we ll have a background in dance, so i m sure they re going to be really intrigued. good morning. we have got some rain this morning across wales and southern england which will be slow to clear, another band across northern ireland and england emergency call handlers being cheered as they walk out of the london ambulance service call centre. pushes just one of the picket lines that thousands of ambulance workers north into scotland and brightening up north into scotland and brightening up behind it. but it is be windy. something needs to change. the nhs is on its knees. we re all at breaking point. like i said, everyone s trying their best, but everyone s tired. hospitals are struggling with beds and then we get stuck waiting with patients for like four to five hours at times, and we just can t get out to see other patients that need us. nhs leaders say the system has coped as well as they could have hoped, but there s worry about the knock on effect on the health service ov
asi as i said earlier this week people know i take classified documents seriously. russians fighting in ukraine claimed they have found the body of one of two british aid workers who ve been reported missing. bumper christmas sales for some of britain s biggest retailers despite the cost of living crisis. and tributes for the legendary rock guitaristjeff beck who died at the age of 78. there s more evidence today of the crisis in the nhs in england: ambulance response times in december were the worse on record. for category two emergency calls, including strokes, they were more than an hour and a half on average. the target is 18 minutes. (ani the highest priority calls with an immediate threat to life took almost 11 minutes on average; the target is seven. and patients are waiting even longer in accident and emergency 35 % waited more than four hours that s another record. our health correspondent jim reed reports. long queues for ambulances, the most 999 calls eve
the uk s largest force, the metropolitan police, has been put in special measures over concerns about a series of failures in high profile cases including that murder or server abroad. the population of england and wales has soared to a new high in the past decade and it s getting older. and rafa nadal begins his quest at wimbledon to win his 23rd grand slam title we ll be there live. coming up on sportsday, it s the end of an era in english cricket as their inspirational white ball captain eoin morgan retires from the international game. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. should scotland be an independent country? that is the question the first minister nicola sturgeon wants to put again to the people of scotland in an independence referendum next year. it s exactly the same question that people were asked in 2014. downing street says the prime minister thinks now is not the time to be talking about a referendum but the government will look carefully at the
places. and the wind could be slow moving. for many temperatures in the high teens but further east we could get to 23 degrees. pollen levels moderate to high across england and wales, low to moderate across scotland and northern ireland. there may be an odd shower across the south east of england which could affect play at wimbledon at times but there will be a lot of sunshine and a top temperature of around 23 degrees. showers around western areas as we move towards friday and the start of the weekend and then high pressure settle things down with plenty of sunshine for many. and that s bbc news at six, you can keep up with all the latest developments on bbc website. from the six team it s goodbye. the news continues here on bbc one, as now it s time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are, goodnight. hello and welcome to sportsday. coming up in the programming, candy king of clay reclaim his crown on grass? rough in adults being mad