22/03/2014 North West Today

Good afternoon. Police are appealing for information

after a lawfully`held shotgtn was stolen from a home in Manchdster

last night. Four men armed with knives broke into a 79`year`old

woman's home in Didsbury and demanded cash before searchhng the

house and making off with the weapon and ammunition belonging to a family

member. Officers are keen to hear from anyone who can help iddntify

the thieves and recover the shotgun. Manchester Central Library has

reopened to the public after a 50 million refurbishment. The hconic

building on St Peter's Square closed in 2010 and over a million books

were sent into storage in the Cheshire salt mines. Nishma Hindocha

reports. Manchester's reborn Central library.

It has been closed for four years and has cost ?48 million to rebuild.

Today, hundreds of people c`me to have a look at the new building We

have come to look inside. It is lovely. I have been waiting for

three years for this. It is fantastic. I loved that it hs open

again. I used to use it when I was a student, and it has been a long time

it was opened. The great two listed building has

opened new rooms like a reading room. Previously, only 30% of the

building was opened to the public, but now they can enjoy 70% of it.

We will have to million people visiting Manchester, so which will

be brilliant for the economx, but also for the Manchester reshdents to

enjoy the library. Fotball and all four of our Premier

League teams are in action this afternoon. Both Manchester City who

are home to Fulham, and Livdrpool, who travel to Cardiff, are `iming to

close the gap on leaders Chdlsea. After their dramatic midweek win in

the Champions League, can M`nchester United continue their recovdry at

West Ham? Everton are home to Swansea. The Blues are still in the

chase for European football. The most important thing th`t we

have is in front of us with these tend games, which will show was how

strong we are as a team. It will be very important, the next eight

weeks. Sale Sharks will look to boost their

chances of a top four finish against league leaders Northampton `t the AJ

Bell Stadium this afternoon. Sam Tuitupou and Danny Cipriani return

to Sale's starting line`up `fter coming off the bench in the last

game at Wasps. Here's the weather with Kayd

Forster. We have had a taste of wintdr today.

It has been a cold start with some snow showers across the Lakd

District and Peak District. That will continue this afternoon, a

mixture of sunshine and showers But it is feeling cold this aftdrnoon,

temperatures around seven or eight Celsius. Some of the showers will

continue into the CV, wintrx over higher ground. `` this evenhng. But

for most of us it will try out later tonight. If you get clear skies the

temperatures will be down to two or three Celsius. Tomorrow will be

brighter and drier. There whll be some showers around in the

afternoon, but far fewer th`n today. A lot more sunshine. It will still

feel cold, with temperatures about seven or eight Celsius.

I will be back at 5:20pm. Goodbye. Hello. The weekend started with

snowcapped hills and blue sky. Since then, more clout has built and the

showers have broken out widely. Some heavy downpours and hell stones --

he'll stones. This is all part and parcel of the colder weather

weekend. There is a wintry flavour to the showers. It is snow we and

there are frosty and icy nights Over recent hours, you can see the

cloud has built up as the showers have developed. There are organised

showers moving east across England over the next two hours, and