future, saying she'd have preferred them to remain on full—time royal duties but supports their wish for an independent life not reliant on public funds. the duke and duchess of sussex plan to split their time between the uk and canada. british scientists publish a grim warning about what the australian fires may be telling us about global warming. they say the fires would be the new normal in a world that's three degrees celsius hotter. already the world's average temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees above pre—industrial levels. the taal volcano in the philippines is continuing to throw out smoke, ash and lava, and authorities are warning of an explosive eruption within hours or days. the volcano is 70km south of the capital city, manila. 20,000 people have had to leave their homes.

storm brendan has swept into parts of the uk, hitting northern ireland and scotland with winds of nearly 90 mph. high winds are forecast across much of scotland and some schools are shut with delays to road, ferry and rail. across the rest of the uk there is disruption, as our correspondent danny savage reports. as storm brendan swept in from the atlantic, it was ireland which bore the brunt. the weather was described as wild — an apt description for the conditions in greyabbey. this is warrenpoint, in county down. the cars were stranded in floodwater, but this was one bus driver determined to get through. oh, god! in carrickfergus, just outside belfast, there was more severe flooding as the sea over—topped defences. there were also power cuts to many homes in the region. 0n the other side of the irish sea,

there was damage, too. this is gwynedd, in north wales, where a tree came down on a vehicle. luckily, nobody was hurt. the concern overnight is that spring tides could bring some flooding to coastlines around the northern part of the uk. but storm brendan is also just a prelude for more windy weather, with another warning in place for all of england and wales from midday tomorrow. in scotland, schools in the western isles were closed and bus services cancelled. ferries were also disrupted. and what would a 21st—century storm be without a lost trampoline? this one ended up on a motorway near limerick. danny savage, bbc news, cumbria. if you really must travel, this is the armchair way to do it. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week on the show, i'm in northern spain. i look ready, ifeel ready, i'm ready. taking to space, kind of.

and spending a night on mars. right now, we can resemble all the conditions that we're going to find on planet mars right here on planet earth. chinese new year is fast approaching. we have some travel tips for you. this water is cold! my face is so numb! welcome in iceland. and cat moh's taking an icy dip between the north american and eurasian tectonic plates. it's so clear down here. it's amazing. and the colours totally pop.

no—one would have believed, in the last years of the 19th century, that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's. since hg wells wrote of the martian invasion in his 1897 novel war of the worlds, the red planet has captured our imaginations. at over 33 million miles away, it's incredible to think that we can one day colonise mars. this year, virgin galactic‘s first customers hope to head into space in a 90 minute sub—orbital flight for a cool quarter of a million. but if you don't have that in the bank but still harbour dreams of being a space explorer, there are options here on earth, so, for the next 2a—hours, i'll be

learning how to live life like a mars colonist in spain. astroland is a project set up to see how humans could potentially cope living on mars from a psychological perspective, but to also test out potential technologies. you're going to mars. your emotions, you will feeljoy... as part of the training before going in, we're briefed on how we might feel on mars as a colonist to get us into the right mindset. so clearly, this is not a space shuttle but mars, for the purpose of this exercise, is going to be in a remote cave in arredondo, and i have a feeling my sci—fi fantasies are about to become unlocked. the idea is to simulate how hard it will be to survive on another planet with the barest of tools.

this particular expedition isjust for the night and is geared towards scientists who will be doing experiments as if they're on the red planet. wow! oh, my god. down we go. but before any exploration, the team need to change. this is the bit i've actually been waiting for. my very own spacesuit, although, it's a lot thinner than i thought. i thought it was going to be this giant space suit that i was going to find a little bit unwieldy, but i think i can handle that. in fact, i think i've got an outfit like this at home. i look ready, ifeel ready, i'm ready. just one final touch. i'm ready for my ascent into martian land. i'm a little bit scared, too. laughs

hold this? laughs our aim is to get to ares, our base, where we will be spending the night. it's anticipated that the first colonists to mars will also have to live underground in caves or lava tubes to avoid interstellar radiation. and there's no time to waste on the experiments. ok, so i'm collecting some samples of the water that's trickling from above. it's really quite cool. speaks spanish so, the guys have just made quite an interesting discovery. they've discovered a rock showing signs of photosynthesis which is strange because there's no light down here, so this is a pretty incredible breakthrough for these guys. finally, we make it to ares,

and it's a bit of a squeeze in the decompression chamber. but the team are immediately analysing their samples. we're going to find out if the water has we collected earlier has got any signs of bacteria, basically any signs of life living inside it. in a previous expedition, they actually discovered a new species of amoeba. the important thing here is you have a cave which is huge and very special and you have the capacity to analyse some of the things inside the cave. and what are you hoping to achieve by collecting samples from down here? new species, basically. but i think here you can learn many things about aspiration in difficult parts of the earth and other parts of the solar system, for example.

ah, we have a table. the pod is set with everything to meet your basic needs and after all that work, it's time for dinner. cous cous with chicken. wild berry yoghurt. they all sound the same. i'm going for one of my favourite dishes, bolognese. right, the water's in. give it a stir, leave for ten minutes. it looks a little bit like plastic. but i'm so hungry. that is actually quite nice. whilst the others finish up dinner, i sneak out to find out more about the project. also, any excuse to get suited up.

ifeel like i'm in a completely different world being in here. i mean, how big is this cave? i mean, it's pretty deep. sitting here, right by the dome, by the space station, by the ares station, we are hardly, hardly, one third of its actual size. it is so big that it actually resembles the giant lava tubes that we are going to find on mars. human beings will inhabit mars, it's a fact. the only thing we don't know right now is when it's going to happen. it could happen in 20, 30, 40, 50 years. yeah. right now, we can resemble all the conditions that we're going to find on planet mars and beneath planet mars right here on planet earth. one of the goals is to extend the stays in the cave to see how people cope. very soon, we'll meet teams of scientists and engineers and people from all areas of knowledge and science. spending one month, several months, more than a year, in this station.

more than a year?! wow. when you're talking about isolating people for several months or more than one year, there are so many things that come in that will be so useful for future space exploration. this experience isn't cheap. for non—scientists it's about £5,000 for the 30 day experience, which includes preparation, training and about three days in the cave. i mean mars. nasa's original roadmap to expand human presence beyond earth to mars and further was tentatively set for 2033, but an independent report has come out saying this is unfeasible. so for the ultimate travel experience, you'll have to wait a little longer. this is where i'm sleeping tonight. it's the top bunk of a bunk bed.

now, i've not been in a top bunk since i was about eight years old, so, i'm not going to lie, i'm actually really excited about getting into the top bunk! i've got a sleeping bag, so it's like a really cool sci—fi sleepover with all my scientist buddies. although i'm not sure what time they get up in the morning. i have a feeling it's going to be very, very, very early. in space they say that you can't hear anyone scream so in astroland, i'm really hoping you can't hear anyone snore. well, if spending a weekend on mars in spain doesn't quite take your fancy, but you're still interested in visiting, here are some other things we think are worth considering. spain is one of the few countries in the world where you can ski in the morning and swim

in the sea in the afternoon. the sierra nevada ski station just outside granada is the most southern ski resort in europe, but it's also the country's highest with a season that lasts till early may. plus it's just a few hours‘ drive from the mediterranean coast. this april, the world dog show is being hosted in the capital madrid. 0rganisers are expecting as many as 20,000 pooches to attend. the event is being hosted by the spanish royal canine society and is open to dog lovers, canine experts and breeders. and well, we can't miss out spain's messiest festivals. la tomatina takes place on the last wednesday in august in bunol, a0 kilometres west of valencia. thousands of people come to take part in a giant tomato fight. if you go, be prepared. take goggles and expect your clothes to never recover. we warned you.

still to come: how to tackle chinese new year. so what do we reckon the temperature of the water is today? it's around 2—3 degrees celsius. and cat moh's in iceland swimming in glacial meltwater. so don't go away. it's now time for trending travel. our regular pick of the top photos, videos and stories all happening online this week. do you know who's dutch and your netherlands from your holland? you might not be the only one to be a bit confused. the dutch government thought it was finally time to make things a bit easier and are ditching the name holland this month. the famous orange colour will remain, but from now on, the netherlands will be the official

name starting january. and at major events like the eurovision song contest in rotterdam this may, and during the olympic games this summer. in one of hanoi's most unique and popular tourist spots, authorities have banned large crowds and closed cafes on the city's popular train street. every day, tourists head to the street to take pictures and experience the moment trains rush down the narrow street just inches away from homes. but authorities are now clamping down on tourist and shop owners. tourism pollution injapan looks to be a growing problem with locals in 2020. kyoto has led a ban on photography in parts of the city's main geisha neighbourhood amid a flurry of complaints about harassment and bad behaviour by foreign tourists and the quest for the perfect selfie. the ban and fine are not legally binding but local businesses hope the measure will convince some visitors to have more respect for the neighbourhood and its more colourful residents. plenty of apps these days have face

filters and funny styles. but have you tried a silfie? the sigmund freud museum has released the ‘silfie‘ app, and is asking you to not only keep his cultural legacy alive, but to support the urgent work needed to renovate the sigmund freud museum in vienna. they're hoping to raise more than 5000 euros by the end of 2020. i wonder what the man himself would think of all of this. while some of us are getting over the christmas blues and new year's headaches, in another part of the world it will soon be the lunar new year. 0fficially beginning injanuary 25, families across southeast asia will be reuniting in celebration. chinese new year is celebrated around the world by chinese communities, so here's the trending guide of what to expect in the year of the rat.

2020 is the year of the rat. those born in this year are said to be sharp, sensitive, yet stubborn. not that many people believe that. what they do believe is that it brings trouble and bad luck, which is why you see people born in the year of the rat wear lots of red, an auspicious colour which is meant to ward off evil spirits and misfortune. chinese new year is all about family reunions. traditionally, elderly grandparents or their children and grandchildren come home for the all—important family dinner. this mad dash is also the reason behind the world's largest human migration, known as chunyun, or the spring migration. last year, 3 billion trips were made in these festivities. but as china prospers, more and more people choose to go abroad for chinese new year's, leaving grandparents less than pleased, celebrating on their own. red packets of hong bao are red envelopes filled with lucky money to give to children on chinese new year. the greeting for "happy new year"

is "xin nian kuai le" in chinese mandarin. make sure to keep sending us your stories and photographs of the places you live and the places you love. maybe next time you'll be trending in travel. next up, cat moh is in iceland at the thingvellir national park, taking an icy dip between two tectonic plates. bubbling, spluttering and creeping. iceland is a country alive. sat on a fault line between two tectonic plates and enduring brutal weather conditions, it's constantly being shaped by powerful natural forces. which is why i have come to thingvellir

national park, because here, back in the 18th century, earthquakes tore a rift in the valley and left behind what some say are the clearest waters in the world. so i'm joining a tour group to snorkel in what is called the silfa fissure. our group is so international even our guide is an italian. basically, we have two reasons to be here. first of all, silfra is the only place on earth you can actually dive between two tectonic plates, and as i show you guys over there, there is the edge of the american tectonic plate. five kilometres on the other side of the valley there is the beginning of the eurasian tectonic plate. the silfra fissure sits between these two plates, which move apart at 2.5 centimetres per year. when it formed, glacial meltwater filled the gap.

water here is just two degrees above freezing. i can't believe i'm actively going to go swim in glacial meltwater. it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that i'm actually here, i don't know. but it's notjust me who is a little apprehensive. tell me how you ended up here? him! we saw a video on youtube a while ago, the last time we came to iceland, and we thought, that's cool. let's do it. that is cool. in both senses. yeah, pretty much. just seeing the tectonic plates should be very cool, a once in a lifetime experience, i guess. unless you come again. that's twice in a lifetime. maybe make that decision after you've gone yeah, i will do that. so finally we start to head in.

when you're ready. all right. that's it, it's time. it's quite difficult, walking down the stairs. i can feel the water squeezing in my suit. yeah, so just come towards me, just lea n forward. yes, perfect, like that. and you just fly. do you feel all right? now we can start to go. oh, my god. this water is cold! my face is so numb! it's only been, like, ten seconds. welcome to iceland! water is already

flooding into my gloves. apparently it's going to get warmer. all right, guys. i'll move in front of the group and you follow me all the way. everyone, it's ok, guys. thumbs up! there we go. amazingly, it takes up to 100 years for the water to filter from a nearby glacier and on through volcanic rock to arrive here. and if you think all water is as clear as each other, think again. here, the underwater visibility can be as much as 100 metres. so far, so good. my body is completely numb to the cold water. and now all that is left

to do is enjoy the view. it's so clear down here. it's amazing. the colours totally pop. all the rock formation, the lichen as you can see, is really, really nice. between the two tectonic plates, we have these beautiful colours. the red lichen carpet on the rocks, it looks like jellyfish. some kinds of lichen, they can only grow in really cold water, and we have at least 18 hours of daylight here. they did a test of the water at silfra and this water is 30 times clearer than what you buy in the supermarket. no way! it is basicallyjust h20. i should have bought my water bottle! oh, yes!

what do you think the temperature is today? at the moment it is pretty chill, but around 2 or 3 celsius, or 36, 38 fahrenheit. it feels —10. it's pretty cold, yes! i know the point is to lie on my front looking downwards, but this is actually also very relaxing. oh, yes, yes. ifeel like a popsicle! and not in a good way. i will definitely do that again. that was amazing.

well, that's all we've got time for this week. butjoin us next week when mike is in the usa to find out why virginia's great dismal swamp isn't so after all. this area is home to dark swarms of mosquitoes, bloodsucking tics, poisonous rattles na kes a nd even the occasional black bear. this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, catch us for that if you can, but until then, from me and the rest of the travel show team here in northern spain, it is goodbye. hello there.

storm brendan brought some very stong winds and heavy rain to the north and the west of the uk. primarily for northern ireland and for western scotland. you can see the system here, wound itself up over the atlantic, lots of isobars on the chart, hence gales with gusts up to 80—90 mph across the north—west corner of the uk. these are severe gales, storm—force winds, and also heavy rain. and the rain has swept its way northwards and eastwards, eventually clearing away from the south—east early on tuesday. we've got lots of showers packing in behind across the north and west, where snow will fall over the high ground. watch out for icy patches across the north of the uk to start tuesday morning. a little less cold the further south you are. we look to the south—west, the next area of low pressure, moving up to bring another spell of rain and gales as we head through the course of tuesday. still stays quite blustery across the north of the uk, as storm brendan continues

to retreat northwards. there will be some sunshine through the morning, but then the clouds build and the rain starts to back into the south and the west, pushes northwards. could be windy across the eastern side of england as well on tuesday. stronger winds perhaps than what we saw on monday. 40—50 mph gusts, 65—plus across some of the headlands in the south—west. in the north it's going to remain quite chilly with these wintry showers, four or five degrees. but in the south, 10—13 celsius. it will be quite mild, despite the wind and the rain. that system pushes off into the north sea as we head into wednesday, then we are in a run of west, south—westerly blustery winds, with sunshine and showers. will take a time for that weather front to clear away from the south—east through wednesday morning, but eventually it will and then many of us will see some sunshine but it will be quite blustery, particularly in the north and west, where there will be wintry showers here.

a few showers around the irish sea coast as well. you'll notice the temperatures down a little bit, so it will feel a bit cooler on wednesday, but at least many of us will have the sunshine to compensate. it's a short—lived wind of fine weather, because the next frontal system will move up through the south—west to bring more wet and windy weather for thursday, so the winds could be quite strong. some of the heaviest rain in the north and the west of the country. there'll be a bit of sunshine further east, but it looks like the clouds will build up as we move through the day. and the rain will be quite heavy in the south—west, in towards wales. again, perhaps a little bit milder in the south, double—figure values here. 7—9 degrees further north. and then it's all change. to end the week, it looks like high pressure will begin to move in as that low pressure clears away, so it will settle down. one thing you will notice, it will turn colder, particularly as we head on into the weekend.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: queen elizabeth backs new roles for harry and meghan, though she says she'd have preferred them to stay. a new climate warning — british scientists say australia's bushfires would be the new normal in a world that's three degrees hotter. the us treasury says it will no longer call china a currency manipulator. around 20,000 people in the philippines have had to flee their homes amid mounting fears over the taal volcano. and there are plenty of ‘jokers' in the oscars pack — the film leads the nominations for this year's academy awards.