:00:00. > :00:09.two weeks' time. That
:00:10. > :00:13.Are Good evening. The Scottish Government insists the country will
:00:14. > :00:17.be still able to remain in the European Union, even if there's a
:00:18. > :00:20.vote in favour of independence. It was responding to the President of
:00:21. > :00:23.the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, who said an application
:00:24. > :00:31.from Scotland to join the European Union would need the approval of all
:00:32. > :00:34.member states. Andrew Kerr reports. A lack of unity in the European
:00:35. > :00:38.union could be a block to an independent Scotland's membership.
:00:39. > :00:40.The president of the European commission has already said that
:00:41. > :00:44.Scotland would not automatically be a new member. He seemed to go even
:00:45. > :00:50.further today on the Andrew Marr show, talking about the possibility
:00:51. > :00:57.of other states having a veto over a new membership. It is a new country.
:00:58. > :01:01.I believe it is going to be a truly difficult, if not impossible, a new
:01:02. > :01:06.member state coming out of another member country, getting agreement of
:01:07. > :01:11.the others. That is for the British people and the Scottish people, of
:01:12. > :01:17.course to decide about that. He made particular reference to the
:01:18. > :01:20.Government of Spain, who have opposition to independence movements
:01:21. > :01:27.in Catalonia and the bask country. His intervention was dismissed by
:01:28. > :01:31.the Scottish Government. Jose Manuel Barroso was preposterous this
:01:32. > :01:35.morning. He's compared the situation in Scotland to that of Kosovo.
:01:36. > :01:40.Scotland has been an EU member for 40 years. But the comments from Jose
:01:41. > :01:46.Manuel Barroso were music to the ears of those opposed to Scottish
:01:47. > :01:51.independence. Of course it is an advantage to the EU to have members
:01:52. > :01:53.within it, but what Jose Manuel Barroso was saying was that the
:01:54. > :01:59.discussions that will take place will be anything but plain sailing.
:02:00. > :02:02.They could drag on for years. As the president said, it is up to the
:02:03. > :02:07.Scottish people to decide their future, but his comments are, as
:02:08. > :02:17.ever, fuelling the debate, as Scots pour over what he said. -- pore
:02:18. > :02:21.over. A 78-year-old cyclist has died after being involved in a collision
:02:22. > :02:24.with a car on the outskirts of Edinburgh. It happened on the road
:02:25. > :02:26.from Kirkliston to South Queensferry just before ten o'clock this
:02:27. > :02:29.morning. At the Winter Olympics, David Murdoch's team lost their
:02:30. > :02:33.penultimate match in the round robin stage of the curling, to Norway. The
:02:34. > :02:36.defeat leaves team GB on five wins and three defeats, and facing a
:02:37. > :02:39.crucial match against China tomorrow. The Scottish athletes
:02:40. > :02:41.competing at the Sochi Olympics have had to contend with subtropical
:02:42. > :02:44.temperatures. The weather there is unprecedented, and a number of
:02:45. > :02:47.competitions have had to be brought forward to avoid the afternoon heat.
:02:48. > :02:51.Jackie O'Brien reports. Sochi is scorching with temperatures over 14
:02:52. > :03:01.Celsius in the mountains making it the warmest winter games on record.
:03:02. > :03:06.Athletes did not bargain for the balmy temperatures reaching the
:03:07. > :03:11.competition slopes. So what. It clouded over a bit summit was not as
:03:12. > :03:19.sunny as it was earlier, but not used to skiing when it is 15
:03:20. > :03:25.degrees. And the snow is so wet and sticky. Organisers have thousands of
:03:26. > :03:29.tonnes of snow stop wild if a major flaw threats in, but the man who
:03:30. > :03:33.came up with this most touring concept is confident that it will
:03:34. > :03:39.not be required. Snow cannot melt in a second. Even in subtropical
:03:40. > :03:43.temperatures, we are still mountains, and mountains at this
:03:44. > :03:51.level, you have freezing temperatures, so don't worry about
:03:52. > :03:57.the thaw. The temperatures are not going to pose a threat to the future
:03:58. > :04:00.of Scotland's scheme industry, but the man in charge of snow storage
:04:01. > :04:08.believes that his concept could work in our mountains. Well, what's the
:04:09. > :04:11.weather going to be like here for the start of the week? Gillian has
:04:12. > :04:14.the forecast. Good evening. It was blue skies for many, but the cloud
:04:15. > :04:20.is creeping in, bringing outbreaks of rain, tracking novels. We have a
:04:21. > :04:25.wintry mix with snow above 200 metres. Frosty conditions ahead of
:04:26. > :04:34.that, with the risk of ice on untreated surfaces. Tomorrow, a
:04:35. > :04:39.cloudy, damp prospect, as low pressure once again takes charge,
:04:40. > :04:44.and that rain heads northwards. It is no longer mainly confined to the
:04:45. > :04:47.hills, but we will see some at lower levels in Inverness and across the
:04:48. > :04:51.Highlands. A cold day, quite misty towards the East Coast, with
:04:52. > :04:58.temperatures around five or six Celsius at best. And that's all from
:04:59. > :05:00.Reporting Scotland tonight. There are updates from 6.25am tomorrow
:05:01. > :05:11.morning. From all Good evening. In the midst of any
:05:12. > :05:15.normal winter weather for the week ahead would be fairly unremarkable.
:05:16. > :05:18.Some rain in places, some strong winds at times, but of course we are
:05:19. > :05:20.in the midst of no normal