�*of �* of showers �*of showers around but we have plenty of showers around and there is more of those to come. rainfall totals continue to tot up and there are quite a few places that have seen one and a half times the march average rainfall. with the unsettled weather pattern we have got, i reckon there will be some places that get double the march rainfall average before we finish the month. at the moment we have a band of cloud working in off the atlantic. this is bringing widespread, heavy outbreaks of rain. the rain sweeping its way and across northern ireland, getting into scotland, england and wales. it tends to clear from the west later in the night, only to be followed by some fairly blustery showers. a mild night, temperatures and england and wales are nine to ii, night, temperatures and england and wales are nine to 11, scotland and northern ireland, slightly fresher air moving and later in the night. tomorrow, another unsubtle kind of day. we have some strong wind working into western scotland, with isobars pinching together. that will accelerate the wind up two gusts of 75 mph, western scotland in the morning, strong enough to bring localised disruption. rain clears eastern england and that we are all

in the same boat. a day of sunshine and heavy showers with thunderstorms. at least one benefit of the strong wind is that the showers don't last in any one place for any length of time, really. we got more of the showers to come as we head into thursday. again, some will turn heavy with hail and thunder. still fairly windy as well. temperatures still on the mild side with south—westerly winds dragging mild air from the south. a0 with south—westerly winds dragging mild airfrom the south. a0 or 50 celsius also. into thursday night, we might see some more general rain pushing into eastern england. it stays very unsettled in the west with further showers. there is not a great deal changing with the weather pattern through friday on the weekend. loads more showers on the way with colder air in northern scotland. some of the showers will start to turn wintry. thanks, chris. there's more analysis of the day's main stories on newsnight with kirsty wark which isjust getting underway on bbc two. the news continues here on bbc one as now it's time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are, but from the ten

team it's goodnight. hello there, i'm gavin ramjaun with your update from the bbc sport centre. roy hodgson says his sole objective is to "get crystal palace winning football matches again — to keep them in the premier league". the former england manager roy hodgson will take up the reins at selhurst park once again, less than two years after he left, replacing patrick vieira after he was sacked on friday. but is hodgson right for thejob? fans are divided — asjoe lynskey reports. roy hodgson! in may 2021, roy hobson said goodbye- — roy hodgson! in may 2021, roy hobson said goodbye- he _ roy hodgson! in may 2021, roy hobson said goodbye. he had _ roy hodgson! in may 2021, roy hobson said goodbye. he had spent _ roy hodgson! in may 2021, roy hobson said goodbye. he had spent four- said goodbye. he had spent four years at crystal palace, but for club and coached, it was time for change. he was the boyhood fan who kept his team at the top — now with palace three points from safety, they want him to go again. at age

75, he's been reappointed and said in a statement... since that day, hodgson has been tempted back before. he took charge of watford in january last year. 18 games, he wonjust of watford in january last year. 18 games, he won just twice. of watford in january last year. 18 games, he wonjust twice. his of watford in january last year. 18 games, he won just twice. his team had gone down, his farewell had turned sour. it’s had gone down, his farewell had turned sour.— had gone down, his farewell had turned sour. �* , ., ., _ ., ., turned sour. it's not easy for me to wean myself _ turned sour. it's not easy for me to wean myself off — turned sour. it's not easy for me to wean myself off football _ turned sour. it's not easy for me to wean myself off football because . wean myself off football because it's been such a massive part of my life for a6 years. for the guys who have been out there, i have seen them suffering on the touchline, and maybe that'll make me feel like i did the right thing by leaving the suffering to others. we did the right thing by leaving the suffering to others.— did the right thing by leaving the suffering to others. we won't see you suffering _ suffering to others. we won't see you suffering on _ suffering to others. we won't see you suffering on the _ you suffering on the touchline again. — you suffering on the touchline again, will be? i you suffering on the touchline again, will be?— you suffering on the touchline again, will be? i don't think so, no. if again, will be? i don't think so, n0- if there _ again, will be? i don't think so, no. if there was _ again, will be? i don't think so, no. if there was any _ again, will be? i don't think so, no. if there was any doubt, - again, will be? i don't think so, i no. if there was any doubt, palace of ste- no. if there was any doubt, palace of step them _ no. if there was any doubt, palace of step them just _ no. if there was any doubt, palace of step them just stepped - no. if there was any doubt, palace of step them just stepped in. - no. if there was any doubt, palace l of step them just stepped in. pesek

rivera took them to a cup final but they haven't won in 12 games. hodgson has put in charge for the debts to the end of the season and palace have hit reset.— palace have hit reset. palace fans will be so divided _ palace have hit reset. palace fans will be so divided with _ will be so divided with disappointment. roy is such a wonderful guy, so experienced and he's so love and respect it at palace. but he's 75 years old, we're supposed to be moving forward. i'm still reeling from riviera's sacking, but we were sleepwalking into relegation. and just being in this magic circle in the premier league is such an honour and privilege for palace. personally at the end i privilege for palace. personally at the end i was _ privilege for palace. personally at the end i was riviera _ privilege for palace. personally at the end i was riviera out, - privilege for palace. personally at the end i was riviera out, but - privilege for palace. personally at | the end i was riviera out, but if he said we _ the end i was riviera out, but if he said we wiii— the end i was riviera out, but if he said we will be going back to roy hudson. — said we will be going back to roy hudson. i— said we will be going back to roy hodson, i think i would've rather stuck— hodson, i think i would've rather stuck with— hodson, i think i would've rather stuck with riviera. i'm really fond of roy. _ stuck with riviera. i'm really fond of roy. hut— stuck with riviera. i'm really fond of roy, but we did move away from him for— of roy, but we did move away from him for a _ of roy, but we did move away from him for a reason. of roy, but we did move away from him fora reason. so of roy, but we did move away from him for a reason. so going back to roy now— him for a reason. so going back to roy now after having a season of playing _ roy now after having a season of playing more aggressive football, it does feel_ playing more aggressive football, it does feel like a backward step. hodgson — does feel like a backward step. hodgson has been a coach since 1976. there have been highs and lows. but

their countries and continents, it's at policies most at home. so good was his first spell, he got the freedom of croydon — now south london hopes the man five years off his 80s can steer them to safety. zielinski, bbc news. ——joe wolinsky. tottenham midfielder pierre—emile hojbjerg says his manager antonio conte needs to be "more precise," following the italian's outburst on saturday. after tottenham gave up a two—goal lead against bottom club southampton, conte called his players "selfish" and criticised the club's culture. it's now expected that conte will not be in place for tottenham's next game at everton on the 3rd of april. 0n the pitch, arsenal's women face an uphill battle if they're to reach the semi finals of the champions league. they lost the first leg of their quarter final tie 1—0, away at bayern munich, lea schuller with the goal. arsenal haven't reached the semi—finals of the competition in a decade, and have been knocked out at this stage in each of the last three years. the second leg is next week. 0n the international stage, it's a big week for the home nations as they get their qualifying campaigns for euro 202a under way.

england start in naples against italy on thursday — the team that beat them on penalties in the final of euro 2020. england haven't beaten italy, in italy, for over 60 years. england will then be action again on sunday at wembley, when they face ukraine. i think these are two perfect fixtures for us. you know, these are the kinds of nations that we want to be beating. we have to be beating them if we want to win the major trophies. so we will have to play them in the next 12—13 months, whether it's in the qualifiers or the tournament. so you know, two great games and there's no better way for us to start the campaign. meanwhile, northern ireland also begin their campaign on thursday away in san marino, in what will be michael 0'neill�*s first game back since being re—appointed as manager in december last year. 0'neill led northern ireland to theirfirst european championships in 2016, and they went on to reach the knockout stages — but 0'neill says he knows his task this time around is very different.

i'm getting to know some of these lands, they were very young players when i was last in this position, and it's great to see them here now, the likes of conor bradley, taylor, for example — all lads under 15—16 at the time, so it's a very positive thing for us to see that development. we have to prepare the team very quickly for a game on thursday night. and we do as much as we can on the grass, but obviously we can on the grass, but obviously we have to keep players fresh to play. and scotland have called up blackburn rovers defender dominic hyam for the first time ahead of their euro qualifiers, replacing the injured jack hendry. scotland host cyprus on saturday, and then spain on tuesday. away from football — england's alice capsey played a key role for the delhi capitals, as they moved a step closer to an historic win. she took three wickets with the ball, then scored 3a as delhi chased 139 to beat up warriorz and win with 13 balls to spare to reach the final of the inaugural women's premier

league. delhi will face either the up warriorz or the mumbai indians, who face each other in an eliminator on friday. it's been a day of mixed emotions for veteran snooker playerjimmy white. the 60—year—old rolled back the years to beat former world champion and world number five judd trump a—2, to reach the last 16 of the world snooker tour classic. but his tournament ended just a few hours later when he was beaten by china's pang junxu, losing a—i. and that's all the sport for now. we will have more later on, see you then. this is bbc news. we'll have all of the headlines and main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. 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. 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. 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 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 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 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. 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 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. 0ur 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. 0ur 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 poppies — 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. scotland had its warmest day of the year so far on tuesday, with temperatures reaching 16 celsius in fyvie castle, in aberdeenshire. overall, it was a brighter kind of day, but we still had a number of showers around and those rainfall totals continue to mount up. of course, it's already been a wet month. there are quite a few places now that have seen more than one and a half times the march average rainfall, but there's loads more to come. and, indeed, as we look at this satellite picture,

we've got a current batch of rain falling from this cloud, working its way eastwards right now. and the rain's quite heavy, actually, across parts of scotland, england and wales. it will be clearing over the next few hours in northern ireland, but we'll have some heavy showers flowing in here. all the while, southwesterly winds will be picking up in strength. of course, it means it's going to be a mild start to the day on wednesday, temperatures for some into double figures. but for wednesday, it is another unsettled one. more rain around. and we're going to see some strong winds particularly affecting western scotland. it's here where, through the morning, we could see gusts of around 75mph for a time, so potentially seeing some disruption from those very strong winds. elsewhere, it will be blustery, gusts of wind generally around a0—50mph. and it is a day of sunshine and showers — the showers will be heavy and thundery at times, but at least they won't hang around. they'll be blown across the sky pretty quickly, thanks to those strong winds. another mild one, temperatures up to 1a—15 celsius. thursday sees another showery day and, again, the showers will be heavy,

some of them with a bit of thunder mixed in. temperatures still on the mild side and anotherfairly blustery kind of day, the winds still coming in from a southwesterly direction. now, thursday night, we may well see a more prolonged spell of rain work into parts of eastern england, and certainly it looks pretty wet across western areas of the uk as well. well, that sends us on to friday's forecast and the low pressure is still with us. still fairly brisk winds around, still loads and loads of showers, some of them heavy with hail and thunder. 0ur temperatures just coming down a little bit across northern scotland — highs of around eight or nine degrees here — but otherwise, we're staying into double figure temperatures. now, for the weekend, we're going to start to get some slightly cooler air just working into northernmost areas of scotland. there will be more showers around, so for most of us, it's more of the same, really. but across the far north of scotland, we'll start to see some of those showers turn wintry for a time.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm monica miller. the headlines: the presidents of russia and china signal their shared interests on trade and political ties and discuss a possible road to peace in ukraine. while in ukraine, japan's prime minister kishida voices his country's support for kyiv in the war. speculation, political posturing but no arrests, as donald trump's self—announced date for indictment comes and goes. and another night of volatile protests in france, after president macron's government forced controversial pension reforms through parliament. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news.