:00:00. > :00:09.Welcome to Wales Today. Our top story.
:00:10. > :00:12.They're top of the class, but teachers elsewhere are simply not up
:00:13. > :00:21.to standard in the latest inspectors report.
:00:22. > :00:24.No doubt there are people who are unsuited to teaching who would be
:00:25. > :00:28.better doing other things but it is not my job to examine the
:00:29. > :00:32.professionalism of each individual teacher.
:00:33. > :00:33.Tonight, the chief inspector of schools tells us why her report
:00:34. > :00:50.makes such uncomfortable reading. Our other headlines tonight.
:00:51. > :00:56.How does this place work? The answer from the politicians who are
:00:57. > :00:59.employed here is, not very well. Our economy is back in business -
:01:00. > :01:04.manufacturers like this are continuing to grow, but are we all
:01:05. > :01:08.feeling the gains? Men at work, but why has it taken BT
:01:09. > :01:12.more than a month to get customers back online.
:01:13. > :01:14.And Sam Warburton is on the bench as Wales start their defence of the Six
:01:15. > :01:25.Nations against Italy. Good evening. The quality of
:01:26. > :01:29.teaching in Wales needs to improve if education standards are to have
:01:30. > :01:34.any chance of getting better. That's the message from the schools
:01:35. > :01:36.watchdog Estyn in its annual report. According to inspectors, the number
:01:37. > :01:41.of secondary schools that are unsatisfactory has increased from
:01:42. > :01:46.one in seven to one in four. There will also be follow-up visits in
:01:47. > :01:49.more than two-thirds of schools. Standards in primary schools were
:01:50. > :01:53.similar to last year, with seven in ten classified as good. The Welsh
:01:54. > :01:57.Government acknowledged there are issues that need to be resolved.
:01:58. > :02:01.Here's our education correspondent Arwyn Jones.
:02:02. > :02:04.BBC Three's hit programme, Young Tough Teachers, follows a group of
:02:05. > :02:08.graduates working for the Teach First charity. They pick the
:02:09. > :02:14.brightest students from the best universities and send them to work
:02:15. > :02:18.in challenging schools. They've just started working in Wales. But
:02:19. > :02:27.today's Estyn report raises concerns about our current crop of teachers.
:02:28. > :02:30.The most important resource in any educational system is the quality of
:02:31. > :02:33.teachers and the quality of teaching in school. Recent data showed that
:02:34. > :02:39.over half our teachers qualified with a 2:1 degree or higher. So what
:02:40. > :02:42.type of salary can they expect? For a newly qualified teacher, it's
:02:43. > :02:46.around ?21,000, going up to ?31,000 after six years. Heads generally
:02:47. > :02:51.start off at around ?70,000 a year and can earn over ?100,000. Unions
:02:52. > :02:56.argue that teachers are worth every penny. What's most needed is time to
:02:57. > :03:04.train and develop throughout their careers. We need to make sure that
:03:05. > :03:08.access to professional development is easily and readily available, it
:03:09. > :03:13.is high-quality, funded and resource. Where we have excellent
:03:14. > :03:19.Cheech 's, who won numerous in Wales, need to make sure they have
:03:20. > :03:23.the opportunity share best practice. At Cwm Tawe Secondary School, they
:03:24. > :03:26.use data on every pupil to set very ambitious targets. As a result, they
:03:27. > :03:35.believe underachievement is being tackled. It is very important to
:03:36. > :03:41.challenge pupils but it is equally important to support them. Another
:03:42. > :03:45.issue raised in the report is how to tackle poverty. At Mount Stuart
:03:46. > :03:50.Primary School in Cardiff Bay, nine out of ten pupils don't have English
:03:51. > :03:53.or Welsh as a first language. A third are from poor backgrounds. But
:03:54. > :03:59.they overcome those challenges by getting parents into the school for
:04:00. > :04:02.one day a week. Parents now expect to come in and they said that the
:04:03. > :04:10.tables and they will do the activities. The parents are really
:04:11. > :04:15.interested. Today's report caps what has been a disappointing 12 months
:04:16. > :04:18.for education in Wales. GCSE results showed signs of improvement, but A
:04:19. > :04:20.Levels and the PISA tests, which chart Wales' progress against other
:04:21. > :04:28.countries, were a real disappointment. Policies that are
:04:29. > :04:31.just beginning to bite that will make a difference, a new testing
:04:32. > :04:36.regime around literacy and numerous sea, a new support network around
:04:37. > :04:39.teachers and there will be more to come. But this isn't enough for the
:04:40. > :04:41.opposition parties, who say the government should apologise for
:04:42. > :04:45.mismanaging the education sector in Wales. Yet again, we're faced with
:04:46. > :04:49.another worrying report on the state of education. The priority would
:04:50. > :04:52.seem to be how to help teachers across Wales.
:04:53. > :04:56.Let's pick up on that with the chief inspector of schools Ann Keane. We
:04:57. > :04:59.seem to have spent years reporting on schools' poor performance and
:05:00. > :05:09.poor teachers and head teachers are at the heart of our problem aren't
:05:10. > :05:15.they? You said that last year. Nothing much has changed much. We
:05:16. > :05:19.are not seeing the improvements we need to see in Wales if we are to
:05:20. > :05:26.make our children truly competitive in terms of their results. We are
:05:27. > :05:33.not seeing those improvements yet. Why? It is true that there are
:05:34. > :05:37.initiatives that the Welsh government has introduced and these
:05:38. > :05:42.initiatives are being rolled out currently. The literacy and numerous
:05:43. > :05:47.eve framework is one of them. And the annual test. We will not see the
:05:48. > :05:50.benefit of those until we have another set in the summer which
:05:51. > :05:56.means schools can use the outcome to look up progress. The Education
:05:57. > :05:58.Minister also said that some teachers should not be in the
:05:59. > :06:04.profession. Parents watching this will wonder why more is not done to
:06:05. > :06:12.remove poor performing teachers and headteachers. That is a matter for
:06:13. > :06:15.the schools and the school governors, not for us as an
:06:16. > :06:23.inspector, to engage with that process. But it is at the heart of
:06:24. > :06:28.the problem, is it not? For teaching generally is part of the problem and
:06:29. > :06:31.we need to engage teachers and build capacity in the workforce in order
:06:32. > :06:37.to be able to address some of the challenges we face in Wales. Do you
:06:38. > :06:42.get depressed writing a report that says, could do better, year after
:06:43. > :06:47.year? What raises my spirits is going to schools like Mount Stuart
:06:48. > :06:52.school where they work against the odds to meet obstacles like the very
:06:53. > :06:55.high rate of free school meals and indeed the fact that most of the
:06:56. > :07:05.children have English as an additional language.
:07:06. > :07:08.A survey by the Electoral Reform Society has found that many AMs
:07:09. > :07:11.believe there should be a comprehensive review of the way the
:07:12. > :07:14.National Assembly is run. In particular, they felt that full
:07:15. > :07:15.Assembly sessions were not used effectively. Here's our Political
:07:16. > :07:18.Editor Nick Servini. It is a wet Tuesday afternoon in
:07:19. > :07:21.Cardiff Bay, the busiest day of the week at the assembly, so it is a
:07:22. > :07:25.really good time to come to try to find out what our Assembly Members
:07:26. > :07:32.are so unhappy about if the results of this survey are correct.
:07:33. > :07:39.Just over half of the 60 Assembly Members answered questions from the
:07:40. > :07:43.Electoral Reform Society. Four out of five full in full assembly
:07:44. > :07:49.sessions like these was not used effectively and efficiently. Below
:07:50. > :07:53.me, the first Minister is being questioned by opposition party
:07:54. > :07:57.leaders and a variety of Assembly Members are given the chance to ask
:07:58. > :08:02.questions as well. One of the concerns is that on occasions, the
:08:03. > :08:05.members don't feel they have enough time to properly scrutinise the
:08:06. > :08:10.Welsh government. I am going to speak to a few of them. One of the
:08:11. > :08:13.backbenchers who had the chance to question the first Minister today
:08:14. > :08:20.was the Conservative, Janet Saunders. How did it go? They were
:08:21. > :08:26.quite good answers for the first time in a long time. I think it is
:08:27. > :08:35.disappointing at times. There is not that much time, three quarters of an
:08:36. > :08:38.hour, for us to ask questions. The responses, I have had lots of
:08:39. > :08:45.representation across Wales were the responses are poor. One man who has
:08:46. > :08:50.experience of Westminster as a Plaid Cymru MP and Cardiff Bay as an
:08:51. > :08:53.Assembly Member is Simon Thomas. I don't think the procedure is the
:08:54. > :09:01.main problem, I think it is a problem of too little real energetic
:09:02. > :09:05.debate, real challenge. It is a political problem, not a procedural
:09:06. > :09:10.problem, and I want to see us getting the full powers and really
:09:11. > :09:17.becoming, acting and talking like a parliament. Once we believe in that,
:09:18. > :09:20.we will all improve. The Presiding Officer says she has brought in
:09:21. > :09:24.changes to give more opportunities to backbenchers to scrutinise the
:09:25. > :09:30.government. She says other attempts to improve accountability have been
:09:31. > :09:35.blocked by Assembly Members. But some say there is still plenty that
:09:36. > :09:39.can be done. Quite often this can feel like Groundhog Day. Ministers
:09:40. > :09:45.avoid answering questions, opposition parties what often tabled
:09:46. > :09:50.the same debates, week in week out. Backbenchers don't have enough time
:09:51. > :09:53.to prepare. The Electoral Reform Society which put together this
:09:54. > :09:57.survey says there is another answer as well as changing the procedure,
:09:58. > :10:03.which is to increase the number of Assembly Members from 60 or 100. But
:10:04. > :10:08.that will be a tough sell with the public.
:10:09. > :10:11.Two hired killers who murdered a teenage boy when they went to the
:10:12. > :10:15.wrong house have launched an appeal against their sentences. 17-year-old
:10:16. > :10:18.Aamir Siddiqi from Cardiff was stabbed to death on his doorstep in
:10:19. > :10:22.front of his parents, who were also injured in the attack. Ben Hope, who
:10:23. > :10:26.is 40, and Jason Richards, who is 39, were convicted last year and
:10:27. > :10:30.handed life sentences with a minimum of 40 years.
:10:31. > :10:35.A farmer's plan to build a 1,000-cow dairy has been put on hold after an
:10:36. > :10:38.animal welfare group intervened. The World Society for the Protection of
:10:39. > :10:41.Animals has been granted a High Court judicial review, where the
:10:42. > :10:45.Welsh Government's decision to allow the dairy at Leighton, near
:10:46. > :10:53.Welshpool, will be assessed. It could be 12 months before the review
:10:54. > :10:57.takes place. A fire that killed a teenage girl
:10:58. > :11:00.while she was house-sitting for her grandparents may have been caused by
:11:01. > :11:03.an electric heater, an inquest has heard. 18-year-old Emily Harris died
:11:04. > :11:07.in the house in Aberdare last October. Investigators believe
:11:08. > :11:11.clothing was left too close to the heater and may have smouldered for
:11:12. > :11:14.hours. So the UK economy grew throughout
:11:15. > :11:17.last year, according to the latest figures. And manufacturing and
:11:18. > :11:21.tourism, both important for the Welsh economy, are doing well. Our
:11:22. > :11:32.economics correspondent Sarah Dickins is at a manufacturing
:11:33. > :11:35.company in Merthyr Tydfil. What is really interesting and quite
:11:36. > :11:40.exciting for people that enjoy some of these numbers is, this is the
:11:41. > :11:46.first time since 2007 that we have had a whole year where we have seen
:11:47. > :11:52.some growth. Manufacturing, like this plant, that is very much at the
:11:53. > :11:56.heart of that growth. Really interesting for Wales because we
:11:57. > :12:02.have more manufacturing than the UK as an average and those sectors are
:12:03. > :12:07.growing. Let's talk to the boss of this company. This welding that is
:12:08. > :12:14.taking place behind this is directly for London. Is it London that is
:12:15. > :12:19.fuelling your growth? There is no doubt there is some pick-up locally
:12:20. > :12:25.but the excess we have tapped into London which makes the difference.
:12:26. > :12:32.And how busy I knew? We are in stream the busy. The lads are
:12:33. > :12:38.working overtime at the moment. And that demand is coming largely from
:12:39. > :12:43.the south-east and London? The overflow, we still have our base
:12:44. > :12:46.products for supermarkets and everything else locally, but in
:12:47. > :12:51.general the extra work is coming from the south-east. One of the big
:12:52. > :13:00.questions is whether this growth is sustainable. With this also is a
:13:01. > :13:11.banking professor from Cardiff University. How much do you think
:13:12. > :13:15.this growth is sustainable? This growth will continue as long as
:13:16. > :13:19.employment grows because what is happening is that GDP is growing and
:13:20. > :13:25.so is employment. The net effect is that we are not actually better off.
:13:26. > :13:31.2013 is no better off than 2012 because GDP per person has remained
:13:32. > :13:35.the same. In that, there will be pockets of excellence with some
:13:36. > :13:43.genuine growth but other areas are contracting. Where does that leave
:13:44. > :13:48.us in Wales? Is this good news? I am very disappointed with the growth
:13:49. > :13:51.results. What we are seeing here is that we have reached capacity and
:13:52. > :13:56.the government has to do allow industry to grow. There will be
:13:57. > :14:01.pockets of excellence where industries are tied to the Expo
:14:02. > :14:05.centre and that will be able to improve but without investment there
:14:06. > :14:12.is not going to be any growth. Thank you both very much.
:14:13. > :14:17.Much more to come before seven o'clock.
:14:18. > :14:22.Cut off since Christmas - why has it taken BT more than a month to get
:14:23. > :14:26.customers back on line? And before he was Cardiff manager,
:14:27. > :14:28.they used to call him the baby faced assassin. Can he execute a win at
:14:29. > :14:38.his old stomping ground? The Leader of the Welsh Liberal
:14:39. > :14:41.Democrats, Kirsty Williams, has defended the action taken by the
:14:42. > :14:45.party following allegations about one of their Asembly Members.
:14:46. > :14:48.William Powell was given a formal written warning about his behaviour
:14:49. > :14:51.towards a young activist, who alleges he gave her and two other
:14:52. > :14:58.women alcohol, touched her leg and put his hands round their waists in
:14:59. > :15:08.2011. Mr Powell apologised unreservedly. Let's talk to Vaughan
:15:09. > :15:11.Roderick. Today was the first time Kirsty Williams has spoken publicly
:15:12. > :15:16.about these events. What did she have to say? This was the first time
:15:17. > :15:20.Kirsty Williams had faced the press since the information about the case
:15:21. > :15:27.of William Powell broke over the weekend. She answered questions, as
:15:28. > :15:31.many questions as the press wanted to ask, and she said she realised
:15:32. > :15:37.these accusations had to be taken seriously, they could not just be
:15:38. > :15:44.ignored. Technically, we did not have to do anything at all. I can do
:15:45. > :15:49.with believe that was not an appropriate way to proceed. Neither
:15:50. > :15:56.did we feel it was appropriate just to have a quick tour member kind of
:15:57. > :16:05.chat or a quiet word in the year of the individual. We felt it was
:16:06. > :16:08.appropriate to take forward the process as we have outlined in the
:16:09. > :16:15.statement and to issue that written warning. Where does that leave
:16:16. > :16:19.William Powell? In one sense, it leaves him exactly where he was
:16:20. > :16:24.before. He was in work in the assembly today, taking part in
:16:25. > :16:29.activities in the chamber. The only thing that has happened is that this
:16:30. > :16:32.has become public. But when I asked Kirsty Williams today, digits the
:16:33. > :16:39.Liberal Democrats to take this matter into account, whether he
:16:40. > :16:43.would stand at the next assembly elections, she refused to say one
:16:44. > :16:48.way or the other. That does not strike me as being an ringing
:16:49. > :16:51.endorsement of William Powell when it comes to standing in the next
:16:52. > :16:55.assembly elections in two years time.
:16:56. > :16:59.A man accused of stabbing a woman more than 40 times at her home in
:17:00. > :17:03.Pembrokeshire has repeatedly denied murder. Joanna Hall died three weeks
:17:04. > :17:06.after an incident in her Tenby home last March. 30-year-old Steven
:17:07. > :17:09.Williams, who's a self confessed alcoholic, told Swansea Crown Court
:17:10. > :17:14.he left the flat to buy alcohol and returned to find Ms Hall bleeding
:17:15. > :17:17.from stab wounds. A petition signed by 11,000 people
:17:18. > :17:22.to keep inpatient care at Cardigan Hospital has been delivered to AMs
:17:23. > :17:27.in the Senedd. In December, it was announced the hospital would only
:17:28. > :17:30.remain open to outpatients. Hywel Dda Health Board said inpatient beds
:17:31. > :17:35.would instead be provided by nursing homes.
:17:36. > :17:40.Tributes have been paid to the poet and lecturer Nigel Jenkins, who's
:17:41. > :17:43.died. He's known for co-editing The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales
:17:44. > :17:50.and for his writing, inspired by Gower and Swansea. He won the Welsh
:17:51. > :17:57.Book of the Year Award in 1996 and was director of Swansea University's
:17:58. > :18:00.creative writing programme. It's only a few miles outside
:18:01. > :18:04.Carmarthen, but the village of Llanllawddog is cut off from the
:18:05. > :18:08.outside world. Damage to phone lines before Christmas mean that some
:18:09. > :18:12.households have not had any phone or internet services for more than a
:18:13. > :18:17.month. BT says it hopes to have the problem fixed by the end of this
:18:18. > :18:21.week. Abigail Neal reports. It's only a few miles outside
:18:22. > :18:25.Carmarthen, but you don't get much more wild than this. And now the
:18:26. > :18:30.sense of isolation is complete, with all means of communication down.
:18:31. > :18:34.Jenny Hare is a writer and painter and the lack of broadband is
:18:35. > :18:39.affecting her work. I sell my paintings on eBay and on the
:18:40. > :18:43.Internet. Of course, you know your customers want to be in contact with
:18:44. > :18:46.you. They've got questions or need to know when something's arriving
:18:47. > :18:49.and I need to keep checking my listings. I can't do any of that
:18:50. > :18:53.without the Internet. 26 homes across the valley were affected.
:18:54. > :18:57.Some have been cut off since before Christmas. BT says initially the
:18:58. > :19:01.phone cables were damaged by bad weather, then a lightning strike
:19:02. > :19:04.caused further damage. Frustrated by the lack of progress, posters began
:19:05. > :19:09.appearing up on phone lines and they appear to have done the trick.
:19:10. > :19:14.Today, engineers were out in force replacing 1.5 kilometres of overhead
:19:15. > :19:20.cable. Some customers have now been re-connected. Jenny Hare is one of
:19:21. > :19:24.16 homes still cut off and she's drawing on her work as self-help
:19:25. > :19:27.writer to remain calm. Well, the last book I delivered was on
:19:28. > :19:33.forgiveness so I'm trying to remember what I wrote and be
:19:34. > :19:36.forgiving about it. We are very, very dependent on BT, especially
:19:37. > :19:41.because we haven't got a mobile signal here. BT say this is proving
:19:42. > :19:45.a massive and complex job, but hope to get everyone back in touch by the
:19:46. > :19:48.end of the week. Sport now, and Warren Gatland has
:19:49. > :19:53.picked his first team for this year's Six Nations. Ashleigh's got
:19:54. > :19:56.the details. Thanks, Jamie. Wales' head coach
:19:57. > :20:00.says it was one of the hardest selections he's had to make. Regular
:20:01. > :20:03.skipper Sam Warburton is only on the bench for Saturday's opener against
:20:04. > :20:06.Italy, despite being passed fit. The captain's arm-band passes to Alun
:20:07. > :20:16.Wyn Jones, with Rhys Priestland picked at fly-half.
:20:17. > :20:20.As the Lions tour ended, so the Six Nations begins, with Alun Wyn Jones,
:20:21. > :20:25.Warren Gatland's chosen man to lead his troops. Sam Warburton is fit
:20:26. > :20:30.after testing his injured shoulder in full contact training but he will
:20:31. > :20:35.take a back-seat against Italy on the replacements bench, having not
:20:36. > :20:38.played for two months. He was desperate to be involved and we are
:20:39. > :20:43.very lucky Indians of the quality we have at number seven. We just felt
:20:44. > :20:55.we would give Justin the opportunity to start. It is a team full of
:20:56. > :20:58.experience. Paul James plays up ruck with Gethin Jenkins being given an
:20:59. > :21:06.extra week to build up his troubled me. Luke Charteris benefits from Ian
:21:07. > :21:10.Evans's suspension. It is still possible that Sam Warburton could
:21:11. > :21:13.start the match on Saturday. Flanker Dan Lydiate is not here after
:21:14. > :21:17.dropping everything to fly to Paris where his fiancee has gone into
:21:18. > :21:21.labour. The teams are hoping for good news on all fronts but nobody
:21:22. > :21:25.knows when he will be back. That's the type this call was at fly half
:21:26. > :21:30.way Rhys Priestland gets the nod ahead of Dan Biggar. Jamie Roberts
:21:31. > :21:36.is back after missing the autumn series. And there is firepower out
:21:37. > :21:40.wide with Leigh Halfpenny to get the goals. It is an important
:21:41. > :21:45.opportunity for Rhys Priestland. He is one of the players the WRU still
:21:46. > :21:49.want to sign on a central contract. It does worry you what is going to
:21:50. > :21:54.happen in the future and I am sure it is not just me that feels like
:21:55. > :22:02.that. There are things frustratingly and it is not the sort of person I
:22:03. > :22:07.am. The players who have signed contracts feel the weight of their
:22:08. > :22:11.shoulders. The players will be trying to put the off field and
:22:12. > :22:15.syringes to one side for a few weeks now. That is easier said than done.
:22:16. > :22:20.But at least they can unite around a shared goal. Being the first team to
:22:21. > :22:23.win three back-to-back Six Nations titles. A win against Italy would
:22:24. > :22:28.help. So the uncertainty continues for
:22:29. > :22:31.many players. Tonight, the Chief Executive of the WRU, Roger Lewis,
:22:32. > :22:34.is meeting Welsh MPs at Westminster to discuss the ongoing row with the
:22:35. > :22:38.regions. Arriving at the meeting, Mr Lewis said he would brief MPs and
:22:39. > :22:42.hoped a solution could be found. The regions have yet to sign a new
:22:43. > :22:45.agreement with the WRU because of a dispute over the way the game is
:22:46. > :22:48.funded. Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar
:22:49. > :22:51.Solskjaer returns to Old Trafford tonight looking for his first
:22:52. > :22:55.Premier League win since taking over as manager. The Norwegian is still
:22:56. > :22:58.idolised at Old Trafford, but there will be no sentiment, with Cardiff
:22:59. > :23:01.rooted at the bottom of the table. While Swansea City face relegation
:23:02. > :23:04.rivals Fulham. Here's Matt Murray. He enjoyed 11 seasons as a player
:23:05. > :23:08.with Manchester United, nicknamed the baby face assassin. He'll be
:23:09. > :23:13.showing his maturity tonight as he returns to his old club as a Premier
:23:14. > :23:17.League manager. Ole Gunner Solskjaer scored the winning goal in the 1999
:23:18. > :23:20.Champions League final. But with Cardiff bottom of the table, he will
:23:21. > :23:24.not be sentimental about tonight's match as he's looks for his first
:23:25. > :23:31.win in the Premier League and a much needed three points. Of course the
:23:32. > :23:36.fear factor is there. You are going to the biggest club in the world. I
:23:37. > :23:40.have been part of many defeats at home so that is not just suddenly
:23:41. > :23:46.now, that has been all over the history. I remember many bad defeats
:23:47. > :23:49.when you go home and react to and that is Manchester United. They
:23:50. > :23:52.always bounce back. Cardiff City have also completed the signing of
:23:53. > :23:56.striker Kenwyne Jones from Stoke City, with Peter Odemwingie going to
:23:57. > :23:59.the Potteries. While Swansea have new signing, striker David Ngog,
:24:00. > :24:03.available after his arrival from Bolton. They've also completed on
:24:04. > :24:07.Adam King from Hearts today. Tonight's match comes in a crucial
:24:08. > :24:17.month of fixtures for the club, who are just above the relegation zone.
:24:18. > :24:23.In this moment, we are all in there. Just six points between 11 teams.
:24:24. > :24:27.And because it is direct opponent every time, or five in the next six
:24:28. > :24:33.games, that means every game is a six pointer. Newport County's match
:24:34. > :24:35.is postponed against Plymouth because of a waterlogged pitch,
:24:36. > :24:41.while Wrexham, who are currently 13th in the Conference, take on
:24:42. > :24:45.Tamworth. Staying with football, the national
:24:46. > :24:49.side will play the Netherlands in a friendly in Amsterdam on June
:24:50. > :24:54.fourth. Chris Coleman's team will be up against the Dutch days before
:24:55. > :24:56.they start their World Cup campaign. Let's get the weather forecast with
:24:57. > :25:05.Derek. Some dry weather today, but plenty
:25:06. > :25:10.more rain and showers as well. The rain and showers circulating around.
:25:11. > :25:14.Low pressure centred over Anglesey and Gwynedd. 10mm to 20mm of rain in
:25:15. > :25:19.places falling on already saturated ground. There's more rain and
:25:20. > :25:23.showers to come in the next 24 hours. A little sleet and snow as
:25:24. > :25:28.well, mainly on higher ground, but nothing major. Ice the main hazard
:25:29. > :25:33.by Thursday because it is going to turn colder. Tonight, more rain and
:25:34. > :25:37.showers at times. Snow on the mountains. Some dry weather as well.
:25:38. > :25:41.Temperatures staying above freezing with light to moderate winds. Here's
:25:42. > :25:47.the picture for eight in the morning. Plenty of cloud. Further
:25:48. > :25:50.rain and showers across the country. Sleet in places and snow on higher
:25:51. > :25:55.ground. Feeling colder with an easterly breeze. During the day and
:25:56. > :26:00.into the afternoon, most of the rain in the east, with sleet in places. A
:26:01. > :26:04.little snow on the hills of Powys, the Brecon Beacons and Black
:26:05. > :26:08.Mountains. However, parts of the west should become dry and a bit
:26:09. > :26:12.brighter. Turning colder tomorrow with an easterly breeze.
:26:13. > :26:18.Temperatures a little lower than today. In Swansea tomorrow, a few
:26:19. > :26:21.showers in the morning. Becoming dry in the afternoon with a high of
:26:22. > :26:25.seven in Gorseinon. In Brecknockshire, cloudy and cold with
:26:26. > :26:30.outbreaks of rain. Snow on Pen y Fan. Tomorrow night, rain, sleet and
:26:31. > :26:33.snow in Powys and the south will gradually clear. And with
:26:34. > :26:37.temperatures falling close to freezing or below, there is a
:26:38. > :26:40.warning of ice. Thursday will be a cold day but much drier. Bright in
:26:41. > :26:44.places. Sunshine in parts of Gwynedd and Ceredigion. Thursday will be the
:26:45. > :26:47.coldest day of the winter so far, but it's all change again on Friday.
:26:48. > :26:52.Another spell of wet and windy weather on the way. Heavy rain and a
:26:53. > :26:55.risk of localised flooding. The rain should clear before evening. The
:26:56. > :27:01.weekend, sunshine and blustery showers. Some of the showers wintry.
:27:02. > :27:05.Also high spring tides this weekend. A storm surge like we had earlier in
:27:06. > :27:07.the month is not expected but flood alerts may be issued for parts of
:27:08. > :27:20.the south and west coast. The headlines from the BBC. The
:27:21. > :27:23.schools watchdog Estyn says the quality of teaching in Wales needs
:27:24. > :27:29.to improve if education standards are to have any chance of getting
:27:30. > :27:33.better. And the UK economy has grown at its fastest rate since 2007,
:27:34. > :27:36.growing in every quarter of last year.
:27:37. > :27:39.We'll have an update for you here at 8.00pm and after the BBC News at
:27:40. > :27:42.10.00pm. That's Wales Today. Thank you for watching. From all of us on
:27:43. > :27:44.the programme, good evening.