01/02/2014 BBC London News

Thank you very much. That is it from us.

Good afternoon. Scotland Yard is on the hunt for a gang of armed ropers

who stole half a million pound of watches from a store on Oxford

Street. Witnesses say that they were left shaking, even though no shots

were fired. 5.30pm on Thursday evening, a busy time on Oxford

Street, but that is when three men walked through the store here,

through the doors, one ying shot gun and two carrying hammers. They

smashed the display cases and stole watches worth up tolbs 500,000. The

staff are shaken up by what happened. They are receiving

support. Look at some of the watches. They are worth up to

?9,000. This is just the window display. There are watches worth up

to double that inside. Police are keen to talk to witnesses. Anyone

who saw three men wearing hoods running down this road, Duke Street,

at about 5. Whopm on Thursday evening.

A judge has given doctors at a London hospital, permission to give

a Sunday Express. The woman's life was in danger. She could not make

the decision for herself. `` a Caesarean.

A row has broken out over the Royal Mail central office in London.

Boris Johnson's actions have been described as unprecedented in this

case. Mount Pleasant. Once home to the world's biggest sorting office,

could be home to prime flats. The the plans are under close scrutiny.

It is very high density. It is in an area that is complex. It turns its

back on its neighbours. The development is to include

several hundred home, 12% of which would be affordable. That is too low

say the Islington and Lambeth council, they need more affordable

housing. They cannot get away with just 2%.

The decision here rests with the local council. For the Mayor to

intervene before they have had a chance to meet has angered the local

politicians. Would it not be outrageous for the

Mayor of London to prove the development of the site? The issue

was raised in Parliament, with the Prime Minister defending the Mayor

of London. I think it is important to allow the

Mayor of London to carry out planning responsibilities but what

is important is that when there are development opportunities, that they

are not blocked. We need the housing.

The Royal Mail have said that the offer of affordable housing takes

into account money that they have already spent.

There are greater costs and this has been taken into account into

determining what the scheme can afford in terms of affordable

housing. The Mayor of London says he will

speed up the decision`making process.

Now a look at the weather: After a dry start to the day for many, the

showers are back. Some of them heavy. It is Fehily chilly too.

A top temperature of 9 Celsius. `` feeling chilly too.

Do have a very good afternoon. Do have a very good afternoon.

Goodbye. Some of us will have to brace

ourselves today. Leaning forward into the wind. If you live over the

west of the UK, there are gale-force winds on the way, but the main

hazards are the gales and the potential for flooding. Tomorrow, a

blustery day but on balance, it will be a better day. This is the current

storm that is just about approaching the UK now. It looks like from space

you can see a swirl of cloud. The worst of the weather is close to the

centre of the storm. You can see how clear the east of the country is.

Lovely sunshine this morning and at lunch time. Here the strength of the

wind will be felt over the western and southern areas, especially

across the south-west and the Welsh coasts.

Gusts up to 07 miles an hour. And of course -- gusts up to 70 mierls an

hour. -- miles.

Severe gales and big waves. Dangerous conditions along the

seafront and severe flood warnings. This is a number for a lot of us