hello there. the start of the easter weekend certainly brought us warmth. this is bbc news. good friday eclipsed the thursday the headlines: before it to become the warmest day of the year so far. donald trump has branded the mueller inquiry a "big, the warmest weather was on the south fat, waste of time, coast, gosport in hampshire energy and money." had blue skies overhead the usjustice department lifting temperatures to 2a degrees. has dismissed a democrat subpoena to see a full, unredacted version of the document which details election interference other places in england, wales, by russia in 2016. and northern ireland were not too far behind. a couple from california have been a bit chilly for some eastern coasts. sentenced to life in prison i'm hopeful that through after subjecting their children saturday it won't be to years of torture and starvation. david and louise turpin pleaded i'm reged ahmad with a summary quite as breezy for those eastern guilty to abusing all but one areas, so it might feel a little of the bbc world news. of their 13 children. less chilly. democratic presidential candidate elizabeth warren is calling their children told a court they for impeachment proceedings still love their mother and father. against donald trump to begin protest leaders in sudan say following the publication they will unveil a civilian government this weekend. of the mueller report into russian certainly high pressure remains in charge. one fly in the ointment, thousands of demonstrators a frontal system wriggling meddling during the 2016 election. are continuing to demand around to the north—west, likely to introduce some cloud meanwhile, the usjustice department a transition to a civilian and more outbreaks of rain. has dismissed democratic party legal efforts to obtain a full, government after the military seized really only over the far unredacted copy of the report north—west of the uk, as ‘premature and unnecessary‘. power from long—standing leader omar the western side of laura trevelyan has more. northern ireland and the west of scotland. elsewhere, from eastern scotland down into al—bashir last week. england and wales, we are looking at blue skies and sunshine once any early fog has cleared. less than 2a hours after those are the headlines. less chilly than it was on friday for the north the attorney general released

sea coast. 21 degrees in hull. a redacted version the highest temperatures towards the south—east of the mueller report, 25, maybe 26. congress stepped in. there could be the odd patch of mist now on bbc news it's time flirting with some eastern thejudiciary committee has issued for the easter edition of weather world. coasts of england. all the while we will have clouded from the effect on plants and trees a subpoena for the full report, to bird migration patterns, outbreaks of rain across the far nick miller and sarah keith—lucas saying lawmakers should not be kept in the dark, look at how our changing climate north—west of scotland. and they want it by1 may. is affecting life around us. it could pick up for a time on saturday night into the early hours of sunday. elsewhere it is dry this time on weather world, with clear spells again. one or two fog patches we are looking at the impact our warming world is having here and there leaves those temperatures in between 7 and 10 degrees. easter sunday, we do it all again. on the environment around us. one or two patches of fog i will be discovering the challenges facing migrating birds as the seasons follow increasingly unfamiliar patterns. if you are out and about early, and i'm investigating how our changing climate is affecting plants and trees. but the majority will once again see sunshine. could be wispy high—level cloud and, finding out why saving making that sunshine a tad hazy. seeds is the insurance across the far north—west, frontal systems are wriggling around policy covering whatever close to the western side direction our future climate takes. of northern ireland and northern i think people are much more aware scotland. now of the world around them and how things are changing and the need for places like this to actually keep these things for the future. 12 degrees in stornoway

also on weather world, the wildest weather of the year so far — under that extra cloud, astonishing video featuring those caught up in it and those who only narrowly escape it. but elsewhere, once again, temperatures in the 20s. and how all of that pales if anything, those weather fronts plaguing the far north—west in comparison to one should retreat into the atlantic, we suspect, as we get into easter of the deadliest tropical cyclones monday. high pressure still dominates africa has ever seen. this is weather world. so more of us will see dry weather and sunshine. quite a slow process but the increasing chance of seeing 00:02:32,705 --> 2147483051:38:01,067 showers and it will eventually 2147483051:38:01,067 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 turn a bit cooler. i have come to the rspb‘s pulborough brooks nature reserve in west sussex and it is an exciting time of year. the spring migrating birds are starting to arrive back but it's the timing of their arrival and the weather that they face that is really crucial to their prospects of success. this vast reserve, with a mixture of farm and wetland, covers more than 400 acres.

it's home to native birds that are here all year round, but in spring many more birds arrive here to breed and it is those we are looking out for today. you feel like the birds are ready to get on the nests. julianne evans is the senior site manager here. the nature reserve here at pulborough brooks is very varied so why is it such an important site for nature and wildlife? pulborough brooks is an internationally important wetland. it has the highest legal protection you can get. it's a special area of conservation, it's a special protection area and it's a site of special scientific interest. in terms of the migrating birds that are alljust starting to arrive at this time of year, how have you seen things changing over recent years? are there changes in the patterns and timing of migration? they are leaving based on day length from their wintering grounds and they are arriving back to the uk where the temperature has risen by probably about a quarter of a degree since 1960. and what that has done is then

advance all the vegetation growth and all the insect abundance so they are arriving back at the same time, but they have kind of missed the boat in terms of food abundance. they will start nesting and then the insect abundance will have changed and they will not be able to feed their chicks. so, looking ahead, what are the potential implications in the future for bird population numbers, for instance, with climate change and also habitat loss as well? well, if birds cannot adapt, and they don't evolve to arrive on that earlier date, then potentially obviously that could cause significant declines in population. there is some evidence to suggest that they are evolving to arrive earlier, however they are not evolving fast enough to keep up with the changes that are happening both in vegetation and insect abundance. so, in the end, what we might end up with is fewer specialists, so fewer migrant birds and more generalists. thanks, julianne. a little bit later in the programme we will be back here

at pulborough brooks taking a look for some specific examples of some early arriving birds this spring. but first, we start our look at the wildest weather of the year so far in indonesia, injanuary. as this long house is swept away in flash floods on the island of sulawesi, many people have to be rescued, but dozens of people die here as the flooding continues into march. but it's in march the world bears witness to a weather disaster on a scale rarely seen. southern africa and flooding from cyclone idai indundates mozambique, zimbabwe and malawi. the united nations calls it one of the worst weather disasters ever to hit the southern hemisphere. in the immediate aftermath, a rescue effort finds people stranded on rooftops and clinging to trees, but the death toll rises rapidly, reaching over 700, and still people are dying

as diseases such as cholera increase across the affected areas. the track of idai gives clues as to why the flooding here was so bad. it was a double hit. the scale of the devastation here led many to ask about the role of climate change. in fact, the frequency of tropical cyclones in this area has decreased slightly in recent decades, but the evidence shows that more of those that do form are becoming stronger. now to europe. this bridge on the greek island of crete has survived a lot of severe weather in its 111 year history, but the force of this flood in february was just too much. australia in february, and it's supposed to rain in queensland during monsoon season, but the rains here this year are exceptional. the city of townsville is hardest hit, with prolonged rainfall

shattering records going back to the 19th century. flooding hits iran, too. dozens of people are killed in storms that last from march into april. the record rainfall follows a prolonged drought, and the floods strike with astonishing force. the scale of flooding here is thought to have been made worse by decades of deforestation. in the usa, tornado season gets off to a deadly start. this is alabama in march, weather storms leave a path of destruction half a mile wide and a mile long. 23 people are killed here, that's more than double the number of people killed in tornadoes in the usa in the whole of last year. in the uk in march, an amazing escape. one moment you're strolling along the street, then this happens. strong winds cause part of a building to collapse, and one lucky pedestrian misses it by seconds. and here's something you don't see very often,

a tornado hitting a busy airport. antalya airport in turkey injanuary. some planes were damaged and some passengers injured as they waited to board. while sarah's away with the birds at pulborough, i'm down the road here at wakehurst, and i'm looking at how the changing seasons are affecting our plants and trees, because there is a huge variety of them here across this 500 acre site. this national trust land is managed by royal botanic gardens kew and it's home to different habitats allowing plants and tree species from around the world to thrive. what you see today has come a long way to the devastation wrought by the great storm of 1987, which destroyed more than 20,000 trees here. i'm with ed ikin, head of landscapes and horticulture here at wakehurst and, ed, this is an exciting time. spring growth at last. there's a sense of energy

across the landscape, you know? mild days but, more importantly, mild nights. everything is flowering in this incredible kind of concerted display at the moment. in your time here, do you recognise earlier growing seasons, things coming up earlier than they used to? yeah, the key thing really is do you have a concerted winter, you know, extended periods of frost that basically kind of sustained dormancy in plants. and if that isn't there than spring can really start at any point from mid february onwards. i know you've got some examples of that, maybe some winners and losers that we can take a look at. yeah, let's do that. 0k. ed, you've taken me deeper into the woods here to see this beech tree which, it's fair to say, has perhaps had happier times? yeah. so you talked about winners and losers. wakehurst has a framework of native trees — beech, oak, pine — all of which are now under considerable stress. so we talk about biotic and abiotic factors. abiotic, effectively a more stressful environment. in the case of a beech tree,

they don't like mild, very wet winters, very, very hot summers, you know? a lot of temperatures over 30 degrees. it puts this tree under pressure. and then the biotic factors, the tree diseases, have an upper hand and start to put a really intolerable strain upon this tree. so an example of something which is suffering, something which is arriving earlier than perhaps we'd normally expect? i know you've got an example of that, let's go and take a look at that. 0k, great. ed, wakehurst is a place actually famous for its bluebell displays. not necessarily as early as these have appeared? they're out about three weeks early and, again, the complete absence of frost since january has meant they have just grown and grown and grown and they're flowering. so, yeah, they're really quite early this year. so they're pretty to look at, and that's a positive, but is there anything negative from their early appearance? yeah. so in terms of sort of an ecosystem it's like, well, who can react quickly? so the bluebells have responded to an environmental sort of cue, if you like, but can everything else follow? can all of the pollinating insects that sort of depend on bluebells for their nectar,

can they respond quickly? and then the birds that perhaps depend on the grubs of those insects, are they around hunting for those grubs at this time? if there's not a of nice kind of regular dose of flower, pollen, insects, then things can get out of kilter quite fast and you almost have kind of hungry gaps, where there is no flowers or food available. a very good example of something linking back to the birds we were hearing about earlier in the programme. it's been fascinating to talk to you. thanks for showing us around wa kehurst. and we haven't finished here yet, we are back later on looking at a very special project to protect the future of plants and trees whatever the weather does. now, the earth's warming may be reaching new levels. the uk met office says the world is in the middle of what's likely to be the warmest ten years since records began in 1850, as rebecca morelle reports. a temperature rise of 1.5 celsius above preindustrial levels is set as a threshold by un scientists. anything more could lead to dangerous global impacts. have a look at this graph.

the red area shows the predictions the met office has made over the years, and black lines show the actual temperatures they reported. there is a close match. the last four years were the hottest on record. this blue area is their forecast for the next five years. it suggests the warming trend will continue, with a small chance temperatures could temporarily exceed 1.5 degrees. the main driver for all this is a greenhouse gas emissions we are producing. we're still too reliant on fossil fuels like coal, and globally levels of carbon dioxide are at a record high. we've got to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. we've got to reduce the concentrations, because if we don't, we are looking at really big changes in the climate. we're going into territory that we have never been in before. we haven't experienced this, so we don't know precisely what is going to happen. now, some of your weather watcher pictures showing the early blooming flora and thriving fauna taken during the warmest winter the uk has ever recorded.

in late february, temperature shattered previous records by soaring above 20 celsius for the first time in winter, peaking at 21.2 degrees in london. show us the weather where you are by becoming a bbc weather watcher. sign up online at bbc. co. uk/weatherwatchers. still to come on weather world... carbon capture — how rising sea levels caused by climate change could bring us unexpected benefits. and i'll be deep inside the vaults of a bank. there is no money here, but what there is could prove priceless for the natural world. this time on weather world we're looking at our changing climate and the impact of the environment around us. i'm back at the pulborough brooks rspb nature reserve and i'm with julianne, the senior site manager here. now, julianne, you've taken me to a part of the reserve

which is a perfect habitat for the chiffchaff. so, tell me about the chiffchaff, is that one of the earliest birds that arrive back here on our shores? yes, it is, alongside blackcaps, another early arrival. and what's been happening over the years, chiffchaff have been starting to spend the winter here, which is a new development, and we think as a result of climate change. i'm sure they face a lot of challenges with our unpredictable british weather. if we get a harsh winter it is not great for their numbers? definitely not, that would cause a decline, and other species are very sensitive to harsh weather. in terms of some recent studies and our understanding of bird migration, how has technology changed ? the step change in technology has been amazing and caused a massive increase in our knowledge of migration routes, factors affecting birds on migration. it is possible to put geolocators on really quite small birds like nightingales and wood warblers, it is showing us that they are

migrating through different routes, how long they spend at different stopover sites and where they spend the winter. it is notjust to do with changing weather and climate here, but along their routes and in their wintering grounds? climate change is an international problem, if birds are starting off and reaching what was formerly a stopover site which has been impacted by climate change, they cannot refuel and move on so it might impact not just when they arrive but in what condition they arrive and therefore their breeding success. thank you so much, julianne. just as wildlife has to cope with temperature extremes, so do humans, with varying degrees of success. in a moment, extreme heat, but first, the bitterly, bitterly cold.

january in the usa and the polar vortex is back. described as a once in a generation blast of arctic air, temperatures across parts of the usa and canada fall to record lows and it feels even colder in the wind, with wind chills of —50 celsius. it does not get much worse than here in chicago, the windy city becoming the wind—chill city. you can see frost on your eyelashes. what does it feel like? it is a little cold, they have frozen closed a couple of times. anything and everything is done to keep things moving — ships break up the ice on the river and train tracks are set on fire, not as crazy as it sounds, it is a built—in system of gas heaters used in extreme conditions to prevent tracks and junctions from freezing. is it going to come down here? yes. as winter turns into spring, the freeze—thaw pattern of the weather can lead to avalanches. colorado in march and one crashes down a major highway,

filmed by a father and son on a ski trip. thankfully nobody was reported hurt. the austrian alps in march, there is an avalanche engulfing a group of skiers. amazingly nobody is injured but some skiers had to be rescued. january was europe's coldest month, with widespread heavy snow. some parts of austria measured more snow than on records going back over 90 years, leaving ski resorts and alpine villages cut off. that does not stop everyone trying to make it through seemingly insurmountable snowdrifts. the uk winter had its moments, including the snowstorm in cornwall at the end of january. a picturesque blanket of white, perhaps, but try telling that to the drivers of up to 100 vehicles stranded in freezing conditions. but at least this winter failed to deliver a repeat of the beast from the east which paralysed much of the uk one year earlier. but for some people, winter holds no fear.

this is moldovan athlete dmitri voloshin running 50 kilometres for charity at the coldest place in the northern hemisphere, the so—called pole of cold in siberia. the thermometer shows a wind—chill of over —60 celsius. he finished in six hours, a new record at such low temperatures. and from one extreme to the other, the australian summer shatters temperature records. it is the hottest summer here with peaks of near 50 celsius. there are wildfires too, including these which destroyed homes in victoria in march. the australian bureau of meteorology says the warming trend in the country is consistent with warming across the globe. this looks like a summer fire but this is winter in the uk after the record february heat and a long dry spell. this fire broke out on moorland in yorkshire. warmer spells of weather happening earlier in the year are expected to make fires like this more common. i am still at wakehurst but i have come inside to a very special place,

the millennium seed bank. this looks like a summer fire but this is winter in the uk after the record february heat and a long dry spell. this fire broke out on moorland in yorkshire. warmer spells of weather happening earlier in the year are expected to make fires like this more common. i am still at wakehurst but i have come inside to a very special place, the millennium seed bank. it is where they collect billions of seeds from varieties across the world. it is a huge project, janet terry is the seed collections manager. why collect so many seeds? we are the world's largest seed bank for wild species and it is our insurance policy against what is happening in the world around us. what is happening? climate change, plants becoming extinct all the time, notjust from the natural climate but the pressure from people, plants from places like islands which are very vulnerable to rising sea level, alpine species which are very vulnerable to climate change, they can't go any higher, there's nowhere to go.

and when the seeds arrive, it starts here? yes, this crate has come from namibia, one of our partners in africa. these bags contain samples of wild species they have sent to us for safekeeping. this room is at very low humidity, the seeds will dry slowly so it does not damage them, we can put them into a —20 cold store where they live for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. let's look at that final storage place. let's visit the world's biggest biodiversity hotspot. who could refuse an offer like that?! we have come to the storage area and there is a reason why we have this going on, the temperature is —20 celsius, why? it is the internationally recognised standard for long—term storage of seed collections. you can hear the freezers

really going at it. when you come in you just think, "wow, there are so many seeds in so manyjars." you have been here long enough to know what some of them are? for some reason they are only labelled with computer reference numbers and the location within the room, that i can see that is an ash collection. ash is threatened in the uk with ash dieback, a really good reason. this is a species of acacia, probably from africa, extremely useful for livestock fodder, shade, timber, everything you can think of, some medicines. since the project began, have some of the reasons for it become even more prominent? definitely, i think people are more aware of the world around them

and how things are changing and the need for places like this to keep these things for the future. it has been an honour to see inside, thank you for showing us around, janet. it is a pleasure to show you. of course, to really know how our climate is changing you have to measure it, which is what billy barr has been doing for nearly 50 winters deep in the rocky mountains in colorado. every year he measures the snow and has seen dramatic changes in the climate surrounding him. february used to be a very winter cold month and it's almost become mild. long—term, what i have learned, just simplified a bit, there is an obvious change in temperature. he knows this because for nearly half a century he has kept a weather diary and it is a rich source of climate cataloguing for scientists. but could one result of climate change mitigate some of its effects?

rising sea levels are forecast to flood more land near our coasts, but wetlands suck in and store the atmospheric carbon that is warming the planet, as victoria gill reports. you can see plants starting to come back into the restored salt marsh, but when they die, rather than lying in decomposing these layers of sediment essentially lock that material away in the mud, so the carbon in the plant material is stored in the layers of mud in this marsh. by drilling into the mud these us scientists are taking part in a global effort to gather evidence of how much carbon rich plant matter is locked into the layers. by comparing different wetlands around the world they found that as sea levels rise and wash in more sediment on the tides, even more carbon is buried. they say future sea—level rise could cause marshes on the coast of australia, china and south america to lock away

an additional five million tonnes of carbon every year, equivalent to taking on million cars off the roads. the whole schedule of plant growth and carbon burial depends on the tides. solid sea and flood defences cut wetlands off and shut the system down, so conservationists are calling for the protection and regeneration of wetlands around the world to help fight climate change by ensuring that more carbon remains stuck in the mud. and finally, back to the usa winter and a wildlife rescue with a difference. in michigan, this bald eagle was weighed down by a block of ice which formed on its tail. it is captured, the ice is slowly melted and after a spell of rehabilitation, a large crowd gathered to watch its happy release back into the wild. and that's it for this time on weather world. so it's goodbye from me

and the birds at pulborough. and from me at wakehurst, home of the millennium seed bank. for highlights of our previous programmes, go to bbc.co.uk/weatherworld, and watch out for more weather world later in the year. 00:25:13,346 --> 2147483051:49:21,388 and, for now, keep 2147483051:49:21,388 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 checking the forecast.