physically and mentally. i think if you're living with severe, chronic obesity, then it's highly likely that you will have a mental health difficulty. this is not simply about lifestyle choices, it's a tangled mix of genetics, environment and emotion. food has been my- happiness for 15 years. and new research has found a link between obesity and feelings of despair and shame. i didn't realise i had self—confidence issues, i thought i was just an introvert and that was that. but we'll also see how for some, the most advanced treatments can offer a fresh start. india is 28 and she's lived with obesity for most of her life.

the first time i remember bullying starting, i was injunior school. all through senior school, just got awful — e—mails that used to go around about me. just, "0h, she's really fat, she is really ugly." you know, it was horrible. portion sizes are going to be the biggest thing. all of that, the stigma that comes with obesity leave deep mental health scars. are you sad a lot of the time? yeah, all the time. why? because ijust, i don't like myself. never have done. that's such an awful thing to hear. so we've got the gastric sleeve bariatric cookbook for beginners. for india, there's a hormone problem and a complex relationship with food. the full liquid diet. so that's going to be the first few weeks, or... 7 i let my mental health disorder get the better of me, and i let that turn to food.

and once i got there, every time i would eat, every time i would feel better, just for those 30 seconds, i would always feel worse afterwards because i'd end up putting on weight. so it was just a vicious cycle. we first met india by chance filming in a hospital clinic where she was thinking about bariatric surgery. you'll see a dietician, a specialist nurse... i that's where most of the stomach is removed to trigger dramatic weight loss. what do you hope will change? everything. self—esteem, weight loss, happiness. ijust think i'm going to be comfortable and i'm going to be happy in myself for the first time in a very long time. that was in may — and a month later, a big decision. india's been approved for the surgery on the nhs, after all the counselling and all of the failed diets. i'm really excited, i'm really looking forward to the future, and then the next minute, i'm really sad, i'm really nervous. i kind ofjust want this phase to be over.

good girl! i've got some great support around me. my husband's fantastic. come on, then! this way! at home in sussex, life for alex looks good. she's a career woman, a mum, living a comfortable family life. but... you can logically look at your life — i've achieved this, i'm great at this — but that's irrelevant, you know? because there's something in my head saying to me, "it doesn't matter, you're still fat. you can't lose weight, you're a failure." it's soul—destroying. aw! we're going to have to put you up, aren't we? soul—destroying because for some living with obesity, the eat less, move more mantra of weight loss doesn't work. i think that one might've had it. scientists say their bodies are preprogrammed to store fat and they can feel that they're set up to fail. if you're waking up every single day

going, "you're not normal, you're too fat", you know, "you should be able to do something about this". "they told you if you eat well and they told you if you exercise, they told you if you live a healthy life that you can lose weight", and when that doesn't happen, you think, "well, why? what have i done wrong?" and you blame yourself. self—blame, embarrassment, shame. research from mori suggests that people living with obesity are more likely to live with mental health problems. the experience of living with obesity is a very significant factor that contributes to the development of psychological difficulties. many people experience difficulties with anxiety, depression, social anxiety and eating difficulties. hello, hello! hi! how are you? you look great! thank you! it's been four weeks since the operation. india is recovering from the op that removed most of her stomach. you have five incisions. one up here, one there...

yeah. one in the middle, one that side and one that side, and this one is the main one. this is the one they pulled the stomach out of. her stomach is now the size of a pen. it's tiny. herfood intake is minuscule. i'm eating half a tub of this, and it's lasting me, like, 15 minutes to eat because i have to eat it so slowly. how are you mentally? honestly? low. really low. it feels like your relationship with food is completely different. it's not there. it's non—existent. i don't enjoy eating anymore. for me, personally, the loss of food, i'm grieving the loss of the food, and that's, i think, why i'm so low. because that's...food has been my happiness for 15 years. did you ever find yourself even fora moment thinking, "0h, i wish i'd never done this"?

yeah. only fleeting. do you know what i think? i think you're an absolute hero. the idea you've had the sheer courage to open that door to us and let us in to see you now, i think that when we come and see you... it'll be a totally different story. my name is tom. at my heaviest, i was 34 stone. tom is a lot further down the line. his bariatric surgery was four years ago, and it came after constant cycles of exercise and diets that just didn't work. you need to do it slower. it's been physically and mentally exhausting. i didn't know at the time i suffered with depression. i didn't know it was a thing. my mental health could kind ofjust stop me in my tracks. you wake up and you're like, "i don't want to get up, i don't want to speak to people, i don't want to go out." it cost him thousands, but for tom, the bariatric surgery has had a dramatic impact,

from 3a to 16 stone — a total game—changer. i felt immeasurably different. life just seemed easier. you do look at life before and life after, that it was... they are completely different lives. it's nice to get out. but with obesity, things are seldom simple. for tom, losing 18 stone brings new problems. so, the biggest thing that i've got going for me right now is that i have a fair amount of excess skin. i've gone through all of this effort and i still can't, you know, pick up this t—shirt out of my wardrobe and just wear it, i have to have this compression top on. tom is clearly self—conscious about the excess skin. here, there's kind of, just, skin. it will cost him excess of £20,000. step two of the operation would be to kind of pull that skin tight. but he wants it gone, for his confidence and for his self—esteem. that kind ofjust creeps into my thoughts because that's one

of the things that gets in my way. i'm just sat there thinking, you know, "i'd like to get rid of this." clever girl. your life is so much freer now, isn't it, it seems to me? yeah, i can go anywhere, do anything. tom's saving hard for the surgery, hoping, finally, for peace of mind. i was thinking how nice it would be to actually post that photo and go, you know, "i did it, this is now where i'm at." the link between obesity and mental health is complex. it can be both cause and effect. add in genetics, biology and our modern food culture, and you get an issue that impacts thousands across the uk. i would say that access to mental healthcare is very patchy for people, particularly in weight management services. that can be a form of stigma, i think, that people are often left struggling with these difficulties that are connected to their obesity and don't have access to the treatments that might help.

well, it's been a while. i know. how have you been? i've been all right. how have you been? that's the point. yeah, really good. so this was two weeks prior to surgery... yeah. ..and then this was the other day. i mean that's. . .stunning. like, "whoa!" ok, the change is really there in the face. it's now three months since india's op. she's lost four stone already. six more to go. so, how've you been? yeah, really good, really good. i remember you last time you were here, i was so miserable. your smile's coming through now as well, which is brilliant. yeah, yeah. no, i do, i look in the mirror, and i'm like... .."hm, yeah, you don't look half—bad!" of course, bariatric surgery is not for everyone. for some, the best hope is the development of a new generation of weight loss drugs. but for india, the operation is changing everything. you look positive, you sound positive. i'm excited for the future.

i used to always think, "well, i'm not going to have a future." cos, you know, i went through times when i was suicidal and i didn't want to live anymore and i didn't want to have anything to do with this, but now, it's completely different. totally excited. good girl! through all of this, it's really clear that the harsh judgement of society piles the pressure on to those living with obesity. i think ijust need some kindness. i need kindness from others, but i mostly need kindness from myself, and i think that could be the help that i need. the hope for many is that with more public understanding of obesity, the stigma will finally start to lift. my biggest thing was realising . that it was a problem that i had, that it was affecting the decisions that i was making in my life - and at least being able to admit that to not only myself- but to the people around me that it also affected. - it changed everything for me.

ijust have learned to give a little bit more to myself than i did before. where are you with that now? i'm getting there, i'm getting there. it's a long journey. it's years and years and years and years of change, but i'm getting there. if you've been affected by any of the issues hello again. whereas england and wales saw some rain to start the day, in northern scotland it was dry. and we had some stunning weather watcher pictures sent to us showing us these sun halos, sun pillars and upper tangent arcs. these are all optical phenomena

caused by ice crystals high in the earth's atmosphere reflecting and refracting sunlight, but some of them have been stunning today. some of that high cloud is on the satellite picture just here, but our eye is drawn to this area of low presure to our south—west. it's this that's going to be bringing exceptionally mild air over the next few days behind this warm front. and across england, temperatures could get close to the national record for december, which currently stands at 17.7. we're likely to get around 17 degrees over the next few days. the average for december is just eight, so these temperatures are pretty crazy really. overnight, some mist and fog patches around, particularly across northern scotland, where there'll also be a frost, but further south—west, the first sings of that milder air will be arriving by the end of the night. but the mild air is accompanied by some heavy rain. now, that rain, as i say, is going to be heavy as it swings its way northwards and eastwards tomorrow. and following that, that's

when we get into that really mild air with those south—westerly winds boosting the temperatures, highs of 16, possibly 17 degrees across parts of england. very mild, too, for wales, and pretty mild for northern ireland and scotland as well. we continue with that theme. on thursday, those south—westerly winds still us. still some heavy rain the come, particularly for wales, western coasts and hills of england and for northern ireland later in the day as well. temperatures, similar levels, 16, possibly 17 across the very warmest parts of england. further north, 12 in glascow. that's still well above average, as is 11! in belfast. now, we could have some heavy rain and strong winds thursday night. maybe lingering for a time on friday, but otherwise there'll be a lot of cloud across western areas with some mist and fog patches and probably some spots of drizzle as well. the driest weather will be further east. temperatures still at their highest across england and wales, still at those same kind of levels. and 2022 is going to start off where 2021 left off with those very mild south—westerly winds. again extensive cloud,

outbreaks of rain and drizzle for western coasts and hills, probably quite murky. but those crazy temperatures persist.

this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm jane hill. the headlines — new covid infections in england and wales hit a record daily high as the government defends its decision not to introduce further restrictions in england before january. we want to party all night long! the move is described as a "huge relief" by the owner of this leeds nightclub. we'll be speaking to him this hour. the us halves the covid isolation period for people without symptoms to five days. shouting in russian. protests outside court as the kremlin bans one of russia's oldest and best—known human rights organisations. and unwrapping the secrets of an ancient egyptian pharoah —

we hear from the researcher who peeled off the bandages