to the bbc news at one. nearly half of hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of this year. nhs figures released this morning reveal that 66 of the 152 hospital trusts raised the alarm, as large numbers of patients experienced trolley waits and delays in a&e. eight of the trusts declaring a major alert reported the highest level of alarm, meaning patient safety was at risk. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. another busy day for the health service, where the pressure of winter is unrelenting. earlier this week, leicester royal infirmary was one of more than 60 hospitals in england to declare a major alert as the strain on services grew. the latest data from nhs england exposes how the health service is struggling to cope. one in five patients admitted as an emergency last week experienced a delay of at least four hours for a bed. nearly one in four patients waited over four hours to be seen in a&e. in some place it's reached nearly half. more than a quarter of ambulance as riving at a&e units waited longer than 30 minutes to hand over their patients, twice as long as they should. these latest figures are further evidence, if any more evidence was needed, of the immense strain the entire nhs in england is facing this winter. those strains are felt most acutely in accident & emergency departments, which are the front doors to most hospitals. the pressure is being felt right throughout the health service. a&e is the canary in the coal mine here for the health service. people arriving at a&e because they can't see a gp. they're arriving at a&e because they're poorly, but could have been kept well if only they could have got access sooner. well if only they could have got access sooner. they're stuck in the hospital because of problems in community services and in social care. they can't get them out quickly. just as they have across the nhs, staff at northwick park hospital in north west london have been working flat out. there have been working flat out. there have been moments in the last two weeks, like the whole country, it's been frightening for the members of staff, for the nurses, doctors, for the ambulance crews who are bringing patients in. there have been moments where it's been very sticky. but we have managed as best we can. everybody‘s worked incredibly hard. it's not just england. everybody‘s worked incredibly hard. it's notjust england. the latest available figures from wales and northern ireland show a&e departments there are also struggling to treat patients within four hours in. scotland the picture over christmas week was better. but every pa rt over christmas week was better. but every part of the nhs is finding this winter to be one of the toughest in recent memory. and we can speak to dominic now. as you say there at the end of your report, these official figures come at end of a difficult week for the nhs. notjust a week, but several weeks. this is a situation that has been building really since the summer, when we been building really since the summer, when we were been building really since the summer, when we were warned that the pressures of winter hadn't really relented over the summer months and we've moved seamlessly into the winter months, where the pressures are continuing to build. what lies behind it? well it's a mixture of all sorts of factors, demographics, we have an older, sicker population with complex health needs who are arriving at a&e departments and they ta ke arriving at a&e departments and they take longer to see, to be seen because they are sicker and they have very many different things wrong with them. there's been a slow burning yies is in prime —— crisis in primary care. gps are saying they're seeing more and more patients and are getting overwhelmed as well. all this is playing out against a crisis as well in social care. so hospitals are finding it extremely difficult to discharge patients back home or into the community when they‘ re patients back home or into the community when they're fit enough to leave hospital, but still need some care. that's clogging up the entire system. all of this is playing out against the background of extremely tight budgets. we heard the chief executive of nhs england simon stevens this week tell mps that the nhs hadn't got the money that it had asked for from the government, flatly contradicting the line from ministers that the nhs had got everything it had asked for and plenty more. all this creates a perfect storm that is now swirling around the nhs in england, making it around the nhs in england, making it a very difficult winter for medics and for patients, but also increasing the pressure on the politicians. dominic, many thanks. dominic hughes. there severe flood warnings are in place on the eastern coast of england amid fears thousands of homes are at risk, as snow and strong winds hit much of the uk. the risk of high tides has led the environment agency to issue severe flood warnings — meaning danger to life. this is the environment agency map, and as you can see, there are dozens of locations along the east coast at risk. evacuations are under way injaywick in essex, and great yarmouth in norfolk. there are 11 severe flood warnings in place across england and wales. "11; —— 14 severe flood "14 severe flood warnings in place across england and wales there are also 91 warnings, where flooding is expected and immediate action is required, and 63 alerts where flooding is possible and individuals should be prepared for rising water levels. our correspondent danny savage is in skegness. rita, we're part way through the 2a hour period of concern now. the good news is that the first high tides that have come down the east coast have not been as high as feared. but high tides come around every 12 hours. there are real concerns for the tides this evening, that they will be higher than anticipated. hence those evacuations taking place in some communities in essex and norfolk at the moment. this ongoing situation is causing concern for communities right along the east coast of england. along the east coast of england, the floodgates on sea defences have been slammed shut. the hours of darkness were used for preparation. seaside business owners cleared out all they could, in anticipation of trouble. full moon, high tides, strong winds, the wind in the right direction coming down the north sea, rather than blowing off the land or onto the land. so, there will be a significant rise in the water, but whether it will be enough to top the defences depends on mother nature, i suppose. soldiers were drafted in to lincolnshire to help with the operation. about 100 of them were briefed at the local police station. they were then sent door—to—door, warning residents that a storm surge was possible. sorry to disturb you. we are here to warn you about the storm and the flood. is a reassuring or alarming to have the army knock on the door? it's reassuring that they are looking after us, but also a bit alarming, you're thinking, is the house going to be flooded or something? but i think we are fairly safe, anyway. high tide in lincolnshire was early this morning. it passed without event, despite concerns. but there are worries about other parts of the east coast later today. the issue with the storm surge is, it is about the high winds, coinciding with what would be high tides anyway. if you get that, you get really, really high levels. that can be changeable through the day. we are forecasting it as closely as we can. but it's really important that people stay alert, because some of these high tides will happen very late through tonight. by lunchtime, east anglia was where the most severe warnings were in force. in great yarmouth, sandbags were being filled, ahead of tonight's high tide. further south in essex, a reception centre has been opened after a decision was made to evacuate people from their homes injaywick, mistley and west mersea. have a look at individual situation, take some steps around planning and preparation. that could be bringing additional clothes, or looking at your medication. and really listen to what we are saying, which is try and use the facilities down here in the education centre injaywick, or make plans to stay with friends and relatives. people are being urged not to be complacent about the situation through tonight and into tomorrow. one noticeable thing over the last few hours is that the northerly winds have got a lot stronger. that is one of the factors involved here. will that strong wind push the high tides over the flood defences? the high tide times vary depending on where you are on the east coast. it's these key times, where it could flood. grimsby tonight, high tide 6. 5pm. skegness, 6. aspm. atjaywick and clacton, about 12. 30am. people are encouraged to stay alert what's going on around them with floodwaters. danny thank you. snow, ice and high winds have battered much of the uk, causing travel problems and school closures in some areas. our correspondent helena lee reports. heavy snow in some parts of the scottish borders meant driving conditions were difficult. up to seven inches of snow fell in parts of scotland overnight. in newcastle, on the a19, traffic came to a standstill, with thick snow on the road. for others, it was even worse. impossible conditions led to cars being abandoned. in the village of battle in east sussex, icy roads meant emergency services were dealing with cars which had come off the road. in canterbury, icy pavements made the school run this morning a challenge. across parts of the country, dozens of schools were shut because of the bad weather. for those who didn't have to travel, the snow brought much excitement to younger people, and left many parts of the country enjoying some beautiful scenes. helena lee, bbc news. well, let's get more from some of the worst affected areas. in a moment, we'll speak to our correspondents in great yarmouth, in norfolk, and the lickey hills in worcestershire, but first to sophie long who's in clacton in essex. sophie, how are things where are you? well, the wind is blowing very strongly here at the moment. the snow and sleet has stopped. there's also a bit of sunshine, which is helpful for those people evacuating their homes. essex police triggered a full evacuation plan notjust here this morning, but for mistily and west mersea as well. some are heeding those warnings. we've watched people pack vans and drive away from their properties along the seafront here. there's a large police presence in the area at the moment. they are stopping the public from driving along this coast road. some people, though, seem to be quite relaxed about the situation. there's a number of people who are still in their homes, just metres from the sea wall. they're not showing any signs of going anywhere at the moment. i spoke to one man a moment ago who said, "it won't come over the sea wall. itjust won't." the environment agency has been clear, though it was good news this morning, the high tide here wasn't as high as it had been expected, they say tonight's high tide, which is due herejust they say tonight's high tide, which is due here just after midnight, could be much higher. the police here are urging people to comply with their instructions saying it is much safer to evacuate now during daylight hours than it will be tonight. thank you. now to great yarmouth. how are things looking there? it has been snowing here. it's now raining very hard. the main problem here is a very veer flood warning, that's a danger to life. because of a combination of high spring tides and winds that are due to reach up to 50, 60mph the the high tide is expected here at 9. 15pm. the authorities have already started to evacuate 5,000 homes, each home which could be affected will be visited by the police or the military. behind me, the council have set up a sandbagging area, where people can get free sand and bags for their homes. many of those people have told me that they have moved carpets, furniture and pets u psta i rs moved carpets, furniture and pets upstairs ready for the water. an evacuation centre was set up about an hourago evacuation centre was set up about an hour ago for those people to go. to the hope —— to go to. the hope is those strong winds don't arrive. debbie thank you. phil mackie is in the lickey hills in worcestershire. a lot of snow earlier, but it looks like it's disappearing? yeah, if you're a snow fan you won't like the pictures. it's been rapidly melting in the last couple of hours. earlier today this was covered in snow. there was a good covering. people we re there was a good covering. people were out on their sledges enjoying it, taking the dogs for a walk as well. good views of worcestershire, the black country and birmingham as well, snow pretty much everywhere on the ground. never enough to cause great disruption. in staffordshire, 100 schools were shut. power lines we re 100 schools were shut. power lines were down, partly because of the very strong winds. there is obviously a warning of ice to come tonight and tomorrow morning. but at the moment, certainly, things are not as bad as they might have appeared to have been earlier on. it's actually been quite a nice day, if you're a snow fan. certainly this morning when the sun was out and the snow was covering the ground, it was very, very picturesque, picture pretty and the sledges were out in force. they will have been packed away as the snow has torted to —— started to melt. phil, many thanks. you can keep up with the story throughout the afternoon on the bbc news channel, online and also with your bbc local radio station. the labour mp tristram hunt is resigning to become the director of the victoria and albert museum. he's represented stoke—on—trent central since 2010. in a letter to local party members, the former education spokesman, who resigned from the shadow cabinet whenjeremy corbyn was elected leader of the party, said serving in parliament had been "both deeply rewarding and intensely frustrating". let's speak our political correspondent carole walker. he was a big figure in the party, how significant is his departure? it isa it is a big loss to the labour party. tristram hunt is somebody who was well—known, engaging, charismatic. i think his departure isa charismatic. i think his departure is a further sign of the disillusioned there is amongst many labour mps who don't sharejeremy corbyn‘s views. and it poses a big challenge for the labour leader who's going to have to fight a difficult by—election. tristram hunt in that resignation letter says he's not trying to rock the boat, he stresses how the new role at the fee and a will enable him to combine his passions for education, public engagement and so on —— v&a. he says he feels frustration that now labour is out of power, he's not able to do as much as he would like to tackle inequality and poverty. in past tristram hunt has been hugely critical ofjeremy corbyn. mr hunt was shadow education spokesman, he stood down whenjeremy corbyn became the labour leader. he said, after the labour leader. he said, after the eu referendum in the summer, that he feltjeremy corbyn had simply failed to inject labour values into the debate, and he said that frankly labour voters need a new labour leader. the challenge for jeremy corbyn will be to see whether he can hold onto this seat. it is an urban working—class eat. ukip edged into second place, they will fancy chances here. the question for jeremy corbyn is whether he can hold onto this traditional seat and restore his party ‘s fortunes. our top story this lunchtime. nhs figures show nearly half the hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of this year. and still to come, how the evolution of killer whales may hold the key to understanding the development of human beings. coming up in sport, while number one andy murray draws in the australian open as he heads into his first grand slam as top seed. a ito—year study by british scientists has revealed clues as to why some species stop having babies half—way through life. human beings and killer whales are two of only three species where the female goes through the menopause. researchers say they have a much clearer idea of the crucial role older females play among the killer whale population and how that could teach us something about human evolutionary history. our science correspondent victoria gill reports. chasing an evolutionary mystery. these researchers have been documenting the lives of killer whales here for four decades. here we go! and their findings have revealed new insight into something we humans share with a mammal so very different from us. orcas and humans are two of only three mammals on the planet that stop reproducing partway through our lives. this ito—year study of killer whale society has already shown that grandmothers play a crucial role, leading their pod and helping theirfamily survive. but scientists have now used this unique dataset, that recorded births and deaths in every orca family here, to prove that it is crucial for the survival of new calves for grandmothers to stop reproducing when their daughters start. when a mother and daughter breed at the same time, the calf of the mother has about a 1.7 times higher risk of dying in the first 15 years of life. the benefits of grandmothering are not enough to explain why human menopauses evolved. it's only when you consider the conflict of competition within the family group, and that older females lose out, that you can actually understand and explain why menopauses evolved. avoiding this so—called reproductive conflict between the generations seems to give babies the best possible chance. it's really interesting just how important that bond is for the survival... and that's something that could finally explain human menopause. at some point in the evolution of our ancestors, the researchers say that menopause evolved as an adaptation, to prevent reproductive conflict between older and younger women. this, combined with the fact that grandmothers are of such huge benefit to their grandchildren, explains why our reproduction stops, while our life span continues to increase. we can't go back in time to study our own ancestors‘ lives. but this long, careful observation of killer whale society has finally revealed the origin of menopause, something so fundamental to our own. victoria gill, bbc news. the number of men in low—paid, part—time work has increased dramatically over the last 20 years. new research by the institute for fiscal studies has found that one in five low—paid men, between the ages of 25 and 55, now works part—time. that means wage inequality for men has risen over two decades, but for women, it's the opposite. our personal finance correspondent simon gompertz reports. it used to be mainly the fate of women to work part—time for low wages. now, increasingly, it's men like declan. he's found a london job delivering takeaways on his bike, using his spare time to study, but it's hard. if work doesn't go well one night, you have to rearrange your plans so you work another night, and you don't particularly feel like you are of any value. you do just feel like a piece of meat, really. the food business, shops, security, all now looking for flexibility like declan is providing, and not necessarily full—time. for decades now, we've seen the pay of women workers held down by casualisation, by shorter hours working, by part—time working. and we are beginning to see those trends happen right across the labour market now, impacting particularly on low paid men. but insecure employment, low— paid employment, is not good for workers, and it's not good for the uk economy at large. the study looked at lower paid men, the bottom 20%, and found that before, two decades ago, one in 20 were working part—time, whereas now it's more like one in five. that group is working five fewer hours per week. the big question is whether they want to, or whether they've got no choice. this means people aren't being forced to work long hours just to earn the money. what they are doing, is they are making a positive choice to find a job which suits their life. and they are prepared to trade off pay for getting the flexibility to spend time with their children or elderly parents, or to do the studying. i think that's a good news story, that in today's society, people can choose and find a job that fits with their lives. but the jobs we are talking about are for less than £8 an hour, for fewer than 30 hours a week. which, without tax credits or a partner to help, can leave you struggling to make ends meet. simon gompertz, bbc news. a woman who alleges she was indecently assaulted by tv presenter rolf harris has told his trial how he had put his hand up her skirt after she asked for an autograph. she told the jury the alleged indecent assault was "horrible" and "wrong". mr harris denies seven charges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. let's apeak to our correspondent dan johnson who's at southwark crown court. tell us more about this woman's evidence. this woman, who is now in her 50s, explained how as a 12—year—old she and her mother went toa 12—year—old she and her mother went to a radio station in portsmouth after hearing rolf harris on the programme talking about his favourite records. they collected autographs and thought they might have the chance to meet him and get him to sign their autograph book. that's what happened, as he left they approached him, and the woman said, it was quite pleasing seeing him in real life. i had seen him on tv, it was nice to see someone famous. they asked rolf harris to sign, he signed her mothers, then turned to her, the 12—year—old. he said, ithink turned to her, the 12—year—old. he said, i think it's your turn, let me give you a little cuddle. she explained how rolf harris but one hand behind her back, one hand down her leg and then up her skirt, touching her beneath her underwear, she explained. she said it felt horrible, it didn't feel right, i didn't know anything about sex at the time, she said, but it felt wrong. she said her mother was standing right her but didn't realised what had happened. after rolf harris signed the book, they left. she told her mother what had happened but wasn't believed. she was challenged in court that she had made it up after rolf harris was convicted two years ago, she said, no, this is true. thank you. refugees and migrants are dying in europe's sudden cold snap, and the united nations refugee agency is urging governments to do more. the unhcr said several migrants had died from cold and exhaustion in bulgaria, and it called on greece to move migrants from poor conditions on islands to better facilities on the mainland. our correspondent sian grzeszcyk reports. desperate to get out of the bitterly cold waters, these, just some of the 800 migrants and refugees that were rescued from the mediterranean sea yesterday. the italian coastguard helped them of the six rubber boats they were trying to cross in. freezing temperatures in europe over the last week have caused the un to call on governments to do more to help migrants. in greece, the situation was so bad that this ship was sent to lesbos at the request of the greek prime minister to house migrants, amidst health warnings that condition that the main camp at becoming humane. hundreds of others in lesbos are being transferred to hotels. i am afraid but i don't know where i go. i'm afraid. at the european parliament in brussels, a warning about how prepared the eu is for a further increase in numbers. we are making a call for europe to prepare for possible new influxes. it may not happen, but we need to be prepared. we are very concerned in a numberof prepared. we are very concerned in a number of situations, europe does not seem to have a plan a or plan b. conditions are also tough at this migrant camp in serbia. more than 1000 men from afghanistan and pakistan are relying on one meal a day from volunteers, and having to wash outside in the cold conditions. concern is growing that more migrants will died trying to survive these harsh conditions. the general medical council has warned that hospitals are failing to raise concerns about incompetent locum doctors. the report says there's a reluctance to provide frank feedback, and weaknesses in monitoring could put patients at risk. well, with me is our health correspondent, elaine dunkley. is this about locum doctors not going through the proper checks or about hospitals not giving properfeedback? it's a little bit of both. there are around 8000 locum doctors working in the uk, and according to this review, not all of them are being checked. every doctor, every year, should have an appraisal, and every five years they must have their licence revalidated. this was brought in to ensure patient safety. it follows cases such as harold shipman who killed 200 patients. there was also a case in 2007 where a german local doctor killed a patient on his first shift in the uk. according to this review, there are still some locum doctors falling through gaps in the system. so, why is it happening? according to the review there is often confusion over which organisation should be carrying out appraisals of staff on short—term contracts. also, there was criticism of hospitals for not speaking out and sharing information about incompetent locums. there were also issues around some agencies, not ensuring the right checks had been done and that there was enough support to locum doctors. this review looked at monitoring assessment for all doctors across the uk. it also found there was evidence some patients were frightened to give honest feedback, an important part of the revalidation process for the relicensing of doctors. the department of health has said this has had huge improvements on the system but also more work needs to be done. thank you. there were emotional scenes last night as president obama surprised his vice president with the country's highest civilian honour. mr obama said he was awarding the presidential medal of freedom tojoe biden for his faith in his fellow americans and for a lifetime of service. he described him as a lion of american history. mr biden said the honour was a complete surprise. the best vice president america has ever had, mrjoe biden! applause this also gives the internet one last chance to talk about our bromance! laughter johanna konta, britain's number one female tennis player, has won her final warm—up tournament before the australian open. she beat agnieszka radwanska in straight sets to win the sydney international, the second wta title of her career. our sports correspondent katie gornall reports. in the tennis arena, johanna konta demands attention. after extraordinary rise through the rankings, she's now in the top ten. the big moments, the big players no longer worry her. across the net was agnieszka radwa nska, longer worry her. across the net was agnieszka radwanska, the world number three. a player should never beaten, you sense that was soon going to change, as she took the first set 6—4. despite a successful 2016, johanna konta has brought a new coach to australia. any fears this could disrupt her rhythm were quickly swatted aside. agnieszka radwanska is seen as one of the most intelligent players on the tour. she was given little time to think, as johanna konta wrapped up the second title of her career in some style. with the start of the australian open days away, she had to melbourne asa open days away, she had to melbourne as a genuine contender. open days away, she had to melbourne as a genuine contenderlj open days away, she had to melbourne as a genuine contender. i think there's a good opportunity for her to get to the final. if you look at her section, she starts with kirsten flipkens she's got serena in the quarters. jo is playing the best tennis of her career right now. dan evans reached his first atp tour final after beating andre kuznetsov. tomorrow he will face a player ranked nearly 30 places above him. as the johanna konta, ranked nearly 30 places above him. as thejohanna konta, who was born in sydney before moving to england, australian tennis may see her as the one that got away. time for a look at the weather. we've got another couple of days of cold weather. still some wintry showers on the way today across many northern areas of the uk, and we've got that strong wind blowing down