across most of the snow has fallen across northern parts of the uk, in particular northern scotland, where we have snow and ice tonight. tomorrow will not be a good day for travelling in southern parts of the uk. all that cold arctic air has swept southwards and at the same time, this cloud is coming in from the atlantic, and that would take rain, sleet and snow eastwards across southern england and south wales overnight. there could be a couple of centimetres of snow up into the m4 corridor. further north, temperatures will be much lower, especially in the scottish glens. we start with that cold and wintry wet weather in southern england. it moves away quickly, but we see more wet weather coming back into the south—west. further north, northern england, scotland and northern ireland are seeing more sunshine, but it will be a cold day everywhere. let's focus on that wet weather arriving in the south—west. it is moving in more quickly and pushing northwards rapidly. things are going to get nasty through the afternoon into the evening rush—hour as the rain turns more readily to

snow in more areas, and more significant snow as well. there could be five centimetres to ten centimetres in places. that motorway and another area of low pressure comes in from the atlantic and pushes the wet weather northwards during thursday, this time more slowly. there may be rain across southern parts of england, but as you move into north—west and north midlands, we will see more snow arriving. at this stage it is still dry in scotland and northern ireland, but it is still cold here. and we still have the met office one for thursday and into friday. it covers this area. there snow might not get so far north in scotland, but we still have the potential for heavy falls of snow in the pennines, especially as the snow develops more widely in this area on thursday night. thanks, darren. good evening. i'm tt and this is your sports news where we start with football and chelsea are through yto the last eight of the champions league after beating borussa dortmund 2—0 at stamford bridge this evening. chelsea trailed 1—0 from the first leg, so they had to take the game to dortmund and got level

in the tie late in the first half when raheem sterling smashed this in. var then spotted a potential handball and chelsea got a penalty. it seemed as though kai havertz had blown the chance. but dortmund players had encroached into the penalty area so the kick was retaken. and this time havertz put it the right side of the post. that was the goal which took chelsea into the quarter finals 2—1 on aggregate. benfica are through to the last eight of the champions league after a 7—1 aggregate win over club brugge. rafa silva opened the scoring for the home side before goncalo ramos got himself on the scoresheet in first half stoppage time. ramos quickly added a second shortly after the break to put benfica three up on the night. a flurry of goals would follow, with bjorn meijer grabbing a late consolation for brugge with this superb finish three minutes from time.

the former croatia defender slaven bilic has been sacked as manager of watford, in the championship. the side have won just once in their last 8 games, as they attempt to return to the premier league. it's a 9th manager in less than four years for the second tier club, who are now outside the playoff places, in 9th position. bilic had been there forjust over 5 months. former sheffield united and middlesbrough boss chris wilder has taken over until the end of the season. liverpool fans who attended last year's champions league final in paris will get refunds for their tickets. uefa have announced the scheme after a report found the governing body �*bore primary responsibility�* for chaotic scenes which saw fans tear gassed and prevented from entering the stadium before the game. kick off for the match was delayed by more than half an hour at the stade de france — with some supporters caught in crushes outside the venue. uefa and french authorities initially blamed ticketless fans, but an independent report said there was "no evidence" of that adding it was �*remarkable no

one lost their life". imean, all i mean, all we've ever been seeking is the honesty and truth and justice from uefa. so, money certainly won't heal the hurt of those people who were traumatised or injured or attacked in paris last year. but of itself, it is a real victory for fan activism, the first step on the road for a ua for to accept their culpability because everything before this is been about words and so it is nice to see some action taking place. this is only part of the journey and they had to complete everything else in order to make sure that any fact, whether it is the real madrid or liverpool fan urged any of the future finalists can go to match safely and without fear. football australia say they're hopeful fifa will abandon plans to have saudi arabia's tourism

authority sponsor the 2023 women's world cup which will be held in australia and new zealand. us star alex morgan has voiced her criticism of the plan, saying "morally, itjust doesn't make sense" and she's found support from barcelona and england player lucy bronze: we wa nt we want to be supported by people who share the philosophies and the views that players of the game. support women, which is high sport, high—level football and fully inclusive and we welcome everybody to wear a we would like to think that the people who support us and are pushing the game have similar views and opinions as we do. the closing arguments at cricket's racism hearing have been heard today. yorkshire cricket club and seven individuals are all charged with bringing the game into disrepute. it follows allegations made by former yorkshire player azeem rafiq.

our reporter matt graveling has been following the hearing for us, a warning you may find some of the language offensive: accusing the england and welsh cricket board holding a biased investigation saying it was execution from the outset and they called it wholly inadequate and said that the client, the former england captain as that his life and livelihood is at stake. accused of using racist language and the 2009 aimed that former yorkshire spender and three asian team—mates is alleged that he said there are too many of you a lot and we need to have a word about that. categorically denied using this phrase. butjane said it is inherently probable that vaughn made this comment and reference three tweets to be posted in 2010. he said that these are completely unacceptable. she made the statements in august 2020 and since

he still carries mental scars from a process he delayed starting at the time due to the fear that it would destroy his career. in total, the investigation charge seven members bringing the game into disrepute and what is already admitted his guilt. but five of withdrawn from the disciplinary process. the act accusations include racist language, slurs and nicknames. and the ecb state individual admissions under spread the widespread usage of the county club and they have also been charged. the disciplinary commission panel is not required to consider the evidence and we are expecting theirjudgment before the end of the month. that's all the sport for now.

guide dogs. for thousands of blind and visually impaired people, they're the difference between independence and isolation. she's my best friend, my constant companion, my means of independence. i couldn't imagine my life without rio. since 1931, around 36,000 guide dogs have been matched with visually impaired people. but during the pandemic, the breeding programme shut down overnight. the charity lost a third of its puppy—raising volunteers, and the guide dog service was paused... people like us are needed, so much, to help people like you. ..leaving more than 1,000 people waiting to be matched. it is really, really difficult not having the dog. practically every step you're

thinking, "this is impossible. i don't know how i'm doing with this." but with around 1,100 puppies now in early training, is recovery around the corner? we are hopeful for the future, but we do need a little bit of patience for a little bit longer, as these dogs make their way through the system. we visit puppies at the national breeding centre and ask what needs to be done to fix britain's guide dog shortage. archie! good boy. let's go! meet new arrival archie... good boy! are you my little star? ..and his puppy raiser, lisa. hers is one of more than 2,000 households giving their time for free to help raise guide dog puppies for around a year. it's opened up a whole new world.

i've met lots of new friends, i'm part of... i feel part of a community that i wasn't before. not only that, obviously you're doing something very good, at the end of the day. it sounds exciting, but it's a big commitment. puppies like archie live at home and often need attention around the clock. as much as it's your instant reaction, "puppy, puppy, puppy," you know, "let's go for it. a cute little puppy," you've got to remember that it's a lot of work. it's... being a puppy raiser is hard work, especially at the beginning. volunteers take their puppies with them to everyday places, from restaurants to supermarkets and on buses and trains, to help get them ready for their future working lives. at the end of the day, ijust remember i'm doing this to enable somebody who's not as fortunate as me, that can't see, to actually get some independence. archie, touch! volunteers like lisa are supported by the charity guide dogs,

which works across the uk. lovely. just keep doing exactly what you're doing, rewarding on the left there so he always knows where to come. that's absolutely fantastic. good boy. today, puppy development adviser beth has come to see how lisa and archie are getting on. so the reason that we use hand touch is so when archie is placed with a visually impaired person, obviously they can't see when he's running back, when he's coming, so they can pop out this hand as a target. these routine visits are as much about supporting lisa as they are for training archie, but these are the building blocks he'll need if he's to earn a working harness. good boy! perfect. good boy! learning through play is encouraged... ..but there are some things archie will need to quit before he finishes his training. you're going to have to learn what this is for. but he's just got such a wonderful nature. he's a heart of gold, and hejust loves people. really loves people.

happy times, but every puppy raising volunteer knows that if all goes to plan, the day will come when they have to give them back to guide dogs. later, we'll follow lisa and herfirst pup, fergall, as she hands him in for the next phase of his training. what are the emotions that are going through your head today? if i'm honest, i'd say proud. i think that's my biggest one. so proud of what i've done. really proud of him. voice breaks lisa hopes that both of her dogs will go on to give someone their independence. just proud. forward, rio. forward! go on, then. i couldn't imagine my life without rio. she's so important. she's my best friend, my constant companion, my means of independence, of getting about wherever i want to go, whenever i want to go,

and living the life i want to lead. go forward. good girl. ella caulfield is a first—time guide dog user. she was matched with rio in 2018. good girl. well done. she's very open aboutjust how much she benefits from having a guide dog in her life. she gives me that independence that i do kind of need, and i crave, that i need to live the life i want...| want to lead. she's good for a cuddle at the end of an evening if i've had a bad day, and she's an excellent guide. she's very rarely led me astray. it's not a one—way street, though. ella looks after rio's needs and wants. today, she's grooming and cleaning her coat. it's one of the responsibilities ella has as a guide dog user to make sure that rio is loved, happy and well cared for. if they didn't have each other, ella says she'd never have been able to study maths at oxford university. ella started to lose her sight at four years old. when she was 15, she received some devastating news. i think because it happened

gradually, it wasn't, like, an immediate shock of "you're not going to see again". i was told i had a retinal detachment, and i definitely broke down then. i was with my dad. i can remember him hugging me and the nurses kind of bringing me a cup of water, just kind of comforting me. and then i got booked in for surgery the next day. doctors operated to see if they could save any sight they could, but those attempts failed. nothing came of it. so i've been left withjust minimal light perception in my right eye. but it's...it's not useful. i can only see light if i, like, look directly into the sun or into a light bulb. for ella, a new reality. she learnt new life skills and how to read braille. she applied for a guide dog in may 2017, and then around a year later an exciting call came. it was actually my mum picked up the call, so... i hadn't got home from school yet. my mum picked up the call. it was someone from guide dogs saying, "we've got a match for ella." i think ijust got very

giggly and very kind of... yeah, very excited. like, "yes, this is happening." ella and rio spent around five weeks training with guide dog mobility specialists. can you tell me what it felt like the first time you were guided by rio? i felt lighter. i felt like i was definitely kind of more smiley, more confident. icould... i could move freely and independently without relying on somebody else being there. like many guide dog users, ella would never want to be without a four—legged friend again. just feeling so much more confident and independent and happy that, like, i had this friend with me who was going to be there permanently with me. rio provides such a kind of welfare support to me. ella and rio are one of 3,695 partnerships currently working in the uk. that's down from around 5,000 before the pandemic. more than one in five people who had a guide dog before then now do not.

i honestly think they are doing their absolute best. like me, kelly nasir is waiting to be matched with a new guide dog. we are among more than 1,100 people on the ready—to—train list. kelly's last dog, river, retired eight months ago. her mobility has been seriously impacted. walking with a cane is like walking with one hand tied behind your back. it makes everything harder. not having the dog, that's what makes you feel disabled. because when you have the dog, you just... you get on with things. kelly keeps a busy social and work diary. she's a barrister, but also a mum. not having a dog doesn't only affect her, but her very young daughter. i'm the one who can't take her out when i want to, i have to say, "well, let's wait for daddy," or, "let's wait till we go see nanna and grandad." and i can do everything else she needs and i'm her mummy,

and i love her and i'm the one that's there when she has her nightmares, and i play with her and it doesn't impact on our relationship, but i think it impacts on how i feel about thejob i'm doing as... ..as a mum. watch the tree. so why do guide dog users like me and kelly find ourselves between dogs? puppy: puppy! the answer lies here at the charity's national breeding centre in warwickshire. bill's been explaining to me that the waiting lists are currently a bit longer than guide dogs would like them to be for life—changing guide dogs. purely for research purposes, you understand, i might have to stroke puppies like bill and many, many other puppies. is this the bestjob in the world or what? this is where a guide dog puppy'sjourney begins_ before the pandemic, as many as 1,500 dogs were bred here in a year. in 2020, the breeding programme shut down overnight when social distancing was introduced.

it was the first time in the charity's 92—year history that the guide dog service was suspended. archive: guide dogs show their paces along one - of the centre's obstacle courses. although training techniques have changed over the years, the aim to match visually impaired people with guide dogs has not. archive: and thousands of blind | people who have benefited from it will agree with her. nowadays, the charity trains more assistance dogs than anyone else around the globe. puppy! little ones like paige spend the first weeks of their life here. for them, they're just having fun... she's currently nibbling the camera at the moment. ..but staff are watching closely to see how suited they are to guide work. she's got the brains, for sure. she air kisses puppy. paige! hi, pup! are you a good puppy? yes, you are! look how cute you are! look at those big eyes and floppy ears.

you're such a good puppy! sniff it. 0k! becky and anna are paying close attention to see how paige reacts to human interaction. right... they laugh they're looking to see how she deals with problem solving. yes, she's... she's... she knows. that's a good sign because a guide dog's ability to find their way around a problem is, well, just part of the job. good girl. that's also interesting that she's... she's been to that one, smelled that one. she's like, "mm, it's not there." and she's actually worked out to go to the other one. so, in itself, that's interesting. during the pandemic, all training and breeding here stopped. guide dogs say they needed to protect their staff and volunteers. so that is our puppy reception. it is really unfortunate. our breeding programme is fantastic, it's world—class and it's always been able to produce the number

of puppies that we've required to meet our service users' needs. and unfortunately, that pause in our breeding programme has really affected us. and there's been other combinations as well. bearing in mind that obviously our puppies, when they were out with our amazing puppy—raising volunteers, weren't able to experience the environments that they would experience with a guide dog owner as yourself. so unfortunately, it's been a combination of things that have meant that we haven't produced the number of guide dog partnerships that we really want to. breeding numbers are getting back to normal. in the past year, around 1,000 puppies have passed through here. we are in recovery mode and we are hopeful for the future, but we do need a little bit of patience for a little bit longer as these dogs make their way through the system. as you said, these little puppies here that we saw today, it will take about two years for them to make partnership. around 1,100 puppies are currently in early training. guide dogs says what it needs now is volunteer fosterers who can look after dogs in advanced training, dropping them off and picking them up from the charity's offices on weekdays. our volunteers are our lifeblood.

guide dogs could not do what we do without our volunteers, across the board, across all of our services. and unfortunately, after the pandemic, we did lose a lot of volunteers as people wanted to have a break, being the situation, we also kind of reduced the numbers that were reapplying. so we are at the moment looking very heavily to recruit lots of volunteers, and we've been very lucky that a lot of people have been so generous with their time. come on then, sam. let's go. head. good boy! reporter: after more than eight years of working with sean, - guide dog sammy is set to retire, and sean may have to wait two years for his next dog. that was six months ago. when sammy leaves me, it will leave a huge hole in my heart. a few hours later, sammy left me to retire with family. much of my confidence and mobility left me too that day. sammy is more important to me, and you always will be, sammy. i know you'll always be my boy. a month later and it's clear i was still in trauma.

you are actually quite moved today, aren't you? you know, we... sharing my story is by far the hardest thing i've ever done in my career. the impact, though, has been huge. i would like to say to bbc breakfast viewers, thank you so much to everyone who's already applied to volunteer at guide dogs. since coverage, we've seen a peak in applications. so injanuary alone, we received almost 3,000 volunteer applications. 2,500 of those were to raise puppies, compared with 2,000 for the whole of 2019, the last pre—pandemic year. for lisa's first pup, fergall, it's the end of one journey, but the start of another. all this, i'm packing the three trays up from home. his biscuits that i always give him, half a biscuit at bedtimes. they've been together forjust over a year.

this, i've had it made and had his name put on it, and his id number. she's packing up things that she hopes will remind him of their time together. and his christmas present. i can't tell you what it is — he'll hear! sean laughs the day has come for fergall to start his advanced training. that means lisa must say a painful goodbye. hello! hi! i want him upset as little as possible. they're his toys, he's got his biscuits that he has half a one at night. i mean, if she's generous, she might like to give him one at first, because he deserves it. any time he's not with shelly, working and learning, learning what he's got to do, he'll be in there having a good rest. and then we've got some fab free—running sandpits out the back as well, so we'll show you them, where he can have his downtime and have some good sniffs.

yeah. nice doggy hotel and playground, fergall. this may be a sad time for lisa, but for fergall, a new adventure awaits. here you go, you get big boy lead now. bye—bye, sweetheart. many guide dog users stay in touch with their puppy raisers, but many do not. tearfully: thanks for that. you're welcome. i'll ring you tomorrow. lisa knows this could be the last time she sees fergall. crying: i am fine. woman: you've set me off, anyway. the one question that i get asked all the time or people say to me, all my friends, family, people i meet in the street, "i'd love to do what you're doing, but i couldn't do it, "because i couldn't give the dog back." he's ultra cute. he's a good boy. if i can do it, anybody can do it. as a guide dog user of more than 23 years, i know the theory of what volunteers like lisa go through, but being there for the moment of handover was as beautiful as it was poignant. it's hard, but you've got

to remember why you're doing it. you know, people have to help people. there's not enough of it in this world. we're needed, people like us are needed so much to help people like you. the tears are worth it. hello there. up to now, most of the snow that's been following the been across more northern parts of the uk, especially northern scotland we got some snow and ice are the moment. the court arctic air is across all areas now and coming into the corridor this with front is sliding in from the atlantic and

it's been some wet weather in the mix of sleet and snow, snow towards the m4 corridor and there could be a couple of centimetres in place and time to the early morning rush hour. icy conditions here, clear skies and very cold and frosty temptress to be -13 very cold and frosty temptress to be —13 and the glens of scotland. that weather weather across parts of england and wales moves away fairly quickly it was his more wet weather coming in from the southwest and ulster to turn to snow as well. more cloud across whales, southern england and the mittens for the north, some sunshine, fewer showers and wherever you are, it's going to record day and temperatures of three to 5 degrees. focusing on the weather weather in the southwest, it's moving more quickly and moving a bit further as well. so, we will see the rain turning to sleet and snow more widely during the evening rush hour more significance now in the southwest, it's moving more quickly and moving a bit further as well. so, we will see the rain turning to sleet and snow more widely during the evening rush hour and more significant snow and and

this sun is slowing down a bit on the snowy weather is moving more slowly. some wet weather coming in from the southwest on thursday but it's from the southwest on thursday but its parts of england and wales may have rain in south wales may have rain in southwest and south mittens, turning to snow across north wales, northern england during the afternoon. snow began to arrive here and still dry through much of the day across scotland and northern ireland. this areas the met office issued the heavy snow warning and snow may not go as far north in scotland still potential for some heavy folds of snow over the pet nines in particular with the snow developing a bit more widely in these areas after dark. low—pressure moving as far north and will be left with snow falling on friday across central and eastern parts of england and w bates technical place by brightest guys and again a few more snow showers and still more cold air across the country and in the far

south, around four or five across the country and in the far south, around four orfive is more typical.