the problem is we no longer have as many tests available, so it is difficult to judge exactly how many infections we are seeing, but the resurrected ons survey published just before christmas and that would suggest we are seeing as many cases and probably more cases of infection across england, at least, than we have at the same period over the last two years. and the evidence from europe is almost certainly they are seeing increasing infections as well, although most countries have stopped publishing weekly covid reports these days, but those that are, it is certainly increasing. tell us about this new strain and how worrying it is, or whether it is worrying? well, thejn.1 strain is a daughter variant of the one we have been seeing for some time the ba.2.86. it is not much different to the parent strain, but is spreading rather more quickly than at most new variants we have seen it for the last year or so.

that is why the who stated it was a variant of interest. as far as whether it causes any more severe disease, the evidence so far is it probably isn't. although we are seeing more cases of infection, although there are more infections are occurring in england than a year ago, we are actually seeing substantially fewer hospitalisations, so the balance of evidence as at his not going to be causing a large amount of hospitalisations unless infection rates go very high. paul hunter. now on bbc news it is the travel show, winter wonderland adventures.

hello, and welcome to a special edition of the travel show — covered in ice, snow, and that special kind of magic, as much of the world prepares to celebrate christmas, and also the end of another year. we spent most of 2023 on the road, so it's a great opportunity to be at home to recharge and look back at some of our favourite winter adventures here on the programme. so without further ado, let's jump straight in and remember the time when ade headed to finnish lapland — not to meet santa claus, but a rapper who's keeping his language alive with music.

huskies howl. ade: finnish lapland is as close as it gets to a winter wonderland. more than one million tourists come here each year in search of the northern lights, santa, and his reindeer. the sami are the indigenous people who live in this part of the world — from northern norway, sweden, finland, and the far north part of russia. there's around 6,000 samis left in this part of finland, and here, they're known as the inari sami — because most of them live around lake inari, which is 250km north of the arctic circle. i've never been so far north. i'm here! after landing in the town of ivalo, just an hour—and—a—half flight from helsinki, i meet my first inari friend. hello!

hey! welcome to finland and ivalo. thank you! i'm ade. nice to meet you. nice to meet you, i'm johanna. nice to meet you — look at your outfit! oh, thank you! you look amazing. thank you. is this our transport? yeah, it's going to be our transport for this trip. and we've got so many things planned for you here. i'm looking forward to it. i'm loving that hat, that's the way forward. thank you, it's really warm, it's really warm. life here must be really tough. there's snow on the ground for seven months of the year, and the most practical way to move around is by snowmobile. so, this is the best way to get there? yeah — no, there's no other way to get there. they laugh. ok, so this is how i'm rolling. and you're going to teach me, are you? yeah. antti, nice to meet you. nice to meet you, ade. so, tell me about this machine, my friend. well, these are the things that revolutioned the life here, in one way, because in — well, we got them about 50—60

years ago to finland. and this, well, made things much more easier, actually, in here. so, what did you use before these? skis. skis? and reindeer. skis and reindeer. old school. they laugh. normally, when you're driving on a track, if you have your feet in here... ..and your hands on the bar. and if you want to go right, you pull from the right one, and, of course, left, to the left. well, brake, we have on the left side. yep. this is the panic button. so, if you lose control or something happens, then you just hit that one. so, i hit that button, and then, i go, "antti"! engine starts. then we're good to go. oh, it's so hard to believe that i'm on this snowmobile going across lake inari, in finland, and beneath me is thousands and thousands of gallons of water. it's just crazy! this place is so beautiful. whoo!

i wasn't expecting that. inari sami culture has been under pressure for decades. in the past, this community was marginalised, and their mother tongue was banned from schools. with only 400 inari sami speakers, the language is still threatened. but one man is coming to the rescue, using an unconventional method. rapping in inari. amoc, you are a hip—hop artist, and you rap in your native language, inari. yes, inari — sami language, yeah. i mean, tell me about it, because i love hip—hop, but the last place that i would expect to find a hip—hop artist is in lapland.

yeah, the middle of nowhere, yeah? rapping continues. many people think it's quite weird, doing hip—hop, gangster rap in the inari sami language, spoken by 400 people. so, that's the kind of way that i'm telling about this little minority in a minority. mm. i like the sound that, it's like a mystic, mystical thing that people don't know, really. there's only 400 inari sami speakers in the world. yeah. then, i mean, in that case, how old are they? what's the average age, are you...? well, of course, the most people who speak inari sami in their mother tongue, they are mostly more than 50 years old. a little bit old, older people. and those older people, are they into hip—hop and your rapping style? i don't think so. but there are this new generation also, because there's a lot

of revitalising programmes. rapping continues. ok, amoc, spit some bars for us — and i am pretty sure this will be the premiere on bbc, of anyone hearing someone rap in inari sami. so, we're looking forward to this. ok, so... brap, brap, brap! inari sami in da house! they laugh. that's wicked! that's wicked, i loved it. i felt it, i felt it! you were there. christa: ade getting some lessons in sami hip—hop, in finnish lapland there. well, growing up in australia wasn't perhaps the best training for me to brave the winter elements —

but that didn't stop me from getting to grips with some unusual instruments made from ice at a unique music festival in norway. stand by for a virtuoso performance, music—lovers. ooh, you're really feeling... see it in the air — it is cold here. and it's this cold, the icy conditions and the elevation that drew polar explorers like shackleton to train here before they went on their expeditions. and people still come here for that purpose today. word is, it'll reach a low of —24 degrees celsius tonight. so, i'd better rug up. but what makes this festival extra special is that the instruments are actually made on the day from nearby ice. among the line—up this year is everything from ice horns to ice drums and ice didgeridoos.

the concert�*s only hours away, and here you are, making the instruments. this has got to be an unusual thing for a musician. for me, it's not. no! she laughs but for most musicians, it is. good—sounding ice is the most difficult part. you cannotjust go to your freezer, you cannot go to the nearest lake. it's with ice, as wine — there are good years and bad years. percussive tones. imitates wind blowing. so, why ice? what inspired this festival? well, it's nearly 20 years since the first time i tried ice, and i found the sound so fantastic, beautiful. with this water, we can drink it after a concert. or we canjust give it back

to nature, where it belongs. and also, the ice reminds me that we have, you know, you have to treat ice so gentle to not break it. and it's like we have — should treat nature. what's this instrument over here? this is an ice—ophone. an ice—ophone? yes. percussive tones. sound is lovely, isn't it? you like it? yeah. oh, it's lovely. any chance i could have a go? mm, very careful. very careful — i promise to be careful! i also promise to show no ability whatsoever. they laugh. you may as well give it to a kid. exactly. it works.

this is great! so, as evening approaches, the finishing touches are fast being made around the site. i really like it, cos it's kind of the sound of nature. so, it doesn't sound like anything else you've ever heard. so, people are really surprised when they hear it for the first time. we don't get to practise. so, the music, it gets made onstage in front of the audience, and that's really special. and i think people are like, "what? is this possible?" and, like, it's almost not possible, so it's pretty cool that we can do it. i guess there's a lot of folk music in it. it's very nordic, with the ice

and the snow, and the cold winters. just in the nick of time, all is ready — and we gather for an evening of ice music. ethereal vocalising. rhythmic vocalising. cheering. well, that was amazing! it was such a bonkers soundscape, and incredible to think that

all of those strange sounds that were building into this big crescendo were made from ice. i think it's also a really interesting way to experience the landscape of norway, freezing cold with a full moon overhead. having said that, it is freezing cold. i'm frozen through. it's time to head in. well, over the years, we've followed intrepid explorer karolis mieliauskas on several of his adventures around the globe — from the canals of sri lanka, to frozen lake baikal, in russia. but let's now remember the first time we met him, as he prepared to take on a treacherous i,000km motorbike ride across siberia to what claims to be the coldest town on earth. rather him than me.

between yakutsk and oymyakon is i,000km. so, itravel 200km per day. so remote, nothing around. just mountains, forest, taiga, and cold. this is the permafrost land. when i started on the first day, the yakutian siberian people who live there said, "please, don't do that. "karolis, you will lose your face on the first day. "the frostbite will eat you." even though i had helmet and, you know, some protections, motorcycling in winter on the road of bones doesn't promise a safe ride. normally, i travel alone. in this situation, i had two vehicles with me. one was for my support team, and another one served as a garage. i didn't want to have coffee in the middle of the day. i was driving for hours alone.

what is happening inside my head, i call it sometimes as an act of meditation. riding in such harsh conditions, so cold, i have to be only now and here, because if i give a chance to myself to think, "ok, there will be warmer, i'm hungry, i'll get food," and so on — then it becomes so cold, it is impossible to ride. i have to accept all this cold and completely relax. otherwise, it doesn't work. on the first day of my ride, i really had the feeling of, "oh, i'm home". there is no hotel at night. i received a simple tent with a little stove inside. that night was 48 degrees below. and inside the tent, we measured —13. bleep cold, you know! inside the tent, you want to relax. but then, we said, "ok, guys, let's get out to see to the night".

most of us were like, "i have never seen sky like this". actually feeling like you are in space somewhere. last 30km, it was so mentally tough for me. in one moment, i opened the throttle more, you know, 100—120kph, steering started to freeze. so, it means i see i cannot move it. i started to look for the straight lines, not to use it too much. and then, i arrived and i saw the sign "oymyakon," you know? and no thoughts — emptiness. "ok, i'm here." dog barks. when it's —55, the town looks pretty empty. and then, maybe one hour later, ah, it's done. ahh! the last thing left

is to have a swim in the river. ah! ok, to finish off our festive special, let's have a bit of theatrical fun. here in the uk, panto — short for pantomime — is always the big draw at this time of year. but there is a tiny village in the middle of rural norfolk with a population of around only 200 people that's been put on the map, thanks to its annual christmas show with not a pantomime dame or villain in sight. and a few years ago, i went along to join the cast for one night only. we'll see you again in 2024. but in the meantime, it's curtain up, strike up the band, and a very merry christmas and happy new year from all of us here at the travel show.

# let's roll out. # let the trumpets call. # all the people shout. # hurray! # and strike up the band. # hear the cymbals ring... with 2,000 pom—poms and one—and—a—half million rhinestones, this is a show to remember for the 110,000 people who come here during the festive season. now in its 43rd year, this family—run production was started as one man's vision. it's a journey to christmas eve, basically, in music, song and dance. but through its popularity, through the years, it's had to come forward. so, it's now starting november the 6th. it's basically a nonstop extravaganza of music, dance, and song. song crescendos. this year, over 3,000 west end and broadway artists auditioned to be part of the company of over 120 performers.

and today, i'll bejoining them for the big finale. but first, a crash course in learning my steps. clap to the front. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, three, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, four, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. hands, hands, bow, stand left foot. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! whoo! and then, make your way back out. 0k. cool thank you so much for teaching me, i hope i don't cause you any disruption later. you were great! no worries, you'll be great. so, tell me, what's it like for you guys to perform in a show like this? cos it's a little bit different, isn't it? yeah, it's very different. it's not like any other show. i'm one of the singers in the show, and i did the show last year- and fell in love with it, so back this year. - it'sjust such a variety, isn't it? like, even as a singer, _ i do lots of musical theatre stuff, but this has got lots of classical i in there, as well, so it's reallyl

nice to get that kind of mixture. one thing that's incredible here is that we're celebrating christmas for two months every day. yeah! you'd think it'd get a little tedious, but it doesn't, because every show, we've got 1,400 people watching, and they're all there to celebrate christmas. and it's just amazing to do shows every day, twice a day. cheering. # i've been dreaming of christmas—time. # every day through the year. # trees shine in every window. # children all dream of reindeer hoofprints in the snow. # i've been longing for christmas—time.

# when hearts are warm. # and filled with joy. # there's love for all to share. # as gifts... this is susie. it's my secret changing room. she's going to help me get into my costume. ahh! # the best time of the year... whispering: i have to go onstage now. let's hope i remember my steps.

applause. she laughs excitedly. ah! ok, so... i didn't fall over, i didn't forget the steps,

and i didn't cause any kind of incident. so, as far as i'm concerned, job done. but i must say, being up there, looking out at the audience, all standing, clapping, enjoying themselves, everyone singing, it really was something a bit special. and i didn't fall over — yes! hello there. at its peak on wednesday, storm gerrit brought gusts of winds just shy of 90 miles an hour. and despite the storm pulling away,

it's still pretty windy out there with gusts of winds generally ranging from 50 to 70 miles an hour across the country. so a blustery afternoon in store and still some showers. here's gerrit now off into scandinavia where the warnings here remain in force. but for us, it's a case of sunny spells and scattered showers. some of the showers heavy with rumbles of thunder and lightning across wales and north—west england once again will see that line of persistent showery rain drifting its way slowly, south and east, never really getting into the london area. a fairly narrow but intense line of showers from lincolnshire into south—west england. elsewhere, a windy afternoon with further sunny spells and scattered showers to come. a cooler story in the far north of scotland. once again, top temperatures generally between four and seven degrees. but elsewhere, we're looking at 9 to 13 degrees the high. now, as we go through the night, that line of rain will push its way down through the south—east. showers continue into the north and with the wind swinging round to a northerly direction, there'll be a wintry component to higher ground in scotland here,

low single figures. but elsewhere we'll see overnight lows between five and eight celsius. so into friday, wintry showers continue to higher ground in the north. a line of showery rain through northern ireland into northern england, sunny spells and scattered showers for the rest of england and wales. still blustery, but the winds slowly easing down. top temperatures generally between five and 11 celsius. now, if you're heading off for the weekend, travel plans for new year's eve, please keep abreast of the forecast. is another area of low pressure, perhaps not quite as intense as storm gerrit, but nevertheless, another spell of wet and very windy weather, widespread gales likely and yes, a combination of rain, sleet and snow, potentially even at lower levels across northern england and parts of scotland. so as we move into sunday, new year's eve, that area of low pressure will continue to drift its way steadily eastwards, will see spiralling around that low, a rash of showers. it'll be windy across england and wales, slightly lighter winds in scotland, slightly quieter story,

but it will start to get just that little bit cooler. and as we move into new year's day, the rain will continue, but those temperatures will gradually ease away.

live from london, this is bbc news. as israeli forces advance towards central gaza, tens of thousands of palestinians are forced to flee refugee camps there. the israeli military shows journalists what it says is the largest hamas tunnel it has discovered so far in gaza. and police in greater manchester declare a major incident — after a tornado sweeps off roofs and leaves thousands without power. we start with the latest on the israel gaza war.

tens of thousands of palestinians are moving out of sprawling urban refugee camps in central gaza strip, as israeli tanks and troops advance. israeli forces have told them to head south and west into hastily built and already overcrowded tent camps. the israeli army has released this new footage which is says shows the 55th brigade on military operations in the khan younis area of gaza. the idf said it has deployed additional forces to the southern city — the hometown of the hamas leader yahya sinwar. there's also been an intensification of fighting across the israel—lebanon border in recent days, sparking fears of a wider conflict. a member of israel's war cabinet has warned that the military will take matters into its own hands if cross border attacks by the hezbollah group don't stop. meanwhile, the israel defense forces says it regrets harm to civilians during christmas eve air strikes. an israeli military official says the use of the wrong munition led to "extensive collateral damage" in strikes targeting the maghazi