one particular area of controversy during the investigation was this revelation by lancashire police last week, reported by danny savage. based on a number of specific vulnerabilities that we were made aware of, nicola was graded as high—risk. they later added that she had significant issues with alcohol due to her struggles with the menopause. today there was a new statement from her family. the decision by lancashire police to put those specific issues of nicola's into the public arena attracted a lot of anger, but so did their widespread airing by the bbc. here's dawn jones.

and richard davis emailed us. after a body was found in the river wyre on sunday morning, there was a further wait of 30 hours before it was identified as nicola's. during that time, correspondence from the bbc and other outlets continued to report from the village. and you know, this village, which is little more than a hamlet, has been the epicentre of national attention for the last three weeks or so. nicola bulley�*s family have

said at times that that has provided a distraction and from their point of view, a real worry that it's taken away from the purpose of, of, of their work and of the police�*s work to find nicola. wendy mackenzie sent us her thoughts on monday lunchtime. later that day, the bbc news channel carried live the press conference confirming that the body was ms bulley�*s, followed by a summary of what had been said by presenter ben brown. a denunciation really of much of the press and media coverage and what the family said was media intrusion into their lives.

these are our lives, they said, and our children's lives. leave us alone. les haw saw that and contacted us with his response. and chris waite summed up his thoughts for us on video. there were multiple repeats of details that had already stressed and upset nicola's family, including social media speculation and her health status. much of the reporting has been of little value and has only helped spiral unwanted attention on an already traumatised family. i would hope this might inform a kinder approach

in the future. well, let's put those points to richard burgess, the director of news content for bbc news. thank you for coming again onto newswatch. richard, can we start with an issue that a viewer, rick, raised? thousands of people go missing every year. why did the bbc give so much attention to this case? i think it was a case that captured the public�*s imagination. we can certainly see that from the audience numbers that we get. and i think that was because people had huge sympathy for the family. they could also relate to nicola and to nicola's story. and there was a kind of element of uncertainty around the circumstances of her death. and i think for that reason it was a story that gathered a lot of attention. there was a bit of a dilemma i think, the family wanted privacy, but also before she was found, they wanted the media's help in getting publicity to solve the case. and i wonder if that makes it impossible to square in terms of coverage?

i think we were very careful to keep in touch with friends of the family to make sure that we were doing the right thing. in regards to the tone and the amount of coverage that we gave, it's certainly true that friends and family wanted some publicity, wanted to find nicola, and gave interviews to the media to that effect. but there's a balance, isn't there? you've got to try and strike the right balance between reflecting that, but also respecting their right to privacy. another issue, the police got a lot of criticism for releasing very private information about ms bulley and then the bbc kept repeating that information. why? well, i think the information itself was relevant. it was released by the police, but also by the family. so that statement also included a statement from the family, which included further details about nicola and about her medical condition. we did report that,

i think that was right because it was one of the facts of the case. but we also, as time went on, started to report fewer details of that and referred to it more as personal issues after a body of that and referred to it more as personal issues. after a body was found, but before it had been identified, the bbc bulletins and news channel were back in the village. reporting from there. wasn't that intrusive? we were careful again not to be intrusive in the way that we dealt with the family... but, by being there? well, i think at that stage the body hadn't been identified as i think some of your viewers said there was a lot of social media speculation. i think in those circumstances and with a story, this level of interest, it's important that we are there but there to provide facts and to do it in a sober and respectful way. we know the family singled out sky news and itv for criticism

in approaching them directly. and not the bbc. but the bbc was there in numbers, adding to the sense of siege for local people, wasn't it? we weren't there in numbers. we were really careful about not doing that. we were careful about only going to the village when there were developments. there often were developments in the story, sometimes directly from the family giving interviews. as i said before, we kept in touch with friends of the family to ensure that we had the right lines of communication. and we tried really hard to get the tone and the volume of our coverage right. there was clearly a kind of huge media circus around this story, around the village, around the family. shouldn't the bbc be able to hold itself back from being quite such a part of it? reporting more from the studio and not from the village? again, i'm going to say there's a balance here because we know there was a lot of public interest in this story. people wanted to know what had happened. but at the same time,

we need to be careful that we don't infringe upon the lives of people who haven't called this upon themselves. this is a really difficult situation for family and friends, and we need to respect that. we tried our best to do that, and i think we did throughout this story. it's going to be a dilemma going forward, too, which is often the rest of the media are covering it in a big way. and one can see the bbc needs to feel it's there as well. but by keeping the story going, crucially in that long period where there was no information, there is a concern that the bbc is inadvertently fuelling the gossip and the rumours that we know were a really distressing part of this case. there's a flip side to that as well, though, isn't there, that we are providing the facts around the case and hopefully some responsible, respectful reporting, you know, soberly telling the story rather than adding to the feverish speculation.

but i say against the mirror, we did try hard notjust to go there when there was nothing to say, we were in the village when there were developments in the story and in the case. and there were quite regular developments, either from the police or from or from the family. richard burgess, thank you so much. before we go, you may have noticed that we've been on the move over the past few weeks as there's some rejigging of the studios going on here at new broadcasting house. this studio, sofa and all is going to become our permanent new home, once we've made a few adjustments. you can let us know what you think of it. and if you want to share your opinions about anything that you see or hear on bbc news, on tv, radio, online or social media, email us. or you can find us on twitter. you can call us. and you have a look at our website for

previous interviews. that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello there. on friday, we had some sunny spells that worked southwards across the uk through the day. it was a lovely end to the day in cumbria — see the blue skies and the setting sun here. wasn't like that everywhere, though. across northeast scotland, we certainly had a lot of cloud, and that cloud thick enough to bring some showers. now, i'm talking about this cloud here in aberdeenshire. that cloud is actually from this cloud sheet you can see here in the north sea. now, this cloud sheet is really very extensive, and if i put on the winds that are blowing that cloud along, those winds will take that cloud sheet in across eastern areas of the country. the big problem is the computer models really aren't doing very well with this cloud. you can see it's nowhere near extensive enough. but i think over the next few hours, we are going to see that cloud

sheets come in across northern and eastern scotland, eastern areas of england, running right up to the pennines, i think, and probably across the east midlands and into parts of east anglia as well. that will keep the frost at bay for these areas. but, further west, we are looking at clear skies and it's going to be a cold night with temperatures down to about “4. now, bear in mind, i think it will be a cloudy day across northern and eastern scotland, and for much of the day, eastern england. the cloud thick enough for an occasional shower, and there'll be a cold northeasterly wind as well. the best of any sunshine will be further west, so west england, wales, northern ireland and west scotland not faring too badly. temperatures, perhaps, actually, close to average or a little bit below even, but it will feel chilly in those cold northeasterly winds. now, heading into the second half of the weekend, the area of high pressure bringing this relatively quiet weather is here to stay. the winds not quite as strong, but they'll be coming straight up the thames estuary, adding to the chill in london. and, once again, there will be extensive cloud across these eastern areas, tending to work inland at times. but again, it's the western side of the british isles that will have the best of the breaks in the cloud

and the best in the day's sunshine. temperatures 7 or 8 celsius. now, into next week, this area of high pressure isn't going to move very far, very fast. the winds change direction a little bit and that will kind of tend to change where the sunny breaks are, but again, i think probably western england, western wales will have some of the best breaks on monday, perhaps a little bit more in the way of cloud filtering through the central belt of scotland, and the largely dry and quiet weather continues for most of next week, with temperatures running more or less near average for the time of year. that's the latest.

this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: on the first anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, president zelensky hails his nation's "year of invincibility", and said it would "do everything to win". translation: it is important for everyone to focus and then we will have victory, because it is on our side. in other news: large parts of southern california are struck by record—breaking blizzards and freezing temperatures. you can see the hollywood sign, which i can assure you is behind me, from miles around, but today, it is blanketed by a wall of fog and dense and