22/12/2012 BBC Weekend News

Heavy rain causes more flooding and disruption across large parts of

Britain. The south-west of England is worst-hit. Some areas are

completely cut off. Lands slip, close ed roads and

troubles on the trains. Tonight, emergency teams are working to

protect homes as the storms sweep to the north. Ministers consider

allowing private firms to charge motorists to use some major new

roads. And Eoin Morgan hits England to a

victory in a nail-biting finish Good evening.

Heavy rain has caused further widespread disruption across many

parts of Britain on one of the busiest days of the year for

travellers. Train passengers were warned not to travel to parts of

south-west of England because of problems caused by flooding and

land slips. Tonight in Cornwall and Devon, where rivers have burst

their banks there are six severe flood warnings in place. There

could be a danger to life. We report from North Devon. Father

Christmas should have been here today, but Mother Nature got here

first and washed the festive spirit away.

The shop should have been busy, the street buzzing, the car park full.

It is absolutely horrifying for the shopkeepers and for the general

public of Braunton. Traders who had been relying on the

last-minute sales now have Christmas gifts floating in the

shops. We were looking at a positive

figure for December, but that has wiped it out now. I think that the

rest of Christmas is bailing out and cleaning up.

They tried to fump away. 7,000 litres a minute, but it still took

hour on hour. Meanwhile, the village pub became a hub for the

Emergency Services, reacting to this deluge and planning for the

next. This has just been a very wet year.

There was flooding in the summer. Flooding three to five weeks ago,

flooding again. It seems to be happening and happening.

In Dorset, the coastguard filmed as the rain caused this land to slide.

So much for those Christmas travel plans. The big get away has been

thrown into chaos by the weather. This was Cardiff Station this

afternoon. We are sitting around and waiting

and waiting and waiting. I can't be doing it. It took me six hours to

get from the Cotswolds to Cardiff. Now I am told that the train to

Northampton is cancelled. Near Exeter, engineers erected an

inflatable damn, the first time they have done this to protect

vital equipment. On Shetland, it has been the high

winds causing problems. One retailer hired a Hercules aircraft

to bring in vital supplies. A sign of an already unforgettable

Christmas. Back in Braunton tonight, the.only twinkling lights are blue

ones as they sandbag to protect their homes again. This has been

the worst flood in decades. They are not yet convinced it is over.

Now most of the floodwater has disappeared, but with the rain

still pouring and high tide yet to come, these remain anxious times

here. Well as the heavy rain and the

winds continue to sweep over parts of the UK tonight, the latest

flooding marks the end of a year of extreme weather. 2012 was

officially the wettest on record, although it did not start that way.

We have this report. It started with drought. 12 months

ago a second dry winter had reservoir levels critically low,

but well into the New Year, still no rain.

The spring was the driest for a century. 20 million people facing

hosepipe bans. But then, the heavens opened up.

For months it just kept raining. The weather experts say that we had

better get used to it. Because the air is warmer, globally,

then the air can hold more water. If it holds more water, we have a

greater risk of more extreme rainfall events.

There was a brief heatwave in march. Temperatures in Aberdeen, higher

than in Cyprus, but blink and you missed it and a week later back to

normal in Scotland and across the UK. Then, the famous, infamous

summer of 2012. The Olympic torch, almost

extinguished. The jubilee weather, hardly fit for

a Queen. And so inevitably, floods. Well

this year has been pretty extreme. We started off with the driest

period in 100 years. Then we ended up with the wettest period on

record. We are protecting 190,000 homes now compared with three years

ago. We invested heavily and put in new defences to protect people's

homes. Bad weather is and has been very

much a part of British life, but the indications are that things are

changing. That dealing with floods and other so-called extreme weather

events is likely to become more and more routine for all of us.

2012, then, memorable for so many things, but with weather, many of

us would like to forget. The Government is considering

allowing private firms to charge motorists to use major new roads.

The Department for Transport is examining if roads built in the

future could be paid for by tolls. Campaigners have warned that

expanding road tolls would be electoral suicide. A White Hall

report on whether the idea is feasible is due in the New Year.

The Government's been looking at how more private investment could

be used to help to improve and expand the main road networks in

England. A study was announced last spring, more toll roads are an

option. Considered alongside other ways of making money to pay private

firms which could pay different kinds of car taxes, depending on

the roads that motorists use. If you don't use the major roads,

you pay little if you use them you pay a higher rate that is made

available to the private investors to refund the operation and

investment in the road network. Improvements to a section of the

A14 in Cambridgeshire are among 20 national road schemes that the

Department for Transport says will be delivered in a few years.

Tolling is consider -- tolling is considered for that route. The

Government is looking to fund extra capacity in limited circumstances

and only if it leads to new roads or changes an existing road beyond

recognition, but Labour says a definition of what appear tobs a

new road is shifting and some say that motorists are paying too much.

40 years ago the drivers paid in motoring taxes, it was then almost

paid out again on the roads. The equation is now different. The

Government takes in �50 billion and pays in less than �10 billion. We

want to see value for money before moving to a new system.

The findings of the study are expected early next year.

The Police Federation has ordered an independent review into issues

raised by its handling of the row with Andrew Mitchell. He stood down

as the Government's Chief Whip in October after being accused of

calling Downing Street police plebs, an allegations he has denied always.

Our correspondent is at Westminster for us. So, why the review now?

think that what the Police Federation, a trade union union for

rank and file police officers, is trying to do is to limit damage

that they may suffer from the Andrew Mitchell affair.

Some of their members are I cuesed of effectively running him out of

office. Some in the West Midlands wore T-shirts emblazoned with the

word pleb and it was said that police officers would not let him

take his bike from Downing Street. At a national level some from the

Police Federation feltd it was too a personal campaign to run, but

they are not the power to stop it. Now the incoming chairman of the

Police Federation has launched a review into how the organisation is

run, and the aim is to get the federation to speak with a similar

tone of voice at least in a national, regional and local level,

otherwise he believes it will look divided if it is to negotiate with

the Government on important issues such as police funding rather than

talking to them about the fate of one Cabinet Minister.

The Crown Prosecution Service is to consider weather any criminal

offences were committed were a hoax call was made to the hospital where

the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment. Jacintha

Saldanha, who was 46, and worked at the King Edward VII Hospital in

London, was found hanged three days after passing on the call from two

DJs at an Australian radio station. Stores across the country have

reported -- recorded bumper Christmas sales as millions headed

to High Streets and shopping centres on the busiest day of the

year. Retailers were hoping for a boost, the sales in the first two

weeks of December were down on last year.

These are gloomy times on the British High Street, but today gave

the country's retailers a chance to generate badly needed Christmas

cheer. After a dismal start to the festive shopping season, they were

hoping that millions would take to the streets in a last-minute search

for bargains. There were -- there were fears that the bad weather may

turn the weekend into a wash-out, but in Glasgow, that was not the

case. It has been so busy here today.

Even from early on this morning. Marks & Spencer opened at 7.00am.

The car parks were full even before then. The rest of the centre opened

at 9.00am. It has been jam-packed ever since.

This department store in Bristol was doing a brisk trade. Customers

tried to make up for lost time. So far so good. Trying get in early

to avoid queues. It is not too bad. Buying emergency presents. A

decanter for my father-in-law and some dinner plates. Bargain deals

on that. In Liverpool it was a similar story.

It has been relentless. The numbers of people that are coming out and

continue to come out with three days to go before Christmas means

that this weekend in particular should be the busiest weekend we

have ever seen here in Liverpool. A strong weekend is something that

High Street retailers desperately need. In the counterharsh economic

climate many are struggling. This week the electrical specialist,

Comet became the latest big name chain to close its doors for good.

Certainly the shoppers are out in force today, in London and indeed,

around the country. Retailers say that they are happy, but what they

need is for the tills to keep on ringing for the next two days as

well. For many, that could mean the difference between a bleak

midwinter and a happy New Year. Sport and time for a full roundup

of all of the day's action. Good evening. There was a

grandstand finish to England's T20 game with India in Mumbai. Having

been set a target of 1 78, England needed three runs off the final

ball. Eoin Morgan hit a six into the crowd, adding a T20 series draw

to the Test Series win over India. In the Test Series, Mumbai is where

England turned it around. There was something in the air, certainly

they went skyward. For much of the Indian innings, England had a happy

knack of taking wickets when they were needed, but control that was

built up was smashed apart by Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh

Dhoni. In the space of the late overs, they launched India to a

competitive total. Having entertained with the bat, India

amused with the field. Then with the eyes off the ball, ening land

took advantage, but when they needed fluency, England stuttered,

finding fielders, not boundaries. The Indian total looked unreachable,

butting for Eoin Morgan. He propelled his side. The last ball,

three to win, achieved with trfplt another amazing Mumbai moment.

Match of the Day follows on BBC One. If you don't wish to know the

Premier League results, please Lee the room.

And Manchester United had a 1-0 win over Reading.

Arsenal are up to third place after beating Wigan with a goal to nil,

Mikel Arteta giving the London club their third win in a row since

March as they continue to climb up the table. Wigan are in the

relegation zone. Also, Liverpool moved up to eighth place after a 4-

0 win over Fulham. QPR suffering their first defeat with Harry

Redknapp. Southampton are one place above the relegation zone after

defeat to Sunderland. Tottenham could have gone into third place

with a victory but were held to a goalless draw against Stoke.

Celtic are five points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

After a 4-0 victory over Ross County. Celtic scored in the second

half and then there was no stopping them. Gary Hooper scoring twice and

gels from Scot Brown and James Forest. Inverness Caley Thistle are

in second place. And Aberdeen's Nile McGinn put two

goals past Johnston. Harlequins are top in the the -- in

the Aviva championship. The defending champions adapted

well to wet weather rugby. Northampton dropped out of the top

four. Saracens 4 their biggest win against Bath. A 22-0 victory.

And Saracens continue to push Quinns for the top spot. That is

owl from the BBC sports centre for now, Sophie. Finally, in case you

don't already know, the Olympic gym nast, Louis Smith and his partner,

Flavia have been crowned the winners of Strictly Come Dancing.

Louis Smith had been the bookies' favourite to win, tonight, Bruce

Forsyth presented them with the glitterball trophy. He beat

Kimberley Walsh and Denise Van Outen and Dani Harmer.

There is more on the BBC News Channel, but from me it is good

There is more rain to come over the next couple of days. Today's rain

has been widespread and heavy. It is still raining heavily over parts

of Wales, south-west of England. Through the night the Met Office

have a number of warnings in force. There is potential for further

flooding and travel disruption. By the ends of the night the heaviest

rain is over Scotland. That has strong winds over there too. There

is an amber warning there in the Shetlands with gusts up to 80 miles

an hour. There is the heavy rain there and sleet and snow.

The temperatures low at two Celsius. Windy over Scotland at 9.00am. Rain

to the west and the south. For Northern Ireland, although it is

windy, it will be drier and brighter.

Similar in the north of England. Cloudy skies in the south. A dull

start to the day. At 9.00am the rain is looking patchy and lighter.

It will stay that way throughout Sunday, on and off, giving us some

respite. In the north, there is drier, brighter weather. A slow

improvement over Scotland. The winds easing to the north-east.

Temperatures staying at about two Celsius over the Northern Isles.

For Scotland and Northern Ireland, nine Celsius, 12 sexualsus in the

south. Tomorrow night the rain comes into the southern counties,

parts of Wales and the Midlands. So a risk of further flooding. For

Christmas Eve, there is a Met Office warning, as we could see

further disruption to travel. While the band of rain clears away on