shouldn't hold a kid back at school. alex has to race over 55 kilometres to beat the record in mexico on november the 3rd. he has held it once before in 2015 only for sir bradley wiggins to quickly usurp it. this time there is no shortage of motivation. now it's time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. a brighter day out there across the uk. if you are away from a weather system that has affected parts of wales and northern and western england, it will gradually eat its way south—eastwards into south east england and east anglia which have been dry and sunny so far today. there is an much rain left on the cloud as it pushes in that direction. behind it, brighterskies forwales

direction. behind it, brighterskies for wales and western parts of england and indeed scotland and northern ireland where it is sunshine and showers, if you catch when it could be heavy. overnight, clear spells and a few showers, a few will trickle further east as we go on. temperatures a little lower tonight with more spots in single figures. tomorrow, we are expecting a breezy day with more spells of sunshine around but also showers too mainly in western areas in the south of england but it doesn't feel like a particularly wet day anywhere temperatures may be a little bit down on where they have been today, it will feel a bit fresher, very mild to come.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines: britain's chancellor, rishi sunak, is promising "investment "across the board in public services" in his budget on wednesday as part of a plan to rebuild the economy. strong investment in public services, driving economic growth by investing in infrastructure, innovation and skills, giving businesses confidence and then supporting working families. the labour party says it will not raise income tax at the next election. colombia's most wanted drug trafficker is captured — after a joint operation by the armed forces, and the police. a candle—lit vigil to remember halyna hutchins, the film—maker killed on the set

of an alec baldwin movie. it's yours, sold, congratulations. and gone for $110 million — a las vegas hotel auctions off its collection of picasso artworks. now on bbc news... it's the travel show, with christa larwood. this week on the show... having a blast in iceland. someone asked me if it was sped up. it's not. it was just like a sleep slope. that was crazy. chewing the fat in southern spain... offering a helping hand to lost seal pups in ireland. when she came in, she didn't look too great, but now she looks beautiful, one of the prettiest seals i've seen! terrified, but this is what it's all about, so let's give it our best shot. and the 26—mile slog to shake off the post—lockdown blues in paris.

hello, and welcome to iceland, the little island that did very well against covid, fighting very aggressively from early on, and now is welcoming visitors back to its shores. and in that effort, it's had a little help from a rather unexpected and very volatile source. volcanoes are the rock stars in iceland. # what makes you feel good... or at least a cool place where rock stars can shoot their music videos, which is exactly what icelandic rockers kaleo did during

this year's eruption. and like all good rock gods, this volcano was fiery, unpredictable and, above all, knows how to put on a good show. ladies and gentlemen, it's time to introduce you to iceland's newest volcano, fagradalsfjall. or �*bob�* as some people online like to call it. heavy rock plays but what's in a name? it's so new, it hasn't even received an official title yet. it's windy and it's raining, but it's beautiful! since march this year, this hell—raiser has been burning up social media and news outlets across the world. since travel restrictions lifted, over 300,000 people have flocked to iceland to see the longest volcanic eruption in the country for over 50 years.

i wanted to see this natural phenomenon for myself. oh, look at this! wow! so, i headed up to the site with guide and self—confessed volcano chaser marco di marco. i was so excited. it was like...i was waiting for an eruption in iceland for basically...| mean, i don't want to exaggerate, but basically all my life. even though there were no rivers of fire, the lava fields are out of this world. look at this place. it looks like the surface of an alien planet. all i want to do is clamber up there and explore. but apparently the rock can be actually quite thin and brittle and there can be pockets of lava underneath, so if you walk on it and you fall through, you're in real trouble, so it's not a good idea, unfortunately. what a brilliant place. marco grew up in the shadow

of mount etna on sicily, which is where he found his passion for volcanoes. he's spent most of the year guiding tourists around iceland's latest volcano, and has been documenting the eruption for himself. these people are just coming to watch the lava flow. to watch the eruption, yeah, to basicallyjust attend a festival. laughs. that was the thing. like, all these people arejust sitting, like they're watching a performance or they're at the theatre or something, but it's nature on show. taking pictures, basically, when the lava is approaching. so when the lava is too hot, they start, like, backing up. like, ok, just wait a sec. but we think of a volcanic eruption as being kind of a disaster. but here, it's almost entertainment. it's totally entertainment. the footage marco shot looks incredible. someone asked me if it was sped up. it's not. it was just like a steep slope.

that was crazy. yeah, look how fast it's moving! is it less windy on the american continent? no, i think it's the same wind! i'm at a bridge between two continents where i'm meeting holda, one of the first guides to take tourists to this year's volcanic eruption. holda is coming over from the north american side to meet me on the eurasian side. she tells me it's these two tectonic plates which are slowly moving away from each other which causes iceland's abundance of volcanic activity, which is nowhere near as fun as what the ancient icelanders believed. often, when — in the earlier days, we were having volcanic activities, we connected that to evil trolls that were having tantrum episodes.

heavy rock music plays. who could forget 2010 when many of our travel plans were grounded by an ash cloud caused by an icelandic volcano. but holda says the timing was perfect. the attention generated turned into a wave of tourism at a time when iceland needed it most, after the impact of the economic crash. holda also believes the new eruption is a case of history repeating itself. we think also that iceland is living with us and the nature is often answering back to some of our prayers, if you want to say. now we were having a little bit of problem with the pandemic and everything shutting down and no tourists, and then we have this eruption.

it is absolutely necessary for us to create some ways of income, and this...this is the means of iceland actually helping us! as we've seen recently on the canary island of la palma, it's mother nature who holds the cards in this game, and holda says if you do want to visit a volcano, the best way is to see it with a guide. in the beginning, there was a lot of mistakes being done, people were getting in trouble. the routes were, like, difficult and the weather was treacherous, and i think that everyone here in iceland just got caught up in making this more safe and more accessible for people, and in that way, to have guided tours up to the volcano. from wedding films like this to live streams and music videos,

in a year where travel has been extremely limited, the artistry and creativity this volcano has sparked has given us all a chance to enjoy this eruption from afar. and it really goes to show why iceland has earned the nickname of �*the land of fire and ice�*. we all love a good chat — a chance to while away the hours catching up, gossiping, orjust having a good old chin wag. at first glance, chatting might seem a strange thing to add to unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage, but it's on a list that already includes neapolitan pizza—making, finnish sauna culture and a grass—mowing competition in bosnia and herzegovina. here's why charlas alfresco — roughly translated as �*outdoor chatting' — might stand a chance of making the cut.

still to come on the travel show — we meet galaxy, the seal pup who's embarking on her biggest adventure yet. this is it.

it's actually in half an hour. you've gotta go put yourself in the right mindset. and we are at the paris marathon as one competitor takes part to clear up his post—lockdown blues. so don't go away. right, we are off to ireland next to meet some of its cutest residents. but seal pups that live around the coastline have been having an increasingly difficult time. more frequent storms are causing larger numbers of baby seals to be separated from their mothers before they've learnt to fend for themselves. we've been to meet a team of mostly volunteers who have devoted their lives to the rescuing and rehabilitation of lost seal pups. meet galaxy. she has become a bit of a social media star for seal rescue ireland, and we arejoining her on her biggest adventure yet. so in this pool, we've got galaxy, who isjust about ready to be released — we're gonna be releasing her tomorrow — and she is a very special

seal because this is her second time in rehab. and she was one of the smallest... laughs. i just got soaked! galaxy the seal battled through the centre's icu and is the only seal they've ever rescued twice. but why is it that seals like galaxy even need to be rescued? seals come to us for many reasons. they get trapped in netting, then we also have orphaning. two seals, a baby and mum, could be out swimming in the ocean, a storm rolls in unexpectedly, they get separated, and then that baby will come up onto the beach lost, looking for its mum, and that's when we will come in and we'll monitor it for a couple of hours as well, just to see

if she does come back and find him, but often, they don't, so we will take that pup into care. many of the pups are fighting life—threatening injuries and illness. most are just too small to survive on their own. she feels really warm to the touch. i know. we can put some water on her flipper. seal cries out. seal rescue ireland's income relies heavily on its visitor centre. so when lockdowns hit, it was a real blow. but now, they can once again welcome visitors in small groups with social distancing in place. galaxy! three, two, go! galaxy! she knows the drill.

the time has finally come for galaxy to return to the sea. when she came in, she did not look too great but now, she looks beautiful — one of the prettiest seals i've seen! and she's happy and she's ready to go. you know, working with wildlife, you don't want to get attached to them. they are wild animals, they do bite, so you've got to be very careful with them. but, you know, you've seen them go through this whole rehabilitation journey with them, you experience all of their ups and downs and then, just seeing them finally go back is — it's just really rewarding to watch. woman: is it a boy or a girl? it's a girl. it's a girl? yes. lovely. so we're gonna be opening the cage in a few minutes

here and once that happens, she'll just slowly make her way to the sea. we just ask that everyone keep a safe distance from her and just lets her go at her own pace. 0k! this is kind of what we need to keep going. you know, the climate and biodiversity crisis can feel so overwhelming, it can feel like we are just, you know, we're doomed. but having little wins like this, i think inspires people to pull together and, you know, and change things.

now you may recall last month, we caught up with freddie pearson, a graduate from london. he's had struggles with mental health in the past and says a lack of travel during these last 18 months has had an impact on him and his friends. but he's got a plan to take on the post—lockdown blues, and it involves a lot of running. i think young people have really missed being able to travel and go to new places. for a lot of people, they have been looking at four walls for a lot of their days or in the same space and every day has kind of merged into one, which has made things difficult. to go and run around paris, i'll be honest, i will feel like i am in a movie. it is so beautiful, there is so much going on, there's such an amazing atmosphere. last one in the bag before the marathon.

so i start up by the champs—elysses, go past the eiffel tower, go along the seine and all the amazing landmarks in paris. ijust feel so, so lucky to be here, given everything that's been going on over the last year, so a big night's sleep ahead of me and raring to go. one thing about these things that i love is that — lots of freebies. they've stopped. there was — i was the last one! a stamp and not a signature? signature and, like, both. what time does this close? what time is everything open till? until 6:00. thank you. right, sojust turned up to collect my race number and it turns out in france, when you run a race you have to have a medical certificate from your doctor, saying that you're

fit and able to run. so i've got to do that now in a very short space of time to make sure that i can get signed off to run this marathon tomorrow. i'd better get going. uh, asap. argh! proving to be a bit of a nightmare. it is a saturday, no—one�*s going to be in at the gp office, butjust trying to get it sorted. thank you so, so much. i really appreciate it. bye— bye. bye. got a doctorfrom home who's gonna check it. yes! chuckles. merci. we got it! now i'm going to go get my number and then we can race. right, let's go! so it is the morning of the marathon. the nerves are starting to set injust a little bit, but they're good nerves. let's go hit the road.

as you start seeing all the people coming out and all the signs for the marathon, it does make you realise this is it. you can see the finish line. good luck. so we go in about two minutes. i'd be lying if i said i wasn't absolutely mortified at the prospect of this, but let's get busy living after a year of a life of standing still. but, i mean, look at this. we're in paris. laughs. so, first couple of kilometres in the bag. calves feeling nice and loose. just getting started. amazing atmosphere. time to put my head down. ready to give it a good chance.

everything about that was absolutely brutal. it was a real battle of the mind. over the last, you know, 18 months, i think we've all had — we've all had our mental challenges and we've all had to really, really battle against ourselves at times and everything that's been going on.

amazing, amazing feeling today. i could not recommend it more to anyone. that is not pretty! finishing time — three hours, two minutes. let's go get a beer! what a great achievement, and what a great way to see paris too! best of luck to freddie in the future. that's all we've time for this week. but coming up next time — new and improved. we're visiting the recently reopened iconic parisian department store, la samaritaine. a velvet beret! as they say, when in paris! you can find more of our recent adventures on bbc iplayer. we're on social media, too — just search "bbc travel show" on the major platforms and you'll find us there. until next time, wherever you're planning to go to, stay safe, have fun,

and we'll see you soon. a brighter day are there for many of us but there is an area of rain across yorkshire and the east midlands. sunshine and showers across scotland and northern ireland. there is quite a bit of sunshine out there and many of us will brighten up. it will get claudia is a day goes on, this weather front is bringing some claudia is a day goes on, this weatherfront is bringing some rain to northern england at the moment but it is weakening all the while and starts to take the cloud towards east anglia and the south—east and a

chance of a splash of rain after we have seen some sunshine there. elsewhere, brighter skies and the chance to see some showers, most frequently in western scotland may be with a rumble of thunder and hail. it is mild and breezy out there. we will continue with clear spells overnight. the showers are going to be most frequent towards north—west scotland, generally across western areas, some running across western areas, some running across the south coast of england. temperatures a little lower tonight so more spots down into single figures. so more in a way of sunshine with a chance of catching a shower. they will keep on coming in northern and western scotland, some in the south—west of england and one or two they just in the south—west of england and one or two theyjust push inland through the day. by no means everyone will catch them and a greater proportion of the day will be dry with sunny spells, a breeze and it will feel a bit fresher. it will be a cooler night on monday nights with temperatures down to mid to low

single figures in some spots. a weather front single figures in some spots. a weatherfront will drape single figures in some spots. a weather front will drape across northern and western areas through the day. the first bit of rain comes in overnight on tuesday into northern ireland and then runs into an offer scotland later in the day. across the north and west late in the day there will be a lot of cloud and resultant round and quite windy. some sunny spells in eastern parts of england and this is where we will see the highest temperatures, may be “p see the highest temperatures, may be up to 19 degrees in a few spots. so more rain on wednesday and thursday in parts of northern ireland, scotland and england and parts of wales. towards the end of the week, whether you see the rain or you are largely dry, more parts are going to be mild to very mild.

this is bbc news with james reynolds. the headlines at 2pm: the chancellor promises a budget that invests in "infrastructure, innovation and skills" as the economy recovers from the pandemic. strong investment in public services, driving economic growth by investing in infrastructure, innovation and skills giving businesses confidence, and then supporting working families. eight people have been arrested in brentwood in essex after the deaths of two teenage boys in the early hours of this morning. labour is urging ministers to bring in plan b measures to tackle covid in england, including advice to work from home and compulsory masks. new rules allowing travellers returning to england to take lateral flow tests instead of more expensive pcr tests have come into force. colombia's most wanted drug

trafficker is captured after a joint operation by the armed forces and the police.