latest headlines. we had one�*s military than a gorilla has addressed good for the first time. the general tried to justify the coup, is civilian leaders had failed to hold a proper election last november but produced no evidence. he did promise fresh elections next year. the who has warned againstjumping to conclusions against jumping to conclusions about againstjumping to conclusions about the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines. a study in south africa suggest that jab is less effective against a variant of the virus currently sweeping the country. experts say it is still an important tool. lawyers for donald trump asked lawmakers to dismiss charges against him in the second impeachment trial. they claim it is unconstitutional. the derma group iv incited interaction. five people died interaction. five people died in the violence that followed.

stunned as he has brought severe weather with much of england and parts of scotland. the cold snap since the so—called beast from the east struck in 2018. schools and vaccination centres have had to close in some areas and police are warning people not to travel. in benfleet in essex, a bus driver struggled to keep control, such where the challenging conditions on the road. not stopping for no one. road. not sto an: for no one. not stopping for no one. in norfolk, motorists abandoned their cars as a snowdrifts stop them from getting through. emergency services were also impacted. the county of kent experienced some of the heaviest snowfall, up to 16 centimetres in some areas. this scene has been repeated across much of eastern england. due to storm darcy _ much of eastern england. due to storm darcy we _ much of eastern england. due to storm darcy we have _ much of eastern england. due to storm darcy we have strong - storm darcy we have strong blustery winds which has caused a lot of drifting in certain

exposed areas and that has caused a lot of problems on the road. �* �* , , caused a lot of problems on the road. ~~ .,, road. the m says treacherous drivin: road. the m says treacherous driving conditions _ road. the m says treacherous driving conditions have - road. the m says treacherous driving conditions have causedj driving conditions have caused numerous accidents. near canterbury, local workers helped to keep village life ticking along.— ticking along. getting everybody _ ticking along. getting everybody in - ticking along. getting everybody in and - ticking along. getting| everybody in and out, ticking along. getting - everybody in and out, don't want anyone snowed in, so why not help out the community? the weather forced _ not help out the community? the weather forced some vaccination centres to close, including several in suffolk and essex, as well as the surrey and norfolk. coastal towns like southend—on—sea in essex were among those to experience the full force of the adverse weather. as well as heavy snowfall it's been bitterly cold today, temperatures in some parts of england are expected to drop to —10 overnight and the next few nights i said to be the coldest of the winter so far. helena wilkinson, bbc news, southend—on—sea. now we relive some of the top

winter adventures. including an overnight stay at sweden's ice hotel. from frozen hotel rooms... to ride across siberia stop your people say you will lose your face in the first day. and my solo

hello and welcome to the travel show, coming to you this week from...my living room, here in hertfordshire. ordinarily at this time of year we would be well into the ski season in europe, and i would be braving sub—zero temperatures to get out there and bring you some of the best snowbound adventures from around the world. this is really very nice. i can't imagine it'll be warm when when we get out though. we might not be able to go anywhere just at the moment, but that doesn't stop us looking back at some of our favourite adventures, some of them at below freezing temperatures. like the time a couple of years ago that ade went to the famous swedish icehotel, not exactly the place you would want to get locked down for a couple of months it's not what i was expecting. i was expecting an igloo or something like that. for more than 25 years we've been building igloos here. it's been a winter project, a seasonal project. but this is our permanent...

it is new. it's the first season that we're running the icehotel 365, a permanent ice hotel. why have an ice hotel all year round? because people want to do it. seriously? simple answer. when you're this far north of the arctic circle, there's daylight for 2h hours during the summer, and the icehotel has found a way to harness that energy, bizarrely, to keep temperatures inside below freezing. look at this! it's like a winter wonderland. there are 20 rooms in this new, permanent hotel, each uniquely sculpted by artists from all over the world. so it'sjust me, and my

beautiful ice bed. who's in here? oh, hello, ade. ijust made your room ready. oh, wow! what temperature is it in this place? minus five. it reminds me of my first councilflat, when i couldn't afford heating. laughs. you will become very nostalgic when you sleep here. because the room is literally freezing, you need special gear to survive the night, including a sleeping bag that can withstand temperatures of —25 centigrade. this is your bed. you have a normal mattress but the frame is ice. will this keep me warm enough in —5 degrees? yes. this sleeping bag is for winter purpose. i'm lucky enough to have a suite, which comes with a warm bathroom. if you panic and you can't stand it, you can hang

out in here as well. oh, i geta warm room! yeah. of course, i won't be spending much time in the warm room, other than to just get in. my guide, stefan gives me some advice. what people usually do, they go with their whole head. breathing becomes moist inside your sleeping bag and moist makes you colder, so the best way is to keep your face in the open. keep your face in the open? yeah, and breathe out in the air. enjoy your cold night. thanks, stefan, i'll bejust chilling here. look, there's pros and cons to this. the great thing about it is, it's beautiful in here. look around! and also, the silence is just incredible. so peaceful.

but it's cold. i ain't hiding, i ain't going to lie about it. it's cold. ade there, sleeping on a block of ice in kiruna. things are going to stay cold as we head to siberia where temperatures can reach —60 celsius, to meet a man who motorbiked 1000 kilometres to a place that has been declared the world's coldest village. between yakutsk and oymyakon is 1000km. so i travelled 200km per day. so remote. nothing around, just mountains, forest, tiger and cold. it is the permafrost land. when i started on the first day, yakutian, siberian people who live there said, "please don't do that."

karolus, you will lose your face on the first day. the frostbite will eat you. even though i had a helmet and some protection, motorcycling in winter on the road doesn't promise to save your life. i was riding for hours along. what is happening inside my head, i call it sometimes active meditation. riding in such hard conditions, so cold, i have to be only now in here because if i give a chance to myself to think ok, where will be warmer, i am hungry, i will get food and so on, then it becomes so cold that it is impossible to ride. i have to accept all of this cold, and completely relax, otherwise it doesn't work. on the third day of my ride i really had a feeling of, oh, i'm home.

there is no hotel at that night, i received a little tent with a small stove inside. that night was 48 degrees below and inside the tent we measured —13. (bleep) cold, inside the tent you want to relax. but then i said ok guys, let's go out and see into the night. most of us was like, i have never seen sky like this. actually feeling like we are in space somewhere. the last 30 kilometres was so mentally tough for me. in one moment i opened the throttle more, you know, 100, 120 kilometres an hour, steering started to freeze so i could see i could not move it. i started to look for the straight lines, not to use it too much. and then i arrive and i saw the sign, oymyakon.

no thought, emptiness, ok, i'm here. when it is —55, the town looks pretty empty. and then maybe one hour later, it is done. the last thing left is to have a swim in the river. and you will be pleased to know that karolus survived that freezing dip in the river, and has been continuing his journeys around the globe. we caught up with him recently for an update. hello, hello, thank you for having me here.

what happened since the coldest ride? a couple of seasons went through, and i had some interesting rides. one of them was around the world in a0 days on a motorcycle, it's around 1000 kilometres every single day, and a few flights over the oceans. i went around the south of india on a motorcycle, 3000 kilometres in nine days. the traffic actually was mad, mad traffic in india. ok, so what's next, within this pandemic? still, the situation around the region is all these bubbles of the countries where we can fly and drive and visit, probably it will be probably close north, i hope it will be finland, hopefully very very soon i will be on the north, in the cold again.

not only riding, but having a cold swim. cheers, good luck. amazing. now stick with us, because still to come: we enter an endangered glacier. i can't believe how beautiful it is. and i try a bobsleigh run headfirst. wish me luck. so don't go away. we are heading now to the swiss alps, home of course to some of the world's most spectacular mountain scenery. but it is also where global warming has had a shocking impact on a centuries—old tourist attraction. a few years agojo went to discover what is happening.

this is the tiny village of gletsch in the swiss alps, and it owes its existence and name to the rhone glacier that sits above the valley. the word "gletscher" means glacier in swiss german. this mass of ice is one of the largest in switzerland, and also the source of the river rhone. in the mid—19th century people started to come here from all over europe to see the glacier. at that point, even in summertime, it stretched all the way down to the village. now the view is very different. and you can see on this signpostjust how far it used to reach. in 1856 i would have

been literally standing on the glacier. it is strange to think that now i can't really see very much, just a tiny bit of ice at the top of the mountain. the scale of the ice melt is extreme. between 1856 and 2010, the glacier receded by more than 11100 metres. as the ice has retreated, a new glacial lake has formed. we walked down to a spot where you can see right underneath the glacier. wow, unbelievable. you can see it. so blue. you can see here. it is all loose, the ice. i can't believe how quickly the water is pouring down from underneath the glacier. every few seconds, whole chunks of ice are tumbling down from the top of it.

it is quite heartbreaking, really. if it keeps melting back, it will affect tourism in the region. most who visit come to visit the carving done annually. the blue ice is reaching. you can touch it. it is beautiful. this tunnel through the ice is 100m long. i can't quite believe how beautiful it is. you can see the very clear ice, the bubbles there. it's 200 years old, the ice here. it's so blue. so blue, exactly. here we are in the heart of the

rhone glacier, this space here. it is so peaceful here. it feels like a church of ice. for years, uv resistant blankets have been used. this technique has been repeated across europe, and recently in china. but since we visited, the swiss government has warned that unless carbon emissions can be reduced, 90% of the remaining glaciers will have melted by the end of the century. next, we are heading north of the arctic circle, to finnish lapland, and christmas may have come and gone, but there are still plenty of reindeer to be found there, as ade discovered. this is a popular winter wonderland. it is so beautiful out here.

everywhere you look is just a postcard. there are more reindeer in lapland than people. there are around 200,000 of these animals, and most of them roam free. but some of them, like these ones, are tamed and specially trained for the reindeer safaris. just a little blanket. finally, it's my turn to have a go. if you want to go, you just say "go." so i just say "go?" as simple as that? go, go, reindeer, go! he's not listening to me! go, reindeer! go! i can't say i didn't try, but this reindeer is just not interested. maybe we take the next one. ok, we take the next one.

before i set off, eric gives me some last few tips. just pull it. he will stop in an emergency. then he will stop. that's my handbrake. yeah, baby! we are going! look at this, controlling this powerful beast. my gosh, he is picking up speed! go, go! this is so spectacular. my first—ever sleigh ride. i don't know how much this sleigh weighs — it is probably around half a ton, maybe a little less — but that reindeer is pulling it, as well as myself, so easily. such a powerful beast.

let's go, son, let's go! it still might not be the fastest ride, but seems to be the smoothest and most magical way to enjoy this landscape. to finish up this week, no doubt one of the most intense experiences i have had on the travel show. a couple of years ago, i went to latvia, to visit a bobsleigh run used by winter olympians and the odd tourist who is brave enough to give it a go. for some reason, the producer decided that included me. 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 can try it out. but having a look, i don't feel so lucky. ok, let's go. get the team together... we're about to set off 100km down a very icy hill, but, luckily, i have an expert pilot. 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 and hold very tight. this track is almost 1500 metres long and you need

a pretty strong stomach to manage its 16 curves. oh, man! whoo! i think that is one of the most intense experiences of my entire life. that was like being in a very, very active, very cold tumble dryerfor 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. martin and tomass are brothers, and they are both world and olympic champions

in this sport. it is our home track and we did many runs here. for learning, it is great. i agree, because if you learn and you can survive here, then you can survive anywhere. you must love the sport to devote so much of your life to it. what do you love about it? i don't like trainings and this stuff, but i love 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 but is a little more my speed. that's a little more my speed. wish me luck! it's called a frog, and for this one, there is no crew to make me feel safe.

0h! oh, my goodness! oh, my god! a very cool experience in latvia, but fair warning — it is not for the weak of stomach. that is it for the week's programme, but coming up next week, we look at dubai's world expo, postponed in 2020, but set to go ahead this year, with 11 million visitors expected. we find out how plans

at this huge event space are taking shape. and we find out if south korea's popular fortune tellers can guide us through the months ahead. after this year, it is a golden time for you. a golden time for me? sounds good. in the meantime, keep up with us on the bbc travel accounts. from me, christa larwood, here at home, and from the rest of the team in theirs, it's goodbye. hello. very cold out there at the moment, with ice around

and of course further snow flurries, particularly in eastern areas. the heaviest of those snow flurries as we go through tuesday, covered by a met office amber weather warning across parts of central scotland. travel, power, communication disruption possible, as those snow levels start to mount up. but it's notjust that, it's the extent of the chill this morning. may be as low as around “14, —15 through some parts of central scotland. all starting the day sub—zero. you can see where those snow showers line up through central areas of scotland. there will be others around northern and eastern parts of scotland, and we'll see little snow corridors again across parts of england and wales, just focusing some of those snow showers to give a further covering in some places. either side of it, we will see just that light flurry most of you saw through tuesday, but a better chance of some sunshine in between. you saw the winds, another windy day across the board. in the thermometers, temperatures barely above freezing — it's going to feel much, much colder than that. and with some of the strongest of the winds to be found down toward south—west england and the channel islands, it's here where the coldest wind chill values will be

found, as cold as —10 through —8 through the afternoon. also the chance of some sleet and snow very close to cornwall and the channel islands to end the day. that will gradually pull away as we go through the night and into wednesday. a subtle shift in wind direction means snow showers pushing through southern scotland into northern england in particular, and a few lines further south. another icy night, temperatures could get even colder, —15, —16. now, the big picture to start wednesday has low pressure out in the atlantic trying to get towards us, but high pressure is holding on. and with the isobars opening out a little bit, the good news is it's not going to be quite as windy on wednesday. those winds more north—easterly, so it will be parts of south—east scotland, north—east england, the focus of showers. a few down east anglia, the south—east too, but more of you dry on wednesday, more of you see the sunshine. it's not going to do much to the temperatures, still struggling to get above freezing in some spots. another widespread, harsh frost, then, to take us into thursday. plenty of sunshine around for many, but increasing cloud into the west. signs of weather fronts trying to push in as the breeze picks up. signs of something milder

trying to edge in as well, but do not underestimate the power of cold air across europe. it could hold off that charge of milder air from the west and could stay cold for many of us right the way through into next week. bye for now.

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