24/10/2011

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:00:05. > :00:10.David Cameron appeals to his MPs not to rebel over Europe as he

:00:10. > :00:12.faces his biggest revolt since becoming Prime Minister. Dozens of

:00:12. > :00:19.Conservatives could defy him tonight and vote for a referendum

:00:19. > :00:23.on membership of the EU, despite this plea from the Prime Minister.

:00:23. > :00:28.It is not the right time at this moment of economic crisis to launch

:00:28. > :00:31.legislation that includes and in or out referendum. When your

:00:31. > :00:37.neighbour's house is on fire, you first impulse should be to help

:00:37. > :00:41.them to put out the flames. Like his predecessors, he is caught

:00:41. > :00:45.between the party's interest and the national interest -- interest.

:00:45. > :00:49.It is an out-of-touch Tory party tearing itself apart over Europe.

:00:49. > :00:51.Also on tonight's programme: The desperate search for survivors

:00:51. > :00:55.continues in Turkey after the earthquake that has killed more

:00:55. > :00:58.than 260 people. A murder hunt is launched after the

:00:58. > :01:01.body of a 28-year-old is found beaten and burned on the roadside

:01:01. > :01:09.in Ayrshire. And the UK's tale of two autumns.

:01:09. > :01:15.Severe weather warnings for some but drought conditions for others.

:01:15. > :01:22.We are still looking at fields crying out for water. These are dry,

:01:22. > :01:32.drought, dustbowl conditions. I will be here with Sportsday,

:01:32. > :01:44.

:01:44. > :01:51.including a look back at United's Good evening. Welcome to the BBC

:01:51. > :01:55.News at six. The Prime Minister has made a personal appeal to his MPs

:01:55. > :01:58.not to defy him over Europe, as he faces his biggest Commons rebellion

:01:58. > :02:00.since entering Downing Street. Dozens could rebel against him and

:02:00. > :02:04.vote tonight for a referendum on Britain's membership of the

:02:04. > :02:06.European Union. The vote is being seen as a test of David Cameron's

:02:06. > :02:11.authority even though the government is not expected to lose,

:02:11. > :02:16.as James Landale reports. The struggle to save the eurozone

:02:16. > :02:22.has prompted a battle of wills at Westminster. Give voters a say, say

:02:22. > :02:25.some MPs. Focus on saving Europe's economy first, say others. The

:02:25. > :02:32.battle is testing the loyalty of MPs and the authority of the Prime

:02:32. > :02:36.Minister. Rule Britannia! Conservative MPs may not go as far

:02:36. > :02:40.as this but passions are high. Many want a referendum on whether

:02:40. > :02:44.Britannia should stay in, get out or renegotiate its relationship

:02:44. > :02:51.with the EU and one is even prepared to give up his role to

:02:51. > :02:54.vote for it. My country comes before my party. We should not be

:02:54. > :02:59.subject to a three-line whip. In my constituency, people would like to

:03:00. > :03:03.be given a say. David Cameron spent the day trying to persuade rebel

:03:03. > :03:09.MPs to back down. In public, he argued that a referendum now would

:03:09. > :03:13.be rash and premature. When your neighbour's house is in fire, your

:03:13. > :03:17.first impulse should be to help them to put out the flames, not

:03:17. > :03:24.least to stop those flames reaching your own house. This is not the

:03:24. > :03:28.time. This is not the time to argue about walking away. And this is why

:03:28. > :03:31.he is not giving ground. From the days Margaret Thatcher said no to

:03:31. > :03:35.further integration to the use when John Major fought running battles

:03:35. > :03:40.with Euro-sceptic MPs, to the campaigns we have Hague fought to

:03:40. > :03:44.save the pound, voters rarely rewarded a party focused on and

:03:44. > :03:48.divided by Europe. There was no promise of a referendum in the

:03:48. > :03:53.coalition agreement or the Tory and Labour manifestos and tonight

:03:53. > :03:57.labour said it would support the government in the road. Like his

:03:57. > :04:01.predecessors, he is caught between the party interest and the national

:04:01. > :04:05.interest. It is an out-of-touch Tory party tearing itself apart

:04:05. > :04:10.over Europe. And all the time, the British people are left to worry

:04:10. > :04:14.about their jobs and livelihoods. But those pressing for a referendum

:04:14. > :04:21.so that people must have their say. At a time when people pick up their

:04:22. > :04:24.phones and spend their own money voting week in, week out to keep

:04:24. > :04:28.their favoured contestants in Strictly Come Dancing and the X-

:04:28. > :04:32.factor, many people will be baffled as to why it is the government and

:04:32. > :04:38.all those who oppose this motion seemed keen to prevent them from

:04:38. > :04:42.having their chance to vote. Does he understand our anxiety that so

:04:42. > :04:46.many parties having promised a referendum again and again, clearly

:04:46. > :04:50.it is something the British people want, to have a say over their

:04:50. > :04:52.future relationship with the European Union, that it is ironic

:04:52. > :04:57.that the House of Commons is likely to vote against what the British

:04:57. > :05:02.people want. The government will defeat the call for a referendum.

:05:02. > :05:05.What will matter is the size of the rebellion. It will be a test of how

:05:05. > :05:09.many Tory MPs trust the Prime Minister on Europe and it will be a

:05:09. > :05:13.test of his very political authority in the House of Commons.

:05:13. > :05:17.Europe is changing as a result of the eurozone crisis and this will

:05:17. > :05:22.impact on Westminster. Tonight's vote may be the first of many more

:05:22. > :05:25.to come. In a moment we will be speaking to

:05:25. > :05:30.our Europe editor in Brussels, but first Nick Robinson is at

:05:30. > :05:35.Westminster. It is the size of this rebellion that will be crucial.

:05:35. > :05:38.Yes, and the number 42 is one to look out for. That would mean the

:05:38. > :05:42.biggest rebellion of this government to date and the biggest

:05:42. > :05:48.rebellion against government policy on the issue of Europe that any

:05:48. > :05:51.Conservative government has ever seen. In a sense, a number is not

:05:51. > :05:55.the point. What we have seen in the House of Commons today is the

:05:55. > :06:00.evidence of a lack of trust of the Tory backbenchers in their own

:06:00. > :06:02.government. One illustration of that has just this minute happened

:06:02. > :06:10.inside the House of Commons when Adam Holloway, the age to the

:06:10. > :06:13.Europe Minister, has urged other MPs to vote with their consciences

:06:13. > :06:19.to vote for the referendum and if he does that, he will have to

:06:19. > :06:21.resign from his government position. This would demonstrate that despite

:06:21. > :06:25.the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister and the government whips,

:06:25. > :06:28.they have simply not managed to convince their own side and David

:06:28. > :06:33.Cameron said today he shared the yearning for change in Britain's

:06:33. > :06:39.relationship with Europe and I think Tory MPs, after tonight, will

:06:39. > :06:44.say, when exactly is this going to happen?

:06:44. > :06:47.As European leaders try to grapple with the debt crisis, what do they

:06:47. > :06:51.make of this? I don't think they are focused on

:06:51. > :06:55.this, they are more focused on the fact they are facing a deadline.

:06:56. > :06:59.Europe's leaders will have to come back here on Wednesday night and

:06:59. > :07:04.eventually Phipps -- fix the eurozone crisis and that is where

:07:05. > :07:10.they crisis is. There appears to be some progress. MPs were told today

:07:10. > :07:16.in Germany that the side of the EU main bail-out fund will be expanded

:07:16. > :07:20.to one trillion Euros to protect countries like Italy, but left

:07:20. > :07:22.progress in reducing Greek debt. But at the moment, there are

:07:22. > :07:28.sticking points and another indication of the pressure that is

:07:28. > :07:32.going around, Silvio Berlusconi in Italy has been told, give us some

:07:32. > :07:35.indication you are getting your public finances in order by

:07:35. > :07:40.Wednesday. What have to happen is on Wednesday evening, they have to

:07:40. > :07:46.be able to convince the world that they have at last got control of

:07:46. > :07:49.this eurozone crisis. Thank you.

:07:49. > :07:52.Rescue teams in Turkey have managed to pull more people alive from the

:07:53. > :07:57.rubble after the strong earthquake that hit the east of the country on

:07:57. > :08:03.Sunday. At least 265 people are known to have died and it is feared

:08:03. > :08:06.the death toll will rise. More than 1,000 people have been injured in

:08:06. > :08:10.the quake, which measured 7.2 and struck close to the border with

:08:11. > :08:14.Iran. The city of Ercis was the worst-hit, with almost 1,000

:08:15. > :08:19.buildings destroyed. From there, Daniel Sandford sent this report.

:08:19. > :08:23.Hammering, cutting, pulling frantically at the ruins of

:08:23. > :08:27.reinforced concrete apartment blocks. The ordinary people of

:08:27. > :08:31.Ercis were desperately helping the official rescue teams to look for

:08:31. > :08:35.the hundreds who are missing. At the centre of this rescue effort is

:08:35. > :08:41.the 29-year-old man, who is trapped beneath the rubble, pinned between

:08:41. > :08:46.a wall and a car. He has been there for 24 hours over a freezing cold

:08:46. > :08:50.night, and amongst those trying to get him out of his brothers. They

:08:50. > :08:54.had formed a human chain, passing saucepans full of rubble away from

:08:54. > :08:59.it injured brother, slowly making space for him to be brought out.

:08:59. > :09:04.With exhaustion setting in, his mother waited patiently near by.

:09:04. > :09:08.TRANSLATION: We have all been here since yesterday. We slept in the

:09:08. > :09:15.car overnight and no food has passed any of his brother's' lips.

:09:15. > :09:18.The six-year-old is also somewhere under the collapsed flats. Her

:09:18. > :09:24.uncle told me she had been out playing at the time of the

:09:24. > :09:29.earthquake and no one has heard from her since. I am sad for my

:09:29. > :09:34.sister's husband... He was dead in the other rubble. We were their

:09:34. > :09:38.reading him, at his funeral, and just got back here and we are

:09:39. > :09:44.hoping the kid will come out, hopefully. No matter how seriously

:09:44. > :09:48.injured, but alive. Overnight in the regional capital Van, a small

:09:48. > :09:55.boy had been found alive. His rescue was pleading with him to be

:09:55. > :10:01.patient while they worked to get him out. And in Ercis, this toddler

:10:01. > :10:06.was successfully pulled out alive by emergency workers. CCTV footage

:10:06. > :10:12.has emerged which shows the moment the powerful earthquake struck. The

:10:12. > :10:17.shaking stops this couple in their tracks. A full-scale aid operation

:10:17. > :10:21.is now under way. Encampments have been fed up to house the homeless

:10:21. > :10:26.and give them some protection from sub-zero temperatures -- have been

:10:26. > :10:30.set up. But with the rescues, including that of this 29-year-old,

:10:30. > :10:36.going on into the second night, many people are choosing to sleep

:10:36. > :10:39.out to be close to their relatives, trapped under the rubble.

:10:39. > :10:43.Police in Ayrshire are trying to trace the last movements of a man

:10:43. > :10:47.whose burned body was found at the side of a road early on Saturday

:10:47. > :10:56.morning. Officers say Stuart Walker, who was 28 and from Cumnock, had

:10:56. > :11:00.suffered horrible injuries in an extremely violent attack.

:11:00. > :11:05.Stuart Walker was a popular and gentle man described by friends as

:11:05. > :11:08.quick with a smile and always happy. His death has shocked the --

:11:08. > :11:12.shocked the town where he lived and died. His grieving family joined

:11:12. > :11:16.others in laying flowers on this secluded piece of land, where his

:11:16. > :11:26.body was discovered. Imagine what his mum and dad have been through

:11:26. > :11:31.

:11:31. > :11:34.and his sister... Very tough. Fairy-tale. -- a very tough. He was

:11:34. > :11:39.the life and soul of the party, he would never let you get by without

:11:39. > :11:43.saying hello. Stuart Walker was last seen alive on this stretch of

:11:43. > :11:48.road in the early hours of Saturday, just a short distance from where

:11:48. > :11:52.his body, beating and burnt, was later found. Police have been

:11:52. > :11:58.examining the area and trying to work out with a 28-year-old had

:11:58. > :12:02.been before. It is not something we read about in the newspapers every

:12:02. > :12:06.day so there is an element of violence which is uncommon. The

:12:06. > :12:09.motive for that we have yet to establish an suffice to say, a

:12:09. > :12:14.young man who had everything to live for has had his life snatched

:12:14. > :12:18.away. Detectives are looking into all aspects of Stuart Walker's life

:12:18. > :12:22.but tonight there are additional officers on the street here,

:12:22. > :12:28.reassuring the community not used to such extremely violent crime,

:12:28. > :12:30.while still working to find this young man's murderer.

:12:30. > :12:34.Applications for university courses in the UK have dropped by 9%

:12:34. > :12:38.compared to last year. The admissions service UCAS says the

:12:38. > :12:42.number of mature students, over the age of 25, has also fallen by more

:12:42. > :12:46.than 20%. One of Joanna Yeates' neighbours

:12:46. > :12:50.has told a court in Bristol that he did not hear any screams on the

:12:50. > :12:54.night she died. Geoffrey Hardyman said he was ill with a cold and had

:12:54. > :12:56.gone to bed without hearing any disturbance from the flat below him.

:12:56. > :12:58.Vincent Tabak denies murdering Miss Yeates but has admitted

:12:58. > :13:01.manslaughter. James Murdoch, the executive

:13:01. > :13:04.chairman of News International, is to give evidence for a second time

:13:04. > :13:08.to a parliamentary investigation into phone hacking at the News of

:13:08. > :13:12.the World. Rupert Murdoch's son will appear before the Commons

:13:12. > :13:14.Culture, Media and Sport Committee on November 10th.

:13:15. > :13:17.In Libya, there are reports that more than 50 pro-Gaddafi fighters

:13:18. > :13:22.may have been massacred in Sirte, the city where Gaddafi was found

:13:22. > :13:25.last week. Their bodies were discovered a day after the

:13:25. > :13:28.country's new leaders declared national liberation. Many people

:13:28. > :13:32.who were forced from their homes during the fighting in the city are

:13:32. > :13:39.now returning in the hope that they can rebuild their lives. Wyre

:13:39. > :13:43.Davies reports from Sirte. There was heavy fighting and

:13:43. > :13:51.destruction throughout this Libyan conflict but nothing on the scale

:13:51. > :13:54.of what has happened in Sirte. Some say Gaddafi's home town is where

:13:54. > :13:58.the judges -- transitional government forces took their

:13:58. > :14:02.revenge. We followed this family back to the house they abandoned

:14:03. > :14:12.two weeks ago. They were hoping to move back him. Hopes were dashed

:14:12. > :14:16.when they saw the damage caused by the onslaught on Sirte. CRYING.

:14:16. > :14:21.Therefore Bridge granddaughter is also missing. Not seemed in a panic

:14:21. > :14:27.and confusion for days -- there four-year-old daughter. They hope

:14:27. > :14:31.she is somewhere with their father. I don't know how to feel, says the

:14:31. > :14:36.grandfather, I have been living in this house for 30 years. We have no

:14:36. > :14:41.way to go. Many homes here have been destroyed

:14:41. > :14:46.and looted. Some, perhaps understandably, fail to see the

:14:46. > :14:51.bright future that others are talking about. I come today and I

:14:51. > :14:57.find this is my flat, look at that. That is your house with the big

:14:57. > :15:02.hole in the wall? Yes. It certainly feels too early for talk of

:15:02. > :15:07.reconciliation. This town on which Colonel Gaddafi spend billions will

:15:07. > :15:11.not enjoy such favouritism and privilege in the new Libya. Indeed,

:15:11. > :15:16.some say that Sirte should not be be put at all and should remain as

:15:16. > :15:21.a memorial to Gaddafi's victims -- should not be rebuilt. This is

:15:21. > :15:26.after all the town that shocked at Colonel Gaddafi until the end. The

:15:26. > :15:36.homes and bunkers in which he spent his last days, now in ruins. It may

:15:36. > :15:37.

:15:37. > :15:40.well be the last place in Libya to Our top story tonight: Dozens of

:15:40. > :15:49.Conservative MPs could defy the Prime Minister tonight and vote for

:15:49. > :15:54.a referendum on Britain's EU membership. ,ing up:

:15:54. > :15:56.What do you know of the unicorn? Not a lot, that's why I'm asking

:15:56. > :15:59.you. And, as another cartoon favourite

:15:59. > :16:09.gets the Hollywood treatment, Stephen Spielberg tells us why he

:16:09. > :16:24.

:16:24. > :16:28.was determined to bring TinTin to 7 billion - that's how many of us

:16:28. > :16:32.it is estimated will be living on the planet this time next week. The

:16:32. > :16:37.world's population has expanded rapidly in the past decade with

:16:37. > :16:46.around a billion more people alive than in 199. The United Nations is

:16:46. > :16:51.warning that the rapid rate of growth is affecting many countries,

:16:51. > :16:57.especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Fergus Walsh went to Saddam byia.

:16:57. > :17:03.Welcome to the world. Like each and every one of us these newborns help

:17:03. > :17:07.make up the 7 billion people on our planet. Katherine has just given

:17:07. > :17:12.birth for the fourth time to a daughter. Hours old, she doesn't

:17:13. > :17:19.have a name yet. Despite living in poverty, the parents want more

:17:19. > :17:23.children, and they are ambitious for their future. I want my

:17:23. > :17:27.daughter and my sons to become important people, she says. Then

:17:27. > :17:36.they can help us. But I don't know if there'll be enough money for

:17:36. > :17:40.them all to go through school. Most women don't use modern

:17:40. > :17:45.contraception. For some because they can't afford to travel to

:17:45. > :17:50.health clinics. Big families are the norm. Six children is the

:17:50. > :17:57.average. Zambia's population is projected to triple by 2050 and

:17:57. > :18:00.keep rising. Half the people here are aged 16 or under, and more and

:18:00. > :18:06.more families are leaving the countryside to live in the capital,

:18:06. > :18:10.Lusaka, in search of work. Population growth can be good for

:18:10. > :18:17.the economy, with a young workforce and relatively fuel elderly. But

:18:17. > :18:22.the increase here is so rapid the fear is it could perpetuate poverty.

:18:22. > :18:29.Zambia is barely able to feed 13 million people now, so how will it

:18:29. > :18:33.cope with 100 million or more by the edge of the century? And how do

:18:33. > :18:37.you encourage the young to have fewer children than their parents?

:18:37. > :18:42.Aid agencies say it starts with more rights for women. If you are

:18:42. > :18:47.married to a man and he decides to have sen children, you have no say,

:18:47. > :18:57.even -- ten children, you have no say. We need toe empower women so

:18:57. > :18:57.

:18:57. > :19:01.they can make decisions about their lives. And that begins in the

:19:02. > :19:06.classroom, where attitudes are changing. These teenagers wants

:19:06. > :19:15.careers first and motherhood second. I want to have two kids, one boy

:19:15. > :19:20.and a girl. I want to have two kids to reduce the population. Zambia is

:19:20. > :19:25.a big country, three times the size of Britain, so there is plenty of

:19:26. > :19:35.room. But the expanding population will need more schools, jobs,

:19:35. > :19:39.hospitals and homes if it is to be lifted from poverty to prosperity.

:19:39. > :19:45.You can see more stories from people affected by the world's

:19:45. > :19:48.growing population on the BBC News website - bbc.co.uk/7billion.

:19:48. > :19:52.The US ambassador to Syria has returned to Washington amid

:19:52. > :19:58.concerns about his safety. The ambassador has faced criticism from

:19:58. > :20:02.the authorities in Damascus for meeting Syrian opposition people

:20:02. > :20:05.who are calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

:20:05. > :20:08.An inquest into the death of a woman killed in a train crash in

:20:08. > :20:11.Cumbria four years ago has heard how passengers were left strewn

:20:11. > :20:14.across a carriage when the train derailed at 95 miles an hour.

:20:14. > :20:19.Margaret Masson had been due to travel the next day but changed her

:20:19. > :20:24.plans. Danny Savage is in Lambrigg where the accident happened. What

:20:24. > :20:29.more did we learn in court today It was dark winter's evening, a Friday

:20:29. > :20:33.night, when the 1715 service from London Euston to Glasgow came off

:20:33. > :20:37.the tracks in the railway cutting behind me. The inquest was told the

:20:37. > :20:40.train derailed as it went over a set of points and came to rest

:20:40. > :20:45.scattered 300 metres away. Today we heard from people who were on the

:20:45. > :20:50.train that night. We heard from the train driver, Ian Black, who said

:20:50. > :20:54.without a shadow of a doubt I knew I was in big bother. The train just

:20:54. > :20:59.jumped in the air. He was knocked out at his head hit the ceiling of

:20:59. > :21:03.the train. He said he woke up a few moments later, wedged on top of the

:21:03. > :21:08.dashboard, under the windscreen looking back at the seat of my cab.

:21:08. > :21:12.I could hear screaming. I knew I was badly injured. But he still

:21:12. > :21:16.will the presence of mind to make a phone call on his mobile phone to

:21:17. > :21:21.warn that there had been a crash and to get the line closed. One

:21:21. > :21:26.person died that night, Margaret Masson, who was 84 years old. This

:21:26. > :21:33.inquest is to find out what happened. Her daughter shout, "Mum!

:21:33. > :21:37.Mum! Mum!" in the moments after the crash, trying to hen her mother.

:21:37. > :21:40.Somebody else in the carriage was thrown 50 feet in the air. More

:21:40. > :21:45.details will come out as this inquest continues over the next

:21:45. > :21:48.couple of weeks. He's Hollywood's most famous

:21:48. > :21:50.director, but after four decades in film, Steven Spielberg says his

:21:50. > :21:53.latest project has been among the most challenging. The film, The

:21:53. > :21:58.Adventures Of Tintin: Secret Of The Unicorn, is the first fully

:21:58. > :22:01.animated movie he's worked on. Speaking exclusively to the BBC he

:22:01. > :22:11.explained how bringing the famous character to life had been a 28-

:22:11. > :22:11.

:22:11. > :22:20.year-long labour of love. Lizo Mzimba reports. A world famous

:22:20. > :22:29.comic book hero visualised by a world famous director. Filled with

:22:29. > :22:32.typical Spielberg flourishes and elaborate set pieces. Here he's

:22:32. > :22:36.stretched film technology further than he has before. Safrlt he

:22:36. > :22:45.regards this as the biggest challenge he's faced in his 40-year

:22:45. > :22:51.career. Never have I just made a purely animated movie until now.

:22:51. > :22:57.Three years of active animation, so not being a part of that universe

:22:57. > :23:03.until now. I found that, I was able to actually make two movies while

:23:03. > :23:07.they were animating Tintin. He's used technology to capture actors'

:23:07. > :23:13.movements. Animators use those movements as a guide as they create

:23:13. > :23:18.each character's performance on the screen, enabling him to make a film

:23:18. > :23:23.he had planned close on 30 years. was waiting for a technology to

:23:23. > :23:28.come along that would better equip the style of my adaptation to the

:23:28. > :23:34.style of Herge's illustrations. That was important to me, to get as

:23:34. > :23:40.part to the artwork that he created. The original stories inspire huge

:23:40. > :23:50.affection. The reviews have been mixed. Some applauding Spielberg's

:23:50. > :23:50.

:23:50. > :23:56.adaptation, but others saying it doesn't do justisto Herge's ideas.

:23:56. > :24:05.If they had gone for live action it might have worked but the

:24:05. > :24:10.characters feel airy and weightless. Spielberg practically invented the

:24:10. > :24:14.computer-enhanced blockbuster, with Jurassic Park's computer-generated

:24:14. > :24:17.dinosaurs. Audiences will decide with whether this project deserves

:24:17. > :24:21.similar success. The Queen's tour of Australia has

:24:21. > :24:25.taken her to Brisbane to meet residents of the city devastated by

:24:25. > :24:31.floods this year. They also met two koala bears who were removed from

:24:31. > :24:34.their sanctuary when floodwaters hit.

:24:34. > :24:37.Homeowners and businesses in parts of the UK have been told to brace

:24:37. > :24:40.themselves for flooding as heavy rain and strong winds swept in from

:24:40. > :24:42.the south. But for many other people it's a completely different

:24:42. > :24:52.story, with parts of England experiencing drought conditions.

:24:52. > :24:55.Jeremy Cooke reports on a tale of two autumns.

:24:55. > :24:59.Storm-battered and sodden, across Northern Ireland, south-west

:24:59. > :25:04.England and Wales the rains have come, driven inland by fierce winds.

:25:04. > :25:10.And that means floods. In north Antrim the rising waters have

:25:10. > :25:16.brought big problems for motorists. The rain overwhelming the drainage

:25:16. > :25:20.systems. In Cornwall, more misery for an area which dozens of homes

:25:20. > :25:24.and businesses were flood last year. Anxious hours lie ahead. There are

:25:24. > :25:29.now 21 flood aletters across the west. More rain is on the way. So

:25:29. > :25:35.lots of water but not quite everywhere. Across the English

:25:35. > :25:41.Midlands and into East Anglia rain is a scarce commodity, a record-

:25:41. > :25:50.breaking lack of precipitation. This rez ir voyeur in Kent, huge

:25:50. > :25:56.swathes of -- this reservoir in Kent, its banks exposed.

:25:56. > :26:01.In the south-west in the east of England the field are crying out

:26:01. > :26:06.for rain. Dry, doubt, dust-bowlen conditions and the farmers are

:26:06. > :26:09.battling to produce their crops. The dust trails tell their own

:26:10. > :26:14.story. In Leicestershire this farmer is dealing with the driest

:26:14. > :26:19.six months in the Midlands since records began 100 years ago.

:26:19. > :26:24.fields should be green by now. You shouldn't be able to see any earth

:26:24. > :26:29.at all. Be a nice green-looking feelgd, like a carpet, which at the

:26:29. > :26:35.moment we haven't got. So floods and drought, a dramatically mixed

:26:35. > :26:38.picture, but one we may have to get used to. It highlights just how

:26:38. > :26:41.variable if weather is in the United Kingdom, and with climate

:26:41. > :26:45.change predictions, it is forecast to be even more extreme and more

:26:45. > :26:49.variable in the future. Tonight though it is the rain in the west

:26:50. > :26:57.which is of immediate concern. Much more and there could be serious

:26:57. > :27:00.problems ahead. Let's go straight to the weather.

:27:00. > :27:05.Let's go straight to the weather. Two extremes? I will concentrate on

:27:05. > :27:10.the wet extreme, if you don't mind. It is pouring with rain out there,

:27:10. > :27:13.a deluge in parts of western Britain. Amber warnings, to stay

:27:13. > :27:18.vigilant this evening. It keeps on pouring down, particularly in

:27:18. > :27:24.Northern Ireland into the night. More wet weather ain't going to

:27:24. > :27:27.help matters. It is going to pour with rain in western Wales tonight.

:27:27. > :27:31.Squally winds in parts of Devon from a time. A respite at the

:27:32. > :27:36.moment for Cornwall. But don't be fooled. We might have a sting in

:27:36. > :27:41.the tail later in the night. Further heavy and prolonged showers.

:27:41. > :27:45.But then the focus turns to eastern England and later into eastern

:27:45. > :27:48.Scotland, where it will rain for much of tomorrow. Elsewhere it is

:27:48. > :27:54.not going to be a cold night. A mild one. The winds will ease off

:27:54. > :27:57.in most places. Not so in north- eastern parts of Scotland, where it

:27:57. > :28:01.will pour with rain for much of the day. Warnings have been issued for

:28:01. > :28:05.this part of the world. Elsewhere, drier and much better in Northern

:28:05. > :28:11.Ireland. A few sharp showers but lengthy dry spells as well, a

:28:11. > :28:17.chance to mop up perhaps. The same could be said for much of Wales.

:28:17. > :28:21.Sunshine and broken cloud. South- west England, most places will have

:28:21. > :28:25.lengthy dry and bright spells. The winds won't be as strong as they

:28:25. > :28:28.have been. Later in the afternoon a clutch of showers in south-east

:28:28. > :28:32.England could be heavy, possibly thundery. Before that happens a

:28:32. > :28:35.lots of dry weather in East Anglia, the Midlands and up into northern

:28:35. > :28:40.England after a damp start in the north-east. Things should pick up.

:28:40. > :28:44.Not so for eastern Scotland. The up slopes of the Grampians could see

:28:44. > :28:47.lots of rain tomorrow. A strong wind. The Met Office and

:28:47. > :28:52.Environment Agency are working closely together. Keep up to date

:28:52. > :28:56.closely together. Keep up to date with the flood line number.

:28:56. > :28:59.Tonight's main news. Dozens of Conservative MPs could defy the