:00:00. > :00:09.The view from the train window of Storm Imogen.
:00:10. > :00:11.Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain batter the country.
:00:12. > :00:14.The death of teenage soldier Cheryl James from Llangollen may not
:00:15. > :00:16.have been suicide, an inquest has heard.
:00:17. > :00:18.And the BBC understands the insurance giant Aviva
:00:19. > :00:38.is the main funder of the Circuit of Wales project.
:00:39. > :00:41.Storm Imogen has been causing damage and disruption,
:00:42. > :00:44.as strong winds and rain batter the country.
:00:45. > :00:47.Power has ben restored to more than 1,000 homes tonight.
:00:48. > :00:50.Flights, ferries and trains have been cancelled because of strong
:00:51. > :00:53.winds and flooding, and part of the M4 was closed for five hours
:00:54. > :01:04.Passengers this morning had a lucky escape on this train travelling
:01:05. > :01:10.Further down the coast in Aberystwyth, the promenade
:01:11. > :01:14.was closed as huge waves, some as high as lamp posts,
:01:15. > :01:22.Strong winds have played havoc on the roads, with falling trees
:01:23. > :01:23.proving treacherous, along with dislodged
:01:24. > :01:30.The whole of Bridgend town centre had to be shut
:01:31. > :01:35.After meeting, it was decided we cannot guarantee the safety
:01:36. > :01:40.of the public due to high winds, and the winds, as we know,
:01:41. > :01:45.are continuing throughout the day, so a decision was made that we have
:01:46. > :01:48.to close off the town centre for the public's safety.
:01:49. > :01:50.I've come down to do banking today from Porthcawl,
:01:51. > :01:53.down to Bridgend, and obviously with the street being closed off
:01:54. > :01:59.It's very inconvenient but needs must.
:02:00. > :02:01.We've got to think about safety, haven't we?
:02:02. > :02:06.Wind speeds of more than 80 mph have been recorded on the coast around
:02:07. > :02:12.A section of the M4 had to be closed because of an overturned lorry,
:02:13. > :02:17.causing traffic to come to a standstill.
:02:18. > :02:22.At its peak, Storm Imogen left more than 3,500 homes across South
:02:23. > :02:25.and West Wales without power, although the numbers
:02:26. > :02:30.Worst hit areas were Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Swansea.
:02:31. > :02:35.If it is like this for pedestrians, it's not surprising that cars have
:02:36. > :02:39.been stopped from crossing the Cleddau Bridge here
:02:40. > :02:47.In fact, with one gust of 95 mph recorded, they say they've
:02:48. > :02:51.had their highest wind speeds here for ten years.
:02:52. > :02:54.What we can see on the screen at the moment is that the current
:02:55. > :02:58.wind speed has been just over 90 mph.
:02:59. > :03:03.The purple line is 70 mph, and that's where we closed
:03:04. > :03:09.People are being warned to stay away from the coast, although this one
:03:10. > :03:12.swimmer in the Mumbles seemed to swim against the tide of advice,
:03:13. > :03:22.The clean-up looks set to continue, as communities are being warned
:03:23. > :03:28.to brace themselves for more strong winds overnight.
:03:29. > :03:31.There may have been "third party involvement" in the death
:03:32. > :03:35.of a teenage soldier from Llangollen who died at an Army base 20 years
:03:36. > :03:40.Private Cheryl James was found dead at Deepcut Barracks and her parents
:03:41. > :03:44.have since campaigned for a fresh investigation.
:03:45. > :03:46.A second inquest into her death is now underway
:03:47. > :03:51.at Woking Coroner's Court, from where Paul Heaney reports.
:03:52. > :03:56.She died from a single bullet wound at just 18 years old.
:03:57. > :03:59.The Army said it was suicide two decades ago.
:04:00. > :04:03.But even the first inquest into Cheryl James's death couldn't
:04:04. > :04:08.Police were forced to disclose more evidence, leading to this fresh
:04:09. > :04:12.inquest which, after some delay, finally began to take
:04:13. > :04:18.The court heard today about Cheryl's time before joining the Army.
:04:19. > :04:21.A determined girl, but someone who had struggled with a family
:04:22. > :04:25.bereavement in the past, taking an overdose of painkillers
:04:26. > :04:28.in school as a cry for help, according to her father.
:04:29. > :04:33.Then there was bitter disagreement about what this new evidence,
:04:34. > :04:36.only unearthed recently, might tell us about her death
:04:37. > :04:42.Alison Foster QC, representing the James family, said the evidence
:04:43. > :04:45.before the previous coroner showed a happy, bubbly girl.
:04:46. > :04:48.This new evidence, she said, suggests that the shot that killed
:04:49. > :04:53.Cheryl James may not have been self-inflicted.
:04:54. > :04:56.But John Beggs QC, representing Surrey Police, suggested other
:04:57. > :05:01.evidence pointed to Cheryl being a troubled young lady
:05:02. > :05:04.who might have had suicidal ideation.
:05:05. > :05:07.Third-party involvement in her death, he said,
:05:08. > :05:13.In heated exchanges this afternoon, Mr Beggs put it to Cheryl's
:05:14. > :05:16.father that his criticism that the Surrey Police
:05:17. > :05:20.investigation was cursory and unprofessional was misplaced.
:05:21. > :05:24.He pointed to thousands of pieces of evidence that the force had
:05:25. > :05:28.gathered, and put it to Mr James that he distracted the force
:05:29. > :05:32.with his complaints about what they were doing,
:05:33. > :05:34.whilst they had a number of other high-profile cases ongoing,
:05:35. > :05:39.including the disappearance of the schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
:05:40. > :05:42.The coroner intervened at this point and said he didn't like that
:05:43. > :05:47.Mr James maintains that he had a genuine concern about impartiality
:05:48. > :05:49.in the Surrey Police investigation because they were working
:05:50. > :05:52.with members of the Armed Forces to investigate his daughter's death.
:05:53. > :06:16.BBC Wales understands that the insurance giant Aviva
:06:17. > :06:19.will be the main private sector investor in the ?300 million Circuit
:06:20. > :06:23.It involves a 3.5-mile track, two hotels, and industrial parks.
:06:24. > :06:25.A formal announcement is expected in the next few weeks.
:06:26. > :06:33.Our economics correspondent Sarah Dickins has the story.
:06:34. > :06:35.Ebbw Vale has had many millions spent regenerating it
:06:36. > :06:36.after the steelworks closed, but nevertheless
:06:37. > :06:40.The Circuit of Wales project promises to change that,
:06:41. > :06:43.and Aviva is to be announced as the main private sector investor.
:06:44. > :06:45.It was three years ago that the project's planning
:06:46. > :06:57.It aims to employ between 3,000 and 6,000 people, with a range
:06:58. > :06:59.of jobs at the track, in two hotels, and on industrial sites.
:07:00. > :07:02.It also promises 1,600 training places in a new academy.
:07:03. > :07:04.But some objected to the plans, saying it would be harmful
:07:05. > :07:08.It went to a planning inquiry and was passed.
:07:09. > :07:10.Martin Whitaker has just started as full-time chief executive.
:07:11. > :07:12.He has headed up Ford's motorsports programme and been general manager
:07:13. > :07:14.of the Bahrain International Circuit.
:07:15. > :07:19.Everything is obviously confidential at this moment in time.
:07:20. > :07:22.We are at an advanced stage of our negotiations and hopefully
:07:23. > :07:25.very, very soon we will be in a position to make
:07:26. > :07:27.the announcement and obviously get on with the ground-breaking.
:07:28. > :07:38.If it's going to be such a commercial success,
:07:39. > :07:41.why do you need money, 30 million I think it is,
:07:42. > :07:45.Well, in a sense, that's important because we want to get
:07:46. > :07:46.the involvement of the Welsh Government.
:07:47. > :07:50.There is a massive opportunity here for Wales to get
:07:51. > :07:52.behind this project, and that, to my mind,
:07:53. > :07:54.is the key to the reason of having a financial involvement.
:07:55. > :07:57.This is where the company plans to build Circuit of Wales.
:07:58. > :08:00.It says it is in the closing stages of the due diligence process
:08:01. > :08:02.with the financial investors and will not be commenting
:08:03. > :08:05.on the identity of those investors until it has been completed.
:08:06. > :08:07.It is thought that there will be an announcement
:08:08. > :08:11.But the formal launch has seemed close in the past,
:08:12. > :08:14.What we do know is that more employment will be welcomed
:08:15. > :08:17.in communities along the Heads of the Valleys.
:08:18. > :08:20.A media school could be launched in Cardiff after a deal was agreed
:08:21. > :08:29.Pheonix Satellite Television has six channels, broadcasting
:08:30. > :08:33.It's signed up to the joint venture with Cardiff Metropolitan University
:08:34. > :08:48.Business experts says it'll boost Welsh links with China.
:08:49. > :08:50.Wales has a long-standing position as an investment partner for Chinese
:08:51. > :08:51.companies, especially private Chinese companies.
:08:52. > :08:54.So long as the Chinese companies continue to have global ambitions,
:08:55. > :08:57.which I'm sure they will, I think Wales is very well
:08:58. > :09:04.positioned to take advantage of that.
:09:05. > :09:07.The UK Government has been urged to drop plans to restrict public
:09:08. > :09:09.sector strikes in Wales, after a leaked letter suggested
:09:10. > :09:12.ministers accept they have a "very weak case" to impose the measure.
:09:13. > :09:15.The Welsh Government has argued that the Trade Union Bill should not
:09:16. > :09:17.apply to devolved services such as health and education.
:09:18. > :09:26.The UK Government said it did not comment on leaks.
:09:27. > :09:29.Councillors in Gwynedd will be recommending to approve more
:09:30. > :09:33.than ?4.5 million in service cuts at a meeting next month.
:09:34. > :09:35.The proposals aim to reduce the council's financial deficit
:09:36. > :09:41.of more than ?5.5 million over the next two years.
:09:42. > :09:45.The rest of the savings could be met by further cuts to the roads budget
:09:46. > :09:53.and increasing council tax by almost 4% over the next two years.
:09:54. > :09:55.Rugby, and Wales coach Warren Gatland says his squad's
:09:56. > :09:57.sights remain firmly on winning the Six Nations Championship.
:09:58. > :09:59.Gatland and captain Sam Warburton were both left feeling flat
:10:00. > :10:10.following the 16-16 draw against Ireland in Dublin yesterday.
:10:11. > :10:12.Medical staff are assessing fly-half Dan Biggar's ankle injury.
:10:13. > :10:14.Former Wales international Jonathan Thomas says they need
:10:15. > :10:17.to take their opportunities against Scotland.
:10:18. > :10:20.The team will be keen to, in terms of try scoring
:10:21. > :10:22.opportunities, in terms of what they create,
:10:23. > :10:25.I think they'll want to get more possession and get more balls
:10:26. > :10:29.in the hands of the back three, the big wingers, the George Norths.
:10:30. > :10:32.They'll want to get their hands on the ball more and ultimately
:10:33. > :10:35.When they do get those opportunities, they'll want to be
:10:36. > :10:37.clinical and score tries, because Scotland are essentially
:10:38. > :10:44.John Disley, the former Welsh athlete who co-founded
:10:45. > :10:52.the London Marathon, has died at the age of 87.
:10:53. > :10:54.Disley, who was born in Corris in Gwynedd,
:10:55. > :10:56.won a bronze medal in the steeplechase at the 1952
:10:57. > :11:03.He also set Welsh records at six different distances.
:11:04. > :11:10.Well, after Storm Imogen, what next, Derek?
:11:11. > :11:17.It looks like we are in for a cold snap over the weekend but it is
:11:18. > :11:24.February after all. What a day it has been today. Severe gales in the
:11:25. > :11:30.South and West, over 80 mph gusts. Even over land, as high as 70 mph.
:11:31. > :11:40.The wind bringing down a few trees. Thankfully though gales are slowly
:11:41. > :11:46.easing to night. A bit of snow on the hilltops tonight. Some dry and
:11:47. > :11:53.clear spells tonight. Temperatures inland falling as low as 1-2. And we
:11:54. > :11:58.still have ten flood warnings across Wales. And over 20 flood alerts.
:11:59. > :12:10.Into Schroeder chews day, a few heavy showers -- Shrove Tuesday.
:12:11. > :12:12.Across the rest of the UK, a band of rain across Northern Ireland and
:12:13. > :12:19.southern Scotland will move slowly self during the day. Some of this
:12:20. > :12:22.falling as snow on higher ground. Across the rest of Scotland,
:12:23. > :12:26.brightening up, with some sunshine, wintry showers in the north.
:12:27. > :12:33.Southern England, scattered showers. Windy in the West. In Wales tomorrow
:12:34. > :12:37.afternoon, a breezy and when the affair with some rain in the North
:12:38. > :12:48.spreading south. Sleet and snow on higher grounds. Snow likely for the
:12:49. > :12:58.Brecon Beacons. 60 mph gusts in Pembrokeshire. Becoming dry
:12:59. > :13:04.overnight. Wednesday, better. Dry and bright weather. The wind easing.
:13:05. > :13:07.Frost overnight into Thursday. Thursday, more cloudy, a few showers
:13:08. > :13:13.in the south and West, lighter winds. We ended the week with low
:13:14. > :13:17.pressure from the Atlantic, looking set to bring us more in, and we
:13:18. > :13:18.could see snow on higher ground. A cold weekend.
:13:19. > :13:23.We're back in Breakfast from six tomorrow morning.
:13:24. > :13:27.From all of us on the programme, goodnight.