07/02/2014 BBC News at One

Absolute devastation. The words of villagers in Somerset are -- as they

are forced to evacuate their flooded homes. Royal Marines are called in

during the early hours, as flood waters breach the final defences.

Across the UK hundreds of flood warnings - and warnings from the Met

Office that it's about to get worse. I will be live on the Somerset

Levels were there has been more flooding, and the first visit from

the Environment Agency chief, Lord Smith. We'll be getting the latest

picture from around the UK. Also this lunchtime: Your United Kingdom

needs you. David Cameron appeals to the people of Scotland to say no to

independence. From us to the people of Scotland, left the message be

this. We want you to stay. Instead of having a sermon from Mount

Olympus, let's have a Democratic debate in this television studio two

weeks on Monday and let's make it came on.

-- game on. Russia gets ready for the opening ceremony of the 20-14

Winter Olympic games in Sochi. And a step back in time - the footprints

in the sand uncovered in the 21st century, dating from 800,000 years

ago. It was right here that scientists

found the footprints, thought to be of five individuals, mixture of

adults and children, maybe a family gathering food or going for a walk.

Later on BBC London, the tube strike is over - but can talks today

prevent another walk-out next week? And struggling to hire paramedics -

London Ambulance looks abroad to solve the shortage.

Good afternoon and welcome to the One O'Clock News there is anger and

frustration as more villagers have been forced to leave their homes,

some in the middle of the night, with Royal Marines called in to help

as flood levels reached flood defences. -- flood defences were

breached. Facing the anger of Red Ed -- residents today, the chairman of

the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, visiting the Somerset Levels for the

first time since the crisis began. Duncan Kennedy is in Burrowbridge.

The first thing I should say is do not be fooled by the sunshine and

blue skies. It was raining last night and it will be raining again

tonight, creating more chaos and misery. I am in Burrowbridge. This

road has been freshly flooded. These vehicles are the only ones that can

get through. Ordinary cars cannot. The neighbouring village of Moorland

was also cut off overnight. Marines went in to help people out. It is

chaos for a lot of people. And on the day that the head of the

Environment Agency makes its first appearance here on the Somerset

Levels. Wider, deeper, longer. The water on

the Somerset Levels just keeps on coming. Overnight in places it rose

by an extra meter. Here, even the floods are flooding. It is now so

serious, Marines arrived overnight in Moorland to try to protect what

is left and to help people get out. Dozens decided it was time to leave.

When we got there this morning water levels for up to knee level, so our

guys had to put on waders. Then we took advice from the Environment

Agency as to where they wanted sandbags put. In Burrowbridge, it

was just as bad. Frustrations intensified. When this milk truck

left, its wash surged into one farmer's home and led to this.

I just keeping my head above water now. You seem really upset? You can

imagine what we are going through at the moment, yes. Stress levels are

incredibly high. It is worrying. The head of the Environment Agency, Lord

Smith, made his first visit to the Somerset Levels today. He has been

criticised by some for the failure to dredge rivers. The clear

priorities that have been set for us by successive governments is

protecting lives. Our second priority is protecting people's

homes and businesses. Our third priority is to protect as much

agricultural land as we can. That is the order of priority. Holders

remain frustrated by what has been done. One man was happy to point the

finger from -- at Lord Smith. I cannot repeat what I would say to

him on camera, actually. After he came down last year and said they

would be dredging within four months and nothing has been done. In

Moorland, the land is fast disappearing, just like much of this

part of the world. With weekend storms to come, it may take

something other than sandbags and hope to keep these communities

going. Lord Smith has only been here in the

last hour. What he went on to say, or body was asked, was if he would

apologise to locals. He would not answer the question. He said the

Environment Agency had put money on the table to dredge rivers in the

past year. It had now got more money. He said he was proud of the

Environment Agency staff, who have been faced with the most extreme

weather, a major, major challenge. That challenge is set to continue

this weekend. It's not just Somerset that's

suffering with the floods. Great swathes of the country have been

affected from Cornwall to Kent - and with more heavy rainfall forecast,

the Environment Agency is warning there is more flooding to come.

Richard Lister has been following the story.

Delayed by the wrong kind of rain. Simply too much of it. This was the

main line between Bristol and Exeter near Taunton today. A region where

railings have taken a particular battering. -- rail links. In the

calm between the storms, engineers in dollars have been looking at

restoring a service to a million people in Cornwall. -- Dawlish. The

damaged track will take at least six weeks to finish -- fix. The

Environment Secretary said he wanted to assess the damage for himself.

His train was delayed. Government will work with people to see the

best way of restoring the service. I want to get the message across that

of the south-west is not closed. It is open for business. For millions

getting to work has meant fighting a flood. This was Essex, were some

schools had to be closed. There was standing water in saffron Walden,

car park Lakes and kayaks on the road in Kent. This Environment

Agency map shows the worst affected regions. The more serious for

warnings are in red. Bromley the West across to East Anglia it is a

similar picture. The army were called out to toss stock at one

point. Drivers have been warned against driving through standing

water because of the prospect of being stranded. Further south in

Kent, they were also battling the deluge. They are going to send

someone around to have another check. Water is actually bubbling up

through the tarmac, so saturated is the ground. It is no use pumping it

now. As soon as they pump it, it still keeps coming up through the

floors. The water is coming through the flooring now. There was not a

lot we can do with that. From Kent to Stoke Mandeville in

Buckinghamshire, the emergency services have taken hundreds of

calls from people caught in the floods. Trapped in their cars, in

their homes or their communities, it is stretching resources, and the

weather forecast suggested is far from over. The standing water simply

has nowhere to go. Much more rain is coming. In a moment we will be

talking to our correspondent, Philippa Thomas, who's in the

village of Bridge near Canterbury in Kent.

But first to Clive Myrie, who's in Dawlish, Devon. Ben Moore is in

Moorland in Somerset. The village of Moorland itself

essentially remains off-limits. There is one rolled in and out of

the village that remains open. That is tightly controlled by the police,

who have a roadblock. Only emergency services and residents are allowed

in and out. The River Tone is rising. Avon and Somerset police,

they evacuated people last night. Only a handful remain. The Marines

are helping them to build defences. 8000 bags are due to be delivered in

the next few hours. This wall itself consists of 2000. It was built by

Marines this morning. In the middle of all the dreadful

weather this area has experienced down here on the south-west coast in

the past few weeks, today, beautiful bright sunshine. The forecast for

tomorrow is very different indeed. Upwards of 80 mph winds are expected

and huge amounts of rain are likely to be dumped on this area over the

weekend. In the middle of all that, the work has to continue to repair

the main rail link between London and Devon heading into Cornwall. We

remember those dramatic pictures of the railway line dangling in the air

precariously following the preaching of the sea wall. And the washing

away of the support. I was speaking to the Transport Secretary. He said

they were continuing to try to repair the line as fast as possible.

Philippa Thomas is in Kent. Clive, thank you. They had 45

millimetres of rain here overnight. It was torrential. This is

underwater for the second time in a week. They have pumped out about a

million litres of water from here a few days ago. They have two

problems. A river has burst its banks about a mile upstream. And

water is coming up through the floor. The ground is saturated. They

have water coming under floorboards, sewage coming under floorboards in

some of the houses. Let's talk to Andrew Pierce from the Environment

Agency. He is looking at what might happen. You are worried about

tonight and you are worried about area is wider than just here? Yes,

the situation is improving in most areas. We have further rain forecast

this evening. We are worried about places like Tunbridge, Canterbury,

yielding. People need to be prepared to act if they receive flood

warnings. In Canterbury, there are worries that as many as 100 homes

could be flooded. Thank you all. Sorry about the

break-up in Ben's pictures. So let's take a look at the weather patterns

behind the storms - with me now is our weather presenter, Louise Lear,

who can tell us more. We are all tiring of where it goes

from here. There is no letup? It is a pretty stagnant pattern. We have

our friend the jet stream to blame again. We have all heard about the

jet stream. This is it. It is basically a burden of very

fast-moving air that is high in the atmosphere. -- a ribbon. The

Jetstream can actually alternate to the north or the south of the UK. At

the moment it has been in a pretty stagnant pattern first six weeks.

Basically that is driving low-pressure systems across the

eastern seaboard from North America, over the warmer waters of

the Atlantic. Also, the Jetstream is moving faster than usual. Normally

it is around 200 mph. It has been recorded at 300 miles prior

recently. It is the intensity which is helping the low-pressure systems

in the Atlantic to intensify, to develop, and it keeps piling in

across the UK. It is in a very stagnant position. It doesn't look

as though anything is going to change. More wet and windy weather.

The only positive news is that because the Jetstream is to the

south of the UK, we are picking of these south-westerly winds. It has

been milder of late. That is why we are seeing rain. Any sign of a

letup? Not in the next couple of weeks. That same patter and looks

like continuing. We may get a couple of days of brief respite, more

low-pressure and more rain to come. For all the latest on the weather,

you can visit our website. It has live updates on the situation across

the country and you can find out information for your local area.

David Cameron has urged voters in Scotland to say no to independence

in the referendum in September, saying it would leave the United

Kingdom "deeply diminished". He said the country was simply stronger as

an open economy of 63 million people, and he could not bear to see

it split up. Speaking at the Olympic Park in East London, the Prime

Minister said people living in the rest of the UK should call on

friends and family in Scotland to reject independence. Scotland's

First Minister Alex Salmond has once again urged the Prime Minister to

join him for a debate in Scotland. Carole Walker reports.

A moment of huge excitement as Chris Hoi wins gold Team GB. The Prime

Minister was there that night. Now he wants to revive the patria this

of an occasion shared by so many people in all parts of UK. David

Cameron rip -- returned to the velodrome to explain why he had

ignored the advice that he should stay out of the debate. I love this

country, I love the United Kingdom and all it stands for and I will

fight with everything I have to keep us together. He appealed to those

who will not get a vote in the referendum to play their part. To

everyone, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, everyone likes me

who cares about United Kingdom, I want to say this. You don't have a

vote, but you do have a voice. But let the message ring out from

Manchester to Motherwell, from Pembrokeshire to Perth, from Belfast

to Bute, from us to the people of Scotland, let the message be this.

We want you to stay. He said the United Kingdom was the winning

team, which would be deeply diminished if Scotland voted to

leave. The Prime Minister hopes that by coming here he can summon some of

that Olympic spirit, which saw people in all parts of the country

cheering on Team GB and he's hoping to inject some passion into the case

for keeping the United Kingdom together. To counter the appeal from

the Nationalists. Those campaigning for an independent Scotland

dismissed it as a shameful and cowardly speech, from a Prime

Minister who did not have the guts to come to Scotland. The main thing

is that this is a speech delivered from London, ostensibly telling

people in England what to do, but actually arguing against Scottish

independence, instead of a debate that the Prime Minister must do in

Scotland, a debate with me as First Minister of Scotland about the pros

and cons of his argument against independence. So what would people

in the UK say to the citizens of Scotland preparing to vote on

independence? My messages think very carefully before you vote because

you might lose economic stability if you've -- if you leave the UK. Good

luck and go it alone. Green bobbin we are better off together. Sir

Chris Hoy sparked controversy when he declared he was proud to be

Scottish and British and that English Prime Minister's attempt to

rally public support outside Scotland may not go down well with

those preparing to vote on best country's future.

Our correspondent Kevin Keane is in Edinburgh for us. How has it gone

down there? Well, it is an interesting tactic for the Prime

Minister to adopt. His central message is still the same, to vote

no, but what he has changed today is the way he has delivered that

message. He knows that if he was to come here to Scotland, to stand on a

podium and to tell Scots about all the pitfalls of going it alone that

is unlikely to go down well. Instead, he is saying to people in

the rest of the UK, look, phone, text, Tweet, get your message to

people in Scotland that you know, friends or family, that we don't

want you to leave and he wants it to be them giving their message. But

make no mistake, this is his message. Politicians want to get

their message to voters and on September the 18th this year it is

only people in Scotland who will get to vote. The SNP unsurprisingly are

jumping on the fact that this message was delivered in London and

not in Edinburgh. Alex Salmond says this is an indication he is scared

and he has repeated his call for David Cameron to come north of the

border and debate independence with him head-to-head.

Our top story this lunchtime. Absolute devastation, the words of

villagers in Somerset as they are forced to evacuate their flooded

homes. Still to come, violence and Brazil ahead of the summer World

Cup. Later on BBC London, heavy rain causes widespread flooding across

Surrey and Berkshire. Desperately violent. Later on BBC London, heavy

rain causes widespread flooding across Surrey and Berkshire. We talk

to those affected. And what next for Trafalgar Square's fourth Plinth? We

reveal the two new artworks to take pride of place.

The opening of the ceremony of the Winter Olympics takes place in just

three hours' time in the Russian seaside resort of Sochi. The

building has been overshadowed by security fears, human rights

concerns, allegations of corruption, reports of poor accommodation and

delays to preparations and ?30 billion, the cost of these games is

more than the combined total of all of the Olympic Winter Games to date.

Our sport correspondent Andy Swiss is in Sochi forums.

Yes, the build-up to these Games has been dogged by all sorts of problems

but in a few hours' time they will be officially under way. Organisers

are promising the most ambitious show in Olympic history, quite some

claim. 40,000 fans will be watching and they will be hoping for a

spectacular night. The dawn of the new Olympic games.

As the world's finest winter athletes gather in Sochi, outside

the Olympic Park they were gathering to watch them. Hundreds of fans

hoping for tickets for tonight's opening ceremony. Excited by the

prospect but often frustrated by the price. The cheapest tickets are not

available and you only can buy a ticket for $1000. For example, for

me, it is too expensive. A little bit confused about the tickets, the

price sometimes is very expensive. Very expensive. And this is what

they have come to see. These were the rehearsals for the opening

ceremony, which involves 3000 performers, 2000 volunteers and 22

tonnes of fireworks. It will focus on Russia's cultural heritage in

dance, music and art and after a difficult build-up to these games,

especially with concerns over security, the man in charge of the

Olympic movement is confident they will be a success. We can expect a

spectacular show tonight and then it will become even more spectacular

because then it is to the athletes and they will have the best

conditions possible for great achievements here Sochi. The weather

is certainly smiling on Sochi, with athletes training this morning once

again under blue skies. Britain is not traditionally winter sport

nation but the team are hoping for a record medal tally. It is exciting,

to get to the Olympic Games and we are finally here, there has been a

lot of preparation leading up to it. Yesterday we had a few hours to

check things out. Today, we have the opening ceremony, so these are the

days we want to take in everything, taking the atmosphere and as soon as

we step on the ice for practice day, we are in Games mode. And so the

waiting for the costliest and one of the most controversial Olympics is

nearly over. After all the questions, the big one now is

whether Sochi can deliver a Games to remember.

Britain will also be hoping for a successful Games, but one bad piece

of news for them today. Former sprinter Craig Pickering has had to

pull out of the bobsleigh. He was hoping to become one of the few men

to compete at both summer and Winter Olympics but those hopes are sadly

now dashed. With just over five months to go

until Brazil hosts the World Cup, there have been violent clashes

between police and demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro at the city's main

railway station. It began as a protest over increased transport

fares. Some viewers may find scenes in this report from our real

correspondent Wyre Davies disturbing.

Last night's events in Rio de Janeiro have dashed any hopes the

authorities may have had that the protest movement was looting impetus

ahead of the forthcoming World Cup. You see spending on the cup and

things we don't need, rather than health, education and decent

transport, she says. Led by the hard-core group known as the Black

Blocs, hundreds of demonstrators descended on the central terminal.

Denouncing plans to raise the price of public transport. With millions

of pounds of public money being spent on the World Cup stadiums,

protesters's cry was, FIFA, pay my fair. But events soon descended into

violence and a running battle between riot police and

demonstrators. These are the most violent scenes we have had in Rio de

Janeiro for several weeks or months. This is the central station

in the heart of the city and this is ostensibly a protest against rising

prices and public transport. Thousands of protesters have marched

here now to the central station, where they have been met by riot

police with tear gas and smoke bombs and the situation now is desperately

violent. Hundreds of anxious commuters were caught between the

two sides, as the confined space filled with tear gas. The clashes

spilled outside. The front line, Rio's main avenue at rush hour. As

what appears to be a home-made device explodes, a journalist. The

floor. First to help, my cameraman and I tried to stop the bleeding

from the gaping wound to the person's head. Amid frantic scenes,

protesters blamed police from the attack but it quite possibly came

from the other side. Six minutes later we managed to get the

photojournalist to hospital. Still alive but in a critical condition.

But even as the car speeds off, the clashes resume. Proof that these

anti-World Cup anti-government protests have not relented and may

even have gained fresh momentum. Scientists have discovered the

earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa on the

Norfolk coast. The footprints are more than 800,000 years old and were

discovered on the shores of Happisburgh. It has been seen as one

of the most important articular jiggle discovers the maids -- one of

the most important archaeological discoveries ever made on leash

straws. Pallab Ghosh reports. On a wet and windy spring day last year

scientists stumbled what -- across what they believe to be one of the

greatest archaeological discoveries in the UK. Swept up by overseas,

footprints of early humans made nearly 1 million years ago. In a

race against time researchers unearthed them to photograph them

before they are eroded by the sea. Then they record their reactions in

this scientific footage. Just walking across the beach this -- we

found this surface, covered in hollows and depressions. They have

been washed out by the sea, eroding the sediments away and in covering

the surface so it is fragile and delicate. It is very exciting. This

could be the earliest footprint surface anywhere in Europe and

Asia, so potentially it is really important. The analysis showed

several footprints. Mostly quite small, probably children. But one,

size eight, of an adult male. It was right here that scientists found the

footprints. They are thought to be of five individuals, a mixture of

adults and children, maybe a family gathering food or simply going for a

walk. The prints, of course, have now gone, washed away by the sea.

But the scientists are convinced that there are many more of them to

be found right under these sons. Four years ago the researchers found

the first evidence for the existence of these humans here. They

discovered these stone tools, which were used for cutting. These humans

were a different species to others, so what were they like? We don't

know if they had the use of fire. There is no evidence on these early

sights of use of fire. We know the climate at Happisburgh was on

average cold than the present day, so we wonder if they had adaptations

like clothing and building shelters to help them survive but we have no

evidence of that either. At the moment we have more questions than

answers about their way of life. The footprints are from what may have

been the first of many species of human to have walked these shores

over the past millions of years, until the arrival of our own species

to Britain relatively recently, just 40,000 years ago.

Time for a look at the weather forecast. Louise Lear is here. One

of our correspondence says it is the calm between two storms.

It is quite pleasant out there, welcome news. This is last night's

rain, but behind it, a window of sunny spells to look forward to, but

just for a day unfortunately because behind me here is to night's rain

starting to push towards the south-west as we speak. Let's

indulge a little for the rest of the afternoon. As -- after a Chilean

frosty start in Scotland, the afternoon is shaping up nicely. A

few isolated showers. Temperatures four - six Celsius, similar from

Northern Ireland and northern England. Further south, highs of

nine or 10 Celsius. The cloud is thicker towards the West. Maybe a

few isolated showers for Wales and the south-west and by the end of the

afternoon we could pick up for a brief time stronger winds and maybe

some rough seas to the south-west, with the arrival of that rain. We

have and the weather warnings out for southern England, which means be

prepared for further disruption. You can see by the intensity of the rain

we could get just that. It is not just the south-west. At 10pm the

rain and winds will be across Northern Ireland, north-west

England, Wales, down into the south-west, pushing north and east

through the night and as it pushes across higher ground in Scotland yet

again we will see further snow. The rain easing away but the blizzard

conditions continue in Scotland. 0-3 Celsius, further -- further south,

4-7. Plenty of showers to the west. The low-pressure anchors itself to

the far north across Northern Ireland. Look to the south. The

isobars squeezing together yet again. The wind will become a

feature. As we move through Saturday the emphasis of the amber warnings

focuses more on the wind. Rain will be an issue but it is the strength

of the winds that could be a problem. 60 miles an hour inland,

70-80 possibly later on across exposed south west coasts. Plenty of

frequent showers towards the West but as the day progresses those

showers will start to push further inland. By the middle of the

afternoon no one will be immune from catching a sharp shower and they

will be of snow to the tops of higher ground. 6-10dC. It will feel

miserable with the wind and rain. As we move towards Sunday there will be

showers. Hopefully not as widespread. It will be wind

edge-macro windy but hopefully not a strong. There is a lot to take in

with the weather. If you want more into nation on the web -- warnings

you can find it on our website and we will keep you updated live on the

news channels throughout the day. Our top story, there has been anger

and frustration in Somerset with more villagers forced to leave their

homes and as we have heard, more bad weather is on the way. That is