14/02/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening. Once again the Channel millimetres of rain in

Good evening. Once again the Channel Islands have been battered by strong

winds and high tides tonight. Jersey's Met office issued a severe

weather warning earlier. This evening, some flights into and out

of Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey airport were cancelled because of

the high winds. Roads were closed and trees came down. Louise Walter

reports. It contains some flashing images. Another night, same old

weather. This was the scene along Jersey's Victoria Avenue earlier as

waves crashed over the sea wall throwing debris with it. The dual

carriageway was closed in both directions at rush hour leading to

long tailbacks. In Guernsey Bulwer Avenue was shut due to flooding at

Richmond Corner and this was the scene on the Perelle coast road as

debris came over the sea wall in force nine winds. Tonight Jersey Met

say gusts of up to 67 miles an hour were recorded at Alderney airport

and 73 miles an hour at Jersey's St Helier harbour. Forecasters say the

strength of the wind is now decreasing, but yet more bad weather

is expected over the next few days. This was the scene in Guernsey

assured while ago. Bull were Avenue was shut as part of the bad

weather. Our reporter gave us this update. It is coming down now, but

earlier on the 70 miles an hour winds created huge waves, leaving

debris scattered across the coast road. It was the same on the East

Coast. Elsewhere, the gale force winds brought down trees inland

blocking roads and stopped planes flying from the airport. The police

have set up dedicated weather numbers.

New figures have revealed that 0% of the cases of the sexual infection

chlamydia go undetected in Guernsey. It has prompted calls for a

dedicated screening `` screening on the island. They either health

conditions which few talk openly about, sexually transmitted

infections. Here at this sexual health clinic in Guernsey there is

one infection on the rise. The number of cases of chlamydia

diagnosed here is at its highest for more than half a decade. Guernsey's

and your health report says it is likely that up to 10% of sexually

active people aged between 16 and 25 are infected with chlamydia. It

could be the tip of the iceberg as many more go undetected. We know we

are underestimating the number of cases in chlamydia in Guernsey. If

we look at the numbers we diagnose, and estimate our rates of infection,

we think we are missing about 7 `90% of cases in the 16`25 `year`old age

group. This is why we need a screening programme. A sexual health

strategy is currently being drafted. It is hoping to encourage more

people to get themselves checked. I am in one of the clinic rooms which

is quite an intimidating place. However, you can take the swap

yourself in the toilet and hand it down to the desk. There are plans to

roll this out if the sexual health strategy is approved so people can

do this at home and send it in the post. Poor sexual health is costly.

Treating chlamydia and its knock`on effects caused the islands around

?100,000 a year. The health and social services department says it

will consider finding a screening programme, but only once the sexual

health strategy has been finalised. For now the sexually transmitted

infections remain a significant issue for Guernsey. It has been more

than ten years since fire destroyed a hotel ongoing deposit back south

coast, but today plans were revealed to transform the site into a 5`star

hotel. The architects behind the scheme claim it could beat the

competition to claim the accolade of the Channel Islands' best hotel In

September, 2003, the hotel was destroyed by a fire. A frying pan

caught light and spread the fire throughout the hotel, causing the

roof to collapse. But in 2012 another major fire broke out causing

the building to be deemed unsafe. The bird, neglected and grumbling,

the hotel has become an eyesore but if planners agree, it could be

transformed. Permission was granted in 2012 for the owners to demolish

the remains of the bird outbuilding and an architectural firm has

submitted plans to transform the site into a 5`star hotel. This is a

fantastic opportunity for Guernsey in building a tourist destination

and hotel of high quality. We will do a presentation and it will be at

that point that the planning board make a decision. The new hotel is

designed to blend in and where possible be eco`friendly. We have

used the biodiversity of the site which offsets the build of the hotel

itself. The decision is now in the hands of the environment Department.

Work could take two years and the project could cost in the region of

?20 million. That is it for now The National weather forecast is coming

up in a few moments, but first let's look at our weather forecast.

The severe gales continue to affect the island, but ever so slowly the

winds change direction and they slowly drop. But for the next few

hours there will be gusts of wind of around 60`70 mph and very rough seas

all around the islands. That is the forecast for the weekend. The winds

will drop, it becomes much drier and with a sigh of relief as we move

into Sunday it is a bright, mainly dry day. The showers tonight could

be heavy with the odd flash of thunder and lightning. Still it is

very windy first thing tomorrow morning. South`west winds by then.

The winds will slowly come around a bit more westerly and continue to

drop during the day. As for the forecast as we move into Sunday it

is a little bit better. Saturday night into Sunday the winds continue

to drop. Monday later on in the day we will see

milder day by the time we get to Tuesday. From us, good night.

and bright after a chilly night. I will leave you with the weekend

summary for London. Let's go to the weather centre to get the national

forecast. Our love hate relationship with the

weather has become unbalanced this winter, I suspect there is not a lot

of love left. Today's storm has not helped. It gave us 20 to 30

millimetres of rain. Snow in the past few hours at lower levels in

eastern Scotland. That should turn to rain again but the blizzards in

the Scottish mountains will continue. This evening, it has been

the wind which has been most disruptive in southern England. Met

Office amber warning remains in force with gusts up to 80 miles an

hour along the south coast producing big