breaking news, royal correspondent. breaking news, joe root has stepped down as the english cricket test captain. we can talk tojohn watson. not entirely a surprise. a lot of leading figures in the game had said it was time for him to go. in the game had said it was time for him to no. ~ in the game had said it was time for himtouo.~ , him to go. when you consider the run of results, him to go. when you consider the run of results. one _ him to go. when you consider the run of results, one win _ him to go. when you consider the run of results, one win in _ him to go. when you consider the run of results, one win in 17 _ him to go. when you consider the run of results, one win in 17 matches. - of results, one win in 17 matches. they have lost the last four test series. the defeat in the ashes series reignited the debate overjoe roofs series reignited the debate overjoe root�*s future. they headed off on what was meant to be the reset, certainly in main�*s cricket, they went to the west indies and lost that series as well. many people thought at that pointjoe root and his voice in the dressing room was not being hurt as it once was. he took over the role in 2017, replacing alistair cooke at the time, making that announcement, it came at a press release ill earlier. he said he was proud to have

captained his country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride. it was an honour to do thejob and enormous pride. it was an honour to do the job and be the custodian on the pinnacle of english cricket. questions will turn to who will replace him, but with the way the results have been, there have not been standout performances. the key name will be ben stokes, he has been deputising in the absence ofjoe root. you have to feel that is the main contender. a lot of big jobs to fail, they need a new managing director elsewhere, new head coach, and now a new captain as well with joe root stepping aside. i think as you were saying, this was likely to come when you consider they lost the recent series in the west indies and after the disappointment of the display in the ashes, perhaps there is a feeling that england need to look elsewhere, and a fresh voice is

kneading in the dressing room. it’s kneading in the dressing room. it's uuite a kneading in the dressing room. it's quite a poisoned chalice being england cricket captain at the moment. that was the latest onjoe root stepping down. a february so the three named hit the united kingdom. now on bbc news, weather world. sarah keith—lucas and nick miller visit the isle of wight, where a record 122mph wind speed was felt during a february that saw three named storms hit the uk. this weather world is all about storms. so far this year, we've seen some of the windiest, wettest weather systems on earth. and we've come to a place that has just set a new record for england's strongest gust of wind, right here on the isle of wight. we'll find out why the coast here sees such high winds.

meet the volunteers keeping people safe here. plus, with three named storms in one week, we'll ask if the uk's is getting windier. and i'll be finding outjust how windy it is here today and looking at how we measure wind speed. also on weather world, as a chain of deadly cyclones hits madagascar, why climate change could put more of east africa in their path. and deluge down under, parts of australia seek more rain in three months than they normally do all year. i wouldn't say it was a surprise but that is the most concerning factor. that we've gone from literally the south—east of australia burning to literally the south—east of australia flooding. the isle of wight, just a short ferry ride from the south coast of england, it is famous for its sailing. but it wasn't seafaring weather in february when the island set

a new record for england's strongest wind gust during a remarkable spell of stormy weather across the uk. a driver's worst nightmare caught on dashcam, a lorry overturned in extreme winds in oxfordshire during storm eunice, the second and most powerful of three named storms to hit the uk injust one week. thankfully, the driver wasn't seriously hurt. another lucky escape in london which was covered for the first time by a red weather warning. falling trees caused damage and widespread travel disruption, many people filming the storm's disruption themselves. oh, my god, i caught that on video! and even falling steeples, an unusual impact of the storm in somerset. an unlikely beneficiary of the storm, live streaming of planes battling the winds as they landed at heathrow attracted thousands of new viewers. and here on the coast of the isle of wight, almost invisible in the sea spray,

a gust of 122 mph became the strongest ever recorded in england. this part of the coast is known for the needles, three chalk stacks off the western tip of the island. on the cliffs above, the batteries, military defences constructed in the 19th century. the old battery, where a weather station measured the record gust, and the new battery, which is now home to the national coastwatch institution from where volunteers keep watch looking out for anyone in danger. i've come inside the new battery here at needles, where the national coastwatch institution to their vital work keeping watch over the waters and the coastline here. annette, you are one of the volunteers here for the nci, you live on the island as well, so what are your memories of that day? just how windy was it? very windy. i live about two miles away, it was very noisy, lots of wind, lots of gusts, i had some

superficial damage around the house. yes, it was very windy. and what is it about this particular spot here at the needles that makes it just so exceptionally windy? we are incredibly high. the old battery is 80 metres above sea level. that wind is coming straight from the english channel, whizzing up the headland and then across and down, funnelling down into the solent and across the rest of the island. and this is what annette is talking about, a south—westerly wind has an unbroken path over hundreds of miles of water over which it blows towards the needles. then, when the wind hits the cliff underneath the weather station, it accelerates upwards and over it on to the anemometer, producing unusually high gusts. so, here, we've really got hundreds of miles, then, of unobstructed wind flow coming right across the atlantic, hitting the headland here at the needles. but, then, as it flows across the rest of the island, it has been reasonably well protected from those strong winds. yes, that day, the force of the wind really did hit the needles, and then itjust dissipated over

the rest of the island. thank you so much, annette, and little later in the programme we will be back here to find out more about the vital work that is done by the nci. storms around the world now, and first, another view of storm eunice, this time from belgium. the same system that struck the uk spread east across northern europe, causing further disruption. summer in south america brought extreme heat and severe storms. in the brazilian city petropolis in february, torrential rain caused flooding and landslides which killed over 200 people. and in paraguay�*s capital, asuncion, in march, roads became rivers engulfing cars in a torrent. tornado damage in the usa in texas in march. with over 200 twisters reported, it is a new record for the month. to australia now, where it has been another summer of extremes. from heat in the west,

as perth enjoyed its hottest summer, with more days over 35 celsius than any other on record. to extreme rainfall in the east. this is the flooding in sydney around march. the city had its wettest three months of any year in records going back to the 1850s. in february, brisbane had its wettest three days on record, and whilst for australia as a whole, rainfall was below—average in february and march, scientists say climate change is supercharging the atmosphere to produce more intense rain when it does fall and what seems extreme now will become more like normal in the future. it certainly is really disheartening to see my own country being on fire one year and then within another two years, it is being flooded out. in saying that, we have always been a land of extremes. there is a famous poem here that australia is a place of drought and flooding rains, and that is precisely what we had seen. so, we do tip this seesaw fairly regularly, you know,

a couple of times in a decade. but the extremity of it, that is that... i wouldn't say it was a surprise but that is the most concerning factor, that we have gone from literally the south—east of australia burning, to literally the south—east of australia flooding. so, the extremes that we have seen lately, while they have been unprecedented, currently speaking, in the future they will no longer be unprecedented, they will be more like normal. now, that is not to say that they will occur every single summer because especially in australia, we can flip from really dry conditions to really wet conditions within a matter of a couple of years, but these events will look less extreme and more closer to normal because of how extreme future events will be. february in madagascar and cyclone batsirai is the second of five tropical weather systems to impact the island so far this year. thousands have lost their homes. entire villages have been swept away. many people have died. cyclones, the same type of storm as hurricanes, occur from november to april here. some go on to make landfall

in mozambique with flooding rains spreading into neighbouring countries, including malawi. this man from madagascar works for a charity helping people in the aftermath of the cyclones, which he says have had a devastating impact. translation: this year is proving really traumatic for people. every year, we know these are recurrent phenomena but this year, between 190 and 200 people have already died in the five storms we have had in madagascar. it is really traumatic. and that changes people's perception about climate change. scientists say that although the frequency of storms here is not increasing, there has been an exponential growth in the most intense cyclones and warmer ocean water may be changing their paths, pushing them southwards. madagascar, northern madagascar, central madagascar has always been exposed to cyclones. it would mean a greater risk. in regions of madagascar. we also have a small proportion

of storms that have always historically tracked south of madagascar and moved south into the mozambique channel, and there is a greater chance of those types of storms forming and moving in that particular path. and then if we look at mozambique, it means a greater probability of storms being able to make landfall in southern regions of mozambique, rather than purely on the central and that means that there is also a risk for south africa, not in terms of having direct landfall of a tropical cyclone at this point in time but if we consider that tropical cyclones have a diameter of hundred to 500 kilometres, those storm bands can really affect south africa more than they would have in the past because of the south displacement. i'm back inside the national coastwatch institute in station here at the needles on the isle of wight, and the views here are fantastic, i tell you. you can see right across the south coast of england all the way to anvil head there about 50 nautical miles away. one person who regularly looks out

over this view is simon. simon, you are one of the volunteers here at the nci, talk me through the important work you do here and what is a typical shift like? what we do here, we are here to observe what is going on out there, personal watercraft, etc. just to make sure they are safe and everything, and we've got various tools to help us do that. we've got, obviously, binoculars, we've got radios, vhf radios where we can listen to any emergency calls or hear what the routine traffic is, going along. the weather is fair. visibility is good. and we also have an ais system which brings up various vessels as well, so we've got a number of tools that help us do ourjob. not only are we looking out at sea, but we also get a lot of visitors up here, walking. they come across the downs, and they also visit

the needles park down below, and they all want to come up and have a look at the iconic view of the needles. and i suppose the irony is that on an exceptionally windy day here, did you see less in the way of craft out at sea and less people visiting the area, so a quieter day for you? when the weather is like today, when it is quite breezy, you get less boats out. it is not so pleasant. we all do it for pleasure, boating, so conditions play a big part in that as well. how windy is it out there today? at the moment, it is blowing force 6, which is probably in the mid—20 knots. so it is quite breezy. thank you, simon. it is nice and warm and cosy inside here but nick is outside finding outjust how it feels without wind chill in a force six. i'm feeling every bit of that wind—chill out here now because that wind is blowing at me right down

from the arctic. and i can telljust how windy it is with this hand—held anemometer here. if i hold it up, it is measuring a wind over 30 miles an hour. i've had a gust nearer 1111 miles an hour. and this is a cup anemometer. in fact, it is the same technology as at that weather station at the old battery down there. the wind blows into the cup, spins it around on the spindle, and from that, you getjust how windy it is. now, it is windier the higher up you go in the atmosphere, there is less friction to slow the air down, that is what the land surface does. so, actually, the uk's strongest wind gust was on cairngorms summit of 173 miles an hour. a cup anemometer like this will probably get blown to pieces with a wind that strong, so you can have a sonic anemometer which uses the speed of sound waves to judge just how windy it is and from what direction. as clearly windy as it is here today, it is incredible to think that winds can be gusting over 100 miles an hour right here. a break from the wind now, with some

of your weather watcher pictures, showing northern ireland and scotland's sunniest march in records going back to 1919. the blue sky followed another warmer than average winter. half of the uk's top ten mildest winters have occurred since 2010. still to come on weather world, what makes a flash a mega flash? the changes in technology taking our understanding of lightening to new extremes. this time on weather world, we are on the isle of wight where a gust of wind of 122 miles per hour was recorded, and that is a new record for england. it happened during storm eunice. an area of low pressure that underwent explosive cyclogenesis. bbc weather climate change presenter ben rich takes a closer look at the science behind these rapidly strengthening storms. a bomb cyclone is a scary name for what is essentiallyjust an area of low pressure that has deepened and strengthened quickly

and dramatically, something meteorologist call explosive cyclogenesis. now, imagine a column of air from the ground up to the level of the jet stream at around 30,000 feet or so. a disturbance in the powerfuljet stream forces the air aloft to accelerate away, removing air from the top of the column. the column ways left and so the force it is exerting on the ground, the pressure gets lower. the column weighs less and so the force it is exerting on the ground, the pressure gets lower. hence, low pressure. nearthe ground, air rushes in to replace what is lost higher up, and the area of low pressure rotates more and more quickly. and as the process continues, the storm is able to deepen explosively. on a weather chart, you will see more and more isobars appearing, like a dartboard, and if the pressure falls by at least 2a millibars in 2a hours, that is explosive cyclogenesis, or a weather bomb. weather bombs like storm eunice are not that unusual. but it is when explosive cyclogenesis happens near land

that their impact can be extreme. eunice's winds were so strong, they shredded part of the fabric roof of london's o2 arena, which opened as the millennium dome 22 years ago. dudley was the first of the three named storms to hit the uk injust one week in february. even a wind turbine collapsed in wales. after eunice, there was franklin, which brought major flooding. here, one bridge in northern england is swept away and goes crashing into another. since 2015, the uk met office has been giving names to storm to raise awareness of the severe weather on the way. here from the national coastwatch institute on the isle of wight, i am able to link to will lang who is at the met office in exeter. will, what is the purpose of naming storms? how useful is that? i think when we started naming storms about seven years ago now with ourfriends at the irish met service, i think we were probably taking a risk. we didn't know how well it

would work and we could be seen to be trivialising bad weather or even dumbing down meteorology, but it has been a real success. i think we are also connected these days, there is so much available information online and in the media, and storm naming reallyjust helps us to organise that advice into a single simple message which everyone can share. so, notjust the met office but also the bbc, the rest of the media, government, emergency services, and of course the public. there is plenty of evidence of this improving the effectiveness of warnings, which is really measured by people taking the right decisions and actions. so, when it comes to storm eunice in february, that combination of the naming of the storm and the red warning for here on the isle of wight and for the first time in london, how did that make a difference in perhaps preventing more loss of life? we difference in perhaps preventing more loss of life?— more loss of life? we do public surve s more loss of life? we do public surveys after — more loss of life? we do public surveys after each _ more loss of life? we do public surveys after each big - more loss of life? we do public surveys after each big weather| surveys after each big weather event, and after storm eunice we

asked hundreds of people about how they knew about the storm and the warnings and then what they did. and, for example, in south—east england, we found that 99% of people were aware of the red warning. and also crucially 91% said they took action, which is really high, with a majority of those saying they did things like securing items around their properties in the path of the storm. based on that, we think the warnings were successful. big storms will always cause disruption and tragically loss of life, but we are sure that the warnings ensured —— played a big part in ensuring things were not worse. also it played a part in how we prepare for weather events at the uk, especially after the big storm of 1987. it events at the uk, especially after the big storm of 1987.— the big storm of 1987. if the uk caettin the big storm of 1987. if the uk getting stormier? _ the big storm of 1987. if the uk getting stormier? is _ the big storm of 1987. if the uk getting stormier? is climate . the big storm of 1987. if the uk - getting stormier? is climate change making storms are stronger when they hit the uk? astu." making storms are stronger when they hit the uk? ., . ., hit the uk? our long-term climate prejections — hit the uk? our long-term climate prejections do _ hit the uk? our long-term climate projections do give _ hit the uk? our long-term climate projections do give us _ hit the uk? our long-term climate projections do give us some - hit the uk? our long-term climate projections do give us some hints. | projections do give us some hints. it tells us uk winters are very

likely to get milder and wetter, again in the long term. this milder and wetter weather tends to come from the atlantic weather storms develop so that does start to suggest that winter stormy periods are becoming more frequent in the future. also, there is research into certain types of storms and in particular the kind that can give us a very strong winds, and it looks like these as well may become more frequent in the long term. more ex - losive frequent in the long term. more explosive cyclogenesis - frequent in the long term. more explosive cyclogenesis now, - frequent in the long term. more explosive cyclogenesis now, and this time with a snowstorm that slammed into the north—east usa injanuary, giving boston itsjoint snowy into the north—east usa injanuary, giving boston its joint snowy estate on record. parts of northern japan had their snowiest january, the city of sapporo sought more than 60 centimetres in 24—hour is, the snowiest day in records going back more than 20 years. not the normal view of the greek islands but this is one injanuary. even in a warming world, there will be bouts of winter

weather. europe overall had a warmer than average winter. the same storm that hit greece swept across the middle east. here on mount lebanon. it is the lack of ice in antarctica which has been attracting attention with a new record low measured in february. antarctic cic levels vary a lot but scientists say a new record low so close to the previous one is notable. we record low so close to the previous one is notable.— one is notable. we have satellite records which _ one is notable. we have satellite records which show _ one is notable. we have satellite records which show how - one is notable. we have satellite records which show how much i one is notable. we have satellite| records which show how much cic there is year to year, and in the arctic, we can see there has been a trend, very clear downward trend through time. in the antarctic, it is different, their sea ice concentrations vary year to year, there is a lot of variability, and some years you get high concentrations and other years you get low concentrations. so, 2022 has been the year with the lowest concentration so far. the year with

a previous lowest concentrations was 2017, so within that record, it is very striking that we have these two years with exceptionally low concentrations. whether this is a trend is too early to say but it is absolutely something which we need to watch a very, very carefully. they are connected to the winds and the winds are part of the climate system and the climate system is responding to changes in greenhouse gases, so when we start to understand the things that are causing the ice coverage to change, we do see steps that do go back to greenhouse gas emissions. these are things that are open to study at the moment, we don't have answers yet, we can't give a definitive, but it is something which is really, really important to look at.— important to look at. earth's polar extremes are _ important to look at. earth's polar extremes are bearing _ important to look at. earth's polar extremes are bearing the - important to look at. earth's polar extremes are bearing the brunt i important to look at. earth's polar extremes are bearing the brunt of| extremes are bearing the brunt of climate change. temperatures were

pushed up to a0 celsius above average and the arctic is warming two to four times faster than the rest of the planet. in april, united nations scientists set out plans to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 celsius this century. they said it is now or never to limit warming, and there must be rapid deep and immediate cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. immediate cuts in carbon dioxide emissions-— immediate cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. ., ., emissions. some government and business leaders _ emissions. some government and business leaders are _ emissions. some government and business leaders are saying - emissions. some government and business leaders are saying one . business leaders are saying one thing but doing another. simply put, they are lying. and the results will be catastrophic. the they are lying. and the results will be catastrophic.— they are lying. and the results will be catastrophic. the most powerful storms on earth _ be catastrophic. the most powerful storms on earth produce _ be catastrophic. the most powerful storms on earth produce lightning, | storms on earth produce lightning, with over 3 million flashes around the globe every day. in february, the globe every day. in february, the world meteorological association announced it had verified to new world records for lightning mega flashes. the longest duration for a single flash, just over 17 seconds in a thunderstorm in south america, and the longest distance for a

single flash covering over 750 kilometres in the southern usa. these flashes were observed by new satellite technology, geo stationery lightening mappers. the mappers reveal more about the scale of lightning than traditional ground—based detectors. the? lightning than traditional ground-based detectors. they are 0 tical ground-based detectors. they are optical sensors — ground-based detectors. they are optical sensors so _ ground-based detectors. they are optical sensors so you _ ground-based detectors. they are optical sensors so you can - ground-based detectors. they are optical sensors so you can think i ground-based detectors. they are j optical sensors so you can think of it as, you know, a camera on your mobile phone, it detects, it covers a large domain, north and south america, and adjacent oceans. and it is also a high—speed camera so it takes a snapshot from above the thunderstorm. every two ms. that gives you 500 frames per second. and ed continuously observes, you know, lightning activity, and it operates in a very narrow band of infrared

frequency, so whenever there is lightning in the cloud, the satellite sensor will see where it started and how it propagates and the cloud and where it ends. it is exciting, though, we have the technology to observe and appreciate the beauty of it. my initial thought was that studying satellite lightning was the best thing that i have ever done. riliilur lightning was the best thing that i have ever done.— lightning was the best thing that i have ever done. our time is almost u . have ever done. our time is almost u- here have ever done. our time is almost uo here on — have ever done. our time is almost uo here on the _ have ever done. our time is almost up here on the isle _ have ever done. our time is almost up here on the isle of— have ever done. our time is almost up here on the isle of wight - have ever done. our time is almost up here on the isle of wight but. up here on the isle of wight but back with me is annette. what drives you to be part of this? i back with me is annette. what drives you to be part of this?— you to be part of this? i was a nurse on _ you to be part of this? i was a nurse on the _ you to be part of this? i was a nurse on the mainland - you to be part of this? i was a nurse on the mainland and . you to be part of this? i was a nurse on the mainland and a i you to be part of this? i was a i nurse on the mainland and a few years ago i decided to volunteer in the hopes that it would make me a better sailor, and i learnt so much marine chow chow, the radio, getting my vhf licensed, and generally

working with an eclectic bunch of volunteers. working with an eclectic bunch of volunteers— volunteers. have you got any particularly — volunteers. have you got any particularly memorable - volunteers. have you got any - particularly memorable incidents while you have been unshared here? we had an interesting morning, it was fairly quiet, a bit foggy, and one of our localfishing was fairly quiet, a bit foggy, and one of our local fishing vessels lost its motor and heard on the radio, listening on channel 16, that it needed a tow, and very gratefully the boat next to it actually managed to tow it back so that was good, it wasn't an incident that was turning nasty, that was a very easy to do. and about an hour later, a plane flew really, really low over the watchtower, a member of the public had phoned in and thought they had seen a plane crash but in fact it had banked very sharply and hit the cloud. �* ., ,., ., cloud. although something here to kee ou cloud. although something here to keep you on _ cloud. although something here to keep you on your— cloud. although something here to keep you on your toes. _ cloud. although something here to keep you on your toes. annette, . keep you on your toes. annette, thank you for showing us around today, thank you to the team at the nci. thank you for carrying out this

vital work, thank you to all the volunteers. and that is it. if you are doing a programme about winscombe he wanted to be windy, you wanted to be windy, but this is something else. whatever the weather where you are, we will be back later in the year with another programme. lintil we will be back later in the year with another programme. until then, aoodb e. with another programme. until then, goodbye. goodbye. _ a fine afine dry a fine dry weather through the course of the easter weekend for many of us, perhaps a bit of rain later on easter sunday and into easter monday but for good friday, the morning mist and murk we have seen across eastern england and

scotland tending to clear away. still murky around the irish sea coasts and hills and a few splashes of rain for northern ireland but most places avoiding any isolated showers, and temperatures doing well, in the mid to high teens, we could see 21, possibly 22 down towards the south—east. light when they're largely dry conditions overnight tonight. always more cloud, there could be low cloud and mistiness again in the north and in the west but clearer skies for eastern england and it is here that temperatures wilful lowest. a first restart to your saturday, and a bit like today, the low cloud and mistiness that we have around some northern and western areas will tend to bend back and it will brighten up through the day so light winds, sunny spells, and warm with temperatures between 13 to 19, possibly 20 degrees. bye—bye.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: the flagship of russia's black sea fleet has sunk, after an explosion on wednesday. ukraine claims it hit the moskva with missiles, but russia says the ship sank after a fire. in an exclusive bbc interview in his war bunker, ukraine's president says continuing attacks from russia are damaging chances of a peace deal bucha is in this process closing these possibilities. bucha, borodyanka, mariupol. so i don't have, you know, it's not about me, it's more about russia. the first asylum seekers could be flown from the uk to rwanda in weeks, according to the british

government. the scheme aims to deter people crossing the english channel,