News in Picture

The mercury fell to -18C overnight in parts of Britain and temperatures were typically between -8C and 0C at lunchtime today.

As a result the National Grid has been forced to issue its second gas alert in three days and gas demand is expected to hit a record 454 million cubic metres today - higher than the all-time record of 449 million in January 2003.

There is chaos on the transport network, hundreds of schools are closed, communities are cut off and businesses suffering - and the Arctic conditions are expected to continue for up to a week.

Tonight, as we dig in for the long haul, Justin Rowlatt will be reporting on the human and economic cost of the crisis.

And Susan Watts will be examining the science of forecasting and just how difficult - or easy - it is to foresee and prepare for this kind of weather event.

We have an extraordinary film about child sacrifice in Uganda from Tim Whewell.

He has heard first-hand accounts which suggest ritual killings of children may be more common than authorities have acknowledged, and far from being a throw back to the past, are actually a modern phenomenon tied to the pursuit of wealth.

Stephen Smith will be reporting on what really lies behind Jonathan Ross' decision to leave the BBC, and we will be talking to Alan Yentob about what it means for the corporation's future relations with celebrities.

And David Grossman will have the latest the from Westminster, the day after a Labour leadership challenge which Prime Minister Gordon Brown has today dismissed as a "storm in a teacup".

Join Gavin at 10.30pm on BBC Two for all that and more.