:00:04. > :00:10.The six soldiers killed in Afghanistan are named, victims of
:00:10. > :00:16.the deadliest single attack on British troops since 2001. Five of
:00:16. > :00:20.them were 21 or under. Their sergeant was 33. They had been in
:00:20. > :00:24.Helmand for less than a month. Brothers in arms - a tribute from
:00:24. > :00:34.members of the Yorkshire Regiment, as the families of the men talk of
:00:34. > :00:35.
:00:35. > :00:39.their grief. It is just such a massive loss. Just taken away so
:00:39. > :00:41.quickly. We will be asking what impact their
:00:41. > :00:43.deaths could have on the Afghan mission.
:00:43. > :00:52.Also tonight: The great railway shake-up - but
:00:52. > :00:56.could some commuters end up paying even more? I am shocked by how much
:00:56. > :00:59.rail travel is costing in this country. Frankly, it is simply not
:00:59. > :01:02.worth it. Leicester kicks off the royal
:01:03. > :01:06.jubilee tour. The Queen will travel the length and breadth of Britain
:01:06. > :01:09.over the next few months. It is almost a year since the
:01:09. > :01:13.Japanese tsunami. One family remembers the mother they lost and
:01:13. > :01:16.the home that disappeared. Coming our way - the largest solar
:01:16. > :01:26.storm in five years. Warnings about power supplies and navigation
:01:26. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :01:32.Coming up on the BBC News Channel, more problems for Rangers. The
:01:32. > :01:36.Scottish Football Association has ruled that the chairman, Craig
:01:36. > :01:46.White, is not a fit and proper person to hold a position in
:01:46. > :01:54.
:01:54. > :01:57.Good evening. Welcome to the BBC News at Six.
:01:57. > :02:00.The six soldiers killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan
:02:00. > :02:04.have been named. Five of them, from 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire
:02:04. > :02:09.Regiment, were 21 or under. Their sergeant was 33 and from 1st
:02:09. > :02:12.Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. Three of the soldiers
:02:12. > :02:15.were from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. Their families have been
:02:15. > :02:23.talking about their loss this evening. Our correspondent Ed
:02:23. > :02:28.Thomas reports from Huddersfield. The faces of the six British
:02:28. > :02:33.soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The First Battalion, the Duke of
:02:33. > :02:37.Lancaster's Regiment, has lost a 33-year-old Sergeant Nigel Coupe.
:02:37. > :02:43.The 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, has lost Corporal Jake
:02:43. > :02:47.Hartley. Two days short of his 21st. 20-year-old Private Anthony
:02:47. > :02:54.Frampton, described by a former teacher today as caring and
:02:54. > :02:57.compassionate. The youngest of the six, 19-year-old private Kershaw.
:02:57. > :03:02.20-year-old Private Daniel Wade from Warrington, and Private Daniel
:03:02. > :03:06.Wilford, the 21-year-old who was just 16 when he first enlisted.
:03:06. > :03:12.Today, some of the soldiers' families from West Yorkshire wanted
:03:12. > :03:17.to talk about those they had lost. Like the family of Jake Hartley. He
:03:17. > :03:21.joined the Army when he was 17. was kind, generous, heart of gold,
:03:22. > :03:26.and absolutely wicked sense of humour. He loved his family and
:03:26. > :03:33.friends. He had such a big group of friends, both in the Army and in
:03:33. > :03:37.civilian life. And it is just such a massive, massive loss. And then
:03:37. > :03:44.the family of Anthony Frampton, the son, brother and nephew who they
:03:44. > :03:51.used to call Anton. He was a legend to us. And to all who knew him. We
:03:51. > :03:54.are heartbroken. He was a lovely lad and he loved life, and it is an
:03:54. > :03:58.absolute tragedy that someone who loved life so much and gave so much
:03:58. > :04:04.to other people, and so much happiness to other people, his life
:04:04. > :04:06.has been cut short at 20 years old. Their base may have been in
:04:06. > :04:11.Wiltshire, but it is hearing Huddersfield where three of those
:04:11. > :04:15.who were killed called home. -- here in Huddersfield. This is
:04:15. > :04:21.Golcar on the edge of Huddersfield. Anthony Frampton was recruited from
:04:21. > :04:26.here. His death, and two of his colleagues from this town, is a lot
:04:26. > :04:30.for people here to taking. This morning, the first book of
:04:30. > :04:35.condolence was opened to all six who died, at St Peter's in
:04:35. > :04:38.Huddersfield. I am sure most of the families have great, great pride in
:04:38. > :04:43.their sons and grandson's and brothers and sisters, and that is
:04:43. > :04:48.balanced with the great pain of their loss. Not far from St Peter's,
:04:48. > :04:53.you reach the home of Private Daniel Wilford. Here, too, friends
:04:54. > :04:59.spoke of the pride they had in the soldier they called wealth. It is
:04:59. > :05:03.just too soon. It has not sunk in. He has been there four weeks. It is
:05:03. > :05:08.not long enough. He did not even get to fire his weapon, hideout.
:05:09. > :05:11.All six were killed in a massive explosion that destroyed their
:05:11. > :05:15.Warrior armoured vehicle. The Taliban have told the BBC they
:05:15. > :05:21.carried out the attack and are proud of it, and words difficult to
:05:21. > :05:25.understand thousands of miles away in Yorkshire. Anthony Bradley is
:05:25. > :05:29.the captain of Huddersfield army cadets. His grandson is serving in
:05:29. > :05:35.Afghanistan. He is proud, but he believes it is time for British
:05:35. > :05:41.troops to now come home. Every time we hear of a death, male or female,
:05:41. > :05:48.it is here, one of our own. And I do think now it is actually time we
:05:48. > :05:52.came out. Troops will come back in 2014. Tonight, at their base in
:05:52. > :06:00.Wiltshire, flowers and a final salute for the six who lost their
:06:00. > :06:04.lives in Afghanistan. Let's go to our correspondent
:06:04. > :06:09.Quinten Somerville, at the British Army base in Lashkar Gah in
:06:09. > :06:16.Afghanistan's Helmand province. What effect, if any, could this
:06:16. > :06:20.have on the mission in Afghanistan? George, you can see the effect on
:06:20. > :06:24.the men here, it is written on their faces. The mood here has been
:06:24. > :06:28.very grim. But you can also see the determination of the soldiers, that
:06:28. > :06:31.it will make no operational difference. That means they
:06:31. > :06:37.continue to go out on missions, they continue to look for Taliban,
:06:37. > :06:40.to try to disrupt the supply routes, just as those soldiers did. So that
:06:40. > :06:46.business, the business of fighting a war against the Taliban,
:06:46. > :06:51.continues. Eventually, there will be fewer British patrols. Not
:06:51. > :06:55.because of this loss, but because, increasingly, more control will be
:06:55. > :07:00.handed over to Afghan troops. And British troops will draw back to
:07:00. > :07:08.their bases, like Lashkar Gah, and give training and support to those
:07:08. > :07:11.Afghan troops, before returning home at the end of 2014. Thank you.
:07:11. > :07:14.The Prime Minister has confirmed within the last hour that an
:07:14. > :07:17.operation to rescue a British man who had been kidnapped in Nigeria
:07:17. > :07:24.has failed. Chris McManus was killed along with an Italian
:07:24. > :07:26.hostage, Franco Lamolinara. They were murdered by their captors.
:07:26. > :07:30.Both were engineers working for an Italian construction company. The
:07:30. > :07:33.men were seized in Kebbi, a state in the north-west of the country,
:07:33. > :07:41.last May. In the last half-hour, the Prime Minister, David Cameron,
:07:41. > :07:45.gave this reaction. Preparations were made to mount an operation to
:07:45. > :07:49.rescue the men. Together with the Nigerian government, today I
:07:49. > :07:54.authorised it to go ahead, with UK support. It is with great regret
:07:54. > :07:58.that I have to say that both Chris and Franco have lost their lives.
:07:58. > :08:01.We are still awaiting confirmation of the details, but the early
:08:01. > :08:08.indications are clear, that both men were murdered by their captors
:08:08. > :08:14.before they could be rescued. get reaction from our security
:08:14. > :08:18.correspondent, Gordon Corera. What do we know about this operation?
:08:18. > :08:21.Well, since the men were taken hostage last May, there has been an
:08:21. > :08:26.intensive effort to try to locate them and to try to rescue them, if
:08:26. > :08:30.that was the best option. There was some intelligence which came in
:08:30. > :08:34.recently which suggested both a location for them and a sense that
:08:34. > :08:39.maybe there was growing danger to their lives. On that basis, the
:08:39. > :08:43.operation was authorised to go ahead. A Nigerian operation, but
:08:43. > :08:47.with British support. We do not know the nature of that support yet,
:08:48. > :08:51.but clearly it failed tragically, leading to the deaths of the
:08:51. > :08:58.Italian and the Briton at the hands of their captors. Their captors, I
:08:58. > :09:02.understand, belonged to the group Boko Haram, a Nigerian jihadi Group,
:09:02. > :09:07.perhaps a splinter sale of that group, with potentially links to
:09:07. > :09:10.Al-Qaeda. But a group that have been increasingly violent in
:09:10. > :09:15.Nigeria in the last few years, which may have been seeking money,
:09:15. > :09:18.in this case to finance their violent activities.
:09:18. > :09:22.Ambitious plans for the future of rail travel have been published
:09:22. > :09:27.today. Ministers say they want to end "inflation-busting fare rises"
:09:27. > :09:30.by cutting �3.5 billion a year from the rail budget. They also want to
:09:30. > :09:34.ease congestion at the busiest times, and that could mean some
:09:34. > :09:44.commuters travelling at the peak of the rush hour facing another rise
:09:44. > :09:47.
:09:48. > :09:51.It costs too much and the UK rail network should deliver a better
:09:51. > :09:56.deal for passengers and taxpayers - that was the Government's claim
:09:56. > :10:02.today, as it called annual savings of �3.5 billion to ensure a
:10:02. > :10:05.brighter future for the network. is not about throwing the jigsaw
:10:05. > :10:08.pieces up in the air again. It is about making sure the pieces fit
:10:08. > :10:11.together better and we challenge the industry to step up to the
:10:11. > :10:16.plate and start working to get rid of this huge inefficiency that has
:10:16. > :10:21.been identified. It is costing taxpayers and fare payers, and I do
:10:21. > :10:25.not want to see it continue. Ministers want some savings used to
:10:25. > :10:29.keep the lid on fares, and an end to inflation-busting increases
:10:29. > :10:34.within the next few years. Some peak-time fares might rise, while
:10:34. > :10:38.others will fall, to try to spread demand. Fare levels are certainly
:10:38. > :10:44.controversial with passengers. shocked by how much rail travellers
:10:44. > :10:46.costing in this country. Frankly, it is simply not worth it. I think
:10:46. > :10:52.they need to look at what transport means for the economy of this
:10:52. > :10:56.country, and whether, like other countries, we see it as a public
:10:56. > :10:59.good, rather than a profit-making machine. Other changes anticipated
:10:59. > :11:04.by the Government include fewer ticket offices, with more scope to
:11:05. > :11:09.buy tickets elsewhere, for example post offices. Smart ticketing will
:11:09. > :11:14.see greater use of pre-paid swipe cards, and they could be fewer
:11:14. > :11:23.train guards, as operators cut costs. People who work on stations
:11:23. > :11:28.could lose jobs. Passengers will be faced tickets. All of these are
:11:28. > :11:32.major concerns. One of the aims of the policy is to develop more
:11:32. > :11:35.joined-up management of the rail system. For example, getting train
:11:35. > :11:39.operators to work more closely with a Network Rail managers in their
:11:39. > :11:44.area to try to ensure there is minimal disruption for passengers
:11:44. > :11:47.in the event of engineering work. But delivering the changes, which
:11:47. > :11:53.applied to England, Wales and reads between England and Scotland, will
:11:53. > :11:56.not be easy. One of the main unions says the policy is vandalism,
:11:56. > :12:02.claiming 12,000 jobs are at risk, and it has warned of industrial
:12:02. > :12:05.action. The Queen began her Diamond Jubilee
:12:05. > :12:09.tour of the UK with a visit to Leicester today. Crowds lined the
:12:09. > :12:12.streets to welcome Her Majesty, who was accompanied by the Duke of
:12:12. > :12:16.Edinburgh and the Duchess of Cambridge. Over the next four
:12:16. > :12:21.months, she will travel right across the UK. This report from
:12:21. > :12:25.Nicholas Witchell contains some flash photography.
:12:25. > :12:31.10 years ago, the Golden Jubilee got off to a comparatively slow
:12:31. > :12:35.start. That was not the story today. The people of Leicester, a
:12:35. > :12:39.culturally diverse city in the heart of England, came out in their
:12:39. > :12:44.thousands to launch the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and to welcome her
:12:44. > :12:48.guest companion for the day, the Duchess of Cambridge. It is that
:12:49. > :12:52.cultural diversity that made Leicester the place to begin the
:12:52. > :12:58.Diamond Jubilee visits. Few cities demonstrate better the changes that
:12:58. > :13:02.have occurred in British society over the 60 years of her reign. At
:13:02. > :13:05.Leicester Cathedral, the Queen attended a special service at which
:13:05. > :13:10.representatives of the different faith communities joined Christian
:13:10. > :13:14.leaders. In a special addition to the programme, prayers were said
:13:14. > :13:19.for the six British soldiers killed in Afghanistan. We pray for those
:13:19. > :13:24.who died in Afghanistan yesterday from the Yorkshire and the Duke of
:13:24. > :13:34.Lancaster's Regiment. There were prayers, too, for the Queen, in a
:13:34. > :13:35.
:13:35. > :13:38.Jubilee year. Your gift of love and joy and peace. Outside the
:13:38. > :13:42.cathedral, the Queen and the duchess stood side-by-side to
:13:42. > :13:47.receive flowers. The fact that the Queen invited the Duchess to join
:13:47. > :13:50.her today is a public endorsement of Kate's importance to the Royal
:13:50. > :13:55.Family now. At times, they worked as a Queen, the Queen taking one
:13:55. > :13:59.side of the crowd, the Duchess the other. -- they worked as a team.
:13:59. > :14:02.They went together to a fashion show at the Montfort University.
:14:02. > :14:06.The relationship appears to be an easy one, with the younger woman
:14:06. > :14:10.leaning across to chat. And then in the city centre, the Queen hoping
:14:10. > :14:15.perhaps that the new, will absorb some lessons. But there is perhaps
:14:15. > :14:19.something more to the Duchess' presence today. It is a subtle
:14:19. > :14:22.signal that, after 60 years, the Queen recognises the importance of
:14:23. > :14:28.bringing on someone who will be so central to the monarchy of the
:14:28. > :14:32.future. There was no doubt, though, who is still the star of the show.
:14:32. > :14:37.Not everyone is a monarchist, that is for sure, but this monarch
:14:37. > :14:41.appears to be as popular as ever. She's Our Queen of our country and
:14:42. > :14:46.I am proud of her. Coming to Leicester as part of the Jubilee
:14:46. > :14:53.tour, it is fantastic. It is an awesome moment, to celebrate it
:14:53. > :15:00.with her. The Palace's view on the day, it had been a welcome way
:15:00. > :15:02.Our top story tonight. Tributes from the families of the six
:15:02. > :15:12.British soldiers killed in Afghanistan as they are named by
:15:12. > :15:22.
:15:23. > :15:26.The magic of Messi. What makes the Barcelona player so special.
:15:26. > :15:31.In the business news, Greece edges closer to a dealer with private
:15:31. > :15:41.creditors to avoid a default and interest rates stay at the historic
:15:41. > :15:43.
:15:43. > :15:46.One year ago this Sunday, a huge earthquake shook the seabed 40
:15:46. > :15:49.miles off the coast of Japan. The country is still struggling to deal
:15:49. > :15:57.with the consequences. 15,000 people were killed in the tsunami
:15:57. > :15:59.that followed, with thousands more still unaccounted for. Our
:15:59. > :16:03.correspondent Damian Grammaticas has been back to Yuriagger on
:16:03. > :16:10.Japan's east coast to speak to one family who were caught up in the
:16:10. > :16:18.disaster. Shadows of the landscape. That's
:16:18. > :16:22.all that's left of this place, a void full of memories. For Tatsuya
:16:22. > :16:26.Suzuki, it's the memory of the smile his wife gave him in their
:16:26. > :16:31.two-storey house as they left what work. I just wish I could go back
:16:32. > :16:38.in time, he said, to that day. If only I could have saved her. He is
:16:38. > :16:44.burdened by guilt that he survived and his wife did not. As the Singh
:16:44. > :16:53.army swept in a, he managed to get their children to safe places.
:16:53. > :16:57.Seconds later, she was carried away by it. Today, his daughter, seven,
:16:57. > :17:03.and her little brother, four, are laughing again. It has taken a year,
:17:03. > :17:09.he says. Sometimes they cry out in their sleep. When I see the sadness,
:17:09. > :17:17.I struggle to know what to say. My heart aches. Alongside him, the
:17:17. > :17:23.Singh army killed 1,000 of their 7,000 people. One year on and the
:17:23. > :17:27.government is now burning the little that remains of this place.
:17:27. > :17:31.They have to build this Town Again and for hundreds of miles along the
:17:31. > :17:39.coast, it's the same story, dozens of communities which were raced
:17:39. > :17:45.planning to start anew. The first priority, though, is the unfinished
:17:45. > :17:50.task of accounting for everyone. More than 3,000 are still missing.
:17:50. > :17:58.At this school in Okawa, 70 children were swept away and four
:17:58. > :18:03.have not been found. This woman's mother disappeared along with them.
:18:03. > :18:10.Nothing moves on, he says, I have been following police teams like
:18:10. > :18:13.this all year but I can't find any trace of her. This pay used to be
:18:13. > :18:19.inseparable from their money. -- mother. They are doing well in
:18:19. > :18:22.their new school but their father feels trapped by the past. Even
:18:22. > :18:29.though a years gone by, nothing has really changed. Time has stopped
:18:29. > :18:34.for me. I'm still grieving. children never want to live here
:18:34. > :18:39.again but one day, he says he will move back. This place still feels
:18:39. > :18:42.like home. Labour says it's prepared to work
:18:43. > :18:45.with the government to introduce a mansion tax. But the Shadow
:18:45. > :18:48.Chancellor Ed Balls insists any money raised should be spent on
:18:48. > :18:54.halting cuts to working families tax credits and not on scrapping
:18:54. > :18:56.the 50p income tax rate. Speaking to the BBC, he said that with
:18:56. > :19:00.Britain's economy growing more slowly than its competitors, this
:19:00. > :19:10.month's Budget needs to stimulate growth. Here's our Political Editor,
:19:10. > :19:17.
:19:17. > :19:21.Nick Robinson. Ed is here today for a reason. They
:19:21. > :19:26.may not understand, their mums and dads certainly will. This is
:19:26. > :19:30.getting very messy. The polite way to describe Labour's view of
:19:30. > :19:34.government plans to cut tax credits for 200,000 families who work part-
:19:34. > :19:40.time. The shadow chancellor says, from next month, they would be
:19:40. > :19:44.better off not working at all. do 16 hours and after increase them
:19:44. > :19:48.to 24 hours to find eight more hours. To supply going and say,
:19:48. > :19:55.give me a two more hours, they won't do it, and I suspect they
:19:55. > :20:01.will not work so we will lose it. The reality is, some people are
:20:01. > :20:04.better off not working. I left my work to look after her. But the
:20:04. > :20:09.cost to reverse the cut to tax credits is high, half a billion
:20:09. > :20:13.pounds a year. Where would Labour find the money? He's a great job to
:20:13. > :20:16.have here. On a visit to a factory in Birmingham Ed Balls insisted
:20:16. > :20:22.cutting less would help the economy grow more and therefore cut the
:20:22. > :20:27.deficit. What's more, he told me, he would back the Lib Dems idea for
:20:27. > :20:32.a new tax. Do you like the idea of a mansion tax on the most expensive
:20:32. > :20:36.properties? I supported it in the past. I think we need to look at it
:20:36. > :20:41.carefully. If the Chancellor want to go down that road, I will
:20:41. > :20:46.support him, but the issue is, what is the purpose? If the purpose is
:20:46. > :20:53.to help families facing higher VAT, fuel bills, for example boosting
:20:53. > :20:59.their tax credits, yes, but if the priority is to use the mansion tax
:20:59. > :21:06.only to help people on the highest incomes over �150,000, I say it's
:21:06. > :21:09.out of touch. Jeer at this factory, Ed Balls was told the company can
:21:09. > :21:12.see each green shoots of recovery and he says, though, thanks to
:21:12. > :21:18.government austerity, the country is not growing fast enough and
:21:18. > :21:24.strongly enough. Britain still needs a stimulus. I think it is
:21:24. > :21:29.essential right now, George Osborne has cut too far and too fast. The
:21:29. > :21:33.VAT rise hit confidence, we are borrowing more and his idea
:21:33. > :21:37.stimulus means more borrowing it is economic nonsense. Unless we get
:21:37. > :21:43.growth and unemployment falling, we will be borrowing more in the
:21:43. > :21:48.future. Are you saying the country can afford to cut VAT, and avoid
:21:48. > :21:53.the cuts you don't like in tax credits and in child benefit and
:21:53. > :21:58.deal with fuel duty? People will say, where will he find the money?
:21:58. > :22:03.Do you can do the tax credit James by closing stamp duty above
:22:03. > :22:07.properties above �1 million. Manton tax could pay for tax credits.
:22:07. > :22:12.There is a big economic issues. Growth has flat land, unemployment
:22:12. > :22:17.has gone up. �158 billion has been borrowed because everybody knows
:22:18. > :22:21.the economy is not growing, unemployment is rising. Ed Balls
:22:21. > :22:25.and Ed Miliband used to help Gordon Brown writers budgets and now, they
:22:25. > :22:30.can only wait and see what surprises the Chancellor has in
:22:30. > :22:34.store. The Bank of England has kept
:22:34. > :22:38.interest rates on hold again at 0.5%. They have now been at that
:22:38. > :22:41.level for three years. Analysts say rates are likely to remain
:22:41. > :22:47.unchanged for months. Good news for home owners and borrowers, but bad
:22:47. > :22:51.for savers. The best ever performance by a
:22:51. > :22:53.player in a top class game of football. That's how Lionel Messi's
:22:53. > :22:58.manager described his five goal, five star performance for Barcelona
:22:58. > :23:05.in the Champions League last night. Our Sports Correspondent Tim Franks
:23:05. > :23:11.has been looking at what makes Messi so magical.
:23:11. > :23:19.Lionel Messi is 5 ft 6, his stature is immense. This was goal No. 1
:23:19. > :23:28.against Bayer Leverkusen. It certainly feels that way. Goal two
:23:28. > :23:38.involved high-speed tiptoeing. Go free, listen to the crowd of. Not a
:23:38. > :23:39.
:23:39. > :23:45.roar so much as a moan of pleasure. Goal for, an impossible angle. They
:23:45. > :23:51.worship him on the terraces. They worship him in the dug-out. He is
:23:51. > :23:56.the best, said his manager. I am lucky to be his trainer. He is a
:23:56. > :24:01.unique player. This is how you measure it. Barcelona in his last
:24:01. > :24:06.contract inserts a buy-out clause of 250 million euros. His last 211
:24:06. > :24:10.games, he scored one and an 86 goals and perhaps the most
:24:10. > :24:15.startling fact of all, he's still only 24. So where will history
:24:15. > :24:21.place in? So far, the only flaw in his record is the lack of World
:24:21. > :24:29.Cups. Pele won three. Diego Maradona or lead his country to the
:24:30. > :24:33.World Cup and England players to an embarrassment. He bears comparison.
:24:33. > :24:38.The way he evades tackles, going at speed with the ball seemingly tied
:24:38. > :24:44.to his toe is quite incredible. It shows bravery, he makes passes at
:24:44. > :24:47.the right time and to score goals. It's an end product. Which takes us
:24:47. > :24:51.to his 5th goal of the night, unprecedented in the Champions'
:24:51. > :24:56.League, and he still should have more than half his career ahead of
:24:56. > :24:59.him. Divine. There are warnings of disruption to
:24:59. > :25:02.satellite navigation systems and power grids tonight. A powerful
:25:02. > :25:07.solar storm is due to reach earth this evening. It's caused by
:25:07. > :25:10.eruptions on the surface of the sun called solar flares. There were two
:25:10. > :25:19.earlier this week, the largest of their kind. Here's our Science
:25:19. > :25:25.Correspondent, Pallab Ghosh. A storm on the surface of our sun.
:25:25. > :25:29.The most intense in five years. It was triggered by two giant solar
:25:29. > :25:35.flares earlier this week. And the continued activity could soon have
:25:35. > :25:40.an effect on earth. Which is why US government agencies are monitoring
:25:40. > :25:46.the situation closely. We are at least able to tell you that this is
:25:46. > :25:51.coming towards us. Beware, keep watching, don't get hysterical.
:25:51. > :25:55.hysterical they got. This from the US news networks. Good morning
:25:55. > :26:00.America and breaking news, a massive solar storm targeting the
:26:00. > :26:03.planet. How worried should we be? The sun is throwing a gigantic
:26:03. > :26:07.sheets of charged particles and often does this but the difference
:26:07. > :26:12.this time is they may be on a collision course for the earth. We
:26:12. > :26:15.will be protected by the Earth's magnetic field but the Solar Storm
:26:15. > :26:22.can electrify the upper atmosphere. And so cause power surges
:26:22. > :26:26.underground. In the past, surges have been so strong it entire
:26:26. > :26:30.cities have been plunged into darkness. And there could be
:26:30. > :26:35.disruption to the planets satellites. Which, in turn, could
:26:35. > :26:38.affect navigation computer and telecommunications systems. It is
:26:38. > :26:43.taken extremely seriously. We are moving towards a solar maximum, and
:26:43. > :26:48.expect these things to increase and we are already co-operating with
:26:48. > :26:52.the Americans on this. The Prime Minister and Barack Obama signed an
:26:52. > :26:56.agreement for co-operation in May last year. There are no reported
:26:56. > :26:59.incidents so far of power failures or communications problems. But
:26:59. > :27:04.there is a chance of a storm of might light up the Earth's
:27:04. > :27:09.atmosphere. And many people in northern Britain may be able to see
:27:09. > :27:16.an aurora in the night sky. Let's take a look at the weather
:27:16. > :27:22.You can only see it if you have got clear skies and sadly I think this
:27:22. > :27:27.could be the closest many of us get to see the aurora. Tonight, a lot
:27:27. > :27:30.of cloud of the northern half of the country. A chance of seeing it
:27:30. > :27:34.it it makes an appearance. More breaks in the cloud of tomorrow
:27:34. > :27:38.night perhaps. You can see the clouds swamping its way across the
:27:38. > :27:42.country. The cloud is thickest in the north-west of Scotland where it
:27:42. > :27:46.continues to bring outbreaks of rain through much of the night.
:27:46. > :27:53.Drizzly conditions elsewhere. And the coast of Wales, but for most, a
:27:53. > :27:59.dry night. No where near as cold as it is last night. 5-6 degrees
:27:59. > :28:04.across England and Wales. The rain increases in the night and this
:28:04. > :28:08.area will make for a soggy morning in north-west Scotland. Slowly
:28:08. > :28:13.heading towards Glasgow and Northern Ireland. England and Wales,
:28:13. > :28:20.much more cloud than today. Foremost, it will be a dry day, and
:28:20. > :28:26.things should dry up in the north- west Scotland. 15 degrees in
:28:26. > :28:31.Aberdeen. A damp afternoon in Glasgow. Not reaching Belfast until
:28:31. > :28:37.later that day, the rain. Drizzly conditions over the Pennines and
:28:37. > :28:44.the hills and coasts of Wales, but for most of England, dry and cloudy.
:28:44. > :28:48.Brightness, 12-13 Celsius. We keep a lot of cloud on Saturday, too,
:28:48. > :28:54.although we should get a few more breaks across eastern areas, so