on the edge of zagan forest, british airmen prepare to make a dash forfreedom.200 prisoners of war queued up for what they hoped would be the largest ever mass escape. a story brought to us by some of hollywood's biggest stars. working in secret, teams of prisoners had spent months tunnelling through the sandy soil, whilst others prepared civilian clothes and forged identity papers. thanks to the efforts of local polish volunteers, it's still possible to get a taste of what the real—life escapers went through. this reconstruction may not contain the hazards of the great escape tunnel but it does give me a real sense of the claustrophobia and the effort that must have been needed to haul those men 100 metres to the tunnel exit. when you get to the bottom of the shaft, you will be put on or get onto a trolley and you will be hauled up to the other end. you also know that there are people going out, steadily or not so steadily, according to what the goons are doing on the other side of the wire. but the tunnel, codenamed "harry", hadn't reached the tree line. just

robert hall is at the site of the camp in zagan in western poland. it is an extraordinary story.at was on the wire, which is where the germans would have been sheltering that snowy night in 19aa, and below me is the line of the tunnel codenamed harry through which the escapers for old or were carried on trolleys during that night. it is about 100 metres and virtually under the noses of the german guards. we follow it along now and you can see right at the far round the line of trees. they were not there but there was forest at the time and you can probably see that little stone just ahead of the trees where the tunnel ended, just short of the trees, which means that of course those men were coming out of course those men were coming out of that hole in plain view of the centuries. they had to wait until the sentries had finished passing and then use a system of tugs on a rope to tell them to come out one at a time. but it was the sentry who went to relieve himself in the trees who stumbled across one of the prisoners at the point when the 76th man had got out. so the 200 that hop

robert hall, bbc news, zagan. now on bbc news sport today.ndsay, live from the bbc sport centre. hello there. on this programme: the headline clash in football's euro qualifiers yields five goals and a last—minute winner. netherlands v germany. and african football too. there's miami 0pen tennis, asjohn isner makes it through to round four, despite being broken in the first set. and it's all about fingers, rather than feet — the premier league players in a world of pixels, potentially about to earn thousands. welcome to the programme. football's international window's given us an early crunch match in the european championship qualifiers, as germany's visit to amsterdam provided the stand—out tie in group c. and they were 2—0 up by half—time. leroy sane opening the scoring after 15 minutes. before serge gnabry curled a beauty, his 5th goal in six internationals. but the netherlands drew leveljust after the hour mark, after matthijs de ligt halved the deficit. memphis depay equalised — three goals in two games for the winger. both sides presse

robert hall, bbc news, zagan. that's it from me. glorious sunday. further north a different story, we have had stronger wind and shower, thanks to this area of low pressure which is continuing to clear off into the north sea. it looks like it will be a windy end to the day, certainly for the first part of the night in the north east of scotland with showers dying away. as the high pressure builds the winds turn light as the night wears on with clear sky, it will be a chilly one. central northern areas a touch of frost out—of—town. monday we are starting the weaken a chilly note but dry with sunshine around. so a nice picture in fact through the day for much of england and wales, apart from a bit of cloud developing into the afternoon. further knorr we have a weak frontal system bringing thicker cloud to much of scotland, so thicker cloud to much of scotland, $03 thicker cloud to much of scotland, so a dull day, a few showery bursts of rain in the north and west but milder than what we have had today, temperatures reaching 10 or 11,

luft 3 and the last escaper has left us, but their story is still being told, under the tall pines of zagans see what it is going to be like here. good afternoon. some decent sunshine today across england and wales were the best of it has been. further north for scotland and northern ireland some speckled cloud, shower cloud, extensive. they are working south. the risk of a few showers getting into northern england and north wales in the afternoon. the best sunshine in the south. temperatures up to 14 in cardiff and london. this evening and overnight still a few showers across north—western areas and a bit of patchy cloud. that should keep it from getting too cold in belfast, looking at overnight lows around five or six. further east with clearing skies one or two for edinburgh and newcastle. the countryside cold enough for some frost. a chilly start for some on monday. plenty of sunshine initially but things cloud over from the north—west. showing northerly winds keeping the eastern coasts of the toe on the cool side. now it is time for the week in parliament. hello, there, and welcome to

robert hall, bbc news, zagan. now, it's time for a look at the weather. hello there.enty of sunshine and light winds too but a different story across scotland and parts of northern ireland. stronger winds here, particularly across the north of scotland with lots of showers. but high pressure will be building in so the winds will be gradually getting lighter across northern and north—eastern areas as the night wears on, taking the showers away as well so most places will be dry with lengthy clear spells. it will feel quite chilly by the end of the night through central and northern areas, temperatures no lower than four to six degrees across the south. we start monday off on a cool note but dry and bright, plenty of sunshine around. lighter winds too. we will have this warm front moving into scotland and that will bring thicker cloud at times, a few showery bursts of rain, but it will be a slightly milder day across scotland, 10 or 11 degrees. across the south and south—east, 13 celsius and a glorious afternoon. throughout much of next week, high pressure dominates the

luft 3 and the last escaper has left us, but their story is still being told, under the tall pines of zaganis forest has always been a special place for the raf, they helped reconstruct the guard tower here and a replica of the hub from which the escape was launched and they will be at the heart of the ceremony herejust they will be at the heart of the ceremony here just beside where tunnell harry came to an end. an raf contingent consisting in part of raf police who played such an important pa rt police who played such an important part in bringing the murderous, as certainly everybody saw them at the time, tojustice. they will be joined by a contingent from the polish army. this is a special place for poland as well and they are all here to remember the courage of the escapers but also that terrible loss of life. robert, thank you very much. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. a beautiful springlike day across much of england and wales, not much cloud and a lot of spring sunshine but further north it's a different story, gusts of wind 40—50 mph and a rash of showers

robert hall is at the site of the camp in zagan in western poland.morning. if! had been standing here in march 19aa, i would have been standing inside heart 10a, the spot from where the escape began. it was one of three tunnels, this is harry. the others were tom and dick. they extended out under the wire. 0n the top of this commemorative slab marking the root of the names of the escape is. those in the blue are the ones that were recaptured. those in black 50 murdered by the gestapo. look at how far the tunnel stretches, right into the trees in the distance. the conditions are down here were terribly hard. it is a sandy soil and it collapses. they topped it up with wood from their beds and what they could find. it also leads to they could find. it also leads to the spot where the commemorations will be taking place later today. commemorations that began last night with an event which reminded us all of what happened in march 19aa. let's have a look at it. on the edge of zagan forrest, british airmen prepared to make a dash for freedom. a story that

robert hall, bbc news, zagan. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav.t was a glorious sundae across much of england and wales, plenty of sunshine and light winds but different across scotland and northern ireland, a lot of showers. how fresh it will be building in and the winds will get lighter across north—eastern areas as the night wears on and taking the showers away so wears on and taking the showers away so most places will be dried with lengthy clear spells. chile by the end of the night in central and northern areas, temperatures between four and northern areas, temperatures between fourand 6 northern areas, temperatures between four and 6 degrees in the south. we start monday on a cool note but i am bright with plenty of sunshine, lighter winds and this warm front moving into scotland will bring thicker cloud at times and a few showers but it will be milder in scotland. 13 celsius in the south—east, a glorious afternoon. high pressure dominates much next week drier air coming off the continent so quite a bit of sunshine and temperatures will res