the headlines: british prime minister borisjohnson has promised to reform the way downing street operates after a senior civil servant leading an inquiry into lockdown parties identified a serious failure of leadership and judgement. the leader of the main opposition labour party called him "a man without shame." america says russia has delivered a written response to washington's proposals aimed at reducing tensions over ukraine. us officials did not disclose any details, saying it would be unproductive to negotiate in public. earlier, the us and russia traded bitter accusations over ukraine at the un security council. the un human rights chief has acknowledged that myanmar has descended into civil war a year after the military seized power. in a bbc interview, michelle bachelet compared the situation to syria, saying people were taking up arms because they were fed up with getting killed.

now on bbc news, we follow three people from tynemouth who have taken up cold water swimming, and say it is doing wonders for their mental health. you know, once one person does it, then they pull other people in and everyone gets addicted. the minute you get in, basically your body thinks it's going to die. that's what makes you go, "oh, ifeel so alive!" it was really hard to cope with. ijust didn't want to get out of bed 'cause i thought, "what's the point?"

and things got worse | and worse and worse. by all rights, if i _ look back on my own story, i should be dead. laughter it is nice to feel like you're motivating somebody to go and do something that you know will make them feel good. not one bit of us was expecting this, no. laughter and do you know what? i've only known these lot since november, and look how many friends i've got now! you walk in that sea and you forget about everything. it's massively changed my life. so we're here, 6:30 in the morning, and just checking out the sea,

just to make sure there's no rips that we might get caught in. it's an incredible time of day to come down and just be at one with nature. i feel really relaxed, to be honest, but i get quite excited when i know i'm going to go in and feel the way i'll feel afterwards. couple of years ago, i really got to think about it, that i really wanted to do it, and then last summer, i mentioned it to my friend estelle, �*cause i knew she went in the water, and i said, "would you mind if i came with you some time?" so, she said, "right. tomorrow is a good day." so we went in the next day and i haven't looked back since. you know, sometimes it's about hurling yourself in the water and itjust grounds you and affirms you, and other times it sort of connects you to something that's inside you that you never realised was in there because we're just laughing and hurling ourselves around in the boshy waves

and getting sea slaps to the back of your head and honestly, it's so much fun! and other times, you know, when it's really calm and serene, it's really beautiful to just swim out, to be in nature and just look around you and to appreciate what's in front of you. and it'sjust lovely to do that. yeah, you'vejust got a big grin on yourface. i think from the moment you go in to the moment you come out, we're laughing and smiling and itjust makes you feel like nothing else matters �*cause you're so in the moment. god, i'm cold! yes! hypothermia would be a very bad thing! afterdrop is where, you know, you've come out of the water, water's really cold

and you continue to get cold, so then your teeth start chattering and you start shivering. so it's really key that you get dressed quickly. i know i've been in way too long if i do get shivery. you're literally chattering! laughter dealing with children, it's very hard. i think if i start talking about certain cases that did affect me at the time, because i let them in, i would probably get upset about them even now, 20 years later. i mean, there's some very traumatic things where i dealt with a three—month—old baby who'd been hurled against the wall.

i mean, that isjust awful. and you just have to watch your own mental health and be very, very mindful of that, and look after each other. good girl. going from 30 years, full on, full time, oh, i was in floods of tears — as you can imagine. my last day — oh, i'm going to get... erm... yeah, it'sjust such a hard thing to do — leave — leave a job and the people that you've grown up with and loved, and i still felt passionate

about the public. i'm so pleased i had the open—water swimming because my little community in the police was replaced by my swimming community. it all started as a bit of fun and then we thought, "well, why not raise money for charity as well?" and we got 100 people involved within a couple of weeks, from all over the uk. it was amazing. and itjust grew and grew. seeing new people coming down, you know, once one person does it, then they pull other people in and everyone gets addicted.

i get a real kick out of it because i know that they're just going to thoroughly enjoy the rest of the day. you get people who are right up to 80—plus and having fun and having a laugh and bringing the body boards down and screaming with laughter. woo! everyone is just so supportive. laughter it's absolutely a part of my life now. sarah—jane is a new member to the chatter tribe. i metjacqui on my first day, and she could tell i was really nervous, and i was apprehensive about going in, so she took my hand and said, "come with me. "i'll take you into the water with me." we walked in together and i felt reassured because she was there. and she says, "once you get under the water, "you'll feel absolutely great."

had really good fun this morning, bouncing around in the waves, and it's really good that it's like this, because we have a lot of belly laughs. we have such good fun, and it's just lots of giggles first thing in the morning. it sets us up for the day. i don't think anyone can really put their finger on what it does for you, but we all know that it reduces inflammation. for example, i have an autoimmune condition that attacks my thyroid, so i have adjusted my diet. going in the sea, its reduced the inflammation in my body. first thing in the morning, i was out with my dog, and i bumped intojacqui, who was obviously going into water. she says, "oh, we do this cold water challenge "every day throughout july. " it's chilly!

and so regardless, i thought, "right. "i'm going to commit myself to that." i mean, i'm looking at you here and there's the sun coming down on the water, and it's just sparkly and beautiful, and just everything about it — being in nature isjust the big thing, isn't it? if i can start my day by coming in here, it kind of sets me up. it's almost like meditation, being in this for half an hour before i start my day. it's really good for your mental health. it's very good for people who have depression. i was anything but weak—willed until it came to alcohol. and then, once i started, i just couldn't stop. it's like rediscovering my own history every time i come in here

because what you've got to remember, i was drunk through most of the �*90s anyway, so... my first day as art director, i ended up getting flown business class to rome to photograph pink floyd — i wasn't photographing pink floyd, the photographer was. between myself and the editor, you know, you were held responsible for the kind of look and the sales of the magazine, you know? and the covers is where it got interesting, but very stressful, because you were having to do one very week, you know? and because of what i did was visual, everybody could see the cover. it starts feeling like you're getting bullied, �*cause everybody�*s got an opinion on it. so this is — we did three different kylie covers. the intention being as if they got laid out properly on a magazine shelf, it obviously drew a lot more attention to it

than therejust being one time out cover. kylie was impressed, so i got a signed one from her, and i got a voice message from her as well. and i didn�*t realise that voice messages got deleted after seven days, so i was only able to boast about it for seven days, that i had a voice message from kylie minogue, thanking me for the cover that we did. i come from this perspective of like, "wow! "i�*m getting to meet these people who are musical heroes, "football heroes," and you get to be in the same room as them, and you get to work with them. and i was always petrified. i was always petrified. mr bowie came in, you know, i couldn�*t help but be like that, you know, wow, david bowie, it�*s actually david bowie. i used to drink and believe that it gave me confidence. what i�*ve recognised since is that what it did do is it killed the fear. i did have some absolutely wonderful times doing what i did for a living, you know? we worked hard and we played hard, you know? and i played way too hard.

dog barks smashed my kneecaps, did myjaw, snapped two fingers. everybody knew that i�*d had this mad accident, and i thought, "right." i then had to get to the bottom of why i drank the way i drank. i went to see counsellors and one of them, one day, asked me if i would like to go to rehab, and i said yes. i thought over there would be far better than over here.

what i didn�*t realise at the time — over here was in here, and i was going to take that wherever i went. did 7.5 months in rehab and came out and drank again and things got worse and worse and worse and worse and i pushed people away. those who loved me, i pushed them away. once your alcoholism gets a hold of you, everything comes second to it — everything. i�*ve had, like, 19 operations as a direct result of my alcoholism, including a liver transplant. the restoration of the sight in my left eye — i was 98% blind in my left eye. by all rights, if i look back on my own story, i should be dead.

i had a busy lifestyle, i was very fit. i used to go boxing every morning before i went to work, and then i started feeling poorly quite often, i was picking up viruses. i was getting colds quite a lot. i was feeling very fatigued and i could gradually tell that my body was just not functioning properly. and then the bone pain started. they told me that i had leukaemia and that i needed to start chemotherapy within a couple of weeks. i never thought about myself at that time, it was always

about my family and how it would affect them, and especially a single mum with two boys. me and mike got togetherjust after i got diagnosed. he's been there all the way and he's been really strong, and we've been through everything together. i was a yacht master instructor, so i teach people how to sail and do yacht deliveries, and i�*d be spending a lot of my time away from home, so i decided to become sarah—jane�*s carer. i got told that if i caught covid, that it could be detrimental to me, so i had to then shield. my two boys were still going to college, so they had to move out and move in with their dad for six months. i was really, really anxious.

i got to a point where ijust didn't want to get out of bed because i thought, "what's the point?" there'sjust me and mike in the house, with milo, the dog. and that was my life for six months. when everyone was in lockdown, they were the same as us, you know, we were already isolating. all of a sudden, felt a bit of anxiety being in crowds, not necessarily for my own health, but for sarah—jane�*s health, you know? because i'd had covid, my kids were able to move back in with us. so that was a blessing in disguise for me.

come on, then, let�*s go. doing the morning swims now has been a revelation. i think sarah—jane�*s feeling a lot more energized because of everything. i am as well. so it�*s nice that we�*re getting proper days back, you know, getting up nice and early, getting stuff done, being more productive and just feeling better in ourselves. once i'm in the middle of that high tide, and i find myself just completely present. and that's what's fantastic about it for me, to kind of accept and be grateful for what's going on, and what's going on as i'm in the water, breathing in and out, not drinking in between, and absolutely thoroughly enjoying where i am, doing what i'm doing. and the freedom comes from how insignificant i feel when i'm in the water. it's like, "oh, wow." nothing matters. all the things that are a concern aren't

really a concern. it'sjust my head telling us they are. it was almost like it became silent. and it's that break in the cloud happens in the sun hits and just hits and puts a pool of light on the sea. way off in the distance. and i thought, this is my church, this is — that's what it is. it is my church.

you try and explain what it is that you feel, and people still look at you as if you�*re daft. i mean, the truth is there�*s no really clear sciency evidence yet. but what we think might happen is, the minute you get in, basically your body thinks it�*s going to die. yes. laughs so you get in, and all of these cold receptors in your skin, they start firing off like crazy. and because your body thinks it�*s going to die, it sets off the fight and flight response, and it chucks out loads of adrenaline, cortisol into your bloodstream. yeah. that�*s what makes you go, "oh, ifeel so alive." and then you get out, and you just feel that really gentle, warm, like, sort of, high, relaxed feeling.

well, at that point, your body�*s producing dopamine and serotonin, and that�*s like your body�*s natural painkiller. yeah, for sure. they�*re starting to think that it means that we get better at dealing with everyday stresses that build up over time and cause mental health problems over time. right. we just get better, better adapted to dealing with everyday life stressors. should be on prescription, shouldn�*t it? i believe it is. is it? i believe that in some areas... go and throw yourself in cold water? some areas in the uk, cold water swimming as being socially prescribed, which is fantastic... fantastic. it is, really great. since i've started cold swimming, which was three weeks ago, i've now come off my antidepressants. i've been off them a week now. i feel great during the day. i don't feel depressed, don't feel anxious any more. i live for the moment. it's massively changed my life. in water: 0h! i�*ve got over all that stuff, all that self—consciousness of, one, there being beasties that are going to eat me up, and believe me, i know it

sounds daft, but i really, if i saw seaweed, that was a shark as far as i was concerned. really handy, plus you canjust slip it on. - the self—consciousness of being about three stone over weight, that�*s kind of gone. ijust try to be a bit - discreet at times, you know? i know, i�*ve got over that being naked in front of — most people. most, most of the time, if anybody wants to lookj at my exotic body, feel free. laughter i baked this morning. there looks as if there�*s some serious catering going on over there. well, i have a fantasy that by the time i walk back . on the beach, i'll havei a swimmer's physique, like, but i suppose this . is a swimmer's physique. aye, if you're a killer whale! laughter it floats! the tribe is building all the time.

they all laugh we alljust enjoy being with each other, and we share that experience. and you know what? i�*ve only known these lot since november, and look how many friends i�*ve got now. we wouldn't have known each other, particularly, no? no, but i don�*t think i would�*ve been sarah�*s friend. i mean, we�*ve got nowt in common! they all laugh so if i go in, this does it by itself? yep, it should do it by itself, they've all been tested. they've got the little green button on the bottom. are you ready? hoist away then. pull, pull, pull, pull. that�*s it, keep on going. go on, go on! that's my exercise for the day! not one bit of us was

expecting this, no. fantastic stuff. been on a yacht, on a lake, but never, ever seen it like this, this isjust so exciting for me because it�*s not what i do every saturday morning, it�*s amazing. i�*m trying my best to look like i know what i�*m doing. he laughs so relaxing, and it's a beautiful day and just lovely, isn't it. it�*s perfect. we just need dolphins now. yes, we just need the dolphins to come out, and then... the icing on the cake. yes, definitely. dolphins! over there! oh, my god, they�*re so close, look! wow, look at that.

oh, would you look at that? we could be anywhere in the world! couldn't make this up, man. couldn't make it up. we are quite lucky to livej here, to be quite honest. is kirk going in as well? no, i think he's wimped out too. just you? if i hear either of these two scream as they go in, - i'm not going in, mind you. see me going in ahead. laughter woo! i fully intend to dip for the rest of my life, and i'll be encouraging people into the water as much as i am now. it's free, it's out there.

it is nice to feel like you're motivating somebody to go and do something that you know will make them feel good. and if other people can enjoy it as much as we do, then myjob is done.

hello. the week got off to a stormy start thanks to corrie. the winds have become a little lighter out there now, but for the rest of the week, it will still stay relatively windy, not perhaps as windy, though, as it was due monday. here is corrie come tuesday, menacing down in the middle of the mediterranean. another area of the pressure to the north of the uk will keep it windy here, particularly across scotland, but this weather front sinking south won�*t bring much in the way of rain. it will usher in quite a bit of cloud and perhaps most noticeably, it will pull in some very mild air, particularly in contrast to monday. sunshine probably most widespread, actually, for scotland and northern england. furthersouth, rather more overcast skies, some patchy light rain or drizzle, but gusts of wind across northern most scotland could still hit up to 80 mph, but what a difference in those temperatures for tuesday afternoon, 12—13 celsius, it willjust feel so much milder. and the milder air sticks around as we work our way into wednesday as well. further cloud flooding in from the west. our clearest skies likely

to the far northeast of the uk, but because the air itself is mild, i think we will stay frost free, even though temperatures slide down into the range of single figures. and there is this big dome, if you like, of mild air sitting across the uk for wednesday. high pressure to the south, quite a lot of cloud, hopefully some breaks perhaps to the east of the brecons across the northeast of england and for eastern scotland. but despite the cloud, it will still feel considerably warmer than it has done to start the week, again, temperatures in double figures. quite a contrast then to come for the end of the week. thursday, we�*ve got a weather front set to work its way south. some heavy rain initially for scotland and northern ireland, then the front pushing down into england and wales come the afternoon. looks like it could eventually bring some rain, something we haven�*t seen much of in a while, into southernmost england overnight, but the keen eyed amongst you will have noticed the white coming in behind that rain band, much colder airflooding in for friday, another quite deep low to the north of the uk. it�*s looking windy, it should be bright with a lot of sunshine, but there�*s the chance that we could see some fairly frequent wintry showers pushing into scotland, i think maybe a few sliding south into northern

england as well. and feeling so much colder again by friday. temperatures just 5—9 celsius.

welcome to bbc news. i�*m david eades. our top stories: will you take responsibility, prime minister? has your leadership failed? mounting pressure on britain�*s prime minister, borisjohnson. an initial report into parties at downing street during lockdown finds "failures of leadership and judgement" at numberio. i want to say sorry. and i�*m sorry for the things we simply didn�*t get right. i get it and i will fix it. by routinely breaking the rules he set, the prime minister took us all for fools. he held people's sacrifice in contempt. he showed himself unfit for office. washington says moscow

has responded to its proposals to ease tensions in ukraine, but it follows a bitter exchange of accusations