:00:00. > :00:08.House prices show their highest annual increase for seven years.
:00:09. > :00:11.But Brussels says the UK should take steps to moderate the housing market
:00:12. > :00:20.We'll be getting reaction to the latest edict from Brussels.
:00:21. > :00:24.Police and sniffer dogs search scrubland in the Algarve close
:00:25. > :00:28.to where Madeleine McCann went missing seven years ago.
:00:29. > :00:30.Syrians go to the polls in a presidential election
:00:31. > :00:33.which has been denounced by the opposition and the West.
:00:34. > :00:37.Universities face record numbers of complaints from thousands
:00:38. > :00:43.A new treatment for advanced skin cancer is hailed
:00:44. > :00:56.Later on BBC London, new clues in the search for the Hackney
:00:57. > :01:01.backpacker missing in Malaysia. And the innate -- the police criticised
:01:02. > :01:15.for the way it treats mentally ill suspect. -- suspects.
:01:16. > :01:18.Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.
:01:19. > :01:22.The annual rise in house prices has increased by its fastest rate
:01:23. > :01:25.for seven years according to figures from the Nationwide.
:01:26. > :01:28.However there are signs from the monthly figures that
:01:29. > :01:33.It comes as the European Commission offers advice to the UK government
:01:34. > :01:37.on how to adjust the housing market to sustain growth.
:01:38. > :01:46.Our Economics Correspondent Simon Gompertz reports.
:01:47. > :01:54.They are still rising, now 11% higher than a year ago, putting the
:01:55. > :01:58.average home at over ?186,000, and putting pressure on potential
:01:59. > :02:01.buyers, like these near Manchester. Me and my partner have been trying
:02:02. > :02:05.to get onto the property ladder to the last two years and it's a real
:02:06. > :02:09.struggle. It seems ridiculous that house prices can increase that much
:02:10. > :02:13.when salaries are not going up in comparison. We will never be able to
:02:14. > :02:19.buy. Even a council house that we rent. But the highest prices are in
:02:20. > :02:24.London and the rate of increase could be moderating. There are
:02:25. > :02:28.tentative signs that activity might be starting to slow down a little.
:02:29. > :02:32.We are looking at the number of mortgage approvals in April, and
:02:33. > :02:38.they were down around 17% from the levels in January. Things may be
:02:39. > :02:43.starting to cool down. There is wide agreement that we need more homes,
:02:44. > :02:49.and today the European commission intervened, saying more building was
:02:50. > :02:51.required, that the government's Help-To-Buy mortgage guarantee
:02:52. > :02:55.scheme might need to be scaled back, and council tax should be
:02:56. > :03:00.reformed so owners of higher value homes pay more. Ideas which gained
:03:01. > :03:08.the sympathy of the former chief financial regulator of the UK. After
:03:09. > :03:11.the crisis of 2009/10 across the whole political spectrum, amongst
:03:12. > :03:15.all commentators it was said we needed a balanced economy that was
:03:16. > :03:18.not dependent on a credit fuelled property boom. It's clear we are
:03:19. > :03:24.getting back to growth, but at the core is a credit fuelled property
:03:25. > :03:27.boom. The question is, will the big house price increases slow down or
:03:28. > :03:31.will they rise into the stratosphere? If they carry on going
:03:32. > :03:34.up at the current pace, the pressure will build on the government and the
:03:35. > :03:39.Bank of England to do something about it. Ministers say they have
:03:40. > :03:43.given the bank the power to intervene, and there is speculation
:03:44. > :03:47.that bank officials could come up with measure -- measures to cool the
:03:48. > :03:50.housing markets as early as this month.
:03:51. > :03:51.Let's speak to our chief political correspondent
:03:52. > :04:02.Advice from the European commission on cooling the housing market.
:04:03. > :04:06.Interesting timing, that. Very interesting, and it's not just the
:04:07. > :04:11.criticism of the government housing policy and the Help To Buy scheme,
:04:12. > :04:15.this is the European Commission getting out the old Brussels
:04:16. > :04:18.blunderbuss and blasting George Osborne's economic strategy saying
:04:19. > :04:22.not enough is being done to tackle the deficit and he should not rely
:04:23. > :04:26.on cutting so much. They should be tax rises and more money on capital
:04:27. > :04:33.project and more done on tackling youth unemployment, on affordable
:04:34. > :04:37.childcare. On and on and on. In the Treasury, when they received the
:04:38. > :04:40.report, they were incredulous. One source said they wondered whether
:04:41. > :04:46.the report was meant to be ironic given that the UK economy is growing
:04:47. > :04:49.faster than any other economy in the EU and any other developed economy.
:04:50. > :04:53.The real significance of the report is not the content, it is the
:04:54. > :04:57.timing, because it comes as David Cameron is engaged in a fraught
:04:58. > :05:01.struggle with Europe about who will be the president of the European
:05:02. > :05:04.Commission, with many Tory MPs saying if he can't win that
:05:05. > :05:10.struggle, what chance does he have of winning back power from Brussels?
:05:11. > :05:14.The fear is that the report will fuel the view amongst camera's
:05:15. > :05:17.critics and backbenchers that Europe and London are increasingly on
:05:18. > :05:24.different wavelength -- Cameron's critics.
:05:25. > :05:27.It would appear to be an election in name only, after more than three
:05:28. > :05:30.years of civil war, the Syrian government is seeking to
:05:31. > :05:33.bolster its standing at home and abroad by staging what it says
:05:34. > :05:36.Bashar Al-Assad, who's looking to secure a third seven-year term,
:05:37. > :05:39.appears certain to top the vote which has been denounced
:05:40. > :05:45.His two challengers have been approved by the government,
:05:46. > :05:48.and voting is taking place only in areas controlled by the regime.
:05:49. > :05:55.Our world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan reports.
:05:56. > :06:00.The report contains flash photography. There are three
:06:01. > :06:04.approved candidates, the first time that Syrians have had a choice for
:06:05. > :06:11.President since the 1950s. But there is no doubt who will win. President
:06:12. > :06:16.Assad is more confident than ever, even as his critics say the election
:06:17. > :06:20.is a sham. I think it's sending a strong message in the way he is
:06:21. > :06:24.rubbing it in, telling the West that three years ago you said I was
:06:25. > :06:28.gone, but I am still here and I'm here to stay, and there's nothing
:06:29. > :06:33.you can do about it. While he is saying that, and while he is being
:06:34. > :06:38.re-elected, he is still bombing his people and nobody is doing anything
:06:39. > :06:43.about it. There is no sign of voting in the shattered rebel held areas
:06:44. > :06:47.bombarded by the government. This war widow said the election is a
:06:48. > :06:50.mockery. My husband and his three brothers did not martyr themselves
:06:51. > :06:56.for people to go out and vote for Bashar Al-Assad. This man was
:06:57. > :07:00.contemptuous. What elections? The elections of a butcher? They mean
:07:01. > :07:07.nothing to us. Assad would win even if nobody voted for him. While most
:07:08. > :07:12.of the 2.5 million Syrian refugees are either excluded or boycotting
:07:13. > :07:15.the poll, some are going back to vote for President Assad. Many here
:07:16. > :07:23.fear that the government will find out who has not voted and punish
:07:24. > :07:29.them after the election. Inside Syria's rebel held areas, elections
:07:30. > :07:35.have not stopped the Army's bombs. Nor the rebels bullets. This is
:07:36. > :07:40.Aleppo, and 50 people died here over the weekend. It is likely President
:07:41. > :07:44.Assad's victory will only tighten his grip on power and strength in
:07:45. > :07:47.his desire to crush the insurgency. -- strengthen his desire.
:07:48. > :07:50.Our Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen has been to one polling station
:07:51. > :07:56.in central Damascus and has just sent this report.
:07:57. > :08:04.The buses have been coming and going all morning to this polling station.
:08:05. > :08:08.The vote that has been got out of this particular place is the
:08:09. > :08:12.national water company. These men all say that they work in the water
:08:13. > :08:16.company and there have been some women as well, who get ushered
:08:17. > :08:22.straight in to vote. Everybody that I have spoken to has said that he or
:08:23. > :08:25.she will vote for President Bashar Al-Assad. This election has been
:08:26. > :08:30.savagely criticised both by Syrians who have taken up arms against the
:08:31. > :08:34.president, and also by the Syrian politicians who are in ex-oil. And
:08:35. > :08:42.it's also been criticised by Western leaders -- ex-oil. William Hague has
:08:43. > :08:47.called it a parody of democracy. The people I have spoken to in and
:08:48. > :08:51.around the regime, they said it was democracy, look at this, people are
:08:52. > :09:01.voting, in secret, and here is a ballot paper with two candidates as
:09:02. > :09:05.well as President Assad. And that this is all the promise of a better
:09:06. > :09:08.life. President Assad does have genuine support. He would not have
:09:09. > :09:13.weathered everything he has gone through since the war started
:09:14. > :09:15.without that support, and they do by those arguments. As far as the
:09:16. > :09:18.president is concerned, this is good politics. -- they do accept those
:09:19. > :09:24.arguments. In Portugal, British police sniffer
:09:25. > :09:26.dogs have been brought in to search scrubland near Praia de
:09:27. > :09:29.Luz, where Madeleine McCann went A large team of officers
:09:30. > :09:33.from the Metropolitan Police has joined Portuguese officers
:09:34. > :09:35.in the search which is a five-minute walk from the holiday apartment
:09:36. > :09:48.where Madeleine disappeared. This does seem a very specific area.
:09:49. > :09:52.Yes, 15 acres to look at, but they seem to be targeting precise points
:09:53. > :09:55.in the scrubland. This area where we are at the moment seems to be the
:09:56. > :10:00.main focus. You can see there is a plot which is about ten metres by
:10:01. > :10:03.six metres with a police officer kneeling down in the middle. That
:10:04. > :10:09.was cordoned off this morning, and they seem to be taking samples,
:10:10. > :10:12.pegging it. It looks like they are preparing to be more substantial
:10:13. > :10:19.work. The noise you can hear in the background are streamers -- mowers
:10:20. > :10:24.being used by workmen clearing the underground around the site. This is
:10:25. > :10:29.the first area that the police dogs were brought to this morning. They
:10:30. > :10:35.had been brought over from South Wales police to Portugal to assist
:10:36. > :10:41.with the search. We are told that the spaniels were used in the hunt
:10:42. > :10:46.for April Jones in Wales in 2012 and have been brought here with that
:10:47. > :10:53.specific experience in mind. The British are here, working alongside
:10:54. > :10:56.the Portuguese police. The British request the work and the Portuguese
:10:57. > :10:59.are facilitating. We understand from Portuguese police sources this
:11:00. > :11:06.lunchtime that another couple of sites, also around the resort, are
:11:07. > :11:10.set to be searched in the day ahead. We knew the British wanted to look
:11:11. > :11:11.further, and we did not know when, but it will happen sooner rather
:11:12. > :11:18.than later. A 12-year-old boy and a bus driver,
:11:19. > :11:21.who's 54, have suffered serious injuries after a crash between two
:11:22. > :11:23.school buses in County Durham. More than 20 other children aged
:11:24. > :11:26.between 11 and 18 were hurt in the accident which took place in
:11:27. > :11:37.Stanley, near to Chester-le-Street. We heard a loud noise, crash, bang,
:11:38. > :11:41.looking behind me there were two buses behind me. People were
:11:42. > :11:46.screaming. The bus driver was trapped. So I ran down, checked the
:11:47. > :11:51.driver after the impact, and there were kids all over the bus. Blood
:11:52. > :11:53.all over. Just a mess, kids screaming. I helped about five or
:11:54. > :11:56.six kids onto the grass. Figures obtained by the BBC show
:11:57. > :11:59.that complaints and appeals made against universities in the UK
:12:00. > :12:01.have risen by 10% since 2012. More than 20,000 were
:12:02. > :12:03.made last year alone. Grievances included changes to
:12:04. > :12:06.courses, students unhappy with their grades and fees being increased once
:12:07. > :12:09.a course had started. Our education correspondent
:12:10. > :12:23.Gillian Hargreaves has the details. Louise and Rachel are not happy
:12:24. > :12:28.customers. Both paid a deposit for a one-year legal practice course at
:12:29. > :12:33.Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford, but now the course is
:12:34. > :12:38.only available online with tutorials at its other campus 45 miles away in
:12:39. > :12:42.Cambridge. It feels like we are getting less for our money without
:12:43. > :12:45.the live lectures, so we're not happy how they have treated us as
:12:46. > :12:50.customers. They have not consulted us, and I feel they should have done
:12:51. > :12:54.that. The girls are not the only ones feeling dissatisfied. In a
:12:55. > :12:59.Freedom of information request submitted by the BBC to 149
:13:00. > :13:07.institutions across the UK, Anglia Ruskin have the highest number of
:13:08. > :13:09.student complaints, 992. Others included were Staffordshire
:13:10. > :13:13.University, the London Met, and the University of West England.
:13:14. > :13:16.Universities provide marketing and glossy brochures but they don't
:13:17. > :13:20.provide the information of what is expected of students to be able to
:13:21. > :13:24.succeed, and also the support that the institution will give you to be
:13:25. > :13:27.able to be successful in studying. If students cannot resolve their
:13:28. > :13:32.grievance with the university they can complain to an independent
:13:33. > :13:35.adjudicator. If a university has made a promise to a student in the
:13:36. > :13:43.prospectus, or in its marketing, which it then fails to deliver, then
:13:44. > :13:48.the student can come to us and, looking at the facts, we will find
:13:49. > :13:52.for the student. Anglia Ruskin told the BBC has a high number of
:13:53. > :13:56.grievances because it has a lot of students and an effective complaints
:13:57. > :14:01.procedure. Universities are big business. In this bit of central
:14:02. > :14:04.London there are six separate institutions. But students are
:14:05. > :14:09.getting more self confident and assertive about what they want.
:14:10. > :14:14.Since 2010,, ?1 million has been paid out in compensation. The
:14:15. > :14:15.government says it is good that students are willing to challenge
:14:16. > :14:21.universities when they are unhappy. And you can get more
:14:22. > :14:24.on that story on File on Four on A British mining company has become
:14:25. > :14:30.the first foreign company known to have evacuated some staff
:14:31. > :14:32.from Sierra Leone because There are around 50 cases of the
:14:33. > :14:37.incurable disease in the country. Five people are known to have died
:14:38. > :14:40.and more than 100 have died in neighbouring Guinea,
:14:41. > :14:42.where the latest outbreak started. Our world affairs correspondent
:14:43. > :14:57.Mark Doyle reports. Highly infectious, Ebola is deadly
:14:58. > :15:01.serious whenever it occurs. But this outbreak is causing special concern
:15:02. > :15:05.because it is so widespread. It started earlier this year in
:15:06. > :15:09.Guinea. More than 100 people have died there. Then the virus moved
:15:10. > :15:19.across the border to Liberia, and now Sierra Leone. The company,
:15:20. > :15:21.London Mining, said that as well as pulling some nonessential staff out
:15:22. > :15:27.of Sierra Leone, it was checking all its employees. It is looking for
:15:28. > :15:32.signs of fever like conducting body temperature screening at the mining
:15:33. > :15:36.site. The company also said it had imposed travel restrictions on its
:15:37. > :15:41.employees inside Sierra Leone and was promoting awareness of the
:15:42. > :15:47.disease. The company says it has had no cases at its mine but is taking
:15:48. > :15:52.all the necessary precautions. Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses on
:15:53. > :15:56.the planet. Around 90% of people who contracted, die. It's incredibly
:15:57. > :16:03.infectious. You cannot catch Ebola by simply touching someone. The
:16:04. > :16:07.symptoms start with fever, but then comes heavy bleeding, including
:16:08. > :16:10.internal bleeding, and eventually organ failure. David Heymann has
:16:11. > :16:15.been at the forefront of research into Ebola for many years. It is
:16:16. > :16:19.transmitted from person to person by close contact, either with body
:16:20. > :16:23.secretions, a cough, or some other mechanisms. If they pay -- patient
:16:24. > :16:27.travels on an aeroplane and his sick there is a chance that a few people
:16:28. > :16:32.sitting around them would become sick. International medical teams
:16:33. > :16:33.are working now in three West African countries trying to bring
:16:34. > :16:38.the outbreak under control. Now a reminder of our top story this
:16:39. > :16:40.lunchtime. House prices show their highest
:16:41. > :16:43.annual increase for seven years. Brussels says the UK should take
:16:44. > :16:56.steps to slow the housing market. Coming up, one of the most crucial
:16:57. > :17:02.decisions taken in the campaign against Hitler, and it was not taken
:17:03. > :17:07.by a military leader. Imagine 70 years ago, when the decisions of
:17:08. > :17:10.weather forecasters were preparing aircraft like this to head into
:17:11. > :17:15.D-day and could decide the outcome of the Second World War.
:17:16. > :17:20.Later on BBC London, Frank Lampard says farewell to Chelsea after 13
:17:21. > :17:24.years at Stamford Bridge. He will leave this summer.
:17:25. > :17:26.And they were famous in the 1920s. How art by the East London group is
:17:27. > :17:30.about to be revived. It's the latest in a number of
:17:31. > :17:34.breakthroughs in the battle against cancer, and specialists describe the
:17:35. > :17:37.results of two international trials of drugs to tackle advanced skin
:17:38. > :17:41.cancer as "hugely promising". Both treatments are designed to enable
:17:42. > :17:44.the immune system to recognise and target tumours. The findings were
:17:45. > :17:48.released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in
:17:49. > :17:52.Chicago. Every year in the UK, around 2,000 people are killed by
:17:53. > :17:56.skin cancer. Our medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh, has
:17:57. > :18:00.more details. A few months ago,
:18:01. > :18:03.this man could barely walk. Advanced melanoma had spread to
:18:04. > :18:11.his lungs. Now,
:18:12. > :18:14.a new treatment has helped him. Now I have a life.
:18:15. > :18:21.Before, all I had to look forward to was weeks,
:18:22. > :18:26.maybe months, of chemotherapy. This drug is a lifeline.
:18:27. > :18:30.This scan shows a large area of cancer growing in his lung.
:18:31. > :18:35.But after just three drug infusions, it has completely cleared.
:18:36. > :18:42.The experimental drug blocks a biological pathway
:18:43. > :18:48.which cancers use to camouflage themselves from the immune system.
:18:49. > :18:52.In a trial, 69% of patients survived at least a year.
:18:53. > :19:00.Average survival used to be around six months.
:19:01. > :19:00.In a trial of another drug and existing immunotherapy,
:19:01. > :19:07.survival was even better. 85% after one year and 79%
:19:08. > :19:08.after two years. It is truly astonishing that such
:19:09. > :19:19.a new drug at a very early stage of development is really showing us
:19:20. > :19:21.very tangible benefits at such an early stage.
:19:22. > :19:29.These are still experimental treatments
:19:30. > :19:34.And some of them involve immunotherapy, harnessing the
:19:35. > :19:39.body's natural defences to fight tumours. Melanoma trials are leading
:19:40. > :19:42.the way, but lung cancer is another area showing particular promise.
:19:43. > :19:45.Fergus Walsh, BBC News. The Worldwide Palliative Care
:19:46. > :19:48.Alliance has told the BBC that the lack of access to pain relief for
:19:49. > :19:51.dying patients around the world is a public health emergency. It says
:19:52. > :19:54.almost 20 million people across the world died in unnecessary pain in
:19:55. > :19:57.2012, partly because they were denied access to powerful
:19:58. > :19:59.painkillers because of exaggerated fears about addiction. Our
:20:00. > :20:15.correspondent Tulip Mazumdar Betty was diagnosed with breast
:20:16. > :20:19.cancer two years ago. She could not afford treatment, and the tumour
:20:20. > :20:24.grew to the size of a football. She was in agony for a year, until she
:20:25. > :20:33.was found by a volunteer from Hospice Africa Uganda. TRANSLATION:
:20:34. > :20:38.The pain was too much before. I was not getting any medicine. It was
:20:39. > :20:45.excruciating. I had given up on life. I wished I was dead. The
:20:46. > :20:49.charity arranged free chemotherapy and access to the powerful
:20:50. > :20:56.painkiller morphine. Eddie says her suffering is now manageable --
:20:57. > :21:00.Betty. That morphine is home-made by the Hospice here in Kampala, using
:21:01. > :21:08.cheap kitchen utensils and a simple mix of morphine powder and water.
:21:09. > :21:12.Almost 1500 bottles of morphine are currently being packed up and put
:21:13. > :21:16.into the Ministry of health van that is waiting outside and take in the
:21:17. > :21:21.community health centres and hospitals around the country.
:21:22. > :21:24.Morphine is cheap. It is a controlled drug which is also used
:21:25. > :21:29.to make heroin, but doctors say exaggerated fears over addiction in
:21:30. > :21:36.patients means governments are wrongly restricting medical access
:21:37. > :21:38.to them. We need bounds on access to these treatments, because we don't
:21:39. > :21:42.want them is used. The government should provide these medicines and
:21:43. > :21:48.if they don't, it amounts to torture. 4000 miles away from
:21:49. > :21:54.Kampala, Sara is dying from a rare form of lung cancer. I have talked
:21:55. > :22:02.over the end-stage with my beautiful doctor at the Hospice, who is a
:22:03. > :22:07.source of great comfort. He described what was the usual way for
:22:08. > :22:11.people with my condition to go, which is to get sleepier and
:22:12. > :22:16.sleepier, and in one of the sleepy times, I will fall into
:22:17. > :22:20.unconsciousness. The UK has one of the world's best palliative care
:22:21. > :22:25.systems. Sara deals with her pain like Betty using morphine, and also
:22:26. > :22:30.like Betty, she says she wants to spend her final days with her
:22:31. > :22:34.family. Sara and Betty both passed away within a few weeks of our
:22:35. > :22:39.interviews. They were given medical and psychological support at the end
:22:40. > :22:46.of their lives, something they said everyone in their situation
:22:47. > :22:50.deserves. And you can see more on this story
:22:51. > :22:54.on the health section of the BBC news website.
:22:55. > :22:56.News website. President Obama has announced that
:22:57. > :22:58.the United States is to strengthen its military forces in eastern
:22:59. > :23:02.Europe in response to the crisis in Ukraine. Speaking in Poland at the
:23:03. > :23:05.start of a European tour, he said more equipment and personnel would
:23:06. > :23:08.be based in the region and military exercises would be expanded. He
:23:09. > :23:10.warned Russia against "further provocation". Mr Obama also defended
:23:11. > :23:13.his decision to release five Afghan prisoners in exchange for freeing an
:23:14. > :23:29.Regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may
:23:30. > :23:34.turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back who was held
:23:35. > :23:38.in captivity, period. We don't condition that.
:23:39. > :23:41.The Spanish government is drawing up plans to change the country's
:23:42. > :23:44.constitution in order to allow King Juan Carlos to abdicate after nearly
:23:45. > :23:47.40 years on the throne. The monarch, who's 76, announced yesterday that
:23:48. > :23:50.he would step down in favour of his 46-year-old son, Crown Prince
:23:51. > :23:52.Felipe. Tom Burridge is at the Escorial Palace near Madrid, and
:23:53. > :24:02.Tom, the king and his heir have been out in public today?
:24:03. > :24:10.That is right. Lengthy of symbolism this morning. This is a palace
:24:11. > :24:12.monastery to the north of the Spanish capital, where Spain's kings
:24:13. > :24:16.and queens throughout the ages have been buried. In the last couple of
:24:17. > :24:20.hours, we have seen a military parade and the image of the day,
:24:21. > :24:24.father and son, Prince and King side aside for the first time since King
:24:25. > :24:30.Juan Carlos announced his application yesterday. That process
:24:31. > :24:34.of abdication will last three to six weeks, and on a carefully
:24:35. > :24:38.choreographed day not far from here, there has been a special
:24:39. > :24:40.cabinet meeting. The Spanish government have approved a law which
:24:41. > :24:46.will make the abdication of King Juan Carlos possible. So Felipe, his
:24:47. > :24:52.son, can become King Felipe the sixth of Spain. Then I think there
:24:53. > :24:56.is a key question. Can King Felipe turn things around for the monarchy
:24:57. > :24:59.in Spain? According to the polls, in recent months and years, the
:25:00. > :25:03.popularity of the monarchy in Spain and in particular of the King has
:25:04. > :25:10.been on the decline. King Felipe is much younger when he is king. He is
:25:11. > :25:14.a former salesman in the Olympics. He is married to a former television
:25:15. > :25:18.presenter. Is he the man to make the monarchy in Spain more popular
:25:19. > :25:21.again? Tom Burridge, thank you very much.
:25:22. > :25:25.Now, it was one of the most crucial decisions of the Second World War -
:25:26. > :25:28.the tming of the D-Day landings. And it wasn't down, in the end, to
:25:29. > :25:31.senior allied soldiers, but to the weather forecasters. This week 70
:25:32. > :25:34.years ago, one planned date came and went as storms battered the Normandy
:25:35. > :25:37.Beaches. Then suddenly, the weather turned - mainly sunny, with 15 mile
:25:38. > :25:40.per hour winds, small amounts of cloud and good visibility - just
:25:41. > :25:44.acceptable for landing in Northern France. The BBC's own weather
:25:45. > :25:52.forecaster, Peter Gibbs, has the story.
:25:53. > :25:55.In early June 1944, thousands of men and tonnes
:25:56. > :25:59.of equipment were amassing on the shores of southern England, ready to
:26:00. > :26:06.launch the D-day offensive. But one thing was crucial to
:26:07. > :26:15.the success and timing of that operation - the weather.
:26:16. > :26:21.Poor conditions would jeopardise the whole operation, preventing aircraft
:26:22. > :26:29.from flying and chips from landing troops on the Normandy beaches.
:26:30. > :26:32.There was enormous pressure on weather forecasts, being passed by
:26:33. > :26:35.Eisenhower to predict up to five days ahead at a time when even a
:26:36. > :26:39.forecast for 24 hours was a challenge. The man at the sharp end
:26:40. > :26:43.of the whole forecast operation was group Captain Stanning.
:26:44. > :26:44.The tactical use of weather, just to be able to pick out some
:26:45. > :26:49.interlude unknown to enemy forces which would allow us to make use
:26:50. > :26:55.of it and catch the people on the other side unaware.
:26:56. > :27:01.Meteorologists than corn-fed explained the huge difficulties that
:27:02. > :27:06.he had to overcome. It was his judgement that was roared to bear
:27:07. > :27:10.amongst forecasts which were often very different, because the subject
:27:11. > :27:15.was not anything like as advanced as it now is. There was a war on, so
:27:16. > :27:20.you did not get as much information. It was just his strength of
:27:21. > :27:22.character and perception that got us through.
:27:23. > :27:23.Weather forecasting is pressured enough these days,
:27:24. > :27:24.but imagine 70 years ago, when the decisions of forecasters preparing
:27:25. > :27:31.this one could actually decide the outcome of the Second World War.
:27:32. > :27:34.Even now, we are still finding new information.
:27:35. > :27:38.These recently discovered weather charts show
:27:39. > :27:42.the Germans had much better knowledge of the weather over the
:27:43. > :27:48.Atlantic than previously thought. The Allied Commander made the right
:27:49. > :27:51.decision from the wrong information, whereas the Hitler team made
:27:52. > :27:55.the wrong decision from the right information.
:27:56. > :28:02.So the Germans may have won the battle of the forecasts, but if the
:28:03. > :28:04.invasion had been delayed two weeks later, gales would have destroyed
:28:05. > :28:19.any chance of a landing and history would have been very different.
:28:20. > :28:25.There is still pressure to get it right, 70 years on. It has improved
:28:26. > :28:29.a lot since then, but the weather can still give us some headaches.
:28:30. > :28:34.Even this week, there is a bit of uncertainty from time to time. This
:28:35. > :28:38.week looks like being a mixture of sunshine and showers. Some of those
:28:39. > :28:43.showers will be heavy and the area across northern and eastern parts of
:28:44. > :28:47.the UK. Blankets of cloud are continuing to push eastwards, with
:28:48. > :28:52.sunshine now pushing into many western and southern areas. For the
:28:53. > :28:54.rest of the afternoon, you can see holes in the cloud, allowing for
:28:55. > :28:59.pleasant sunshine, but also a scattering of showers. For the
:29:00. > :29:05.Northern Isles, it is staying murky, misty and wet. The main part of is
:29:06. > :29:09.Gotland could catch the thunderstorm in the afternoon -- Scotland. For
:29:10. > :29:13.the east of the Pennines, the showers could he have the, but away
:29:14. > :29:20.from here, the showers will not be quite as heavy. There should be some
:29:21. > :29:25.good spells of sunshine. Not quite as warm as yesterday. This evening,
:29:26. > :29:29.the showers rumble on for a while across northern and eastern areas.
:29:30. > :29:34.Then it is all eyes to the south, that weather system pushing up and
:29:35. > :29:37.bringing rain which will be heavy at times across central and southern
:29:38. > :29:42.areas. A mild night for much of the country, but a few chilly spots
:29:43. > :29:45.under clear skies in Scotland. The culprit bringing in that wet weather
:29:46. > :29:49.for Wednesday is this area of low pressure, which will continue to
:29:50. > :29:54.move northwards as the day progresses. It is uncertain how far
:29:55. > :29:58.West it will bring that rain, but it looks like bringing much of England
:29:59. > :30:02.a wet start tomorrow, and atrocious commute into work. The rain will
:30:03. > :30:07.spread towards eastern Scotland as well. The best of any brighter
:30:08. > :30:12.weather will be across the far west and south-west, but even here there
:30:13. > :30:16.will be a few showers. Temperatures are feeling cooler everywhere. The
:30:17. > :30:21.Thursday, a vast improvement for England and Wales. The rain will
:30:22. > :30:25.become confined to central and northern parts of Scotland. Some
:30:26. > :30:30.lengthy spells of sunshine will make it feel warmer. Later in the day, an
:30:31. > :30:34.area of rain pushes up from the south-west. For Friday, Northern
:30:35. > :30:38.Ireland and Wales may see some of the rain the south-west. Northern
:30:39. > :30:44.areas are largely dry and warm. And look at the temperatures, very
:30:45. > :30:47.warm. That is a sign of things to come as we head towards the weekend.
:30:48. > :30:53.We start to import warm and humid air from the near continent. But it
:30:54. > :30:54.could eat thundery. We have to watch out for heavy showers and
:30:55. > :30:55.thunderstorms. Now a reminder of our top story this
:30:56. > :30:58.lunchtime. House prices show their highest
:30:59. > :31:02.annual increase for seven years.