Browse content similar to 08/12/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Wales Today. Our top stories: | :00:02. | :00:05. | |
Two school examiners suspended - allegations they broke the rules | :00:05. | :00:08. | |
telling teachers what questions might come up. | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
The Education Minister says there must be confidence in our exam | :00:11. | :00:15. | |
system. He's also unveiled new banding for our schools - but how | :00:15. | :00:25. | |
:00:25. | :00:32. | ||
clear a picture does it give of how Tonight's other headlines: | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
The First Minister suggests he now supports building wind farms in mid | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
Wales as protestors head to the Senedd. | :00:38. | :00:40. | |
Also tonight: How wealth may have a big say on | :00:40. | :00:44. | |
how long you live. And choppy seas off Anglesey - | :00:44. | :00:53. | |
Wales records wind speeds of 81 Two school examiners are suspended | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
tonight after the Daily Telegraph secretly filmed them telling | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
teachers at a seminar what areas of the syllabus wouldn't come up in | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
exams. It's alleged they broke rules when they advised the | :01:04. | :01:08. | |
teachers in England on the topics for future exams. Our Education | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
Correspondent Ciaran Jenkins is at the Senedd, Ciaran. | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
81% of children in Wales take GCSE's run by the exam board WJEC | :01:16. | :01:24. | |
and 7% of pupils in England sit their exams. The UK's education | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
Minister Michael Gove has now ordered an inquiry and here | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
Education Minister Leighton Andrews is calling on the exam board to | :01:29. | :01:35. | |
answer the claims. Caroline Evans has more. | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
Tonight two history examiners, Paul Evans the chief examiner for | :01:38. | :01:40. | |
history for WJEC and Paul Barnes are suspended because, according to | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
the Telegraph newspaper which went under cover to 13 meetings run by a | :01:44. | :01:54. | |
:01:54. | :01:59. | ||
number of exam boards, what took You should be grateful that you | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
have got a choice rather than saying, we have to tell you. We are | :02:02. | :02:07. | |
cheating, we are telling you the cycle. Probably, the regulator | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
would tell us off. That is not written anywhere in the | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
specification? We are not allowed to tell you. | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
How much should I do on Bill Clinton and President Bush? The | :02:20. | :02:26. | |
answer is none. They will never be a specific question. Seminars like | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
this take place routinely. Teachers pay �120 to spend a day being | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
briefed on teaching approaches. The WJEC says the information given at | :02:33. | :02:37. | |
the courses is freely available on their website so that no teacher or | :02:37. | :02:40. | |
students are at a disadvantage by teachers being unable to attend the | :02:40. | :02:42. | |
courses. But they are treating these allegations as a matter of | :02:42. | :02:44. | |
urgency. The question is whether the content | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
relayed by the examiners is already in are published guidance or | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
whether they are adding to that. If they were, whether that has crossed | :02:54. | :02:56. | |
the line of being inappropriate. Education Minister Leighton Andrews, | :02:57. | :02:59. | |
who was opening a school in Caerphilly today, said he was | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
taking the allegations extremely seriously. | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
I am very concerned about the allegations that have been made | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
today. I demanded answers yesterday from the examining board when we | :03:12. | :03:17. | |
heard about this issue. There will be a full investigation carried out | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
by the regulators for the exams in Wales, England and other parts of | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
the UK. We are taking these allegations very seriously indeed. | :03:27. | :03:30. | |
Peggy George was a history teacher for 34 years and chair of the WJEC | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
history panel. She says it's possible for all teachers now to | :03:33. | :03:41. | |
predict what will come up in exams. What has happened now is that the | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
syllabus is very, very short by comparison with the old ones. They | :03:45. | :03:51. | |
are divided into specific areas, usually four or five. You are | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
guaranteed a question in each area and each area is very closely | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
defined. It doesn't take an awful lot of guesswork Corri teacher to | :03:59. | :04:01. | |
follow this. The two examiners have been | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
suspended until the investigation is complete and will be spoken to | :04:04. | :04:06. | |
before the weekend. The WJEC has given assurances that if necessary | :04:07. | :04:16. | |
it will create a new assessment Not just a day when the exam system | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
has come under scrutiny, but the performance of schools across the | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
board. The Welsh Government has published a new banding structure | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
for our schools. But there are questions about how effectively it | :04:27. | :04:35. | |
will inform parents about how their Welcome to a band two school, | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
Sandfield's Comprehensive near Port Talbot. In the Welsh Government's | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
new system of grading schools from one to five, it's come out nearer | :04:43. | :04:50. | |
the top than the bottom. But what is banding and how does it work? | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
The Welsh Government has come up with a single score for every | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
school in the country. The score is school in the country. The score is | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
based on this year's GCSE results. And it also looks at pupils' | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
attendance. The scoring system is designed to reward schools that | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
make progress so schools where exam results get better, or attendance | :05:09. | :05:14. | |
improves. And the score also takes into account the number of pupils | :05:14. | :05:20. | |
on free school meals. This is supposed to compensate for the | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
difficulty of running a school in a deprived area. All these factors | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
come together to produce an overall score for each school. Then the | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
results are simply divided into five bands, with one being the best | :05:30. | :05:40. | |
:05:40. | :05:41. | ||
There will be support from local authorities, sometimes that will | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
mean the secondment of people to help those schools but we are | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
discussing with local authorities to arrange support. | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
Many of the measures within this particular banding system at | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
indicators that have been used for a long time already. They are | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
things schools will recognise. The issue of whether putting them | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
together is helpful is another matter. The simple fact is we have | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
it now and we need to work out how to use it constructively. | :06:09. | :06:12. | |
telling that to the 28 schools now identified by the Welsh Government | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
as being the worst in the country. Schools like Caldicot High in | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
Monmouthshire and Glyn Derw High in Cardiff. We asked each one of them | :06:21. | :06:29. | |
if they'd talk about their result, they all refused. | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
Some schools will tell you that they will be branded as successful | :06:33. | :06:39. | |
schools. Others in the lower bands will be branded as schools that are | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
not as successful and probably branded as scaling schools. That is | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
very unfair. -- failing schools. Our band 2 school is also not | :06:49. | :06:51. | |
convinced the system is fair. Sandfields was recently applauded | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
by the school inspectorate Estyn for being excellent in nine out of | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
10 areas. But this school has a large unit for pupils with special | :06:59. | :07:08. | |
needs and the banding system doesn't take that into account. | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
We are an inclusive school but it cannot lead to us, perhaps, not | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
being measured how we would like with other schools. No other | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
schools have more than 70 people in the unit within the school. | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
The system has created winners as well as losers. Proud new band one | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
schools. The Welsh Government says the point of the system is to | :07:29. | :07:34. | |
identify schools in need of support. But it's also a tool for parents | :07:34. | :07:36. | |
choosing secondary schools for their children, a decision facing | :07:36. | :07:45. | |
these mums and dads at All Saints primary near Wrexham. | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
People who have more money have got more social mobility, will move to | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
where the good schools are. Everybody wants the best for their | :07:54. | :07:56. | |
children. I think they will take notice of it. | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
From now on, secondary schools will be banded every year. But | :07:59. | :08:05. | |
complaints about the fairness of the system are unlikely to go away. | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
And you can see which band your school is in, on our website - | :08:09. | :08:19. | |
:08:19. | :08:25. | ||
There is a lot to talk about. First of all the banding. Some confusion | :08:25. | :08:31. | |
about some of the results tonight? That is what the education | :08:31. | :08:33. | |
spokesperson for the Welsh Conservatives are saying. The | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
opposition, here. They are saying that the system is confusing for | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
parents. It seems that within this system, the banding system, some | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
schools that have excellent exam results actually found themselves | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
in a lower band than those with worst exam results. Let's take an | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
example here in Cardiff. This school has the third best GCSE | :08:56. | :09:03. | |
results in Wales and yet it finds itself in band three tonight. The | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
Welsh government saying to that school that there are lots of | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
schools doing better than them. This was introduced to chart | :09:11. | :09:14. | |
progress? At his right. The Welsh government | :09:14. | :09:19. | |
wants to support schools within the lower bands. It wants to see them | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
progress year on year and yet the system it has created means that | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
next year there will be five bands just as there are next year so | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
there will still be failing schools. It is hard to see how they will | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
communicate that idea of progress. They have not published the | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
individual score for each school that they have done such a lot of | :09:37. | :09:44. | |
work to produce. Effectively they have created new league tables or | :09:44. | :09:53. | |
they have created new leagues but not the tables within the leaks. | :09:53. | :09:58. | |
Let's turn our attention to the investigation into the WJEC. Two | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
examine this suspended tonight. How embarrassing is this? | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
This will be of great concern to the WJEC. They are all about | :10:07. | :10:13. | |
qualifications after all. If there is also destined you can cheat the | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
system to attain a qualification, that is extremely damaging. That is | :10:18. | :10:25. | |
why the Education Secretary is taking this so seriously. The WJEC | :10:25. | :10:30. | |
will be examining this footage very closely to look first of all to see | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
whether those officials have broken any rules and if they have done, | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
that could be very problematic indeed for our national exam board | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
in Wales. Thank you. | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
Campaigners fighting plans for wind farms and pylons in mid Wales took | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
their protest to the Senedd today. It follows a statement on energy by | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
First Minister Carwyn Jones in which he appears to support their | :10:51. | :10:54. | |
development, but just a few months ago, he argued against pylons and | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
called for a limit on wind farms. More from our Environment | :10:57. | :11:04. | |
Correspondent, Iolo Ap Dafydd. In their 4x4 and trailers, the | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
campaigning group Montgomryshire Against Pylons came to the Senedd | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
to show Assembly Member's how the proposed wind turbines and National | :11:09. | :11:14. | |
Grid pylons would affect communities in mid Wales. Their aim | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
is to remind the Welsh government how its policies of encouraging | :11:17. | :11:25. | |
wind farms in specific areas could have a detrimental impact. | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
It is for the politicians, the policy makers, who we don't yet | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
believe have really thought this through and look at the cumulative | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
effect in terms of transport, the effects on tourism, which is a | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
massive part of a local economy. Also in town today, the UK's energy | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
minister who said more turbines and new pylons may well be necessary in | :11:45. | :11:52. | |
the wider national interest. Local views are important and that | :11:52. | :11:57. | |
is a statutory part of the process. At the end of the day we are making | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
decisions on the national interest. Sometimes we have to look at | :12:00. | :12:06. | |
investment in the infrastructure. We have to have electricity. | :12:06. | :12:08. | |
At a news conference in the National Assembly, the first | :12:08. | :12:11. | |
minister explained why more wind farms and other renewable energy is | :12:11. | :12:17. | |
necessary. Does that mean you want to see more | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
wind farms and because of that, more pylons in certain parts of | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
Wales? Pylons are a matter for the UK | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
government. Do we want to see more we in? That is right. There are | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
limits to that. Yet in June, his view on wind farms | :12:31. | :12:38. | |
and pylons was different. I don't think there will be a need | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
for pile on snow. We have looked that imposing a maximum amount of | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
energy generation each specific search area in Wales. Then, the | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
pilots' will not be needed in our view. | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
So what's changed? Why does extending the energy infrastructure | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
in mid Wales seem to be an accepted necessity by the Welsh and UK | :12:56. | :13:01. | |
governments? I see the development in December | :13:01. | :13:07. | |
did shake the confidence in the industry somewhat. That led to | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
negotiation of the future investment. As I say, the energy | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
companies are still maintaining their interest in the region and | :13:14. | :13:16. | |
are trying to work a way through this. | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
The National Grid is expected to announce in the New Year its | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
preferred route for new pylons. And the argument is likely to intensify | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
if burying transmission cables underground becomes a serious | :13:24. | :13:31. | |
option, despite being more You're watching Wales Today. Still | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
ahead tonight: The main route between north and south revamped. | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
Improving travel times on the A470. And we haven't escaped the bad | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
weather as strong winds bring down trees. Derek's standing by with the | :13:41. | :13:49. | |
forecast. The gap in life expectancy between | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
rich and poor areas of Wales is growing. A report for the NHS shows | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
men in the most deprived areas are likely to die nine years before | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
those in the most well off. The gap for women is also growing. Our | :14:00. | :14:07. | |
health correspondent, Hywel Griffith, is here to explain more. | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
For the first time, we've got a pretty detailed measure of the | :14:10. | :14:12. | |
differences in people's health, not just across Wales, but within | :14:12. | :14:18. | |
different places. The inequalities it reveals are pretty stark. For | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
women, Ceredigion has the longest life expectancy at 84, a whole five | :14:21. | :14:27. | |
years longer than in Blaneau Gwent. Similarly, for men, Ceredigion also | :14:27. | :14:31. | |
comes out best at 80. The worst life expectancy is in Merthyr | :14:31. | :14:36. | |
Tydfil, at 75. In general, we're all living longer, but there's a | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
growing health gap in Wales between the most well off areas and the | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
most deprived. The gap in male life expectancy between rich and poor | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
used to be 8.6 years. But in recent years, the gap has grown to over | :14:50. | :14:55. | |
nine years. The same goes for women. In the last decade, it's the | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
poorest people in Wales who have gained the least in terms of their | :14:58. | :15:08. | |
:15:08. | :15:10. | ||
health. But why? At the moment, there is less money available | :15:10. | :15:16. | |
because of the recession. People have less money to make healthy | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
choices in a living. There is a long-standing history of Paul work | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
opportunities and educational achievement and those things will | :15:25. | :15:31. | |
contribute to the problem. And how do you address those big problems? | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
This report helps, as it looks at the differences at a micro level. | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
Let's look at Wrexham for example. There, women living in one suburb | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
can expect to live eight years longer than in a neighbouring one. | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
The gap in how long they can expect to live without health problems is | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
even greater - a gap of over 15 years. These types of inequalities | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
are even bigger in cities like Cardiff and Swansea.. The Welsh | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
Government says it is acting, but that the problem is complex. These | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
figures show the NHS and councils will have to be much better in | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
targeting their limited resources to stop the gulf between rich and | :16:01. | :16:09. | |
poor growing. A police officer's been charged | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
with burglary after an incident at Aspers Casino in Swansea in October. | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
33-year-old Ceri Rees has been suspended from the Dyfed Powys | :16:16. | :16:23. | |
force. She's been bailed to appear in court at a later date. | :16:23. | :16:25. | |
The Welsh discount fashion chain, Peacocks, has refused to comment on | :16:26. | :16:28. | |
reports suggesting that hundreds of its stores could close. But the | :16:29. | :16:31. | |
company has confirmed that it's working on a plan to restructure | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
the business. The Cardiff-based retailer has over 500 stores in the | :16:34. | :16:43. | |
UK and another 100 overseas. The new blue disabled parking badge | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
will be free in Wales. Councils in England and Scotland may charge up | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
to �10 and �20 respectively for the badge. The new badge will be harder | :16:49. | :16:56. | |
to copy, forge and alter as a result of an improved design. | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
Exports from Wales have increased by almost �2.5 billion over the | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
last year, according to the Welsh Government. The value of exports | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
for the four quarters up to and including 2011 quarter three | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
increased by 22% compared to the same period the year before. Wales | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
had the highest growth rate of the UK countries in both imports and | :17:12. | :17:17. | |
exports over the same period. The day after he unveiled his new | :17:17. | :17:19. | |
strategy for Wales, the Transport Minister, Carl Sargeant, has | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
officially opened a new stretch of the A470. The new road has taken | :17:23. | :17:28. | |
almost two years to complete. It runs between the villages of | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
Cwmbach, near Builth Wells, and Newbridge on Wye. But as Cemlyn | :17:31. | :17:41. | |
:17:41. | :17:43. | ||
Davies reports, the response locally has been mixed. | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
Carl Sargeant officially opened this new section of the A470. The | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
three-and a-half mile stretch has taken two years to complete costing | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
more than �50 million. The old road between Builth Wells and Newbridge- | :17:57. | :18:03. | |
on-Wye was one of the windiest stretches of the A470 but this new | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
road has cut out 18 Bence and just look how straight it is now. The | :18:08. | :18:14. | |
new road is expected to cut journey times by three minutes. This is a | :18:14. | :18:18. | |
fundamental part of improving safety and access across the A470. | :18:18. | :18:24. | |
It has been delivered on time and on budget. I could not ask for more | :18:24. | :18:30. | |
from the contractors. It has been a big challenge because the | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
conditions have not been helpful. We lost about eight weeks last year | :18:34. | :18:38. | |
but we regained that time. Environmentally, it has been a | :18:38. | :18:43. | |
challenge as well but nothing that we could not reasonably overcome. | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
We have ended up with a very good looking job. Over in a nearby pub, | :18:48. | :18:52. | |
the response was less positive. Some of these locals are worried | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
about the impact the new road could have on the area. It is going to | :18:57. | :19:05. | |
take 50 % off my finances because I am losing passing trade. The old | :19:05. | :19:10. | |
road was winded but you had to go slow because it was winded. This is | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
a faster road and if it's going to be -- if this is an accident, it | :19:14. | :19:24. | |
will be more significant. More work will be did on this road and plans | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
to Ike's Pond -- expand the role which has been postponed. | :19:29. | :19:31. | |
Stereophonics lead singer, Kelly Jones, says he's honoured Gary | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
Speed's widow has asked for one of his recordings to be played at her | :19:35. | :19:37. | |
husband's funeral tomorrow. Jones was asked by BBC Wales to record | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
the unofficial Welsh football anthem, "Can't Take My Eyes Off | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
You", as a tribute to the Wales football manager who died last | :19:43. | :19:51. | |
month. Are you one of the people who will | :19:51. | :19:53. | |
be carrying the Olympic torch around Wales next summer? Well, | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
today, hundreds of people across the country were told that they'd | :19:56. | :19:58. | |
be taking part, including 14-year- old Hannah Jarrett from Bridgend. | :19:59. | :20:01. | |
She was nominated after raising more than �2,000 for a diabetes | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
charity, despite suffering from the condition herself. She was in | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
London with some of the other 8,000 nominees who will carry the torch | :20:07. | :20:17. | |
in a relay around the UK. I will be really proud to carry it through my | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
home town with all my friends and family to support me. | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
On Monday, this year's BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year will | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
be announced. Five world champions are in the running and desperate | :20:27. | :20:37. | |
:20:37. | :20:40. | ||
for your vote. Tonight, it's the turn of triathlete, Helen Jenkins. | :20:40. | :20:42. | |
Triathlon world champion Helen Jenkins could have chosen any | :20:43. | :20:49. | |
easier event in which to make their mark. Three gruelling races in one | :20:49. | :20:52. | |
day are par for the cause for triathletes but to compete | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
consistently through the long season and become the best in the | :20:55. | :21:01. | |
world really puts her on a pedestal once again. Her win over the | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
Olympics course in Hyde Park today in opposition for the world title | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
which she won for the second time in their career. Dare we hope for a | :21:10. | :21:20. | |
:21:20. | :21:20. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 52 seconds | :21:20. | :22:13. | |
repeat performance from her in Hyde In a moment, we'll have the full | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
weather forecast from Derek. But first, Wales escaped the worst of | :22:15. | :22:18. | |
the storm which hit Scotland. However, these choppy scenes in | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
Anglesey show just how windy it was with severe gales. A number of | :22:21. | :22:24. | |
trees have fallen with the Lleyn Peninsula experiencing winds of | :22:24. | :22:34. | |
:22:34. | :22:37. | ||
over 80mph. So Derek, what's it It has been wild and wet today. | :22:37. | :22:43. | |
John Branagan sent in this photo of a swollen River Dee in Llangollen. | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
At the moment, there are two flood alerts in force on the River Conwy, | :22:46. | :22:56. | |
:22:56. | :23:04. | ||
Dyfi and Lake Vyrnwy. Scotland recorded the highest gust today. | :23:04. | :23:10. | |
165mph on top of Cairngorm mountain. Just short of a UK record. The | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
highest gust in Wales was around half that. 81mph at Aberdaron on | :23:15. | :23:22. | |
the Lleyn Peninsula. Strong enough to bring down a few trees. The | :23:22. | :23:27. | |
reason for the stormy weather is an intense Atlantic low pressure. It | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
will move towards Norway tonight with colder Arctic winds for | :23:29. | :23:36. | |
Britain. So the worst is over for Wales. The heavy rain has gone, | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
leaving a much drier, clearer night. Just a few showers in the north. | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
It'll be breezy with strong winds on the north coast and Anglesey and | :23:43. | :23:52. | |
it'll be cold. Temperatures inland falling as low as 2C. So tomorrow, | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
a much better start to the day. Cold but generally dry. Some patchy | :23:56. | :24:01. | |
cloud and clear skies. Good visibility as well. Some showers on | :24:01. | :24:11. | |
the north coast. So a better day tomorrow. Some sunshine but a few | :24:11. | :24:16. | |
showers as well, falling as rain, hail, sleet or snow. The snow | :24:16. | :24:23. | |
mainly on higher ground above 200m or 600 feet. A dusting in places | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
but a warning is no longer in force. And some places will stay dry. Cold | :24:28. | :24:35. | |
but not as windy as today. Top temperatures, 7C. Tomorrow night | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
becoming dry, clear and cold. Temperatures falling as low as -3C | :24:39. | :24:44. | |
with a widespread frost and icy patches. Saturday then will start | :24:44. | :24:52. | |
cold and crisp. The odd shower in the north, but otherwise dry. Some | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
sunshine and light winds. Sunday, not so good. Less cold with some | :24:57. | :25:05. | |
rain clearing to showers. By the way, St Luke's Church, Cilfynydd, | :25:05. | :25:07. | |
are having a Christmas tree festival this weekend. Father | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
Christmas will be there and Saturday should be dry. While in | :25:10. | :25:13. | |
Peterston Super Ely, I will be switching on the Christmas lights | :25:13. | :25:21. | |
on Sunday. The weather is not very festive but lots of fun is | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
forecast! So after today's stormy weather, a much better day in | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
prospect tomorrow. Colder with some sunshine and a few wintry showers. | :25:28. | :25:31. | |
Saturday looks to be the best day of the weekend for going Christmas | :25:31. | :25:36. | |
shopping. Let's take a look at a few of your Christmas pictures now. | :25:36. | :25:39. | |
The first is a winter scene by Louise Guy from the Cathedral | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
School in Llandaff. Next, a beautiful Christmas tree by Thomas | :25:43. | :25:49. | |
and Rose Foskett from Penstrowed in Powys. And finally, a snowman by | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
Tomos Rees Jones from Bontnewydd. Well, Tomos, a little snow is | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
likely on some hills and mountains tomorrow but not enough to build a | :25:59. | :26:09. | |
:26:09. | :26:10. | ||
The reminder of our main news. The leaders of France and Germany have | :26:10. | :26:15. | |
made dramatic appeals for support across Europe as they try and save | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
the euro currency. The French President says the risk of European | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
disintegration is now greater than ever. | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
To WJEC School examiners are suspended tonight after the Daily | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
Telegraph secretly filmed them telling teachers at a seminar what | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
would come up in exams. It is alleged the broke rules when they | :26:36. | :26:39. | |
advised teachers in England on the topics the future exams. | :26:39. | :26:43. | |
The last government has published a new banding structure for schools. | :26:44. | :26:50. | |
But there are questions over how effective it will be. | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
Scotland has been battered by the worst storm in 10 years. Again | :26:55. | :27:00. | |
force winds of up to 165 miles an hour have left schools closed, | :27:00. | :27:03. | |
driving dangerous and more than 50,000 homes without power. The | :27:03. | :27:08. | |
North of England was badly affected as well. Wales recorded wind speeds | :27:08. | :27:13. | |
of up to 81 miles an hour. If you have a story you want this | :27:13. | :27:23. | |
:27:23. | :27:31. | ||
to cover, get in touch. The Don't forget our website: | :27:31. | :27:34. |