21/04/2014 BBC Wales Today

You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.

Good evening. There's been a dramatic rise in the

number of people in Wales diagnosed with the most serious form of skin

cancer. Figures by Cancer Research UK show the rate of people diagnosed

with malignant melanoma here has more than quadrupled over the past

40 years. Carwyn Jones reports. We're a nation of sun-lovers and

after the winter we've had in Wales who can blame the hundreds of people

in Porthcawl today soaking up the Easter sunshine. But prolonged

exposure to UV rays can come at a cost. Geoffrey May lost his wife

Elaine to skin cancer last year. She developed malignant melanoma which

then spread to her gall bladder, her spine and finally to her rain. I

think about her everyday and will do for the rest of my life. I think

about wish I could do any more. Malignant melanoma is the most

serious form of skin cancer. In women the most common place for it

to develop is on the legs; in men it's on the chest and the back. The

latest figures show that in Wales 18 in every 100,000 people are

diagnosed with malignant melanoma. 40 years ago that number was just

four per 100,000. That means 730 people here are developing the

disease each year. Compare that to the mid 70s when the figure stood at

90. The number of people being diagnosed with skin cancer has

quadrupled in making it the fifth common cancer in Wales and that

means more people will be dying of this disease. The rise in skin

cancer rates in Wales can be put down to more of us using sun beds

and our love of beach holidays. The advice is to be sensible, spend more

time in the shade and use plenty of sunscreen. If caught earlier enough

malignant melanoma can be treated successfully but when it spreads to

other parts of the body, it can be a deadly disease - a cancer that can

prove fatal. Army medics who've recently returned

from their second tour of Afghanistan have been granted the

Freedom of Cardiff. Reserve soldiers from 203 Welsh Field Hospital

marched outside City Hall. Nicola Smith was there.

Today they wore their military uniform with pride. These men and

women have served in places like the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan and

today the city said thank you. Tomorrow morning they will return to

work as doctors, physios and radiographers in hospitals across

Wales. Jessica is one of them, she is a staff nurse at the University

Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. Four years ago she joined the military

and has just completed a tour with the unit in Afghanistan. I was

mentoring the medics to look after the injured after we leave. It was

good to work with people from different countries. They are known

as the Welsh medics. Tina Donnelly is the kernel and she is head of

nursing in Wales. It is an honour, to have the freedom of Cardiff.

Families are proud. They are in the background looking after everything

we have two comeback too. It is for them, as much as others. The owner

is ceremonial but the unit is only the ninth organisation to be awarded

the freedom of Cardiff since the 1880s. Another chapter in the

history of the reservists and the city where they are based.

Snooker, and Michael White from Neath is currently trailing Mark

Selby in the first round of the World Snooker Championship.

He's down, eight frames to six and has his eye on joining Pontycymer's

Ryan Day in the last 16. Cricket and on day two of

Glamorgan's County Championship match, Gloucestershire are leading

by 85 runs with one wicket remaining in the first innings. Glamorgan's

first innings came to an end on 145, Gloucestershire finished the day 230

for nine. That's it from the Bank Holiday

team, we'll be back with updates in Breakfast from 6.25am tomorrow. But

first the weather. It is a mild night across much of

Wales with a temperature no lower than eight Celsius. Showers

continuing in the morning. We could see some surface water flooding

through tomorrow but there should be some brightness in between the

showers as we go into the afternoon with highs of 15 Celsius. It will

feel a touch cooler than today. Goodnight.

After last year's called Easter we managed the warmest day of the year

so far in Scotland. The day ended with thunderstorms across parts of

Wales and southern England. We are left with his area of