:00:00. > :00:00.Hello, Jenny here with Friday's Newsround, and as these LIVE
:00:07. > :00:12.pictures show, the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Winter Games has just
:00:13. > :00:15.started. Much more on Sochi coming up, plus...
:00:16. > :00:28.We'll bring you the very latest on the flood hit South West of England.
:00:29. > :00:31.This is Newsround. We're starting in Sochi, where the
:00:32. > :00:33.Winter Olympics are well and truly underway! These are live pictures
:00:34. > :00:37.from the opening ceremony, which kicked off just a few minutes ago.
:00:38. > :00:40.Over the next 16 days, almost 3,000 athletes from 87 countries will be
:00:41. > :00:44.competing for 98 gold medals. But the Games have come at a price. At
:00:45. > :00:48.?30 billion, they've cost more than the combined total of all the other
:00:49. > :00:56.Winter Olympics that have ever been held! BBC Sport's Andy Swiss sent us
:00:57. > :00:59.this from Sochi. We have been promised the most ambitious opening
:01:00. > :01:05.ceremony in Olympic history. There will be singing, dancing, music,
:01:06. > :01:08.3000 performers, 22 tonnes of fireworks. It should be a
:01:09. > :01:14.spectacular affair. Team GB will be led into the stadium by their flag
:01:15. > :01:18.bearer, John Healey, a speed skater. After the problems, the Troubles in
:01:19. > :01:21.the build-up to the Olympics, the organisers, you sense, will be
:01:22. > :01:24.relieved to see them finally underway.
:01:25. > :01:27.But it's not just the slopes of Sochi that are brimming with
:01:28. > :01:30.excitement. Right here in the UK, some of you lot are getting geared
:01:31. > :01:33.up for a thrilling Games. Ayshah's hit the slopes to check out what
:01:34. > :01:37.you're looking forward to. These kids at this snow centre in
:01:38. > :01:50.Manchester sure know how to have a good time and they can't wait for
:01:51. > :01:54.the Winter Olympics. So, who is excited about the Winter games?
:01:55. > :02:04.Great stuff. What are you looking forward to? Ice-skating. I the dance
:02:05. > :02:14.moves they do. Snowboarding. The tricks are epic. From all around the
:02:15. > :02:25.world, millions will be watching the chills, thrills and spills of the
:02:26. > :02:28.Winter Olympics. Go Team GB! It looks like the party's well
:02:29. > :02:32.underway in Sochi, and it'll continue into the weekend so to make
:02:33. > :02:35.sure you don't miss out on anything. Here's Martin with his Weekend
:02:36. > :02:38.Winter Olympics Ones to Watch! At 8am on Saturday the woman's ice
:02:39. > :02:41.hockey gets started. The first match sees tournament favourites USA
:02:42. > :02:45.against Finland. At 8.45 you'd be crazy to miss Billy Morgan leading
:02:46. > :02:51.GB's medal charge in the men's slope style final. He might fancy his
:02:52. > :02:54.chances now that favourite Canadian Mark McMorris is competing with a
:02:55. > :02:57.broken rib. Ouch! Biathlon's next at 2.30, a mix between cross-country
:02:58. > :02:59.skiing and shooting and the men's 10K sprint.
:03:00. > :03:02.On Sunday, set your alarm clocks for 7am to catch the men's downhill
:03:03. > :03:06.skiing, with some athletes reaching a staggering 80 miles per hour.
:03:07. > :03:09.Women's slopestyle is at 9.15 - watch out for GB medal hopeful Jenny
:03:10. > :03:16.Jones. And at 3pm, group figure skating will see the pro's show off
:03:17. > :03:19.their sequins. Brrrrrrilliant! And the Winter Olympics coverage
:03:20. > :03:22.doesn't stop there. Get your skates on and head over to the website,
:03:23. > :03:26.where there's news about an injury to one of Team GB's stars,
:03:27. > :03:32.Newsround's ultimate guide to Sochi, and the five Winter Olympic sports
:03:33. > :03:35.you cannot afford to miss. Next to the south-west of England,
:03:36. > :03:38.where some of the people living in flood-hit Somerset have described
:03:39. > :03:42.the scene as absolute devastation. They've had a visit today from the
:03:43. > :03:45.man in charge of dealing with flooding in the UK. Many people
:03:46. > :03:51.there are angry that Lord Smith has taken weeks to turn up and see the
:03:52. > :03:54.problems for himself. These pictures show the true scale of the flooding.
:03:55. > :03:58.It's getting difficult to travel around the south west of England.
:03:59. > :04:03.This train had to make its way along the tracks surrounded by floodwater.
:04:04. > :04:07.And in the village of Moorland, Royal Marines were called in during
:04:08. > :04:10.the early hours, to help hand out sandbags, to try and stop the
:04:11. > :04:13.flood-waters. Have a guess how old these
:04:14. > :04:17.footprints are? They're older than you think. Amazingly, the prints are
:04:18. > :04:21.800,000 years old! They were found on a beach in Norfolk. They're the
:04:22. > :04:25.oldest footprints ever discovered outside of Africa and were revealed
:04:26. > :04:28.during low tide. Scientists are excited because it's evidence of the
:04:29. > :04:34.earliest ever humans to have lived in Europe.
:04:35. > :04:38.The party continues in Sochi, but that's all I've got time for. Here's
:04:39. > :04:41.a snowy sample of what the world can expect to see coming out of Sochi
:04:42. > :04:44.over the next few weeks. See ya!