works differently than we see in the abstractions of discussing climate science. so, for us, now is the time to act, it is already passed the time to act and in some ways we see this as a memorial to recognise that the loss of this play here and in a senseit the loss of this play here and in a sense it is a sad moment, but we also see it as a call to action, because on the memorial itself it asks future generations to judge us for what we have or have not done. it says, only you know if we have done what we needed to do in order to create a better future. that really is a call to action as well. and of course this comes at a time when there is concern about many of the other glaciers there in iceland. especially the famous clay share made famous byjules verne —— famous glacier. it is an important cultural figure for iceland. it is

disappearing very quickly, melting rapidly. that will be a huge loss culturally to iceland and the world. it's one of the most recognisable glaciers so this is the first major glaciers so this is the first major glacier to go but there will be others and that is the sad truth of climate change. thank you very much for talking to us from reykjavik. staying with glaciers, take a look at these pictures of kayakers getting up close and personal to one in alaska. huge chunks fell off the glacier, causing a massive wave that came straight at them. the kayakers were unhurt as they very quickly paddled away. now it's time for a look

at the weather with chris fawkes. hello again. showers have been really widespread today across scotland, northern ireland, northern england and north wales, so i am sure most places will have seen several downpours today. scenes like this then, probably really quite familiar. looking at the radar picture, you can see the extent of the showers at the moment, across northern and western parts of the uk, even in the south, although there are bigger gaps between the showers, there will continue to be showers on and off through the night, pushing right the way eastwards across the uk. so, nowhere is immune from escaping, and a shower could appear anywhere, itjust is that they will be most frequent across the north of the country. temperatures between ten and 13 degrees overnight and it is going to stay pretty busy. —— breezy. a look at the weather picture into monday and it is another showery setup. the showers probably at their heaviest across northern ireland, northern england, southern scotland, plenty of showers for northern scotland and a cooler feel to the air across scotland and northern ireland, with temperatures just

around 16 or 17 degrees. heavy downpours for england and wales as well. highest temperature is about 22. hello this is bbc news with carol walker. the headlines: the man in charge of planning for a no—deal brexit, michael gove, says leaked documents showing shortages of goods and a hard border with ireland are out of date and worst—case scenarios. this is an old document that since it was published and circulated, the government have taken significant additional steps to ensure that we are prepared to leave on october the 31st, deal or no deal. police in kent say a six—year—old boy who fell into the river stour in kent while fishing is "unlikely" to be found alive. funerals are held for the 63 people killed in a suicide attack at an afghan wedding. the islamic state group has claimed repsonsibility.

hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of hong kong for the 11th week running. now on bbc news, the travel show. this is japan's most northerly main island of hokkaido. for decades, travellers have been drawn here by its stark contrast to the rest of the country. it's anotherjapan, one that is wild, challenging and remote. it's an incredible experience! with distinctive communities. i've come to meet them and to find out more about the country's northern frontier.

so, if you look out to where i'm heading, that is japan's most northerly point. but on the other side, just a0 kilometres from the japanese coastline is the great landmass, russia. now that is important because it was russia expanding eastwards that led to japan 150 years ago to annex that island and give it the name, hokkaido. the island isn't small. it's around one fifth of japan's total landmass but nearly a century and a half after the move to fully populate hokkaido, still only around 4% of japan's people live here. hello, hokkaido!

but because of this relatively recent migration, the island that was developed by those first japanese settlers took on its own distinct characteristics, making it markedly different from the mainland. one of the immediate issues was how to live alongside what many agree to be the island's indigenous inhabitants, the ainu. i'd come to meet this man who recently returned to his heritage following in the footsteps of the ainu. for his ancestors, hunting animals was key to survival. today this means a fusion of modern and traditional hunting techniques like making use of every part of the hunted animal.

when the japanese settled here, the ainu were made to assimilate into japanese society. their traditional lifestyle was banned and so today, little of their old way of life remains. so, we're going hunting? hunting. excellent, let's do it. there are bears in this forest, i'm sticking close to him. so tell me, you go hunting every day? until recently, those who openly showed their ainu status have faced discrimination.

until recently, those who openly showed their ainu status have faced discrimination. but with the ainu nowjust starting to get recognition injapanese law as indigenous people with their own distinct language and culture, things are beginning to change. so this is where the deer trap is, yeah? he is clearly disappointed that there isn't a deer in his trap here, so he's adjusting a little bit. between you and me, i'm a bit relieved. look around you and you can see

what attracts travellers here. stunning landscapes, but for young people seeking opportunities, this island doesn't make things easy. over the years japan has wrestled with economic challenges. hokkaido has been one of the areas hardest hit. in the previously thriving mining city of yubari, 90% of their population have moved away in 50 years. demographically, yubari is the oldest city injapan. probably the oldest city in the world and quite possibly the oldest city, ever. and at 80 years old, one of its residents has achieved celebrity status around japan. konnichiwa. mascots are big business in this country and they don't get

much bigger, or frankly, scarier, than yubari's very own melon bear. a nod to the city's famed and prized fruit. why do you do it? but there is a much more serious side to melon bear — to entice tourists to yubari.

and maybe in one sense it has worked, because travellers are now coming in. are now coming here. ruins left by economic turbulence litter japan's landscapes and here it has sprung up the hobby called haikyo — exploring the abandoned buildings. look at this, this is industrial history, isn't it? just over a decade ago, yubari was declared bankrupt. those who remained were made to move into a small, central area of the city living everything else abandoned.

that places is like the old abandoned powerpla nt, sato—san, hosts art projects and helps people to explore. walking around, i'm left with mixed feelings because it so powerfully symbolises the decline of a once prosperous place, but i can also see why people love exploring here. there is a mysterious beauty to what is left behind. and making the most of disused buildings isn't just confined to the city.

and making the most of disused buildings isn't just confined to the city. in nearby nayoro, i've arranged to stay in a unique guesthouse. this man worked on trains most of his life. when he stopped working on the trains, he restored an old disused station house back to its former glory. so this used to be a railway line here?

in contrast to the japanese mainland, much of the urban life in hokkaido first developed around the rail infrastructure. some of the old train routes closed with the loss of industry but for some people, this is not the end of the line. this is an incredible experience. on an old disused railway line, very shuddery, but exhilarating! absolutely exhilarating! it's great, pretty good! it's a world away from this country's high—speed bullet trains, but what a way to experience the nature this is famous for.

i have got my sleeper carriage berth, so let's see where the night train takes me. good night.

when the japanese came to colonise hokkaido, they sent former samurai, with a mission to cultivate this island. that is one of the distinct ways it has developed — miles upon miles of beautiful landscapes. now one way to get close to nature as a traveller would obviously be to hike. but there is another uniquely japanese way. this is mochi pounding. what might look to the untrained eye as hitting rice as hard you can with a mallet until it turns squidgy, is in fact a highly skilled and refined process done to create a sweet delicacy known as mochi. i'm about to have a lesson from the real expert as to how to be a proper pounder.

i've got to be honest, this is extremely heavy. stomp, stomp, stomp. hokkaido's climate is perfectly suited to cultivating the sweet, sticky rice needed for mochi. the region around nayoro has become japan's biggest producer. every year here, local farmers hold a competition to find the best mochi pounders. how do you become a good mochi pounder like you? here we go.

how does hokkaido rate in terms of its mochi? now then, this is where he risks the use of his hands for the rest of his life. laughs. grunts. it takes 100 strikes of the mochi to make itjust right. and it's notjust about speed. i am told how you hit it will affect that all—importa nt final taste. now i'm obviously holding back here for fear of outshining my hosts. applause. the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. or the tasting.

so let's see what the judges think. laughs. that was not in the script! i reckon that was a fix. and after all that exertion, it's time for a well—earned rest. i'm heading south, where my trip comes to an end in hokkaido's main city of sapporo. it's a fitting place to finish the trip around hokkaido, because here in sapporo, they're hosting a dance festival that pays homage to the whole island's connection to the sea. it's the fifth largest city in japan, sapporo, and hokkaido's biggest by some distance. and just down there is where

the festival is taking place. yosakoi soran is one of the region's biggest international dancing competitions. teams dance to music which is all inspired by the hokkaido folk song soran. traditionally, this folk song was about hokkaido fishermen. it's come an awful long way since then! all: soran! and one of the teams here with their own take on this dance is. . .the russians! interesting, considering the history between the two nations. singing in own language. hats off to them, really good.

i had arranged to meet someone who had taken part in this festival many, many times, since she was a child. but finding one dancer amongst 30,000 others was proving a little trickier than i had expected. hi! konnichiwa! so you are a veteran of soran, of this dance festival, you're going to teach me about all of this? 0k. fantastic. so tell me, what makes this festival unique in japan? this yosakoi soran festival in hokkaido, you have two rules. first one, every team, every dancer, have this, naruko. the second rule is that, do you know... # yaren soran, soran... soran music. ok, so what you're saying is,

even though all the music might sound a bit different, and there is dancing and... inside each one you have the same melody. how does the melody go? # yaren soran, soran... and while it's something that clearly takes a lot of practice, i'm told that in my case, one hour should do it. that's what i have to wear? yes, yes! very happy. ah, 0k. ‘soran bushi' plays. a very public training session for newbies like me will be followed by a chance to take part in the main festival parade around the streets of the city. tell me about the first time that you entered the festival,

tell me about how it felt for you and what you did? ‘soran bushi' plays. a bit of attitude. attitude is really important. ok, from the top. from the top! it's just dance move, on dance move, on dance move. so complicated! many of these dance moves are based on the tasks the old fishermen performed like dragging nets, pulling ropes and lifting luggage over their shoulders. can't you tell? 0k... laughs. that's only the practice. we haven't even started the real thing yet! i have just had a rigourous

workout and lesson, i supposedly know my moves and now, to cap it all off, we're going to do the whole dance around the square in front of the crowds. help! thanks you to your wonderful teaching, ifeel quite confident now that... oh, let's go! ‘soran bashi' plays. the nerves have all gone. who cares how good you are? this is about community. festival. i'm getting it now! are you tired? no! yes, because exciting! upbeat ‘soran bashi' plays.

as the festival comes to a dramatic close, my time in hokkaido finishes in what feels like a world away from where it started. i have found a place that has in a short time adopted so much of japanese culture, but within that has found its own

way of expressing itself. who knows what the next 150 years might bring to this unique japanese island. check that out, that is an act. ‘soran bushi' plays.

hello, again. showers have been really widespread today, particularly across the northern half of the uk. with the showers, we get rainbows like these. this was spotted earlier on in the day in rossendale. thank you for sending that. the radar shows the extent of the recent showers, absolutely caked in showers. scotland, northern ireland, northern england and wales. one of those days where most places have seen downpour after downpour today. southward, showers will continue overnight, driven by the brisk, westerly winds. some bigger gaps between the showers, the further said that you are. temperatures overnight between 10—13 celsius. another breezy start to the day as we look at the forecast into monday. we have still got northwesterly winds coming in.

they will be bringing plenty of heavy, thundery showers. some of the heaviest downpours on monday are likely to move into northern ireland, southern scotland and northwest england as well. it is going to start to get cooler as well because the winds in scotland and northern ireland are coming down from polar regions, whereas for england and wales, the air from the mid—atla ntic is going to england and wales. a cool 16 in edinburgh, 17 in belfast. across england and wales, still generally around 19—22 celsius. tuesday, the supply of really cold air gets cut off. a ridge across the uk ahead of this next weather system that will ultimately bring some cloud gathering with rain pushing into northern ireland. for many eastern areas, it probably stays fine. fewer showers for far north of scotland but still a cool

feel two things. into wednesday, another area of low pressure moving in which will bring some rain to the northwest of the uk. that pushes across the whole of northern ireland, scotland, northern england and north wales as well what is across the south it should stay dry and the tendency is lighter in the week, the weather will become increasingly dry and increasingly warm. we could see 27 in london next saturday.

our top stories. hundreds of thousands of protesters brave the rain to call for democratic reforms in hong kong in a largely peaceful demonstration. desperate migrants try to swim ashore after the italian government refuses to let their ship dock. uk ministers hit back after leaked documents suggest a no — deal brexit would mean chaos. this is an old document that since it was published and circulated, the government have taken significant additional steps to ensure that we are prepared to leave on october the 31st, deal or no deal. and a ceremony is held to mark the loss of a 700—year old glacier that's disappeared in iceland.