but, of course, the issue is that the aggression of a minority of xl bullies has led to all of them becoming a banned type, and all face the consequences of the law change. from today, these dogs can only be out in public if they're muzzled and on a lead. that's it. you're all right. from today, it's also illegal to breed, sell or abandon an xl bully. that means rehoming them will be impossible. if they're not wanted, they're likely to be destroyed. we won't be able to take in any xl bullies. we won't be able to rehome any xl bullies. people are concerned about how to do muzzle training. so there's some really good advice out there on how to muzzle train your dog. but they're also concerned about the dog not being able to be let off—lead. so a dog that is an xl bully and registered won't be allowed to be off—lead in a public place. and you can see how much he loves snuffling. so, for him, this activity is going to be perfect. for months now, some xl bully owners have been

taking their dogs to training... bingo. ..to get them used to a much more controlled life. good boy. at first everyone thought a ban means that, ok, that's it. you know, you have to say goodbye to your dogs. thankfully, a lot of good information came out quite quickly, and so people were able to see that that's not the case. but yeah, panic, stress, they're loved fam... they're part of the family. can you judge a temperament like this or do you need longer? really, temperament's hard because, for example, if we were saying this dog's safe, i don't think we can ever say a dog's safe. police will be calling on people who haven't declared their dogs. existing xl bullies can still be kept if owners can prove to a court they're responsible. in cases where we believe the court may, you know, sort of approve an exemption, we'll speak to the owner and say, "look they're obviously going to have to be spayed or neutered. the decision is with the court. but if you wanted to go ahead and do that now, things like the microchipping, the insurance and things like that". and also getting the home

environment ready for the dog's return. good lad. xl bullies have caused too many problems for the government to ignore. yes, it's left many owners upset, but this is seen as the most effective way to deal with them. danny savage, bbc news. a climber has been stretchered off the side of a mountain in the cairngorms after becoming lost in blizzard conditions. rescue crews were called out around half past five last night where they found the climber in a boulder field suffering from exhaustion. they'd become seperated from their group amid freezing they'd become separated from their group amid freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall. it's a time of year when, despite the cold weather, plenty of people like to go for a swim in the sea. certainly not me! but there remains concern over the quality of water off the coast of the uk, and there's a call for water

companies to provide real time data about when and where sewage is released into the sea. dafydd morgan reports. you can never have a bad swim, but do you want to come out feeling ill? robert morgan lives and breathes the gower coastline, but enjoying this beautiful part of south wales comes with its risks. you can actually see the sewage come out of the pipe. absolutely disgusting, the smell. i'll go for a swim today. sometimes you can smell that detergent—y smell. you can actually see it. sewage discharge means that some families now consider their local beaches to be unsafe. paddling on the stand—up paddle board on a beautifully clear evening. and as soon as we're over that pipe, on one occasion, this smell, the colour of the water went from crystal clear to brown. and again, unmistakably, you know, a sewage slip. combined sewage systems mean wastewater from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens is carried to sewage treatment works in the same pipes as rainwater. when rainfall is heavy, treatment plants are allowed to discharge untreated sewage to prevent the system from being overwhelmed.

but if plants release more sewage than they're allowed to, they could be in breach of their permits. surfers against sewage�*s annual water quality report claims that sewage was discharged for more than 600,000 hours in wales last year. every year, thousands of people come to the beach here on poppit sands. it's one that's proud to fly its blue flag. but figures from welsh water show that waert overflow system, across the estuary here, released on 2a occasions over the last two years. we do need to see concrete action. so promises are being made and that is all very, very encouraging. but we need to see action happening now. welsh water say that the surfers against sewage report ignored the investment made to improve water quality in seas and rivers. but they acknowledge that there's more to do and they're assessing the environmental impact of their assets, including storm overflows, so they can understand the factors impacting bathing water quality.

they also say that there are other factors that contribute to sea and river pollution. hafren dyfrdwy, which covers parts of north east and mid wales, say they take their responsibility towards river health very seriously. natural resources wales, the body responsible for monitoring water quality, said while they had seen great improvements in recent years, it was taken action to drive down sewage spills. the finishing touches are being put in place for new year's eve celebrations across the uk. edinburgh will host hogmanay, whilst more than ten thousand fireworks have been loaded onto barges on the river thames ahead of london's fireworks display. meanwhile, bongs of big ben are synonymous with the start of new year, but you might not know that tonight it will have been 100 years since they were first broadcast on the radio. our culture reporter noor nanji has been finding out more. big ben bongs.

britain's most famous chimes, broadcast to the country live twice a day every day, as well as three times on sundays. this is the other side of the clock. the bells and the clock itself have mattered hugely to generations of people over the years. the bongs are one of the most recognised sounds around the world. big ben has been broadcast now because it has become a symbol of freedom. so the people who were hearing it during the second world war realised that there was one country which was still free. thereafter it was part of the meaning, the symbol of freedom. it's a seamless operation, getting the bongs transmitted from here to the homes of radio listeners. but it hasn't always been this easy. big ben's bongs were first broadcast on new year's eve in 1923. bbc engineers were not allowed in the building.

instead, they had to climb onto a rooftop opposite the houses of parliament with a microphone to capture the sounds of the chimes. from february 192a, the bells were regularly transmitted on the radio. and the tradition has run ever since then, with the chimes of this great bell, big ben, also being heard on special occasions such as christmas day, armistice day and new year's eve. but there have been some notable exceptions. during the second world war, unbeknown to the public, the bongs were at times replaced by recorded ones for security reasons. in 2017, the chimes on radio 4 were silenced again with a recording used instead. that was due to major restoration work taking place on the elizabeth tower, which houses the clock and bells. it was important in order that we could restore the building forfuture generations. there was stonework crumbling, also the great clock hadn't had a major overhaul in over 30 years at that point. we also upgraded the infrastructure. so new lighting that you can see

now, but also our fire systems, our security systems, and also put heating in to preserve the fabric for the very first time. the tower has now been restored to its former glory. new microphones have been installed, which means the live bongs have returned, with extra microphones being brought in on new year's eve. and this is the mechanism that keeps it all ticking. so what we have here is what's called a flatbed mechanism. it's a three train clock. so it's got three separate components, one to do the chimes, one to do the time and one to strike big ben. it's powered by three weights with a combined weight of two and a quarter tonnes which travel down the centre of the tower. there's an 85 metre shaft which goes right down the middle of the tower. three times a week, we come up to the mechanism room to wind the clock weights back up to the top. and new year's eve is coming up. what preparations are going into that? we will be here on the day making sure that the clock

is running precisely to time. we'll be taking time checks throughout the day and making small adjustments to the pendulum just to make sure that that midnight happens exactly when everyone is expecting it to. the iconic bells will be broadcast around the world again at midnight with the sound of 12 chimes signalling the start of the new year. noor nanji, bbc news. 0ur correspondent greg mckenzie has been down by the thames in central london to see how preparations are going. 100,000 people are expected to be here along london's embankment to experience spectacular for midnight as the london eye lights up the london skyline, 20,000 fireworks, and we are told the theme this year is unity. 100,000 people managed to get those tickets, and many of those have travelled from all over the world. one that has come out on top is one of the most desirable

destinations to be for new year, so many with those lucky tickets. the fireworks will start at midnight as big ben's chines will shine, the bronx, and at the beginning of 202a. that is true. me and my director roger in my ear will be here for the beginning of the new year. lets get an update on the weather. hello there, good evening. blustery showers across the uk for much of the day. heavy thundery downpours for many, but also some sunny spells, so some beautiful rainbows spotted by our weather watchers, and very windy conditions across the south coast of england and wales. now, the ground already pretty saturated from all of the recent rain. there are a number of flood warnings in place, particularly across the welsh marches down into south—west england. all of the details on those on the bbc weather website. we've seen low pressure gradually push its way eastwards across the uk. in the centre of the low pressure across northern

england and scotland, the winds are light but still very blustery towards the south coast overnight tonight. still plenty more showers around as well. the focus for that wet weather across north—west england stretching down through into the north midlands and some more showers for parts of argyll and bute as well. some clearer skies for many. it's a cold, frosty start to new year's day after the hogmanay celebrations in scotland, but it is milder further south. let's take a look at new year's day. for most of us, i think it will be a nicer looking day of weather. if you fancy a new year's stroll, there will be quite a lot of dry weather around, some sunshine. that will last longest across east anglia for northern england, the midlands, northern ireland and for much of scotland. but the cloud will start to build towards the south—west of england through the late morning. there'll be outbreaks of heavy rain here by the time we get to the mid afternoon. temperatures starting to slip a little, 5 to 11 degrees celsius. the air milder, of course, where we've got the cloud and the rain and those heavy downpours of rain falling on saturated ground, of course, in many places. starting to drift northwards and eastwards as we head through monday evening,

eventually clearing the south coast. but there's more rain just waiting in the wings and we'll be seeing that on tuesday morning. as you can see on the pressure chart here, again, it's tending to move its way northwards and eastward. so some more heavy rain across much of england and wales as we go through the first part of tuesday. that drifts into northern england by the end of the day. another feed of rain, some wintry showers, perhaps over the tops of the hills into parts of aberdeenshire with the brisk south—easterly wind. temperatures turning milder, of course, towards the south, underneath the cloud in the rain, 11 to 13 degrees celsius, but still colder across scotland and northern ireland. but here is the outlook for our capital cities. as we head through the start of january, things will be staying a lot colder for all of us by next weekend. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. the us navy says it's sunk three houthi rebel boats in the red sea after they attacked a container ship off the coast of yemen. the queen of denmark announces she will step down after 52 years on the throne. president putin says russia won't back down in ukraine, as moscow carries out more drone attacks. a spectacular fireworks display in bangkok, as cities around the world welcome in 202a. hello, i'm nicky schiller. we start in the middle east. the us military says its helicopters

have destroyed three small boats in an attack on a container ship in the southern red sea. it's the second assault by iran—backed houthi rebels on the ship within 2a hours. the us says the gunmen who launched the raid from yemen attacked in four boats, coming within 20 metres of the vessel. the fourth craft fled the area. the houthi rebels say their actions are in protest against the gaza war, where there have been more air strikes by israel. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is insisting that the war in gaza will continue until all hostages have been released and hamas has been dismantled. this report is from shaimaa khalil injerusalem — and a warning you may find parts of her report distressing. street by street, the battles on the ground in gaza rage on. israel is concentrating its ground offensive on the centre and the south of the strip,

with hamas fighters continuing to resist the idf�*s advances.