:00:00. > :00:00.Security is stepped up at Britain's airports, as America warns
:00:07. > :00:13.The extra checks come amid fears that Al-Qaeda in Syria
:00:14. > :00:18.and Yemen are developing bombs that could be smuggled on to planes.
:00:19. > :00:20.The safety of the travelling public must come first.
:00:21. > :00:24.I hope this won't lead to unnecessary delays
:00:25. > :00:29.but it's very important that we always put safety first, and we do.
:00:30. > :00:32.So far, the UK's airports are all said to be operating normally.
:00:33. > :00:35.We'll be looking at how credible the threat is.
:00:36. > :00:38.Also tonight, harrowing stories from Iraqis who've escaped areas seized
:00:39. > :00:46.Problems with opening hours and making appointments to see a GP
:00:47. > :00:49.lead to patients expressing growing dissatisfaction.
:00:50. > :00:54.Almost half of underground drinking water stores in England and Wales
:00:55. > :01:01.are in areas that could be exploited for shale gas and oil.
:01:02. > :01:07.And the rise of the new generation, as 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard
:01:08. > :01:17.becomes the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam final.
:01:18. > :01:24.On BBC London, safety concerns after a lorry is set alight, and Michael
:01:25. > :01:27.Gove on whether a collapse at a collapse that every school has
:01:28. > :01:42.thrown his flagship policy into crisis.
:01:43. > :01:45.Good evening, and welcome to the BBC News at Six.
:01:46. > :01:47.Security at Britain's airports has been tightened after US officials
:01:48. > :01:49.warned of a "credible terrorist threat" involving Al-Qaeda
:01:50. > :01:55.American officials believe terrorists are developing
:01:56. > :01:59.bombs which could evade routine security checks.
:02:00. > :02:00.Downing Street says there's an "evolving threat"
:02:01. > :02:05.to the UK and other countries but says people should travel as usual.
:02:06. > :02:18.Here's our security correspondent, Frank Gardner.
:02:19. > :02:24.Heathrow today and no signs of anything outwardly unusual. Today,
:02:25. > :02:28.the government has announced new unspecified security measures have
:02:29. > :02:34.been put in place to transatlantic flights to America. It is in direct
:02:35. > :02:37.response that activist in Syria are planning to smuggle bombs onto
:02:38. > :02:41.planes. We take these decisions looking at the evidence in front of
:02:42. > :02:45.us, and working with our partners. This is something we have discussed
:02:46. > :02:48.with the Americans, and what we have done is put in place extra
:02:49. > :02:53.precautions and extra checks. The safety of the travelling public must
:02:54. > :02:57.come first. This is where the government believes the threat
:02:58. > :03:00.originated, with Al-Qaeda in Yemen, a group that has developed a unique
:03:01. > :03:06.expertise in hard to detect explosives. Today's heightened
:03:07. > :03:11.airport security is because that lethal expertise is thought to have
:03:12. > :03:15.proliferated across borders. So the skills developed in Yemen are
:03:16. > :03:18.believed to have been passed on by Al-Qaeda to their affiliates in
:03:19. > :03:21.other parts of the Middle East, specifically Syria, where their
:03:22. > :03:26.trainers are feared to have instructed a whole new generation of
:03:27. > :03:30.bombers. These include European jihadists with European passports.
:03:31. > :03:37.And this is almost the only known picture of their mental, who is
:03:38. > :03:39.still at large. In 2009 he sent so-called underpants bomber on a
:03:40. > :03:44.plane to Detroit with a hidden device that he tried, and failed, to
:03:45. > :03:46.ignite as it came into land. The next year, built bombs inside
:03:47. > :03:57.printer toner cartridges. They got Today, this explosive's experts
:03:58. > :04:03.showed us the effect of even just a small drop of liquid explosive. When
:04:04. > :04:07.you come to detect explosives, one of the traditional ways to do it is
:04:08. > :04:12.by sniffing. You use an electronic sniffer, you could use a dog. A low
:04:13. > :04:15.vapour pressure explosive is one that does not give off any vapours,
:04:16. > :04:20.so there is nothing to sniff, and that is what makes them ideal for
:04:21. > :04:24.smuggling through security and makes them hard to detect. With the
:04:25. > :04:27.fighting in Syria pulling in thousands of jihadists from Europe,
:04:28. > :04:31.intelligence analysts are worried that some of them are being quietly
:04:32. > :04:37.trained to go back home and plan attacks. Both US and British
:04:38. > :04:43.airports already have extensive security measures, including
:04:44. > :04:46.explosives detectors and body scanners. It is not clear what more
:04:47. > :04:53.scanners. It is not clear what precautions can be taken but
:04:54. > :04:56.passengers are expected to be subjected to further delays.
:04:57. > :04:58.Well, so far, the authorities say the UK's
:04:59. > :05:01.But with the summer holidays approaching,
:05:02. > :05:03.what will the heightened security mean for the travelling public?
:05:04. > :05:10.Our transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, is at Manchester Airport.
:05:11. > :05:15.Don't be flawed, I know it looks quiet now but more than 2 million
:05:16. > :05:20.people will come through security in this airport just in July -- don't
:05:21. > :05:23.be fooled. As well as the usual security measures we have all got so
:05:24. > :05:27.used to, there will be extra security measures. It was day one
:05:28. > :05:30.today. They did have a little blip here in the morning but frankly
:05:31. > :05:38.across the rest of the country it has been business as usual. Off on
:05:39. > :05:42.their holidays, Colin and Tracy have turned up early to make sure they
:05:43. > :05:46.don't get stuck in security. Like thousands of others, they may now
:05:47. > :05:50.face extra checks but they don't seem worried. It is peace of mind,
:05:51. > :05:54.you would rather know you have been thoroughly searched and everyone
:05:55. > :05:57.else has, rather than it being highlighted when something does
:05:58. > :06:01.happen that there were lapses in security. Anyone who has travelled
:06:02. > :06:08.anywhere nine slash 11, you are just used to it, the scenario, you just
:06:09. > :06:12.do it automatically now. Day one of the new security regime at
:06:13. > :06:16.Manchester, and may have had some bones, there were extra queues this
:06:17. > :06:20.morning, not just for the people flying to America but for everybody.
:06:21. > :06:26.Trish is from the airport, is this is what can expect, longer delays at
:06:27. > :06:32.security? We definitely don't want that, this morning we had problems.
:06:33. > :06:36.Clearly, our customers had heard from the media that there were
:06:37. > :06:40.issues, our own colleagues needed to have briefings and we did see some
:06:41. > :06:44.queues. Our aim is not to let that continue. Fears of spiralling queues
:06:45. > :06:48.and missed flights never materialised today put up eight
:06:49. > :06:51.airports fly commercial airliners directly to the United States. Each
:06:52. > :06:58.told us they had been trouble free all day. It is a far cry from 2006,
:06:59. > :07:03.when a plot to explode liquid bombs on airliners led to a security
:07:04. > :07:07.lockdown. Overnight, passengers were banned from taking almost everything
:07:08. > :07:13.into the cabin. Eight years on, we are still doing this, but people
:07:14. > :07:17.seem to be used to the extra hassle. When you travel with 200 passengers
:07:18. > :07:21.up in the air, you want to make sure you are safe, so no problems. I feel
:07:22. > :07:24.a bit stressed because I heard the news this morning, but the
:07:25. > :07:30.television on, and thought oh god. The more security, the better. I am
:07:31. > :07:35.all for increased security but it is the queues that drive me mad. 35,000
:07:36. > :07:38.people went through security here today. Most seem to have had an easy
:07:39. > :07:43.ride. Iraqis living in areas seized by
:07:44. > :07:46.forces led by the Islamist extremist group, ISIS, have been telling
:07:47. > :07:48.harrowing stories about people being ISIS is now in control in Tikrit,
:07:49. > :07:53.Mosul and Tal Afar. Around 50,000 people have fled those
:07:54. > :07:56.areas for the town of Sinjar Our correspondent Quentin Somerville
:07:57. > :08:17.travelled through Iraq's desert Every corner of this town was taken.
:08:18. > :08:26.Here, even building sites have become home to Iraqis fleeing ISIS.
:08:27. > :08:30.In the city's schools, the only private moments are found inside
:08:31. > :08:39.shelters made from desks and chairs. There are six families to a
:08:40. > :08:55.classroom. These Shia walked 20 miles to escape ISIS. Mostafa told
:08:56. > :09:03.me, they are targeting Sunnis, Shias everybody. Even the children
:09:04. > :09:09.are trying to make the best of it. But they live in fear. This woman
:09:10. > :09:13.said, I have five martyrs in my family all killed by ISIS. My
:09:14. > :09:18.daughter is a widow, I have only two children left. Near the border with
:09:19. > :09:26.Syria, aid agencies have struggled to get here. ISIS have planted
:09:27. > :09:31.roadside bombs. Just up from Sinjar, the front line is on the town's
:09:32. > :09:35.doorstep. Tens of thousands of Shia Muslims, Christians, Kurds and
:09:36. > :09:40.others escaped along this road from Tal afar, with ISIS to the east and
:09:41. > :09:44.to the West, here in Sinjar they found sanctuary, and they say they
:09:45. > :09:48.need it, because ISIS is engaged with a campaign to systematically
:09:49. > :09:55.clear the towns and villages they left behind. Hassan, a Kurd, was
:09:56. > :09:59.kidnapped by ISIS and help to 16 days. He was let go but others
:10:00. > :10:04.won't. The jihadists, he told me, were selected in their punishment.
:10:05. > :10:10.TRANSLATION: They release them straight away, even paid their taxi
:10:11. > :10:12.fare home, but for sheer, if they cannot be exchanged for prisoners,
:10:13. > :10:17.they will simply cut off their heads stash macro but for Shia. We have
:10:18. > :10:24.been told where ISIS take control they have been methodical with
:10:25. > :10:29.hunting down those opposed to them. TRANSLATION: ISIS is collecting
:10:30. > :10:33.information about people and compiling a database in order to
:10:34. > :10:37.find those who work for the government or security forces. If
:10:38. > :10:40.they do not repent and pledge their allegiance to the caliphate, they
:10:41. > :10:46.will be killed. A lot of these people have disappeared. ISIS have
:10:47. > :10:51.already ordered Iraq's borders. Through fear and force, they are
:10:52. > :10:55.transforming the ethnic and religious landscape around Sinjar,
:10:56. > :11:00.leaving many here wondering if they will ever be able to return home.
:11:01. > :11:02.Patients in England are less satisfied with
:11:03. > :11:05.the service they get from their GP than they were a year ago.
:11:06. > :11:08.That's according to a study by the Department of Health, which found
:11:09. > :11:11.that although most rated their overall experience as good, there
:11:12. > :11:13.was dissatisfaction over opening hours and making appointments.
:11:14. > :11:26.A rising population with more conditions to treat. That is all too
:11:27. > :11:27.clear with the traffic in and out of surgeries to see the doctor.
:11:28. > :11:30.conditions to treat. That is all too clear with the traffic in and So
:11:31. > :11:35.what do patients in England think of their care? There were more than
:11:36. > :11:39.9000 responses to an NHS England survey. 86% were happy with their
:11:40. > :11:44.experience of local GPs, though that was down on last year, and there
:11:45. > :11:48.were 17% unhappy with out-of-hours care, up over 12 months. Nearly a
:11:49. > :11:53.quarter said they had problems with phone bookings at surgeries. Again,
:11:54. > :11:58.up on the year. We found a range of opinions talking to people in one
:11:59. > :12:01.town in Essex. Used to get an appointment very quickly, now you
:12:02. > :12:06.have to wait a fortnight for the doctor of your choice, because they
:12:07. > :12:08.have taken on 70 patients. He normally opens about eight o'clock,
:12:09. > :12:16.I normally get my appointment by about 1030, 11am, so I am pretty
:12:17. > :12:21.happy. To get an emergency point is impossible. The pressures on the NHS
:12:22. > :12:24.are illustrated in the Parliamentary report out today, which says that 50
:12:25. > :12:29.million people in England are suffering from long-term conditions,
:12:30. > :12:33.such as diabetes, arthritis and asthma, and they account for more
:12:34. > :12:37.than half of GPs time. Some doctors say they are struggling to keep up
:12:38. > :12:43.with the workload. John Cockroft, and Essex GP, says he is seeing
:12:44. > :12:47.patients for 11 hours a day. He is aged 52, and because of the workload
:12:48. > :12:51.he is now thinking of retiring early. I think I will start to feel
:12:52. > :12:57.that I am really struggling to get through a day's work. Already it
:12:58. > :13:01.feels like that on certain days, and if that starts to spill over and
:13:02. > :13:06.affect the quality of the care I am able to provide, then I don't see
:13:07. > :13:10.that I will be able to go on for that length of time. Some practices
:13:11. > :13:14.they they are struggling to recruit new GPs. At this brother surgery,
:13:15. > :13:18.there are vacancies for doctors, and more to come, with doctors leaving
:13:19. > :13:23.over the next few months. One of the remaining doctors told me they were
:13:24. > :13:26.having to cut services for patients. We are already feeling the effects,
:13:27. > :13:28.we have lost some GPs and specialists, people have to wait
:13:29. > :13:32.longer for their routine appointments. That does not reflect
:13:33. > :13:36.well on the practice or do patients any justice at all. It is a very
:13:37. > :13:41.difficult, session to have with patients, when they ring and say
:13:42. > :13:43.come and see you. I say yes, in three weeks time. The Department of
:13:44. > :13:47.Health said the vast majority of patients were satisfied with their
:13:48. > :13:50.GP. Millions more were being offered extra evening and weekend
:13:51. > :13:54.appointments and more money was available to improve access to
:13:55. > :13:59.doctors. The time is almost a quarter past six,
:14:00. > :14:01.Our top story this evening, security is stepped up at Britain's
:14:02. > :14:04.airports, as America warns of a "credible terrorism threat".
:14:05. > :14:11.still to come, as Yorkshire prepares to host the start of the Tour de
:14:12. > :14:17.France this weekend, we look at the British hopes. Later on BBC London,
:14:18. > :14:22.why campaigners say plans to relax laws over short-term lets will
:14:23. > :14:25.blight their communities. Our building a new London is anything
:14:26. > :14:30.significant skipper is about the history of our city. -- and earthing
:14:31. > :14:33.significant. Fracking has already proved to be
:14:34. > :14:36.highly controversial, and there are questions about the impact it could
:14:37. > :14:39.have on the underground drinking New research has revealed that
:14:40. > :14:43.much of the water is in areas with the areas of shale-bearing rock,
:14:44. > :14:49.from which the energy industry is keen to extract billions of pounds
:14:50. > :14:53.worth of fuel, using fracking. But the problem is this, those areas
:14:54. > :14:57.also hold half of all reserves So how concerned should we be
:14:58. > :15:03.about possible contamination? Our Science Editor David Shukman
:15:04. > :15:16.reports. Clear, clean, drinking water,
:15:17. > :15:17.something we all rely on. Samples are being tested in areas where
:15:18. > :15:37.fracking may take a snapshot, to say, what are
:15:38. > :15:42.the methane levels at the moment, before any shale gas extraction
:15:43. > :15:45.occurs? If it is to take off on a large-scale, government and industry
:15:46. > :15:49.will need to convince the public that it isn't safe. Up and down the
:15:50. > :15:53.country, there will have to be decisions about whether to allow
:15:54. > :15:57.fracking. Each case would allow weighing up the potential risks to
:15:58. > :16:00.the environment and the benefits of getting a new, home-grown source of
:16:01. > :16:05.energy. So, what are the things which could go wrong? The first
:16:06. > :16:09.concern is that as the well is drilled down into the rock, there
:16:10. > :16:14.could be leaks, especially when the layer of shale is fractured. In
:16:15. > :16:17.theory, cracks could reach up to underground stores of drinking
:16:18. > :16:22.water, though industry says this is highly unlikely. Another concern is
:16:23. > :16:26.that the process of fracking can cause tremors, but these are thought
:16:27. > :16:29.to be small and rarer. Then there are challenges above ground as well.
:16:30. > :16:34.Methane could be accidentally released. It is a powerful
:16:35. > :16:38.greenhouse gas. And wastewater pumped back up after the fracking
:16:39. > :16:44.needs to be dwelt with. There is the risk of polluting the land nearby.
:16:45. > :16:46.There is no scientific evidence that fracking causes water contamination.
:16:47. > :16:51.A small percentage of the Wells which are used could leak, and it is
:16:52. > :16:59.critically important those wells are checked. A 3D map of Britain.
:17:00. > :17:05.Scientists are trying to establish some hard facts about shale and
:17:06. > :17:13.possible hazards. They want to share everything with the public. Being
:17:14. > :17:20.open, so that people can see I think if you can do that, then the public
:17:21. > :17:24.will have more confidence. It is a lesson from the United States.
:17:25. > :17:27.Fracking operations there often face opposition where people feel they
:17:28. > :17:31.are being kept in the dark about what is happening, especially if
:17:32. > :17:37.their homes are nearby. If you are living close to a well site, and in
:17:38. > :17:40.that case you are first and foremost concerned about the quality of the
:17:41. > :17:44.water that you are drinking, the quality of the air that you are
:17:45. > :17:48.breathing, and this is heavy industrial activity. And
:17:49. > :17:52.understanding the potential impact on our countryside matters more than
:17:53. > :17:58.ever now. Next round of government licenses to allow drilling is
:17:59. > :18:04.expected soon. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has
:18:05. > :18:07.insisted his party's policies are designed to encourage business, not
:18:08. > :18:13.stifle it. He told business leaders that key policies in areas such as
:18:14. > :18:16.banking and energy bills would generate what he called inclusive
:18:17. > :18:20.prosperity. He also said he remained absolutely convinced that Britain's
:18:21. > :18:25.future lay within the EU. Here is our business editor, Kamal Ahmed. Ed
:18:26. > :18:30.Miliband has said he wants to intervene in the energy market and
:18:31. > :18:34.change the way banks operate. He has even raised questions about the
:18:35. > :18:38.ownership of football clubs. Today, the leader of the opposition told me
:18:39. > :18:41.he wants to change the terms of the debate, insisting he backs good
:18:42. > :18:45.businesses which want to promote both. There is a shared mission
:18:46. > :18:50.which I want the next Labour government to have with business. We
:18:51. > :18:55.have deep problems as a country, the economy is not fixed, there are deep
:18:56. > :18:58.problems of having hard work and people's reward being linked.
:18:59. > :19:04.Business is vital to make that happen. The Labour leader is
:19:05. > :19:10.certainly very different from Tony Blair, who made wooing business a
:19:11. > :19:13.key part of the new Labour project. Many business leaders would like
:19:14. > :19:17.that warmer tone to return home but I think the important thing,
:19:18. > :19:21.whatever political party is in power, is that they remain very
:19:22. > :19:31.clear that being pro-business is the only solution for the continued
:19:32. > :19:34.growth of the economy. If labour and business have become a little
:19:35. > :19:38.estranged over the past few years, maybe this is the first stage of
:19:39. > :19:43.marriage counselling. Certainly those close to Mr Miliband, like Ed
:19:44. > :19:46.Balls and Chuka Umunna, would like him to take a more positive tone
:19:47. > :19:51.towards the businesses which create the jobs. On the other side of the
:19:52. > :19:56.debate, the unions and say Mr Miliband is right to want a positive
:19:57. > :20:00.relationship. It is important that there is a constructive relationship
:20:01. > :20:04.with business, and many businesses are trying to invest for the future
:20:05. > :20:08.and pay their workers fairly and pay their taxes as well. But for those
:20:09. > :20:14.businesses who are not, of course we are going to need rules of the
:20:15. > :20:17.game. At the 2010 election, no significant business leader came out
:20:18. > :20:22.in support of Labour. Senior party figures have told me they do not
:20:23. > :20:25.want that repeated next year. Mr Miliband's speech today is the start
:20:26. > :20:29.of at least a conversation with those businesses which might be
:20:30. > :20:35.sympathetic to the opposition's direction of travel.
:20:36. > :20:39.Unionist parties have walked out of talks at Stormont aimed at solving
:20:40. > :20:44.disputes about parades, the flying of flags and the past. They were
:20:45. > :20:47.objecting to a decision to place restrictions on an orange order
:20:48. > :20:50.parade in Belfast. In a joint statement, they said the Parades
:20:51. > :20:55.Commission had treated their advice with contempt and described the
:20:56. > :20:57.discussions as fruitless. The advance of a new generation of
:20:58. > :21:04.players at Wimbledon continued today, as 20-year-old Eugenie
:21:05. > :21:09.Bouchard made history by becoming. Meanwhile, Andy Murray's defeat
:21:10. > :21:19.yesterday is still the subject of much discussion. The champagne will
:21:20. > :21:22.be popping until the tennis stops, but the British Glass is neither
:21:23. > :21:28.half full nor half empty, it has been drunk. On Thursday was hangover
:21:29. > :21:33.day. Andy Murray's frustration in defeat to Dimitrov was obvious. He
:21:34. > :21:38.was apparently overheard muttering about something happening five
:21:39. > :21:42.minutes before he went on court, a brush with security, a row with his
:21:43. > :21:46.girlfriend, short notice about the match starting? Officially, his camp
:21:47. > :21:50.today says there was no issue. Conspiracy theories are easy. What
:21:51. > :21:56.is harder to digest is that Murray has stopped beating the top players.
:21:57. > :22:01.He will drop to I think he will win more Grand Slams, but this is a bump
:22:02. > :22:04.in the road. As a sportsman competing at the highest level, you
:22:05. > :22:08.have to deal with adversity. There are other national respect is at
:22:09. > :22:13.Wimbledon. If you grow up in the Czech Republic, you basically do not
:22:14. > :22:18.see one of these, the weather is too severe for grass courts, and yet
:22:19. > :22:24.here were two Czech women in the semifinal. They tried to hit each
:22:25. > :22:30.other off centre court. Safarova held her own in the first set. But
:22:31. > :22:37.when it comes to power, there is no one stronger than Petra Kvitova.
:22:38. > :22:42.Having won the first set on a tie-break, she rattled through the
:22:43. > :22:49.second, 6-1. She was champion here three years ago. Success on grass is
:22:50. > :22:54.every player knows there will be slips and stumbles. Simona Halep's
:22:55. > :23:00.ankle required long treatment in the other semifinal. Eugenie Bouchard
:23:01. > :23:03.went through. Named after a princess, just like her twin
:23:04. > :23:10.Beatrice Comer celebrating is her backyard. I can tell you that Murray
:23:11. > :23:13.is on centre court right now. I am referring to older brother Jamie,
:23:14. > :23:16.who is in the mixed doubles with Katie Dellacqua. It looks like they
:23:17. > :23:21.are going through to the quarterfinals. Already through is
:23:22. > :23:28.another British pair. So, in the mixed doubles at least, Wimbledon is
:23:29. > :23:32.retaining some British interest. The roads have been resurfaced, the
:23:33. > :23:37.bunting is out and almost 200 cyclists who are competing in this
:23:38. > :23:40.year's Tour de France are getting ready for Le Grand Depart, not in
:23:41. > :23:47.France, but in Yorkshire. 2 million people are expected to line the
:23:48. > :23:54.route this weekend. David Bond is in Leeds. Yes, in the next few minutes,
:23:55. > :23:58.all 198 riders, from 22 teams, will be paraded through the streets
:23:59. > :24:01.behind me. They will be arriving at the biggest party ever thrown to
:24:02. > :24:05.mark the start of the Tour de France. Later this evening, bells
:24:06. > :24:09.will be run across Yorkshire to mark the arrival of a race which starts
:24:10. > :24:16.here in Leeds and will finish in just over three weeks on the chum
:24:17. > :24:20.selling is a in Paris. Here in Harrogate, they are preparing for a
:24:21. > :24:23.taste of France. This weekend, millions of people are expected to
:24:24. > :24:27.line the roads of Yorkshire as the world's biggest bike race passes
:24:28. > :24:33.through, en route to its more traditional home. It is a big moment
:24:34. > :24:36.for Yorkshire, and another high point for British cycling. It is
:24:37. > :24:43.still quite hard to believe, but Team Sky will this year be going for
:24:44. > :24:47.their third win in a row. And while the architect of the sport's
:24:48. > :24:52.incredible decade of success is not resting on his laurels, he knows how
:24:53. > :24:56.far Britain has come. We have dominated two Olympic Games, we have
:24:57. > :25:01.won the Tour de France twice. The biggest annual sporting event in the
:25:02. > :25:03.world. I think we have got some fantastic female riders, we are
:25:04. > :25:09.brilliant at downhill mountain biking. So, by anybody's
:25:10. > :25:14.assessment, taking the last four or five years, six years, I think we
:25:15. > :25:19.are the number one cycling nation in the world. All this is the result of
:25:20. > :25:23.millions of pounds of investment which has helped take Team Sky to
:25:24. > :25:26.the pinnacle of the sport. But having one the Tour de France two
:25:27. > :25:32.years in succession, the challenge now is how to stay on top. Here is
:25:33. > :25:36.the man tasked with that job, reigning champion Chris Froome. He
:25:37. > :25:40.hopes the support of the Yorkshire crowd will push him to another
:25:41. > :25:45.victory in Paris. Every little town and village along the route has
:25:46. > :25:48.embraced the Tour de France. You can see bikes everywhere, you can see
:25:49. > :25:55.polka dots everywhere, yellow jerseys, it is really special to
:25:56. > :25:59.have this kind of reception. But the decision to leave out 2012 champion
:26:00. > :26:04.and Olympic hero Sir Bradley Wiggins has caused tensions. The head of
:26:05. > :26:11.Team Sky admits it was one of the hardest course he has had to make.
:26:12. > :26:16.It was difficult, from a performance am a professional point of view, it
:26:17. > :26:22.is straightforward. But from a personal point of view, it kept me
:26:23. > :26:29.awake at night, that is sure. Cycling in this country has never
:26:30. > :26:36.been more popular. For the sake of the sport's hard earned reputation,
:26:37. > :26:42.everybody will be hoping the end of this year's Tour is as British as
:26:43. > :26:45.its beginning. We saw Andy Murray crashing out yesterday, the
:26:46. > :26:49.footballers coming up short in Brazil, and we have had
:26:50. > :26:52.disappointing defeats for the cricketers and rugby union players.
:26:53. > :26:57.So, not for the first time, the hopes of the nation are being pinned
:26:58. > :27:02.on our cyclists. Time now for a look at the weather. Boiling hot today.
:27:03. > :27:11.Yes, glorious in the south-east, the warmest day of the year so far. And
:27:12. > :27:15.I suspect tomorrow we could do it all again. Temperatures could even
:27:16. > :27:19.be a degree or so higher in that southeastern corner. That warm air
:27:20. > :27:25.has really been sitting in the south-east only. There has been
:27:26. > :27:31.plenty of cloud and rain further to the north and west. I suspect the
:27:32. > :27:35.rain will continue to gather in strength overnight. It will be an
:27:36. > :27:43.incredibly mild night tonight right across the country. The south-east
:27:44. > :27:47.corner tomorrow morning will be the exception, rather than the rule.
:27:48. > :27:52.There will be some heavy, persistent rain coming in to Scotland in
:27:53. > :27:58.particular by the middle of the afternoon. Heavy pulses of rain
:27:59. > :28:05.across the lake district as well. Thickening cloud towards parts of
:28:06. > :28:18.Yorkshire, but hopefully staying dry through the majority of the day.
:28:19. > :28:22.However, a bit of a question as to just when this weather front wheel
:28:23. > :28:26.clear away on Saturday morning. It could be a pretty wet start in the
:28:27. > :28:30.south-east first thing on Saturday. Clearing away, hopefully, to a
:28:31. > :28:33.scattering of showers. But generally, it will be a fresher feel
:28:34. > :28:40.right across the country for the weekend. Sunny spells, scattered
:28:41. > :28:41.showers are likely to continue for Sunday as well.
:28:42. > :28:43.showers are likely to continue for Sunday as