high pressure continuing to build across the uk. this weather front has pretty much stalled across northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england. to the north of it some sunshine for northern scotland, a slice of wintry sunshine through northern england and the east of england and the midlands and in the south thicker cloud and gloomy skies. that is pretty much how it looks for the rest of the afternoon with patches of rain affecting northern ireland into north—west england particularly across cumbria. a breezy day to come in the north. these are mean wind speeds. much lighter winds further south, closer to the high pressure. what you will notice is where it is sunny it is going to be mild. something fresherfor sunny it is going to be mild. something fresher for the far north of scotland. this evening and whether or overnight the weather front begins to shift again. further south largely dry, variable cloud, a few clear spells across eastern england which means it could turn quite chilly, mist and fog patches otherwise with a relatively mild night with the cloud cover. thursday is a quieter day with that weather front pushing northwards across the far north of scotland. most places dry and a lot of cloud, particularly gloomy across the south. limited sunshine with the best of it in north—east scotland. a pretty mild data come with lighter winds. high pressure sitting across the uk. this is the jet stream in this block pattern as you can see like the greek letter omega. you can see it is much colder on either side. it will tend to feel a bit chilly because of the lack of sunshine around for friday and indeed into the weekend and we have skies start clear after a cold night they will be quite chilly through the day. he called start the central and southern areas. a little bit cooler on friday with temperatures in single figures for most, you could see double figures across the far south and west. similar over the weekend with skies clear in the morning and it will be quite chilly and otherwise where we head onto the gloominess it will be milder. a reminder of our top story... as covid passes in england become mandatory in crowded places, there are warnings that omicron cases are doubling in less than every two days in most parts of the uk. that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are. good afternoon. it'sjust after 1.30pm, and this is your update from the bbc sport centre. sergio aguero has confirmed his retirement from football. he made the announcement in a tearful press conference earlier today. the former manchester city and argentina strikerjoined barcelona in the summer but only made five appearances. he suffered chest pains and breathing difficulties in his last game, and has now decided to call it a day after scoring 427 goals in 786 games. he told a news conference in barcelona that it was a very hard moment for him, but that he was happy with his decision, adding, "my health comes first." there are four premier league matches tonight, and they'll be the first big sporting events in england where spectators will need to show a covid pass or negative lateral flow test for entry into the stadium. fans are also being asked to complete a covid status declaration before attending, and should not go to the games if they are feeling unwell. it comes after a rise in cases of the omicron variant across the uk, a rise that has been mirrored among players and staff. one of tonight's games will see west ham visit arsenal. well, everything that happened this week obviously, it is easily well in sign —— a really worrying sign, games cancelled and postponed for that reason, players and managers with high numbers of positive tests, so yeah, it is very worrying. cricket now, and james anderson and stuart broad are back in england's 12 man squad for the second ashes test against australia. it's a day—night game, which starts in the early hours of tomorrow morning in adelaide. the pair had been left out of the opener in brisbane, which england lost by 9 wickets. anderson is england's leading test wicket—taker with 632, with broad second behind him on 524. pace bowler mark wood is rested, with spinnerjack leach included. but does the recall place more expectation on anderson? you always feel expectation because of, you always feel expectation because of. you _ you always feel expectation because of, you know, various things, really. — of, you know, various things, really. but _ of, you know, various things, really, but for me i have just been, since _ really, but for me i have just been, since i_ really, but for me i have just been, since i knew— really, but for me i have just been, since i knew i— really, but for me i have just been, since i knew i wasn't playing at brisbane. _ since i knew i wasn't playing at brisbane, havejust since i knew i wasn't playing at brisbane, have just been working hard with— brisbane, have just been working hard with people trying to figure out what — hard with people trying to figure out what works, what doesn't, whether— out what works, what doesn't, whether it _ out what works, what doesn't, whether it swings at certain times of the _ whether it swings at certain times of the day— whether it swings at certain times of the day or whatever else, just to try and _ of the day or whatever else, just to try and get— of the day or whatever else, just to try and get an edge on this week. for me. _ try and get an edge on this week. for me. i— try and get an edge on this week. for me, i hadjust try and get an edge on this week. for me, i had just been preparing the same — for me, i had just been preparing the same as i would for a red ball game, _ the same as i would for a red ball game, it— the same as i would for a red ball game, it is— the same as i would for a red ball game, it is still a test match at the end — game, it is still a test match at the end of— game, it is still a test match at the end of the day, got to work realty— the end of the day, got to work really hard as a bowler, is a bowling _ really hard as a bowler, is a bowling unit, and yeah, just preparing for some hard work. nba star steph curry has become the league's all—time leading three—point scorer. he overtook ray allen's previous mark of 2973 when he made this shot in the first quarter of golden state warriors' game against the new york knicks at madison square garden. the two—time league mvp was immediately embraced by his dad, coaches and allen, whose record stood for ten years. former world champion speed skater elise christie says she will never feel whole after retiring from the sport without an olympic medal. her olympic dream might not be overjust yet, though. she's planning to move into another winter sport, though she's not saying which one yet. i'm excited because initially, i did want to go to the world championships this year, and just carry on, but at the same time, there is a time when it is time to move on, i am still an athlete, i am still fit and healthy, and i am lucky that i am, a lot of people aren't, and it is going to be hard, because i will not be funded by uk sport any more, and i was privileged all those years to be so. but it is exciting, it is a new challenge, and i am looking forward to it. england will play the all blacks at twickenham as part of next year's autumn international series. it will be the first time the sides have met since the 2019 world cup semi—final, and therfirst time at twickenham since 2018. england will also play world champions south africa, argentina, and japan that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website, including news of a covid outbreak in the saracens camp, which means they're having to forfeit their challenge cup match this weekend. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. plans to reduce the number of cyber security incidents in the uk have been unveiled by the government. the strategy includes millions of pounds in funding to help protect industries and technologies from malware and hacking. the uk national cyber security centre says it has fought a record number of online attacks in the past year. our security correspondent gordon corera has this report. technology has moved to the heart of our daily lives and the same is happening to government. this is sitcen, the uk's situation centre, housed in a secret location to provide the latest data in a crisis. opened in the last few months, the bbc was given exclusive access to film inside for the first time. it is close to the cobra briefing room where politicians and officials take decisions in the event of terrorist attacks, disasters or other major incidents. what's new about the centre is, for the first time, data from across government and outside is brought together in one place to help officials and politicians make decisions in the middle of a crisis. that means, for instance, if a storm is hitting the country, they are able to put together weather data with details about transport and medical facilities in order to better coordinate a response. the recent fuel supply crisis was one of the first times the centre was put into action. when there was pressure on petrol supplies, the ability then to see which parts of the united kingdom were suffering from shortages, to ensure that the additional responses, such as the military drivers of those tankers that were then put in place, and working with industry, we could then target activity in a way that was driven by the data. today sees the government launched its new five—year cyber strategy. it aims to ensure the uk is at the cutting edge of technology. cyber attacks have hit councils and businesses in the uk and around the world, while online scams have been growing. the strategy aims to ensure that our defences are stronger and also that the benefits of technology and innovation are better spread across the country. all of that, like the arrival of sitcen, a sign that technology increasingly underpins our security. gordon corera, bbc news. the uk health security agency says it expects people to be released from quarantine hotels today, once "logistics like travel" are sorted. earlier we spoke to one couple who have been living in a quarantine hotel in east london for the past nine days. emily mennie and owen hancock believe they are being forced to "pay for their own imprisonment". they were caught up in the overnight changes to travel from south africa, and are hoping for an update on their situation shortly. owen told us more about what it's been like, living in a quarantine hotel. it is not easy being a couple living in one room for nine days, taking meetings from the bathroom toilet and things like that. it is harder still when you are paying nearly £4000 for it. we have started a petition which has got nearly 60,000 signatures, so there is obviously a sentiment that agrees with us that says the government should be funding this imprisonment rather than it having to come off our own credit cards. the prime minister will be leading a press conference this afternoon at 5.00 in downing street alongside the chief medical officerfor 5.00 in downing street alongside the chief medical officer for england, professor chris whitty, and the medical director of primary care for nhs england. you can watch that press briefing from downing street live here on bbc news from 5.00 this afternoon. for the first time in history, a spacecraft has flown through the outer atmosphere of the sun. nasa says the parker solar probe, which was launched in 2018, had to withstand intense heat and radiation during the mission. scientists say it will help provide a better understanding of how the sun works. earlier my colleague annita mcveigh spoke to dr imogen whittam, an astrophycisist from the university of oxford and asked her how difficult this mission is. it is obviously hugely challenging to send a probe actually into the sun's atmosphere, because the temperatures can reach over1 million degrees, so you have got to design a spacecraft which is not only to withstand those temperatures but actually be able to use instruments and take valuable measurements while inside and experiencing those extreme temperatures. so there are two ways, the probe actually only spends a very small amount of time inside the corona, it sort of dips in and out again to minimise the time it spends on these extreme conditions, and also it is very well designed, it has a very beefy heat shield to shield it from the worst of the radiation and the heat. i imagine others temperatures, _ radiation and the heat. i imagine others temperatures, a - radiation and the heat. i imagine others temperatures, a very - radiation and the heat. i imagine i others temperatures, a very beefy heat shield would be needed. but as you say, dipping in and out, not spending much time because of the atmosphere that challenges of being in that atmosphere with all the radiation. so how much data hasn't been able to gather do we have any sense of that yet? it been able to gather do we have any sense of that yet?— sense of that yet? it has been able to cather sense of that yet? it has been able to gather some _ sense of that yet? it has been able to gather some really _ sense of that yet? it has been able to gather some really valuable - to gather some really valuable data about the magnetic field inside the corona and also the particles that are present, and it is going to make several more passes inside the corona, getting progressively deeper and deeper inside the sun's atmosphere. so and deeper inside the sun's atmosphere.— atmosphere. so what will astrophysicists _ atmosphere. so what will astrophysicists like - atmosphere. so what will. astrophysicists like yourself, atmosphere. so what will- astrophysicists like yourself, what will you do with that data, how useful will it be? this will you do with that data, how useful will it be?— will you do with that data, how useful will it be? this data will be hu:el useful will it be? this data will be hugely useful. — useful will it be? this data will be hugely useful, because _ useful will it be? this data will be hugely useful, because it'll- useful will it be? this data will be hugely useful, because it'll give l hugely useful, because it'll give more information about the sun itself from inside the sun, the sun is obviously hugely vital to life on earth, so it will help us understand more about our staff, and also about other stars, that is to help us learn things about how the solar wind is actually launched from within the atmosphere of the sun, the mechanisms which drive that really are not well understood at all, so this is hugely exciting in terms of understanding the sun and other stars. terms of understanding the sun and other stare— other stars. worth reflecting that a lot of the focus _ other stars. worth reflecting that a lot of the focus on _ other stars. worth reflecting that a lot of the focus on space _ other stars. worth reflecting that a lot of the focus on space this - other stars. worth reflecting that a lot of the focus on space this year. lot of the focus on space this year has been about space tourism, as we have watched various rockets being launched by rather wealthy individuals. but when you look at the pure science, this is really extraordinary at what has happened here with this probe, isn't it? this is usuall here with this probe, isn't it? tru 3 is usually extraordinary, we are literally touching the sun, which is mind blowing, sort it is hugely exciting to understand more about the sun and the role it plays in the solar system, the sun and the role it plays in the solarsystem, but the sun and the role it plays in the solar system, but it does also have an application on our every day, but doing that because by learning more about the solar wind, and how it is launched, we can learn how to predict solar storms, which have a big impact here on earth, because they can affect things like satellites, they can actually knock satellites, they can actually knock satellites off—line, and they are anxious reliant on satellite technology, and they can even affect our groups. let's take a look at what's making the news across the uk. a new app to help to tackle violence and intimidation towards women and girls has been launched in gloucestershire. the idea's to build a picture of how often — and where — incidents are happening, especially those which often wouldn't be reported. tracey miller reports. it was supposed to be a fun night out with friends but amelia is convinced her drink was spiked in a club. i don't remember a lot of it. i've kind of had to be filled in on all the details by friends who were with me because ijust completely blacked out. it took days to recover and she just couldn't face contacting the police. it's quite mentally draining to then have to go through that process, so i think i sort of put it off a bit. so many of these experiences like amelia's just aren't being reported, so they have created this app. it is free and simple to use. you just submit your report, you just have to put in what happened, where and when. wost importantly, the whole thing is anonymous. the app flare has been launched in gloucestershire with the help of the hollie gazzard trust. there's a lot of things on here as well that people might not necessarily think, you know, is actually something they should report. so i think having that there gives them a reason to think, actually, no, i am going to report that. and the data is used by the police to target their resources. so people don't always want to think they want to bother the police with that but we actually really need to know the lived experience of women and girls in gloucestershire. so that we can understand it, we can focus our patrols, we can work with education, partners, to make people feel safer and alter some of these behaviours. local nightclub owners are hoping the information will help. if we are not aware there is an issue happening, how are we meant to deal with it? and the ones that we deal with within the site, we have got testing kits to test alcohol to see if it has been contaminated. if it has been contaminated, then we can follow our cctv and follow the train of events. can i ask you if you are all right now? yeah, i'm fine now. it took me a while to recover. like, i felt absolutely horrendous for a couple of days. no girl wants to feel that way - and i think that obviously the flare app is going to be the best way for all girls and guys to sort - of highlight where these issues are coming up and how often . it is happening. so you're hopeful that this might make a change? i hope it will. if successful, they hope the app can be rolled out across the country. many schools across the country are struggling to stay open in the final week of term, as covid infections rise. at lee chapel primary in basildon, they've had 85 covid cases this term, and the head says she's just trying to keep things as normal as possible for the children. zoie o'brien reports. well, there's just a few days left of the school term, but the covid cases in our region are rising in the run—up to christmas. some schools in this region have already decided to close their doors to go to remote learning. but others like lee chapel school here in basildon say they're doing everything that they can to remain open, such as year groups remaining separate, different playgrounds and assemblies being much smaller. but with more than 1,000 children here and 150 plus staff, that's no easy task. from september to the october half term, we really were getting ahead with catching the children up and ensuring that they breached those gaps that were there from the lock downs, and then since october half term, it has been a relentless round of covering and redeploying staff. not necessarily because they're positive, but because their children are, their children have been sent home from secondary school. and actually, staff absenteeism in general has been higher. ——bridging the gap. since september, there has been 89 cases in this entire school, causing attendance to drop by around 2%. but as for the children, they say everything that they want is here in school, theirfriends, their teachers and the opportunity to learn. ijust like it better at school. it has for me a better atmosphere for learning. since our sats are coming up, . it'll be a lot better to be learning in school so that i can get better at my sats quicker. _ well, across the whole of the uk, on one day last week there were 236,000 schoolchildren off because of covid. but now concern is moving to the christmas holidays. there are questions being asked over whether transmission will break because children aren't in classrooms, or whether this christmas period is going to cause further problems for schools when they come back injanuary. a seven—year—old girl from north lincolnshire has made it her mission to help the homeless this winter. tilly smith collected more than 700 crisp packets and sent them away to be made into blankets, and has now learned the process and has started to make them herself! simon spark has been to meet her this morning. seven—year—old tilly is getting used to having lots of crisp packets around. her friends at school have been helping her collect them. that is because she has found a very good use for them. you collect them, i bring them home and then i wash them. i get two crisp packets and then i get one of the baking papers and i iron it. me and my mum recommend doing it for two seconds sometimes we have to do it for more because some of them don't work. by washing, cutting and drying and ironing the crisp packets, tilly has discovered you can make a survival blanket for the homeless. that is exactly where this one is going. if it was in the bin, then you would have crisp packets there for 80 years. instead, we could use them for 80 years as a blanket. the first blanket we've made, it was a bit rough. the second one so far is a bit better. you could say i ironed out the kinks. she is doing really well and she definitely wants to do it herself so i am not allowed to help, just supervise. it takes 150 crisp packets to make one blanket and tilly's favourite flavour is cheese and onion which is why you can see a lot of blue packets in this one! now to the dramatic story of a rescue in the snowy hills of northumberland. when adventurer claire hughes slipped on the ice during a walk in november, medics feared she could be at risk of losing her leg, and she was also suffering from hypothermia. but thanks to the quick thinking of the great north air ambulance service, this is a story with a happy ending, as sharon barbour reports. northumberland was reeling in the wake of storm arwen. claire hughes and james had set off from a village on a walk that ended with a 999 call for emergency help.— on a walk that ended with a 999 call for emergency help. severe weather conditions had _ for emergency help. severe weather conditions had passed, _ for emergency help. severe weather conditions had passed, but - for emergency help. severe weather conditions had passed, but the - for emergency help. severe weather conditions had passed, but the afterj conditions had passed, but the after effects were still being felt. i slipped on the sheet ice. she instantly knew _ slipped on the sheet ice. she instantly knew she _ slipped on the sheet ice. she instantly knew she had broken her ahkte. _ instantly knew she had broken her ankle, without on a snowy hill top, we would _ ankle, without on a snowy hill top, we would have to call 999. claire wasl in: we would have to call 999. claire was lying on _ we would have to call 999. claire was lying on sheet _ we would have to call 999. claire was lying on sheet ice _ we would have to call 999. claire was lying on sheet ice in - we would have to call 999. claire was lying on sheet ice in freezing conditions, and was now at risk of life—threatening hypothermia. mr; life—threatening hypothermia. ij�*i body life—threatening hypothermia. m body temperature life—threatening hypothermia. m1: body temperature was life—threatening hypothermia. m1 body temperature was definitely dropping, especially on my leg that i have is we couldn't move or do anything to keep it warm. estimated it was iioin anything to keep it warm. estimated it was going to _ anything to keep it warm. estimated it was going to be — anything to keep it warm. estimated it was going to be two _ anything to keep it warm. estimated it was going to be two to _ anything to keep it warm. estimated it was going to be two to three - it was going to be two to three hours — it was going to be two to three hours for— it was going to be two to three hours for an it was going to be two to three hours foran ambience. it was going to be two to three hours for an ambience. the newest wasn't _ hours for an ambience. the newest wasn't particularly passable, obviously with all the snow that had occurred _ obviously with all the snow that had occurred -- — obviously with all the snow that had occurred —— the nearest road stops so they— occurred —— the nearest road stops so they decided it was best to send the air— so they decided it was best to send the airambulance. but so they decided it was best to send the air ambulance.— the air ambulance. but the strong winds and snow— the air ambulance. but the strong winds and snow made _ the air ambulance. but the strong winds and snow made it _ the air ambulance. but the strong winds and snow made it difficult l winds and snow made it difficult even for the ambulance team. that the look even for the ambulance team. that they look like _ even for the ambulance team. that they look like arctic _ even for the ambulance team. trisgt they look like arctic tundra, it was a sort of high—level flat mountain plateau blasted with ice and snow, very slippery, winds gusting 30 to 40 mph. there is absolutely no way a land ambulance could get anywhere near this patient. it land ambulance could get anywhere near this patient.— near this patient. it was tricky beini near this patient. it was tricky being out _ near this patient. it was tricky being out there, _ near this patient. it was tricky being out there, but - near this patient. it was tricky being out there, but i - near this patient. it was tricky being out there, but i think. near this patient. it was tricky l being out there, but i think the sound — being out there, but i think the sound of— being out there, but i think the sound of the helicopter coming of the hilltops as a sound i will never forget _ but there was no time to get her to hospital. claire needed emergency care immediately. both the bones in the lower leg were broken and her ankle - was pointing in the wrong direction. the injury itself to _ the ankle is serious enough, but in those conditions, - probably with wind chill of up to minus 20 degrees, - it's a life—threatening situation. and having been laying on the ice . for up to an hour before we arrived, she was getting extremely cold, and hypothermia is absolutely. a problem at that point. given the clinical situation, - and the problems with the blood supply in the foot, _ it was really imperative we did some treatment on scene. so the way that we do that in that situation is we'd use a large - essentially bag survival shelter, j to climb inside with the patient, in order to turn it— into a little operating theatre. i was in there sitting on the bottom of the shelter and holding up the roof on the inside. they twisted and pulled her leg back into position to put it straight. and despite being under the influence of some pretty severe drugs, she let out the most guttural screen. the issue for the patient with such a badly broken ankle _ is that the blood supply into the foot is actually| not flowing normally, - so left in that position for any significant amount of time is a real | danger to actually losing the foot. | which would have been a disasterfor claire. she is an extreme adventurer, who broke a world record rowing to america. and for the last two years, she has been preparing to row the northwest passage, the sea route between the atlantic and pacific oceans, through the arctic ocean. there are some risks. the ice does start to close up again in places. and that is where we would potentially need to look to lift our boat and drag it across ice to prevent getting frozen in. we've obviously got polar bears to contend with as well. she is determined to fully recover though, and is now also planning to raise funds to help the great north air ambulance service that came to her rescue. sharon barbour, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello there. we've got mixed fortunes of weather today. some areas are rather grey and gloomy, other areas seeing some lovely winter sunshine, and there's a little bit of rain in the forecast as well, particularly across the north of the uk. all areas, though, are pretty mild for the time of year with temperatures through this afternoon sticking in double figures for many. we've got this building area of high pressure slowly pushing its way north westwards. we still have this weak weather front trapped in the system across the north of the uk, that's bringing some thicker clouds, some patchy outbreaks of rain to northern ireland into the far north of england and in towards southern scotland, and it's pretty much stalling here through the day. to the north of it, bright with some sunshine, slice of bright weather through north wales, north midlands, northern england, then it's rather grey and gloomy across the south. the winds light for most, but quite breezy, even windy across the north and west of scotland. and like i mentioned, it is mild through this afternoon, those temperatures will be in double figures for most. now as we head on into this evening and overnight, that weak weather front begins to migrate northwards again, becoming confined to the north west of scotland by the end of the night. elsewhere, largely dry, quite a lot of cloud, particularly across southern areas. but where we get clear spells, northern, eastern england, perhaps north—east scotland, it could turn quite chilly with some fog patches developing. otherwise, for most generally, a mild night. thursday, then, is looking pretty grey and gloomy across southern areas. there'll be some low clouds, some mist around too. probably the best of any sunshine will be across the north east of the uk. and we'll still have this weather front affecting the far north of scotland, mainly affecting the northern isles. but again, it is another mild day for the time of year with temperatures ranging from 10 to 12 degrees. this area of high pressure sits across the uk in a block pattern called an omega block, you can see from the greek letter shape there, and the jet stream moving to the north of it. generally, we're in a zone of milder air with this area of high pressure, but, of course, areas that will stay rather cloudy throughout the days, will feel a bit chilly and see where skies clear at night towards the weekend, it will turn quite chilly as well, some mist and fog. friday, then a quiet day with that area of high pressure pretty much sitting on top of us, drier as well across the north of scotland. a lot of cloud, though, through central and southern parts of the country, quite gray and gloomy here. perhaps the best of the sunshine after a chilly start will be across parts of northern england and into scotland. similar stories as we head through the weekend. it stays largely cloudy for most, chilly where skies clear at night, but at least a few areas may have some sunshine. this is bbc news. the headlines: a senior health official warns that cases of the omicron variant are doubling in less than every two days in most parts of the uk. it's probably the most significant threat we've had since the start of the pandemic, and i'm sure, for example, that the numbers we see on data over the next few days will be quite staggering. new rules come into force meaning adults in england must show a covid pass to get into nightclubs, big sports matches and other large events. is the party over for - you now, prime minister? more pressure on borisjohnson after 100 of his own mps vote against the covid passes. his own mps have had enough. they won't defend him. they won't turn up to support him, and if he proposes them