:00:00. > :00:11.Shopping centres across Scotland are busy with last minute shoppers
:00:12. > :00:14.out in force looking for that final Christmas present.
:00:15. > :00:16.Retailers are hoping last minute discounting will keep the tills
:00:17. > :00:35.It's the biggest shopping centre in the city here, and like many across
:00:36. > :00:37.Scotland, busy today with shoppers looking for that last-minute
:00:38. > :00:43.present. What kind of season have they had? Malcolm is the centre
:00:44. > :00:51.manager. A good few weeks? Definitely, the last four with --
:00:52. > :00:56.weeks have been very busy. Yesterday we had 62,000 people through the
:00:57. > :01:05.doors. The retainers so far have had a successful Christmas, and said --
:01:06. > :01:11.fingers crossed. -- retailers. I guess post will be people trying
:01:12. > :01:15.to get that last-minute present. -- there will be.
:01:16. > :01:20.Yes, shall we say the male population running about?
:01:21. > :01:25.But you are determined to get the doors shut at five o'clock?
:01:26. > :01:31.Yes, there is one retailer open until 6pm, which is Debenhams, most
:01:32. > :01:35.others will be closing at 5pm. Thank you, Merry Christmas to you
:01:36. > :01:39.and your staff. But worry, you can start shopping
:01:40. > :01:41.all over again on Boxing Day. -- don't worry.
:01:42. > :01:44.The Church of Scotland and the Church of England are making
:01:45. > :01:46.It recognises the two churches' constitutional responsibilities
:01:47. > :01:50.in the UK and will be debated by the Kirk's ruling body next year,
:01:51. > :02:02.They may have their differences, but the Church of Scotland and Church of
:02:03. > :02:06.England also have much in common. So now they have decided on a joint
:02:07. > :02:10.approach, setting out for the first time an historic agreement to work
:02:11. > :02:15.together. The declaration commits the churches
:02:16. > :02:18.to grow together, while addressing more immediate issues like falling
:02:19. > :02:21.congregations. And in the post-independence
:02:22. > :02:26.referendum world, both churches are also aware of the impact brought by
:02:27. > :02:31.constitutional change. It is important that the churches in
:02:32. > :02:36.Scotland and in England are sharing with each other, are communicating
:02:37. > :02:41.across the border, and affirming what we hold in common, which is our
:02:42. > :02:43.common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which especially at this
:02:44. > :02:47.Christmas time is where our focus is.
:02:48. > :02:51.Although this historic agreement has now been published, it is still only
:02:52. > :02:55.at the start of its journey. It still needs to be discussed by the
:02:56. > :03:01.ruling bodies of both churches, and that will not happen again -- until
:03:02. > :03:08.next year. But the most in group -- important agreement to work together
:03:09. > :03:10.as already been reached. -- has already been reached.
:03:11. > :03:12.Police are investigating a report of gunfire in an Aberdeen street
:03:13. > :03:16.Officers were called to the city's Northfield area around half
:03:17. > :03:20.The road was closed off for six hours, and an area remains cordoned
:03:21. > :03:24.Police say no-one was injured and enquiries are at an early stage.
:03:25. > :03:27.A homeless charity in Aberdeen has seen the number of people it's
:03:28. > :03:28.supporting more than double in the last year.
:03:29. > :03:31.Up to 50 people per day are seeking help from The Cyrenians
:03:32. > :03:34.after finding themselves sleeping rough, having trouble paying bills
:03:35. > :03:37.Oil workers who've lost their jobs are among those
:03:38. > :03:50.We are seeing now people who perhaps had redundancies, exhausted those,
:03:51. > :03:52.unable to find any comparable work, and are now really, really
:03:53. > :03:56.struggling. Justin Bieber and the NHS Choir
:03:57. > :03:58.are battling for the Christmas But back in 1985 it was Shakin'
:03:59. > :04:02.Stevens with Merry Christmas It was composed by Bob
:04:03. > :04:05.Heatlie from Edinburgh - and he's been speaking
:04:06. > :04:21.to our reporter, Catriona Renton. Title-macro hit the top spot in
:04:22. > :04:27.1985. 30 years later it is still making money.
:04:28. > :04:29.# Merry Christmas Everyone. 30 years later, it is still making money for
:04:30. > :04:43.Bob Heatlie. It is a nice little pension. Not an
:04:44. > :04:46.awful lot of money now, because it must have been sold many times on
:04:47. > :04:53.many compilation albums, so gradually it will go downhill, and
:04:54. > :04:58.people like bootlegging these days! Last year Bob made around ?6,000
:04:59. > :05:03.from the hip, but it is not just about the money. From the -- from
:05:04. > :05:07.the single. I have always thought it would be
:05:08. > :05:11.nice to have a big Christmas hit that becomes an evergreen, but I
:05:12. > :05:14.never thought it would happen. So how do you write the perfect
:05:15. > :05:20.Christmas some? The lyrics, you have no choice with
:05:21. > :05:24.a Christmas song. It was basically meant to be a Christmas party song.
:05:25. > :05:28.Whenever I have seen it played in clubs and things, people get up and
:05:29. > :05:31.start dancing. Just a good time Christmas song.
:05:32. > :05:36.Now let's get the Christmas weather outlook from Anne Lundon.
:05:37. > :05:46.Good afternoon. The worst of the winds now have passed, as Storm Eva
:05:47. > :05:49.made her presence known particularly for the far north and North West,
:05:50. > :05:58.but still some blustery conditions to contend with. Here is the early
:05:59. > :06:01.hour radar picture, some blame to contend with this morning, some of
:06:02. > :06:06.it heavily, pulling away into the North Sea during the course of the
:06:07. > :06:10.morning. The hide it, some dry spells and blustery showers. That is
:06:11. > :06:15.set to continue for the rest of this afternoon. -- hide it. Some wintry
:06:16. > :06:22.showers on higher ground for parts of this -- Highlands and the South
:06:23. > :06:24.East. The butchers reaching six or seven Celsius.
:06:25. > :06:28.For the rest of the afternoon and evening we are hanging onto these
:06:29. > :06:32.blustery showers, falling as snow on high-level routes in parts of the
:06:33. > :06:37.Highlands, and on Christmas Day itself we are seeing this weather
:06:38. > :06:41.front making inroads, which will be affecting us later on Christmas Day
:06:42. > :06:44.into the South West. But for a large part of the day plenty of dry
:06:45. > :06:49.weather to be had, some showers around for parts of the North before
:06:50. > :06:54.the rain eventually begins to make written -- inroads into the South
:06:55. > :06:57.West. We have a Met Office "Be aware" warning to accommodate that
:06:58. > :06:59.rain. Maybe not a white Christmas then.
:07:00. > :07:03.The next programme is at 6:30pm.