Good Morning Britain correspondent Jonathan Swain stepped in to announce some breaking news at the start of today's show. As the show kicked off this morning, hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls crossed straight over to Jonathan at the Foreign Office, where he announced it had been a 'brutal night' in Beirut. As a "Breaking News" banner appeared on screen, he said: "It has been a brutal night in Beirut of intense fighting and air strikes.
It is thought as many as five thousand British nationals are still in the country but the options for them getting out are now diminishing day by day. "Many commercial flights have had to be grounded or cancelled because of what's happening in the air and the intense fighting so the British government have now chartered their own flights." He added: "Tomorrow they will fly from Beirut to Birmingham, we understand.
There's limited space, of course, for British nationals and, of course, their dependents, and their families. They are being charged £350 per seat." Jonathan went on to explain what the government was doing to help those stuck in Lebanon.
He said: "Last week, their rapid reaction force of 700 troops, they're currently being based in a RAF base in standby. They are there should they be needed to operate a Dunkirk-style evacuation. But having British troops in that region with all that intense fighting comes with its risks.
" It was announced that British nationals and their spouses or partners, and children under 18, would be prioritise.