:00:07. > :00:10.Still no respite for storm-battered Britain as heavy rain and gales
:00:11. > :00:16.For 12 passengers on this stranded bus in Ayrshire -
:00:17. > :00:20.a dramatic airlift by helicopter to safety.
:00:21. > :00:26.The water came in the bus, it came up, it just came up and up,
:00:27. > :00:30.got to the windows and it was like big waves.
:00:31. > :00:33.You could see the current - it was very, very scary.
:00:34. > :00:35.In the Scottish borders attempts to reinforce defences -
:00:36. > :00:38.with a "danger to life" flood warning issued for the River Tweed.
:00:39. > :00:41.Back from his break, the Environment Agency chairman
:00:42. > :00:45.returns from Barbados to meet victims of the floods.
:00:46. > :00:48.The American actor Bill Cosby arrives in court in the US charged
:00:49. > :00:54.And England's cricketers beat South Africa by 241 runs to win
:00:55. > :01:19.A huge storm - the third to hit the UK in a month -
:01:20. > :01:21.has been battering parts of Northern Ireland,
:01:22. > :01:23.Scotland and northern England - bringing yet more flooding.
:01:24. > :01:27.causing high winds and persistent rain.
:01:28. > :01:34.Dumfries and Galloway, and Aberdeenshire bore the brunt.
:01:35. > :01:37.In South Ayrshire, twelve people had to be winched to safety
:01:38. > :01:39.by helicopter, after their bus was stranded in floodwater.
:01:40. > :01:46.one from Croston in Lancashire, where earlier today three severe
:01:47. > :01:50.But first the situation in Dumfries where the River Nith has
:01:51. > :02:04.Nobody can say they were not warned. But some people still needed a last
:02:05. > :02:09.minute left to dry land anyway. The river Nith rose rapidly. It floods
:02:10. > :02:14.in this part of town a lot but rarely like this without to 120
:02:15. > :02:19.millimetres of rain forecast over 24 hours. At the marina, the quayside
:02:20. > :02:25.vanished from sight, boarding became a risky business. This river has now
:02:26. > :02:28.doubled in width and in terms of intensity it's much bigger. It's an
:02:29. > :02:33.impressive sight that people have come down to see but if you run one
:02:34. > :02:36.of the businesses on the opposite side of the river you will not be
:02:37. > :02:43.impressed one bit by what's happening. Earlier property owners
:02:44. > :02:48.did what they could, but with a strong sense that it was all in
:02:49. > :02:54.vain. We just have to try to get everything off the ground. The boys
:02:55. > :03:01.have been quite good, giving us at hand. By mid-afternoon the flood was
:03:02. > :03:04.lapping at dozens of businesses, a saving grace is that few residential
:03:05. > :03:09.properties were affected. It's not over yet. Some of the businesses
:03:10. > :03:15.will suffer badly, some will struggle to get going again. A huge
:03:16. > :03:21.clean-up exercise will be put together to clean up the place.
:03:22. > :03:25.Further afield, Newton Stewart in Scotland was the first place to see
:03:26. > :03:31.a evacuations, people trying to salvage what they could. In Ayrshire
:03:32. > :03:37.police said ten people where lifted from this bus, three among them. The
:03:38. > :03:43.rescue filmed from afar. Who would have foreseen this end to a routine
:03:44. > :03:46.shopping trip? The driver thought it was OK to get through but we got
:03:47. > :03:51.stuck and the water came in the bus and was coming up and up and it got
:03:52. > :04:00.to the window. It was like big waves and you could see the current and it
:04:01. > :04:04.was very scary. The raging River Dee left a trail of destruction here.
:04:05. > :04:09.Forcing hundreds to leave their homes and seek a huge. And in
:04:10. > :04:15.Peebles in the Borders, the speed with which the water rose was a
:04:16. > :04:21.surprise, even to those who thought they had seen it all. It came up
:04:22. > :04:27.very quick. I am Peebles born and bred but I've never seen it so high.
:04:28. > :04:35.Only tomorrow's daylight will truly reveal what damage has been caused.
:04:36. > :04:38.Well, the River Nith here is now receding and people are already
:04:39. > :04:42.returning to properties to check on them, but most attention is now
:04:43. > :04:44.focused further north in Aberdeenshire where hundreds are
:04:45. > :04:49.spending the night out of their homes. Some being put up in local
:04:50. > :04:55.rest centres but some people are being put up in the army barracks
:04:56. > :04:56.which is normally there to provide protection to the Queen when she is
:04:57. > :05:00.at Balmoral. Many thanks. After many questions in the last few
:05:01. > :05:04.days about the adequacy of the UK's flood defences, the chairman
:05:05. > :05:06.of the Environment Agency Sir Philip Dilley said he'd be
:05:07. > :05:09.visiting flood victims. He's come in for criticism
:05:10. > :05:11.for being on holiday in the Caribbean during some
:05:12. > :05:14.of the worst storms in years. The people of Croston in Lancashire
:05:15. > :05:17.have had to endure two of them, and were braced today
:05:18. > :05:21.for the second flood in a week. There were - as we heard -
:05:22. > :05:37.three severe warnings in place Two miles outside Croston, under
:05:38. > :05:40.darkening skies, the giant pumps rumble back into action, shifting
:05:41. > :05:44.floodwater from farmland to make room for more. Although storm Frank
:05:45. > :05:48.did not deliver significant heavy rain to this part of Lancashire, it
:05:49. > :05:52.has grounded the helicopter which was due to continue plugging the
:05:53. > :05:59.breach in the River defences half a mile behind me. The damage is
:06:00. > :06:03.virtually inaccessible by land but this afternoon volunteers from a
:06:04. > :06:07.local rescue team used their specialist tracked vehicles to reach
:06:08. > :06:12.the breached defences and assess the remaining threat. The storm has not
:06:13. > :06:15.helped us, high winds have meant it has been too strong to get the
:06:16. > :06:24.helicopter out and that's the only way to move the large sandbags. We
:06:25. > :06:30.will get it done in the coming days. The calls for help were still being
:06:31. > :06:35.answered. One urgent call came from this nursing home, the kitchen was
:06:36. > :06:40.flooded and the power disrupted and donations of fresh water and food
:06:41. > :06:48.were there within hours. Everybody of all ages, and from all walks of
:06:49. > :06:53.life have come to help and that is a spirit I have never known. Sir
:06:54. > :06:57.Philip Dilley is the chairman of the Environment Agency, back today from
:06:58. > :07:02.a holiday in the Caribbean. Should he have returned earlier? Was the
:07:03. > :07:09.Caribbean the best place to manage the crisis from? I have been in
:07:10. > :07:14.close contact with people running the organisation. By this evening be
:07:15. > :07:19.a moment agency had published images of Sir Philip visiting troops in
:07:20. > :07:26.York but the press were not invited. A few miles away the Environment
:07:27. > :07:28.Secretary in Tadcaster agreed that the Environment Agency's chief
:07:29. > :07:38.executive had visited areas over Christmas. A plan to reunite the two
:07:39. > :07:41.halves of the town is under discussion. People want their lives
:07:42. > :07:46.sorted out as soon as possible and it is our priority to do that. Back
:07:47. > :07:48.in Croston there is still a reassuring presence on the Main
:07:49. > :07:53.Street. Tomorrow the clean-up camera shoot. There will be more storms to
:07:54. > :07:59.weather in the week ahead. The relentless storms,
:08:00. > :08:01.which have swept across the UK this month, meant it was
:08:02. > :08:03.a record-breaking December for rainfall in many parts
:08:04. > :08:05.of northern England, of climate change is
:08:06. > :08:08.again under scrutiny. Our Science Editor David Shukman
:08:09. > :08:23.looks now at what's causing The coast of Cornwall was among the
:08:24. > :08:28.first to be hit by Storm Frank just before high tide this morning. Soon
:08:29. > :08:34.after dawn, County Waterford in Ireland was struck by waves whipped
:08:35. > :08:37.up by the dangerous winds. By lunchtime, it was the turn of
:08:38. > :08:42.Anglesey in Wales, this extreme weather system reaches far beyond
:08:43. > :08:46.the British Isles as well. This elevation shows that west of the UK
:08:47. > :08:51.the storm is so powerful it is driving a flow of warm air up to the
:08:52. > :08:55.Arctic and making the North Pole far warmer than normal. It's a time of
:08:56. > :08:58.turbulent weather. Here in Britain the past month has seen a host of
:08:59. > :09:01.rainfall records. If you look at the averages
:09:02. > :09:04.for December rainfall from 1980 to 2010, Capel Curig in North Wales
:09:05. > :09:06.normally gets 308 millimetres. But it has been hit
:09:07. > :09:09.with 1012 millimetres - The average for Shap in Cumbria
:09:10. > :09:16.is 215 millimetres but it And the average for Bainbridge
:09:17. > :09:21.in North Yorkshire is 156, We're on course for the warmest
:09:22. > :09:29.December in more than 100 And the wettest December
:09:30. > :09:34.for many parts of the UK, including Scotland, Wales
:09:35. > :09:36.and north-west England in more But we don't expect those
:09:37. > :09:45.conditions to continue right And all this may be linked
:09:46. > :09:53.to what is called El Nino. Here, this Nasa image shows warm
:09:54. > :09:56.water rising in the eastern Pacific and this is happening on a large
:09:57. > :09:59.enough scale to disturb weather Exactly the kind of thing
:10:00. > :10:08.that El Nino can bring. And there are similar
:10:09. > :10:10.scenes in South America. Back here, the aftermath of yet more
:10:11. > :10:13.devastating rain and because warmer air can hold more moisture,
:10:14. > :10:15.it could well be that climate change And that will raise more questions
:10:16. > :10:22.about how well the country copes with more violent weather
:10:23. > :10:24.in the years ahead. Belgian authorities have cancelled
:10:25. > :10:37.the traditional fireworks display in Brussels on New Year's Eve,
:10:38. > :10:39.citing fears of a terrorist attack. The city's mayor said
:10:40. > :10:41.the decision was taken Earlier this week two people
:10:42. > :10:45.were arrested on suspicion of plotting an attack
:10:46. > :10:47.in the city on New Years Eve. In London, the Metropolitan Police
:10:48. > :10:50.said extra armed officers will be A couple from Reading who were found
:10:51. > :10:56.guilty of planning a bomb attack in London to mark the 10th
:10:57. > :10:59.anniversary of the July 7th attacks - have been given life
:11:00. > :11:01.sentences at the Old Bailey. Mohammed Rehman was told
:11:02. > :11:04.he would spend at least 27 Sana Ahmed Khan, who was given
:11:05. > :11:11.a minimum of 25 years, had written to the judge
:11:12. > :11:17.expressing her remorse. The American comedian Bill Cosby -
:11:18. > :11:20.who was once the world's highest paid entertainer - has been charged
:11:21. > :11:23.with sexual assault. The 78 year old is accused
:11:24. > :11:25.of drugging and indecently assaulting a woman at his home
:11:26. > :11:27.near Philadelphia in 2004. Mr Cosby has denied similar
:11:28. > :11:30.accusations by dozens of women, as our Washington Correspondent
:11:31. > :11:42.Laura Bicker reports. He was once the most-watched
:11:43. > :11:46.man on television. For decades the funny
:11:47. > :11:48.family entertainer hailed Mr Cosby, do you want
:11:49. > :11:53.to say anything? Now he must face the cameras
:11:54. > :11:58.once again to hear details of the criminal
:11:59. > :12:05.charges against him. They involve Andrea Constant who has
:12:06. > :12:08.waived her right to anonymity. She said that she went
:12:09. > :12:10.to his house for career Mr Cosby urged her to take pills
:12:11. > :12:14.that he provided to her. The effect of which rendered
:12:15. > :12:18.her unable to move or respond to his advances
:12:19. > :12:20.and he committed aggravated indecent There have been allegations
:12:21. > :12:27.and rumours for years but it was a stand up routine
:12:28. > :12:31.by a comedian which sent them viral. The charges today are
:12:32. > :12:39.based on their position from a civil case where Bill Cosby
:12:40. > :12:45.admits giving women drugs before But nearly 60 women have come
:12:46. > :12:54.forward, many high-profile His behaviour was like
:12:55. > :13:03.that of a predator. I woke up in the back
:13:04. > :13:05.of my car, alone, my clothes were a mess
:13:06. > :13:14.and my bra was undone. Legally many of his accusers have
:13:15. > :13:17.run out of time to bring For many of my 29 clients who allege
:13:18. > :13:24.that they are victims of Bill Cosby, seeing him criminally
:13:25. > :13:25.charged and having to face a trial is the best Christmas
:13:26. > :13:34.present they have ever received. He has always denied the allegations
:13:35. > :13:42.and he is free on a $1 million bail. If convicted, this once-global star
:13:43. > :13:44.could face the last years Cricket now - and England have
:13:45. > :13:50.beaten South Africa in the first The visitors comfortably
:13:51. > :13:52.won by 241 runs. Our Sports Correspondent
:13:53. > :14:00.Andy Swiss has more. A thumping victory for England here
:14:01. > :14:07.in Durban. A crushing win over
:14:08. > :14:09.the world's top Test team. For both England's players and fans,
:14:10. > :14:11.so much to applaud. South Africa had begun the day
:14:12. > :14:14.still with faint hope, Star batsman AB de Villiers
:14:15. > :14:19.bamboozled by Moeen Ali and it prompted the sort of collapse more
:14:20. > :14:21.traditionally associated Temba Bavuma's rush of blood
:14:22. > :14:28.offering the simplest of stumpings. For the South African balcony,
:14:29. > :14:31.it was almost too painful to watch. But it was not about
:14:32. > :14:37.to get any easier. Steve Finn ending Dale Steyn's brief
:14:38. > :14:39.resistance in about as emphatic And by the time Ali picked
:14:40. > :14:50.up his third of the day, not so much leg as legs before
:14:51. > :14:53.wicket, South Africa had lost four Indeed what could have been
:14:54. > :14:57.a long and tense day Stewart Broad trapping Morne Morkel
:14:58. > :15:00.whose last desperate Replays showed it hitting the middle
:15:01. > :15:08.of the middle stump, a suitably decisive end
:15:09. > :15:10.to an utterly decisive win. Rarely have England
:15:11. > :15:18.been quite so ruthless.