08/02/2014 BBC Points West

Much more throughout the evening on the BBC News channel. We

Good evening from Points West. Desperate attempts are underway on

the Somerset Levels to prevent more homes from flooding. While a small

number of people in the villages of Moorland and Fordgate refuse to

leave their homes, many others are feeling the strain after having left

their property behind. We have two reports for you, our first from

Fiona Lamdin with families in East Lyng.

An army of friends, here since first light, building a sandbag

stronghold. We are going to be up all night. This amount of water

about, you don't go to bed. So far the farm has kept the water. They

have over 1000 sandbags. If you look across the lane, to the neighbours,

you see the water has just come through the letterbox. And this is

the family who live here. Protractor is now the only way in. The

downstairs is completely wrecked. Nobody, but nobody, has been out to

us. I rang the police and told them they were evacuating and they said,

why are you telling us? We're not interested, we can't do anything for

you. Now homeless, living in a hotel, they are left with nothing.

And just a few miles across the levels in Saltmore, hours of wading

through water to rescue their horses. Back in East Lyng, the

water's rising but the pumps keep breaking. What is it like at night?

Scary, really scary. All your friends go home, and you're just

left here on your own. Tonight, survival is down to this sand and

sacking. These Dartmoor ponies were rescued

just days ago from their home near Burrowbridge. Next to the stable

their owner Mary is also facing life in temporary accommodation. With the

rest of her animals scattered all over the county, she's finding it

hard to cope. It's been an absolute nightmare. We are totally

devastated. Panic stations setting. We've never dealt with anything like

this, we've only been here 18 months, and twice we have dealt with

flooding, but this is so severe Pro`white `` It's centres like this

that are providing life lines for people like Mary, donated goods

taken to those most in need. We have been asked to things like towels,

socks, high`energy food, drinks blanket, basically anything people

can spare to health. `` asking for things. We are putting in portaloos

at one end of the scale, and then were evacuating snakes and animals

at the other end. The agency are really doing a wide and varied role

and trying to help these communities who are really feeling the pressure.

With the waters still rising, those who have been forced to leave may

have to face life in makeshift accommodation for many weeks to

come. Conservatives in the Forest of Dean

say they are saddened that their local MP Mark Harper has resigned as

immigration minister. It came after it emerged he'd employed a cleaner

who didn't have permission to stay in the UK. The Chairman of the

Forest of Dean Conservative Association said Mr Harper was an

honest and straightforward MP. Football, and it ended in a 2`1

defeat for Yeovil as they took on Leeds in the Championship. Ishmael

Miller headed Yeovil in front, but failed to extend his side's

advantage when he missed a penalty. In League One, Swindon fought back

from two goals down at half`time to record an excellent victory at Port

Vale. It ended 1`1 for Bristol City as they met Oldham. Aden Flint

scoring the equaliser. In League Two, Bristol Rovers also drew 1`1 at

home to Oxford. While it ended goalless between Cheltenham and

York. Rugby, and Bath beat Newcastle 24`6. Houston and Low scored the

tries. Bristol won 32`19 at Bedford. Bristol secured a bonus point as

they scored six tries. Let's move onto the weather prospects now.

We do still have some strong winds to come through the night, some

weather warnings in force, particularly along parts of the

coast, with strong and gusty winds to come. We still have heavy showers

around, and it looks like they could merge into longer spells of rain per

time with the risk of hail mixed in. These are the average wind

speeds although the gusts will be stronger, particularly as the winds

are more westerly through the night along the coast and through the

Bristol Channel. Temperatures down to three or four degrees. Wet

weather to start tomorrow. Still strong and gusty winds through the

morning. The winds slowly easing through the day and a bit of

sunshine mixed in as well, but on Monday we seek lighter winds and

fewer showers, but early Good evening. Unfortunately I don't

have much good news in this forecast. There may be a brief

respite later tomorrow with the wind and the rain but it will not be long

enough and we have today's storm withers, pounding many coastlines in

the south and west, hence the Amber wind warning from the Met Office. It

is a windy day across the board and it is not just the wind that is a

concern. It is causing high waves, damaging winds, but there is more

shower activity, hail, thunder and snow in the north and the potential

for another 10-20 millimetres of rain in parts of Wales, the

south-west, perhaps some persistent showers in the south-east, coupled

with those rather lively wins. They hold the temp Richard tonight but

there could be ice in Scotland, given that we have wintry showers

Wash they hold the temperatures up to. Here is the respite. The shower

frequency edges down in the afternoon and the