BBC Breakfast star Sally Nugent delivered heartbreaking news on Tuesday
Sara Baalla Screen Time TV Reporter
08:26, 02 Dec 2025
A BBC Breakfast star announced heartbreaking news just minutes into Tuesday’s (December 2) show. Throughout this morning’s instalment of the popular breakfast show, presenters Sally Nugent and Jon Kay brought viewers the most recent developments from Britain and beyond.
They were accompanied in the studio by Matt Taylor, who provided periodic weather bulletins, whilst Emma Vardy delivered the business news. Further into the programme, Sally reported devastating developments from Indonesia, stating: “The number of people who have died in flooding and landslides across Indonesia has now risen to at least 600. Rescue workers and the military are continuing to attempt to reach those in the worst affected areas.
“Elsewhere, heavy rain and widespread flooding has also killed hundreds more in Sri Lanka.” BBC journalist Jonathan Head subsequently detailed the catastrophic consequences of the mudslides in a previously filmed segment, reports the Express.
Sally Nugent shared tragic news on Tuesday(Image: BBC)READ MORE: BBC Breakfast hosts share sad news as guest ‘robbed of voice’ by incurable diseaseREAD MORE: BBC Scotland headquarters evacuated after fire breaks out in building
“Exhausted after clinging for hours to a palm tree, this Indonesian man was lucky to be rescued. Shortly after that, the boat finds another man barely hanging on in the raging current,” he reported, whilst rescue footage played on screen. “The past month has brought exceptionally heavy rainfall to South East Asia, catching millions of people off guard. Huge mudslides have buried communities here on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. There was little warning.
“Those who escaped have come back to find their villages barely recognisable. Buildings crushed, roads swept away.” Jonathan then shared news of a tragic death, saying: “[This woman] is one of the hundreds who died in the flood, carried here by her family for a simple burial in the forest.”
“She was trapped under debris and flood water for four days,” said the woman’s son, Eric. “We didn’t have the strength to dig her out with our hands. We had to wait for heavy machinery to pull her out.”
Jonathan continued: “People here are in urgent need of pretty much everything, but with so many roads blocked and so many bridges down, getting supplies in is difficult. Cleaning up will be a mammoth task. There is mud everywhere.”
Over 600 people have died in floods in Indonesia(Image: BBC)
The storms have now shifted to Sri Lanka, flooding large parts of the island. A third of the country is now without electricity, and boats have become the only means of transport. The correspondent concluded: “With climate change, the weather keeps getting more extreme, more unpredictable. Everyone here knows they may have to face this or worse again in the future.”
In Indonesia alone, 3.2 million people have been affected by the floods, while 2,600 have been injured and 472 people remain missing. Aid workers and response teams are racing to reach survivors, but have been hampered by blocked roads and broken bridges, and some areas of northern Sumatra remain inaccessible by road.
In Aceh, one of the hardest hit areas, markets are running out of rice, vegetables and other essentials, and prices have tripled, according to Islamic Relief, which is sending 12 tons of emergency food aid. “Communities across Aceh are at severe risk of food shortages and hunger if supply lines are not re-established in the next seven days,” the charity said.
The World Health Organization said it was deploying rapid response teams and critical supplies to the region, and strengthening disease surveillance.
Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency to deal with what he called the “most challenging natural disaster in our history”. Rains have eased across the country, but landslide alerts remain in force across most of the hardest-hit central region, officials said.
BBC Breakfast airs daily on BBC One at 6am
