:00:00. > :00:00.So it's goodbye from me and on BBC One we now join the BBC's
:00:00. > :00:13.Labour calls for an immediate 1p rise in Scottish income tax to avoid
:00:14. > :00:18.The SNP want a June date for the EU referendum to be ruled out
:00:19. > :00:22.because they say it's too close to the Scotttish Parliament elections.
:00:23. > :00:24.The Scots holidaymaker who was trampled to death by this
:00:25. > :00:31.Holding back the flood - the defences that worked even
:00:32. > :00:42.If it wouldn't have been for that, we'd have been up the creek. Yeah,
:00:43. > :00:46.we would have been. Not the best thing to look at. At least the water
:00:47. > :00:49.will stay there. The water will be behind, that's right.
:00:50. > :01:07.North Sea oil fell to its lowest level for more than six years.
:01:08. > :01:23.Can we learn from what happened 30 years ago?
:01:24. > :01:27.Labour is calling for Scots to pay extra income tax.
:01:28. > :01:28.It says a 1p-in-the-pound rise could be spent
:01:29. > :01:32.Holyrood will have additional powers over income tax rates from April
:01:33. > :01:35.and even more powers due to come to Holyrood under the Scotland Bill.
:01:36. > :01:38.The Scottish Government says it won't alter tax rates until these
:01:39. > :01:43.Here's our political correspondent, Glenn Campbell.
:01:44. > :01:51.In Aberdeen where the oil price crash is hitting hard, a taxing
:01:52. > :01:57.question for locals - would you pay a little more income tax to preserve
:01:58. > :02:02.local services? Yes or no? No. I think we pay enough tax as it is. I
:02:03. > :02:07.mean, I work virtually full-time. I do have a pension, but I'm taxed on
:02:08. > :02:15.that and I'm also taxed on my Yes, I would earnings. Because what is 1p
:02:16. > :02:20.in today's terms? If it helps other people, other organisations, yes,
:02:21. > :02:26.I'd pay. Ed bad news is this is a speech about tax. In Edinburgh the
:02:27. > :02:38.Labour leader thinks putting 1p on all income tax rates in Scotland
:02:39. > :02:47.will prove popular as an alternative going to cost countless numbers of
:02:48. > :02:53.jobs across the country. What's that got to do with the price of fish?
:02:54. > :02:57.Well, Labour says someone earning around ?30,000 a year would only pay
:02:58. > :03:05.an extra ?4 a week under their tax plan. Far less than the cost of this
:03:06. > :03:10.super. Those on low earnings would actually receive a ?100 year rebate,
:03:11. > :03:14.but the SNP isn't buying it. It seems unworkable. It's unfair
:03:15. > :03:18.because it's not progressive. It will hammer many people on low
:03:19. > :03:20.incomes and contrast to what the SNP Government is doing and they haven't
:03:21. > :03:26.worked out how it will actually work. The SNP wants to match UK
:03:27. > :03:31.income tax rates in the year ahead. Like the Scottish Greens they think
:03:32. > :03:36.the extended income tax powers, coming in 2017, offer more scope for
:03:37. > :03:40.reform. Really we should be looking in the round at how the national and
:03:41. > :03:44.local tax powers are going to work together. Council tax has to go as
:03:45. > :03:49.well. We need to make sure that across the balance we're being
:03:50. > :03:54.progressive. Labour's 1p for local services is similar to the Liberal
:03:55. > :03:58.Democrats 1p for education. Our priority is for education for two
:03:59. > :04:04.simple reasons - to give everybody the opportunity to get up and get
:04:05. > :04:09.on, no matter what their background, but also to feed the skills that the
:04:10. > :04:13.economy needs. The Conservatives want to cut income tax when finances
:04:14. > :04:17.allow. The first thing the Labour Party has done is said it will whack
:04:18. > :04:23.workers for tax. The Scottish Conservatives are clear. We don't
:04:24. > :04:27.think you should pay more tax in Scotland and that you would do if
:04:28. > :04:31.you #4ri6d in other parts of the UK. Not since the SNP's 1p for Scotland
:04:32. > :04:36.plan in 1989 has income tax Not since the SNP's 1p for Scotland
:04:37. > :04:39.such a big Holyrood election issue. Voters rejected paying more then. In
:04:40. > :04:42.such a big Holyrood election issue. these tougher financial times,
:04:43. > :04:50.Labour hopes attitudes have changed. Glenn Campbell, Reporting Scotland.
:04:51. > :04:52.Meanwhile, the Scottish Government says it is "strongly opposed"
:04:53. > :04:55.to a European referendum being held in June because it would be too
:04:56. > :04:57.close to the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
:04:58. > :04:59.Our political correspondent, David Porter, is outside
:05:00. > :05:02.the European Commission headquarters in London for us tonight.
:05:03. > :05:07.A busy day. The SNP group at Westminster and other parties are
:05:08. > :05:14.not too keen on the prospect of a June referendum? No, they're not at
:05:15. > :05:18.all, Jackie. Politicians throughout the UK where ever they come from in
:05:19. > :05:24.the UK are crystal clear - they are aware of how important the EU
:05:25. > :05:26.referendum will be and how it could overshadow other political issues
:05:27. > :05:32.and indeed block those political issues out. It is for that reason
:05:33. > :05:36.they say there ought to be a decent time span between the elections for
:05:37. > :05:42.Holyrood in Cardiff and in Northern Ireland in May and an EU referendum.
:05:43. > :05:46.They say that there shouldn't be an EU referendum before September at
:05:47. > :05:52.the earliest. Today, they put that case to Ministers in the Commons. It
:05:53. > :05:57.simply cannot be right to have these elections and a referendum campaign
:05:58. > :06:03.clash with a June polling day on remaining in the EU. Will the
:06:04. > :06:06.Government now take the opportunity to confirm it will respect the
:06:07. > :06:11.electorates in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London by not
:06:12. > :06:14.announcing a June referendum date? No decision has been take.
:06:15. > :06:18.Take.about a referendum date. Not least because we don't yet have a
:06:19. > :06:21.deal. We won't know until at the earliest the February European
:06:22. > :06:27.Council whether we do. At the end of the day it's a he d countries for
:06:28. > :06:31.the House the referendum date is set by statutory instrument subject to
:06:32. > :06:34.affirmative resolution here. Ministers have been careful about
:06:35. > :06:38.the language they use. They say that no deal has been struck. There is a
:06:39. > :06:42.feeling that if David Cameron goes to Brussels later this month and
:06:43. > :06:47.does manage to get an agreement he will want an EU referendum sooner
:06:48. > :06:53.rather than later. Unofficially, one date has been ringed in the
:06:54. > :06:57.calendar, that is June 23rd. It means potentially if that date was
:06:58. > :07:02.the date for the EU refer ref voters in Scotland could be asked to go to
:07:03. > :07:07.the polls in successive months in May and June to decide two very big
:07:08. > :07:11.political issues. One thing we can be certain of though Jackie is,
:07:12. > :07:12.there will be no shortage of politics in the weeks and months
:07:13. > :07:21.ahead. Thank you very much, David. New figures suggest
:07:22. > :07:22.Emergency Departments in Scottish hospitals recorded their best
:07:23. > :07:24.December performance 95% of people were dealt with within
:07:25. > :07:27.the Scottish Government's target It is the best performance
:07:28. > :07:30.in Scotland since 2009. Figures for the rest of the UK
:07:31. > :07:33.are released at different times, but overall Scottish Emergency
:07:34. > :07:36.Departments are treating people more quickly than England,
:07:37. > :07:40.Wales or Northern Ireland. A Scottish holidaymaker,
:07:41. > :07:42.who died after being attacked by an elephant in Thailand,
:07:43. > :07:44.has been named locally He's said to have been thrown
:07:45. > :07:59.by the animal after it turned on its handler during an outing
:08:00. > :08:01.on the island of Koh Samui. It's understood Mr Crowe's
:08:02. > :08:03.teenage daughter escaped Our correspondent,
:08:04. > :08:08.Daniela Relph, reports. Behind the trees is Golf the
:08:09. > :08:11.elephant, still with the seat on its back. It's the one Gareth Crowe and
:08:12. > :08:16.his daughter were riding, the one who attacked them. It's thought
:08:17. > :08:21.Gareth Crowe was thrown off as the elephant handler tried to take a
:08:22. > :08:25.photo. So the reports said the handler had struck the elephant a
:08:26. > :08:27.number of times. A local vet who examined the animal said the
:08:28. > :08:31.elephant's behaviour could have stemmed from the hot weather and it
:08:32. > :08:37.being stressed. It may have been startled by something, he said.
:08:38. > :08:40.Elephant trekking remains a popular activity for tourist in Thailand.
:08:41. > :08:44.It's an increasingly controversial choice. Animal welfare groups say
:08:45. > :08:49.elephants are subjected to brutal treatment to make them submissive
:08:50. > :08:53.and able to train. But they remain unpredictable. If you saw an
:08:54. > :08:56.elephant in the wild you would literally run a mile. You would
:08:57. > :09:01.never go anywhere near it because it's so dangerous. It is one of the
:09:02. > :09:05.most dangerous animals in the world. For it to have been forced into this
:09:06. > :09:10.type of submission is because of this repeated beating and cruelty.
:09:11. > :09:14.At the camp where Gareth Crowe died vets found elephants chained to
:09:15. > :09:20.trees, others looked poorly cared for. Some of the world's biggest
:09:21. > :09:22.travel companies now refuse to promote elephant treks, knowing the
:09:23. > :09:27.dangers tourists face. You're watching Reporting Scotland,
:09:28. > :09:30.still to come on tonight's Is it time to get smart
:09:31. > :09:36.with our electricity meters? In sport, it's the start
:09:37. > :09:38.of the Six Nations campaign. We find out more about the Scotland
:09:39. > :09:40.coach, Vern Cotter. Aberdeen boss, Derek McInness,
:09:41. > :09:44.wants an investigation into the collapse of their transfer
:09:45. > :09:46.bid for Inverness midfielder, The heavy rain of the last few weeks
:09:47. > :09:58.has brought flooding misery to many communities and has focussed
:09:59. > :10:00.attention on what needs to be done More than 40 new flood defences
:10:01. > :10:06.are planned for Scotland over the next five years,
:10:07. > :10:08.costing more than ?200 million. Andrew Anderson's been to see one
:10:09. > :10:24.which, even before it's complete, The River flowing quickly but
:10:25. > :10:28.gently, compared to a few weeks ago. The river skirts around the southern
:10:29. > :10:33.end of Brechin it's not always so benign. It burst its bank many times
:10:34. > :10:37.in recent years, flooding nearby homes, bringing misery to residents.
:10:38. > :10:42.We had several events of flooding which has affected over 250-300
:10:43. > :10:47.houses. We decided that we needed to look at how we would prevent that
:10:48. > :10:52.for those people. Some ?14 million is being spent on new flood
:10:53. > :10:56.protection. 9 scheme you can yous a wall running along the banks of the
:10:57. > :11:01.river for nearly a mile. It's due to be completed in the coming months
:11:02. > :11:06.but has already been tested. This is the aftermath of Storm Frank. It
:11:07. > :11:09.looks bad. The flood defences did their job, protecting most of the
:11:10. > :11:13.homes near the river. The scheme is under construction. It diddle
:11:14. > :11:20.protect a lot of the properties from flooding. Unfortunately, four
:11:21. > :11:25.properties which did get flooded, but in general terms the scheme
:11:26. > :11:29.worked well. Those four houses flooded because this older wall
:11:30. > :11:33.collapsed, the force of the water had sent a fallen tree crashing
:11:34. > :11:36.through it. We will be taking lessons from that. The wall itself,
:11:37. > :11:49.where the multi-million-pound residents are hopeful when the river
:11:50. > :11:56.level next rises they can rest easier. If it hadn't been for that
:11:57. > :12:00.we would have been you up the creek. We would have been. Not the best to
:12:01. > :12:04.look at it. The water will stay behind. That's right. It's due to be
:12:05. > :12:08.completed in the next few months. We are being warned to expect more
:12:09. > :12:13.extreme weather like we've seen in the last few weeks as a result of
:12:14. > :12:16.climate change and doubtless other communities across Scotland will be
:12:17. > :12:17.looking to have similar defence schemes to protect them against
:12:18. > :12:25.flooding. BP says its shedding up to 3,000
:12:26. > :12:27.more jobs from its operations across the world, blaming falling
:12:28. > :12:30.oil prices for a big drop Its Chief Executive has said
:12:31. > :12:34.the current situation is as bad as what happened back in 1986,
:12:35. > :12:38.when a crash in the oil price So can we learn anything,
:12:39. > :12:42.from what happened then? Our business correspondent,
:12:43. > :12:44.David Henderson, has been These are tough times for BP
:12:45. > :12:52.and those who rely on it. Three weeks ago, the company
:12:53. > :12:55.announced plans to lay-off about 600 Today, they've said even more
:12:56. > :12:59.of their global workforce will have to go, in another
:13:00. > :13:03.round of cost-cutting. The collapse in the price of oil has
:13:04. > :13:06.also hammered the company's profits. Today, BP posted their largest
:13:07. > :13:10.annual loss for over 20 years. The whole industry is feeling
:13:11. > :13:30.the pain in a way it Three decades ago a booming industry
:13:31. > :13:34.was hit hard. The Chief Executive Day individual Walker refused to be
:13:35. > :13:39.interviewed on television. At a briefing wo journalists he said a
:13:40. > :13:43.decision to make 750 employees redundant had not been taking
:13:44. > :13:46.rashly. It got worse. The price of oil throughout the world is
:13:47. > :13:50.plummeting. North Sea oil fell to its lowest level for more than six
:13:51. > :13:54.years. Some will be sold for less than $20 a barrel. That is half what
:13:55. > :13:59.it was costing in the early 80s. And worse. The cost of a barrel
:14:00. > :14:04.it was costing in the early 80s. And fell to less than
:14:05. > :14:12.it was costing in the early 80s. And lost. My pass was handed in. Cut in
:14:13. > :14:19.two. Just escorted out 9 building. Disused rigs littered Scotland's
:14:20. > :14:25.coastline. These echoes from the past are frightening investors and
:14:26. > :14:26.producers today. Will it be quick or take decades to recover like last
:14:27. > :14:31.time. China's demand for oil is take decades to recover like last
:14:32. > :14:36.still growing, but not so fast. A boom in shale oil leaves America
:14:37. > :14:37.less reliant on imports. Saudi Arabia's refusing to cut back oil
:14:38. > :14:42.production. Arabia's refusing to cut back oil
:14:43. > :14:46.recovery to anything like $100 a barrel that is if ever
:14:47. > :14:48.recovery to anything like $100 a into the future. One the other key
:14:49. > :14:52.parallels with the situation that we've got at the moment is that
:14:53. > :14:58.technology in the form of US shale has once again proved able to
:14:59. > :14:59.commercialise a lot of hydro-carbon that was otherwise uncommercial.
:15:00. > :15:03.That genie is not that was otherwise uncommercial.
:15:04. > :15:07.bottle. The cost of extracting oil from the North Sea doesn't get
:15:08. > :15:11.cheaper. To make it happen, producers like BP have to invest.
:15:12. > :15:19.That's hard if they are barely making a profit.
:15:20. > :15:21.So oil companies operating in the North Sea and their workforces
:15:22. > :15:23.are watching the price of oil like a hawk.
:15:24. > :15:28.Well, the boss of BP, Bob Dudley, thinks a barrel of oil will increase
:15:29. > :15:33.in price from around $30 now to about $50 by the end of the year.
:15:34. > :15:37.Some say that's wrong and that price will keep going down and down
:15:38. > :15:38.because of massive over-supply around the world.
:15:39. > :15:44.We've seen Scotland's oil industry falter then bounce back before.
:15:45. > :15:48.But we don't yet know if that's any guide to the future.
:15:49. > :15:57.A look at other stories from across the country.
:15:58. > :16:01.Police investigating a rape in Aberdeen city centre are trying
:16:02. > :16:04.to trace a group of people, thought to be students.
:16:05. > :16:07.A woman was attacked around 3.00am last Thursday in Union Terrace
:16:08. > :16:12.The five men and one woman were seen leaving a takeaway on Belmont Street
:16:13. > :16:16.before heading towards the area where the attack took place.
:16:17. > :16:19.The Tay Road Bridge will close for a short time tonight for repairs
:16:20. > :16:25.Wind speeds on the crossing reached 100 miles an hour during its height,
:16:26. > :16:27.causing damage to the tops of some lighting columns.
:16:28. > :16:29.The southbound carriageway will close for approximately half
:16:30. > :16:37.Moray Council has abandoned plans to breach the Council tax freeze
:16:38. > :16:43.The authority has calculated that any financial gains would be wiped
:16:44. > :16:45.out by penalties imposed by the Scottish Government.
:16:46. > :16:48.The Council leader says they'll do their utmost to avoid cuts
:16:49. > :16:55.Detectives have been carrying out door-to-door enquiries in Glasgow
:16:56. > :16:58.after a man died in the early hours of this morning.
:16:59. > :17:02.He was found in Elizabeth Street in the Govan area at around 2.00am
:17:03. > :17:05.and pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
:17:06. > :17:11.His death is being treated as suspicious.
:17:12. > :17:14.Scottish Power is cutting its standard domestic gas prices
:17:15. > :17:16.by an average of 5.4% from the middle of March.
:17:17. > :17:18.It is the third supplier to announce such a drop
:17:19. > :17:28.Scottish Power says the reduction will benefit over a million
:17:29. > :17:30.consumers and will take an average ?32 from the annual
:17:31. > :17:41.It follows announcements of roughly similar reductions by SSE and E.ON.
:17:42. > :17:46.It's the time of year when many of us are receiving hefty gas and
:17:47. > :17:52.electricity bills. Smart metres were designed to help us reduce the
:17:53. > :17:56.amount of energy we use. But their introduction hasn't gone entirely
:17:57. > :18:00.smoothly. Is it time to switch? Our environment correspondent reports.
:18:01. > :18:04.You are going to be seeing a lot of these on television and cinema
:18:05. > :18:11.screens this year. A major drive is under way to convince Scots of the
:18:12. > :18:15.merits of smart metres. Yvonne has already made the switch here at her
:18:16. > :18:20.West Lothian home. She's now able to see exactly how much energy she's
:18:21. > :18:24.using and what it's costing. I don't use my tumble dryer as much now. I
:18:25. > :18:29.bought a clothes horse and put it in the spare room. If it's a good day I
:18:30. > :18:30.hang the clothes out. Before I was putting it until the tumble dryer
:18:31. > :18:37.and it was the easy Everything will be accurate. No
:18:38. > :18:40.itemised bills. The customer can see the readings on that and doesn't
:18:41. > :18:47.need to see the metres or look at the metres. Metre readings are sent
:18:48. > :18:50.direct to your energy company. For some customers that's already led to
:18:51. > :18:55.problems when they've switched supplier. Energy saving smart metres
:18:56. > :19:00.in every UK home and business by 2020... And MPs have warned the UK
:19:01. > :19:05.could fail to meet the deadline of installing smart metres in every
:19:06. > :19:08.home by the end of the decade. Despite the project's ?11 billion
:19:09. > :19:14.budget. Once you have a smart metre, you use that data. It's an uphill
:19:15. > :19:18.task, but we are still being told smart metres will bring important
:19:19. > :19:23.benefits. Especially for those who use prepayment metres or struggle to
:19:24. > :19:27.pay their bills. Bills are real time, no more estimated. You are
:19:28. > :19:30.paying what you are actually using. For a lot of consumers that's really
:19:31. > :19:35.important especially those in fuel poverty. They only want to pay what
:19:36. > :19:38.they're using. From the cost of tea to the cost of a Bath smart metres
:19:39. > :19:45.are set to give us lots to think about in the years ahead.
:19:46. > :19:50.Now the sport. Good evening.
:19:51. > :19:53.Vern Cotter will demand his players are clinical at this year's
:19:54. > :19:56.The Scotland campaign kicks off against England on Saturday.
:19:57. > :20:00.The former Scotland captain Jason White played under Cotter
:20:01. > :20:03.for three years in France and says he can see similarities with the way
:20:04. > :20:05.he's going about his business at Murrayfield.
:20:06. > :20:19.It's a stare we have come to can't from a no-nonsense coach. From the
:20:20. > :20:22.kiwi tasked with leading Scotland back to rugby respectability. He may
:20:23. > :20:27.have been in charge here for 18 months but there is still a sense
:20:28. > :20:31.that not many people get to sroe the real Vern Cotter the man behind that
:20:32. > :20:36.steely glare. One man who does is former Scotland
:20:37. > :20:44.captain Jason White who played for Cotter at French side Clermont. He
:20:45. > :20:49.is definitely more of an intro vert. He is a relatively simple man. You
:20:50. > :20:54.work hard for him, you are honest, you give it all for the jersey then
:20:55. > :20:58.he is great to work for. That approach has yielded success in
:20:59. > :21:03.France and his native New Zealand. But he is very much old school.
:21:04. > :21:10.Obviously if things don't go right, and he is really hard on us, but
:21:11. > :21:14.that's what we need to happen. Making a mistake and not learning
:21:15. > :21:21.from him annoys him, if that happens we see a different side to Vern. The
:21:22. > :21:28.Six Nations ended without a victory. What can we now expect from Cotter's
:21:29. > :21:36.team? We will see the hallmark of his style of play, reminiscent of
:21:37. > :21:40.how Clermont played. Attack, be adventurous but you must be clinical
:21:41. > :21:41.and ruthless in what you do and that's the hallmark of Cotter's
:21:42. > :21:47.rugby for me. A smiling Cotter means that's the hallmark of Cotter's
:21:48. > :21:48.a winning Cotter. It's a sight Scottish rugby wants to see. Let's
:21:49. > :21:52.hope so! Derek McInness says he'd welcome
:21:53. > :22:06.an investigation into the collapse here's our senior football
:22:07. > :22:10.reporter Chris McLaughlin. The Inverness man is a wanted man.
:22:11. > :22:17.Last night Aberdeen bid The Inverness man is a wanted man.
:22:18. > :22:35.agreeing Tansey. They thought that would make him theirs.
:22:36. > :22:41.agreeing Tansey. They thought that unclear why he isn't here. We feel
:22:42. > :22:44.he should be. New faces at training sessions around the country today,
:22:45. > :22:48.evidence that other deals did go through. This Turkish striker born
:22:49. > :22:52.and raised in England, one of two new faces who arrived at Celtic. If
:22:53. > :23:00.I tell you the truth I didn't really want to come back to Britain.
:23:01. > :23:04.Honestly. But but when this opportunity came it was like obvious
:23:05. > :23:10.decision. So, one success story and another of frustration.
:23:11. > :23:14.But in total, 15 players come into the Scottish Premiership yesterday
:23:15. > :23:18.alone, those deals involving seven of the 12 top sides. A sign perhaps
:23:19. > :23:25.that clubs are feeling better about their finances. We know they've gone
:23:26. > :23:30.through a period of real prudence and real belt-tightening. But
:23:31. > :23:35.Aberdeen didn't get Greg Tansey but they put in a ?200,000 bid. Hearts
:23:36. > :23:39.have paid a they put in a ?200,000 bid. Hearts
:23:40. > :23:41.Subjecter. Rangers buying again at a reasonable level, half a million.
:23:42. > :23:43.Celtic are always reasonable level, half a million.
:23:44. > :23:47.spend a bit of money. Tansey stays reasonable level, half a million.
:23:48. > :23:51.will open again for business in the summer.
:23:52. > :23:53.The newest non-executive director of the SPFL says society needs
:23:54. > :23:57.Karyn McCluskey has been brought in from the Scottish Violence Reduction
:23:58. > :24:01.She says she's taken the job in the hope of keeping young fans
:24:02. > :24:08.at games free from exposure to racism, sexism and violence.
:24:09. > :24:15.I think everybody needs to challenge it. There can be no by-standers. If
:24:16. > :24:19.you are standing by, people need to say, don't do that. There needs to
:24:20. > :24:22.be a change. That needs to be everybody does it because you can't
:24:23. > :24:26.police your way out of this. You can't police bad behaviour out of
:24:27. > :24:30.society. It needs to be society itself that starts to change. A big
:24:31. > :24:32.job in hand there. That's tonight's sport. Thank you very much. Now here
:24:33. > :24:41.is the weather. Now details of Scotland 2016. We ask
:24:42. > :24:45.if the penny for Scotland plan could really deliver a radical alternative
:24:46. > :24:50.to austerity. And fresh from the jungle at Calais, a French aid
:24:51. > :24:53.workers tells us of his shock at the conditions for refugees in his own
:24:54. > :25:00.country. Join me at 10. 30pm on BBC Two.
:25:01. > :25:03.We are all set to amaze you now with details of spectacular clouds but
:25:04. > :25:08.that George beat us to it! He has stolen my thunder as it were.
:25:09. > :25:12.Yes weather watchers have outdone themselves sending in pictures of
:25:13. > :25:18.these clouds. Most of our clouds form about ten
:25:19. > :25:29.miles up. These form higher than that, in the super cold statosphere.
:25:30. > :25:32.The sun light refracts. It gives them a glorious appearance. Unusual
:25:33. > :25:35.to see here but something we are more familiar with these days,
:25:36. > :25:39.winter weather warnings from The Met Office. One tonight is yellow,
:25:40. > :25:42.meaning be aware, it's for ice and affecting most of of the country.
:25:43. > :25:47.Tonight we have showers in play and as they track south and meet the
:25:48. > :25:51.cold air there will be a wintry flavour to some of those showers.
:25:52. > :25:53.Snow above about 200 metres. For southern Scotland, difficult
:25:54. > :25:57.conditions over some higher level roads. Snow even to low levels in
:25:58. > :26:01.the showers across the north. Once those showers go and most of them
:26:02. > :26:05.will do, that's when we see things icing over, slippery surfaces to
:26:06. > :26:09.contend with as tech tures dip to freezing, if not slightly below. A
:26:10. > :26:13.cold and wintry start to tomorrow. There will be ice in places but
:26:14. > :26:17.actually a cracking day across much of the country. Winds much lighter
:26:18. > :26:21.and mainly dry, bright and good spells of crisp winter sunshine.
:26:22. > :26:28.Taking a closer look around 3.00pm, there will be a few showers flirting
:26:29. > :26:33.with the stran rash coast. Further inland fine, dry, good spells of
:26:34. > :26:38.sunshine. The same for Fife and much of Aberdeenshire. Still showers to
:26:39. > :26:41.northern Aberdeenshire. The north-west coast, as well as the
:26:42. > :26:45.northern and Western Isles. They'll be wintry even to low levels but no
:26:46. > :26:50.more than a dusting of snow at most. Tomorrow evening we see a weather
:26:51. > :26:55.front moving in, that will be rain and sleet at low levels, it will
:26:56. > :26:58.bring snow to higher ground. Potentially tricky conditions for a
:26:59. > :27:02.time. Thursday, there is a change. We introduce much milder air from
:27:03. > :27:05.the Atlantic but with that a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain.
:27:06. > :27:08.Brightness to start the day in the north-east. But generally it's a
:27:09. > :27:13.includedy prospect. Most of that rain will be light and patchy and
:27:14. > :27:16.you will notice a much milder feel. Temperatures getting up into double
:27:17. > :27:20.figures for the first time in a while. Friday, it's still cloudy. We
:27:21. > :27:23.will see outbreaks of rain and this stuff will be heavier. This weather
:27:24. > :27:26.front could come to a halt across the south and we could see issues
:27:27. > :27:30.with flooding. We will keep you posted.
:27:31. > :27:33.A bit of respite and then it all starts again! Thank you very much.
:27:34. > :27:42.Our next update is just after the 10.00pm news.
:27:43. > :27:45.Until then, from everyone on the team - right
:27:46. > :27:48.across the country - have a very good evening.