this is the guardrobe, to give it its proper name. the toilet, a latrine, built for henry iii. the most extraordinary thing about it, it's a flushing toilet. flushed with rain water down this channel, fed by a tank on the roof, apparently predating other flushing toilets by around three centuries. along with the stories contained inside the tower, you can now walk above it. literally one of the best bits. come off the suspended walkway, up original stone stairs, many of which have been restored. these new ones at the top. to bring you onto this incredible roof deck, with a panoramic view of york. and look at that, york minster, in the distance. really spectacular and stunning.

daffodils planted on the mound commemorate one of the tower�*s most tragic events, the massacre of around 150 jewish people who sought refuge here in 1190 at a time of violent anti—semitism. so much history, so many stories to tell — and once again there's an audience to them. john maguire, bbc news, york. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. hello. it is cold again today, last night we started with a widespread frost, temperatures minus seven, minus eightand frost, temperatures minus seven, minus eight and it was the coldest start to april in wales for over 50 year, following on from that we have seen some sunshine but the showers have a wintry flavour. mainly feeding in off the north sea into eastern parts of england. we still have some cloud to clear away from the far south—east. that is where we have the strongest of the winds and this cloud is bringing a change into

northern ireland, so wetter weather is moving in and we have rain and hill snow affecting western scotland. eastern scotland largely dry through the rest of the day but we will see more showers developing in england and wales this afternoon, some sunshine in between, but cold for the time of year, temperatures typically round eight degrees, this wet weather will move away from northern ireland and scotland, heading into wales and the south—west, it will bring snow over the hill, the showers in many areas will fade away that, i will keep going round some north sea coasts but otherwise, we will see clearer skies developing. another frost in scotland and many part of england, but it is nowhere near as cold as last night in northern ireland nor in wales and we will see the back of that wintry weather from wales and the south—west in the morning, plenty of sunshine to start with, the cloud bubbles up, that will give more scattered showers round, mainly for england and wales, it looks drierfor for england and wales, it looks drier for scotland for england and wales, it looks drierfor scotland and for england and wales, it looks drier for scotland and northern ireland and those temperatures maybe a degree or two higher round nine or ten, the winds should be light. we

are seeing fewer showers this weekend because in area of high pressure is trying to build towards the uk, but we have this weather front arriving in the north. that will tend to increase the cloud on sunday, for scotland and northern ireland and eventually bring rain down as well. england and wales starts cold, ferocity sunny. the cloud will bubble up. might be one or two showers but a good chance of staying dry. the temperatures continuing to creep up, up to ten or 11, as we head into the start of next week, we have this weather front moving down from the north. bringing rain. in between those two weather fronts is what we call a warm sector, the air is warmer and you can see for monday how cloudy it will be. there will be rain round from time to time. it will be windy, the wind could touch gale force in scotland but the temperatures will creep up to 13 or 1a and it could be a frost—free start to day. while it is not going to be as cold next week it is going to be unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain and

windy at times. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are. good afternoon. it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news. the 2022 world cup draw takes place in qatar later today. england are one of the seeded teams in pot one, so will avoid the likes of champions france. but could end up in a group with germany, senegal, who won the africa cup of nations, and ecuador. there's still a wait for two of the home nations. wales or scotland or ukraine will be at the world cup but they'll not know until the remaining european play—offs are completed injune.

29 of the 32 world cup teams are known and you can watch the draw live on bbc tv and online from quarter to five this evening. awarding the 2022 world cup to qatar has not been without its controversy, as the global lens turns to focus on the country's human rights record of which, they have been heavily criticised. the danish fa have been vocal in their criticism and speaking earlier to the bbc, their chief executive jakob jensen said they have been engaging in dialogue with other nordic countries, about how to manage to situation. we do not think it was the correct decision to award qatar with the world cup. we did not take part in the vote. we would have voted for someone else if we could have. since it was awarded, we have been doing what we call a critical dialogue with all institutions and organisations who have an impact on the human rights of migrant workers.

conducting since 2015 and engaged in a very critical dialogue together with the other nordic football associations. we have been working on this for years in order to use our voice where we can use it to improve the human rights of migrant workers. as the premier league returns this weekend, clubs are embracing the news they can use five substitutes in each game from next season. this had been allowed during the covid pandemic, but the rule changed back to three subs this season. eddie howe�*s newcastle take on tottenham hotspur on sunday and he welcomes the change. when you are managing like i am a big squad, if you are allowed to have more options i think that is a very good thing from my standpoint. i really love the squad that i have and the ability to bring more players onto the pitch and change things tactically, i think it enhances your ability to do that. i am for it.

headingley cricket ground is once again allowed to host test matches, after yorkshire members voted in favour of changes. yesterday the club held an extraordinary general meeting on the day of the deadline set by the ecb and members. they overwhelmingly passed three special resolutions. the club's right to stage england games had been suspended over its handling of the azeem rafiq racism scandal, last year. after yesterday's thrilling win that saw england through to the women's cricket world cup final, kate cross has been speaking to bbc sport, ahead of sunday's tough test, against an australia team who are yet to lose a game. definitely a tournament of two very different stories for two teams. i think in the final it is anyone�*s game. we have made it hard for ourselves but also played some brilliant cricket to get to the stage as well. pushed really hard in the group stage against them. we are a really good cricket team, we have to remember, when we play our best cricket.

everyone seems to have had a performance at some stage which has given them some confidence. we just want to turn up and enjoy it and i guess keep playing with a smile on our face because that is what we have managed to do throughout the tournament even when our backs are against the wall. england scrum—half natasha hunt has been named in this weekend's england squad. it will be her first start for 17 months when they play italy, in the women's six nations on sunday. hunt stepped back from international rugby in 2021 because she was unhappy in the england camp. her place this weekend means the 33—year—old can now fight for a place in 0ctober�*s world cup squad. you can catch up on all the latest on the world cup draw on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. coming up next on the bbc news channel, your questions answered.

welcome to your questions answered. with me here is kevin peachey, our personal finance correspondent. also i'm joined by laura suter who is the head of personal finanace for aj bell. kevin, helen says i am on a fixed tariff due to end in may, paying £16 per month of gas and electricity. scottishpower have given me the option of another fixed tariff for the next year, quoting £153 per month — should i change to a standard tariff and why has the cost increased so much? sounds as if helen has been following the advice around kevin, helen says i am on a fixed tariff due to end in may, paying £16 per month of gas and electricity. scottishpower have given me the option of another fixed tariff for the next year, quoting £153 per month — should i change to a standard tariff and why has the cost increased so much? for years, shop around for the best deal — problem is the best deals are no

longer the fixed deals. it is coming to an end at the end of may, i think she says, so she will see a big rise in energy prices. there is not a huge amount she can do about that, there are lots of people in the situation coming to the end of these fixed deals which were on pretty good rates and will be moving on to a default rate, which is the one we have been hearing about today, big rise for people, £700 per year or more. and so she is probably thinking, hang on, why have i not got another good deal around? it is simply those wholesale prices have gone up so much suppliers are unable to give you a really good fixed rate deal. the general advice is sit tight, go on automatically to the default or variable tariff, that is the cheapest around at the moment. clearly it is a bill shock for people, whether they are coming to the end of a fixed—rate deal or already on these variable or default tariffs. generally the standard tariff is the one? it is the cheapest at the moment.

laura, gary in southport asks, why can france's government influence energy prices and cap rises at 4% whereas in the uk we just absorb the entire hit? don't forget the national insurance rise and various other increases, the lack of government action over this, he says are staggering. i think gary echoes quite a few people, how they are feeling at the moment with the energy price rise coming at the same time as tax increases but also council tax rises, mobile phone and broadband bills. it is a crunch month for everyone. different governments are dealing with the energy price cap in different ways and energy price rises in different ways, obviously the uk government has announced this £200 energy loan scheme, applying to anyone with an electricity tariff,

and £150 council tax rebate for anyone in a—d properties. and some support, 500m to local councils, but people hope for more from the government. another increase in the price cap and a cobra. it might be the government is waiting to give out more help specifically for energy price issues at that point in october. it might be a we see more help later in the year. kevin, a question, a lot of people might not be aware, why does london have the lowest capped standing charge for electricity when the rest of the uk is paying much higher prices?

how did the standard charges reflect wages and cost of living across the uk — postcode lottery? your bill is made up of two parts, standing charge, fixed cost if you like, daily charge. and then how much energy you use, that standing charge has been going up, one key reason is because of all the suppliers who have been collapsing, going out of business. more than 20 in recent months. the cost of that has been picked up elsewhere and the cost is being passed on to consumers through those standing charges. there are different standing charges in different areas. many areas are putting up their standing charges to the maximum, if you like. many suppliers are doing that. south scotland, merseyside, north wales, south—west england, all seeing the standing charge doubled. it is a bit of a postcode lottery, frankly. it is not the biggest bit of your bill and there isn't a huge

amount you can do about it. probably about £70 or so of your bill. annually. but it is still something where you can turn the thermostat down, use less energy but no impact on your standing charge. thank you. laura. anonymous question, why are the poorest people always hit the most? that is a very broad question but i think one thing that we can look at here, going back to the spring statement, people were expecting more help. people on state pension and benefits were expecting or hoping maybe or a slightly larger increase in their payments. from this month, they are going to say about a 3% increase to benefits and state pension, based on information that is pretty outdated now, what we are looking at now the cost of living rising by about 7% almost, even more later this year. i think a lot of those people

on the lowest income, relying on benefits or on state pension were hoping for either a larger increase in the payouts or some additional support. some of that has come in the form of that 500 million support fund i mentioned before and some of the hand—outs the government is doing. otherwise it will be a struggle for a lot of people. before the next question for kevin, i spoke to somebody earlier, she was really struggling and hadn't realised there was help out there she could access. how much of an issue is that, that people are not aware of what they could get? i think that is a big issue. the £500 million fund that i mentioned is given from central government down to local councils but people need to know it exists and think they might be eligible and apply for it. how easy is it to find it out?

it varies by local councils, the criteria. there should be two ports of call, first go to your local council, that fund might be able to help, or help with things like council tax reduction. second, i would go to somewhere like citizens advice, they will be able to do more of an overall look at your finances and see if there is support available in the form of benefits help or if you are in debt, help with that. they will check around and make sure you are getting everything you are eligible for, that is really important for people at the moment because the last thing you want is them struggling when there is help there. kevin, this one says, are all countries being affected by the huge rise in energy prices orjust the uk? mine are doubling, where is the 54% rise coming from?

many people are saying the reality for them doesn't reflect the typical rise we are talking about. the first part, yes, lots of countries are feeling the same impact. the wholesale price of gas is an international price, if you like. that is feeding through to consumers across europe. obviously, there are tensions as a result of the war in ukraine as well affecting the wholesale price. yes, there are pressures there being dealt with in different ways by different governments. specifically to where is this rise coming from? well, the way the price cap is calculated, effectively that wholesale price which fluctuates, quite volatile, we are protected from it for a period of time as consumers. every six months, the price cap changes and so this is the point at which the price cap is changing, the wholesale price,

unavoidable for suppliers, get passed onto consumers. that is why we have had a big increase, 50%. it is important to say, that is for someone using a typical amount of energy. the £2000 or so annual bill we have been talking about is someone who is using a typical amount of energy. if you use less then your annual bill is likely to be less, more it is going to be more. we are working on averages, typical usage but for many people the bills are probably higher and they may well have been paying by direct debit and they have got that horrible e—mail from their supplier saying we are going to put your direct debit up because of the situation. you can challenge that but it is inevitable that your direct debit, your bills are going to be going up. laura, what specific government assistance is available for pensioners,

this person wants to know. lots of people were hoping for more help for pensioners. there is not a lot of specific new government support announced for pensioners. the perennial things, pensioners are entitled to some help with their energy bills each winter. they will see the 3% increase into their state pension. and also certain pensioners entitled to some benefits, pension credits. there has been talk of the £500 million fund i keep talking about, talk that more of that should go to watch pensioners towards pensioners this time around. a previous iteration of the fund ended yesterday and the government set the kind of balance of which type of households it wants to be helped by that. there has been some more unofficial talk about the fact more of that should be funnelled towards pensioners to recognise the fact that they are being particularly hit.

it is a tough time, a group of people who spend more money on energy because they tend to be in their home more. so they are feeling the brunt of the rising prices. kevin, a question here from dave lang, you have effectively already answered it, i will read it out. you keep saying £700 per year increase, gas and electricity mine are going from £90 per month to £271 per month, on the cheapest deal, that is way above £700, 2760. how is it worked out? the other part i thought it would be helpful to bring in at this point, several viewers are getting in touch on twitter talking about the profits of the big six energy companies.

that is how a lot of people are looking at it as well, in that context. £1 billion profits. why is my bill going up by huge amounts? to unpick his situation, it sounds like dave is looking for the cheapest fixed—rate deal, that is probably higher than the variable default deal he will go on to. remember, suppliers, they set your direct debit, monthly direct debit, on what they expect you to use. to heat and power your homes. it is really important that you put in meter readings, for example, in that situation. we saw yesterday people trying to submit their meter readings before this price rise brought down a lot of suppliers' websites. it is important to make sure they are accurate in their estimations of what you are going to use and you can always challenge that if you are paying much more and your credit is building up, you can claim the credit back.

in terms of whether suppliers are profiteering on this, a lot of them have gone under because of the pressure of having to deal with picking up the rising wholesale price and for six months not being able to pass that on to their consumers. british gas boss chris o'shea saying on the bbc today that they are making a tiny profit on the retail side of things, where the big profits are coming in is on the generation side, that is where some of the political debate is lying, whether those arms of the energy companies should be taxed higher or not. just a quick thought on the thing of recording the meter readings. that rush to record readings yesterday. does it make much of a difference? the readings obviously that are input from today are reflective

of where things were so they are not going to give you the whole new metre reading cost, are they? you do not want them to estimate. it is always better to keep them updated with the amount you have used with them if you never put any meter reading they cannot overestimate when you use that on the old price and when you use it on the new much higher price. just keeping them updated, even if it is today, it is a good move, i think. according to all the experts i have spoken to. octopus energy have said for the next week it is fine. laura, leslie cox in cornwall, we are giving up netflix, alcohol, prime, mobile phone to offset the rising cost. i am kind of assuming that is tongue in cheek, or maybe not. people are obviously looking at all expenditure and what can be given up. yes, i think a lot of people are having to have a tough look

look at their finances, looking at what is going to be coming in from this month after the tax increases and what is going to be going out after the price increases and looking at what they can afford. though some people will be having to make those difficult cuts around things that they think they definitely need to pay for and are worth the money and things where they think actually i can say that £10 per month i am paying for that subscription service, or i can get a much cheaper phone deal. and so i think lots of people will have to do that, working out budgets, trying to stick to them, working out how they will afford these higher prices almost across the board. just in that, you start to see how the sort of domino effect through the economy as habits and choices change as a result of one particular aspect. definitely, if people have less money they will not be out shopping, buying things, paying for luxury

items, buying new cars, for example. one big shift we have started to see already, more people will be forced to take on debt. lots to pay for their monthly bills. we saw in the latest figures that came out from the bank of england, a big increase in the amount of money we are all putting onto credit cards in february. we would expect that to continue to increase as the year goes on. people feel that benchmark or people go through their savings and then have to resort to putting things on debt. barbara says we live on £8,000, a fuel bill increase of £700, how will we afford it? this gets to the heart of it. april is the cruellest month for your finances because as lauren mentions this is when so many of these bill increases come in, chief among them

the energy price rise. the practicalities are that obviously people are going to be looking through the budgets trying to save where they can. the wider political debate i think is often centred around where the support is being targeted or not. charities, for example, have been calling for much more targeted support for those like barbara who are on the lower incomes and for whom a rise like this is going to obviously have a much bigger impact. the government has decided to make a more general, decisive action they say, general focus. come october when we anticipate there will be another price rise for energy, there may well be some thoughts then on whether that should be more focused, whether there should be any more support or whether we are alljust going to have to grin and bear it. last question, laura, from dave, when interviewing ministers about energy bills, fuel prices etc, will somebody

please ask about how the so—called assistance being provided is going to help pensioners who have been robbed of a promised triple lock increase? how can increasing national insurance threshold or minimum wage be of benefit to a struggling 75—year—old who lives only on the state pension? this is the triple lock, the amount the state pension increases by each year. it was scrapped this year because the earning figures would have been 8%. at the time the decision was made that seem like a really high amount of money. now when we are looking at 7% inflation almost, that looks more realistic. the reality is that instead of the state pension increasing by 8%, it is 3%, much smaller rise for state pensions.

the changes announced last week in the spring statement were helping working people, people paying national insurance and so that is not much support for pensioners. lots of pensioners will feel like they have been forgotten in some of the government support announced, other than the broader measure like the £200 energy loan which applies to lots of people, no specific support for pensioners. lots of people have been calling for it. i am going to be speaking a little bit later to the former pensions minister, a good time to find out more, if you have questions for that, stay with us for that in the next hour. thank you, both, for getting through as many as you can and thank you for sending in the questions.

we are seeing some more showers breaking out across england and wales, some of a wintry flavour as well. wetter weather moving down into northern ireland and bringing some rain, hail orsnow into northern ireland and bringing some rain, hail or snow into parts of scotland. when continuing to ease down, wet weather moving into wales in the south—west, bringing snow over the hills. elsewhere becoming drier, lots of showers fading away, skies clearing. showers coming into some north sea coastal areas, leading to icy patches, widespread forest across scotland and england but nowhere near as cold as last night for wales and northern ireland, seeing the back of the wet weather quickly in the morning. lengthy spells of sunshine before the cloud increases, bubbles up and we get more showers breaking out mainly across england and wales. looks drierfor mainly across england and wales. looks drier for scotland and northern ireland. went quite late on saturday, temperatures getting up to nine or 10 degrees, may be milder as we head into the second half of the

weekend. this is bbc news. the headlines: millions of people will see a steep rise in their energy bills from today — the largest in living memory. it the largest in living memory. is either feed them o house, it is either feed them or keep my house, or i do not eat and they eat, so yes, it is not great. over £300 more now. efforts continue to try to get people out of the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol, where tens of thousands are still trapped. russian officials say ukrainian helicopters have carried out a strike on a fuel storage facility in the west of russia. another record level of covid infections — nearly five million people across the uk are believed to have had the virus last week.