Browse content similar to 05/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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rise. That is | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
Welcome to Wales Today. Our top story. | :00:00. | :00:08. | |
There's no end in sight as storms batter our coastline again. Roads | :00:09. | :00:16. | |
are closed and homes are damaged. I have never seen it so powerful as | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
it is at the moment. We have had big serve over the years but the | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
devastation it is doing is surfing. Much of the land is already | :00:28. | :00:30. | |
waterlogged and with the threat of flooding still very real. We ask how | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
can future damage be prevented? And there's no let up tonight, with gale | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
force winds continuing to cause disruption. | :00:38. | :00:50. | |
Also tonight. After Swansea City sack their | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
manager, captain Garry Monk is put in charge ahead of their crucial | :00:55. | :01:02. | |
clash with Cardiff. They have taken a brave decision. | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
They have taken brave decisions in the past and they have worked. | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
A former police officer who was removed from front line duties after | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
this video of an arrest was seen by millions on YouTube is awarded | :01:14. | :01:16. | |
thousands of pounds in compensation. And house prices on the rise and | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
record mortgage lending for Wales' biggest building society helps boost | :01:20. | :01:20. | |
the Principality's profits. Good evening. Storm force gales and | :01:21. | :01:28. | |
torrential rain have again been battering the coastline of Wales. | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
The south from Pembrokeshire to Penarth has been the worst affected, | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
with winds up to 70 miles an hour. There are currently three tidal | :01:37. | :01:39. | |
flood warnings in Newgale, Amroth and Dale and nine river flood alerts | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
across the country. And forecasters say more bad weather is expected. | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
Nick Palit has the picture across Wales. | :01:50. | :01:58. | |
It's now an all too familiar image. Just a month in to 2014, gale force | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
winds, rain, a battered coastline. Here at Penarth in the Vale of | :02:04. | :02:07. | |
Glamorgan, the esplanade was shut to traffic as a precaution. The force | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
of the high tide showering the seafront with rocks and pebbles and | :02:12. | :02:15. | |
seaweed. The nearby Cardiff Bay barrage was also closed for time. | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
With the noon high tide at Aberystwyth came the now familiar | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
scenes of a waterlogged seafront. Though the waves were more muted | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
than in recent weeks, those who came to see the spectacle were aware of | :02:29. | :02:35. | |
the risks of getting too close. It is dangerous, very dangerous. People | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
need to take care when they are out here. People don't listen. They | :02:40. | :02:46. | |
still go to the edge and those waves are very strong. You have got to be | :02:47. | :02:52. | |
careful. The renewed bad weather hit last night and storm force winds | :02:53. | :02:55. | |
brought down power lines leaving 1,700 homes in South Wales were | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
without power for a time. Western Power Distribution say they have all | :03:01. | :03:04. | |
now been reconnected. As dawn broke, the gales continued, producing these | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
dramatic images in Porthcawl. There have also been reports of houses | :03:10. | :03:14. | |
being flooded in the Brecon area. In the West, visitors to Cefn Sidan | :03:15. | :03:17. | |
beach have been warned of collapsing sand dunes. Millions of tonnes of | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
sand have been sheered off the dunes in the recent storm surges, leaving | :03:22. | :03:31. | |
dangerous drops of up to 35 feet. As it dries out, it will then collapse. | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
That is the danger. In Langland on the Gower, those who ventured out | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
took shelter from the wind. The seafront cafe was flooded for the | :03:42. | :03:48. | |
second time in as many weeks. They were reopening this morning after a | :03:49. | :03:55. | |
swift clean up operation. With the storm at the beginning of January, | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
it knocked off some of the wall and there were a few cracks. But we have | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
done that so hopefully this has not caused more damage on top of that. | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
Further north in Dyffryn Ardudwy in Gwynedd, a tree fell on this hotel, | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
wrecking its conservatory. It's the second time this year it's been | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
damaged. Last month, falling trees hit the children's play area and the | :04:16. | :04:21. | |
nearby Cambrian Coast railway line. It felt like an earthquake. I looked | :04:22. | :04:29. | |
out of the window and the branches hit the window. A big tree had come | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
down in the main drive. Today, Prime Minister David Cameron announced | :04:34. | :04:36. | |
another ?100 million will be available for repairs and | :04:37. | :04:38. | |
maintenance and flood prevention. But that's little comfort here in | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
Wales, as the money will be coming from DEFRA's budget and will only be | :04:43. | :04:45. | |
available in England. As forecasters warn that more severe gales are on | :04:46. | :04:49. | |
the way, it seems that any break in the bad weather is a long way off. | :04:50. | :04:57. | |
Britain has just experienced its wettest January for half a century | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
and Wales experienced more than its fair share of rain. Up to 40 | :05:01. | :05:05. | |
millimetres of rainfall is expected today and winds reaching 70 mph | :05:06. | :05:12. | |
lashing the South Wales coastline. Derek is here. Derek, what's causing | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
all these storms? Lucy, it's certainly been wet and | :05:16. | :05:26. | |
wild over the last few months. This was Rhyl at the end of last year. | :05:27. | :05:32. | |
Many families were forced to flee the flooding. The New Year, the same | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
old problem. Aberystwyth's seafront battered by gales and big waves | :05:36. | :05:38. | |
causing chaos. And this is the reason for it all. Our old friend | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
the jet stream. The jet stream is a river of strong winds way up in the | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
atmosphere about six miles high. It is strongest in winter with winds | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
over 250mph. It's a bit like a roller coaster. It moves up and down | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
but at the moment it's stuck in a rut and is pointing straight across | :05:59. | :06:02. | |
the Atlantic. The jet stream is like a weather machine with areas of low | :06:03. | :06:05. | |
pressure developing on it along its path. The storms deepen explosively | :06:06. | :06:08. | |
as they track across the Atlantic and move towards the UK, bringing | :06:09. | :06:12. | |
spells of heavy rain, gales and large waves. Of course, intense | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
storms are not unusual in winter but what is unusual is the frequency. | :06:17. | :06:20. | |
We're being hit by one storm after another. December was the stormiest | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
since 1969. January the wettest for 40 years. And for Wales and England | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
combined, January was the wettest since 1766. Looking ahead, there's | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
no sign of the jet stream slowing down with more stormy weather on the | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
way. I'll have a full forecast in 20 minutes, so stay tuned! | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
So more rain to come then and more than likely some flooding as well. | :06:44. | :06:50. | |
So how should these problems be managed? For decades, the | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
authorities have simply built bigger and bigger flood barriers and | :06:55. | :06:57. | |
drainage ditches. Well, now there are suggestions things can be done | :06:58. | :07:00. | |
differently through managing the natural environment. Roger Pinney | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
has spent the day near Welshpool to find out more. | :07:05. | :07:12. | |
More rain, more rain and the forecast offers no letter. This is | :07:13. | :07:19. | |
the River Severn. It concentrates the mind. Fields are waterlogged, | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
draining systems for two capacity. How much more of this can we take? | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
Now there is a rethink about how we deal with flooding. Or rather how we | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
stop flooding happening. It involves planting trees. The soil here | :07:34. | :07:42. | |
actually feels quite dry. When I pick it up, it just crumbles. The | :07:43. | :07:49. | |
second sample was dug just a few yards away. It is hard and | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
compacted. The first can absorb rainwater and the second card. It is | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
because of these trees, planted to provide shelter for animals but also | :08:00. | :08:02. | |
preventing floods by holding water in the land. This is part of a | :08:03. | :08:09. | |
project run by farmers. They argue they have a natural solution which | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
slows the rate at which water gets into streams and rivers. If you | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
flood in Wales, it is probably because the rain fell within 20 | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
miles of your house. This is the kind of process that will help | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
prevent that. Supporters of the solution are quick to point out it | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
does not involve vast plantations. The ones already planted in the | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
Welsh blends are probably part of the problem. They speed up the rate | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
at which rainwater moves. The parents are running here. Heavy | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
engineering to keep the floodwaters at bay. A local farmer's immediate | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
country -- concern is the scrapping of a local board which manages | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
watercourses. Decision-making will be taken out of local hands, he | :08:58. | :09:04. | |
says. With the work being sent to the new environmental body, I am | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
sure the cost per metre of train maintenance will be considerably | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
higher and therefore there will be either less work done or | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
considerably more charged. But the minister insisted today the Welsh | :09:18. | :09:19. | |
government is investing in prevention and protection. The | :09:20. | :09:25. | |
defence is that we do have in place have saved over 50,000 properties | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
from flooding. That is a real demonstration of the investment that | :09:32. | :09:39. | |
this government has made. And in flood threatened areas, any | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
investment can't come soon enough. If only the rain would pause for a | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
bit. Swansea City's club captain Garry | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
Monk is in charge this evening after the club sacked manager Michael | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
Laudrup last night. They say the decision to part company was taken | :09:55. | :09:57. | |
reluctantly, but it's in the best interest of the club. Our sports | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
reporter Ashleigh Crowter is at the Liberty Stadium for us tonight. | :10:03. | :10:18. | |
From he wrote to zero in a year. 12 months ago, Michael Laudrup was | :10:19. | :10:21. | |
being praised by fans for leading them to their first major trophy. | :10:22. | :10:26. | |
Tonight he is out of work. The players arrived at training this | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
morning, tight-lipped about events. They had been rumours that some | :10:34. | :10:36. | |
players were unhappy with Michael Laudrup's hands of style and | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
training regime. People at the club had been aware of unrest for a while | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
but the timing of his departure still a surprise. It was a | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
remarkable decline but the first issues arose at the end of last | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
season. There was a public disagreement over transfer policy. | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
Michael Laudrup's agent was very vocal in the media. Clearly there | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
were issues there and a lot of people thought he would probably go | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
last summer. The story is a tale of two seasons. After his appointment | :11:13. | :11:18. | |
in 2012, he made a flying start. Better was to come as he led Swansea | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
to the League Cup. Their first major trophy. Anti-capitalist's best ever | :11:25. | :11:27. | |
season with a top half finish in the league. But even by then, their form | :11:28. | :11:44. | |
was on the slide. The writing was on the wall after Saturday's lacklustre | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
defeat at West Ham. The chairman had initially denied rumours the board | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
were discussing his future. But things changed quickly and the | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
club's captain, Garry Monk, will now be the head man for the foreseeable | :11:59. | :12:06. | |
's future. They have taken a brave decision. They have taken brave | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
decisions in the past and they have worked. From the Supporters' Trust | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
point of view, we have every confidence. No one from the club was | :12:14. | :12:20. | |
available to speak on camera today. Even the normally talkative club | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
ambassador who was helping to launch a Premier League scheme for primary | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
school. But ordinary fans were more forthcoming. Something had to | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
happen. He was having a sticky moment. But everybody does. The | :12:35. | :12:41. | |
style of his departure but the recent trend at Swansea. His | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
predecessor, Brendan Rodgers, was headhunted by Liverpool. And today | :12:46. | :12:52. | |
he wished the new head coach well. It is always sad when somebody loses | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
their job. Michael has done an excellent job. But they feel they | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
have had to make a change. Garry Monk, in time, is going to be a very | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
good map -- manager. This afternoon, the management team call players in | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
for a second training session. They are hoping it will have an immediate | :13:15. | :13:17. | |
impact against their local relegation rivals on Saturday. | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
Still to come tonight. House prices in Wales are on the | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
rise, but it's a very different picture across the country. | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
And if you think the weather is bad now, there's worse on the way. We'll | :13:30. | :13:33. | |
have a full forecast. Plans to give Wales some control | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
over income tax are in jeopardy tonight after Labour said it would | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
oppose the proposals. The Shadow Welsh Secretary Owen Smith said the | :13:42. | :13:44. | |
Labour-run Welsh government hadn't asked for the power to vary income | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
tax and wouldn't seek it in the future. Let's talk to our | :13:49. | :13:51. | |
parliamentary correspondent David Cornock, who's at Westminster. | :13:52. | :13:59. | |
David, how significant is this? This is potentially very significant. The | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
UK government wants to give the Welsh government the power to vary | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
income tax within limits but only after a referendum. But only after a | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
referendum triggered by Assembly Members. Owen Smith was pretty clear | :14:14. | :14:19. | |
today that as long as Labour are in control in Cardiff Bay, they are not | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
about to trigger a referendum to get a power they don't want and would | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
not use. Certainly, what he had to say surprised MPs today. Owen Smith, | :14:29. | :14:36. | |
previously very enthusiastic about the idea of devolution but certainly | :14:37. | :14:47. | |
he did recognise the power of this. He thought the important thing was | :14:48. | :14:50. | |
not the income tax power as the borrowing powers. The first minister | :14:51. | :14:58. | |
has been extremely clear. He does not think it is a priority for | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
Wales, he does not think it is necessarily going to benefit Wales. | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
And we will not be seeking income tax varying powers in future. We | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
feared there is a trap being laid for the Welsh people by the | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
Conservative party. When this package was put forward last year, | :15:17. | :15:20. | |
the Welsh government welcomed it as a big step forward for devolution. | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
Tonight, the Welsh government says that Owen Smith is echoing the | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
concerns of the first Minister in the sense that the model of income | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
tax put forward as far as the Welsh government sees it is pretty | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
useless. What does the coalition make of this? The Conservatives | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
think it is a big deal. I have just had a text from a Tory MP to | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
highlight what he sees as a money mental change of policy on Owen | :15:49. | :15:53. | |
Smith's behalf. There is also relief in conservative circles because I | :15:54. | :15:57. | |
think they were expecting the focus to be on Conservative divisions over | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
devolution. Some very public spat is quite recently between Andrew RT | :16:02. | :16:07. | |
Davies and David Jones, the Secretary of State for Wales. Those | :16:08. | :16:10. | |
divisions were raised at Prime Minister's Questions but David | :16:11. | :16:13. | |
Cameron told MPs he wanted devolution to go further. We are in | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
favour of taking these further steps, we will be bringing forward | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
legislation and making sure that people in Wales have a real say. I | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
want the Conservatives in Wales to stand as the low tax party in Wales. | :16:29. | :16:36. | |
At the next general election, we could have the Conservatives saying, | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
vote for us we are in favour of further devolution, and labour | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
saying, vote for us, we will stop the Conservative plans for more | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
devolution. The Silk Commission recommended that | :16:51. | :16:54. | |
stamp duty be devolved. The Welsh Conservatives have said they would | :16:55. | :17:00. | |
scrap stamp duty up to -- on all properties up to ?250,000. | :17:01. | :17:03. | |
A former Gwent Police officer who was removed from front line duties | :17:04. | :17:07. | |
by the force after a video of him arresting a pensioner was seen by | :17:08. | :17:10. | |
millions on YouTube has been awarded more than ?400,000 in compensation. | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
Mike Baillon from Torfaen resigned in 2012. A tribunal ruled senior | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
officers made a clear attempt to silence his complaints against the | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
force. Tonight, he's spoken out for the first time about the case. | :17:24. | :17:27. | |
Here's our Gwent reporter Paul Heaney. | :17:28. | :17:37. | |
71-year-old Robert drives off in his range Rover without warning. He had | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
been stopped for not wearing his seat belt and then chased for 70 | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
minutes before Mike Ballion smashed his window to stop the pursuit. It | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
was the moment that changed his police career. Ultimately, he was | :17:49. | :17:55. | |
the author of his own downfall. I simply wanted time to pop his seat | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
belt on and then I was going back to headquarters. I had no attention to | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
issue him with a fixed penalty or to pursue him or break the window or | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
arrest him. That all came about as a result of his actions. He was found | :18:08. | :18:14. | |
guilty of several motoring offences. Later settled of court in a civil | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
claim for ?65,000 in costs and damages. It is a terrific waste of | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
public funds and money. It is about time the police were held to | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
account. Mike Ballion was cleared from any wrongdoing but then | :18:32. | :18:34. | |
received threats when this video was posted on the Internet. The way the | :18:35. | :18:38. | |
incident was reported deeply affected him and his family. | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
Unfortunately, my wife suffered a miscarriage shortly after the story | :18:44. | :18:46. | |
came out in the press the first time around and I feel that was brought | :18:47. | :18:50. | |
on as a result of the stress of the way the story was reported. When he | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
complained to senior officers at Gwent Police about the way they | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
handled the incident in 2009, he says they failed to listen and | :19:01. | :19:04. | |
undermined him in his job. Last year, an employment tribunal ruled | :19:05. | :19:10. | |
Mike Ballion was punished by senior officers when they removed him from | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
the front line policing he loved. Now he is in line for at least | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
?400,000 in compensation for the police pension he lost when he was | :19:19. | :19:24. | |
forced to quit. Gwent Police says it is disappointed and is reflecting on | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
today's judgement. Mike Ballion is now moving on, having started his | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
own Woodcraft business. But he says he would rather have his old job | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
back. Former police officers from North | :19:39. | :19:41. | |
and South Wales Police are among those who've won an employment | :19:42. | :19:43. | |
tribunal claim for indirect age discrimination. Around 200 former | :19:44. | :19:46. | |
officers from five forces in Wales and England claimed their careers | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
were unfairly terminated when they were forced to retire after 30 | :19:50. | :19:52. | |
years' service. An employment tribunal has now ruled that the | :19:53. | :19:54. | |
policy was discriminatory. The forces can appeal but could face | :19:55. | :19:57. | |
large compensation claims. Further education colleges say | :19:58. | :19:59. | |
they'll have to cut courses because of a reduction in their funding. The | :20:00. | :20:02. | |
organisation representing colleges says it would be unreasonable to | :20:03. | :20:05. | |
expect them to deliver the same amount of learning after two years | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
of budget cuts. The Welsh government has promised to protect the funding | :20:10. | :20:12. | |
for all 16 to 18-year-olds studying in colleges. | :20:13. | :20:14. | |
Over two years we have had around ?17.5 million of cuts. We have got a | :20:15. | :20:17. | |
look at the number of courses it provides and the number of students | :20:18. | :20:20. | |
it in roles. We don't know yet if volumes will become but we know | :20:21. | :20:22. | |
Fleming has been reduced. Once we know that, we will be in a much | :20:23. | :20:25. | |
better position to plan ahead. Labour MP Ann Clwyd has criticised | :20:26. | :20:28. | |
the Welsh Government for not answering her concerns about the | :20:29. | :20:31. | |
standards of health care in Wales. The Cynon Valley MP, who's spoken | :20:32. | :20:34. | |
out about the poor care her husband received in hospital, says she | :20:35. | :20:37. | |
outlined complaints in a letter to the First Minister, but she's still | :20:38. | :20:40. | |
waiting for a response. The Welsh government say they're considering | :20:41. | :20:43. | |
the issues raised in detail and will reply shortly. | :20:44. | :20:46. | |
I wrote to him on December the 3rd. I have had a holding reply but two | :20:47. | :20:49. | |
months have gone by so I don't consider that satisfactory. | :20:50. | :20:52. | |
And you can see more on that story in The Wales Report at 10.40pm | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
tonight here on BBC One Wales. The latest figures show that house | :20:58. | :21:01. | |
prices in Wales are increasing but that the picture is very different | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
across the country. The news comes as Wales' biggest building society, | :21:06. | :21:07. | |
the Principality, releases it annual results showing its profits are | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
growing, boosted by record mortgage lending levels. Here's our business | :21:11. | :21:20. | |
correspondent, Brian Meechan. This shop brings together two sides | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
of the Principality's business. The building society and the estate | :21:26. | :21:31. | |
agency. Overall, the company made a profit of almost ?29 million. The | :21:32. | :21:34. | |
housing market was an important part of that business with mortgage | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
lending reaching ?1.1 billion. That is an increase of 10.7 percentage in | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
loans to home-buyers. Two years ago we set out to grow this business and | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
this is the second year we have successfully managed to grow our | :21:49. | :21:51. | |
lending and that helps people buy their own homes. But alongside that, | :21:52. | :21:57. | |
we have managed to grow our profits as well. All in all, growth together | :21:58. | :22:00. | |
with growth and profits has been a successful year. The Principality | :22:01. | :22:08. | |
has reproduced 95% mortgages. It follows UK and Welsh government | :22:09. | :22:11. | |
schemes to encourage lending to house buyers using public money. | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
Joanne Powell is one of those who has benefited. The 29-year-old | :22:17. | :22:19. | |
police community support officer is moving out of her parents home for | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
the first time. Mortgages are more accessible with the 5% deposits now | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
available. I could afford to buy a home and finish it. If the mortgages | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
were as high as they used to be, I would not be able to afford a | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
deposit. Critics argue that easy access to credit played a major part | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
in the economic crisis but is there a danger of a housing boom in Wales? | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
The latest figures from December showed the average house price in | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
Wales is just over ?118,000. That has gone up by 3.5% in a year. And | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
the picture across the country varies significantly. Prices are | :23:00. | :23:03. | |
increasing in Wrexham and Monmouthshire but they are falling | :23:04. | :23:07. | |
in Swansea, Flintshire and Newport. Experts say that is not a housing | :23:08. | :23:12. | |
boom. It is actually getting back to normal because what we have had is a | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
credit fanning in mortgages which is now being reversed to some degree. | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
Even now mortgages are not back anywhere near where they were before | :23:22. | :23:25. | |
the crisis. Particularly not for first-time buyers. Interest rates | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
are at a record low but will certainly rise in the years to come. | :23:31. | :23:34. | |
Mortgage providers say they are taking future affordability into | :23:35. | :23:38. | |
camp, especially as taxpayers money is being used to help finance many | :23:39. | :23:41. | |
of these new loans. Bad weather again today and more to | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
come. How's it looking for rugby fans travelling to Dublin? | :23:46. | :23:48. | |
Improving for a while on Friday but there's more heavy rain and severe | :23:49. | :23:55. | |
gales on the way. At the moment, there are 14 flood alerts in force | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
in Wales with a risk of more flooding to come. We also have an | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
amber strong wind warning this evening for southern counties. | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
That's in force until 11.00pm. These are the gusts we've had so far | :24:08. | :24:11. | |
today. 71mph at Pembrey on the Carmarthenshire coast. Here's the | :24:12. | :24:15. | |
reason for all the wind and rain. This deep area of low pressure. This | :24:16. | :24:18. | |
depression west of Portugal will bring more heavy rain tomorrow | :24:19. | :24:21. | |
afternoon. In the meantime, windy this evening. Further rain and | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
showers as well. Tomorrow will be a calmer day, but there is more rain | :24:27. | :24:29. | |
on the way. So here's the picture for 8.00am in the morning. Much | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
drier than today. Lighter winds too. Just the odd shower here and there. | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
So dry for a while tomorrow. Some brightness. A little sunshine but | :24:38. | :24:42. | |
more rain will spread from the south across most of the country during | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
the afternoon. Again some heavy rain. Top temperatures of seven to | :24:48. | :24:53. | |
nine Celsius. The wind easterly in the afternoon. In the Vale of | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
Glamorgan, most of the morning will remain dry but turning wet in the | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
afternoon. The wind lighter than today. In Wrexham, most of the day | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
dry. The rain not arriving until late afternoon. Tomorrow night, more | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
rain and showers. Again some heavy rain. Another 15mm to 25mm. Snow on | :25:11. | :25:17. | |
high ground in Mid Wales and the north. The wind picking up again as | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
well. On Friday, showers will gradually clear, becoming dry and | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
brighter with sunshine. The wind easing as well. So if you're | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
travelling to Ireland, a window of better weather, but it won't last. | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
Friday's chart shows another deep low over the Atlantic heading | :25:35. | :25:37. | |
towards Ireland, bringing yet more severe weather. Saturday will be | :25:38. | :25:43. | |
very windy with gales. More rain and heavy showers as well. Hail and | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
thunder possible. Snow on the mountains. A few sunny intervals as | :25:50. | :25:52. | |
well. And it's a similar story on Sunday. So more bad weather on the | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
way. Further travel disruption and flooding likely. Becoming dry on | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
Sunday night but low pressure may bring another dose of rain on | :26:01. | :26:04. | |
Monday. Still no sign yet of a prolonged dry spell on the horizon. | :26:05. | :26:07. | |
And that is Wales Today. We'll have an update at 8.00pm and more news at | :26:08. | :26:14. | |
10.25pm. For now though, from all of us on the programme, have a good | :26:15. | :26:15. | |
evening. | :26:16. | :26:17. |