:00:10. > :00:15.A Metropolitan Police officer admits misconduct in public office over the
:00:16. > :00:22.plebgate affair. Good morning. Any response to today's news? Have you
:00:23. > :00:25.seen the statement? PC Keith Wallis admitted falsely claiming to have
:00:26. > :00:28.witnessed a row between Andrew Mitchell and police at the gates of
:00:29. > :00:32.Downing Street. We will be live at the Old Bailey for the latest. Also
:00:33. > :00:36.this lunchtime come on alert, residents along the River Thames are
:00:37. > :00:40.warned of yet more rising waters over the weekend. And an angry
:00:41. > :00:43.President Hollande says he's thinking of suing the French
:00:44. > :00:48.magazine that claims he's having an affair with a 42-year-old actress. A
:00:49. > :00:53.record amount of online shopping was done in the run-up to Christmas.
:00:54. > :00:56.Latest figures show close to one in five non-food items was bought
:00:57. > :01:02.online. It is going to be a doll and wet start to the day. Quite a lot of
:01:03. > :01:07.rain, probably. Looking back at 60 years of looking ahead, celebrations
:01:08. > :01:11.get under way to mark six decades of the TV weather forecast. Later on
:01:12. > :01:15.BBC London, the Environment Agency warns people living by the Thames
:01:16. > :01:18.west of London to brace themselves for more flooding. And Tube workers
:01:19. > :01:36.vote to strike in protest at plans to close ticket offices.
:01:37. > :01:43.Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News At One. A police officer
:01:44. > :01:46.who falsely claimed to have witnessed the so-called plebgate row
:01:47. > :01:51.which led to the resignation of the then Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell has
:01:52. > :01:55.pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. PC Keith Wallis said
:01:56. > :01:58.he had seen the argument in Downing Street between Mr Mitchell and
:01:59. > :02:01.another officer, who accused the Conservative MP of using the word
:02:02. > :02:06.pleb. Mr Mitchell said he was pleased that justice had been done.
:02:07. > :02:08.Our home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds is outside the Old Bailey.
:02:09. > :02:18.Tom. Yes, it may have been a brief and
:02:19. > :02:20.angry encounter but it has led to massive repercussions and a police
:02:21. > :02:22.investigation that saw more than 1000 statements taken and laptops
:02:23. > :02:29.and mobile phones seized. That has all resulted in one criminal charge
:02:30. > :02:34.and today, one plea of guilty. The murky images of the now infamous
:02:35. > :02:38.incident in Downing Street in September 2012. The vested gators
:02:39. > :02:42.studied these pictures and other CCTV footage and concluded there was
:02:43. > :02:47.insufficient evidence to suggest the officer who spoke to Mr Mitchell
:02:48. > :02:52.lied -- the investigators. Another officer it now turned out, did. PC
:02:53. > :02:56.Keith Wallis, who serves with the diplomatic protection group, was not
:02:57. > :03:01.on duty that night and did not see what happened. But he e-mailed his
:03:02. > :03:06.MP, saying he did. And that's why he was prosecuted. His e-mail back to
:03:07. > :03:10.the police log of the event, which had already been leaked and which
:03:11. > :03:12.accused Andrew Mitchell of swearing and calling officers plebs. It
:03:13. > :03:18.helped pile the pressure on the Chief Whip and he later resigned.
:03:19. > :03:24.But this morning Keith Wallis has admitted he was lying. The case has
:03:25. > :03:27.been adjourned before sentencing. In a statement the Metropolitan Police
:03:28. > :03:30.Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said, to lie about witnessing
:03:31. > :03:35.something and provide a false account falls way below the
:03:36. > :03:38.standards that I and PC Wallis's colleagues expect of police
:03:39. > :03:44.officers. His actions have also negatively impacted upon public
:03:45. > :03:48.trust and confidence in the integrity of police officers.
:03:49. > :03:52.Morning. He also apologised to Andrew Mitchell, this morning at his
:03:53. > :03:56.constituency office in Sutton Coldfield, who responded in his
:03:57. > :03:59.statement, it is very sad and worrying for all of us that are
:04:00. > :04:03.serving police officer should have behaved in this way. There remain
:04:04. > :04:07.many questions unanswered, in particular why PC Wallis wrote this
:04:08. > :04:12.e-mail and who else was involved in this process. PC Wallis is facing a
:04:13. > :04:17.possible jail sentence and a police misconduct hearing but the conduct
:04:18. > :04:23.of four was a Metropolitan Police officers is also being considered as
:04:24. > :04:26.part of disciplinary proceedings. Now PC to be Rollins, the police
:04:27. > :04:30.officer that spoke to Andrew Mitchell that night, is not facing
:04:31. > :04:37.any disciplinary hearings but he is doing Andrew Mitchell, who accusing
:04:38. > :04:41.him of lying and Andrew Mitchell is suing the sun, which covered the
:04:42. > :04:45.initial story about the plebgate affair. So none of this really
:04:46. > :04:48.resolves the who said what to who question and although we may be out
:04:49. > :04:53.of the criminal courts we are likely to be in the civil courts in due
:04:54. > :04:56.course. Back to you. Tom, thank you very much. That speaks our political
:04:57. > :04:59.correspondent Alex Forsyth in Westminster. There are those who
:05:00. > :05:03.feel this vindicates Andrew Mitchell, so does this create the
:05:04. > :05:08.possibility of a comeback? It is certainly a step in that direction.
:05:09. > :05:16.You remember that Andrew Mitchell resigned voluntarily, saying the
:05:17. > :05:18.time of this case became so much he could not concentrate on doing his
:05:19. > :05:21.job but he has always maintained he was the victim of a police
:05:22. > :05:24.conspiracy and that is what he wanted to prove. This is -- he might
:05:25. > :05:27.say this result helps his case but what it doesn't prove is whether or
:05:28. > :05:31.not he'd used that crucial word, pleb. Now, as you have heard, that
:05:32. > :05:35.will be the subject of libel cases which are still to go through the
:05:36. > :05:38.courts and politically speaking it's vital that Mr Mitchell exonerates
:05:39. > :05:41.himself from the use of that word if he wants to return to high office.
:05:42. > :05:46.Now, he has always enjoyed much cross-party support and he still
:05:47. > :05:50.does. Friends of his saying today that if you look at the line in his
:05:51. > :05:53.statement saying he wants to support the Conservatives that the next
:05:54. > :05:57.election, that is a clear indication of his determination to return to
:05:58. > :06:01.the political fold. Today might help him do that but I guess there are
:06:02. > :06:06.still further twists in this fairly convoluted tale before we see full
:06:07. > :06:09.career revival. Thank you very much. It's feared that parts of
:06:10. > :06:13.England are suffering the worst flooding in a decade with river
:06:14. > :06:16.levels set to rise even further. There are still about 100 flood
:06:17. > :06:20.warnings in place with communities along the Thames expected to be
:06:21. > :06:24.worst hit. Insurers have warned the cost of the damage will run into
:06:25. > :06:31.hundreds of millions of pounds. Fiona Irving is in Sunbury for us.
:06:32. > :06:35.Yes, the river here is very swollen. You can see the floodwaters behind
:06:36. > :06:39.me and the river is running very fast. The Environment Agency has
:06:40. > :06:43.warned that river levels here haven't peaked yet. Around 100 flood
:06:44. > :06:47.warnings are in place across England and Wales. The majority of those are
:06:48. > :06:51.in the south-east and communities in Berkshire, Surrey and Oxfordshire
:06:52. > :06:56.have been told to stay on alert. There may have been a respite from
:06:57. > :06:59.the rain recently, but as water strains -- gain from the Thames
:07:00. > :07:04.basin into the rivers there is no respite yet from the flooding is Ben
:07:05. > :07:08.Geoghegan reports. In some places the River Thames is
:07:09. > :07:12.not just at the end of the garden but flowing right through it. Here
:07:13. > :07:17.in Rosebury, just west of Heathrow Airport, dozens of homes have been
:07:18. > :07:22.flooded or are in danger of flooding in the next few hours. The last few
:07:23. > :07:28.days it has risen two to three feet. Before that it was already
:07:29. > :07:33.half in flood. It's been in semi-flood for a week and now for
:07:34. > :07:38.the last two or three days it's really come on big-time. Have you
:07:39. > :07:42.ever seen it like this? Never seen it like this. This is the River
:07:43. > :07:45.Thames and it's usual to Revel is about eight feet below where I am
:07:46. > :07:48.standing but it's been rising steadily over the last week during
:07:49. > :07:55.the rain. It's still raising even though we've got blue skies and
:07:56. > :07:58.sunshine. The rain may have stopped but water is pouring off the land
:07:59. > :08:04.and into the River Thames, leading to flooding downstream. So many
:08:05. > :08:08.areas in the Thames Valley are still facing flood alerts. Some residents
:08:09. > :08:12.have no option but to wait for the water to recede and they just don't
:08:13. > :08:20.know how long it's going to take. I just don't know how to deal with it.
:08:21. > :08:24.I don't want to pump it out because obviously it's not very clean water,
:08:25. > :08:29.is it? Hundreds of sandbags were still being delivered this morning.
:08:30. > :08:33.In some places it's too late, but with the river level expected to
:08:34. > :08:38.rise more properties are at risk. Here they say they were warned it
:08:39. > :08:42.would be bad but not this bad. Each day we are getting ten or 20 more
:08:43. > :08:46.houses flooded. We've now got people that are trapped in their houses.
:08:47. > :08:49.They can't get out. We're trying to get milk and bread to them but we
:08:50. > :08:56.can't. We are now losing electricity, losing sewerage, losing
:08:57. > :08:59.mains water. The Environment Agency says these are the worst floods in
:09:00. > :09:03.this part of England for a decade and on top of the rising river there
:09:04. > :09:08.could be more rain to come this afternoon.
:09:09. > :09:11.That was Ben Geoghegan reporting. Just to give you a sense of the
:09:12. > :09:15.river levels here at Sunbury-on-Thames you can see behind
:09:16. > :09:20.me a park bench just poking out of the water there and across the side
:09:21. > :09:24.you can see trees under water. That would normally be the banks of the
:09:25. > :09:26.river. People say their gardens and basements are flooded here and
:09:27. > :09:32.they've been telling me they can only sit and wait and see if those
:09:33. > :09:35.floodwaters cause any more serious damage.
:09:36. > :09:39.Fiona Irving, thank you. Plans to force housing developers to build
:09:40. > :09:42.flood prevention measures around new homes to avoid some of the scenes
:09:43. > :09:46.we've witnessed in recent weeks are facing more delay because no one can
:09:47. > :09:50.agree who should pay for it. The government was advised after the
:09:51. > :09:54.floods in 2007 to make builders use landscaping around properties to
:09:55. > :09:57.help water soak away. The Home Builders Federation has rejected
:09:58. > :10:00.claims that building firms are holding up the prevention work. Our
:10:01. > :10:07.environment analyst Roger Harrabin reports.
:10:08. > :10:10.Does this look familiar? Not 2014, but 2007. The year of the great
:10:11. > :10:16.floods, which led to a government review which led to the 2010 floods
:10:17. > :10:20.act, which laid down rules which -- that developers should stop making
:10:21. > :10:23.buildings in a way that makes flooding worse. The thinking behind
:10:24. > :10:29.the act led to developments like this. It looks like a park and it
:10:30. > :10:32.is, in Southeast Sheffield, but it's also a smart drainage system to
:10:33. > :10:38.capture rainwater and prevent flooding. Normally rainfall from new
:10:39. > :10:42.developments like this flows into the sewers, where it quickly swelled
:10:43. > :10:47.rivers and makes flooding worse. Not here. The water is carried by pipe
:10:48. > :10:52.to this pile of rocks, where it seeps slowly into the ground.
:10:53. > :10:55.Capturing water on the surface from this housing development, the
:10:56. > :10:59.pollution is removed because it goes through vegetation, it provides the
:11:00. > :11:04.biodiversity and landscape developed -- benefits for the community but
:11:05. > :11:09.also dividing flood prevention by controlling flow. The house-builders
:11:10. > :11:12.say ponds like this take space and that costs money. They want to cap
:11:13. > :11:17.the water in giant tanks underground. The experts say the
:11:18. > :11:21.tanks will cause problems with maintenance and won't bring the
:11:22. > :11:25.wider benefits that a scheme like this offers. County councils will do
:11:26. > :11:29.the maintenance, then charge people living on new estates annual fee in
:11:30. > :11:32.place of what they'd otherwise have paid on their water rates. The
:11:33. > :11:37.government promised MPs to publish the rules by April this year but
:11:38. > :11:41.this week it admitted it couldn't make that revised deadline. A
:11:42. > :11:47.spokesman said the government still intended to go ahead with the plans.
:11:48. > :11:52.Roger Harrabin, BBC News. There is a special programme on BBC One
:11:53. > :11:55.tonight, counting the cost of more than a month of bad weather. Sophie
:11:56. > :12:01.Raworth prevents Battered Britain: Storms, Tides And Floods at 7:30pm
:12:02. > :12:05.tonight. Plans for a referendum on Britain's's membership of the EU are
:12:06. > :12:08.back in Parliament today. Members of the House of Lords are debating a
:12:09. > :12:13.bill which would see people getting a chance to have their say in 2017,
:12:14. > :12:17.if the Tories win the next general election. Meanwhile the vice
:12:18. > :12:20.president of the European Commission has accused the British government
:12:21. > :12:22.of stoking fears about immigration by implying that foreigners were
:12:23. > :12:29.draining health and welfare resources. Our political
:12:30. > :12:33.correspondent Vicki Young reports. Whether its immigration or human
:12:34. > :12:37.rights, David Cameron knows the influence of Brussels on UK life is
:12:38. > :12:40.a contentious issue. He's promised a referendum on Britain's's EU
:12:41. > :12:44.membership but his MPs want a law on the books now, to show voters they
:12:45. > :12:51.are serious. But the Bill is likely to be blocked by the Lord where
:12:52. > :12:54.today peers disagreed passionately over the need for a referendum. We
:12:55. > :13:02.politicians have made a regular mess of it over decades. That's why we
:13:03. > :13:05.need to get the people to decide. Stop grand and -- grandstanding to
:13:06. > :13:11.the UKIP gallery. If you are really serious about European reform, you
:13:12. > :13:16.have to go out and work for it and join with others in achieving it. My
:13:17. > :13:23.Lords, this is an utterly unnecessary, indeed otiose bill. It
:13:24. > :13:26.does serious damage to business and jobs in Britain and stability and
:13:27. > :13:31.security in Europe. Many conservatives feel under pressure
:13:32. > :13:35.from the UK Independence Party, fearing their Euro-sceptic stance is
:13:36. > :13:38.striking a chord with voters in the run-up to European elections in May.
:13:39. > :13:43.That debate about Britain's's relationship with the rest of the EU
:13:44. > :13:47.has been dominated in recent months by increasingly heated exchanges
:13:48. > :13:50.over the pros and cons of immigration. Net migration is the
:13:51. > :13:55.difference between the numbers coming here each year from other EU
:13:56. > :14:04.countries and those leaving the UK. It peaked in 2007 at 127,000. The
:14:05. > :14:08.most recent figures from June and stand-up 106,000. A senior official
:14:09. > :14:11.from the European Commission has criticised ministers for appearing
:14:12. > :14:18.to stoke up fears about immigration. What is the leadership if you just
:14:19. > :14:24.try with popular stick movements and populist speech to gain votes? You
:14:25. > :14:28.are destroying the future of your people, actually. Despite the
:14:29. > :14:31.attacks from some Mr Cameron believes the European Union has to
:14:32. > :14:38.change and he's confident he can get support from other EU leaders.
:14:39. > :14:42.The French President, Francois Hollande, says he deplores a breach
:14:43. > :14:45.of his right to privacy and is contemplating legal action after a
:14:46. > :14:50.magazine reported he's having an affair with the actress Julie
:14:51. > :14:56.Gayet. Klose-macro -- Closer magazine says it has spread showing
:14:57. > :15:00.the Palace -- showing the president emerging from near the palace.
:15:01. > :15:04.Here's Hugh Schofield. A bombshell from what the French call the people
:15:05. > :15:09.press, a seven page exclusive with photos to back up the claim that
:15:10. > :15:14.their president is having a secret love affair. His alleged place with
:15:15. > :15:19.Julie Gayet is no more than 100 yards from the Elysee Palace.
:15:20. > :15:22.According to Closer magazine it is on the upper floor of this classic
:15:23. > :15:26.town house that the pair have their assignations. According to the match
:15:27. > :15:29.between the couple arrived separately. The actress Julie Gayet
:15:30. > :15:34.and then later the president, normally wearing a helmet on the
:15:35. > :15:37.back of a chauffeur driven motorcycle and quite regularly the
:15:38. > :15:44.magazine says the couple are now spending the night here together.
:15:45. > :15:47.Julie Gayet is not an especially well-known actress. One of her
:15:48. > :15:51.nonprofessional roles was in the campaign video for the president at
:15:52. > :15:59.the 2012 election. She said she found him modest, formidable.
:16:00. > :16:05.President Hollande was apparently told a few days ago that Closer
:16:06. > :16:10.would be publishing the story of one it went ahead he reacted. In a
:16:11. > :16:14.statement he said he deplored the breach of his right to privacy and
:16:15. > :16:16.was looking at what steps to take including legal ones. French
:16:17. > :16:20.presidential love affairs are not exactly new. Since the selection
:16:21. > :16:23.Francois Hollande has been living at the Elysee Palace with the
:16:24. > :16:27.journalist, the woman from whom he left the mother of his children,
:16:28. > :16:30.said Alan Royale. Most French would agree that what is private is
:16:31. > :16:33.private and will back the President's right to do what he
:16:34. > :16:37.wants in his love life. The problem is that these are extremely
:16:38. > :16:41.difficult times for France and for the president, who has been plumbing
:16:42. > :16:46.the depths of unpopularity. He needs to show he's got bold new ideas for
:16:47. > :16:49.the economy. Instead it looks to some like his mind is on other
:16:50. > :16:53.things. In a way what's most striking is how this story, though
:16:54. > :16:56.gossiped about at Paris dinner tables, has taken so long to enter
:16:57. > :17:02.the public domain. A sign perhaps that in the age of the tweet fans's
:17:03. > :17:09.long tradition of protecting politicians' privacy is breaking
:17:10. > :17:12.down. Our top story this lunchtime: A police officer who falsely claimed
:17:13. > :17:15.to be a witness to the so-called Plebgate row admits misconduct in
:17:16. > :17:18.public office. And still to come, Jess' next
:17:19. > :17:21.challenge - why the Olympic medallist will miss out on the
:17:22. > :17:24.Commonwealth Games. Later on BBC London: Tottenham
:17:25. > :17:29.Hotspur confirm that England striker Jermaine Defoe is leaving the club
:17:30. > :17:32.to play in Canada. And with 40 flood warnings in places
:17:33. > :17:35.along the Thames and floodwaters set to peak over the weekend in many
:17:36. > :17:44.places, we have a full weather forecast.
:17:45. > :17:47.The mother of a British surgeon who died in a Syrian prison last month
:17:48. > :17:52.has spoken of what she calls her failure to save her son. Fatima Khan
:17:53. > :17:55.spent five months in the country trying to free Dr Abbas Khan after
:17:56. > :18:00.he was arrested in a rebel controlled area in November 2012.
:18:01. > :18:03.Just days before he was due to be released, Abbas died, and as Jenny
:18:04. > :18:08.Hill reports, Fatima worries that she will never learn the full story
:18:09. > :18:13.of what happened to him. Even as a child, his mother told us
:18:14. > :18:16.Abbas Khan liked to help others. Why was he so compelled, do you think,
:18:17. > :18:20.to go to Syria? Because, you know, it was everywhere on the internet
:18:21. > :18:25.and in the news that people are dying, no doctors, no medicine. So
:18:26. > :18:30.he thought, "It is my profession. Instead of giving money, I should
:18:31. > :18:36.give my service as well". So once Abbas disappeared, you decided to
:18:37. > :18:40.try and find him in Syria. Yeah. It is such a dangerous place to have
:18:41. > :18:45.gone. Why did you feel you have to go? He is my son. There was no
:18:46. > :18:48.danger for me. And I said to my other children and myself as well
:18:49. > :18:55.that if I die, I will die for my son. So it is nothing strange. Any
:18:56. > :19:00.mother would do it. And when you found him, can you describe the
:19:01. > :19:03.circumstances he was in? Yeah. When they brought him, we learnt in the
:19:04. > :19:11.meeting that they took me to a court of terrorism. Suddenly, I find that
:19:12. > :19:17.somebody is there and I don't know how I got up and hugged him. He was
:19:18. > :19:21.a skeleton and he was crying, he had tears. He said "Mummy, I'm sorry.
:19:22. > :19:27.Take me from here, Mummy". I said "Don't worry, you will be released
:19:28. > :19:33.in a few days". And I was checking. His hands were full of blood marks
:19:34. > :19:37.as if electric shocks were given. They screw drill in his nail, and
:19:38. > :19:42.the legs were full of cigarette marks. And they used to beat him up
:19:43. > :19:51.for no reason, putting the eye band on his eyes. What for? Because he
:19:52. > :19:53.helped women and children. But they said "No, you helped other
:19:54. > :20:00.opposition". He didn't. He said "Mummy, I swear I didn't". Only
:20:01. > :20:05.women and children. You have done so much to try and get him released.
:20:06. > :20:13.You have done so much to try and free your son. It is a shock that
:20:14. > :20:15.they killed him. And it's because it came in the media, and the British
:20:16. > :20:21.government didn't do anything. Didn't want to do anything. When was
:20:22. > :20:25.the last time you actually saw him? I saw him on 25th November. So at
:20:26. > :20:28.this point, you really thought he was coming home? Yes. He said
:20:29. > :20:31."Mummy, this Christmas, I want in London. Last Christmas, I was in
:20:32. > :20:37.prison, but this Christmas, I want in London". I said "Yes. As usual, I
:20:38. > :20:41.will cook Christmas dinner". The Syrian government claim Abbas took
:20:42. > :20:44.his own life in prison. Fatima, though, says a government official
:20:45. > :20:49.there told her something very different. He said "Yes, we killed
:20:50. > :20:56.your son". He knew. He wasn't surprised. I said "Why?" He said "Go
:20:57. > :21:01.back to Britain and tell your British government that we kill the
:21:02. > :21:06.British. And tell your government, don't send any more British." So
:21:07. > :21:15.they knew. They wanted to kill, and they killed him. A mother has
:21:16. > :21:23.failed. A mother is the loser. I failed to save my son. What can I
:21:24. > :21:28.do? Fatima Khan, talking to our
:21:29. > :21:32.reporter, Jenny Hill. It seems many of us decided to avoid
:21:33. > :21:34.the hassle of hitting the high street to buy presents for
:21:35. > :21:37.Christmas, with more shopping done online than ever before. According
:21:38. > :21:40.to the British Retail Consortium, nearly one in five purchases last
:21:41. > :21:48.month was made on the internet, as our business correspondent, Emma
:21:49. > :21:55.Simpson, reports. We left it late, very late to hit
:21:56. > :21:59.the shops this Christmas. Sniffing out the bargains. In the end, we did
:22:00. > :22:04.spend, but it was not a bonanza for retailers. Christmas was OK. It was
:22:05. > :22:11.a respectable business. We saw retail sales grow by about 2%, which
:22:12. > :22:18.was a sort of indication that we are seeing a slow, but fragile growth
:22:19. > :22:24.within the retail industry. That growth did not come from physical
:22:25. > :22:28.stores. The real action has been online. Shopping on the internet has
:22:29. > :22:33.been catching on for quite a few years now, but there has been a big
:22:34. > :22:38.surge in sales this Christmas. They were up just over 19% in December,
:22:39. > :22:42.compared with the previous year excluding food. That is nearly one
:22:43. > :22:46.in five purchases being made online. Christmas has shown just how much
:22:47. > :22:50.more on food and we are about buying stuff over the internet, especially
:22:51. > :22:55.when we can click and then collect our purchases in store. Morrison's
:22:56. > :23:00.shoppers won't have to lug the shopping bags home much longer. It
:23:01. > :23:04.has started its own online delivery service in the Midlands to the,
:23:05. > :23:08.catching up with its rivals, one reason why it had a dismal
:23:09. > :23:14.Christmas. But it's been a challenging time for all the big
:23:15. > :23:18.supermarkets. Underlying food sales fell in the last three months, as
:23:19. > :23:22.cautious consumers hunt for deals in the aisles and on the high street.
:23:23. > :23:27.It comes down to, as long as you can provide value to the consumer, there
:23:28. > :23:30.is pent-up demand out there. It will have tightened their belts, but
:23:31. > :23:33.inflation is still running high and people will be cautious. It is
:23:34. > :23:38.important to have the right product at the right price. If you offer
:23:39. > :23:41.that, shoppers are willing to spend. As ever, some retailers fared better
:23:42. > :23:46.this Christmas than others. The big winners may have been us, the
:23:47. > :23:54.consumers, bagging even bigger bargains than last year.
:23:55. > :23:56.Britain's Olympic golden girl, Jessica Ennis-Hill, has revealed
:23:57. > :23:58.that she is pregnant, and will therefore miss this summer's
:23:59. > :24:01.Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The 27-year-old heptathlete said the
:24:02. > :24:03.news was "unexpected, but exciting" and stressed that she remained
:24:04. > :24:06.committed to competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. With
:24:07. > :24:13.more, here's our Commonwealth Games reporter, Chris McLoughlin.
:24:14. > :24:20.She was the poster girl who helped light up London in 2012. Jessica
:24:21. > :24:24.Ennis is the Olympic champion! But her news today means she won't be
:24:25. > :24:29.the golden girl of Glasgow. In a statement, the 27-year-old stared
:24:30. > :24:33."we are completely overwhelmed with excitement. My plans for 2014 have
:24:34. > :24:37.been turned upside down. I am sorry I won't be in Glasgow for the,
:24:38. > :24:42.games, but know it will be an amazing occasion. " The start of her
:24:43. > :24:46.family does not signal the end of her career . She says she intends to
:24:47. > :24:52.get back to training after the baby is born to prepare for the Olympics
:24:53. > :24:55.in Rio in 2016. Where will you be when the world comes to Scotland?
:24:56. > :25:00.With the majority of tickets for the games already sold, the news is
:25:01. > :25:04.unlikely to affect in Glasgow, but it is a massive blow. Organisers say
:25:05. > :25:08.they are delighted for her and she will continue her role as an
:25:09. > :25:12.ambassador. They would much rather she was running, though. So, who is
:25:13. > :25:18.going to Glasgow? Sir Chris Hoy has hung up his bike, so no home games
:25:19. > :25:21.for him. Fellow Olympian Mo Farah is unlikely to be there. He says he has
:25:22. > :25:27.other priorities. Underworld's fastest man, Usain Bolt, is so far
:25:28. > :25:31.undecided. They are the key players and everybody wanted to see them, so
:25:32. > :25:34.I don't know if it is right to say it will not be as exciting, but for
:25:35. > :25:41.most people want to look for these people, it will be disappointing for
:25:42. > :25:46.sure. It will be a big miss not having them there. But she will
:25:47. > :25:50.bounce back. So a day of excitement for the Ennis-Hills, but
:25:51. > :25:53.Commonwealth concern in Glasgow. Now, Peter Gibbs is here and he will
:25:54. > :25:55.bring you the weather forecast in just a moment.
:25:56. > :25:59.But tomorrow marks the anniversary of the first ever TV weatherman.
:26:00. > :26:01.Yes, it's 60 years since my predecessor, George Cowling,
:26:02. > :26:10.predicted the "perfect day for trying clothes". That is
:26:11. > :26:15.coincidentally the perfect forecast for tomorrow! Well, Nick Higham has
:26:16. > :26:18.been taking a look behind the scenes at how the faces and technology of
:26:19. > :26:22.the daily weather forecast have changed. It is going to be a dull
:26:23. > :26:25.and wet start to the day. 1953, and the man for the Met Office tries out
:26:26. > :26:31.for a new job, television weather forecaster. Jack Armstrong later
:26:32. > :26:35.became a familiar face, but it was his colleague who actually delivered
:26:36. > :26:38.the first forecast. We had been briefed to try and be a bit human. I
:26:39. > :26:42.mentioned that tomorrow was going to be a good day for hanging out the
:26:43. > :26:45.washing. This was something that had never been said before, and the
:26:46. > :26:50.press really took this up and thought that was a jolly good
:26:51. > :26:59.thing. The forecasters became familiar. You swine! That is the
:27:00. > :27:03.picture this morning. What out for ice. The first woman arrived in 1974
:27:04. > :27:08.and found being in the public eye disconcerting. It did get to me a
:27:09. > :27:13.bit more all the criticism especially about clothes and hair.
:27:14. > :27:18.Most of the letters and things I got were lovely, very complementary and
:27:19. > :27:22.nice, but of course, it is the critical ones you remember. Some
:27:23. > :27:25.forecasts became notorious. Apparently today a woman rang the
:27:26. > :27:27.BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way. If you're
:27:28. > :27:33.watching, don't worry, there isn't. But there was and this terrible
:27:34. > :27:37.storm that night in October 1987. It's not as easy as it looks, as the
:27:38. > :27:41.amateur 's show went from time to time, they have a go. In the West,
:27:42. > :27:46.rain will be lighting and patch. There may be a few drier interludes
:27:47. > :27:49.of Dumfries and Ayrshire. Actually, he wasn't bad. This is one of the
:27:50. > :27:54.weather studios at forecasting house. One thing that has not
:27:55. > :27:57.changed in 60 years is that television forecasters have to be
:27:58. > :28:02.able to talk for up to four minutes, precisely to time, without
:28:03. > :28:06.any kind of script and in the studio at any rate, without a map behind
:28:07. > :28:10.them, although they do see a chart if they look at themselves in the
:28:11. > :28:14.screen. The thing that has changed completely is the technology
:28:15. > :28:19.involved. Can bond charts gave way to Mike mystic symbols that stuck to
:28:20. > :28:24.the charts, or sometimes didn't -- magnetic symbols. Let's do it
:28:25. > :28:30.again. Computer graphics arrived in the 1980s. Today's forecast are more
:28:31. > :28:34.details, and, they claim, more accurate than ever. It's been shown
:28:35. > :28:37.that the four-day forecast today is more accurate than the one day
:28:38. > :28:44.forecast was 30 years ago. You may not believe that! But that has been
:28:45. > :28:48.shown. So forecasts have improved. Today's forecasters are still
:28:49. > :28:51.employed by the Met Office. There is a team of 18. Just now, they are not
:28:52. > :28:59.short of work. That was then, this is now. Here's
:29:00. > :29:02.Peter Gibbs. I have got the pencil and brother
:29:03. > :29:07.standing by just in case. But hopefully, if I press this button,
:29:08. > :29:09.we can jump forward 60 years into a very similar forecast, with a
:29:10. > :29:13.weather front coming in from the west, giving us some outbreaks of
:29:14. > :29:17.rain gradually creeping in across most places through the day. Of
:29:18. > :29:21.course, rain is the last thing we need across central and southern
:29:22. > :29:30.parts of England at the moment. It is not going to help. Behind the
:29:31. > :29:33.clear skies, colder air moves in. We also start to see some mist and fog
:29:34. > :29:38.forming as those temperatures drop away, but we keep clear of the
:29:39. > :29:46.frost, fax to the cloud lingering on. But a risk of ice on those damp
:29:47. > :29:51.surfaces anywhere across western parts of the UK tomorrow. But you
:29:52. > :29:55.will have some bright, blue skies to compensate for that. It is a nice
:29:56. > :29:59.looking day for most of us. There is the risk of mist and fog across
:30:00. > :30:06.Northern Ireland, the odd patch of ice likely here, along with parts of
:30:07. > :30:12.Scotland. It is the remnants of that cold air that moved out of America,
:30:13. > :30:15.but much modified by the time it got to us. Saturday will be one of the
:30:16. > :30:19.better days we have seen for a long time. Lots of sunshine to come,
:30:20. > :30:23.particularly England and Wales. Still a few showers feeding in to
:30:24. > :30:30.the north-west of Scotland. Temperature is about right for early
:30:31. > :30:33.January. As we go into Saturday night, clear skies mean temperatures
:30:34. > :30:37.will drop away quickly and we will see widespread frost for a time, but
:30:38. > :30:42.then cloud increasing from the West and some fog forming ahead of that.
:30:43. > :30:47.Temperatures rise in the West as the wind starts to pick up. We end the
:30:48. > :30:51.night fairly mild in these western areas. We do see a change as we go
:30:52. > :30:57.into Sunday, with this weather front beginning to get wound up, pushing
:30:58. > :30:59.in on the Atlantic once again. The dark blue colours mean that
:31:00. > :31:04.initially, the rain will be heavy as it slowly edges it away in, breaking
:31:05. > :31:08.up to some extent and becoming a bit lighter. Eventually, a wet day for
:31:09. > :31:14.many Western parts. Further east, drier and quite chilly. Saturday is
:31:15. > :31:17.your good day for getting out and about to enjoy some sunshine. Watch
:31:18. > :31:22.out for overnight frost. On Sunday, the rain is increasing on the west,
:31:23. > :31:24.so Sunday is not a good day for hanging out your watch --