major incidents have been declared on the isle of wight and in hampshire. hundreds of schools are closed in southern england — in some areas people are being urged to stay indoors. the latest from the south coast in a moment, but first graham satchell on the situation injersey. storm ciaran hit the channel islands with a bang, thunder and lightning and massive hailstones. the power of the storm, remarkable. winds reached more than 100 miles an hour, ripping rooves from buildings. this terrifying moment was caught on a baby monitor. the woman grabs her baby and makes her escape. the emergency services injersey said they responded to hundreds of calls overnight. they worked through horrendous conditions to clear roads and rescue people. there's been a lot of structural damage, a lot of roofs and chimneys down, trees down obviously, a lot of roads are blocked, there is a lot of debris on the roads. at first light, people ventured out to assess the damage. there are trees down all over the island. some buildings have been almost completely destroyed. the power of the wind has blown walls down. that was my car, evie�*s car, big, big tree. in some places it is a scene of utter devastation. charlie's car was parked here and it's moved over there. with the extensive damage to buildings and properties, more than a0 islanders have been evacuated to local hotels. terry and angela had a lucky escape after their chimney came through their roof and fell on them in bed. i thought it was a lot of lightning, then the next thing, everything came down on top of me. so, i suppose i was lucky because i did manage to pull my legs out. and she wasjelly, that's what my wife was like. i was shaking. jersey is still being battered. all flights and ferries have been cancelled, schools are closed. not since the great storm of 1987 have the channel islands seen something as bad as this. graham satchell, bbc news. a short time ago, our correspondent danjohnson sent us this update. this is the destruction that was caused by the high winds that hit around midnight last night. people sa it around midnight last night. people say it sounded _ around midnight last night. people say it sounded like _ around midnight last night. people say it sounded like a _ around midnight last night. people say it sounded like a tornado - say it sounded like a tornado blowing through here. you can see the tree down and even more damage to the cars. if you look at the house, just look at the windows that are smashed through. this is why people had to evacuate last night. they are now moving out what they can, salvaging what they can and considering what to do next. they are homeless, at least temporarily, and there will be a huge clear up job to do here and a lot of repair work needed. it is notjust this street, there are a couple of streets were so many houses have been affected. we know that about a0 people across jersey had to be relocated during the night, either to hotels or to committee centres, where they were staying. this is one of the properties that has been badly damaged on the corner. what was is like last night? it badly damaged on the corner. what was is like last night?— was is like last night? it was like the airjust _ was is like last night? it was like the airjust sucked _ was is like last night? it was like the airjust sucked in _ was is like last night? it was like the airjust sucked in and - was is like last night? it was like the airjust sucked in and it - was is like last night? it was like the airjust sucked in and it blewj the airjust sucked in and it blew out the — the airjust sucked in and it blew out the windows, the ref went, it felt like — out the windows, the ref went, it felt like the roof actually lifted and dropped. felt like the roof actually lifted and mapped-— felt like the roof actually lifted and dro ed. ., .,, and dropped. how frightening was it? a bit sca , and dropped. how frightening was it? a bit scary. i — and dropped. how frightening was it? a bit scary. i was _ and dropped. how frightening was it? a bit scary, i was shaken _ and dropped. how frightening was it? a bit scary, i was shaken up. - and dropped. how frightening was it? a bit scary, i was shaken up. it - and dropped. how frightening was it? a bit scary, i was shaken up. it was . a bit scary, i was shaken up. it was only when— a bit scary, i was shaken up. it was only when we — a bit scary, i was shaken up. it was only when we come out, we realise the windows had gone. then this morning. — the windows had gone. then this morning, we have come out and saw the devastation.— the devastation. what will you do next? the housing _ the devastation. what will you do next? the housing have - the devastation. what will you do next? the housing have turned . the devastation. what will you do | next? the housing have turned up the devastation. what will you do - next? the housing have turned up now so ho efull next? the housing have turned up now so hepefully they _ next? the housing have turned up now so hopefully they will _ next? the housing have turned up now so hopefully they will get _ next? the housing have turned up now so hopefully they will get things - so hopefully they will get things sorted _ so hopefully they will get things sorted out for us.— sorted out for us. sorry to interrunt. _ sorted out for us. sorry to interrupt, all— sorted out for us. sorry to interrupt, all the - sorted out for us. sorry to interrupt, all the best. - sorted out for us. sorry to l interrupt, all the best. lots sorted out for us. sorry to - interrupt, all the best. lots for people to consider, people assessing what damage there is, what they have lost in terms of their property and their car, people checking on family members, making sure others are safe and reallyjust trying to assess how much damage there is an what they can do next. having hitjersey, storm ciaran has continued its path along the south coast of england. major incidents have been declared on the isle of wight and hampshire with many schools closed for the day. some train services have been disrupted and drivers have been told to avoid coastal roads. jenny kumar reports from the cornish seaside town of bude. dramatic scenes from st ives on the north coast of cornwall to teignmouth on the south coast of devon. no one escaped a pounding from the huge waves and strong winds of storm ciaran. the peak of the winds was forecast for before dawn but as the morning has continued, the strong winds have and there have been reports of gusts of up to 95 mph here on the north cornwall coast. that combined with heavy rain has caused widespread disruption. around 200 trees fell down here in cornwall. thousands of properties were left without power. high winds in the south—east blew the front window out of this bus near folkestone in kent. most transport has been disrupted everywhere. here in dover, all crossings have been cancelled. and for the person staying in this caravan in kent, a lucky escape. this tree crashed through the roof moments after he had woken up. but there has been no escape from flooding for some. at this hotel in south devon, guests had a different breakfast experience when water came gushing in. it has been a bit of a shock, we walked down the stairs this morning to find the reception was awash with sea water. massive wave, long story short, hit the doors, smashed them open and they completely came off their hinges. people have been asked to stay away from coastal areas. as winds began to ease here in the cornish coastal town of bude, people have beginning to come out. for these holiday—makers it was not quite the winter break they had envisaged. harsh, very harsh, certainly wakes you up. quite shocked to find it as stormy as this but we are out and about, there you go. it's really fun, we like it, don't we? the amber warning for wind has been downgraded for this afternoon. having made its mark, storm ciaran is due to ease but heavy rain will continue which could make the job of clearing up challenging. jenny kumar, bbc news. we can speak now to karen marshall, who lives in saint peter port, guernsey. thank you forjoining us. what did you see of the storm last night? i you see of the storm last night? i am in an attic flat and the noise was mainly when i woke up in the early morning, it was horrendous, so loud outside with things actually hitting my windows as well. i had my radio on and i still could not hear the radio. i have had a lucky escape, there is an old tree outside and luckily, only a huge branch came off. itjust missed the car in the house. had it been the whole tree, which i was watching wobbling for quite a while and was rather worried, it would deftly have put a hole in the will of the house. sounds terrifying, a lucky escape for you. sounds terrifying, a lucky escape foryou. how sounds terrifying, a lucky escape for you. how does this compare to whether you have seen in your time in guernsey? is the most dramatic storm you can remember in years? it is. we do have a lot of storms, i must admit, but this one was pretty much the storm of all storms and i have not experienced anything quite as dramatic, quite as windy and really quite as scary for many, many years. really quite as scary for many, many ears. , . , really quite as scary for many, many ears, , ., , , really quite as scary for many, many ears. , . , , , years. viewers have 'ust been seeing the imaue years. viewers have 'ust been seeing the image of— years. viewers have 'ust been seeing the image of the — years. viewers have just been seeing the image of the fallen _ years. viewers have just been seeing the image of the fallen tree - years. viewers have just been seeing the image of the fallen tree and - years. viewers have just been seeing the image of the fallen tree and it. the image of the fallen tree and it really is, it could have been so much worse. what is the situation now because in terms of the clear up, that is obviously quite a big operation, and in terms of the weather conditions where you are, how much has it calmed down? it has calmed down — how much has it calmed down? it has calmed down considerably _ how much has it calmed down? it i—.3 calmed down considerably now. how much has it calmed down? it i:3 calmed down considerably now. if how much has it calmed down? it “i:3 calmed down considerably now. if i look at the window, the trees are only waving a little bit and as far as the carob goes, there have been quite a few trees around the island but i think is an efficient group of tree surgeons who must be doing the rounds because within about two hours this morning at about 10:00, they were here, the trees are chopped up and ready to go on to somebody�*s wood burner. alert; somebody's wood burner. very organised! _ somebody's wood burner. very organised! l — somebody's wood burner. very organised! i was _ somebody's wood burner. very organised! i was speaking earlier to someone from the jersey organised! i was speaking earlier to someone from thejersey met organised! i was speaking earlier to someone from the jersey met who was talking about how well forecast this was. did you feel as if you had enough of a warning and enough preparation before the storm hit? yes, what we are good at here is actually forecasting storms and we have a lot of them, and coping with them. so there was no problem with that, we all knew what was coming and we were able to go shopping. the shelves are a little bear, i must admit, but we were all able to do our last—minute shopping to mixture we had enough food. trio our last-minute shopping to mixture we had enough food.— our last-minute shopping to mixture we had enough food. no panic buying ho-efull . we had enough food. no panic buying hopefully. thank _ we had enough food. no panic buying hopefully. thank you _ we had enough food. no panic buying hopefully. thank you and _ we had enough food. no panic buying hopefully. thank you and thank - hopefully. thank you and thank goodness you had a lucky escape, as you should us earlier. live to hastings and our reporter duncan kennedy. what is the situation there? well, it has 'ust what is the situation there? well, it hasjust come _ what is the situation there? well, it hasjust come in _ what is the situation there? well, it hasjust come in really - what is the situation there? well, it hasjust come in really rough i what is the situation there? -ii it hasjust come in really rough and it has just come in really rough and wild again. we thought it might have passed through about an hour ago, we even saw some sunshine for about five and it's just the last 20 minute or so, we have the horizontal rain back again. the wind has whipped up. the camera i am talking to you on toppled over a second ago in the gusts of wind. we think that makes it about 50 or 55 miles an hour, the wins here. you might be able to get a sense of it with the sea stayed behind me. that is typical of what has gone on here right across hampshire, the two suffixes and into kent. these wild wins we have been having is the storm has moved across, bringing all kinds of issues and problems to transport, people trying to get to school and things like that. cancellations on train services, ferries have been cancelled. the one piece of good news we have heard in the past hour or so is that some kind of services will be operating out of dover in the next few hours but we understand it will be freight services first and passenger services first and passenger services coming later. the advice on thatis services coming later. the advice on that is for passengers to check before turning up at dover, otherwise you may have a very long wait indeed. the storm is very much still with us, even if we are in the tail end of it. it is still passing through with quite a bite in its tail here. ., , ., tail here. you can see that quite clearly from _ tail here. you can see that quite clearly from your _ tail here. you can see that quite clearly from your background, . tail here. you can see that quite i clearly from your background, the waves do very rough and you can hear the wind. what is the advice for what is to come next for people there? eitherfurther what is to come next for people there? either further weather warnings in place? any idea of how much longer it will go on for? although the amber warning has been downgraded, it doesn't mean the storm is over. it is a very big storm, a wider storm and it has got to pass through. i think that is what we are seeing here in the east sussex area, and the kent area, as the storm does pass through. it was not quite as far north as the expected so it was further south in the footprint of it is not quite as widespread as they were expecting. where it is touching land here, it is packing this wallop and that is causing all these problems stop we came across here from southampton and resort cars in ditches, there was localised flooding, we know here in the hastings area they have been branches down on railway lines. there is a lot to pack in here. we have not heard of any casualties or anything of that that may come through in the next few hours or so. what we have also heard is that although this is passing through, this particular storm, there is a yellow warning coming for the weekend because there is another weather system coming and that will mean if it brings more rain, yet more localised flooding. we had localised flooding in the new forest area in the last 2a hours or so, and that means the ground which was already saturated, will get even more covered in water and i could bring more problems. latte more covered in water and i could bring more problems.— more covered in water and i could bring more problems. we will keep and i on bring more problems. we will keep and i on those _ bring more problems. we will keep and i on those developing - and i on those developing conditions, thank you. stay safe. we will continute to bring you all the latest about the storm ciaran and its cosequences. you can check the weather conditions where you are today by going to the website. the bank of england has kept interest rates on hold at 5.25 % for the second time as it waits to see if the rate rises of the previous two years are having enough of the desired effect on curbing inflation. 0ur chief economics correspondent dharshini david reports. the rates may not have changed today, but the hikes over the last couple of years are being felt across the building bricks of the economy. sales of new—build homes are suffering, shaking the foundations of prosperity. there is a correction happening and there is definitely a marked slowdown at the moment within the industry without a doubt. the industry is a bellwether because once you have bought your house and the people moved in, they buy carpets, they buy food from the local shops, they buy petrol, they drive here, it drives the local economy. and the structure of future house—building plans could also be shaken as the industry reacts to its higher borrowing costs and weaker demand. unless confidence returns, developers will not borrow money from the banks because they need to know for certain the houses will sell and if they are not going to they will not do it. fewer new homes will not help ebony, trying to save for her first home. it feels like a mountain gets bigger. you cannot put as much in. it has been a hard slog for borrowers. interest rates, the red line, have been increased 1a times by the bank of england since 2021. the blue line, still high, but it takes time for rates to work through, curbing spending. the bank may feel it has done enough. the bank has to weigh up the impact on the economy and it now thinks that is basically flatlining and will continue to do so into 2025. it's subdued, we see the evidence of monetary policy and the rate rises we have done are having an effect, we think it is coming through in the profile of growth. stubborn inflation pours pain onto households, constructing a defence against it is not easy. the bank has indicated interest rates may stay high for a while. almost 2 million homeowners are due to remortgage by the end of 202a, facing higher repayments. for builders and borrowers, the heavy lifting is not over yet. dharshini david, bbc news. the intense bombardment of gaza has continued with a third deadly air strike injabalia in the north in as many days. israeli tanks and troops are pressing towards gaza city but videos from both sides show they are encountering fierce resistance from hamas fighters. gaza's health ministry says more than 9,000 people have been killed. more foreign nationals are hoping to use the rafah crossing to escape the conflict in gaza today — after the un said a00 did so yesterday. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell has the latest. waiting to exit the war zone. for the second day, palestinians with foreign passports gathering at egypt's rafah crossing. susan's american passport is her ticket to leave but she has to say goodbye to her grandmother in gaza. right now, i'm between ice and fire. i don't know that i'm going to be able to see their family that i left behind or the friends that i left behind, people are dying, everybody is dying, nobody is safe. and injabalia, in northern gaza, that is the feeling as again rescuers scramble in the rubble after a third israeli strike in three days. families distraught. this father is missing his son. and this little boy weeps. "we did nothing wrong." 0n the ground in the north, israeli forces say they are advancing in their operation to dismantle hamas. and that they're at the gates of gaza city. translation: idf fighters continue to advance in the gaza city area - and conduct face—to—face battles with hamas terrorists and deepen the fighting. during the night, the forces fought against many terrorists who tried to ambush them.