coming up on this week's programme... car—free in madrid. this is like being a kid again! woohoo! and it's downhill all the way in the mountains of latvia. we start this week in the spanish capital, madrid, where change is coming fast. the way people get around the city is being transformed, city officials are clearing the cars from the congested streets and opening them up to new possibilities — rentable electric scooters. they have become increasingly popular in many european cities of late. for lots of people, it's a transport revolution they've been waiting for. for others, it's

something else entirely. too many in madrid. madrid resident rafa estafania reports. look at this! electric scooters, bicycle sharing, everybody seems to be sharing means of transport now in madrid. nobody seems to use their own bikes, their own scooters any more. we've got here the electric bikes, they are being charged at the moment, and over there, a line full of electric scooters. they are everywhere. it seems that everybody in madrid is using them to move around. and they are just part of the story. faced with some of the worst pollution in europe, city officials hope to reduce it by 40% by taking the most polluting vehicles off the road in a plan they call madrid central. meanwhile, on all the roads once created to adapt the city around

the new automobiles of the time, new spaces are being created for pedestrians. gran via is the newest street from the beginning of the 20th century. tour guide pedro agreed to show me around. it's fantastic because, as a guide, i can see you from this point of view, from this place for the first time since the renovation. i've never been able to look at this building from this angle. this is because all this is new, right? it was full of traffic going around and it was almost impossible. now it is a new space for the people. excellent, excellent. all new for pedestrians, for the people, no cars. i love it. how is it affecting you and the visitors, the fact that we've got madrid central, that we have more pedestrians on the street, less traffic? gran via or the city

centre is never quiet. this is a very alive city, it's crazy, it's amazing. we can feel less traffic and we can feel a better air. it's fantastic. of course, madrid isn't the first to try to remove cars from its city centre. by working with companies offering greener electric options, there are more ways to explore the centre than ever. already widely available in cities around the world, electric scooters arrived here last summer. you feel like a kid almost. you drive around having fun and it's the joy of riding. it's a great way to move around. commuting with our scooters has become fun. how good do you think is madrid in terms of green transportation? i would say madrid ten years ago or even five years ago

was like a car—driven city and now i think madrid is becoming the biggest lap in the world and it's living a fantastic, vibrant moment so you have tonnes of different means of transportation. it's super—exciting because the city council took a very bold move doing madrid central. it's farfrom being perfect, but it's going in the right direction and people are starting to leave their cars or private vehicles at home and starting to take either public transport or one of the shared vehicles. scooter users leave them wherever they are when they get to their destination, but some people worry they lead to the streets. what would you say to those people who are a bit unhappy with the idea of having all these scooters lying around? we are aware that the dockless system comes with a lot of benefits and some inconvenience. it's just a matter of getting used to it. it's new for everyone, including us, so we need to find together with our competitors and with the city officials ways to kind of move forward

in a responsible way. this is like being a kid again! woohoo! so, what if you are a traveller going just short distances around the city centre? pick one, which is going to be better? the old public transport system or the new kids on the block? to find out, i've roped in a friend. pedro here is going to take public transport. i'm going to take one of these electric scooters. but this is not a race, so i will go steady and safe and i want you to do the same, 0k, promise? i promise. are you ready? i am totally ready. ready, go. so my first challenge is to find a scooter. in just a few seconds, i've found one that is 30 seconds‘ walk away. it's a quick scan of the bar code and i am off to catch up with pedro.

now i've got to say one thing for the scooters — while they do take a bit more effort and concentration, they have to be more exciting than taking a bus. and if you don't know the way, you can easily get lost. but if you need to get somewhere quickly, well, it looks like i may be there first. we're here! but only just. i cannot believe it, i arrived here literally a minute ago. you pay 0k? of course. welcome to sigulda's bobsleigh track,

one of the very few in the world where tourists can get the same adrenaline rush as professional racers. built under the soviet union in 1986, the track has played host to international competitions in luge, skeleton and bobsleigh rides, with some obvious success. the track is now used as a training venue for several latvian champions, but there are no competitions on today, which is lucky for me because it means i get to try it out. although, having a look, i don't really feel so lucky. ok, let's go! get the team together. we're about to set off 100 kilometres down a very icy hill, but luckily i've got an expert pilot. so, fingers crossed everything goes very smoothly. apart from the pilot steering the bobsleigh from the front, a team also includes pushers and a brakeman, but tourists get it easy.

theyjust need to duck in and hold very tight. this track is almost 1,500 metres long and you need a pretty strong stomach to manage its 16 curves. woo! oh, man! woo! i think that's one of the most intense experiences of my entire life. that was like being in a very, very active, very cold tumble dryer for a minute and a half. i don't even know how long it was. that was completely insane. another winter sport that can take your breath away is this, the skeleton.

imagine a luge with no brakes or steering aid that you ride headfirst. martins and thomass are brothers and they're both world and 0lympic champions in this sport. it's our home track and we did many runs here, i think for learning, it's great. i agree, because if you learn and you can survive here, then you can survive everywhere. you must love this sport to devote so much of your life to it. what do you love about it? i don't like training and all this stuff, but what i love is competition, so that is the best part for me. i don't think i'm ready to try one of the full—blown skeletons, but there is a tourist version available that's a little bit more my speed. wish me luck. it's called a frog and for this one, there is no crew

to make me feel safe. 0hhh! oh, my goodness! screams this might be the easy option but it is still pretty intense. how was it? so cool! the track in sigulda could now become an olympic venue too. itjoins stockholm in a bid for hosting the 2026 0lympic winter games. answer injune this year and in the meantime... oh, yeah, i could go again. right now. let's go.

hello, there are big weather changes on the week ahead, what a weekend and has been. good friday in the sunshine and 2a degrees just above 25 degrees yesterday and of course we have had plenty of sunshine today. temptress topped out close to 25 celsius so perhaps not the warmest on record but it has been for scotland, northern ireland and wales. more fine weather to come for easter monday. we will shift this cloud away from northwest scotland and the western side of the northern island and the westin isles we have seen island and the westin isles we have seen some island and the westin isles we have seen some rain and the system will pull away westwards and we lose the rain from western isles overnight and most places will be dry and clear and misty through the central

parts of northern england and close to freezing and the most prone rural spots. higher cloud arriving toward southern areas spots. higher cloud arriving toward southern areas 3s spots. higher cloud arriving toward southern areas as monday begins and it will drift its way northwards and turns the sun increasingly hazy but it is sunny for northwest scotland and the northwest side of northern ireland. a could pick up an isolated shower towards the end of the base i do not be surprised that something appears. temperature is high teens in the 20s and warm spots approaching low 20s. we could see that lois easter monday on record. to draw the air out more from the south and the high cloud coming from that direction and also some saharan dust and atmosphere as well so you can see a fiery sunrise and sunset on tuesday while most will be fine with hazy sunshine, anotherfairly breezy day and a chance of showers down towards parts of wealth in southwest england. most parts will

stay dry and it is still warm especially when you get the hazy sunshine. weather changes do take place as we go through the rest of the week. the warm start to the week with the feet of air coming up from the continent, and the other week we are changing the direction and looking toward the atlantic and two next weekend and it will feel much cooler by then. as that happens, the weather will turn more unsettled and weather will turn more unsettled and we will see showers and thunderstorms spreading their way northwards as well and increasingly breezy and wendy at times across southern parts of the uk.

this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 8pm. more than 200 people have died after a series of explosions at churches and hotels in sri lanka. five british nationals are among the dead. i heard the explosion and then the roof fell in as. i took the children ran out the - door but when ran out the - i oor but when ran out the and iséééjut'when'“ ' w ' ' ' ran out the and son ééé’jut'wnen" ’ ' w ' ' ' ran out the and son oniut'whe'n'“ ' w ' ' ' brother—in—law and son on the ground. the authorities say eight people have been arrested and the prime minister says there might have been information received before the attack. this is a serious situation aimed at destabilising the country in the economy. i strongly condemn this attack. in other news, more than 960 people involved in climate change protests in london