28/02/2018 London News

That's all from the BBC News at Six

-- so it's goodbye from me -

Coming up on the programme tonight:

The severe weather affects millions

- in and around London -

as trains and planes are disrupted

by snow and ice.

Since Sunday,

by snow and ice.

Since Sunday, we

by snow and ice.

Since Sunday, we have

by snow and ice.

Since Sunday, we have put

by snow and ice.

Since Sunday, we have put down

by snow and ice.

Since Sunday, we have put down about

by snow and ice.

Since Sunday, we have put down about

60 tonnes of grit in the Square mile

and have average and a daily 24-hour

shift about 150 workers working to

do that.

And as it could be about to get even

worse, we'll have the latest travel

information to help you over

the next 24 hours.

And I am in Essex, were freezing

cold temperatures brought buses and

trains to a standstill this morning

and forced many schoolchildren,

their parents and commuters stay

indoors.

Also tonight:

The campaigners battling

a terminal disease -

as well as the Government -

over whether sufferers should be

forced back to work.

Go! Go!

Go!

And from snowball fights

to sledging - Londoners make

the most of the weather,

with some schools

cancelling PE - for less

traditional school activities.

Good evening.

I'm Asad Ahmed.

Snow all around us from first

light this morning -

and a short time ago,

in Central London,

it started to fall again.

Many schools were shut,

while commuters battled

just to get into and around London.

Freezing temperatures

didn't help matters,

with a biting wind chill

being felt everywhere.

There wasn't an area of London

or the Home Counties

which escaped the freeze,

and it could all be

about to get worse tonight.

Our correspondent, Tom Edwards, has

been seeing how London has coped.

This was the day the Beast from

the East repeatedly hit the capital

with thick snow flurries.

There one minute, only

to quickly disappear.

First thing, Londoners

woke up to a thick layer

of snow, which meant

tricky journeys and icy roads.

In East Dulwich, this driver slid

down Dog Kennel Hill.

Buses didn't run on some routes,

this one came off the road.

And those that did run were packed.

For Tom, from Twickenham,

that meant a much longer journey.

I think snow is going to cause

disruption anywhere,

I understand it being a difficulty.

But I think, by this point,

you'd hope we can prepare

a little bit better for it.

I mean, you know, it was known ahead

of time that it was going to snow,

there could have been a bit more

prep work, I think.

There were again delays

and cancellations on many Tube

lines and on the trains.

Normally, you can clearly

see the Shard here.

Dozens of South-Eastern

services were unable to run.

Cancellations into London Fenchurch

and Charing Cross, for example.

And this is usually a view

of the Thames at Blackfriars.

The main roads have been gritted

and salted and are flowing,

as you can see, pretty well.

That's not, though,

the case on the side roads.

They haven't been gritted at all.

Much more treacherous.

That's also the case

on the pavements.

Road surfaces, though,

changed quickly throughout the day,

and some tried their best

to grip the pavements.

and some tried their best

to grit the pavements.

Stephen looks after his street.

We all work together and keep

the area as best we can.

As snow showers came

and went, conditions

changed from hour to hour,

and vehicles inched around.

Or, in this case, gave up.

Airports also cancelled flights.

This was Stansted.

Commuters, though,

were pretty resilient.

I'm used to this.

I've been in the country

for a while, so I'm not too...

I'm not too bothered.

I just take my time.

It's not been too bad,

about 20 minutes late also.

But I know my colleagues have

struggled to get in, so...

In the Square Mile, it

hasn't snowed since 2014.

There, they've been working

through the day to grip the roads.

There, they've been working

through the day to grit the roads.

What we do is the main roads first,

and we move to our main pavements.

We keep police stations accessible,

hospitals, public service buildings,

and then we move to

the other backstreets to do

the pavements there.

This timelapse footage

shows London being hit

by the snowstorms again and again.

The bad news for commuters is,

more snow is forecast.

Well, Tom Edwards is at

Victoria Station tonight,

and he'll have the latest travel

information for you.

But before we hear from him,

let's head to Essex,

where thick snow fell overnight.

Chris Rogers has

spent the day there.

Chris, tell us what it's been like.

I don't care what it looked like on

television. About five layers and

thermals and it is -4 here and I can

still feel the cold. This epitomises

what happened in many parts of Essex

this morning. If you lived here, you

could not give -- get buses, they

were not running. And even if you

did get to those train stations, the

trains were not running. Not so much

the snow as the freezing

temperatures that practically shut

many parts of Essex town.

Chelmsford was a ghost town this

morning.

No one was going anywhere,

with bus routes suspended and trains

delayed or cancelled. No wonder many

decided to stay at home.

For those determined to get to work,

it was not just icy tracks causing

delays and cancellations. Dave

usually mans the ticket machines.

Today, it was all hands on deck, or

should I say platforms? What is the

problem with the doors?

They can be

frozen and shut because of the

river.

Fred was trying to get the

doors working.

We will do whatever

it takes, we have drafted in extra

staff and there have been people at

the platform since 5am clearing

snow. People in the depot have been

de-icing the trains. We are used to

adverse conditions. Not quite as bad

as this, but we used are trying to

get the service.

On the roads, and

thus gritting paid off with main

routes remaining driveable.

But

where was everyone? We are a bit

busy today. We are just advising

people to keep as warm as they can.

We have got vehicles on the way to

you.

But imparts B roads, --

impossible B roads were making life

difficult for the East of England

Ambulance Service.

Difficult day

with the weather so we are

unfortunately stacking holes and

responses to patients at the moment

due to the number of calls and

resources we have on the road and

the driving conditions are proving

difficult to deal with. It is not

typical to have this level of snow,

it has come down very liquid which

has been challenging to get the

roads clear and we are having

difficulties getting the ambulances

through in difficult areas like

coastal areas in Essex and is toward

the South bend, it is difficult

driving circumstances so difficult

at this level of delays going

through the patients for the Road

traffic conditions we have got.

We

need the 200 schools close across

Essex, many parents had to stay and

work from home -- with nearly.

My

daughter was off school so we have

come out lunch break.

Is that what a

lot of people have done, Essex teams

have been abandoned?

Definitely, a

lot of our systems are really slow

because the amount of people trying

taxes them from home. Will you be

back at school tomorrow?

I hope not,

but maybe.

As temperatures stayed

well below freezing, there was

little appetite for anyone else as

-- for anything else but sledging

and snowball fights. I think we

should hear from Nick Miller about

tonight and tomorrow. I understand

storm Emma is on the way.

People

will think it is not happening

because there has been no snow but

it has turned cold and snowy and the

impacts have grown. We'll certainly

not out this. It is the beast from

East and now Stom Emma and people

are wondering what we can expect

from that. This is an area of low

pressure in Iberia now moving North

and the head of that, it is passing

the moisture into the bitterly cold

across the UK and our part of the

world. And that does mean more snow

on the way. The good news is that it

does not look like we're in the real

dangerous targets this system. That

is more towards south-west England

and Wales. But tomorrow, it instead

of sunshine and snow showers, it

will be a cloudy day with outbreaks

of snow on and off on Thursday and

lasting Thursday night and perhaps

until Friday. We may not see

significant accumulations, but we

will see further accumulations. Any

snow is an issue and it will be

measured in further centimetres on

what we have got. Yes, there is more

snow on the way. The West from

London, you will more significant

snow there are than here. That does

not mean to say we're not out of the

woods, very challenging conditions

still remain.

Very much.

We will hear from you later in the

programme.

OK, so now we know

how things might be -

let's hear from Tom Edwards

at Victoria Station.

Tom many people struggled today -

what's the advice for

tonight and tomorrow?

I am afraid it is Groundhog Day at

Victoria and even worse than it was

last night. Big crowds here, look at

the boards, Orpington cancelled,

Ramsgate. London bridged also

delayed. And the trains leaving

Victoria as you can see from this

pottage are absolutely packed, it is

going to be a big struggle for

people to get home from here

tonight. And I am afraid it will be

the same tomorrow morning. This is

the advice so far at the moment.

Revised timetables for Southern and

south-eastern and some stations may

be closed in Kent and some branch

lines, south-western as well. And

also see QT may be running an

amended timetable. There is some

good news, a full-service, we hope,

and Greater Anglia, Stansted

express, Thames Link and great

Northern. As 40th all services, this

is what they had to say. -- as for

Transport for London services.

So there were some issues this

morning on the London Underground

system, and those were sorted out

fairly quickly as we

went through the day.

We had a smaller disruption to bus

routes, at the worst,

we had 30 routes affected out

of over 500 routes

operating across London.

And we've had our gritters out

of traffic has been flowing

pretty well on the major

route across London.

We're going to have our

gritters out on the roads,

we've got overnight making sure

that your rails are de-iced

and trains can keep running

and so on, but I would advise people

to check before you travel,

because you never know,

there may be localised disruption

to you when you want to go

travelling in the morning.

This is what the Evening Standard as

saying. Because these snow showers

are extremely localised in some

cases, the best advice is to check

those websites. Back to you.

At

Victoria Station, thanks very much.

Breaking news now just in as I speak

about a man aged in his 60s who has

died at Stanson on SPARC in South

East London, very popular among dog

walkers. He was found dead in the

water and it is understood he went

into the water to rescue his dog. If

we have more information on that, we

will bring it to you later. Snow is

talking point of the day and we will

have more.

But there's also this to come too.

They're already battling a terminal

disease, now these campaigners

are fighting the Government over

whether they should be

forced back into work.

Hundreds of teenagers gathered

at a church in West London today

for the funerals of two friends

killed by a drunk driver.

Harry Rice and Josh McGuiness died

alongside another boy,

George Wilkinson as they walked

to a birthday party in Hayes.

Tonight, their parents said their

grief is like a 'life sentence' -

and they want the driver to be

given one too.

Here's Katharine Carpenter.

A final journey along

familiar streets.

On this, the bleakest of days,

friends and strangers in Harefield

paused to pay their respects.

These were local boys, and their

deaths have been devastating.

An absolute treasure.

And that's the only way

I can describe him,

he was just a treasure,

because he was so kind.

We have our own life

sentence now of just pure,

it's like torture every day.

I can only describe how I feel,

it's like Groundhog Day every day.

And I just don't know,

I don't know what we'll do.

The teenagers, described as 'cheeky

and fun-loving', were mown down

by a speeding drunk driver

a month ago.

They were with others on the way

to a birthday party.

Today, hundreds of their friends

gathered for their funeral.

Young shoulders carrying

a heavy burden.

A church so packed,

some stood outside in the snow.

Teenagers do get a bad press,

but all their friends,

what they've done from the minute

of this crash, they've arranged

and organised events.

They got the whole community

within a day, they wrote

to the council, got the council

to reduce the speed limit,

and they've promised

to maybe put the cameras in.

They also described the boys

who stopped the fleeing

car driver as heroes,

and say, from now on,

their focus will be campaigning

for tougher sentences for those who

kill behind the wheel.

Katherine Carpenter,

BBC London News.

And our condolences to the three

families involved.

Motor Neuron Disease.

In every single case, it's terminal.

Sufferers often die within two

years of being diagnosed,

which is why campaigners today

protested outside Parliament

against a Government

policy which routinely

re-assesses patients,

to see if they're

well enough to work.

Marc Ashdown was also there.

Liam Dwyer is something of a miracle

man, MND patients rarely survive

more than a few years,

but he's been battling

the disease for 12 years.

He and his wife Anna are under no

illusions how tough things will get.

Pretty horrendous, and it will take

away the use of all the muscles.

And it will leave people,

the majority of people,

unable to speak, unable to walk,

and eventually, they can not eat

and swallow, and eventually,

their breathing muscles as well.

Carrying on working, then,

is out of the question.

The government's employment support

allowance provides finance

when someone can't work

due to a disability.

But some 600 MND patients,

including Liam, face

being reassessed to see

if they're now able to work.

They don't know what causes it.

There is the treatment for it,

there is no cure for it.

So people are not

going to get better.

So it's a waste of the government's

time, and it's very frustrating

and hard for people

to have to deal with.

They don't want to know.

It's ridiculous.

Yeah.

You do get frustrated

with it, don't you.

Liam joined other MND patients

and families outside

Parliament today to send

a message to ministers.

Once assessed as unable to work,

people like Dave here should be

allowed to get on with living.

There's no way I will improve.

MND 100% never improves,

you only get worse with it.

So to do reassessments ridiculous,

which is stress on us as families.

But also, it's a waste

of public money.

They want a quality of life,

they want to actually live,

instead of having all the stress.

And that's why we're here today.

I lost my husband to

motor neurone disease.

I lost four family members

to motor neurone disease.

I had no physical reserves.

The disease is probably

best known because of

Professor Stephen Hawking,

who's been battling

it for decades.

But he is very much

as unique as his mind.

A third of patients die

in the first year of diagnosis.

More than half within two years.

The Department for Work and Pensions

told us they know how difficult

it can be for people

with debilitating conditions,

and they're constantly ensuring

assessments are kept

as easy as possible.

Since September,

MND patients registering

are no longer reassessed.

That still leaves people like Liam

facing stress and frustration

when time is sadly against them.

Mark Ashdown, BBC London News.

A woman who was rescued

from the 19th floor

of Grenfell Tower in June

- has died.

Those who knew her have

described her as a 'flamboyant

and colourful character',

although she was already suffering

from long-term health conditions.

Alex Bushill is here

and can tell us more.

Very sad, this, Alex.

She was known

as Pilly. Her husband said she died

at the end of last month. For the

previous seven months up until then,

she had been in hospital. From

previous interviews, they lived on

the 19th floor and she had advanced

outsiders because she couldn't walk.

That's why he felt he was unable to

carry her down 38 flights of steps

at Grenfell when the fire broke out

to effect an escape. He followed

advice given and waited three hours

before they were eventually rescued,

around 3:30 in the morning. Her

husband put in a statement that she

was "A colourful, flamboyant and

loving person that we were together

the 34 years, and she was simply the

love of his life."

Alex Bushell,

thank you.

London has some of the highest rates

of child poverty in the country,

and over the last decade things have

got even worse.

It's why a mother from Wandsworth,

who became concerned

about the situation set up a charity

for babies and young

children in need.

It's called 'Little Village'

and takes donations of baby

clothes and accessories,

giving them to those in need.

And the charity says

the number of families

using its service is on the rise.

Over the last month, we've seen

babies sleeping on towels and sofa

cushions, toddlers walking

round in shoes two sizes too small.

This is the face of

poverty in London today

and it's on our doorsteps.

Now to our look at how London has

been influenced by cultures

from around the world.

Today, we look at how

the community from Down-Under

has added to our appreciation

of art and food.

And before we go to

the National Gallery,

Wendy Hurrell takes us to meet some

very active Australian women

enjoying the taste

of home right here.

Colourful conversation

and shared humour over brunch

on the Grand Union Canal

at Paddington.

We call this mashed avocado.

But here, they call

it smashed avocado.

That's a bit of a cultural

exchange, isn't it!

This community's contribution

to the capital is, amongst

other things, fresh food

and a coffee culture.

These are members of the Australian

women's club, who more than 10,000

miles from home get together at

art galleries, theatres and cinemas.

They just absolutely love

everything about London.

Its dynamism, its interest,

its history, its culture.

And they really embrace

all their different interests.

You'll never see everything you can

in London, but we're certainly

making a good shot at it!

The lure of London's culture

is nothing new to the Antipodeans.

There's another Australian

that spent time in London,

a painter called Arthur Streeton.

He came here eventually in 1897,

and though he didn't really get

the recognition he deserved

and sent most of his work back home,

he lived in the capital

for 30 years.

Now, though, one of his paintings

sits very comfortable in the same

room as those by van Gogh, Cezanne,

Gauguin at the National Gallery

in Trafalgar Square.

He had never been to Europe.

He knew about the new modern

European painting being done

by the impressionists in France.

He said, I'm going to

try my hand at this.

I don't think any

French impressionist painter

would have chosen this

very strongly vertical format.

The cliff, the sea, this very vivid

line that zigzags across the picture

is like Chinese calligraphy.

So here, you have a young man,

isolated, if you will,

off in Australia, but absorbing

with a kind of extraordinary freedom

the various influences he could find

and producing a highly original

art from it.

Arthur Streeton at the turn

of the 20th century kept Australia

in touch with art in Europe.

And it's a cultural conversation

that continues today.

Wendy Hurrell, BBC London News.

And you can see more on how cultures

have been creative -

on 'Civilisations' - starting

tomorrow on BBC Two at 9 o'clock.

Back to the snow now.

And yes, it brings difficulties

with travelling around

and keeping yourself warm.

But admit it.

It is good fun, too,

and this all comes days

after the Winter Olympics ended.

So has it given people

a taste to try their hand

at something knew, or does

a good old fashioned

snowball fight still win the day?

Chris Slegg as been finding out.

Are you ready? Staff, are you ready?

Go!

If snowball fighting was a sport at

the Winter Olympics, the children in

South end would win the gold. They

don't believe in snowball bands

here, in fact, the pupils take on

the teachers. London's very own

Winter Olympics is not just about

snowball fighting, we have the first

snowman World Cup going on in

Regents Park. Over there, T Mexico,

they admit they do not have an awful

lot of experience and are taking on

to my right our very own team GB.

Look at that, a huge amount of snow,

this could be big.

It depends on how

much free time we have, it could

become a snowman.

How are the opposition getting on?

To be honest, we from Mexico, so it

is our first snowman ever in the

world. We are not experts in

constructing a snowman.

Meanwhile,

over on Primrose hill, competition

in the louche was intense. The

champions, though, had to be Daisy

and misty, who had their school

closed for the afternoon.

We have

been doing this together since we

were four.

We have done years of going into

trees and things, but now we've

mastered it.

You certainly have!

Others, though, certainly haven't.

No medal there. Back at the snowman

making competition, there are

surprise champions.

The final whistle goes, this is the

end product, T Mexico's first ever

snowman. I'm impressed.

It was

definitely teamwork, and you know,

why not do something fun on a

Wednesday!

Fun has not been in short

supply.

I loved the way teachers were taking

on the pupils in the snowball fight,

don't you love the way the reporters

are wrapped up in their woolly

jumpers tonight. Will they be

wearing them tomorrow?

They need to be. The snow is not

going anywhere, it is so cold. The

snow showers come down and nothing

melts, and we got more snow showers

in the short term before a longer

spell of snow is on its way. It is a

strange day when I came to work and

found more snow in central London

from my direction in

Buckinghamshire, this is a picture

from today, looks beautiful, but we

know it has been bitter out there.

And the snow has been causing

problems. There are snow showers out

there at the moment and will

continue to fall here and there

overnight. A fume or centimetres in

places, but most will get a further

dusting here and there. It will fade

further in the night, but there is

more cloud showing up here, so it's

not going to be as cold tonight as

it was last night, but it will feel

just as cold because of that win. To

weather warnings, Met Office yellow,

a warning for snow on Thursday and

Friday as storm MR approaches, and

not just snowing but windier than it

has been, so wind chill is a

significant factor again. --

temporary work. It looks like things

will be worst from this across

England and Wales because of the Met

office amber warning covering

Hampshire and Berkshire as well, so

you don't need to go too far west of

London to find conditions like in

London as well. Tomorrow will show

its hand, and it is a different day

because we have had sunshine and

showers, a cloudy day, solid white

here, and outbreaks of snow at times

during the day. It will still be

bitterly cold, not quite as cold in

some spots, but the wind is still a

factor and makes it feel much colder

than the temperature might suggest,

particularly with the strength of

wind, approaching 20 mph with

stronger gusts as well. It looks

like outbreaks of snow will continue

on Thursday night, and for much of

Friday as well, giving further into

metres in places. Look at next week,

temperatures are heading up. Maybe a

hint of spring at last.

Thanks the now.

Before we go, a look at the day's

main news headlines.

And no surprise about

what everyone's talking about.

Snow and ice warnings are in place

across large parts of northern

and eastern Britain,

with roads closed, trains

cancelled and planes delayed.

Thousands of schools closed

across the UK as sub zero

temperatures took grip.

Readers are urged to check before

they cavil tomorrow as temperatures

continue to plummet tonight.

That's it.

Do keep your pictures

coming in of the snow.

Send them on Facebook or Twitter

and feel free to film yourself

describing what it's like and how

much you're enjoying or hating it.

We may just get you on TV.

I'll be back at 10:30

with our next news on BBC One.

Stay warm.

I'll see you then.