in an era when the top professionals became some of the most famous people in britain, thorne was instantly recognizable. when the players made a pop song with chas and dave, willie thorne happily played along with the bald head gang. but he carried the reputation of being unbeatable, when practising. in competitions, willie thorne seemed to reach the brink of greatness. the big wins, the big titles, went to his contemporaries. willie thorne remained a popular figure in world snooker long after his retirement as a player. his voice on commentary was part of the texture of the bbc television coverage. when steve davis rolled back the years to win a famous match at the 2010 world championship, thorne was watching it and describing it. steve davis has somehow, and i say somehow, rolled back the years and beat one of the all time greats!

willie thorne‘s flaws were never far from view. his struggles with gambling were well—known and widely reported. but throughout it all, willie thorne remained one of the most endearing figures from snooker‘s golden age. time for a look at the weather. lovely sunshine here in the isle of wight. but we have two types of weather that are notable today, that misty low cloud evident earlier in northumberland and across the north—east coast and the thunderstorms which are already breaking out. very volatile atmosphere in recent days and very little changed today with a gusty wind and lots of lightning strikes. already the shower us and we have some lightning through cumbria and

you can see the showers and the moisture in the north and west. they could occur just about anywhere driven on by this warmth and humidity and the strength of the june sunshine and of course not too far away now from the longest day. thunderstorms likely to break out across the west of scotland, further east we have that low cloud but in between some sunshine. some thunderstorms across northern ireland and just about anywhere in england and wales. and because the wind is light not going anywhere quickly. the drains may not be able to cope with the rain in a short space of time and we could see some flash flooding locally. they ease overnight but then we have a more persistent band of rain across parts of england. slow to clear tomorrow but actually we're helpful to see a bit more sunshine and fewer showers scotland, fewer also for northern

ireland. we have this area of rain pushing west and north and to the south when things brighten up again some slow—moving and really quite torrential downpours leading to lots of spray and standing water. and another 40, 50 millimetres of rain ina another 40, 50 millimetres of rain in a short space of time. of course feeling warm and humid again in the sunshine. temperatures down a little bit underneath that cloud but still feeling quite muggy. moving to the latter pa rt feeling quite muggy. moving to the latter part of the week we start to see a weather front pushing into north and west but still with low pressure albeit a rather flabby by this stage. some slow—moving downpours again and the weekend however brings a change to fresher air, still low pressure, still more rain which of course is what we need. looking much more unsettled by that stage. we have winnings out and details on those are on the website.

—— warnings. 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. in place good aft in place ernoon, it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news. the premier league returns later today exactly 100 days after the last match. aston villa against sheffield united is the first of 92 matches packed into the next 6 weeks, that kicks off at 6 followed by manchester city/arsenal at the etihad stadium from where jane dougall sent us this both of the knights matches will look very different from the norm. the first enforcement difference is that there will be no funds as they

cannot socially distance within a crowd. instead, there will be large screens erected where some fans can zoom in so that means there could be something of an atmosphere if and when any player scores a goal. if that happens, there cannot be the ratios get ovations we are used to because players will have to keep that distance at —— they will not be the usual celebrations were against her. they will not be able to remonstrate with the officials if there are any officials on the pitch. mikel arteta will return to the etihad. he worked for many years under pep guardiola as his assistant and both managers have been speaking about looking forward to catch up. so excited. for the fact to see him, to see again, one of the nicest people i ever met. he was an incredibly important part in our success incredibly important part in our success in the last years. yeah, looking forward to seeing him. he is

phenomenal and is a coach, and we spent some amazing moments together, some difficult ones as well. but the experience next to him has been incredible. the first matches at villa park, where sheffield united will travel. they are pushing for a place in europe, but the hosts, and the other hand, only have survival in their mind. when the premier league paused for the pandemic, aston villa where any relegation zone. our confidence was a very low when the season was brought to a halt and a pause. and it has given us halt and a pause. and it has given usa number halt and a pause. and it has given us a number legal opportunity to go and reset —— animal able opportunity and reset —— animal able opportunity and ourjob and reset —— animal able opportunity and our job now and reset —— animal able opportunity and ourjob now is to approach ourselves we're good enough but also played a lot of people wrong who i have written us off. we have done as much as we public could done —— we possibly could have done as a foot ball possibly could have done as a football club, staff and players combined, to give us the best opportunity of producing a decent performance, but i will only know at

the 6pm in that ball gets rolling. football fa ns the 6pm in that ball gets rolling. football fans will get their fix. it seems strange, but these times are strange. at least it is football and it is back. ginger go there. ——jane —— jane dougal there. 0ne complication with the late finish of the premier league is that some players will be out of contract at the end of the month — before the season finishes. four bournemouth players have agreed extensions to see them through but ryan fraser has turned down a short—term contract. he could still play the next two matches — but will officially leave the club onjune the 30th. captain, simon francis, andrew surman, charlie daniels and artur boruc have signed deals to cover the remaining nine matches. the take—over at newcastle has ta ken another turn. the american tv executiuve henry mauriss has registered his interest in buying the club for £350 million, that's £50 million

more than the offer from a saudi arabian investment group led by amanda staveley. papers for that deal were submitted 10 weeks ago but they need to pass the owners and directors test. that's in doubt after this weeks world trade organisation report that found evidence of saudi involvement in pirated premier league broadcasts in the middle east. the championship resumes on saturday, in the latest from six clubs. one of them is a player or member of staff at brentford. over 2,200 tests were carried out across the 24 clubs while there were four positive tests in league one — from two of the four teams preparing for the play—offs and none from league two. royal ascot continues. it's the second day of the five—day meeting, we've just had the first race the silver royal hunt cup handicap stakes. keep an eye on the near side as jockey 0isin murphy in the dark silks and white helmet came

through to take the win with 12 to one shot sir busker from salayel and alternative fact in third.