:00:00. > :00:00.California at the of 85. That is all from us. There is a
:00:00. > :00:14.first Good evening.
:00:15. > :00:17.The West Country is now 50 days into the flooding crisis and things are
:00:18. > :00:21.getting worse, not better. The Prime Minister made his second visit today
:00:22. > :00:26.and promised that he is in personal charge. We'll have more on that from
:00:27. > :00:31.our political editor Paul Barltrop in a moment. But first, Andrew Plant
:00:32. > :00:40.looks at how more people are having to abandon their homes because of
:00:41. > :00:45.the rising water levels. Some of Somerset's most picturesque
:00:46. > :00:56.countryside now under five feet of water. This is as French door.
:00:57. > :00:59.Bthis is his front door. In the back garden, a prized possession left
:01:00. > :01:06.standing in the rush to save people and pets before the water came in.
:01:07. > :01:13.The worst I have seen by a long way. Last year it was only near the
:01:14. > :01:16.door handle. The family have fled. Neighbour Chris says someone has
:01:17. > :01:23.already tried to break in. The locks have been damaged. There is nothing
:01:24. > :01:27.left to steal. It is all gone. This was the house over the road on
:01:28. > :01:36.Saturday. Neighbours worked to make a protective wall. This morning the
:01:37. > :01:41.water is a foot deeper. These tiny pumps working flat out and still the
:01:42. > :01:48.situation is tense. Everything feels like it could just crumble at any
:01:49. > :01:53.second. This is part of the plan. Lorries are lined up with huge pumps
:01:54. > :02:00.on the backs. Giant machinery making sure the Levels are better weapons
:02:01. > :02:04.to fight this war on water. This is the drain on the edge of Bridgwater
:02:05. > :02:08.in Somerset. You can see they are building a solid platform. That is
:02:09. > :02:12.going to house eight of those huge pipes we have been seeing over the
:02:13. > :02:16.past couple of weeks. At high tide, when the River Parrett has trouble
:02:17. > :02:20.flowing to see, they will suck up the water from the Somerset levels
:02:21. > :02:26.and blasted into the river and straight out of the sea. That eases
:02:27. > :02:29.the pressure on the whole system. A couple came in because they needed
:02:30. > :02:33.toothbrush is as they had to leave everything they had. Nearby in
:02:34. > :02:44.Bridgwater, the relief effort has supplies. It is the basics that for
:02:45. > :02:50.many are now floating in water. The only way into this Moorland farm is
:02:51. > :02:54.walking the plank. With any luck, this defence is the difference
:02:55. > :02:57.between living at home with water outside every window or having to
:02:58. > :03:05.escape as it finally porous insight. The question is, when will this what
:03:06. > :03:10.a start to go? On the other side of the Levels, you can see more grass
:03:11. > :03:13.than there was seven days ago. The Levels are falling in some places,
:03:14. > :03:17.but on this side of the River Parrett, the river is still rising.
:03:18. > :03:22.On the river is still rising. On this site is much more susceptible
:03:23. > :03:26.to rainfall. Who knows when it will start to go down. There is an online
:03:27. > :03:31.fund that says it has raised more than ?200,000 for flood victims One
:03:32. > :03:36.local action group has told us it has had enough donations and does
:03:37. > :03:41.not need any more. It is now the involvement of the Government which
:03:42. > :03:43.has risen questions. `` which is raising questions. So, as Andrew
:03:44. > :03:46.said, questions being asked about the Government on the day David
:03:47. > :03:51.Cameron paid his second visit to Somerset. David Cameron and senior
:03:52. > :03:54.figures have been critical of the Environment Agency for the autumn is
:03:55. > :03:58.to dredge rivers. But last year the agency decided it wants to dredge
:03:59. > :04:02.the River Tone and the River Parrett. Government rules meant it
:04:03. > :04:06.was not able to put in more than ?400,000 towards the operation which
:04:07. > :04:10.would cost ?4 million. Farmers in Somerset got together and wrote to
:04:11. > :04:13.the Government requesting ?1 million worth of help. That went all the way
:04:14. > :04:17.to Downing Street and the relevant Government ministry and was turned
:04:18. > :04:21.down. I got the chance to talk to the Prime Minister today. He was not
:04:22. > :04:26.too keen to discuss this. They asked for ?1 million last year,
:04:27. > :04:29.it was turned down. More dredging needs to be done and it will be
:04:30. > :04:35.done. Was that a failure on your behalf? We have learned the lessons
:04:36. > :04:41.of the past and more dredging will take place.
:04:42. > :04:45.The Prime Minister has been here twice, many other ministers came and
:04:46. > :04:50.went. What has it achieved? One thing they like as media coverage.
:04:51. > :04:53.There is the odd exception. Labour's Shadow Environment
:04:54. > :04:57.Secretary came to Bridgwater and Roland today and did not want other
:04:58. > :05:02.cameras there. No such reluctance with David Cameron. He visited
:05:03. > :05:08.Taunton police station, seen some of the officials from the emergency
:05:09. > :05:13.services, council and military who are running the operation. The in
:05:14. > :05:18.the decisions. What is a political visit bring us? It helps free up
:05:19. > :05:24.resources both in terms of personnel. The military are actively
:05:25. > :05:29.involved in Somerset. And financial, as we have heard from David Cameron
:05:30. > :05:32.today. Significantly, the Government wants to show they are getting a
:05:33. > :05:39.grip after many weeks when they have been criticised for being behind the
:05:40. > :05:41.curve on this big issue. Avon and Somerset Police have
:05:42. > :05:45.breached data protection laws more than any other force in the country
:05:46. > :05:48.over the past five years. Between January 2009 and October last year
:05:49. > :05:51.there were almost 300 breaches made by police staff. These include
:05:52. > :05:54.releasing names to the media without permission.
:05:55. > :05:57.In tonight's football, bottom of the Championship table Yeovil shared the
:05:58. > :06:00.points with fourth from bottom Millwall.
:06:01. > :06:04.Bristol City were 3`1 winners on the road at Leyton Orient.
:06:05. > :06:07.And in the West derby, Bristol Rovers moved further from the
:06:08. > :06:13.relegation zone with a 1`0 defeat of Cheltenham.
:06:14. > :06:18.Now, just a warning there are unfortunately more storms to come.
:06:19. > :06:21.For the latest, you can tune into your local radio stations and check
:06:22. > :06:24.online. We're back with you in Breakfast tomorrow, but for now
:06:25. > :06:33.let's take a look at the latest weather forecast with Ian Ferguson.
:06:34. > :06:39.A very unsettled story into tomorrow. Two Met Office warnings
:06:40. > :06:42.out. The first of those for the strength of the wind which could be
:06:43. > :06:48.disruptive in its own right. Gusts could well be touching 60 mph. The
:06:49. > :06:52.second of those will be for rain. The rain again will be exacerbating
:06:53. > :06:58.the flooding problems we already have. This could be maybe an inch of
:06:59. > :07:03.rain in some areas. Tonight, it will be a pretty chilly story.
:07:04. > :07:09.Temperatures getting down to freezing. Could be snow in parts of
:07:10. > :07:14.Gloucestershire. Tomorrow, sherry outbreaks of rain and winds. The
:07:15. > :07:19.rain matches until lunchtime, maybe two hours worth of that. Dyer in the
:07:20. > :07:22.afternoon, despite showers, but windier still and so it will
:07:23. > :07:27.continue as we head into the evening. All in all, a recipe for
:07:28. > :07:31.what could be disruptive conditions. Temperatures of 7`9 Celsius. For the
:07:32. > :07:32.warnings on the way for Friday and Saturday.
:07:33. > :07:40.That is when the wind is going to pick up. Thursday looks like a
:07:41. > :07:44.quieter day. Good evening, a roller-coaster ride
:07:45. > :07:50.of weather continues across the British Isles. We want to get off,
:07:51. > :07:55.but unfortunately we have got more white knuckle rides to come. This
:07:56. > :08:01.area of low pressure is bringing wet and extremely windy weather. It
:08:02. > :08:05.happens again on Friday with another deep low moving in from the
:08:06. > :08:11.south-west. That means that potentially over the next five days
:08:12. > :08:17.we could see as much a 60 - 80 millimetres of rainfall, among's
:08:18. > :08:23.worth in just five days. Before that there are lots of tricky conditions
:08:24. > :08:26.out there at the moment. We have got snow across Scotland and Northern
:08:27. > :08:32.Ireland. As these showers pushed further inland and temperatures fall
:08:33. > :08:37.away, we could see snow at lower levels as well. It is a similar
:08:38. > :08:42.story for South Yorkshire and into Derbyshire and perhaps the Midlands.
:08:43. > :08:48.Even if we do not get the snow, and we keep the showers, it will be a
:08:49. > :08:53.cold night, so that could lead to icy stretches on the roads. That
:08:54. > :08:57.will pale into insignificance because the wind is already picking
:08:58. > :09:03.up and an intense band of rain continues to push in across the
:09:04. > :09:08.country. This time it will be a bit more prolonged for tomorrow. The
:09:09. > :09:15.wins either significant feature There is an amber warning for the
:09:16. > :09:20.gusts of wind. Let's look at the afternoon. In the Northern Isles and
:09:21. > :09:26.the far north of Scotland it is quite quiet. Snow continues across
:09:27. > :09:31.the mountains and sharp showers in northern Ireland and northern
:09:32. > :09:37.England. The winds pick up into the North West and the South of Wales.
:09:38. > :09:43.The band of rain is still clinging on to East Anglia and the Essex and
:09:44. > :09:50.Kent coasts. Blizzard conditions are possible overnight in Scotland and
:09:51. > :09:55.on the higher ground. By Thursday things potentially get a little
:09:56. > :10:00.quieter. There will be some showers around, but wet and windy weather
:10:01. > :10:02.set to return as we move towards Friday.