concerned, just around 50 mph, stronger around exposed coasts and a possibility of disruption and damage. earlier in the day the strongest winds are in the west with this band of heavy rain that will move further north and east in the uk and into the cold airfor we are more likely to have snow in scotland and northern england, more over the southern uplands and highlands. a cold day here, milder in the south—west but the story is the strength of the wind. then as we move into wednesday the area of low pressure starts to weaken, the winds start to ease a inland areas during the night and on wednesday the strongest winds will be to the south of the live shower here in the south—west and in the english channel. with low pressure sitting over the uk it's a messy story with showers and longer spells of rain and cold enough for wintriness on high ground in scotland and northern england. pressure rises are crossed

that area of low pressure, it weakens and winds become lighter so much lighter winds on thursday, may be a future mist and fog patches, most places will be dry, may be a little sunshine but still quite cold air, temperatures 6—8 so a quiet day on thursday after the storm on tuesday. coming in from the atlantic on friday we have this weak weather front. it will mainly be western areas that see this band of cloud and rain, may be snow over the scottish hills, that moves east and the rain peters out and then we see sunshine and showers coming into the western uk but still only five degrees in the central belt of scotland, six in the south—east of england and east anglia. we have another area of deep low pressure heading towards iceland, some stronger atlantic winds heading our way, more unsettled weather to come in the outlook for the weekend and

beyond, probably dominated more by low pressure but there will be some disruption of the jet stream pattern, occasionally we will get into milderairand pattern, occasionally we will get into milder air and then colder air as the pattern changes and gets some distortion but we are never likely to get into the colder we have at the moment so the outlook looks milder but it is very unsettled, showers, longer spells of rain and it will often be on the windy side.

hello, this is bbc news. i'mjames i'm james reynolds. the headlines... another 86 cases of omicron are confirmed in the uk as the government defends the decision to re—introduce pre—departure covid tests from tuesday. i think we want to make sure we take those steps earlier, precisely to avoid the bigger disruption to travel and the economy. remembering

arthur labinjo—hughes — a vigil brings the solihull street where he lived to a standstill as a national review is launched into his murder. the uk business secretary, kwasi kwarteng, has criticised the length of time people in the north east of england have been without power — after storm arwen first hit last week. residents say it's unacceptable. chelsea are fa cup champions after beating arsenal 3—0 at wembley, a match delayed by the pandemic. now on bbc news, in a wide—ranging interview, poland's prime minister, mateusz morawiecki, talks to the bbc�*s europe editor, katya adler. poland has appealed to its nato allies for help. it warned that the russian president, vladimir putin, was actively trying to divide and destabilise europe, particularly the european union. warsaw cited the build—up of russian troops close to ukraine, soaring gas prices across europe

and the recent migrant crisis on poland's border with belarus — something the eu blames squarely on alexander lukashenko, a close ally of moscow's. now, russia has denied any bad intent, so when i sat with the polish prime minister, mateusz morawiecki, i asked him why he was convinced that there was such reason for concern and such urgency for the west to act. we should connect the dots on this picture because we are now confronted with a series of different risks and different crisis around us, and we have to wake up from this geopolitical nap. we should collectively work towards different options, how to de—escalate this, how to deal with those risks and what to do to actually diminish the power of mr lukashenko,

president putin, to destabilise this part of the world, europe in particular. do you blame vladimir putin personally for trying to destabilise the european situation? of course, the immediate perpetrator is mr lukashenko and the minsk regime. but he has his sponsor, he has his principal, and his principal is in the kremlin. all those elements, all the pieces of the puzzle put together present not a very good picture, that there is a threat on ukraine, a military build—up around ukraine, pressure through all of the energy—related channels, in particular gas prices and the oil. and then russia is very good at propaganda, and they are increasing their propaganda these days big—time.

they are trying to put enormous pressure on the european union to disintegrate, to disunite all of us. do you blame president putin personally for all of this? because you say russia, you say moscow... president putin is the leader of russia so of course he has created this system, and this is why i believe that we should wake up from this nap right now. because it's not too late to act. but things may happen in ukraine, for instance, or there could be another huge migration problem for the whole of europe. for instance, given quite a sudden withdrawal of troops of nato from afghanistan. there could be afghan people trying to get to europe through different routes,

and we see that there are new routes for illegal immigration being opened now by lukashenko and his principal. poland relies a lot on nato, talks a lot about nato, your president was visiting nato... yes, it was a great visit. a very good visit. ..on thursday. we've had, in the past, emmanuel macron, the president of france, famously saying nato is brain dead. there are those that say that, after president trump, relations inside nato are finished. there's also rows with turkey, in between members of nato, and that it is not an effective organisation any more. so is poland unwise to rely so much on nato? no, we are not unwise to rely on nato. we have to strengthen nato and we have to work towards creating another type of glue for nato. the goal, its initiative, we all know the history. but what is happening right now is something very special,

that after a couple of years of disagreement i see a real hope forfinding a new common denominator in nato. and i will be working together with president duda towards finding this compromise... what could it be? well, we should first, very clearly, say what are the hotspots, what are the places where the very high risks are emerging, and let's prepare our strategy towards those risks. like the influx of migrants, illegal immigrants, can be such a risk. it's not only a risk for the stability of the european union, it's also a risk for nato. and closer and closer military cooperation, defence cooperation, is another example. nato itself hasn't promised extra troops like you've asked for.

aerial surveillance like you've asked for. did you find when you were sitting with borisjohnson that you were with a like—minded spirit, if you like? borisjohnson was extremely clear about his outrage at the migrant situation on the polish border with belarus. he has offered to send troops to poland and to neighbours in the baltic sea. he's expressed deep concern about possible invasion by russia of ukraine, the build—up of troops on the border. and also, borisjohnson is eurosceptic, brussels—sceptic, if you like? i mean, of course we had brexit. and that kind of sentiment is often coming from warsaw as well. so is this kind of a meeting of minds? absolutely so. we were very much like—minded, in particular with regard to russia. well, it is not so long ago, 2018, when there was this attempted poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, by the kremlin.

we know that today, with times of hybrid war, as they say — the war of a new type — there can be simultaneous attacks on many different fronts. and russia is capable of doing this. this is why we all have to be vigilant to their next steps, or potential next steps. and this is why so good friends like the united kingdom and poland, we should not only share our opinion very often with each other, which we do so, with boris, on a regular basis. but we should immerse in an in—depth discussion and cooperation on an operational level. ok, but you say that the threat is that europe is being destabilised. that's right. that everybody has to wake up from their geopolitical slumber, you say. so don't you need the eu on your side? i mean, poland is

an eu member state. and yet, in the middle, at the height at the moment of poland's migrant crisis on the border of belarus, at the same time poland was metaphorically going to war with brussels again over the rule of law issue. you know, this argument that brussels says that you don't have an independentjudiciary, and so on. isn't it time to put that aside and to concentrate on working together with your ally? i couldn't agree more with you. absolutely, it's time to put it away. it needs two to tango, as they say, so we have to negotiate this with brussels. sorry, prime minister. it was your constitutional court that, in the middle of this big wave of a crisis on your border, who was saying again that eu law is not compatible with the polish constitution. not the eu law. and, by the way, it was also not the first constitutional court which took its position, made its decision on the

relationship between european law and domestic law, national law. many other courts, like bundesverfassungsgericht, the german constitutional court, or the french constitutional court, or the spanish. they all took very similar decisions. but there was no talk of frexit, france leaving, or germexit, if you like? but there is talk at the moment of possible polexit, of poland choosing to leave the eu because of this big clash, ideological clash, with brussels. is that exaggerated or possible? it's completely exaggerated. this type of discussion�*s being created and nurtured by our opposition, which has the right to present whatever opinions they want. but the true reality is that poland is a member of the european union, poland will stay as a member

of the european union. and i believe that we are the voice of common sense because, you asked me about the discrepancies of opinion, about the eu law and domestic law, and this is the very core of the issue. who is the master of destiny of the european union? these are the member states. they are the masters of the treaty, of the treaty on the european union. so if there are any new competencies to be transferred to the european union, it has to happen through the treaty. and right now we are confronted with a different situation, that the european commission and the european court ofjustice say that those competencies which are not mentioned in the treaty. but you mentioned the founding treaties that bind to the eu together. does poland respect

article two about respecting human rights? polish article two about respecting human rights? polish sword article two about respecting human rights? polish sword jurors article two about respecting human rights? polish sword jurors have recently been accused of pushing over asylum seekers and other migrants back into belarus. does it respect the rights of minorities? your government is accused of being prejudiced against the lg tb 0 plus community. in that article enshrines the rule of law, and again there is a big clash with brussels about the accusation being that your government is eroding the independence of the judiciary and more. do you respect article two or not? ~ , , . �* . more. do you respect article two or not? ~ , , . ~ . ., , not? we respect article two, but if ou not? we respect article two, but if you compare _ not? we respect article two, but if you compare poland _ not? we respect article two, but if you compare poland about - not? we respect article two, but if you compare poland about the - not? we respect article two, but if| you compare poland about the rule not? we respect article two, but if. you compare poland about the rule of law in poland, and they want to strengthen the independence of our judiciary. i would strengthen the independence of our judiciary. iwould risk strengthen the independence of our judiciary. i would risk a statement that we are even more rule of law —based country than several other eu member states. that

-based country than several other eu member states.— member states. that is not the o - inion member states. that is not the opinion of _ member states. that is not the opinion of the _ member states. that is not the opinion of the european - member states. that is not the - opinion of the european commission, as you know. the opinion of the european commission, as you know— opinion of the european commission, as ou know. ., , ., ., , , ., as you know. the european commission naturally wants — naturally wants to grab more and more competencies to themselves. that is the european court of justice. but if you compare the various assumptions of ourjudiciary reform and what we wanted to achieve, it was all to strengthen the independence of the judiciary system, comparing to what was before. so we had the same judges who were accusing, putting in jail, my friends from solidarity in the 80s when we were fighting for democracy and freedom. this 80s when we were fighting for democracy and freedom. this is one if the arguments _ democracy and freedom. this is one if the arguments being _ democracy and freedom. this is one if the arguments being levelled - democracy and freedom. this is one if the arguments being levelled at l if the arguments being levelled at poland at the moment, because as you say... the accusation from the opposition and pollard now is that your government is imposing its will on the people. taking away the

freedom for women to have an abortion when they feel that they wanted and they need it. the freedom of the lg btq+ of the lgbtq+ community. one country that wants to — of the lgbtq+ community. one country that wants to leave _ of the lgbtq+ community. one country that wants to leave behind _ of the lgbtq+ community. one country that wants to leave behind the - of the lgbtq+ community. one country that wants to leave behind the post - that wants to leave behind the post communist aspect of our system. i refused all of the accusations about us not being tolerant enough towards the lgbt and so on communities. they have absolutely equal rights. this is directly taken from our constitution. whereas the european

commission does not have the right to rule on the judiciary system. and the treatment of people at our border, because this was another aspect that you mentioned, is absolutely according to all of the humanitarian standards. you know that there are _ humanitarian standards. you know that there are very _ humanitarian standards. you know that there are very different - that there are very different opinions on what we both just addressed. i have a question to you about where you see poland going forward? the long term plan for poland? because if you look at the neighbourhood, massive tensions with moscow, massive tensions with minsk as well, and huge tensions with brussels, the european union, of which you are a member state. where does poland feel it belongs? poland's home is as part of the european union, but about the answer to your question, i think that there

are those political or geopolitical risks gathering around us. there is china looming on the horizon. this is a huge superpower we have to be aware of there. but also, there are not only good guys around europe, and we have to be vigilant to their scenarios, there are attempts to destabilise europe. and this is where poland is not only a very solid member of the european union, but we have somehow better knowledge about what is going on in belarus, ukraine, russia. and we can be a kind of warning, we can create a better understanding for our friends in western europe, about what is gathering around us. because we

mightjust be entering a new era of destabilisation, and it is better to make a where all your friends about this. j make a where all your friends about this. , , ,.,, ., make a where all your friends about this. , ., this. i suppose the eu would say treat us more _ this. i suppose the eu would say treat us more as _ this. i suppose the eu would say treat us more as a _ this. i suppose the eu would say treat us more as a friend - this. i suppose the eu would say treat us more as a friend ratherl treat us more as a friend rather than an adversity.— than an adversity. absolutely, i treat the european _ than an adversity. absolutely, i | treat the european commission, than an adversity. absolutely, i - treat the european commission, all my friends in western europe, as very good friends. and equally, the united kingdom and borisjohnson, as a very friendly, like—minded country. hello, there. it's been another chilly day today. whereas we had sunshine

across large parts of scotland and northern ireland, there has been a much more cloud