this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. this week on the travel show, fire — and fairness — on a scottish island. i'm a woman, and i have a daughter, who is three, and i would love to see her participate on her own terms. fancy a holiday for free? well, almost. we are looking at canny ways

to travel on the cheap. i was earning very good money, putting frozen pies in a box. you can absolutely fund all this traveljust by moving around and working. and the final curtain at broadway's longest—running show. this is the first show i ever saw on broadway, and it's my broadway debut, so it's a beautiful, beautiful full—circle moment for me. sitting halfway between the scottish mainland and norway, the shetland islands have a unique

combination of cultures, and today, the sleepy town of lerwick is facing an invasion from a long—dormant foe — the vikings. cheering. so this is up helly aa. it is one of a number of viking festivals that take place in shetland every year, and this one, in lerwick, is the biggest. up helly aa is best known for its night—time procession. almost 1,000 people carry flaming torches through the streets, then set fire to a replica viking ship. the day begins with a march through the town, led by the jarl squad, a group of around 60 locals, kitted out in an elaborate viking garb.

i mean, this is serious stuff. yeah. who makes these? almost all of it was done in shetland. there was a design committee. what kind of money are we talking for an individual kit? the viking heritage of shetland is something that most shetlanders are incredibly proud of. a lot of the place names in shetland are of scandinavian origin, and you will hear my accent is this kind of strange amalgam of scots and old norn. those are the roots of language. in the crowd, tourists from across the world. i'm from a little town in oregon, in the middle of nowhere, so here i am, in the middle of nowhere here! the norwegians are here! i love your costume! but, fundamentally, this is a local tradition. there are rules for who can take part, which is why 2023 is a big yearfor up helly aa, because it's

the first time in the history of this beardy, testosterone—fuelled festival that women can join i think it's probably fair to say that the reaction to the announcement was broadly positive, although probably some people still cherish the format of the festival as it was. traditionally, women are the hostesses of the ornate parties that followed the procession. claire has some sympathy for those who want to keep it all as it was. my husband has been in nine jarl squads now. he is a joiner, he is a craftsman. i think it is a shame to forget what pride and delight lots of people involved in making these suits and making this event happen, from the hostesses and the halls, you know, they do those things very, very well, and they love it as it is. but i also, i'm a woman, and i have a daughter, who is three, and i would love to see her participate on her own terms. women and girls have been taking part in other viking festivals around shetland for a few years, but the changes to up helly aa

won't transform it overnight. jarl squad members are nominated 15 years in advance, so they will mostly remain male for a while yet. but the changes will have an immediate impact in thejunior up helly aa, which takes place right before the adult one. i'm on my way to meet one young torchbearer. hello! hi, there. i'm christa. you must be joni. so can you walk along the route with joni, as well? that's great. joni is one of around 30 girls who will be taking part for the first time. what are you looking forward to most? probably throwing the torch into the galley. the torch might get a bit heavy to carry, so we've made these tins, where you put it in, so it lifts some of the weight off you. brilliant. what was it like for you to get the news that women and girls could be included for the first time?

was that quite an exciting thing to find out? yeah, so i think it's just nice, everybody getting the opportunity, especially the young ones, like joni and her friends. yeah, i'm really happy, it's really good that they're letting girls take part. which is brilliant, and can you imagine yourself taking part in the future, and becoming a member of the jarl squad? yeah. would you like to wear the armour? mm. as the day draws to an end in lerwick, the festivities start to heat up. i'm standing here with a lot of proud parents, as the members of thejunior procession light up their torches and get ready to set off across town. hopefully we can catch sight ofjoni. behind the jarl squad, the other revellers are dressed not in viking gear, but in fancy dress, and sure enough, we see lots of girls taking part, including joni.

not long after thejunior procession, it's the grown—ups�* turn. scottish reel music. the atmosphere is brilliant. you've got this singing, lots of shouting. cheering. they've turned off the street lights, so you've just got this torchlight around, but you do have to be a bit cautious, because if a gust of wind comes by, the embers fly from the torches and land on your clothes, so you have to be vigilant, or you will go home with a few holes! as the adult procession passes by, we don't see many women taking part, but any controversy hasn't stopped crowds of people turning out to watch. did you have any feeling yourself about girls being allowed to participate? yeah, well, our boys are involved, we have two

girls, so we are keen they can be involved as well. after a circuit, the procession files into a local play park. you've got the torches going on, i can see viking helmets, the galley going up in flames, the embers above just being blown around in this mad wind. it's an incredible experience! and, who knows, maybe they'll make a viking of me yet? and if you're thinking of heading to shetland anytime soon, here are some travel show tips to help you plan your trip. getting to this remote island is easier than you think. northlink ferries run overnight services, seven nights a week, from aberdeen on the scottish mainland, or kirkwall in 0rkney. it will take you over ten hours though, so if the romanticism of waking up somewhere new doesn't cut

it, then you might prefer the ease of flying, which will only take a couple of hours from most uk cities. it is partly this remoteness of shetland that has allowed for its many archaeological sites to survive over the centuries. there's over 5,000 years of human history scattered across the islands, and clickimin broch is a good place to start. these ancient roundhouses are unique to scotland, and despite intense scrutiny, their origins are shrouded in mystery. and if you're planning to travel to shetland when the days are longer, then try to catch the annual boat race. the event sees sailors take to the waters to do what they do best, and compete against fellow islanders. this year, it takes place onjune 25th. well, do stay with us, because still to come on the travel show, after 35 years and 14,000 performances, we bid a fond farewell to broadway's phantom of the opera.

here in shetland, the fires may have died down, but the night is reallyjust getting started. squads and spectators will come to public spaces, like this school, where they will refuel with some food, and let's face it, probably a drink or two, before heading on through for a bit more good old—fashioned viking revelry. around a dozen of these parties take place all around lerwick. we've got some vikings on the walls, in case you forgot where you are. after the procession, squads of torchbearers visit each hall to perform a skit, and with more than a0 squads to get through, the festivities stretch well into the wee hours, with a bit of ceilidh dancing thrown in for good measure. scottish reel music.

my name is jamie clarke, and this is the village of new ash green, where i live in the south—east of england with my grandmother. yeah, not too bad. anything good in the paper? there might be more interesting places in the world to see, but this is where my friends and family are. this is home. after two years of uni, it was a three—year course, i condensed it into two, i was shattered by the end, because it was so relentless, and ijust needed a break, and my family suggested applying for a summer campjob near scranton, pennsylvania, in the usa, after a cousin of mine had done it, and he'd had a great time.

i wasn't keen on the idea of working with kids, but it was a means to an end. little did i know it would be the making of me. the kids were absolutely amazing. i got to reuse a lot of my film—making skills from university. we are creating a camp movie, written by me. here's the script for it i've just put together. i went and did four summers after my first one, because ijust loved it so much, especially because at the end of the day, you finish your final day at camp, you get paid, a wallet of cash, and then you've got 30 days to leave the country. first time i went out, i took a group tour, because i was a bit nervous about travelling on my own, and i went from new york down to new orleans with about 12 other people, new orleans all the way across the south, monument valley, we went to the swamps and saw alligators. then we got all the way to vegas, a couple

of days in vegas, then los angeles, hollywood, i got to see hollywood for the first time. it was camp that paid for it all, basically. and unlike camp, where you only do thatjob, in australia you have the working holiday visa. that opens up a lot of doorways. we were literally putting frozen pies in a box, just doing that, eight hours a day, for really, really good money. i earned enough money to do some serious travelling. from the red centre to the great barrier reef, seeing wildlife in its natural habitat, visiting several beautiful islands and beaches, and spending time in the cities on the coast.

one of the big things about travel is that it does cost money, and this is where working becomes really, really important. when i go to america each year, i would pay agency fees and i would pay for my flights. and that does involve a little bit of money, but may be $400 or £500, and then you get paid much more than that over the course of the summer. if you just want to come home, you canjust come home, you don't have to travel, but you're there, why wouldn't you do it? in australia, yes, the flights are a little bit more expensive again, but i was earning very good money putting frozen pies in a box, which kept me funded for months. three months of work, i could live out there by being frugal, but you can absolutely fund all this traveljust by moving around and working. and that's the life, that's the life. next up, we are off to broadway where we are saying goodbye to its longest running show. # the phantom of the opera is there...

it is 35 years since the musical, phantom of the opera, opened in new york breaking records and hearts along the way. so we went in to capture some of the magic as it prepares to take its final bow. i still cry every time i see it. i am a softy, what can i tell you? it has permeated every aspect of pop culture and i think there are very few musicals that can do that. it has been a part of my life for almost half of my adult life. somehow i thought that i the show would be running when i was gone. it is hard to put in words because i love what i do.

this is our working warehouse and we are in new york, i will not tell you exactly where, but we are in new york city and this is where we keep spare costumes that we need to do fittings and stuff. my name is sam flemming and i am the associate costume designer for phantom and i have been with the show since 1989. we did a count about four orfive years ago and at that point we determined about 7000 individual costume pieces were here, so there is a lot. we did not even count the hats and shoes. this is meant to set the stage for everything you are about to see for the next two hours and 20 minutes. this is the level of decor and texture. this is like a cage so i have a lot of steel

going around here. but it makes me very upright which is great. there is definitely something that happens to you as a performer, no matter what happens in the day and once you start the process of getting dressed and putting your make—up on, you stand in the wings and the orchestra starts, something just takes over and it all falls into place. i guess it is theatre magic. iwasjust finishing another show- and i had not seen my daughter in a while — and then i got this - audition through my agent, and i said no, i do not want to do that. - he stopped and turned around in his chair and said _ ben, if you do not do - the audition you will regret it for the rest of your life. i figured a good way of getting out some emotions was to tell my daughter how important it would be if i were to - get the job.

and i got the panic attack out of my system and literally - the phone rang and it was my agent telling me i had it. - it is a frustrating thing, living in a post—pandemic world so that show closing is bittersweet. - welcome to the real phantom's lair. it felt like my years of studying and practice had paid off. this is the first show i ever saw on broadway and it is my broadway debut. so it is a beautiful beautiful full—circle moment for me. it meant that for other people and other young black girls who would come to see me or who would see my face and see me playing this role it meant that they could have a chance and they could see themselves playing a role like this as well. kind of affirming their hopes and dreams in a way that i did not necessarily

have growing up. when the phantom first came to broadway it actually revolutionised the business. there was a spectacle that was never seen before. the whole package. costumes, the music, everything just came together in a package that, to me, is very hard to replicate. phantom happens to be my favourite show of all time and i have seen the show nine times, probably. i plan to see it one more time before they close. you have to be able to close out one's mind from other distractions but the moment you lose focus,

mistakes can happen. the night starts in the day for me, usually. i am grateful and lucky to be doing what i love with this incredible group of people around and i think if i, if 17—year—old greg had known what was in store i'm not quite sure he would have believed it. the chandelier has been through a lot with this over the years but it has held up. all the circuitry is intact, we have never burnt out one piece of wire. i hope she gets a place in a museum somewhere. welcome to the phantom. i've been working in this theatre for 38 years. i started before the phantom. i feel proud for working and meeting thousands of people

every week from around the world. people know me, sometimes by name. opening chords to phantom of the opera play. coming closer now to these final performances i feel an enormous amount of gratitude and ifeel honoured. there is nothing not to love about it.

it is all challenging and all wonderful and i am so lucky to be able to work on it. i do feel like broadway loses part of its foundation with the show closing. idon't know how i will feel the day after the final- performance. it is going to be - an emotionaljourney. pride is an understatement as to what i would feel. this show is much bigger than the rest of us and it has been a wonderful, wonderful ride indeed. and that is it for the programme this week. we will be back before you know it when... lucy explores brixton in south london

to find out how 75 years ago the arrival of one ship from the caribbean changed this corner of the capital forever. we've got the pans, we've got the fire, it just screams caribbean and i love it. in the meantime do follow us on social media where you will find great travel content from around the bbc. but for now, i am off to find a nip of whiskey to try and ward off this cold. see you next time. hello there. we're starting off with the weather news that february was a very dry month across the whole of the uk, but particularly so in england.

the driest in england for 30 years, and parts of essex only had 3.5 millimetres of rain for the whole month. now, this is the satellite picture from wednesday. you can see the extent of the cloud across the uk, but look closely, we've got some clearer skies set to head into northwest scotland and some clearer skies over the continent that are set to break the cloud across east anglia, the south midlands and southern counties of england as well. whereas this thick cloud out in the north sea, that's going to continue to bring outbreaks of rain over the next few hours. light and patchy stuff across the south and east of scotland and northern england. so, certainly some pretty damp weather here, albeit the rain not particularly heavy. now where the skies do clear, we're looking at a widespread frost towards the southeast east. lowest temperatures about —2 and down to about “i! in the highlands of scotland in the coldest spots. now, we'll take a look at the charts then for thursday. remember, we've got that much thicker cloud across northern england, southern eastern scotland. still some patches of light rain to come through the morning, so quite a damp start to the day. best of the sunshine across southern england, the south midlands, southern wales and also north

west scotland, and maybe some breaks in the cloud getting into northern ireland at times. temperatures not really changing much, in what we've seen over recent days, 8 to 10 degrees, but feeling cooler than that in the chilly northeasterly wind that we've still got. i think on friday, by and large, it should be a dry and bright day for most of us, with some sunny spells breaking through at times. temperatures not really changing a great deal, we're looking at highs again around 8 or 9 degrees celsius or so. now, there will be some changes in the weather pattern as we head into this weekend. what we're looking at on saturday is probably a bit more cloud coming back in from the north sea and sunday, the cloud thickens further to bring us some patchy outbreaks of light rain. and, so, probably a dry day on saturday, bright conditions sunday, the chance of a few patches of rain from time to time, but nothing particularly heavy. beyond that, the weather gets a bit more interesting into next week. what happens is we get northerly winds bringing polar air southwards across the uk, and with that there'll be a significant drop in temperatures, we'll see a return of widespread

night—time frost. will be a bit of sunshine around, but, also, for some of us, we're looking at a return of wintry weather with snow in the forecast for some of you. that's the latest.

welcome to bbc news. i'm lisa—marie misztak. our top stories: was it a lab leak after all? the fbi says it's most likely covid originated in this facility in china. more than a0 dead after two trains colliding greece. it's been described as the worst rail disaster the country has ever seen. we could be on the verge of a water crisis. the french government warning as europe's winter drought goes on. my warning as europe's winter drought goes on.— warning as europe's winter drought goes on. my bad habits lead to yom _ drought goes on. my bad habits lead to you. and _ drought goes on. my bad habits lead to you. and thinking - drought goes on. my bad habits lead to you. and thinking out i lead to you. and thinking out loud. lead to you. and thinking out loud- the _ lead to you. and thinking out loud. the singer— lead to you. and thinking out loud. the singer ed - lead to you. and thinking out loud. the singer ed sheeranl loud. the singer ed sheeran opens up about using music to cope with depression.