pharmacists are warning of patchy supplies of rapid covid tests as demand from the public increases. changes to self—isolation rules have meant more people are now trying get hold of tests. it's notjust our pharmacy that's out of stock, it's many, many more pharmacies. some customers are very understanding with it, but some are getting very angry about it. we'll have the latest on what's happening with supplies. also on this lunchtime... scots are urged not to travel to england to celebrate new year because there are fewer restrictions on socialising across the border. a warning that families are facing a cost of living squeeze in 2022 — higher energy bills, tax rises and stagnant wages could all have an impact on incomes,

according to a leading think tank. england and manchester city footballer raheem sterling tells the bbc that society must never let down its guard over racism in the game. you address it for that week, and any brush — you address it for that week, and any brush it— you address it for that week, and any brush it under the carpet, and then_ any brush it under the carpet, and then things — any brush it under the carpet, and then things are all fine now. and why the tequila fish is back — once declared extinct it is now being re—introduced to the rivers of mexico. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. pharmacists are warning of patchy supplies of rapid covid tests. demand hasjumped recently, because people are being advised to test themselves before

going to events or to see family and friends, and also because of changes allowing those with covid in england to end isolation after seven days — if they test negative. the government says more kits are being made available. meanwhile a record number of daily cases were reported yesterday in england, but the total number of patients in hospital is still below january's peak. our health correspondent cath burns has more. hello. thank you for what you are doing. happy new year to you. the prime minister has been out today, pushing one key part of his strategy. encouraging people to have their booster vaccine. i'm sorry to say this, but the overwhelming majority of people who are currently ending up in intensive care in our hospitals, are people who are not boosted. just as the booster campaign has had to be ramped up to deal with rising case numbers, so too has testing.

lateral flow tests have never been a more important part of plans to keep covid under control. we are being told to do them before going out to see friends and family. and if you add to that huge numbers of close contacts of people with covid doing daily tests, you get a lot of extra demand. but there is a warning — supply is not keeping up with that demand. the association of independent multiple pharmacies is calling this a huge problem. they have not had any here since christmas eve. it is notjust our pharmacy that is out of stock. it's many, many more pharmacies. some customers are very understanding with it, but some are getting very angry about it as well, saying we have been told we need to test every day, so how are the tests not available ? good morning, do you have any lateral flow tests? no, i'm afraid we are i completely out of stock. but what i would suggest - is try to order them to your house. you can try to do that, order them online, but you might be told there are no more delivery slots available. i'm very disappointed,

because i want to go out on new year's eve with my family and obviously i'd rather be tested to know where i stand, rather than to go out without knowing where we stand. the uk health security agency says it is supplying millions of lateral flow test every day, and has doubled its delivery capacity. but that it's dealing with unprecedented demand. it is asking people to use any tests they already have before ordering more. another question for authorities here is whether or not to follow america's example. it has cut the isolation time for people who test positive for covid, but don't have any symptoms, to five days. doing that could help the nhs deal with staff shortages caused by workers isolating due to covid. that number doubled in london in the week before christmas. i do understand the argument, but as i say, we believe it is the right thing to do at present, to stick with the self—isolation period as it currently is, so that is seven days, and as i say, we've onlyjust made the change to bring it

down to ten, so we want to make sure that that is working as we would expect it to be. but that brings us back to lateral flow tests. for the system to work, there has to be enough of them to go around. labour says the government needs to get a grip and provide enough tests. catherine burns, bbc news. and cathjoins me now. a huge amount of pressure on the testing system at the moment? notjust an not just an issue notjust an issue with lateral flow test but also pcr test. at one stage this morning there were no pcr test to be sent out anywhere across the uk and have you wanted to book to go to a testing site you are not able to a testing site you are not able to do that in england or northern ireland. there were a few sites available in scotland that things were a little bit better in wales, but things change really quickly, so that was the case at 11 o'clock today, now they are available again everywhere, and that is the same with lateral flow test. i try to order one around 9am, was told no, no delivery slots available, just

before i came into the studio i did it with no fuss, so it is worth persevering. the question is why is this happening. there are a few factors colliding together at the same time. obviously, most importantly, there are huge amounts of covid out there, record high numbers of cases, which brings with it high demand for tests. that would be a problem at any time of year but christmas isn't helping. we have slower postal deliveries, and what we often find that this time of year is that boxing day, christmas day, people do not want to go and get themselves tested which means that they store it up for a day or two and get back to it around now so as things are starting to get normal again we will see this surge in demand. what do you do if you want to get tested, let's say you want to go out for new year's eve, it is really simple, just keep trying. what the uk health security agency does is try to manage the by releasing slots at several times during the day so if you cannot get one now try again later, and do not

stockpile, use the test you have got before ordering others.— before ordering others. thank you very much. _ before ordering others. thank you very much, catherine _ before ordering others. thank you very much, catherine burns, - very much, catherine burns, our health correspondent. has warned people against travelling across the border to england for new year's eve. nightclubs have been closed and hogmanay celebrations cancelled as part of covid measures put in place by the scottish government. each of the uk nations currently has different restrictions in place. this afternoon, the scottish parliament will be recalled, as first minister nicola sturgeon delivers an update on rising coronavirus infections. james reynolds reports. this month in scotland, there have been long queues for booster shots. but the newlyjabbed won't all be able to get together for a post—booster celebration. restrictions on large gatherings are now back in place. we need to do it, but to shut everything down at once is a wee bit hard, as well, you know what i mean? we can go out, but not to nightclubs. i feel like now that we've got - all of our vaccines and everything,

there's not actually. another step forward. that's all we can do. although these are provisional figures, we see the average moving from aboutjust over 5,000 cases a day, to about 10,000 cases a day in the space of about a week. so, that is an alarming increase, which i believe merits the type of restrictions that we have reluctantly had to apply. across scotland, it's table service only in pubs and bars, and no more than three households in every group. if these restrictions are to stay in scotland, someone is going to have to find furlough, because that is going to be the only way to protectjobs. we're all going to have desperately uncomfortable conversations if there is not a way of plugging the wage bill gap. wales has also imposed restrictions of its own. events are limited to 30 people indoors, or 50 outdoors, and nightclubs have closed. in northern ireland, pubs, cafes and restaurants are providing

table service only, and no more than six people from different households will be allowed to sit together. by contrast, england has not imposed new restrictions. the health secretary has said that people should remain cautious and, if possible, celebrate new year's eve in the open air. earlier this month, the prime minister promised that every adult in england would have the chance to get their booster shot before the new year. the nhs is now messaging hundreds of thousands more people this week, urging them to get their shot and enjoy what officials call a "jabby" new year. james reynolds, bbc news. british households will be worse off next year because of higher energy bills, stagnant wages and tax increases — according to a think tank. the resolution foundation, which focuses on people on lower incomes, claims millions of families are facing a �*cost of living catastrophe'. the government says it has put £4.2 billion in place to support families.

our economics correspondent andy verityjoins me now. it is shaping up to be a pretty tough year, 2022, for many people. it is, then. at the moment the dominant economic factor is omicron which could be causing an economic contraction but it is thought that will be relatively short lived and what the resolution foundation says, they are a think tank concentrating on living standards, is that in april we will have a nasty squeeze suddenly come upon us, in the shape of as you mentioned higher tax bills, and also higher energy bills. they calculate that for the average household the rise in energy bills will be £600 a year when the energy price cap is raised in april so the bills will come in much higher than they have been before then and of course, that hits low income families who tend to spend more of their income on energy than higher income families. they are advocating

that the government should do some things to improve the situation for those on modest means, for example the warm homes discount could be extended. but then you have things the government is doing quite deliberately which is to raise taxes, national insurance going up 1.25 percentage points for everyone who is working at the same time as the threshold below which you don't pay the higher rate of tax is being frozen, so that will drag more people into the higher rate of tax and national insurance, and they calculate that for the average family that will be £600 a year extra so in april you're talking about £1200 a year out of families' budgets which, in addition to inflation at 5.1%, rising to 6%, it is going to be a difficult thing to cope with for those families. a police officer who took selfies at the scene where a teenager was stabbed

to death has been sacked. 37—year—old pc ryan connolly worked for merseyside police. he also shared racist and homophobic pictures. the dangers of compulsive gambling have, for years, been taught to increasing numbers of pupils. now a group of families, who lost relatives to suicide, have devised a hard—hitting education programme, which they say will save lives. it's being piloted at 15 schools in northern ireland, before being rolled out across the uk. you may find some of this report, from our ireland correspondent chris page, upsetting. it's notjust the damage that this does to the person who has the addiction, it's the damage it does to all the family. anniversaries, birthdays, christmas, family gatherings — when he should be there, he is not. lewis keogh was a passionate sportsperson,

but he kept his gambling a secret from his team—mates, friends and family. when he was 3a, he took his own life. he says, "every day is a struggle. "all i want is a bit of peace. "please understand addiction is cruel." and that's his exact words. deep down, when he left that note for us, it really was a cry for help for others. the fact that he couldn't get this illness of his highlighted. that thought has driven pete and sadie and other bereaved families to design a ground—breaking education programme. you're going to love this place, man. - it's easy money. the charity gambling with lives plans to take the project to schools across the uk after it is piloted in northern ireland. it is an addiction that impacts a lot of people. the sessions have made

a strong impression on these pupils in east belfast. i wasn't really sure about gambling and how addictive it could be, but now i understand that it is a really bad problem. it helps maybe in the future, in case someone is going through it, and you can help them. it is on your phones, on notice boards, everywhere you look. | gambling is there. and their teacher thinks the topic should be a bigger part of the curriculum. it is something they were aware of as such, but not to the extent of the harm that it can cause. addiction has always been covered within the pastoral curriculum, but a gambling addiction is definitely going to have to be more at the forefront. it is estimated that around 340,000 adults in great britain have a harmful gambling habit. so, too, do about 55,000 young people aged 16 and under. here in northern ireland, more than one in 50 adults has a gambling problem. that is four times the rate

in the rest of the uk. the industry group the betting and gaming council says it has brought in measures to tackle addiction and protect children. families who have suffered the most believe their work in schools will prevent suicides. we didn't know about this. and we are going to make sure everybody does. had lewis had the education at school, i think there is a very strong chance we would still have lewis with us. i am very hopeful we are going to provide something that will save lives, it is as simple as that. pete keogh ending that report by chris page. if you've been affected by any of the issues, you can find information on organisations which can help the time is 15 minutes past one. our top story this lunchtime. warnings of patchy supplies of rapid covid tests, as demand from the public increases.

and we take a look at doing business with europe,nearly a year after the new brexit controls came into effect. the england and manchester city footballer raheem sterling has said society must never let its guard down over racism in the game. in an interview with the bbc, he said racist abuse against black players was only addressed when it happened, but then "brushed under the carpet". adam wild reports. the summer of sterling continues! they remain some of the defining sporting images of 2021. a cross for sterling! the route to the finals of the euros provoked in english football fans emotions scarcely stirred in a generation. but after such highs, some of the most crushing lows sport can offer. the racist abuse of england players, particularly on social media, prompted a wave

of outrage, national soul—searching and calls again for action. people are probably intoxicated a lot of the times, say and do things, just trying to be horrible, because you want to get a reaction out of that person, or you want to get a reaction because you're angry. but at the same time, you know, you being frustrated, that shouldn't resort to, you know, negative comments on someone's skin colour. i think what hurt me was that this was a group of players who had brought everybody together for 30 days, or whatever it was, on a brilliant journey. now all of a sudden we're going to allow this division to happen. i wasn't happy about that at all. the racism suffered by gareth southgate's england side was as ugly as it was depressingly familiar. earlier racist incidents, like the one in bulgaria during qualifying, helped to form the decision for players to take the knee before games. a lot of the times when, you know, the racism

comes up, or something's happened, we tend to address it for that period, that five days, or that week. and then, we normally brush it up under the carpet, and things are all fine now. and when the next scenario happens, that's when we go again. on the whole, we just wanted to keep highlighting that. yes, there's been times that we've sat down and say, "is the message still powerful?" and we've said yes. and as a group and as a collective, we try to keep that going. the tournament that began with players taking the knee, ending in vile racist abuse aimed towards them. but even then, room for hope. although there was a horrible reaction that night from too many people, but still a minority, i thought there was a brilliant counter reaction, where the majority of the fans and public were saying, "we're not having this. "we're with bukaya and marcus and jadon. "so, everybody else can go and do their thing, really."

it's sad we have to live through that, you know, to make it feel that way. as southgate and sterling continue to help redefine what is possible for the england national team, it's clear that for them, those aspirations now extend beyond just success on the pitch. adam wild, bbc news. actress, model and activist april ashley has been hailed as a trans trailblazer, following her death at the age of 86. ashley became only the second briton to undergo male—to—female gender reassignment surgery, in 1960. she then became a prominent campaigner for the transgender community, and was awarded an mbe for her work in 2012. she spoke to the bbc the following year, and took a look back at her career. if you go through life and you meet einstein, you meet sir winston churchill, dali wants to paint you,

picasso looks you over three or four times, you know, to know all these people was extraordinary. and why i met them, i will never know. one of hong kong's last remaining pro—democracy publications, stand news, is shutting down, after its offices were raided by more than 200 police officers. seven current and former staff of the online media organisation were arrested. police accuse them of publishing articles which incite hatred against the authorities. suppression of the media in hong kong has increased since mass democracy protests in 2019, and beijing's subsequent imposition of a sweeping national security law. record amounts of snow has fallen in western and northern japan, blocking roads and railways and disrupting flights. thousands of homes are without power, and the situation may get worse before it gets better, as more snowfall is forecast along the japan sea coast.

rupert wingfield—hayes has more. in a normal december, hikone castle in centraljapan might get a sprinkling of snow — a few centimetres at most. but on monday and tuesday, it was blanketed by 68 centimetres of snow. the little town became completely gridlocked. people in this part ofjapan just don't expect this much snow, and they're not really prepared for it. further north, in what japanese people call snow country, it's a different story. here, people know all about how to deal with the white stuff. but even so, the amounts that have fallen in the last few days are pretty extreme, especially for december. meteorologists say the huge snowfall is being caused by a large and extremely unstable air mass sitting over the sea ofjapan. they say there is plenty more to come over the new year. that is bad news for those about to hit the roads

and railways and planes. japan is about to shut down for its biggest holiday of the year. millions of people will flood out of tokyo and other big cities, heading for their ancestral home towns. this year, they may be heading into more big snowstorms, with half a metre or more of snowfall forecast for the next two days over the mountains and along the sea of japan coast. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, tokyo. brexit meant big changes to eu/uk trade, and it's now nearly a year since new controls started coming into effect. at the start of 2021, the value of eu goods imports into the uk fell sharply, before recovering slightly, according to the office for national statistics. figures, up to october, show imports remain below pre—brexit and pre—pandemic levels, with the effects of coronavirus also having an impact on trade. jessica parker has visited three companies in the netherlands who do business with the uk.

warmed under led lights, millions of flowers from this dutch grower go to britain each year. extra paperwork after brexit has meant extra costs. more checks are coming, but there's no stopping them here. the uk is an important market for us, and when we stop exporting to the uk, we lose about 20% of our market, so we cannot sell those flowers to other places, and we don't want to because english people are flower minded. at an onion factory, this batch is off to honduras. first, a thorough physical inspection. uk—bound produce will also face new controls, delayed by the british government. from 2022, we expect that we have to do physical inspections on the onions, which gives us also more paperwork. what will this mean for your business? the customers now, they know

the flexibility of the dutch onion pack houses. and they order, for example, 11 o'clock this morning, and the truck will leave around three o'clock. if, between 11 and three, you have to pack it, and you have to order an agent to do a physical check, that's quite challenging. covid has, of course, disrupted global trade, but this firm is also committed to the uk market. this company exports onions to 75 countries across the world. they are used to dealing with checks and paperwork. for smallerfirms it can be a different picture. it's kind of hard for especially small businesses. they usually sell and export within the european union, and do not have to do any customs declarations, customs formalities. so now they figure they have to be involved with this for the first time. and that is kind of a problem. just move your finger around and we'll follow you. edith makes experience tables. they're used in libraries and elderly care homes,

to help people with dementia. she says exporting to britain was a dream come true, but now plans to do so less. i'm not totally convinced that i will conquer all those extra difficulties that will come for us to export to the uk, because of the extra rules, because of the customs rules and all the extra forms you have to fill in. businesses must choose their markets, and a fuller picture will take time to emerge. brexit is still in motion. jessica parker, bbc news. conservationists at chester zoo have helped experts in mexico reintroduce a species of fish that was previously declared extinct back to the wild. the freshwater tequila fish — which is silver and less than three inches long — has now been returned to its native habitat in south—west mexico.

our science correspondent victoria gill reports. a little known species with an extraordinary story. the tequila fish is a small freshwater fish that lives in the rivers and lakes of south—west mexico, but it's been missing, presumed extinct, for more than a decade. and it's just one of thousands of aquatic creatures that are facing extinction, but have slipped under the radar. small little things, a bit silver sometimes, a bit of colour when they breed, but not much interest on the global conservation aspect. now, with the help of conservationists at chester zoo, scientists in mexico have reversed that extinction, bringing captive—bred fish back to the wild. the team has now confirmed that the fish are breeding, and that the population is recovering here. they're doing well. they started with the introduction of 1500 animals, so now we're about from 1500 individuals now, to tens of thousands, and now what we're seeing is that the species is slowly start expanding to the river system, which is exactly

what we wanted. so that is a very good start, and hopefully that will be more species looking forward. among the estimated one million species under threat around the world, a third of wildlife that depends on freshwater habitats, are sliding towards extinction. and the ongoing loss of clean, healthy rivers and lakes threatens our food and water supplies too. so here injalisco, mexico, the community stepped in. local people trained with the scientists to take on long—term monitoring of this vital river network, to ensure it is clean and healthy for both people and wildlife. it would be impossible without the local community. the local people are the main actors in the long—term conservation project. it's a conservation success story that it's hoped could be repeated for other threatened habitats and species, including one that lives in just one lake in the north of mexico. the achoques, a close relative of the axolotl, was saved from extinction partly by a captive breeding program led by local nuns.

open the mouth. and now, with the community helping to clean up the lake, here in patzcuaro, these captive—reared animals could be brought back to the wild. the success of the little tequila fish is a much needed sign of hope for one of the many small, and perhaps underappreciated creatures, that are facing extension. amid a biodiversity crisis, it's a sign that with people's help, nature can make a comeback. victoria gill, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. hello. over the next few days as we head into the new year, it is unsubtle. we will see some spells of rain and stronger winds. the main story of the weather is just how mild it is going to be right throughout. and across parts of england in the next few days, temperatures could reach 17 degrees. bearin temperatures could reach 17 degrees. bear in mind of the average for this time of the year is about eight celsius. we could be set to break a

few records. milder aired today follows this band of rain sweeping northwards and eastwards. that rain will hang on to northern scotland. away from here, temperatures into double figures. still a lot of cloud around. we should see that thinning around. we should see that thinning a little bit. the drizzle tended to move away. a brief respite overnight, at least for the first part of it, is that rain clears away, a few breaks in the cloud. the cloud thickens up, more rain in the western side of the uk, and with a south to south—westerly wind, temperatures will not change very much overnight. a much milder night than last night in the north—east of scotland. tomorrow starts cloudy, we have got some rain in the west, it pushes eastwards in the morning. there won't be much rain for the eastern side of the uk. we should see some sunshine arriving in the north—east dubbing them. thicker cloud will bring rain into wales, the west midlands and the north west of england. it will be a very mild

day. temperatures 16 degrees. much milder in northern scotland. moving into friday, new year's eve, we could have some rain in the morning. it could linger a bit across north—eastern parts of england into the afternoon. it does tend to dry up. the winds will ease down. not quite as mild in scotland on friday. 16, possibly even 17 in east anglia. why is it so mild? well, because the winds are coming from the south, bringing warm, quite cloudy air, all the way from the tropics. those southerly winds ahead of these weather fronts around an area of low pressure which is focusing the rain more towards the north—west of the uk as we head towards midnight and into the new year. many of us will be dry and it will be exceptionally mild overnight into new year's day. still some rain around new year's day. mainly for the northern half of the uk. a full suite north—east and out of the way, followed by sunshine, showers in the west. a

stronger wind on saturday. that winter is