30/12/2016 South Today

Hello, I'm Anjana Gadgil with the news here in the South.

17 people were taken to hospital this morning

on a motorway slip road in Oxfordshire.

It happened on the northbound exit at Junction 7 of the M40,

Thick fog made access to the scene more difficult,

and the slip road itself was closed for several hours.

Passengers escaped in such a hurry they left their belongings behind.

16 adults plus the coach driver were taken

to the John Radcliffe Hospital after last night's crash.

We had to stabilise the coach to prevent it sliding down the bank

any further and from rocking from side to side,

to make sure that the rescue operation was safe.

Then we had to search the immediate area for anybody that may have been

ejected from the vehicle, so we used thermal imaging cameras,

we used some of our remote cameras we have there,

we had a period of using audible detection,

so we needed a certain amount of silence.

when the Heathrow Express bus came off the M40 here at junction seven.

It went crashing through the barriers and flipped.

Certainly it would have been a chaotic scene.

You've got people inside who are probably wanting to get out

Also their medical welfare needs to be taken into account,

and sometimes getting them out quickly

isn't necessarily the best thing for them.

Two things that we are looking into, obviously keeping an open mind,

but the two main things are very foggy at the time and the driving

conditions and the fact that the bus wouldn't normally be leaving

It's not the first time a coach has veered off

This on-board footage from 2010 shows the moment

when an Oxford Tube bus crashed at the very same slip road.

The slip road was closed while barriers were prepared here today.

The Oxford Bus Company has been contacting passengers this afternoon

and as foggy conditions remain, investigations are continuing

to try to work out how this crash happened.

The fog has caused trouble problems across the region. Full visibility

on the coast affected ferry crossings. This view from Poole Bay

was typical. There have been delays and cancellations on flights at

Gatwick -- Gatwick, Heathrow and Southampton airports.

Meanwhile, Southern Rail is warning of severe disruption

as conductors stage another three-day strike.

The company says some routes will have no service

at all tomorrow, New Year's Day and Monday the 2nd -

while the majority of others will have a very limited service.

It is the biggest night out of the year but many people

are going to struggle to get home afterwards,

as the Southern strikes roll on into their 28th day.

The RMT insist they are not trying to disrupt

We did cancel the strikes on Christmas Eve

and the day before, you'll recollect.

We've done everything we can to recognise that the public have

been wonderful in supporting our position on maintaining

the safety-critical role of the guard on the train.

Once again Southern say they will have to cancel

around 50% of trains due to the strike.

Crucially, though, they are warning anyone who is planning

to use the trains to get home after a New Year's night out that

many later services, in particular, will be completely cancelled.

The conductors are striking over plans to give drivers responsibility

changing the conductors' roles to that of an on-board supervisor.

Southern said 220 conductors have signed up to the new contract

and many will begin their new roles from the 1st of January.

The proposals we have made are entirely reasonable.

We think the union's reaction has been unreasonable

We think these strikes are absolutely unnecessary

and I would call upon the trade unions to call off these strikes

A six-day drivers' strike is planned from January the 9th

and the unions say they can't rule out further action

for 2017 if an agreement isn't reached.

In the championship, the game between Brighton and Reading was

called off due to foggy conditions. In League 1, MK Dons twice held off

a Swindon town comeback to win 3-2 and in League 2, Portsmouth played

out a goalless draw in the fog at Yeovil. Christmas lights display and

a Buckinghamshire village has helped raise money for a girl with a rare

disorder. Frankie Ross has a syndrome which affects one in every

10,000 girls. More than ?1300 is going towards health care for her.

Now here is your regional weather forecast from Dan Downs.

It's generally cloudy to end the year, but for most

of us, it should be dry for the New Year's festivities.

As we can see, there's a cold front pushing down across the country

through New Year's Eve into New Year's Day but I think,

for most of us, it will stay dry until at least the small hours

Behind it, high pressure becomes more dominant again,

keeping things dry and settled but rather cold.

Tonight, we've still got some issues with fog and there is

a yellow weather warning in force from the Met Office

right through until ten o'clock tomorrow morning.

More cloud around tonight than last night, but temperatures not always

But we will see a touch of frost in places along with that fog

More some breaks in it, though, at times, and foremost, it stay dry.

Temperatures just about creeping into double figures for some.

Into the evening, staying cloudy but, I suspect, dry for most.

That rain comes through earlier on New Year's Day and when it

That's all from us for this evening. Have a happy New Year. Goodbye.

Good evening. Looking ahead to 2017 it looks like we will start off on a

cold note. This weather front will move south in the next day or so

bringing rain with it, but also much colder air following a lull behind.

It will sweep the fog away. It's grey for some places this afternoon.

You could hardly see across the river in the Greater London area.

Met Office warnings are in force.