:00:12. > :00:18.Multiple explosions ripped through Baghdad, the worst violence Iraq
:00:18. > :00:23.has seen for months. 14 attacks leave more than 60 dead, fears the
:00:23. > :00:27.country is sliding into a new round of sectarian mayhem. The violence
:00:27. > :00:33.comes just days after the last American troops pulled out amidst
:00:33. > :00:37.hopes of a new, more peaceful era. Also tonight: Thousands of children
:00:37. > :00:42.desperate for a family, now ministers promise to speed up at
:00:42. > :00:48.auctions in England. We were let down every step of the way because
:00:48. > :00:52.of the system being too complicated, too convoluted, inefficient. This
:00:52. > :00:57.three-year-old girl is allegedly attacked by another child at a pre-
:00:57. > :01:02.school nursery. An investigation is launched. I just cannot believe
:01:02. > :01:07.that child could have done such a thing. It did not look like a child
:01:07. > :01:11.had attacked her. It looked like she had been mauled by a dog.
:01:12. > :01:17.the cost of Christmas dinner, will it be a happy new year when the
:01:17. > :01:22.bills arrive? Coming up in sport, we will be live
:01:22. > :01:32.at white Hart Lane where John Terry is set to line up for Chelsea in
:01:32. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :01:46.what will be a highly charged Good evening and welcome to the
:01:46. > :01:52.BBC's news at six. A wave of co- ordinated bombings has killed at
:01:52. > :01:57.least 63 people and injured 200 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. It
:01:57. > :02:00.happened just days after American troops finally withdrew from Iraq
:02:00. > :02:05.and raises the prospect the country could descend into the chaos and
:02:05. > :02:10.confusion that followed the toppling of Saddam Hussein. The
:02:10. > :02:12.blast hit both Sunni and Shia neighbourhoods following --
:02:12. > :02:19.prompting fears of sectarian violence.
:02:19. > :02:25.It was a reminder of the horrors of the past. At the height of the
:02:25. > :02:31.morning rush-hour 14 blasts across Baghdad. The targets were commuters,
:02:31. > :02:35.the country's anti-corruption agency, even a kindergarten. It
:02:35. > :02:42.would be hard to imagine attacks more calculated to heighten
:02:42. > :02:47.sectarian fear. TRANSLATION: My baby was sleeping in her bed and
:02:47. > :02:55.shards of glass have fallen on her. Other countries are stable, why do
:02:55. > :03:00.we have security? Baghdad is a city whose sectarian boundaries hardened
:03:00. > :03:04.following the American-led invasion of 2003. Militias representing the
:03:04. > :03:09.Shia minority and the Sunni majority terrorised civilians. The
:03:09. > :03:14.bombings were not confined to Shia districts. They happened in areas
:03:14. > :03:17.where both communities still live close to each other. Iraq's
:03:17. > :03:23.stability is based on preserving a power-sharing agreement, but
:03:23. > :03:29.tension has been growing in recent days with the demand by the Shia
:03:29. > :03:33.Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, by the arrest of the vice-president,
:03:33. > :03:37.Tariq al-Hashemi, a charge of running hit squads. He in turn
:03:37. > :03:44.accuses them of wanting to monopolise power. Today there was
:03:44. > :03:48.this warning for the Government from a former prime minister.
:03:48. > :03:54.Terrorism will continue to be in Iraq unless the political landscape
:03:54. > :04:01.is corrected and the political process is corrected and it becomes
:04:01. > :04:06.inclusive. The attacks come just four days after the last American
:04:06. > :04:12.combat troops left Iraq. There was an assertion from their President
:04:12. > :04:21.that even then sounded like a hostage to fortune. All of it has
:04:21. > :04:28.led to this moment of success. Iraq is not a perfect place. It has many
:04:28. > :04:35.challenges ahead. But we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable
:04:35. > :04:39.and self-reliant Iraq. There is now a very real sense of foreboding.
:04:39. > :04:45.American officials are pressing the Iraqis to negotiate, but that would
:04:45. > :04:48.take a will for compromise that has so far been absent.
:04:48. > :04:52.A big shake-up of the adoption system in England is under way with
:04:52. > :04:56.thousands of children looking for a home it is aimed at speeding up the
:04:56. > :05:00.time it takes to adopt a child by changing the way social workers
:05:00. > :05:06.check families. Some experts are warning that making the procedure
:05:07. > :05:10.Chika could mean the wrong decisions being made.
:05:10. > :05:14.Our children languishing in care because the adoption system is too
:05:14. > :05:19.slow? The Government thinks they are, but the numbers in care have
:05:19. > :05:28.got up and figures adopted have gone down, with just over 3000
:05:28. > :05:33.going to a permanent home last year. Francesca is the proud mother of a
:05:33. > :05:36.one year-old and another child of three, both adopted from Mexico.
:05:37. > :05:40.Francesca and her partner had originally wanted to adopt British
:05:40. > :05:44.children, but were turned down because they were white and the
:05:44. > :05:49.local council had reached their cap of white couples adopting ethnic-
:05:49. > :05:55.minority children. The fact we were turned down based on skin colour
:05:55. > :06:03.before even being given the chance to go through a face-to-face
:06:03. > :06:08.interview was devastating and quite infuriating. The Government wants
:06:08. > :06:11.more people to come forward to adopt, but also thinks too many
:06:11. > :06:16.potential people who want to adopt are rejected because they are not
:06:16. > :06:20.the right ethnic match or are overweight. It is appointed a panel
:06:20. > :06:24.to change the system to make it quicker and less bureaucratic.
:06:24. > :06:29.irony of the current system is although it has long, it is not
:06:29. > :06:32.analytical. I am sure the panel we have got together are an impressive
:06:32. > :06:38.group of people and I am sure they will come up with something which
:06:38. > :06:42.is shorter, but which is as rigorous as we need. It takes on
:06:42. > :06:46.average two years and seven months for a child to be adopted, but the
:06:46. > :06:50.delays are not in assessing possible parents, but in the court
:06:50. > :06:54.system as well. One in five adoptions it breaks down and it
:06:54. > :06:57.leaves some wary of the Government's plans. There should
:06:57. > :07:02.not be any short cuts with the process of assessment, because if
:07:02. > :07:06.you do not get that right, you serve children very badly and you
:07:06. > :07:12.produce further adoption breakdowns in the future and that is a
:07:12. > :07:15.disaster which we should try to avoid. Ministers are making
:07:15. > :07:20.adoption a political priority. Today's plans only deal with one
:07:20. > :07:25.part of a complex system, but it is hoped they will make it friendlier
:07:25. > :07:30.to anyone serious about adopting. Reeta Chakrabarti is here. Are
:07:30. > :07:38.these checks the only reason why this is taking so long? They are
:07:38. > :07:43.part of the reason. In some cases perspective people are subjected to
:07:43. > :07:47.health checks, but also to see if they have a fire drill at home, or
:07:47. > :07:52.there are three pages of assessment on their pets. But there are
:07:52. > :07:56.problems, namely the court system, because both parents will fight to
:07:56. > :08:03.stop having their children taken from them. In some cases, ministers
:08:03. > :08:08.feel they hack to make chances. But ministers want to educate people
:08:08. > :08:11.about the sort of children there are in care who need adoption,
:08:11. > :08:17.children who have experienced profound neglect or abuse, and they
:08:17. > :08:21.want people to think about harder to place children, for example
:08:21. > :08:27.brothers and sisters or disabled children or older children. The
:08:27. > :08:31.announcement today is the start of a long process of reform.
:08:31. > :08:35.figures show the economy performed slightly better in the third
:08:35. > :08:40.quarter than it was originally thought. It is estimated that GDP,
:08:40. > :08:46.the total value of everything the country produces, grew by 0.6%.
:08:46. > :08:51.That is up on the previous estimate of 0.5%. However the estimate for
:08:51. > :08:55.the previous quarter was revised down to zero by the Office of
:08:55. > :08:58.National Statistics. An investigation is under way over
:08:58. > :09:02.allegations that a three-year-old girl at a pre-school nursery in
:09:02. > :09:07.Leicestershire was attacked by another child. Katie Ann Guttridge
:09:07. > :09:17.was injured when it is claimed she was assaulted by a toddler. Claire
:09:17. > :09:18.
:09:18. > :09:22.Marshall has the story. This is Katie to date. This was
:09:22. > :09:28.heard just over a week ago. She was attacked by one of her classmates
:09:28. > :09:32.while she was at nursery. She had to be taken to hospital. I just
:09:32. > :09:39.cannot believe a child could have done such a thing. It looked like
:09:39. > :09:46.she had been in a cage, mauled by a dog. It is devastating and it has
:09:46. > :09:54.traumatised her. She is scared of other children. It is not the first
:09:54. > :09:59.time. This report by her carers at the nursery show that in October
:09:59. > :10:03.another child put to bricks together and pinched her hand.
:10:03. > :10:08.Another child grabbed her hair and face and sucked her cheek. The
:10:08. > :10:12.police could not do anything because her attacker was a toddler.
:10:12. > :10:16.The case was referred to Ofsted which is now carrying out an
:10:16. > :10:21.investigation. Outside the nursery today it was all the parents could
:10:21. > :10:27.talk about. There were very different opinions. I have had no
:10:27. > :10:33.problems, I cannot fault the school. They should be in a safe
:10:33. > :10:38.environment. I always thought that is what it was. You could drop your
:10:38. > :10:42.kicks off, knowing they are said, but it does not pan out that way.
:10:42. > :10:46.Tonight the nursery say they followed safety procedures
:10:46. > :10:49.rigorously, that last month they were inspected by Ofsted and got a
:10:49. > :10:56.good report and they say they are very grateful for the support the
:10:56. > :11:03.parents have shown them in recent days. Katie will not be going back
:11:03. > :11:07.to the nursery. Her mother is considering taking legal action.
:11:07. > :11:11.A Royal Marine has been killed in Afghanistan. The Ministry of
:11:11. > :11:14.Defence said he was fatally wounded south of Kabul after the vehicle he
:11:14. > :11:18.was travelling in was caught in an explosion. His family has been
:11:18. > :11:22.informed. The jury in the Stephen Lawrence
:11:22. > :11:26.murder trial has been told it must not be swayed by the huge public
:11:26. > :11:31.significance of the case. At barrister representing one of the
:11:31. > :11:35.two men accused of murdering the black teenager in south London in
:11:35. > :11:40.1993 has urged the jury to remain objective. Both men deny the
:11:40. > :11:43.charges. Feller but Thomas is at the Old Bailey. On the last day of
:11:43. > :11:49.summing up, they have been reminded to concentrate on what has gone on
:11:49. > :11:53.in court and nothing else. A lawyer for David Norris has said did the
:11:53. > :11:57.jury I want you to focus on the evidence. He said it could be hard
:11:57. > :12:01.because the whole of the public is listening to the trial and that is
:12:01. > :12:04.part of the problem. He said the elephant in the room is the way
:12:04. > :12:10.that Gary Dobson and David Norris have been regarded ever since
:12:10. > :12:15.Stephen was killed in 1993. They have been seen as suspects. He said,
:12:15. > :12:21.do you have a sense that unless there is a conviction, that somehow
:12:21. > :12:25.racism we have one? He urged them not to think that way and said
:12:25. > :12:31.racism had already lost its respectability even in football. He
:12:31. > :12:34.wanted them to resist pressure from the outside. As for the evidence
:12:34. > :12:39.against David Norris, two heirs and seven fibres from Stephen
:12:39. > :12:44.Lawrence's clothing, he could not exclude the possibility of
:12:44. > :12:49.contamination so he urged jurors to acquit. Now it is up to the judge
:12:49. > :12:54.and the jury and the court resumes next Wednesday. Firefighters say it
:12:54. > :12:58.could be a least two or three days before a major blaze at the
:12:58. > :13:02.Lancashire Enterprise Business Park in Leyland is fully extinguished.
:13:02. > :13:07.Five buildings were destroyed after a fire spread from bad buildings
:13:07. > :13:13.storing toilet paper. Judith Moritz sent this report from the scene.
:13:13. > :13:17.With flames shooting and pressurised beer kegs exploding the
:13:17. > :13:21.fire raged for seven hours last night. It swept through this
:13:21. > :13:27.industrial estate, having started in a building used to store toilet
:13:27. > :13:34.paper. It took 100 firefighters to tackle the flames and the smoke
:13:34. > :13:38.billowed out across this die -- skive. Homes were evacuated. Staff
:13:38. > :13:44.in the building next door took this footage of the fire in full force
:13:44. > :13:50.on a mobile telephone. Today the man who fund it described the scene
:13:50. > :13:54.that had confronted him last night. When we saw it coming through the
:13:54. > :14:00.roof, the floors, the walls separating and when it collapsed,
:14:00. > :14:05.your heart sinks and there is panic stations all round. By daybreak the
:14:05. > :14:10.fire was under control but not extinguished. That could take
:14:10. > :14:15.several days. There is significant damage to the building. The
:14:15. > :14:19.building collapsed and we have got a significant fire inside. We have
:14:19. > :14:22.extinguished the majority of the fire and we have got a core fire
:14:22. > :14:28.burning in the central of the building which is causing problems
:14:28. > :14:33.to get too. Five buildings were completely destroyed and and eight
:14:33. > :14:37.-- those nearby say it was amazing nobody was hurt. The reason the
:14:37. > :14:41.fire spread so quickly is that along with a building full of paper
:14:41. > :14:45.these are warehouses with wide open spaces and wind tunnels which
:14:45. > :14:55.allowed it to circulate. The council has promised businesses
:14:55. > :14:56.
:14:56. > :15:00.that it will help them get back on Our top story: More than 60 people
:15:00. > :15:07.have been killed in Iraq, just days after the US completed the
:15:07. > :15:13.withdrawal of its troops. Coming up: The fan who had too much
:15:13. > :15:18.to drink and the goalkeeper who snapped.
:15:18. > :15:22.Later: BA's parent company buys BMI but Virgin Atlantic says it will
:15:22. > :15:32.oppose the deal and last minute Christmas shopping helps boost
:15:32. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:39.The BBC's Sports Personality of the Year will be named in just a few
:15:39. > :15:42.hours. It is one of the most hotly- contested line-ups in a number of
:15:42. > :15:47.years with ten nominees in total from a range of sports.
:15:47. > :15:54.Controversially, all of them are men. Our Sports Correspondent is at
:15:54. > :15:58.the venue in Salford for us now. Yes, George, the fans are here in
:15:58. > :16:00.force for what is always one of the most glittering nights in the
:16:00. > :16:04.sporting calendar. Some of the world's biggest stars have been
:16:04. > :16:10.strolling down the red car tet. The question on everyone's lips --
:16:10. > :16:15.carpet. The question on everyone's lips? Who will be this year's
:16:15. > :16:19.sports personality of the year? Sports biggest names have jostled
:16:19. > :16:24.for one of its biggest awards for more than 50 years. So tonight
:16:24. > :16:31.which of these ten familiar faces will be crowned the latest Sports
:16:31. > :16:40.Personality of the Year? Well, the the shortlist includes three
:16:40. > :16:46.golfers, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Luke Donald. There are
:16:47. > :16:52.two England cricketers - Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook. There
:16:52. > :16:57.are two World Champion athletes - Mo Farah and Dai Greene who took
:16:57. > :17:03.gold in the 400 metres hurdles. From cycling, there is Mark
:17:03. > :17:10.Cavendish, there is Andy Murray who reached the semis of all four
:17:10. > :17:20.tennis Grand Slams and boxer, Amir Khan. Not a single woman on the the
:17:20. > :17:24.shortlist, despite the likes of Rebecca Adlington and Keri-ann
:17:24. > :17:34.Payne winning world titles. Unfortunately, in non-Olympic years
:17:34. > :17:41.you don't hear it, you see very little of it so it is very hard for
:17:41. > :17:48.female athletes to make an impact on sports editors' minds when they
:17:48. > :17:54.are not getting any profile at all. Here we go! There will be other
:17:54. > :17:58.awards tonight. Five-times Olympic Champion Sir Steve Redgrave will
:17:58. > :18:04.receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. But all eyes here will be on
:18:04. > :18:08.the main prize, a night of tension and emotion is guaranteed.
:18:08. > :18:12.Yes, remember the winner tonight will be decided by a phone vote so
:18:12. > :18:15.you have a chance to decide who will take away that big prize.
:18:15. > :18:22.Details of how to vote will be announced at the start of tonight's
:18:22. > :18:26.programme. It is all live on BBC One from 8.00pm.
:18:27. > :18:30.Hee's Britain's top civil servant and David Cameron's -- he's
:18:30. > :18:36.Britain's top civil servant and David Cameron's mandarin-in-chief.
:18:36. > :18:39.Now, Sir Gus O'Donnell is stepping down. As he departs, he has given a
:18:39. > :18:42.stark warning. With the SNP promising a referendum on Scottish
:18:42. > :18:48.independence, he thinks the question of whether the UK breaks
:18:48. > :18:51.up will be one of the big issues of the coming years. Lorna Gordon, how
:18:51. > :18:54.significant is this, coming from a man who is at the heart of
:18:54. > :18:58.political power in the UK? I think this is significant. It is no
:18:58. > :19:02.surprise to anyone in Scotland where this debate is well under way.
:19:02. > :19:06.I think Sir Gus O'Donnell is saying in the wider context of problems
:19:06. > :19:10.with the relationship with Europe and problems with the economy, this
:19:11. > :19:14.issue of whether to keep the Kingdom united must not be ignored.
:19:14. > :19:22.Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, has welcomed the comments
:19:22. > :19:29.today. He has said he believes the UK party still have their heads
:19:29. > :19:33.firmly in the sand over this. That is Alex Salmond's interpretation of
:19:33. > :19:37.those comments. Sir Gus O'Donnell was tipping his hat to the fact
:19:37. > :19:41.that the SNP are the largest party here and they will hold a
:19:41. > :19:46.referendum on independence. He is saying there must be a debate about
:19:46. > :19:50.the pros and cons of staying in the Union. Thank you.
:19:50. > :19:57.The company which owns British Airways has agreed to buy the
:19:57. > :20:05.airline BMI. If the deal goes ahead, it will mean IAG, which owns Iberia,
:20:05. > :20:09.will gain much sought-after landing and take-off slots at Heathrow.
:20:09. > :20:14.That is why Virgin is determined to fight the sale.
:20:14. > :20:19.BMI is one of Britain's best-known brands, but not perhaps for much
:20:19. > :20:24.longer. Its sale to the owner of British Airways means a makeover is
:20:24. > :20:27.maybe on the way. This will give us the opportunity to expand our long-
:20:28. > :20:30.haul international network from Heathrow and I think it will
:20:30. > :20:34.reinforce the position of Heathrow as one of the world's leading if
:20:34. > :20:42.not the leading international hub airport. At first glance, the deal
:20:42. > :20:46.looks like a risky one for IAG which has spent more than �172
:20:46. > :20:50.million on a company which lost more than �150 million last year
:20:50. > :20:55.alone. The jewel in the crown is its 56 landing slots at Heathrow.
:20:55. > :21:01.Getting those gives IAG control of more than half of all the landing
:21:01. > :21:07.slots at the airport. That makes Virgin Atlantic see red. It had
:21:07. > :21:17.also bid for BMI and says the new deal will tighten what it calls the
:21:17. > :21:22.
:21:22. > :21:26.British Airways' stranglehold on IAG accused Sir Richard of being a
:21:26. > :21:30.sore loser. It said key BMI domestic routes will be maintained
:21:30. > :21:34.and there will be a greater choice of long-haul destinations. IAG
:21:34. > :21:39.admits there will be job losses. don't have the detail. All we have
:21:39. > :21:44.had is the headline announcement and it is one of the reasons we are
:21:44. > :21:48.pressing for an early meeting to find out what the plans are.
:21:48. > :21:55.will keep its colours for now, but IAG hopes the sale will go through
:21:55. > :21:59.in the next three months and then expect to see some changes.
:21:59. > :22:03.Police in South Yorkshire have released CCTV footage of a woman
:22:03. > :22:07.who was apparently drunk when she fell down the narrow gap between a
:22:07. > :22:10.train and the platform at Barnsley station. She was helped by
:22:10. > :22:14.passengers and escaped with only cuts and bruises. The police say
:22:14. > :22:18.they have released the footage to remind people how important it is
:22:19. > :22:22.to drink responsibly especially at Christmas.
:22:22. > :22:27.Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have found their first new
:22:27. > :22:31.sub-atomic particle since starting work in 2009. It's believed to
:22:31. > :22:34.interact with another particle called a gluon which holds together
:22:34. > :22:38.the inner core of atoms. Scientists believe it will help them
:22:38. > :22:42.understand the forces that hold matter together.
:22:42. > :22:46.It might be a Merry Christmas, but will it be a Happy New Year when we
:22:46. > :22:51.are all counting the cost? New figures published today show the
:22:51. > :22:57.price of some turkey, vegetables and sausages are up sharply and if
:22:57. > :23:02.you are planning to drown your sorrows, the advice is shop around
:23:02. > :23:07.first. Christmas seems to take a bigger
:23:07. > :23:16.slice out of family budgets every year. You know what you say about
:23:16. > :23:20.Christmas? It is an overpriced rip- off? That's the one! Whatever the
:23:21. > :23:24.sitcoms might suggest it is no laughing matter for households
:23:24. > :23:30.struggling with price increases. Here is what a Christmas dinner
:23:30. > :23:36.will cost compared to last year. Turkey steaks are up 3.8%. The
:23:36. > :23:40.price of carrots is down. Frozen peas are 4.6% higher. A bottle of
:23:40. > :23:47.red wine is more than 14% up. Cheese is up less than 2%. If you
:23:47. > :23:56.want the crackers to go with it, they are 50% more expensive. I have
:23:56. > :24:01.to budget quite carefully. I have to not do with some things. Turkey
:24:01. > :24:07.probably �5 difference. I have not bought any food. I do it the cheap
:24:07. > :24:10.way - go to someone else! What is behind the increases? One big
:24:10. > :24:15.factor is global commodity cost pressures which have pushed up
:24:15. > :24:20.prices paid by consumers here. main one is fuel. Everywhere in the
:24:20. > :24:23.food chain requires fool, fertiliser, refrigeration,
:24:23. > :24:27.manufacturing processing. There is also commodity price hikes which
:24:27. > :24:32.vary depending on the food we are eating. If you take the Christmas
:24:32. > :24:39.turkey, well, you have the grains that are going up. If you take
:24:39. > :24:42.mince pies, the wheat is going up. If there is one consolation for
:24:42. > :24:46.hard-pressed families, economists expect price inflation to ease off
:24:46. > :24:52.next year but that won't make the cost of this Christmas any easier
:24:52. > :24:55.to swallow. Now, British football has had its
:24:55. > :24:59.fair share of pitch invasions but nothing like one in Holland last
:24:59. > :25:04.night when a 19-year-old fan ran on to the turf. He got rather more
:25:04. > :25:10.than he bargained for. What happened next led to all 22 players
:25:10. > :25:13.heading for the exit. Goalkeepers are trained to deal
:25:13. > :25:17.with unexpected attacks by AZ Alkmaar's Esteban Alvarado wouldn't
:25:17. > :25:22.have covered this in practice. No time for flapping and there was
:25:22. > :25:28.nothing uncertain about the response. For the referee, he
:25:28. > :25:31.turned defence into attack rather too readily. Esteban Alvarado was
:25:31. > :25:34.dismissed. Clearly too much for Alkmaar and their coach, still in
:25:35. > :25:39.the first half he ordered his players off. The club defended
:25:39. > :25:43.their walk-out saying they didn't feel safe any more but the referee
:25:43. > :25:47.stood by his red card. TRANSLATION: I understand the
:25:47. > :25:51.goalkeeper defends himself but when the supporter is lying on the pitch,
:25:51. > :25:58.he can walk away. He kicked the supporter and that is why he
:25:58. > :26:01.received a red card. The 19-year- old man who felt the full force of
:26:01. > :26:06.Esteban Alvarado's boot was taken into custody and the Dutch FA have
:26:06. > :26:14.rescinded the red card. Whether the goalkeeper was kicking back or
:26:14. > :26:21.kicking off is up for debate. Now, before we go, spare a thought
:26:21. > :26:26.for a polar bear cub named Siku. Siku which means "ice" in Greenland
:26:26. > :26:28.was born last month. When his mother failed to produce enough
:26:29. > :26:33.milk the staff at the park took over and they have got their work
:26:33. > :26:38.cut out. There are three people providing round-the-clock care for
:26:38. > :26:44.the first year. Looks like he is enjoying himself.
:26:44. > :26:47.Looks like he is enjoying himself. Let's look at the weather now.
:26:47. > :26:51.Milder weather across the United Kingdom. We are going to see some
:26:51. > :26:58.changes. The wind will pick up and across parts of Scotland and
:26:58. > :27:04.Northern Ireland it will turn wet. That will eventually work into
:27:04. > :27:07.westernmost parts of England and Wales. For many, it will stay dry.
:27:07. > :27:12.Behind this rain band, we will start to see things turning colder
:27:12. > :27:18.during Friday. That rain band will continue to sink its way southwards.
:27:18. > :27:22.A wet morning for Northern England and Wales. Further north, well a
:27:22. > :27:26.brighter day. There will be plenty of sunshine across eastern Scotland.
:27:26. > :27:30.There will be some showers in western Scotland, though. A few
:27:30. > :27:34.scattered showers in northern ire lapbld. Look at these temperatures
:27:34. > :27:37.-- in Northern Ireland. Look at these temperatures. The wet weather
:27:37. > :27:40.will work across the South East, perhaps clearing from parts of
:27:40. > :27:44.Wales and South West England by the afternoon. After a mild start, it
:27:44. > :27:49.will turn cooler as that wet weather moves through. That rain
:27:49. > :27:52.will finally scoot away from the South East during Friday evening
:27:52. > :27:59.leaving us all with the cold air. Christmas Eve may start with a hint
:27:59. > :28:01.of frost. After that, it will turn milder. A bright day across many
:28:01. > :28:06.eastern areas on Saturday, which is Christmas Eve. Clouding over in the
:28:06. > :28:10.west. The breeze picks up again on Christmas Eve. The strongest winds
:28:10. > :28:13.are probably on Christmas Day. Wet weather again across western
:28:13. > :28:18.Scotland, rain too for parts of Northern Ireland, North West
:28:18. > :28:23.England. In the east, it will stay dry. A chilly start to the
:28:23. > :28:33.Christmas weekend with a hint of frost. It will then turn milder. No
:28:33. > :28:37.