here's tomasz schafernaker with the weather. it won't warm up. as far as the weather go, sunny spell, some rain round too, in fact at the moment, in the last few hours we have had some rain across northern wales, heavy rain, and some of the rain will be moving through the midlands this evening, and then later on in the night, it tends to fizzle away, that weather front here, it will have patchy rain left over. so the second half of the might is mostly dry gci’oss half of the might is mostly dry across the uk, with clear spells gci’oss across the uk, with clear spells across northern england, northern ireland and scotland and here a touch of grass frost outside town. tomorrow, not a bad day, it will be fairly bright, the winds are still coming generally speaking out of the north, north—west here, so chilly conditions for all of us, but in the sunshine, it feels just about 0k, conditions for all of us, but in the sunshine, it feels just about ok, i think. into easter sunday, easter day, again, more of the same. now on bbc news, the city of hull

is being transformed by a year—long festival of arts and culture. anne marie tasker and kofi smiles report on the highlights. hello, and welcome to hull, which, for the whole of 2017 is the uk's city of culture. and this is the humber bridge, just the latest location to take part in the 365 day celebration of arts and culture. pulled between stars and asteroids, meteors and satellites... this stuning landmark is being turned into a giant musical instrument, taking you on a sonic journey across the humber. and i've been on myjourneys, too, exploring the cultural links between this maritime city and its sister city of reykjavik. i think all this talk about girls not boxing is old—fashioned. e

we will also find out how women's boxing pioneer barbara buttrck is finally being recognised in her home city. i'm annemarie tasker, and i'm the arts and culture correspondent for the bbc here in hull, and this is kofi smiles. i'm the face of hull, chosen by bbc to tell the world about the city of culture. we're out the humber bridge. over there is lincolnshire, and behind you is the city of hull. this is one of the north's most famous landmarks. it has stunning views and is an amazing piece of engineering. by the way, it is 156 metres tall, — that's just under 500 feet. just a bit shorter than the blackpool tower. i don't know how i'll get down from here, but i guess i will cross that bridge when i come to it.

i'll let you into a little secret — there's actually a lift up to here. oh, my gosh! this was us earlier, getting all of the people and the kids up to the top of the humber bridge, and if you take a look over the edge, you can see the very first people to experience the humber bridge as a musical instrument. the swans bend their necks backwards to see god. they know the magnetism of the blue space. listening through headphones, they're hearing a piece of work which combines music with poetry and sounds of the bridge as it

creaks and sways in the wind. here's lucy hester to explain. many of us will have driven across the bridge, taking in the science of the humber river, taking in the sights of the humber river, but this unique project is hoping to inspire people to walk along its mile long length and get lost in incredible sounds. the east coast links to scandinavia go back to the vikings, so norwegian composers have been chosen to create a musical guided walk across the bridge. today, in arctic temperatures, these men are walking the bridge together for the first time. it's a fantastic construction and it's so much bigger than i expected. it has been interesting to walk across the bridge together and to actually hear the sound of the bridge in itself. and uniquely, it is the noise of the bridge makes which will forms

the basis of the piece. field recordistjez riley french has been given the job of capturing them. i have to admit, i was very sceptical when jez started testing the railings on the bridge, to see which one sounded the most musical. i think this maybe this one. this one. yeah, this section here, i think. yeah, let's try this. go on then, i can't hear a thing. jez sticks little contact microphones onto the railings to capture their sounds. if i play them, you will hear... i can't believe that. it's amazing, isn't it? wow! you're right, i take everything back, it's completely musical. and it's these raw sounds that jan has his team have been

transforming into a piece for orchestra and chorus. today, the opera north orchestra is recording its part. the choral parts have arrived, and the chorus has one day to learn and record them. you have to sing very quietly, so that is a challenge funnily enough, because it is quite opposite to what we're normally asked to do. at bude park primary school in hull, one of opera north's singing schools, auditions are taking place for the voice of the humber bridge. the child who will be the narrator on the wall. my name is katie and i'm going to keep you company on yourjourney to the bridge. eight—year—old katie smith has been chosen to be the voice of the humber bridge. i think it will be a bit weird hearing myself,

but it is going to be pretty cool. it's a long walk ahead, i hope you have strong shoes. look up! this is an extraordinary soaring piece of music, and to think that it came originally from the very sounds of the bridge itself. it only really makes sense when you're out here. it's fantastic. that looked amazing. so we popped back down to the bridge and we're going to have a go at it. it's an opportunity to walk along an iconic part of hull, along the humber bridge, and really enjoy it with an extra experience that you wouldn't

normally have the opportunity to do. it's brilliant, you appreciate the environment more. you're in the zone, kind of thing. it makes you think differently, having the music directing what you're thinking and then you look out an the scene and that. you look out at the scene and that. it's good. it is amazing, i enjoyed it. usually ijust drive by, but i never do this experience, walking across. it has been a long time since i walked the bridge, and this just added to the atmosphere. it's fantastic. you only have to look across from the humber bridge to see that this is an area which has close links to the sea. hull was a majorfishing port, and one of its sister cities is reykjavik, the capital of iceland. later this month, a major music festival is planned in the city of culture to celebrate those maritime links. it's curated by an award—winning musician, john grant,

an american now living in iceland. he showed me around reykjavik and explain some of the similarities between the cities. welcome to iceland! home of the fjords, trolls and an unexpectedly good football team. but what does that have to do with hull, the uk city of culture? for one thing, reykjavik is one of hull's sister cities. they have traded with each otherfor 700 years, through the fishing industry they have traded with each otherfor 700 years, sometimes peacefully and sometimes in less friendly circumstances. they were both listed in the world's top ten cities to visit by rough guides in 2016. it is said that the cobblestones in hull's old town were brough from iceland by fishermen. but there are cultural links, too. that's what i'm here for. north atlantic flux, one of the major music festivals of the city of culture programme will celebrate hull's nordic connections. this is its curstor, john grant. john grant is an american

who has lived in reykjavik for the past five years. in fact, he is such a nordic native that he co—wrote iceland's 2014 entry into the eurovision song contest. into the eurovision song contest. i metjohn at this coffee shop, his favourite place in reykjavik, and the setting for his pale green ghost album art. hull is a place that has been on my radarfor a long time. several of the artists i admire have deep connections to hull. so for example cosey fanni tutti, tracy thorn — then lene lovich, i didn't know was connected to hull. so there's these very strong female voices from hull that i have been listening to and influenced by four decades. i think that is interesting because hull is known for its resilient powerhouse women. the head scarf revolutionaries. yes, exactly. these women who single—handedly, i think it was down to four women who brought about these protests

after the triple trawler tragedy. can you take me through the festival you have curated for 2017? you will see a good mix of what hull has to offer, but also things from the north atlantic. it is quite scandinavian. and then some of my favourite things from around britain. because britain has been instrumental — pun intended, i guess — in forming my musical dna and vocabulary through my life. it is a very important place for me. clearly this festival is no ordinary gig forjohn. he's genuinely invested in the story of hull and its connection to the north atlantic. after our coffee he showed me another favourite spot of his. this church, just like holy trinity in hull, is the focal point of reykjavik's skyline. i do feel like both, even though there have been hardships and animosity between iceland and hull, there are still a lot

of similarities as far as a people who are very much connected to the sea. what that does in terms of building character and your relationship to nature, i think that's something that the two very much have in common. the sea separates us, but also gives us this shared history and natural understanding of each other‘s heritage. historically, men from both cities would trawl for fish in these waters, which led to overfishing and a breakdown in relations known as the cod wars. but now, through music and art, that is friendship that that is a friendship that thrives on several levels. this is whatjohn and his friends will celebrate in hull at north atlantic flux, and that is why i will be there at the front of the crowd. still ahead, one of hull's most famous daughters on inspiring the next generation of performers. god, if that white—haired woman in spectacles can be on telly, so can i! and the man who swapped prog rock for classical stardom.

but first, here's my guide to some of the other hull 2017 highlights and a look ahead at what is to come. in march, the 75 metre wind turbine blade that sparked a citywide debate about what art is was moved to a new home. it left a void in the centre of hull — for about five days — quickly replaced by the famous weeping window poppy sculpture. i think it literally represents a piece of our history that is relevant now, and then it's just, let it go and see what people think. fuzzfeed, which launched in february, takes the real conversations from the young people of hull and acts them out with puppets. you drive through manchester to get somewhere. you don't drive through hull, it's like last stop... ...scarborough. what? you drive through huull to get to scarborough, don't you? i don't know, probably. an incredible collection of celebrity portraits is currently on display at the university of hull. it is a rare chance to see the entire collection of paintings from the winners of the national

bp portrait award. bp portrait award. you come in and people are really excited. it is always really busy, and it was never this busy before, so it is really nice having the publicity, notjust for the city of culture but also for the art collection in general. flood, an epic year long show, continued with part two to the sea. part one was online, and three will be broadcast on bbc tv. and there's lots more to come, including richard iii starting matt fraser, and a piece of gig theatre by hull company middle child. it's a play in a nightclub, punctuated by live music from local bands. one of the unexpected things about city of culture is it has unearthed some remarkable success stories that have either been ignored orforgotten. and that's stories about all sorts of culture, and notjust the obvious ones like music and theatre,

but sport, specifically boxing. barbara buttrick was born in hull and was the world's first women's boxing champion in the 1960s. we sent former boxerjohnny nelson, a world champion, to meet her. to become the best boxer in the world takes commitment. but for one fighter, the toughest battle was just trying to set foot in the ring. but barbara butterick went on to become the world's first women's boxing champion. and trained in the same gym as mohamed ali. under five foot tall, she was known as the mighty atom. now at 87, it is more than 70 years since barbara found love with boxing, living in cottingham, near hull. on my bedroom wall, as a kid, i had all boxers, so i bought myself a harness thing that you put a football in and made a punch bag out of it.

but an article inspired her to make it her career. your friend's mother give you some newspaper to clean your boots? that is the newspaper clipping and it tells about polly burns, who travelled with the boxing booth. i thought, if she can do it so can i. let me try boxing. typist by day, boxer by night, barbara headed to london to find a trainer and opponents. i think all this talk about girls not boxing is old—fashioned. girls aren't the delicate flowers they used to be. anyhow, my boyfriend doesn't mind. soon barbara was making headlines, but none of them very positive. "ban this girl boxer." the criticism, micky wood said "we've made the front page again", and i said, "but look what they're saying." he said "don't read it, measure it." she took to fighting any woman

who would challenge her, including fairground boxing booths. nobody would encourage it, they were so down on it i guess they put the other girls completely off. fed up with fairgrounds, barbara searched further afield for opponents, and that took to america, and in and that took her to america, and in 1957 came the moment she dreamt of. she finally got a professional licence and beat phyllis kugler to become the world's first women's boxing champion. it is nice to know you're the best in the world, isn't it. you know that too. the title brought her to the epicentre of the boxing world, the place where angelo dundee trained muhammad ali, miami beach's fifth st gym. today, the fifth st gym's in a new building, but inside the history lives on. i see pictures on the wall of angelo dundee, mohamed ali, you were here when these guys were here. yes i was. muhammad ali was just cassius clay then, he was very young.

he was confident of himself, and very showy. you mention these names, you talk about thee people as though it is nothing to you, but these are history makers. they supported me. i was accepted then. in 1960, barbara retired, having won 30 fights, drawn one and lostjust one, but she did not say goodbye to boxing. she set up the women's international boxing federation and gave women titles to fight for. and in 2012, she came to london to watch women box for olympic medals for the first time in history. among them, two times gold medallist nicola adams. it is because of woman like her that's made it possible for me to box today. it was quite tough for me, women's boxing was not really accepted so i can't imagine how hard it must have been for her to keep pushing and training and try to be taken seriously. i have to say a big thank you to barbara for paving the way. if i was a kid today i would be in my glory, just pack my gym bag and walk off

the same as anyone else, and go in the gym and work out. i think it's terrific. when barbara put on herfirst pair of boxing gloves more than seven decades ago, she could only dream that girls would be welcomed into boxing gyms. but it could never have happened without barbara leading the way. barbara's life has inspired a brand new play at hull truck theatre. where she was finally recognised in her home city at the women of the world festival. wow was held in hull for the very first time this year, though it started life back in 2011, at the south bank centre in london. it is now held in venues around the globe, and as well as barbara, it also celebrated the work of hull comedians maureen lipman and lucy beaumont. they have recorded an episode of the bbc radio 4 comedy to hull and back in front of a live audience.

"dear alan titchmarsh, please let me aunty pamela like me. she's coming over for my birthday and i want to go back with her to live in amsterdam with the dutch." you? her? do you know what the women do in amsterdam? yes. what? they make cheese. cheese. maureen lipman is one of the best exports of hull with a career in stage, tv and radio spanning decades. annemarie caught up with her backstage at hull city hall. backstage at the hull city hall. do you think there are things that the audience in hull will pick up that maybe went over the heads of a radio 4 audience? i think when i call her surfy people will realise that we're both the real mccoy. as a woman working in the performing arts, do you find that you are treated differently asa woman? the arts have always been a bit more level pegging for women, and who would have thought that after second wave feminism that the most popular book for that length of time would have been 50 shades of grey, which is very

definitely putting us back over a man's knee. it is obscene, really, but women, sometimes we are oui’ worse enemy. it is obscene, really, but women, sometimes we are our own worse enemy. we don't go for it, we don't sit orward. we don't sit forward. the number of times i have heard women say "i hate my this, i hate my nose, i hate my breasts, i hate my legs", not to mention i have never heard a woman say "i was right for that part and i deserved it." are you hoping that by you and lucy being here as women who have achieved in the arts and are out there showing that woman from hull can do it, are you hoping that you can might, in some small way, make a step towards changing that? i don't really have the arrogance. yes, i am arrogant, but i don't have that kind of belief that i'm changing anything. i am just making people laugh. and i come from hull.

that's about it. and i think lucy would probably agree. it is drip, drip, drip, isn't it, with women's rights? if there's one kid out there who thinks, god, if that white—haired woman with spectacles can be on telly, so can i. living in london, have you found that people in the capital look at hull differently since we became city of culture? it has always been regarded with a bit of a snigger, hasn't it, end of the line, hull, but it was always funky. theyjust didn't know it. now people coming in and they will see it as folksy and funky and feisty and the other f word as well. the music on the humber bridge is just one of the many pieces specifically commissioned for 2017. there will be all sorts of styles and genres, including a brand—new work from one of classical musical superstars, sir karljenkins.

here's caroline milton with more. his music is known to millions — from adiemus... ...to his most highly acclaimed and popular piece, the armed man. sir karljenkins is britain's most successful living classical composer, so when hull's philharmonic orchestra were looking for someone to write a special piece of work for 2017, they knew who to turn to. with the city of culture, we wanted a real celebration of this amazing concert room. we can use the organ, and why don't we try and commission a composer to write a piece especially for us? and who better to go for karljenkins? they are the nation's leading amateur symphony orchestra, and have performed in hull's city hall for over 130 years. a hall famous for its

magnificent organ. they wanted a piece of music that would celebrate that. for a composer best known for his choral music, it would be a break from the norm, but an opportunity too good to miss. city of culture is an amazing thing and to be part of it was wonderful that i was asked, to write an organ piece for this organ. it ticks all the boxes. experimenting with music is how his career began. in fact, the last time he played in hull was while performing with the 70s jazz rock grip soft machine. but in a career that spans over three decades, he has never written music for an organ like this before. in this age, nowadays, sounds are digitised, and you press a button and you get something, but inside that thing there's an actual bass drum with something hitting it. when you want a bass drum

sound on a glockenspiel, it's played with hammers. it is quite incredible, really. 6000 pipes is, in sir karl's words, quirky and oddball. a celebration of hull's history, people and traditions. and at its heart, the organ, played by jonathan scott. it has an amazing power, there's 95 stops altogether, over four keywords and a full pedal board you play with your feet. it will obliterate an orchestra, as well as accompany them. they are amazing musical instruments. you think through time you think back, beethoven, bach, if they have been here they would play here, the composers here right these pieces in the personal budget out there and they wanted disintegrate and so we're not making it sound as best as we can make it. —— we are all making it sound as best as we can make it. the world premiere of 6000 pipes

played to a sell—out audience. there will be another opportunity to cure this unique piece of music in february next year. that is it, from the top of the humber bridge and our view of the city of culture. i hope you enjoy the show and will be back next month. we will look ahead to the radio one big weekend, an exclusive interview with a spiderfrom mars and we meet the 2017 volunteers. that is all coming up in may, but if you need a culture fix goodbye. quite a cool day for most of us

today, and quite chilly in some part of the country tan this isn't going to change through the easter weekend 01’ to change through the easter weekend or well into next week. it will stay cool or well into next week. it will stay cool, at least we have some sunshine and the rain for most of us shouldn't be too heavy. you can see where the air is coming from, you can see the movement of the air, the arrows here, it is coming all the way from the art tick, the milder air tries to get in but we are on that cold side there throughout the weekend, and as i say into next week. the weather has been some areas today, certainly the north of wales here, we have had, its fair share of rain. through the course of the this evening the weather front bridging the rain will start to sort of fizzle away, fall apart, so that

means that the rain, when it reaches southern areas, will tend to be much lighter through the course of the night. in fact, lighter through the course of the night. infact, in many lighter through the course of the night. in fact, in many northern areas, the skies will clear all together, but western scotland and northern air yas, some showers across the hills and chilly. three degrees in northern scotland in the south, closer to 10 c. saturday, actually, not a bad day, it will be of course fresh, we have established that but some fine weather round. starting across the south, sunny spells here, at time, it will be overcast, at times you will get the sunshine, temperatures nothing spectacular, round 12 degree, and a much better day here tomorrow and we have rain right now, northern parts of wales getting sunshine, showers moving through, northern ireland to the north—west and western and parts of scotla nd the north—west and western and parts of scotland and the air is cold enough for wintry innocence on the hills. if there is any easter walkers up there in the hills, pretty wintry into saturday evening. let us look at easter day itself.

high pressure to the south of us, then we have this awkward weather front sliding there central parts of the uk. some uncertainty, how much rainfall this weather front will get. the basic message is, or the broad brush method is that the south—west should be about stay dry and the far north of scotland will, whereas many central areas will have some rain. then on easter monday, eastern areas catch some showers but overall not a bad day. this is bbc news.

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