27/08/2012 BBC Points West

Good evening. Flood water is being pumped off the

Somerset levels again after the summer's continuing bad weather.

Earlier this year, hundreds of acres of land were left unuseable

after water stayed on Curry Moor for over six weeks, causing

hardship for farmers. Now, the rest of the Levels is being affected.

Here's Alice Bouverie. Pumping floodwater off West Moor on

a Bank Holiday in Augustis almost unheard of. One of the worst

summers on record is taking a terrible toll on the Levels.

A number of farmers have either sold all their stock or reduce

their numbers. A number have not made any winter fodder at all. That

means, basically, they won't have any cattle. They won't have any

income for the next winter. So, yes, it has affected people badly. In my

memory, we haven't ever had anything like this before. Curry

Moor's been the worst affected. This was the scene back in April.

By June, after six weeks under stagnant water, the fields had

rotted. Now they look back to normal. But looks can be deceptive.

It's not grass you're looking at, it's weeds.

It looks green but it is not lovely. It is all weeds. The cows don't eat

weeds. In a normal year, these fields

should have been cut for hay and had cattle out grazing on them.

This year, that's just not happened. This week the Environment Agency's

actually given the worst-affected farmers free silage to help them

feed their stock, up to 100 bales each.

It is fantastic for us, and a surprise because we were just

thinking about the contingencies we were having to make. Because of

this summer's rain, the whole tapestry of the Levels has been

undone. It'll take several years to sew it back together again.

A 26-year-old man who was stabbed in Trowbridge has died. Shaun

Hulbert was stabbed in the chest in July. He died in hospital on

Saturday after being readmitted earlier this month. A man has been

charged following the incident. A 20-year-old man is in a critical

condition in hospital after a fight in Wiltshire. He was left with what

are being described as life- changing injuries after the

incident in Salisbury city centre yesterday.

The 20-year-old man was found unconscious in the city's market

square in the air hours of Sunday. He had been taken to salt the

hospital but as his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to

a hospital in Hampshire. Police believe the man had been involved

in a fight, and a 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of

grievous bodily harm. Wiltshire police is appealing for witnesses

to the incident which has left the 20-year-old with serious head

injuries. Health unions have vowed to fight

any changes which could result in staff in the West working longer

hours for less money. A consortium of 20 hospitals and foundation

trusts has published ideas on setting regional pay. It could mean

NHS staff here are paid less than their colleagues in other regions.

The consortium says the move would protect thousands from redundancy.

Nurses, for instance in Taunton or Bristol, could earn significantly

less than somebody else in Birmingham or Warwickshire all

Worcester, and that is obviously going to affect who works in the

south-west and what they earn. Campaigners hoping to stop a

planned cull of badgers in the West Country have been told their appeal

will be heard next month. The Badger Trust's challenge to a

previous court ruling which supported the government's trial

culls will be heard at the High Court on September 11th. If

rejected, the badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset could

get under way within a matter of weeks.

Back to the wet bank holiday weather, which has taken its toll

on the West with business owners and tourist attractions hit yet

again. The conditions this summer have seen a number of big events

called off, and today the Bath Film Festival decided to cancel

screenings because of the rain. At least you can predict the bank

holiday traffic. The weather today has been and hit and miss across

the west. But it hasn't deterred everyone. In fact, the damage done

to the sand sculptures here in Weston-Super-Mare by vandals has

encouraged more people through the turnstiles.

We have hoped -- notice that a lot of people don't care about the

weather. They just want to see the sculptures. We have seen an

increase in visitors in the last few days.

She's probably the only woman brave enough to wear a bikini, but people

have turned up despite the threat of rain.

For attractions like Wookey, it's turned out to be an excellent year.

We're British, aren't we? We just get on with it. If you want good

weather, you have to move to Spain. The weather has affected tourism in

Weston-super-Mare. Meanwhile, here the temperature is a bit more

reliable. It stayed at around 11 Celsius all year round. They have

seen a 6% increase on visitors this year.

We have seen the rain a good times. It has rained at breakfast time, so

people think, why should we go? And then they come here. But this

year's weather has already taken it's toll. Sometimes you just have

to grin and bear it. Well, it's been another dull, grey

and wet day for many of us today, hasn't it? Will it improve? Let's

hasn't it? Will it improve? Let's take a look at the forecast with

Jemma Cooper. There were rather grey and damp

scenes today, but things will settle down tonight. The rest of

the week, though, is a mixed picture. We will have a fair few

showers and the breeze is picking up. That will be often quite chilly.

For the rest of tonight the rain pushes north east. The things will

start to settle down. Cloud begins to break, so tomorrow starts off a

lot more promising. Barring the odd bit of a shower, we see breaks and

decent spells of brightness. By the afternoon, temperature should be up

to the '20s. -- temperatures should be into the twenties. Heavy, sharp

showers on Wednesday. Friday looks like the best day of the week so