sunshine and this beautiful view from scotland. here and in northern ireland so far that there is some sunshine to be had but for england and wales there is a lot of cloud around and for some it is raining. you can see this on the radar picture but it is gradually edging further south as we go through the rest of the afternoon. living northern ireland and scotland with showers and sunny spells. some of us in northern england, things to brighten up by the cloud and rain still with us for the midlands, east anglia even at the end of the afternoon. these are the average wind speeds, feeling colder in north wales and the north of england but mild in the far south east with more sunshine to be had. going through this evening and tonight this area

of cloud and rain is sticking around across many of the same areas. for north wales, north england, northern ireland and scotland quite a sharp frost to come in the colder rural spots but tomorrow morning plenty of sunshine. starting to cloud over again in north wales and the north of england but to add insult to injury it is feeling culture here is an easterly breeze starts to pick up. most of us on friday it will be dry. some showers coming into the east and the crowd and patchy rain beginning to edge awake from south—west england. more dry weather around by friday but remember that chilly breeze kicking and especially across the south and west of the uk. that is down to an area of high pressure which will settle things down and turn things into the weekend. but the air is coming from

the east, and that means strengthening easterly wind. so going into the weekend feeling quite chilly particularly in that breeze but remember that it is high pressure building in and the weather is going to be settling down for a time. so pretty much all in the same boat at the weekend, a lot of drier weather around, increasing sunshine by the time we get to sunday. so one of the better weather weekends we've had for quite some time, if you are able to get out and about and get fresh air. but you have to put up with that chilly breeze. a reminder of our top story... the government has promised more measures to help workers hit by the coronavirus crisis — and people who rent their homes. borisjohnson has called the commons that an announcement on the possible closure of schools is imminent. and

breaking is just coming closure of schools is imminent. and breaking isjust coming in, the eurovision song contest where hearing will not take place this yearin hearing will not take place this year in rotterdam because of the coronavirus outbreak. the organisers say it is with deep regret we have to announce the cancellation of the 2020 eurovision song contest in rotterdam, it is impossible to continue with the live event is planned. but just continue with the live event is planned. butjust end. that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello. time for some sport on bbc news. i'm hugh ferris. as sporting events around the world now and nfor a considerable time now and for a considerable time into the future are moved or cancelled, the tokyo olympics remain in place. but plans for the games to go ahead

injuly have been described as "insensitive and irresponsible" by a member of the international olympic committee. canadian hayley wickenheiser is a four—time gold medallist at the winter games and she said, "this crisis is bigger than even the olympics. athletes can't train, attendees can't travel plan. well, the organisers are also facing a lot of criticism from athletes preparing for the games. we're joined by claire taggart, who was part of the great britain boccia team at the rio paralympics. you are self—isolating, yourself, aren't you? yes, i am at home in the northern ireland for the foreseeable future. given that we at least have an olympics and paralympics in place, how much time would you need post—self isolation to get yourself ready potentially to perform in tokyo 7

ready potentially to perform in tokyo? i think that question is very individual, and i think it differs for every person who would be representing their country at an olympics or paralympics. for me myself personally, i'm trying to do as much as i can in my house and not let the coronavirus or south isolation restrict me in anyway. so, yeah, i'm just trying to keep going as normal, obviously restricted about not getting on court and stuff like that but trying to simulate that environment at home as much as possible. do you have a deadline date after which perhaps you could not prepare well enough to do well at the paralympics? no. i think like isaid,| at the paralympics? no. i think like i said, i think that is a very individual issue, and i think the british paralympic association have been really good at keeping us up—to—date with everything. our governing body, boccia uk, are wonderful at keeping us up—to—date with what is going on and what

competitions might be affected, camps and stuff like that. but i personally don't have a date that i will say i can't do it after that. i think a lot of my teammates and i, we arejust think a lot of my teammates and i, we are just trying to continue as normal despite the restrictions. tell us about some of those conversations that you're having with other pa ra—athletes, conversations that you're having with other para—athletes, from the boccia east in a wider sense as well? so, my teammates and i we would converge regularly anyway, we would converge regularly anyway, we would text and stuff like that. but pretty much the team is self—isolating and we're taking part m, self—isolating and we're taking part in, like, little team challenges on text and stuff like that and making sure that we're checking in with eve ryo ne sure that we're checking in with everyone and the staff have been amazing at keeping us up—to—date with stuff as well as providing coaching sessions over skype and stuff like that. so we're trying not to let it restrict us as much as possible. we know that there has been some criticism of the ioc in

tokyo in attempting to keep the games are still going, but do you think that if all the athletes came together, for example, through one voice and demanded, because they will not be able to perform to the level that they want to, or indeed even know if they are qualified, demanded a cancellation or a post—postman, do you think that would be enough of a serious voice that it would be heard? -- postponement. to be honest with you, i have no idea. my main focus at the minute and for the foreseeable future is going to be on training to make sure that whenever the paralympics comes around, i have the best performance i can. and i think that that is the case with all athletes and especially in the boccia team, we're all trying to continue as normal. whether or not the olympics or paralympics should oi’ the olympics or paralympics should or should not happen, everybody will have their own opinion on that, and my aim and opinion is that i am going to continue to do everything

that i can to make sure that i deliver my best performance regardless of what's going on around me. claire taggart, we wish you well in the next few weeks and yourself isolation and in any attempts that you may be able to make in reaching those paralympics. you may be able to make in reaching those pa ralympics. claire you may be able to make in reaching those paralympics. claire taggart, thank you very much forjoining us. in tennis, the us open has said it has also not ruled out the possibility of switching to a later date. the tournament is due to begin in new york on august the 31st. that's because the french open, which would normally begin in late may, will now take place in september. in a pointed statement, the us tennis association criticised the french federation's decision to move the date of roland garros, stating... "at a time when the world is coming together, we recognise that such a decision should not be made unilaterally." that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport.

and also the diversions that have been going on in the world of sport in an attempt to keep us all entertained and busy, if possible. more coming up throughout the afternoon. within the last half hour, the welsh government has announced that all schools in wales will close for an early easter break by friday at the latest. several schools have already closed due to either suspected cases of coronavirus or because of staffing issues. the welsh government is the first uk administration to make the decision. school holidays were due to start on 6th april. meanwhile in scotland, first minister nicola sturgeon said e was planning for school and nursery closures by the end of this week. my view is that it is now

inevitable that we were close at schools and nurseries and my view now is that schools will close by the end of this week, and i wanted today to give parents notice of that. there are two key drivers of that. there are two key drivers of that review. the first is the science. sage, our expert scientific advisers, are examining new advice literally as we speak and i expect that that is likely to tell us to close schools. secondly, we have the reality on the ground. as people do the right thing and follow the advice to self—isolate or to isolate asa advice to self—isolate or to isolate as a household, more and more schools are approaching a point where they have lost too many staff to continue as normal. we are working closely with schools and tomorrow, the deputy first minister will set out in a statement to parliament the arrangements we are putting in place and in particular he will address key questions that i know parents, pupils and teachers will have, including what this will mean for vulnerable pupils, there was receiving free school meals,

because we must not cut adrift vulnerable children. secondly, what this means for pupils taking their exams this year, because we will not blight the life chances of our children. and crucially, what this means for key workers. we must ensure that our doctors, nurses and other critical staff can still work. lives are on the line if they cannot. that was nicola sturgeon. and also at that media briefing, the first minister said that a third person in scotland has now died from covid—i9 and that there are now 227 confirmed cases of the virus in scotland. you've been sending in your questions about coronavirus and the measures the prime minister and chancellor announced yesterday to help workers and businesses. earlier, my colleague joanna gosling put those questions to an employment lawyer during your questions answered.

joining me is kevin porter, an employment lawyer and partner at a commercial law firm, joining us live from central london, to answer your questions on how coronavirus might be impacting you with work issues. thanks forjoining us, kevin. just to start with a question from lauren — what if my employer ignores the advice and insists i work in the office even if i could work from home? it's a good question, a lot of people are asking us the same thing. at the moment it is only advice from the government and they have said unless it's urgent or necessary to work from your workplace, you should be staying at home. it's not quite an order, and some places can't operate without staff being present. so, if that is the situation or indeed your employer has still asked you to come in, there is no automatic right to work from home, it's a case of having a discussion with your employer if you

are having concerns, unless you're in one of those vulnerable groups — over 70, pregnant, have some underlying conditions or indeed have been to a place which has already been symptomatic or had issues already. so presumably you could lose your job if you're not in one of those vulnerable groups and you decide to unilaterally start working from home? yeah, absolutely, you could certainly lose your pay. the typical guidance is, if you're not at work, you don't get paid. there are opportunities to look at alternative things — consider whether to take holiday if you're in a position to do that, or potentially even unpaid sabbaticals — i know that virgin for example are one company which has been trying to encourage employees to do that. a similar question from kate in cambridge says, i work for a university and could technically work from home — is it my legal right to decide this or my employer's?

you've answered it. like we have said, there is no automatic entitlement under the law, unless there is something in your contract or maybe even a flexible working arrangement already in place. lucy in kingston upon thames says, i've just started a newjob and i'm not eligible for sick pay — will i get statutory sick pay? the position is that ssp — and this was announced last week — would be covered for people who were self—isolating from day one. normally you would have to wait three days for that to start. for somebody who's already in work in a permanentjob, then they're entitled to ssp from day one if they have eligibility as well. unlike company sick pay which might be subject to a probation period or a minimum period of employment. it depends on the eligibility, and we all know that it's been widely reported that it's £94.25 — it is not a lot for a lot of people.

so, again, have that conversation with your employer and see where you are. if you've not quite started under a new contract, the chances are you won't be eligible. similarly, will self—employed people be entitled to sick pay in a possible lockdown? if you're genuinely self—employed, unfortunately, at the moment, there's nothing available for you, unless again it is something in your contract, but it's unlikely. we expected something yesterday from the government to announce what provisions might be available for individuals who were self—employed, freelancing, who didn't have any other opportunity to receive some of these benefits. they have been all focused on companies and employers at this stage. conversations are taking place, i know there is a lot of pressure on the chancellor to look after these people, and i heard there are provisions potentially for renters coming into force. but at the moment, if you're self—employed

or a freelancer in that position, there's nothing out there for you, apart from universal credit, which is as we know, something which might be something which could be accessed. will there be any financial help available for freelance office workers who are told not to come in for previously booked shifts? again, the first point of contract is with your contract — check what it says. if you've been pre—booked, there might be some entitlement under that, for short notice. otherwise, speak to the company, get in touch with them. certain people do have protections — it's not probably the right time to go into that now — but have that conversation and if help is being provided to companies, there is a chance that might be pushed down to employees as well or even people who aren't quite employees but who are working with or for those organisations. and a quick final question from michael, who's got in touch on twitter. he says, i don't know what to do —

my wife suffers with a rare condition which affects her immune system, and i work for a retailer on minimal hours. i'm worried that if i self—isolate and don't go to work, i will lose myjob. what do i do? well, there is provision for people to take time off to care for people. unfortunately, as a minimum, you aren't paid for that time off, i would say speak to your employer, get in conversation with them, and from an employer's point of view, this is a key time to rely on some of that goodwill which has been built up with employees potentially — try and work it both ways as much as possible because we're hopeful that there will be a need for people to be back in work very soon. keep that conversation going and see what help can be put in place. if there are employers who are receiving funding from the government, do what they can to get it down to the people who maybe need it.

people are beginning to feel the impact on their everyday lives as they try to adapt to working from home and avoid large social gatherings. tim muffett has been speaking to people in london to find out fergus walsh has this report. london, with a different look and feel. in leicester square, instead of cinemagoers, we find lillian from brazil, here for a two—week language course, now stranded. a lot, because i have two kids in my home in brazil, so it is a hard time tuesday away from your children. brazil, so it is a hard time tuesday away from your childrenlj brazil, so it is a hard time tuesday away from your children. i think i made a wrong decision to come here. came down from yorkshire to see a bustling, buzzing west end, and here he are in the west end. and exactly, there is nothing here. we were not

expecting it at all, not at all. not at all, we went through chinatown. we we re at all, we went through chinatown. we were trying to find somewhere to eat but there is no one there. london is a magnet, it draws people to it. but no people means no passengers. awful, i've been driving a cab 20 years and this is the worst period i've ever seen the trade, definitely. how worried are you? very worried, i'm a mortgage payer, i've got a wife, two kids. it's just, it's pretty awful. theatre land is closed. jordan luke gage was starring in this musical, a modern day take on romeo and juliet. he's now ill, self—isolating, and worried. there's definitely a real sense of anxiousness within the arts industry because people don't know when they're going to be returning to work, whether some shows are even going to be able to survive and open

again and whether we're going to be paid during this period. it's notjust the lack of people here in trafalgar square which is so eerie. it's the sense of uncertainty as to how long this is going to last and how many businesses are going to survive. in hackney, north east london, the bird cage pub is open, but there are no customers. the people are being told not to come, but the bars are not being told what to do. i work full time in a bar and it's myjob to be here. but what do i do, for example? or what does the premises do? do we shut? do we not shut? do we stay open to the public? there is no solution to it, for us. round the corner, this shop is busy. too busy for some. i think people are not in the right set of mind. many people are panic buying, they're scared, nervous on the possibilities of what's likely to come. so i guess the unknown

is the most scary part. sarah normally runs a community food kitchen. that service is not available anymore, they will not be able to come to us for that vital meal, and people will go hungry. sarah hopes to be able to start delivering free meals to those who need them, but she needs donations and volunteers. in the capital, life has changed. the hope is that london can take it. tim muffett, bbc news. we've got some news just in from the foreign office about travel to spain, and we're hearing that the spanish government, according to the foreign office, have confirmed that all hotels in spain will close from tuesday 24th of march. foreign office saying, we therefore advise british travellers in spain to contact their tour operator or airline as soon as possible to arrange their return home, as soon as possible, before that date. so,

british holidaymakers in spain should return to the uk by 24th march, spanish government ordering that hotels must close next week, and in the light of those measures, foreign office advising british people to make their travel plans to get home from spain as soon as possible. that is the latest in about hotels being closed down in spain from tuesday 24th march. the nhs is braced for months of unprecedented demand as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise. all non—urgent operations in england and scotland have been cancelled. meanwhile, final year medical students at the university of liverpool will be allowed to volunteer in hospitals tackling the outbreak. our reporter amara sophia elahi went to meet some of the students who'll be on the frontline, before they've even sat their exams. hi, my name is priya. hi, my name's percy. hi, my name's hamish. hi, my name's chloe and i'm a final year

medical student from the university of liverpool. this is the next generation of doctors. so, welcome to the liverpool school of medicine. almost qualified. because of coronavirus, the university of liverpool suspended all face—to—face teaching at the weekend. but these students are offering to volunteer in hospitals to help the nhs deal with the outbreak. we will be working in the wards, most likely, alleviating some of the stress when the doctors either have to be quarantined themselves, or are helping out more in busy areas like maybe a&e. we have had the opportunity to chat to some of the senior clinicians who are going to make sure that we are supervised appropriately, making sure we are not doing anything we are not competent to do. obviously things are going to be tough over the next few months, with more people requiring hospital care. but by having these extra student volunteers on the wards helping

support the staff i really do think that this is going to enable the best possible patient care. at the end of the day we are just an extra pair of hands. so here we're entering the common room... given the government guidance, we asked everyone to film themselves in order to minimise contact with others. so, are you ready to go? yes. we also asked the director of the university's medical school why they decided to do this. this episode that we're all going through is a time of great challenge for the nhs, but it's also a time that will provide the best possible experience to be the junior doctors that will then look after patients in the summer. they're going to have experienced colleagues specifically still looking out for them and they‘ re going to have each other to draw on and indeed others that they will know who are this year's junior doctors in practice who they know from connections from before. over 200 students have volunteered to help.

for doctors like rob, having them on hand will help busy hospitals cope with the extra demand. are you confident that they've got the right sort of clinical skills and enough clinical exposure to do this? absolutely. they've only got two to three months of their training to complete, asi say, i work with them on a daily basis and i know them all very well. they're highly skilled, highly competent young individuals and i have a great amount of faith in them. the general medical council, which regulate doctors, says "students may be called upon to help an already stretched service." these students, though, really want to make a difference. if we're not volunteering to work at the moment we'll be just sat at home doing nothing so it's better than that.

we can be out there working, getting the experience that we need, and to help the nhs at this point in time. amara sophia elahi, bbc news. just hearing that the pound has hit its lowest level against the dollar in sa years, reportedly about doubts that the uk antivirus measures are swift enough. the pound is currently at $1.175. the lowest level since 1975. the other piece of news coming m, 1975. the other piece of news coming in, the sellafield nuclear site in cumbria is currently carrying out a controlled shutdown of its mad nox plant, about 1500 people work at that facility to reprocess spent fuel, it says it is preparing for workers who may need to self—isolate

in the coming weeks, scaling back some operations so that staff can focus on high hazard risk reduction. much more from simon coming up at two o'clock. now it is time for a look at the weather forecast with nick miller. some sunny spells in scotland and northern ireland coming up this afternoon, but for much of england and wales, some cloud and rain. you can see where most of the rain has been so far today. it is slowly edging further south and it will brighten up a bit for some of us. the lion's share of the sunny spells will be in scotland and northern ireland. there are showers around, particularly across northern and western scotland. lustily showers with hail, thunder, wintry on the hills. taking a look at wind speeds. you can see where the lion's share of the rain is sitting. much of south—east england will stay dry.

northern england, north wales feeling a bit colder today, compared with yesterday. into tonight, still a few showers running into northern scotland, but really for north wales, northern england, northern ireland and scotland, under clear skies will see a frost but a sharp frost in the coldest rural parts of northern ireland and scotland. notice temperatures staying up, though, where we have this area of cloud and the chancellor seeing some rain that is still around during the day on thursday. if anything the cloud will shunt a little bit further north, turning the sunshine hazy after a bright start in northern england. and again the best of the sunshine will be in northern ireland and scotland. one or two showers around. not as windy here. it will feel a bit colder the further south you are, as an easterly breeze starts to develop. still the chance on friday of seeing across southern england, south wales, cloud and some patchy rain before that eases away. more places, though, are turning drier, but it will feel a bit colder, particularly the further south you are because as i put up the wind speeds, you can see a fairly brisk east north—easterly wind coming in here. now the reason for that and for more

places turning drier going into the weekend is this area of high pressure. the flow of air coming in from the east around that and the isobars tighter together towards the south and west of the uk, where we will have that stronger, chilly easterly breeze. so, we are in the blue into the start of the weekend. temperatures will be a bit below normal perhaps for the time of year. the cold enhanced by the chilly breeze. but remember it is high pressure. just a selection of locations to give you a feel of the weather into the weekend. pretty much all in the same boat.

this is bbc news i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 2pm. schools in scotland and in wales are set to close by the end of the week as part of plans to tackle coronavirus. my my view is that it is now inevitable that we will close schools and nurseries and my planning assumption now is that schools will close to pupils at the end of this week. labour demands government measures to protect tenants at risk of eviction if they can't pay their rent. they are worried sick that they cannot pay their rent if they get sick, lose pay, orfeelthey need cannot pay their rent if they get sick, lose pay, or feel they need to self—isolate. sick, lose pay, or feel they need to self-isolate. i can confirm that we will do and bringing forward legislation to protect private renters from eviction.