:00:00. > :00:18.as most people. Though that won't
:00:19. > :00:23.Good evening. More needs to be done to improve our flood defences and
:00:24. > :00:26.the money spent maintaining them should be trebled. That's according
:00:27. > :00:31.to a major report looking at the devastating winter storms along our
:00:32. > :00:33.coastline. Natural Resources Wales also say communities need to become
:00:34. > :00:43.more self-sufficient and resilient in future. Here's our Environment
:00:44. > :00:47.Correspondent, Iolo ap Dafydd. The storms last winter were
:00:48. > :00:51.exceptional. They hammered the Welsh coastline. We can expect more
:00:52. > :00:54.extreme weather in the future, according to Natural Resources
:00:55. > :00:59.Wales. It's advice for the Welsh government is for sustained
:01:00. > :01:02.investment, that it needs to spend three times as much as it does at
:01:03. > :01:11.the moment just to maintain the existing defences. Aaron estimates
:01:12. > :01:15.are that the money needs to travel in 25 years, so we are spending 100
:01:16. > :01:19.35mm hounds a year. A significant amount of money, especially at this
:01:20. > :01:27.time when government finances are tight. ?12 million has been spent
:01:28. > :01:34.building this wall. It was completed in 2012. Providing approval is
:01:35. > :01:39.provided next year, a bigger scheme will be built next year to protect
:01:40. > :01:43.hundreds of homes. On January the 3rd, the stream here
:01:44. > :01:50.and the tide almost came over the top of the embankment. Six homes
:01:51. > :01:55.were affected. Had the tide and water been ten or 15 centimetres
:01:56. > :02:00.higher, a few hundred homes potentially would have been flooded
:02:01. > :02:10.across this area of Newport. Last December, Rhyl was flooded after
:02:11. > :02:15.defences were breached. Natural Resources Wales once community to be
:02:16. > :02:21.Morse sufficient and resilient to flooding. Four months later in real,
:02:22. > :02:29.work is going on to repair the defences. -- in Rhyl. Homeowners,
:02:30. > :02:33.who are continuing to repair their houses after the devastating floods,
:02:34. > :02:34.needed take more responsibility as well, according to Natural Resources
:02:35. > :02:42.Wales. can take all of the responsibility.
:02:43. > :02:46.But at a time like this for me have had serious flooding, they need some
:02:47. > :02:53.help and advice, maybe some instruction. There
:02:54. > :02:58.help and advice, maybe some that we can prevent flooding all
:02:59. > :03:06.over the place and if there has to be some selective areas given up to
:03:07. > :03:11.the sea, then you have to understand why this is the case. Since the
:03:12. > :03:15.storms, the Welsh government has allocated over ?10 million. It will
:03:16. > :03:18.need time to consider the 47 recommendations before deciding
:03:19. > :03:21.which ones to accept. The Leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage,
:03:22. > :03:25.was forced to cancel a walk around Swansea City centre due to security
:03:26. > :03:28.concerns. A number of protesters had gathered before he was due to arrive
:03:29. > :03:31.to officially launch the party's manifesto ahead of the European
:03:32. > :03:33.elections. UKIP says Wales is becoming increasingly Eurosceptic
:03:34. > :03:44.despite receiving billions of pounds from the European Union.
:03:45. > :03:48.One of the reasons that post-industrial Wales receives money
:03:49. > :03:51.from the European Union is that so many of its industries have been
:03:52. > :03:56.closing down. If you look at the industrial policy and energy policy
:03:57. > :03:59.the European Union puts in place and over which the Welsh Assembly and
:04:00. > :04:04.the Westminster Parliament have no power and no say at all, you will
:04:05. > :04:08.see that high energy prices and overregulation RDA industrialising
:04:09. > :04:11.Wales and the rest of our nation. The Prime Minister has paid tribute
:04:12. > :04:14.to five service personnel who were killed in a helicopter crash in
:04:15. > :04:17.Afghanistan last weekend. Among them were Captain Tom Clarke from
:04:18. > :04:25.Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan and Lance Corporal Oliver Thomas
:04:26. > :04:27.from Brecon. These tragic deaths remind us of the continued
:04:28. > :04:32.commitment and sacrifice of our Armed Forces. I know that our
:04:33. > :04:33.deepest of these are with their families at this very difficult
:04:34. > :04:37.time. Bridgend Council says it will look
:04:38. > :04:41.for alternatives to a pay freeze in order to save money. Unions are
:04:42. > :04:44.unhappy at a proposal to offer pay rises for only the lowest paid while
:04:45. > :04:49.other Welsh Councils are proposing rises for all staff. Bridgend
:04:50. > :04:55.Council says the freeze would have saved a million pounds to help
:04:56. > :04:58.protect jobs and services. E-cigarettes are set to be banned in
:04:59. > :05:03.all council buildings in Caerphilly, including leisure centres and
:05:04. > :05:10.libraries. It's one of the first councils in Wales to stop staff
:05:11. > :05:13.using them. Rhodri Lewis reports. The rise of the e-cigarette has been
:05:14. > :05:17.astonishing. More than two million people now use them across the UK.
:05:18. > :05:21.That figure's trebled in two years. But Caerphilly council says the time
:05:22. > :05:28.has now come for them to go the way of normal cigarettes and be banned
:05:29. > :05:34.inside its buildings. In the interest of continuity, long time
:05:35. > :05:41.ago we banned ordinary cigarettes and we now feel the time is right to
:05:42. > :05:47.ban e-cigarettes to enable our staff to give up smoking. It will be
:05:48. > :05:50.enforced in all other council buildings in the borough. These
:05:51. > :05:52.include libraries, leisure centres and community centres. The decision
:05:53. > :05:59.got a mixed reaction in Caerphilly this afternoon. Disgusting. The
:06:00. > :06:04.simple reason is it is not cigarette smoke, it is only vapour. We have
:06:05. > :06:08.only just got used to be not smoking in public places and now they have
:06:09. > :06:11.e-cigarette. Ban them. But one leading expert says e-cigarettes may
:06:12. > :06:19.actually be the most effective way of helping people quit smoking.
:06:20. > :06:23.There is no question of looking at someone using that and thinking they
:06:24. > :06:26.are smoking. So it is not dangerous to be near someone who is using an
:06:27. > :06:33.electronic cigarette, there is really no evidence and very little
:06:34. > :06:38.reason to believe that it will be normalised smoking, so what is the
:06:39. > :06:42.problem? The Welsh government is still considering its own ban across
:06:43. > :06:45.the country, the only part of the UK to do so. The new rules in
:06:46. > :06:48.Caerphilly will be introduced within weeks.
:06:49. > :06:51.The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have finished their two-day tour of
:06:52. > :06:54.Wales by visiting Caerphilly and the Vale of Glamorgan. They opened a new
:06:55. > :06:57.printing press at a factory in Hengoed, before visiting Atlantic
:06:58. > :07:01.College in Llantwit Major. A new surfing centre at the site of
:07:02. > :07:04.a former aluminium plant in the Conwy Valley has been given the
:07:05. > :07:08.go-ahead. The facility, described as the first of its kind in Europe open
:07:09. > :07:13.to the public, will allow surfers to ride artificially created waves on a
:07:14. > :07:16.massive man-made lake. Cricket and Glamorgan drew their
:07:17. > :07:20.latest championship match at Leicestershire. Set 321 to win,
:07:21. > :07:26.Glamorgan finished their second innings on 250 for seven.
:07:27. > :07:30.As celebrations take place to mark the 100th anniversary of Dylan
:07:31. > :07:34.Thomas's birth, our reporter Tomos Morgan has been to New York, where
:07:35. > :07:45.he spent his last days, to find out what he means to people there.
:07:46. > :07:51.The city of towers was Dylan Thomas's discussion of New York. You
:07:52. > :07:59.can see why. He came a four times to promote his work. We will be here to
:08:00. > :08:02.look at the place which was such a part of his history.
:08:03. > :08:04.Look forward to that tomorrow, but is there much to look forward to on
:08:05. > :08:09.the weather front? Look forward to that tomorrow, but
:08:10. > :08:12.is there much to It looks promising for the bank holiday weekend but we
:08:13. > :08:17.have some heavy under a shower is in place for tomorrow. There will be
:08:18. > :08:20.some surface water flooding. There are showers spreading across the
:08:21. > :08:24.country with some mist and hill fog as well. Tomorrow morning, a few
:08:25. > :08:28.places are dry but that will not be the case everywhere. There will be
:08:29. > :08:35.rain and showers, heavy showers in the south-west. Misty in places as
:08:36. > :08:41.well. They will be outbreaks of rain across much of the country. Some
:08:42. > :08:45.heavy and thundery downpours in places with a Met Office warning in
:08:46. > :08:51.force. Northern Scotland will brighten up and a wide range in
:08:52. > :08:56.temperature, a chilly eight Celsius, a warmer 17 in London. In Wales
:08:57. > :08:58.tomorrow afternoon, it is a case of dodging the showers were stopped
:08:59. > :09:04.they will be heavy and thundery in places but it will be hit and miss.
:09:05. > :09:10.There should be some sunshine in the West. The showers were slowly fade
:09:11. > :09:15.away and cooler air will filter down into mid Wales and the North. Friday
:09:16. > :09:19.is a better day in prospect. The odd shower but generally drier. Plenty
:09:20. > :09:23.of cloud and feeling fresher. If you consist of sunshine. Tomorrow night,
:09:24. > :09:29.it will be chilly with some ground frost. There will be high pressure
:09:30. > :09:37.over the UK on Saturday, which means dry and settled weather. Saturday a
:09:38. > :09:41.decent day, dry with decent temperatures. There is more dry
:09:42. > :09:50.weather to come on bank holiday Monday. Overall, some decent Monday
:09:51. > :09:53.for the bank. -- for the bank holiday.
:09:54. > :09:57.And that is Wales Today. We'll be back with updates in the morning
:09:58. > :10:02.from around 6:25am. For now, though, from all of us here, good night.