:00:10. > :00:12.Scotland battered by hurricane- force winds. Schools closed,
:00:12. > :00:22.transport disrupted and more than 50,000 homes without power.
:00:22. > :00:27.A red alert from the Met Office, with gusts of up to a 165mph.
:00:27. > :00:31.actually quite difficult to stand up against the wind. You can really
:00:31. > :00:37.feel the full force of the scale. Vehicles toppled and roads blocked
:00:37. > :00:45.as residents struggle to cope with the disruption. It has been a long
:00:45. > :00:47.time since I have seen it quite so bad. We decided to call it a day
:00:47. > :00:50.and go home. Also on tonight's programme:
:00:50. > :00:56.A make-or-break summit for the eurozone as leaders gather in
:00:56. > :01:00.Brussels under intense pressure over the debt crisis. We need to
:01:00. > :01:04.get that stability in the eurozone at that is good for a European
:01:04. > :01:07.countries and good for Britain, but we also need to protect Britain's
:01:07. > :01:10.interests, those are my aims. A major inquiry after claims that
:01:10. > :01:14.exam board staff gave teachers advice about the questions their
:01:14. > :01:18.pupils could get in GCSEs and A Levels.
:01:18. > :01:27.And he was banned for this foul in October, but now a reprieve means
:01:27. > :01:37.Wayne Rooney will play in the group stage of Euro 2012.
:01:37. > :02:00.
:02:00. > :02:04.And I will be here with the sport Good evening, welcome to the BBC
:02:04. > :02:09.News at Six. Scotland has been battered by the worst storm in ten
:02:09. > :02:13.years. Hurricane force winds of up to a 165mph have left schools
:02:13. > :02:16.closed, driving dangerous and thousands without power. Hundreds
:02:16. > :02:19.of schools - including every single one in Glasgow - have been shut
:02:20. > :02:23.today and the Forth Road Bridge closed to traffic. The north of
:02:23. > :02:28.England has been affected too, but it is Scotland that has been hit
:02:28. > :02:32.hardest. James Cook reports from Glasgow.
:02:32. > :02:36.It is Britain's worst storm for a decade and it is not over yet.
:02:36. > :02:41.Turmoil at see this morning hinted at what was to come on land. This
:02:41. > :02:45.was Helensburgh on the Firth of Clyde as the storm rushed ashore.
:02:45. > :02:51.The TAS been a long time since I have seen it quite so bad. -- it
:02:51. > :02:55.has been. I was at work in Dumbarton and a big piece of a sign
:02:55. > :02:59.came back hit the windows so we decided to call it a day. Up river,
:02:59. > :03:05.the skies darkened and Glasgow was in goal, caught on this time-lapse
:03:05. > :03:11.footage. -- engulfed. The storm is peaking on the River Clyde and it
:03:11. > :03:16.is quite difficult to stand up against this wind. You can really
:03:16. > :03:21.feel the full force of the gale. As the wind swept eastwards, the
:03:21. > :03:26.danger Rose. In the Aberdeen city centre, Christmas decorations came
:03:26. > :03:32.down early. Amazingly, no shoppers were injured. The owners of these
:03:32. > :03:36.cars also had a lucky escape. A collapsing wall caused nothing more
:03:36. > :03:40.but twisted metal and shock. have we heard the rumbling and we
:03:40. > :03:45.heard the bang of the building collapsed. A very scary. Many
:03:45. > :03:48.children got a day off. Fiscal in Edinburgh closed at lunchtime, but
:03:49. > :03:52.hundreds of schools in the West of Scotland were shot all day -- at
:03:52. > :03:58.this school in Edinburgh. It is a shame they couldn't make the
:03:58. > :04:06.decision earlier in the day. closed all day, so advice lazy day.
:04:06. > :04:11.It was terrible. I didn't know until this morning. And that was it.
:04:11. > :04:15.A Scottish government says this is why schools were shut. The bus was
:04:15. > :04:20.empty, the driver was not hurt, but what if it had been packed with
:04:20. > :04:24.pupils? When you have the kind of information the Scottish government
:04:24. > :04:29.had last night from the expert at the Met Office and the police, it
:04:29. > :04:33.was appropriate to act in the way that we did and did my view it was
:04:33. > :04:38.correct. Those decisions included the closure of several major
:04:38. > :04:43.bridges as gusts on the mountain tops reached 165mph, police
:04:43. > :04:48.advising against all travel in Scotland -- central Scotland. Those
:04:48. > :04:53.who did venture out did so at their peril. Across the north of Britain,
:04:53. > :04:58.dozens of lorries overturned. This was in Yorkshire. The conditions
:04:58. > :05:05.were too harsh even for Scottish football. The Hibernian training
:05:05. > :05:08.session in Edinburgh was called off. And the storm rages on. Tonight,
:05:08. > :05:12.more than 50,000 homes in Scotland are without power and snow is on
:05:12. > :05:19.the way. The Met Office is warning of blizzards.
:05:19. > :05:24.Our Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon is by the Firth of Forth. My
:05:24. > :05:27.goodness, it is still looking awful there.
:05:27. > :05:32.The conditions here are ferocious, conditions across Scotland today
:05:32. > :05:35.have been difficult, disruptive and at times downright dangerous. The
:05:35. > :05:41.main commuter route to get out of Edinburgh and head north, the cat
:05:41. > :05:46.did. It is completely deserted. -- Look at it. Battered bridge has
:05:46. > :05:56.been shut to traffic since mid- morning. We have had gusts in the
:05:56. > :05:57.
:05:57. > :06:02.central bait of upwards ofmph -- 8 Tmph. The Met Office warning of
:06:02. > :06:08.165mph, very difficult conditions, and as James Cook said, it is not
:06:08. > :06:13.over yet. The advice is to stay off the roads if you possibly can until
:06:13. > :06:17.9pm this evening, when the winds are expected to get worse in the
:06:17. > :06:21.north-east of Scotland. And it is not just Scotland. In the last few
:06:21. > :06:26.minutes, we have heard that North Yorkshire police are dealing with a
:06:26. > :06:30.major incident, with bridges being swept away.
:06:30. > :06:33.Did take care, and thank you. -- do take care.
:06:33. > :06:36.There will be no second chance - the future of Europe is at stake.
:06:36. > :06:40.That was the warning from French President Nicholas Sarkozy ahead of
:06:40. > :06:44.the latest EU summit. The 27 leaders, including David Cameron,
:06:44. > :06:49.face a daunting task. The key issue - how much power Brussels should
:06:49. > :06:54.have over national budgets. Tonight, Mr Cameron pledged to veto any new
:06:55. > :06:59.EU treaty that would damage Britain. Our Europe Correspondent Matthew
:06:59. > :07:04.Price reports on what's being described as a make-or-break summit.
:07:04. > :07:11.In Brussels today, there is some Christmas cheer. But mention of the
:07:11. > :07:16.euro and the gloom there soon sets in. Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel,
:07:16. > :07:20.they are coming back, will it make a difference? They are not moving
:07:20. > :07:24.forward, he told me. The leaders meet again and again but there is
:07:24. > :07:28.never anything concrete. Some fear the single currency might not
:07:28. > :07:32.survive this crisis, but we found them still churning out new coins
:07:32. > :07:38.at the Belgian mint. The key problem for the eurozone is a
:07:38. > :07:41.crisis of confidence. At the moment, investors are not convinced that if
:07:41. > :07:45.they'd lend A eurozone countries some money, they will get it all
:07:45. > :07:50.back one day. Until the politicians cannot correct that perception, the
:07:50. > :07:56.crisis will go from bad to worse. They will try to stop that here,
:07:56. > :08:01.over dinner that will last into the early hours. The leaders of the
:08:01. > :08:04.EU's 27 countries will continue to set out a plan. The two big
:08:04. > :08:09.eurozone players, France and Germany, have made progress on a
:08:09. > :08:14.compromise proposal. It envisages tough new rules on tax and spending
:08:14. > :08:20.in the eurozone. Any country that breaks the rules will face semi-
:08:20. > :08:24.automatic penalties, and for all eurozone countries will have their
:08:24. > :08:30.national budget scrutinised by Brussels. The main players were
:08:30. > :08:33.trying to beef up support for that plan at a summit of Europe's main
:08:33. > :08:36.conservative parties today. A Briton's Conservatives were not
:08:36. > :08:42.there at the David Cameron pulled them out of the grouping two years
:08:42. > :08:45.ago -- Britain's. Those who did attend couldn't have been clearer.
:08:45. > :08:51.TRANSLATION: Everyone knows that if there is no agreement by Friday,
:08:51. > :08:56.there will be no second chance. We need compromise and quick decisions.
:08:56. > :09:01.All the world is watching us and what the world wants is not more
:09:01. > :09:05.national problems, but European solutions. Most agree that such a
:09:05. > :09:10.solution will involve this, the European Central Bank. Today, the
:09:10. > :09:13.bank lowered interest rates across the eurozone. That will help growth.
:09:13. > :09:17.But the head of the Bank disappointed markets when he played
:09:17. > :09:23.down the prospect of any new financial support for indebted
:09:23. > :09:26.countries. This evening, David Cameron arrived in Brussels,
:09:26. > :09:30.promising to protect British interests. These are important
:09:30. > :09:34.talks and we need to get that stability of the eurozone that is
:09:34. > :09:39.good for European countries, good for Britain as well, but we also
:09:39. > :09:45.need to protect Britain's interests, that is my aim. The best protection
:09:45. > :09:48.would be an end to the euro crisis. In a moment, we can talk to our
:09:48. > :09:53.Political Editor Nick Robinson, but first to our Europe Editor Gavin
:09:54. > :10:00.Hewitt. We have seen this procession of
:10:00. > :10:06.European leaders before. Is this time going to be any different?
:10:06. > :10:09.Well, George, an evening certainly up tough-talking lies ahead. What I
:10:09. > :10:13.have detected is a growing demand that is there -- if there is going
:10:13. > :10:18.to be treaty change, it is done on the level of all 27 members, not
:10:18. > :10:22.just with the 17 countries that are in the eurozone. Several countries
:10:22. > :10:26.that they have raised objections that if it happens just on the
:10:26. > :10:31.basis of the 17, they will end up in the second here, they will be
:10:31. > :10:39.outsiders. Bad blood pressure on David Cameron, because he is seen
:10:39. > :10:44.as the main obstacle -- that puts pressure. Now, this evening, before
:10:44. > :10:48.dinner, I understand that Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel will get
:10:48. > :10:52.together with David Cameron for about 15 minutes, and what they
:10:52. > :10:56.want to explore from him is exactly what he means when he says he will
:10:56. > :11:01.defend British interests and what his red lines are. Then they will
:11:01. > :11:06.go into dinner, and the really hard bargaining will be get there. An
:11:06. > :11:11.hour leave them well they begin to discover if this is going to be yet
:11:11. > :11:14.another difficult summit. Nick, it is a delicate job for
:11:14. > :11:18.David Cameron, because he wants to save the euro, he wants to solve
:11:18. > :11:23.that, but he has also pledged to make sure Britain does not get
:11:23. > :11:27.damaged in the process. And to save his skin, to save his
:11:27. > :11:31.party's unity and to save the coalition as well. You can tell
:11:31. > :11:35.that by the different things he says in different places. He did a
:11:35. > :11:39.meeting in Britain before coming to Brussels and he talked about the
:11:39. > :11:44.fact that he might veto any treaty. As soon as he arrived here, the
:11:44. > :11:48.emphasis was on having stability in the eurozone, which he believes is
:11:48. > :11:53.vital for people watching at home because it is about the future of
:11:53. > :11:56.the British economy, not just the economy in Europe itself. Now, he
:11:56. > :12:01.has some bargaining chips, but he does not want to be the man who is
:12:01. > :12:06.blamed at the end of tomorrow night for bringing the whole thing down.
:12:06. > :12:09.It is a very lonely task, they say it is lonely at the top and it is
:12:09. > :12:14.likely at the summit, because the Prime Minister is surrounded by
:12:14. > :12:18.people who want something different from him and he does not have these
:12:18. > :12:23.advisers with him. He could adopt the tactic that John Major did when
:12:23. > :12:26.the single currency was created and Britain stayed out. He hid a senior
:12:26. > :12:32.diplomat under the table who handed notes to him to tell him what to
:12:32. > :12:40.say. Nick, Gavin, thank you both.
:12:40. > :12:50.A man has been but -- arrested in the connection of a murder of a
:12:50. > :12:50.
:12:50. > :12:54.The serial child killer Robert Black is to serve a minimum of 25
:12:54. > :12:57.years in jail for murdering a schoolgirl 30 years ago. He was
:12:57. > :13:00.convicted last month of abducting nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy as she
:13:00. > :13:06.cycled to a friend's house in County Antrim in 1981. Black is
:13:06. > :13:09.already serving multiple life terms in Wakefield prison.
:13:09. > :13:11.Urgent inquiries have been launched in England and Wales after claims
:13:12. > :13:16.that teachers have been given unfair advice about the questions
:13:16. > :13:19.their pupils can expect in next year's GCSEs and A levels. It
:13:19. > :13:22.follows the suspension of two Welsh exam board staff following secret
:13:22. > :13:25.filming by the Daily Telegraph, which appeared to show teachers
:13:25. > :13:35.being given details of likely questions - and the best way to
:13:35. > :13:41.
:13:41. > :13:45.answer them. Are the boards in charge of our
:13:45. > :13:49.children's exams of cheating their own systems? Telling teachers the
:13:49. > :13:53.answers to questions they have set? That is what seems to be happening
:13:53. > :13:57.in this undercover film done by the Daily Telegraph at the seminars for
:13:57. > :14:01.teachers run by the Welsh exam board. Examiners are allowed to
:14:01. > :14:06.give support and guidance, but here, the exam and that seems to go
:14:06. > :14:10.further. We are cheating, we are telling you the cycle. Probably,
:14:10. > :14:15.the regulator will tell us off. Examiners were apparently seen
:14:15. > :14:19.telling teachers which areas pupils were likely to be questioned on and
:14:19. > :14:23.phrases to include in answers. The Welsh government is investing --
:14:23. > :14:28.investigating the claims that the exam board has taken action. Those
:14:28. > :14:32.exam as have been suspended from their current duties pending the
:14:32. > :14:36.investigation being completed -- examiners. The story names English
:14:36. > :14:40.exam boards to, leading the Education Secretary to set up an
:14:40. > :14:45.inquiry and to threaten tough action. It could be the case that
:14:45. > :14:49.exam boards lose the right to preside over exams. We want to
:14:49. > :14:53.ensure that our exams are respected and the best in the world, and as
:14:53. > :15:00.far as I am concerned, at any powers we need to invoke, we will
:15:00. > :15:05.use. The amount of detail is extensive. This class at a west
:15:05. > :15:11.London school is soon due to sit mock GCSEs. Ofqual has warned it
:15:11. > :15:14.could Paul papers drawn up for next summer. Exam sector is a multi-
:15:14. > :15:17.million-pound industry that is under great pressure. The exam
:15:17. > :15:22.board get paid by schools to set their papers and they compete
:15:22. > :15:31.fiercely. Head teachers need pupils to do well in the exams so that the
:15:31. > :15:38.school does well in the league The head teacher here describe what
:15:38. > :15:42.influences a school to choose a particular board. If an exam board
:15:42. > :15:49.is thought to be easier, it could play a part, in choosing that board,
:15:49. > :15:53.because obviously, results matter. This evening, the Daily Telegraph
:15:53. > :15:57.released more claims, suggesting exam standards are not being upheld.
:15:57. > :16:07.With time running out to restore faith in the system, the watchdog
:16:07. > :16:08.
:16:08. > :16:11.Our top story tonight... Scotland has been battered by hurricane-
:16:11. > :16:15.force winds, with schools closed and transport disrupted. Coming
:16:15. > :16:25.up... Meet Moira, the 84-year-old charity fundraiser who will carry
:16:25. > :16:45.
:16:45. > :16:54.Men only has become a thing of the past in most work places, but in
:16:54. > :16:57.the closed world of submarines, it's been a cast iron rule. Now,
:16:58. > :17:01.for the first time in the history of the Royal Navy, women are to be
:17:01. > :17:04.allowed to serve as submariners. They'll begin by 2013 on board
:17:04. > :17:11.Vanguard subs, carrying nuclear weapons. Our defence correspondent,
:17:11. > :17:18.Jonathan Beale, has the details. They have already broken down
:17:18. > :17:24.barriers, as fast jet pilots, medics and bomb disposal experts in
:17:24. > :17:29.Afghanistan Fund, and in the Royal Navy, working alongside men on
:17:29. > :17:38.ships, for the past 20 years. But submarines, until now, have
:17:38. > :17:42.remained a man's world. Deep under see, been confined conditions, it
:17:42. > :17:46.has not always been easy to recruit enough men, which is one reason to
:17:46. > :17:50.recruit more women. It gives us a great opportunity to make better
:17:50. > :17:54.use of the talent we have available. It also gives women the same
:17:54. > :18:04.opportunity as men to enjoy a successful career in the submarine
:18:04. > :18:06.
:18:06. > :18:14.service. It had been feared that there was a threat due to the high
:18:15. > :18:20.levels of carbon dioxide. So pregnant women will remain banned.
:18:20. > :18:24.As you can see, there's more than enough space. But there are other,
:18:24. > :18:28.more practical problems, like finding the room for separate
:18:28. > :18:33.toilets and sleeping quarters. Space on a submarine is very tight.
:18:33. > :18:38.This is HMS Alliance, an old cold- war submarine, which had a crew of
:18:38. > :18:44.65, but only 50 beds, meaning that some of the crew had to share bunks.
:18:44. > :18:48.Even today, on some submarines, they still have to what is called
:18:48. > :18:52."hot bunk". Women can only serve on the larger boats, like the ones
:18:52. > :18:56.carrying Britain's nuclear deterrent. They have already found
:18:56. > :18:59.their first volunteer. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to serve
:18:59. > :19:05.on the submarines, in a different operating environment. I cannot
:19:05. > :19:09.wait. But it will be a dramatic change to the all-male environment.
:19:09. > :19:15.And some who have served as submariners wonder whether the Navy
:19:15. > :19:20.will be able to enforce its no touching rule for mixed crews.
:19:20. > :19:24.Physical attraction, very confined spaces, if I try and brush past you
:19:24. > :19:30.now, it will get quite intimate. It raises all types of potential
:19:30. > :19:40.problems. Life on a submarine is inevitably intimate. But women will
:19:40. > :19:43.be joining the all-male crew was A forensic scientist who reviewed
:19:43. > :19:44.the entire Stephen Lawrence murder case has told jurors that she found
:19:44. > :19:47."no realistic possibility" of evidence being contaminated.
:19:47. > :19:49.Lawyers for Gary Dobson and David Norris have argued that
:19:49. > :19:53.contamination could account for the fragments of Stephen Lawrence's
:19:53. > :20:02.blood, hair and fibres found on their clients' garments. From the
:20:02. > :20:06.Old Bailey, Philippa Thomas reports. This forensic scientist is going
:20:06. > :20:12.through the entire history of the case, looking for opportunities for
:20:12. > :20:16.the contamination of evidence. She began in April 1993, when Stephen
:20:16. > :20:22.Lawrence was stabbed. Police photographed his jacket on a sheet
:20:22. > :20:27.of the floor of the police station in Eltham. Only two weeks later,
:20:27. > :20:33.other evidence was brought to the same station. The question for the
:20:33. > :20:39.jury is, could blood, hair and fibres have been transferred in
:20:39. > :20:49.this kind of situation? The expert said it would have to have been a
:20:49. > :20:59.
:20:59. > :21:03.On another key piece of evidence, a tiny spot of Stephen Lawrence's
:21:03. > :21:06.blood on Gary Dobson's,, the scientist said that its transfer by
:21:06. > :21:11.means of contamination was so unlikely as to be practically
:21:11. > :21:18.impossible. The defence team will begin cross-examining the expert
:21:18. > :21:21.The row between the Government and unions over public sector pensions
:21:21. > :21:24.has taken another twist. Under new proposals announced by the
:21:24. > :21:27.Government today, more than half a million NHS workers will not need
:21:27. > :21:29.to pay any more into their pensions next year. Our industry
:21:29. > :21:38.correspondent, John Moylan, is at the Department of Health with the
:21:38. > :21:43.details. That may be OK for those particular NHS workers, but what
:21:43. > :21:48.about the rest of the public sector? Yes, it is not clear today
:21:48. > :21:54.whether this move will be replicated across other departments.
:21:54. > :21:58.It appears that 630,000 of these staff will not now pay extra
:21:58. > :22:00.contributions next year. This is all about protecting the low paid.
:22:00. > :22:04.But those same staff do not know what is going to happen in
:22:04. > :22:08.subsequent years. And also, if they're not going to pay extra
:22:08. > :22:11.contributions next year, it means that high earners within the NHS
:22:11. > :22:19.will end up paying higher contributions next year, and that
:22:19. > :22:21.model may not work. I think the reaction from the unions has pretty
:22:21. > :22:31.negative to all of this, they regard this intervention as
:22:31. > :22:41.
:22:41. > :22:44.Wayne Rooney can now play at least one match for England in the group
:22:44. > :22:47.stage of Euro 2012. It follows a decision by UEFA to reduce a three-
:22:47. > :22:50.match ban, imposed after his red card against Montenegro in October,
:22:50. > :22:57.to two. So how important could that be for England's prospects? Here's
:22:57. > :23:00.our sports correspondent, Dan Roan. Having travelled across Switzerland
:23:00. > :23:04.to be here in person, Wayne Rooney arrived at UEFA headquarters to
:23:04. > :23:10.plead for leniency. It was only 12 hours since Manchester United had
:23:10. > :23:16.been knocked out of the Champions League. Wayne Rooney's involvement
:23:16. > :23:19.at Euro 25 now hung in the ballot. This led to a three-match ban,
:23:19. > :23:23.jeopardising his participation in the tournament. But with the
:23:23. > :23:27.support of England manager Fabio Capello and a team of FA lawyers,
:23:27. > :23:33.he got the result he had wanted, and the punishment was reduced by
:23:33. > :23:35.one match. We're very pleased with the outcome. We arrived here today
:23:36. > :23:41.with the possibility of Wayne Rooney missing the whole of the
:23:42. > :23:47.group phase, which would have been a huge challenge for Fabio Capello
:23:47. > :23:51.and the team. To have him available for the final group game, it is a
:23:51. > :23:55.positive result for us. Despite a chequered record at major
:23:55. > :24:00.tournaments, it is a sign of Wayne Rooney's value to England, that the
:24:00. > :24:04.news was met with such relief. takes a lot of pressure off the
:24:04. > :24:08.England team, and of Wayne Rooney himself. He will be delighted that
:24:08. > :24:11.he can play his part in the group stages. Despite the way for's
:24:12. > :24:15.decision today, England will still have to wait for Wayne Rooney, he
:24:15. > :24:19.will not be available for the first two fixtures, against France and
:24:19. > :24:24.Sweden. But this is nonetheless a major victory both for the player
:24:24. > :24:26.and for his country. Wayne Rooney left the hearing knowing that any
:24:26. > :24:31.doubts over his inclusion in the England squad next summer were now
:24:31. > :24:41.over. The team's prospects have received a significant lift before
:24:41. > :24:43.More than 6,000 people have been chosen to carry the Olympic torch
:24:43. > :24:46.next summer. Among them are community workers, top athletes and
:24:46. > :24:49.others nominated for personal achievement. 37,000 people applied
:24:49. > :24:52.to help carry the flame around the country ahead of the opening
:24:52. > :25:02.ceremony in London. Our sports correspondent, James Pearce,
:25:02. > :25:03.
:25:03. > :25:08.Sebastian Coe, with some of the happy people who have been selected
:25:08. > :25:13.to carry the Olympic Torch next year.
:25:13. > :25:18.NEWSCASTER: All through the night, the flame was carried... The last
:25:18. > :25:22.time Britain hosted the Olympics was 1948. The 2012 torch relay will
:25:22. > :25:25.be on a far grander scale. The next time the torch comes to London,
:25:25. > :25:28.excitement will be building, it will be just a week before the
:25:28. > :25:35.start of the Games. By then it will have been on a journey which
:25:35. > :25:42.touched every corner of the UK. In Herefordshire, it will be carried
:25:42. > :25:50.by a very proud 84-year-old. Moira's first reaction on hearing
:25:50. > :25:56.that she had been chosen? Why me? In fact, few would deserve the
:25:56. > :26:04.honour more. Earlier this year she raised more than �10,000 in a
:26:04. > :26:11.charity event at her village hall. The hall was often booked, you have
:26:11. > :26:20.got to pick your time. I managed to finish it on the day of the London
:26:20. > :26:26.Marathon, and we had a super cream tea party. Other torch bearers had
:26:26. > :26:30.the chance for a quick practice this morning. When the torch starts
:26:30. > :26:36.its journey around your nation, you... To think, that is the
:26:36. > :26:41.Countdown, that it is when is getting quite serious. London's
:26:42. > :26:47.next Olympics is getting ever closer. The torch bearers now have
:26:47. > :26:52.special reason to look forward. Let's take a look at the weather
:26:52. > :26:56.Let's take a look at the weather now, with Nick Miller. It will be
:26:57. > :27:01.better later tonight, but we are not there yet. It is still very
:27:01. > :27:07.nasty out there. In the past hour or so, there have been gusts up to
:27:07. > :27:11.85 miles an hour at Stornoway Airport, for example. We still have
:27:11. > :27:16.those very disruptive conditions across central and southern
:27:16. > :27:26.Scotland in particular. Still, that all-important red warning in force
:27:26. > :27:27.
:27:27. > :27:37.from the Met Office. It is windy right across the UK. Eventually, in
:27:37. > :27:42.
:27:42. > :27:46.central Scotland, it improves from west to east this evening. After
:27:46. > :27:51.midnight, it begins to get quieter and clearer. Our attention will
:27:51. > :28:01.turn to ice for tomorrow morning across Scotland, parts of Northern
:28:01. > :28:02.
:28:02. > :28:06.Ireland and north-west England. The snow just adding to the ice threat
:28:06. > :28:09.for the morning rush-hour tomorrow. Across southern areas, three or
:28:10. > :28:17.four degrees, plenty of sunshine, still very breezy, but not as windy
:28:17. > :28:27.as today. During the day tomorrow, this band will be weakening, moving
:28:27. > :28:33.south. To the south of that, largely dry, with some sunshine. It
:28:33. > :28:39.will be a colder day. Especially across southern areas. Friday night
:28:39. > :28:46.will be cold, a cold start to the weekend. On Sunday, rain moving