:00:21. > :00:24.More than 300 flood warnings and alerts have been
:00:25. > :00:29.issued across England, Scotland and Wales.
:00:30. > :00:32.15 are severe warnings, indicating a danger to life -
:00:33. > :00:36.Homes in Ribchester and Whalley are being evacuated and people have
:00:37. > :00:40.It's thought almost a month's rainfall will fall in one day
:00:41. > :00:50.Our correspondent Judith Moritz is in Ribchester.
:00:51. > :00:57.Yes, and after the problems in Cumbria earlier this month, today
:00:58. > :01:02.its Lancashire's turn to feel nervous to see the water come into
:01:03. > :01:06.buildings. You can see behind me here, the main road from the village
:01:07. > :01:09.of Ribchester to Blackburn. We have spent the morning trying to get
:01:10. > :01:13.around here, it is very difficult, and a lot of the roads are
:01:14. > :01:16.impassable. This is one of the areas the Met office put its highest
:01:17. > :01:21.warning on, a severe flood warning, and that is their way of telling
:01:22. > :01:23.people here it is time to evacuate, to get themselves out, their
:01:24. > :01:25.belongings safe to make sure they are nowhere near where this water is
:01:26. > :01:32.coming in. If you want to drive to Blackburn
:01:33. > :01:40.from here, the only way is by tractor. Ribchester's largely cut
:01:41. > :01:44.off, roads impassable by car as the River Ribble has burst its banks. 24
:01:45. > :01:48.hours ago, diners at this pub enjoying lunch, but this morning,
:01:49. > :01:52.the water rose so quickly, the staff had to bail out the kitchens as the
:01:53. > :01:55.water came in. The water was rising as we stood here now, it is about
:01:56. > :02:00.two feet at the moment and driving higher. And that is in the kitchens?
:02:01. > :02:03.The kitchen is completely flooded. We can't do anything in there today.
:02:04. > :02:08.We just have to wait for the level to drop. As it happened before? You
:02:09. > :02:11.are right near the river. I have been here six years now, and this is
:02:12. > :02:15.the worse I have ever seen it. I haven't seen it this high. People
:02:16. > :02:18.here say they haven't seen it like this for decades. Sandbags and
:02:19. > :02:23.defences are in place, and most houses are currently clear of water,
:02:24. > :02:27.but it is a nervous time. This is the worst since I have lived in the
:02:28. > :02:30.village. I think it has been worse 20, 25 years ago when we first moved
:02:31. > :02:34.into the area. In Lancashire, 70 millimetres of
:02:35. > :02:36.rain has already fallen, and it's still coming, with around the same
:02:37. > :02:40.amount due to fall before this evening.
:02:41. > :02:45.As you can see, the conditions here are not good, and it's not just here
:02:46. > :02:50.in Lancashire, I should tell you there are problems across the north,
:02:51. > :02:56.there is flooding at the moment we hear and particularly around the
:02:57. > :03:02.Calder Valley across West Yorkshire and into Leeds, but we are being
:03:03. > :03:10.told are parts of Greater Manchester experiencing problems, among -- a
:03:11. > :03:13.month's worth of rain falling in a day, difficulties in Scotland, and
:03:14. > :03:17.the advice is to check for the latest flood information and to make
:03:18. > :03:21.sure that you are at all times safe and not to come to near to where the
:03:22. > :03:25.floods are. Judith, thanks very much.
:03:26. > :03:27.Senior doctors are urging people not to attend Accident and Emergency
:03:28. > :03:30.units over the festive period unless it's "absolutely necessary".
:03:31. > :03:33.NHS bosses say pharmacies should be the first point of contact for those
:03:34. > :03:35.feeling unwell, and are advising people to stock up on painkillers
:03:36. > :03:42.and cough syrups to deal with minor ailments.
:03:43. > :03:45.More than a hundred homes have been destroyed by Christmas Day bushfires
:03:46. > :03:47.in Australia along a stretch of coastline popular
:03:48. > :03:50.Firefighters are continuing to tackle the blazes south
:03:51. > :03:52.of Melbourne in the state of Victoria.
:03:53. > :03:58.Fast-moving flames and thick smoke have brought panic and fear
:03:59. > :04:07.along Australia's famous Great Ocean Road.
:04:08. > :04:09.More than 50 houses have been destroyed in Wye River
:04:10. > :04:13.Firefighters have struggled to control the blazes.
:04:14. > :04:19.Boots on the ground were supported by water-bombing aircraft,
:04:20. > :04:24.The outbreak began last weekend, but intensified after being fanned
:04:25. > :04:29.by strong winds as temperatures soared.
:04:30. > :04:31.Many residents and holiday-makers were forced to flee
:04:32. > :04:33.as Christmas festivities were abandoned
:04:34. > :04:37.when the scale of the threat became apparent.
:04:38. > :04:40.They were all prepared, putting their barbecues on,
:04:41. > :04:42.they were cooking away, and all of a sudden
:04:43. > :04:44.they could see the smoke coming over the hill.
:04:45. > :04:46.They thought it was still four hours away,
:04:47. > :04:51.it was an hour away, then half an hour away,
:04:52. > :04:55.stopped cooking and hopped in their car and headed here.
:04:56. > :04:58.Conditions were so severe that authorities were advised to evacuate
:04:59. > :05:03.entire towns south-west of Melbourne.
:05:04. > :05:06.A cool change has subdued some of the fires, and some heavy rain
:05:07. > :05:11.Many bushfires are started by lightning strikes,
:05:12. > :05:13.while others are sparked accidentally by campers
:05:14. > :05:20.Ominously, some of the blazes are the work of arsonists.
:05:21. > :05:27.Millions of shoppers are hitting the high street today
:05:28. > :05:39.It's thought almost ?5 billion will be spent by bargain hunters
:05:40. > :05:42.Our business correspondent Joe Lynam is on Oxford Street
:05:43. > :05:51.Good afternoon. It is pretty busy on Oxford Street, as you can see. Maybe
:05:52. > :05:54.less chaotic than other high streets throughout the UK, because London is
:05:55. > :05:59.a tourist hub, but that isn't to say that people in the UK are not
:06:00. > :06:02.spending money. They are spending ?4.9 billion over the festive period
:06:03. > :06:06.by some measures. What is going on is they have more money in their
:06:07. > :06:09.pocket, the cost of living has made flat lined and real wages are going
:06:10. > :06:13.up, so people have more money to spend and they are going to spend
:06:14. > :06:20.it. Interestingly, this year has seen a huge rise in online shopping,
:06:21. > :06:23.so about a third of all the last you for weeks has been online, and the
:06:24. > :06:28.rest of it is in high streets up and down the country like this. Though
:06:29. > :06:28.they may be less chaotic than this one.
:06:29. > :06:31.Joe, thank you by much. England's cricketers have had
:06:32. > :06:33.difficult start on the first morning of their opening test
:06:34. > :06:35.match in South Africa. After losing the toss
:06:36. > :06:37.following a delayed start, captain Alistair Cook lasted
:06:38. > :06:39.just eleven balls before They continued to struggle,
:06:40. > :06:44.losing Joe Root. Rain has again stopped play
:06:45. > :06:48.with England 55 for 3. The next news on BBC One
:06:49. > :07:06.is at twenty to seven this evening. Good afternoon. There is no doubt
:07:07. > :07:11.that a dangerous weather situation has developed so far this Boxing
:07:12. > :07:15.Day. Torrential rain which has prompted the Met Office to issue a
:07:16. > :07:20.red warning, that is the highest tier of warning. It means take
:07:21. > :07:26.action, action to protect property, action to protect life. You can see
:07:27. > :07:29.why the problems have begun to arise on the radar picture. This pipeline
:07:30. > :07:32.of moisture, it has been raining in the same parts of North Wales and
:07:33. > :07:40.north-west England four hour upon hour upon hour. We have a red
:07:41. > :07:42.warning in force for parts of Lancashire and West Yorkshire, and
:07:43. > :07:47.there are Amber and yellow warnings in force across a large swathe of
:07:48. > :07:52.North Wales, northern England and southern and eastern Scotland. These
:07:53. > :07:54.green and yellow colours indicate the heaviest downpours, those
:07:55. > :07:58.perhaps moving a little further north through the rest of the
:07:59. > :08:02.afternoon full but plenty more rain to come, and hill snow for Scotland.
:08:03. > :08:06.Northern Ireland, cloudy, damp and cold, but further south, very mild,
:08:07. > :08:13.quite windy, mostly cloudy but at least try. This evening the rain
:08:14. > :08:16.will continue for a time, and really poor travelling conditions, but
:08:17. > :08:21.eventually this main band of rain will drift south and east, so things
:08:22. > :08:25.will dry up in those areas. Further north, some fog for Northern
:08:26. > :08:30.Ireland, a very mild night across the South. Tomorrow morning,
:08:31. > :08:34.northern England will at least get a chance to dry out, and a bright
:08:35. > :08:38.start. It will start a cloud over with sunlight breaks of rain pushing
:08:39. > :08:41.up from the south, but this time the rain will not be nearly as heavy,
:08:42. > :08:46.just some patchy outbreaks of rain moving in through the afternoon.
:08:47. > :08:50.Scotland, bright and cold, further south, some brightness and a very
:08:51. > :08:54.mild day. Plenty of flood warnings and severe flood warnings stop if
:08:55. > :09:06.you are at all concerned, you can call the flood line. And our BBC
:09:07. > :09:12.You're not a soldier, you are a doctor.
:09:13. > :09:15.I'm an Army doctor which means I could break every