And none of this is real.

It is another fake

winter environment.

Paul is here to tell

us how they made this.

What materials have you used?

We use a lot of different

materials here.

Plastic, paraffin wax,

recycled packaging material,

litter as well.

With LED lighting we can bring it

all together and give you the effect

that you see here.

The materials that are used to make

something look wintry in film

and television, they have evolved

over time, haven't they?

What was used in the

early days of film?

In the very early days of black

and white film they didn't have any

materials at all.

They had to wait for it to snow.

That was time-consuming,

and it was also dangerous.

Three members died from the cold

while they were filming Way Out

East.

That wasn't good.

Later they made it with

different materials.

Laurel and Hardy used painted

cornflakes, which was effective.

By the time we got

to The Wizard of Oz,

they were using white asbestos.

Obviously that's really bad,

but they didn't know

it was dangerous at the time.

You use things which are good

for the environment

and good for people.

What are the good

materials going forward?

We're developing materials

like this, which is a glitter,

which is made from cellulose.

So within a couple of weeks

or so that will biodegrade.

Now, normal glitter,

which is being banned in cosmetic

use by the Government,

would just wash off your body

when you come back from your

festival, down the drain and out

to sea where it gets eaten

by plankton and fish

and unfortunately by us again.

This is gone in a week or two.

It has the texture of icing sugar

but you can see the glitter.

What else are you using?

We are using things like this,

which is powder frost.

This is pure cellulose.

You could eat it if you wanted to,

though it wouldn't taste very nice.

Once that washes into the soil that

completely biodegrades.

It is no more harmful

to the environment than dead leaves.

Of course, the least harmful thing

to the environment is real snow.

We haven't had much of that yet,

but it can be made on demand,

and Sarah will be finding out

about that later on.

Now, from snow to extreme heat.

Our weather review of the year

continues with a scorching summer

in southern Europe.

Wildfires led to thousands

being evacuated from campsites

in France, spending the night

on beaches near St Tropez.

Portugal in June, and a catastrophic

forest fire kills more

than 60 people.

It is the country's worst disaster

for more than a quarter

of a century.

When a flash flood rages

through a major city,

disaster strikes.

In August, a massive downpour

sends muddy water surging

through the streets

of Sierra Leone in West Africa.

And then a mountainside collapses

in an avalanche of mud,

burying whole communities

as they slept.

Hundreds of people are killed,

thousands lose their homes.

Now, more snow, and your BBC

Weather Watcher pictures

of the wintry weather which swept

across the UK in early December.

The most widespread

December snow since 2010.

You can become a Weather

Watcher by signing up

at bbc.co.uk/weatherwatchers.

Still to come on Weather World,

we head to the Alps to discover how

sometimes, the old ways

are still the best, especially

when it comes to

predicting an avalanche.

This time on Weather World,

Sarah and I are looking at how

they make snow for the film

and television industry.

We have seen fake snow,

the material they use,

but now this is real snow.

This may look like something

which came from the clouds,

but actually, it came

from this metal box.

Darcey, explain to me how

we are about to make real snow

inside this box, then?

The box is a cryogenic chamber.

A gun fires water, and adds

compressed air, and the water

is smashed into tiny, tiny pieces.

We also fire liquid nitrogen.

So the smashed water

is like a cloud inside a box,

with liquid nitrogen,

freezing it down to -20,

so it falls like snow

inside the box.

Wonderful.

Let's close these

doors and get started.

So, Darcey, this has been churning

away now for about 90 minutes now.

Shall we crack open the doors

and have a look at the snow inside?

Yes, indeed!

Wow, check this out!

Look at that snow.

I can tell you, that is soft

and fluffy and freezing cold.

It feels just like real snow.

Is it exactly the same

as naturally occurring snow??

It's exactly the same

as natural snow.

So once you've made all of this snow

here, how do you transport it

to a film set?

We literally shovel it

into a refrigerated truck and we set

the temperature at the perfect

temperature to keep it

in top condition.

And do people tend to like to use

more real snow or fake snow?

They think they want to use

real snow, but fake snow

is faster and warmer.

You can imagine, if you lie on this

all day you'll get pneumonia.

If you lie in the fake snow all day,

it's lovely and warm and cosy.

Thank you so much for showing us

around and showing us how this snow

is manufactured here.

For now, where is Nick?

Heavy snow in February led

to avalanches in Afghanistan

and the French Alps, both resulting

in several fatalities.

Sarah Thornton travelled to Austria,

where heavy snow in the first part

of this ski season has meant

predicting avalanches

is especially important.

Every year, hundreds of thousands

of people descend here to the Alps

looking for some winter fun,

but for the thrill seekers,

and especially those

who like to go off-piste,

avalanches are an

ever-present threat.

The main methods of protection date

back decades and there's not

a computer in sight.

I put the shovel on the top

and I pound like 30 times,

with different intensity.

Now, here we can see

the first crack.

After the 27th time of pounding...

You're saying it took quite a few

times for you to pound this and get

this crack here?

Here in the Tyrol, they're concerned

about two key danger

patterns for avalanches.

Early season snow forming a weak

ground-level layer and forecast

winds leaving fresh powder around.

But the team say on-piste

skiers are protected.

They have the avalanche barriers,

they have in the morning

the avalanche commission,

who is opening the runs

or completely closing

the runs if it's unsafe.

Off-piste skiers and snowboarders

are most at risk from avalanches.

There are high-tech gadgets that can

help save anyone caught up

in an avalanche, but it's low-tech

tools that keep people away

from danger in the first place.

Some of the biggest weather

headlines of 2017 came

during a record-breaking

Atlantic hurricane season.

Texas, in August, where Harvey

becomes the first major hurricane

to hit the USA in nearly 12 years.

Scientists have estimated Harvey

dropped 127 billion tons of water,

no other tropical cyclone has

produced so much rain in the USA.

Hurricane Irma is next,

slamming into the Caribbean.

It's getting really intense now

in the centre section.

More than 100 people are known

to have died as a result of Irma.

It's September and there's another

category five hurricane

in the Caribbean, Maria.

With ten consecutive hurricanes,

this was one of the costliest

Atlantic seasons on record.

August, and Typhoon Hato slams

into China with the same terrifying

mix of destructive wind

and torrential rain as a hurricane.

The Pacific typhoon season was much

less active than normal.

Even so, there were several powerful

systems, including this one

in Vietnam, in November.

But as a cyclone's every twist

and turn is tracked minute

by minute, the annual monsoon deluge

in south-east Asia goes

on for months, causing

the worst floods in decades.

In India, the eastern state

of Bihar is hit hardest.

In total, millions of people

are forced from their homes and more

than 1,000 are killed.

This is what's left behind

after a flash flood in Pakistan's

most populated city, Karachi.

The monsoon rains bring

much-needed moisture for crops,

but they always come

with a human cost.

In September, the weather

in space was as tumultuous

as it was on Earth.

So much so that it led

to radio blackouts.

Nasa recorded the biggest solar

flare for over a decade.

But why should a flare

have such an impact?

Matt's been to Cambridge

to get the answer from

the British Antarctic Survey.

So Antarctica is a brilliant

place to observe space?

It is, actually.

It's very, very radio quiet,

so we can pick up radio signals

in the Antarctic which

we can't do elsewhere.

We detect special types of radio

waves and those charged particles,

when accelerated at high energies,

pose a risk of damage to satellites.

In fact, they are called killer

electrons, because they've been

known to kill

spacecraft in the past.

One of the largest solar flares ever

to be witnessed was the Carrington

event, named after the British

astronomer who observed it in 1859.

He sketched what he'd seen

on the sun, telegraph systems

went haywire worldwide.

Scientists have estimated that

something similar today could cost

billions, if not trillions,

given our ever increasing reliance

on satellite technology.

Colour-coded here, you can see

the radiation belts,

the regions of high energy charged

particles, electrons.

They're trapped in the

Earth's magnetic field.

Geostationary orbit is out here,

in the outer edge, and the GPS

satellites, they fly pretty much

through the heart of this radiation

belt here, where the

radiation is most intense.

Ideally you want the satellites

to be stationed in between

the radiation belts?

There's a gap between inner

and outer belt where the radiation

is much lower, but there are periods

where that region gets filled

with high energy charged particles

and that's a high-risk period

for those spacecraft.

And that can have a big

impact on daily life

here on Earth, can't it?

Well, if you think that we rely more

and more on our satellites

for mobile phones, for TV,

for internet, for all kinds

of communications, banking,

that kind of stuff, yeah,

it's a really important major part

of our life in the modern world.

So next time you gaze skywards

or simply pick up your smartphone,

just think how seemingly small

changes in the sun could cause

sudden and drastic changes

to the way you live your life.

November marked 150 years

of the shipping forecast.

The shipping forecast

for the next 12 hours.

The disturbance near the Hebrides

is almost stationary...

Produced by the Met Office

on behalf of the Maritime

and Coastguard Agency,

it's believed to be the longest

running forecast of

its kind in the world.

That crucial forecast data

is produced daily here at the Met

Office.

There was just a feeling

that there was too much risk

of loss of life...

Catherine Ross, the chief archivist,

showed me the first weather charts

from 150 years ago.

What they did rather cleverly

was basically put pins

through the paper, and so you can

kind of see just about these little

pinpricks here, and that meant

they were always plotting the same

information in the same place.

And you can see how they changed

from having no maps to very detailed

maps and it was known

as the storm warning service,

but it became known

as the iconic shipping forecast.

Humber - west or south-west, five

or six, occasionally four later.

The shipping forecast is not just

for mariners but it's also listened

to by hundreds of thousands of us

every day on Radio 4.

South-west, five to seven.

Occasional rain, good,

occasionally moderate.

And that's a flavour of the bulletin

which is broadcast four times a day.

At 5:20am it needs to be

exactly nine minutes long,

so on a calm day I can take my time

in describing the weather conditions

for the 31 different sea areas,

whereas on a stormy day I'll have

to speak much quicker in order

to fit all that information

into the same nine-minute window.

Storm warnings in October

as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia

hit Ireland and the UK.

Ophelia was the easternmost major

hurricane ever recorded

in the Atlantic.

This roof was ripped

from a school in Ireland.

The government here

called the situation

a "national emergency".

And Ophelia had a stranger side

to it, turning the sky an eerie

orange because of Saharan dust swept

up on the storm's path to the UK.

But when it comes to air pollution,

this is just about as bad

as it gets.

Delhi, in November, and the smog

so thick and toxic it's said

to produce effects equivalent

to smoking 50 cigarettes a day.

In the USA, more tropical rain

and flooding and this remarkable

view of a house being swept along

a river in New Hampshire,

as Tropical Storm Philippe hit

the east coast of the USA

at the end of October.

But over in California,

fire, as months of hot,

dry weather followed last

winter's record rain,

plunging the state right back

into wildfire crisis.

In December, fires hit

the south of the state,

near Los Angeles.

The largest burning an area

the size of New York.

In the UK, Storm Caroline

arrives in December.

Scotland bears the brunt with winds

of up to 90 miles per hour,

but colder air that follows Caroline

is felt across the UK,

blanketing large areas of snow.

The most in seven years.

Not everyone is a fan of snow.

But if it's the very first

time you've seen it,

you can't help but be excited,

even if you're a dog.

Truffle, the Yorkshire

cocker spaniel puppy,

trying to get to grips

with the white stuff.

And that's it for this time

from our Weather World Winter

Wonderland.

And for highlights from our

previous programmes,

go to bbc.co.uk/weatherworld.

There's one thing I want to know

about fake and real snow.

Which is the best

for a snowball fight?

Let's find out!

Bring it on!

They are quite hard, aren't they?

Yours are harder!

Come on, Sarah!

You're not even trying!

Oh!

That's right in my ear!

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Steph McGovern.

Universities are warned they must

protect free speech -

and allow students to both hear

and challenge controversial views.

The Universities minister says

academic institutions

should be places that open

minds not close them.

Good morning, it's Tuesday

the 26th of December.

Also this morning:

The Boxing Day sales used to be

a big deal for bargain-hunters,

but new BBC research suggests

that the traditional post-Christmas

spending spree is losing its appeal.

In sport -

Avoiding an Ashes whitewash

is England's task now

but Australia have dominated

the opening day of the fourth

Test in Melbourne.

David Warner with his first century

of the series.

Some parts of the UK officially had

a White Christmas but what can

we expect this Boxing day?

Philip has the weather.

At least for some, there was a white

Christmas. I will have all the

details on whether many more of you

will see something at it like this

in just a few minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story.

The Universities Minister,

Jo Johnson, will use a speech today

to give his clearest warning yet

that academic institutions must

protect free speech.

He'll say students must be able

to both hear and challenge

controversial views

during their years of study.

Some universities and student groups

have refused entry to speakers,

Edward Curwen reports.

Time spent at university must open

minds, not close them. That is the

view of Jo Johnson, the universities

minister, who will today set out a

firm defence on free speech in

campuses. Speaking at a Jewish

festival in Birmingham, he says that

students must be free to challenge

each other's' views and those

seeking to stifle those who don't

agree with them must be stopped. The

debate comes after speakers from

speakers from the state of Israel to

chant -- transgender rights, have

been stopped. Others have demanded

so-called safe spaces where they

went here about issues they might

find upsetting. Mr Johnson will say

this cannot be tolerated.

Reiterating universities have an

obligation to protect free speech

and encourage frank and rigourous

debate. From next April, and --a new

body representing universities says

it will not allow legitimate debate

to be stifled. The challenge will be

deciding where to draw the line

between extremist speech and a frank

exchange of views.

Millions are expected to head out

to the Boxing Day sales,

marking the start of a what has

traditionally been a crucial period

for retailers across the UK.

Our reporter John McManus

is on Oxford Street in London.

You can see some people queueing.

There are a few people here. Not 45

minutes ago that the queues are

starting to build up. People used to

camp out overnight in order to get

their hands firstly on these sales.

Many people begin their online

shopping on Christmas Day. They

unwrap their online discount and go

online to start shopping. Online has

taken some of the buzz out of it and

we know that many people prefer to

shop on Black Friday, could you

start day that happens before

Christmas. -- the discount day.

Retailers will have two look at

where they target their discounts,

before or after Christmas. -- will

have to look. We know that much of

the purchasing that goes on here

over the next week comes from non-

British people, foreign visitors,

tourists, taking advantage of the

weak pound to grab a bargain and in

particular, Chinese visitors who

account for quite a lot of spending

at high end shops like Selfridge's

where we are this morning. Retailers

count on that.

We will be talking about this

throughout the programme. If you are

out and about, perhaps you are a

sales yourself, let us know.

The Royal Navy says there has been

an increase in the number of Russian

ships travelling through,

or near the UK's territorial waters

over the festive period.

On Christmas Day, HMS

St Albans was sent to escort

a Russian warship through

the North Sea as it passed close

to UK waters.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson

said he will not "tolerate any

form of aggression".

A 20-year-old man will appear before

magistrates this morning charged

with murder, after a fatal stabbing

in a restaurant in Middlesbrough

on Christmas Eve.

Efreeqi Mohamed Siddig is accused

of killing 41-year-old

Mazhar Ali from Stockton-on-Tees

who died in hospital yesterday.

A British woman being held

on suspicion of drug-smuggling

will appear in court

in Egypt later this morning.

Laura Plummer was arrested

in October when officials found 290

tramadol tablets in her suitcase,

which are legal in the UK,

but not in Egypt.

The shop assistant from Hull says

she was carrying the pills

for her Egyptian partner,

who suffers from back pain.

The NHS has promised to cut back

on prescribing gluten-free biscuits,

pasta and anti-dandruff shampoo.

A study by the TaxPayers' Alliance

has found many items,

which are prescribed by GPs

in England, are available

in supermarkets - often

at a much cheaper price.

Nick Quraishi reports.

The TaxPayers' Alliance has

highlighted a number of items it

says were prescribed

on the NHS last year.

They include this sunscreen.

A nonbranded version

is available for half the price.

Branded gluten-free biscuits,

significantly more

expensive than a

supermarket equivalent.

Ibuprofen, 30% cheaper

away from the NHS.

And Colgate toothpaste,

over-the-counter it is 70% cheaper.

The TaxPayers' Alliance says...

In response, an NHS

England spokesman said...

The health service says

it is already reviewing ten items it

claims are ineffective, unnecessary

and inappropriate for prescriptions.

Nick Quraishi, BBC News.

How did you spend

your Christmas Day?

Eating?

Drinking?

Bit of telly?

How about jumping out of a plane

wearing only a floppy suit?

That's what the competitors

at the Wingsuit Flying World Cup got

up to as Tim Allman explains.

You know what they say -

what goes up must come down.

A principle they understand

all too well at the

Wingsuit Flying World Cup.

Teams from around the globe

competing in this extreme

and hair-raising sport.

TRANSLATION:

I travelled

more than 400 kilometres

to see this.

We arrived here early

in the morning, just to watch

the wingsuit flying show.

It's spectacular!

You can say that again.