hello, this is bbc hello. if you were hoping we would this is bbc news. news with ben brown. the headlines at 2pm: of the headlines — return to that late february warmth, a passenger plane crashes a passenger plane has you're going to be disappointed. in ethiopia, killing crashed in ethiopia, all 157 people on board, over the higher ground of scotland and northern england. could be hail more turbulent weather to come. we and northern england. could be hail and the rumble of thunder and killing all 157 people on board, clearer skies the further south and including seven british citizens. east you are. temperature is getting including seven british citizens. have seen snow, torrential rain, close to freezing. the winds will some damaging winds today with trees the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, slowly lose some of the strength but the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt warns mps that if they get crucial not as windy tomorrow because we has warned mps that have this high pressure building if they get crucial votes wrong this and branches down widely across a votes wrong this week from the south—west. it doesn't last they risk losing brexit. large swathe of england and wales. for long because this is our next week they risk losing brexit. the decision to strip two british more strong winds to come this women of their uk citizenship, system making its presence felt in bbc news has learned that the decision to strip two afternoon. further sleet and snow after they travelled to syria the afternoon. wintry showers around british women of their uk chiefly of a higher ground. we will to join the islamic state group, tomorrow morning for parts of citizenship, after they travelled pre—dates the case of shamima begum. see tricky travelling conditions. scotland, northern england and to syria to join the islamic state northern ireland. they will fade and group, pre—dates the case of shamima the family of a 23—year—old british spells of sunshine so not too bad a through the rest of the afternoon woman missing in guatemala say we've got outbreaks of rain and hail begum. they're "desperately worried" day before the cloud increases snow to clear from eastern coast and for her safety. across northern ireland on the sir cliff richard joins other public figures calling for the law we've got the show is feeding in aston villa footballer, western islands. when strengthening sleet and snow mainly above a couple jack grealish, is attacked to protect the anonymity of people by a spectator — as his side play as well. temperatures tomorrow suspected of sexual offences of hundred metres. we will see hail, local rivals birmingham city. between eight and ii celsius. as we until they are actually charged with a crime. blustery showers further south and go into tuesday, this deepening area this is the a.d. 0ther and in half an hour the family of a 23—year—old british blustery showers further south and this is the a.d. other guests today. here on bbc news: after the latest spate of knife of low pressure will put an atlantic woman missing in guatemala front eastwards bringing hill snow say they're "desperately worried" attacks, the week in parliament takes a look at what's being done across parts of scotland, the far for her safety. 50 mph. cold air digging in. it is north of england and further heavy to try and stop the stabbings. rain and also strong winds. we start going to feel very cold. we keep the tuesday on a blustery and wet note. strea m going to feel very cold. we keep the stream of wintry showers overnight, the rain will be easing their way now on bbc news, its any snow over the higher ground of southwards during the day and behind the travel show with flying cars, sausage hotels, and a campaign scotla nd any snow over the higher ground of scotland and northern england but at it spells of sunshine. still showers lower levels we will see some rain,

to keep austin in texas "weird". rumble of thunder but clear skies across northern ireland, scotland away from the showers. some windy and northern england. the rain is coming up on this week's show: likely to lingerfor we are getting weird and northern england. the rain is likely to linger for much of the night. the strongest gusts will afternoon into east anglia and in the lone star state. south—east england. feeling cool start to ease down a little. the given the strength of the win. seven doesn't like being on tv! winds will ease tomorrow. this brief to ii celsius. but as we go into hejust bit me! ridge of high pressure takes hold. wednesday things turn even windier. why flying taxis and sausage hotels but that doesn't last long. first notice the squeeze on the isobars, are the future of travel. this deepening area of low pressure thing, we've got wintry showers could see damaging winds again on and in the snow and around and they will tend to fade as against the clock, i take wednesday. for the week ahead we the day wears on. it'll be dry, fine on the european sauna marathon. day for many. later in the will see gales, if not severe gales i don't quite know with heavy spells of rain but at the sauna etiquette — i think i'm just gonna afternoon, cloud and rain gathering times some dryer interludes. across northern ireland and the myself in there. western isles. temperatures tomorrow between 8—11. then it turns wet and windy overnight into tuesday, hill snow across parts of scotland, northern england and northern ireland. windy as well, we will see gusts of around 40—50 mph. drain south and east and it will be replaced by sunshine. this rain

could well linger across east anglia we start this week in austin, the state capital of texas. for much of the afternoon. feeling every year, it hosts south by southwest, which has grown cooler on tuesday, 7—11dc. it is from a one—week showcase of the city's musical talent windy as we go into wednesday. to a massive internationalfestival. notice how this area of low pressure so in the face of all that global deepens, tightly packed isobars. attention, how do you keep a little similarly strength wins. we will see bit of local flavour alive? we sent kate hardie—buckley gales, severe gales, heavy rain and to find out. also some drier and brighter interludes. the city of austin claims to be the live music capital of the world with over an estimated 300 venues offering a song and dance on any given night. austin is a phenomenal place if you play the music we play, which is what i call texas—made honky—tonk, and it's all about the dancin‘ and having a good time. every march, over 200,000 people flock here for the south by southwest festival, where you can delve into a world of music, film, interactive

media and seminars. the city, which also happens to be janis joplin‘s birthplace, is a liberal hub in a traditionally conservative state. there's a lot that you can get away with here that maybe you can't get away in other parts of the state. austin is home to the only nudist beach in texas, as well as over 1.5 million bats in the summertime. it has its own cathedral ofjunk, and in all—year—round christmas shop. the city's immensely proud of its so—called weirdness, its creative, original character. in fact, there is even a motto here — keep austin weird. 20 years ago, red wassenich coined the term on a radio chat show in an attempt to fight off any signs of gentrification. so they said, "well, why are you donating to this show?" and i said, "it helps keep austin weird" and i kind of clicked, and i said it to my wife and she said, "well, let's get bumper stickers. "

so we did, i got a website up, and it slowly took off. i can't believe it's lasted this long. 20 years. yeah. austin strikes me as a city where everyday life has an added twist. this coffee shop really is keeping it weird. civil goat's special offer with your coffee is a date with a furry friend. the old story of folklore is that, you know, a goat herder and his goats were out and they found some coffee plants and he saw them eating the berries and so the herder ate the berries and then he felt energised, and so that's how coffee was discovered. he's a little bit feisty today, i will say. he is a little... yeah, uh... he doesn't like being on tv! hejust bit me! he doesn't — oh, my god, this is so weird. he usually doesn't bite like that!

take a trip downtown and it's easy to see how much the city is expanding. it's a modern metropol now with a thriving tech scene. the economy is booming and properties are going up left, right and centre. the joke is that the sky — the skyline is all cranes now, that you can't do the skyline without cranes. um, yeah, it's everywhere. it is sometimes good, sometimes bad. more housing for a growing city. we're a booming city, we have to make room for people, we have to put them somewhere. i think there's no other way to do it but to go up. with all this development, i just wonder if the quirky character of the city is injeopardy. anyone who says you can't change or tries to fight against the change is fighting against the inevitable. i think we are much better served just trying to find a way to grow together and to make sure that no—one‘s getting left behind. but not everyone in town is as optimistic about the change. everything new that's coming in is raising the cost of living and the cost of everything else so high that you just don't have

any other people that everybody thought was so cool or, "oh, i really liked that business, it was so weird," or "i like these people, because it was so much different than here." and it's like no, it'sjust like every other city. but some people are determined to preserve the quirk and the individuality here. i'm about to meet someone who, for a year, pushed the boundaries of weirdness to the extreme. professor dumpster spent the year living in — well, yes, you guessed it — a dumpster. i wanted to do an experiment around seeing how little stuff you needed and how little space you needed to have a pretty happy life. part way through that experiment, a lot of things were really better about life by downsizing. and i came to the sort of awareness that, hey, we should do something totally different with housing and try to make housing more like a product than building it like a traditional house. all of that time in the dumpster

inspired jeff to create the kasita, or ‘little house', merging originality and the city's housing needs. he's keen to show me one that's just up and running. you can issue a voice command and the whole home will respond. so you can just say, "alexa, turn kasita on." or you can say, "alexa? turn kasita on." please? alexa: 0k. see, you have to say it with some polite british, like, say please. really, what the dumpster did was allow a sort of shift in how we actually thought about housing, so kasita was actually designed by a product designer. jeff thinks these kasitas would be an ideal home for holidaymakers. the idea would be that wherever you travel, you're going to get a premiere sort

of hotel experience anywhere you go by staying in a kasita. it seems only somewhere like here in austin could someone swing from living in a dumpster to launching a new technologically entrenched style of living. there's a lot of weird and wonderful things across the city, and some people are using their creativity to keep austin kind. these chefs have left theirjobs in gourmet restaurants and are now using their talents to feed austin's homeless. 0n tonight's menu... wow! ..pulled pork and a truffled corn grits with brussels sprouts gorgonzola salad. flavours are like music. you taste something that you haven't tasted in a long time, it will take you right back to where you were. and that's what these men experience with our food. i think that it fits in with what austin — how austin sees itself, you know? we want to be perceived as a city that is doing better.

well, i am very inspired. so, uh, while you're being inspired... how do you want these? so the guys are beginning to pour in now for their meal and it's really lovely to see the look on their faces when they see the delicious food. this food they give us here, i love it! this is a good place to, you know, come in and rest and eat and get a good meal, take a shower. everywhere you look in this city, you see examples of people pushing boundaries and embracing unusual approaches. i've been to a number of cities across the us, but i've never found anywhere as quirky as here, and the people of austin are all bursting with pride, all eager to preserve the playful, weird soul of the city. red, who coined the term "keep austin weird," has invited me to chicken poop bingo. so, how many tickets can we get you? ah, two tickets — a ticket each, please. alright, so it's gonna be $4. may you all be chicken poop winners.

the board has, i guess, 100 numbers on it in squares. 0k. and they put birdseed all over it. they put the chicken in there and the chicken wanders around and eats and then eventually, it poops, and there you go. cheering there's four, so i'm down there. and you are 26. she's hovering around yours. yeah. right now. this could be good. man: we have a winner! it's been going on here for a little over 20—plus years and it came from a local musician. a different chicken, i'm presuming. yes, there's been about 12 chickens. this is miss jenny. the noise doesn't bother them? not at all. looks happy. she looks very healthy. yeah, they are. they're very healthy, happyr and they're great babies. my time in this eccentric city is almost up, but i've got time for one more austin offering. quick, quick, quick. there you go. so, this is texan dancing? this is texan dancing.

there's gonna be a one, two and then quick, quick, quick. is austin changing? that seems inevitable. but there's no doubt in my mind austinites will forever embrace all things weird and wonderful. one, two. and if texas is on your bucket list, here are some things we think you should look out for while you're there. space center houston is one of the big family attractions. the museum has loads of interactive exhibits and the world's biggest collection of moon rocks. there's a 90—minute tram tour of the old mission control itself, which is currently being restored. it's expected to reopen in time for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in july. if you're looking for cowboy culture, fort worth is a strong choice. it's often called the place where the west begins,

and it won't take you long to find out why. there are twice—daily cattle drives at the stockyards, and it is also the home of billy bob's texas, which claims to be the world's largest honky—tonk bar. another interesting site is the cowgirl museum and hall of fame, which aims to honour the women who helped shape the american west. big bend national park is vast, around 1,200 miles of rivers, mountains and deserts on the us—mexico border. there's an incredible amount to do there, including canoeing, hiking and horse riding. during peak periods, a lot of the campsites get booked up, so try to avoid holidays like spring break in mid—march. and if you're a carnivore, the state has plenty of meaty delights. visitors rave about texan barbecue. you'll find good eateries all over the place, but our tip is to look for a place with an outdoor pit and choose the brisket. still to come on the travel show,

the electric journey that took this man from amsterdam to australia. and i test my inner warmth in one of the world's chilliest marathons. this is really very nice. i can't imagine it will be warm when we get out. time now for trending travel, our monthly look at some of the best travel—related stories, pics and videos making news online. facial recognition technology has been used on humans for the past few years. but now, its use has been turned to track stolen apes and chimps. the idea came to conservationist alexandra russo, who has teamed up with non—profit conservation x labs to create chimp face, software that will search through social media and be able

to track down animals stolen from the wild. wiebe wakker and his electric car, the blue bandit, havejust completed an electric road trip of a lifetime. travelling from the netherlands all the way to australia, he has relied on the kindness of strangers, who offered him a place to stay and charge his car through his website, plugmein.com. the offers determined the route, and have taken him through 33 countries on his epicjourney over the past three years. unfortunately, the uptake of electric vehicles is going quite slow, because people assume that they are not reliable, or that you cannot cover long distances with them. so i thought if i could do something which really spoke to the imagination, driving an electric car from amsterdam to literally the other side of the world, i'm able to create a lot of exposure, and i'm hoping to change people's opinions of electric cars, basically showing that it can be done. flying taxis have been out

of the news for a while, but now boeing has successfully tested its prototype of a pilotless air vehicle. even though the test lasted less than a minute, boeing are predicting that these vehicles could be flying passengers as soon as 2023. now, this is a hotel for meat lovers all over the world. founder claus bobel, who is unsurprisingly a butcher in germany, has recently opened what is claimed to be the world's first sausage—themed hotel. the bobel bratwurst bed and breakfast, or bb&bb for short, features wallpaper festooned with sausages, bratwurst—shaped cushions, and even some sausages hanging from hooks. and getting that great photo to put on instagram is all—important to a lot of us when we are away. but now, vienna is asking people to unhashtag vienna and have a digital detox. the city says it wants

you to photograph less, enjoy more. now, lots of you have sent us your pictures this month using the hashtag #traveltuesday. here are some of our favourites. there is an infinitely italian feel to our first two. marilyn hosken sent us this reflective photo of the waterfront in florence. and rebecca hussman shared this picture of the streets in scenic siena. while fern shared this stunning picture of chefchaouen, the moroccan city that's completely painted blue. remember, keep sending in your pictures. now, let's meet the travel filmmakers and vloggers who have caught our eye this month. now, we all know berlin is one of the great capital cities of the world, with an exciting and vibrant culture. but did you know that their public transport system is also pushing artistic boundaries? berlin's bus and metro company, the bvg, has racked up over 30

million views on youtube, with some great videos that are making the german capital's public transport network go viral. well, that's your lot for now. but don't forget to send us your best pics, clips and stories, and who knows — maybe next time you could be trending in travel. we are heading to the vast forests of southern estonia, and the popular ski resort enjoyed by everybody from local kids to the estonian 0lympic medallists. once a year, though, it morphs into something slightly different. this little town is very quiet today, but that is all set to change tomorrow morning, when 0tepaa becomes the staging area for the madcap, high—energy and very, very chilly european sauna marathon.

sauna has been part of estonia's culture for 800 years, so it's no surprise the marathon is popular. several hundred people are taking part this year, but before stripping down they need to register, and i need to find my team. i've been told they are wearing t—shirts with the town name on them. i see plenty of onesies, and funny costumes and wigs, but no t—shirts. the marathon‘s rules are simple. teams of four must visit a list of local saunas as quickly as possible. they get time bonuses if they also visit hot tubs and ice holes. you must be my team, i hope? hello, i'm christa. that's for you. is this for me? excellent. i'll wear it with pride. many nationalities are represented in this hall, starting with estonia's big neighbour. i love your costumes.

you look very beautiful. but you will be very cold. no! we are fine with that. with so many teams, starting times have to be staggered. and keeping track of them all requires some clever technology. i've been given a microchip which i keep on my wrist and use it to check in and check out of each of the different saunas, hot tubs and ice holes along the route, and it times us. clock is ticking, got to go. so, we need to visit all of the saunas.

they're marked in blue dots. 19 of them. a long day ahead. yes, hot fun. first stop, a traditional smoke sauna. in here, in here. you have to register. ah, registered. i don't quite know the sauna etiquette. i think i'm just going to throw myself in there. each team must spend a minimum of three minutes in each sauna. at around 80 degrees, plus a little extra heat coming from the crowd, you get warmed up pretty quickly. so we're probably about three minutes in now. let's go, let's do it. all right, guys. you see the ice hole down there? somebody has to do it and it's not going to be me. i'll do it. yes! it takes bravery to plunge into a frozen lake, but thanks to lilia, ten minutes will be

deducted from our overall time. yes! now, everyone in? let's go. another way to win time bonuses is the hot tubs. and i'm definitely volunteering for this one. this is really very nice. we're surrounded by snowy estonian forest, and feel very toasty warm. i can't imagine it'll be warm when we get out, though. at our next stop, the sauna truck, we meet two brits who seem to really enjoy the estonian winter. it's not as cold as it looks. when nothing feels better thanjustjumping into an ice hole straight afterwards. so yeah, it's been fantastic. after going through many more thermal shocks, the finish line is finally in sight.

well, we haven't won, but we did make it to the end, and i think it's not too bad for a first attempt. and, if that wasn't fun enough for one day, a wild party has just kicked off. these guys really don't know when to stop. that's all we have time for this week, but coming up on next week's programme, carmen is here with a look back at some of our favourite trips over the last few months. oh, my gosh! we've been everywhere from taiwan to los angeles to the french alps. and do watch out for the hairy new friends ade made in morocco. this one's called daisy, and i think we're friends now. hello, daisy! hello. so dojoin us then, and in the meantime, don't forget, you can sign up to our social media feeds, where you can share with us your travels around the world. until next time, from me,

christa larwood, and from the rest of the travel show team here in the baltics, it's goodbye.