Image source, AFP

The pound hit its lowest level for more than three months on reports Britain was set to quit the EU single market as part of its Brexit plans.

Sterling fell below the $1.20 level before recovering most of its losses on Monday.

The pound also dropped to a two-month low against the euro, falling more than 1% to about €1.13 in Asian trading.

Analysts said traders were reacting to reports that Theresa May would use a speech on Tuesday to signal a so-called "hard Brexit".

Reports have suggested she will signal pulling out of the EU single market and customs union, although Downing Street described this as "speculation".

The pound has fallen about 20% against the dollar since June's EU referendum, to lows last regularly seen in 1985.

Much of that volatility has been due to uncertainty about the economic impact if the UK gives up its tariff-free access to the EU. Read more

Understandably, Michael Gove's interview with Donald Trump has provoked a lot of comment on social media. Here's a brief snapshot of some of it. 

Image source, PA

Moving on to Theresa May's big speech, Mr Gove says it is the "logical conclusion" of the Brexit vote that the UK departs the single market and customs union and that the prime minister could make this clear tomorrow.

He says the prime minister - who axed Mr Gove from government when she took over from David Cameron - has done an "exemplary job" so far and discloses they last had a "private" conversation before Christmas.

The tide is turning the UK's way, he suggests, with EU negotiator Michael Barnier softening his line on the role of the City of London post-Brexit and Chancellor Philip Hammond making clear that the UK will adopt its own economic model if it can't get what it wants from the negotiations.

In Mr Gove's words, the prime minister has a growing number of "arrows in her quiver" as she approaches the start of official talks in the Spring.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Asked whether he trusts Donald Trump, Michael Gove, who has interviewed him for The Times, says whatever his "defects", it would be unwise for the UK to turn its nose up at the new president - and that a strong trading relationship between the two nations would be a "gift horse". 

Pressed on whether he liked Mr Trump, Mr Gove says he found him "engaging" and likened his conversational style to a "river in spate" - where questions "prompt" a stream of thoughts rather than specific answers.

The former education secretary is at pains to point out that he disagrees with Mr Trump on a number of issues and that some of the president-elect's past comments about women were "indefensible".

And he laughs off suggestions that he could be a candidate to be the next UK ambassador to the US, saying the current incumbent Sir Kim Darroch is doing a good job as, he adds, is foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

Coverage of Monday at the Northern Ireland Assembly, with drama in the chamber as the political crisis leads to Stormont's collapse and the calling of an election.

Donald Trump supporters explain what they want from their new president in a Newsbeat documentary.

China's president will attend Davos for the first time, just days before Donald Trump takes office.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Westminster Hour
Radio 4's Westminster Hour

Speaking to the Westminster Hour's Carole Walker, the shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said: "Theresa May should be in a position to be able to say 'No, Mr President, it's wrong, you shouldn't be trampling on the Iranian nuclear deal, you shouldn't be tearing up the Paris climate agreement, you shouldn't be moving the American embassy to Jerusalem... and you shouldn't be cosying up to Putin'".

The Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury added: "At a moment like this we have to bear down on our principles because at a time of insecurity that's all we have."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Michael Gove has been talking at length about the Donald Trump interview on BBC Radio 4's Today.

He rejected claims that it was a "puff piece" for Brexit, pointing out that it was done in concert with the German newspaper Bild, and had covered other subjects such as the future of Nato. 

He said Mr Trump had a "predicted and celebrated" Brexit and, therefore, had a "vicarious sense of ownership" of the result.

While Mr Trump had a "certain sympathy" for Britain because of his background - the businessman's mother was born in Scotland - Mr Gove, a former Conservative cabinet minister who was one of the leaders of the official Leave campaign during the referendum, says his position was above all "transactional" and he believed a strong trading relationship would bring real economic benefits to both countries.

Mr Gove took Mr Trump's comments to mean that a trade deal could be done "very quickly" and be "signature-ready at the earliest possible opportunity".

Pressed on the fact that the UK was not allowed to sign, let alone negotiate, other trade agreements while it remains a member of the EU, he pointed to research from the Legatum Institute think tank arguing that a rapid agreement could be a boost for GDP and jobs. 

Image source, AP

The Times interview, external is the first that Donald Trump has given to a British newspaper since his victory in November.

Speaking about a potential US-UK trade deal, he said: "We're gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides." 

He said his views were very different to his predecessor, Barack Obama, who warned during the referendum campaign that the UK would have to go to the "back of the queue" if it split from the EU. 

Mr Trump told Mr Gove people thought he was "crazy" for forecasting Brexit but that the UK "wanted its own identity" and would prosper outside the EU.

He also suggested that other countries could leave the EU.

Welcome to the our coverage of events in Westminster and beyond. It's a big week on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the US on Friday, has been talking about Brexit.

This is timely, as Prime Minister Theresa May will set out her vision for Brexit in a speech on Tuesday. 

In an interview for the Times, Mr Trump said the UK was "doing great" in the aftermath of the Leave vote and a US-UK trade deal could be done quickly after the UK's departure from the EU.

Michael Gove, the former Tory cabinet minister and Leave supporter who interviewed Mr Trump, has told the BBC that the next US president was "emotionally and financially invested in Brexit".