09/03/2017 BBC Wales Today


09/03/2017

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The United Nations will call into the health effects of the UK's

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largest opencast mine in Merthyr Tydfil.

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Two decades after being murdered by her husband, human remains are

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confirmed to be Sandie Bowen. And the Charity commission is looking

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into the former Wales footballer Craig Bellamy's academy setup to

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help children in Leone. 11 million tonnes of coal

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being mined metres meters Residents living alongside the Ffos

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y Fran opencast coal pit in Merthyr Tydfil have long

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campaigned against it. Now BBC Wales has learnt that

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a United Nations report will call for an independent investigation

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into claims it may be The mine's operator has

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accused those living nearby Our environment correspondent

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Steffan Messenger has For more than a decade,

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they've been protesting against the giant coal mine

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on their doorstep. They've claimed dust and noise has

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been causing sleeping and breathing problems and say no-one has

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listened till now. Cut into the side of

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the Merthyr Valley, Ffos y Fran Modern mining methods,

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the local community was told, I've got the posters

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for the public meeting. Chris and Alice and Austin live

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a few hundred metres from the mine. The dust is always an issue

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that we were concerned about. We've spent so much time

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dealing with the Council, dealing with the Welsh Assembly

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and nobody is interested in trying There have been times

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we've been sitting here, But now, BBC Wales can reveal

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that the United Nations, which has a role in protecting human

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rights worldwide, is set to make a surprising intervention,

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following an official visit to the UK, a report by its chief

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legal adviser on pollution, who criticised the way local

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people's concerns in Merthyr Tydfil have been

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handled by the authorities. The case really stuck with me,

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both in terms of the lack of access to information but also

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the challenges that the community has faced in terms

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of accessing justice. There needs to be an independent

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and thorough investigation of what sort of health effects may

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be linked to the operation In a statement, the mine's operator,

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Miller Argent, said some local residents had been spreading fake

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news about pollution. It criticised the United Nations

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special rapporteur for not visiting They accused him of being biased

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and a disgrace to his office. The mine they say is

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heavily regulated and has never been prosecuted

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for any environmental breaches. Merthyr Tydfil council also

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criticised Mr Tuncak for not speaking to its officials,

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claiming that his report would be The Welsh Government said

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it was supporting local authorities The UK Government will respond

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when an official report is presented to the UN's human rights

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council in September. Police have confirmed tonight that

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a body found in a reservoir in Monmouthshire last month is that

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of Sandie Bowen, who Her husband, Mike Bowen was jailed

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for her murder but never revealed in a now near empty

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Wentwood Reservoir. Her body had been

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there for two decades. Anita Giles, Sandie Bowen's

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daughter, never gave up hope She is now being supported

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by trained police officers. I am just relieved that it is her

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so that we can get closure, I can finally lay her to rest,

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which is what she deserves, Sandie Bowen went missing in 1997,

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from her home in Monmouthshire. Her husband, Mike Bowen,

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said he dropped her off at Newport railway station

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where she was catching a train to Folkestone in Kent,

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to visit her daughter. Hours earlier, he had found out

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she was having an affair. Police later discovered he had also

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been having an affair. Her daughter, Anita,

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reported her meeting when she failed to arrive in Kent and made

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an emotional appeal. I just want my mum to find me,

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just to let me know she's all right. Or contact the police

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station, anything, just Police carried out a huge search

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of the Monmouthshire countryside, At the time, police divers probed

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a then fuller Wentwood Reservoir. But there was no sign

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of the 53-year-old. Eventually, police found her blood

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at the home she shared A year later, he was convicted

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of the murder of Sandie Bowen. He's never said what

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he did with her body. Mike Bowen has recently been

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released on licence. I don't think he should

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have been given parole. I don't think anyone

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should be given parole, I am supporting Helen's law

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where the person that's convicted of murdering someone should not be

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allowed parole until they've given Had Mum not been found

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and he hadn't been given parole, he may well still be

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in prison today. After two decades, the search

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for Sandie Bowen is over. Murdered by Mike Bowen, he then

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dumped her body in this reservoir. He believed it would

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never be discovered. Now, police are looking

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into what further action 17 men have been sentenced

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at Newport Crown Court following the largest drugs

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operation ever carried The men were arrested following 14

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police raids involving 300 officers They admitted a variety of offences,

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including possesion with intent to supply class-A drugs,

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including crack cocaine and heroin. The sentences range from four months

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to four years in prison. A 12-year-old boy remains

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in a critical condition after he collided with a minibus,

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when he was cycling in Trefriw He was airlifted to a hospital

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in Liverpool with serious injuries following the incident on Crafnant

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Road. North Wales Police are

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appealing for witnesses. The Welsh Government has vetoed

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the preferred candidate to represent Wales on the BBC's

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new management board. Members for England and Scotland

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were confirmed, but the UK Government has reopened

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the appointments process after its choice of candidate

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was rejected by ministers The Welsh Government

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said its primary concern was to ensure the BBC Board properly

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represents the needs The Charity Commission has confirmed

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it's looking at concerns about Welsh footballer Craig Bellamy's football

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academy in Sierra Leone, which has been forced to close

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because of financial difficulties. The Craig Bellamy Foundation,

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set up in 2008, offered five-year scholarships to children

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as young as 11. The former Wales captain is said

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to be devastated by the news and is co-operating fully

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with the authorities. Just amazed by the warmth of

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the people but This is a promotional video

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for the foundation when it A few years earlier,

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the Wales international striker had visited

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the area and was struck How football motivates these young

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kids, you won't believe and to use part of the league,

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to go to school to be I knew it was going to get a lot

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of kids back into school. He set up an academy

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in a small fishing village which offered five-year

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scholarships to children and created a youth football league which at one

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point took in Interviewed at the time,

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he said it was It gave me an opportunity

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to give something back to people that need

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it more than anyone. It has been very rewarding for me

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as a person and hopefully Craig Bellamy came to my

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house and visited me. It stayed open recently

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but despite Craig Bellamy putting in a reported ?1.4 million of his

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own money, it's now hit financial difficulties and not filed

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annual accounts on many occasions. There are concerns about the closure

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of the Academy and they said trustees must account to the public

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and donors for their income and Failure to do so may give rise

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to concerns about the governance and administration

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of the charity. The former Wales

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captain is now a youth coach at Cardiff city and was

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unavailable for comment today. However his solicitor has told me

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he is devastated by what has happened to his foundation

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in West Africa. A statement released on his behalf

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says Mr Bellamy has recently appointed a new legal

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team to investigate any irregularities in the management

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of his financial affairs. It says that team will assist

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all government agencies in their investigations

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and if necessary, take action against those responsible

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for any wrongdoing. Onto rugby and the roof

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at the Principality Stadium will be closed for Wales' Six Nations clash

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with Ireland tomorrow night. Ahead of the match, Wales skipper

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Alun Wyn Jones and his team have had Wales will be unchanged

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from the team that lost to Scotland Ireland are more than happy to go

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with our decision so in fairness, for the supporters, that

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will add to the occasion. It will be a fantastic atmosphere

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and that is Teams coming to Cardiff and wanting

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to play at the stadium, make it as great an

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occasion as possible. It is closed, so I am really

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looking forward to that. We have got to be

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confident in what we The last time we were here,

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65 minutes against England, if we can

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match that, you know, and learn from that experience

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against England then we are not Football and Newport County have

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sacked their manager, Graham Westley, after five

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months in charge. It follows a string of poor results

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which have left the Exiles 11 points from safety at the bottom

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of the Football League. Westley will be replaced

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by first-team coach Mike Flynn Time for a look at what

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the weather has in store now. Today was the warmest day so far for

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Wales,. Looking much cloudier tomorrow but we can look forward to

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a lot of dry weather as well. Tonight, the cloud is increasing

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from the south-west with a bit of light rain or drizzle mainly on the

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hills, summer mist and fog forming especially along the West Coast.

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Tomorrow, high-pressure, still trying to control our weather. We

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will see a lot more cloud around tomorrow compared to today. Some

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mist and fog first thing tomorrow morning, poor visibility but it will

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lift as we go through the day the odd spot of rain likely but most of

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us getting away with a dry Friday. For the rest of the British Isles,

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little bit of rain across Scotland but for Northern Ireland, England

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and Wales, a largely dry study with the best of the brightness in the

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east. Here in Wales tomorrow afternoon, some limited amounts of

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brightness. The best of those for parts of northern Powys, Wrexham,

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Denbighshire and Flintshire. A serious shortage of sunshine

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compared to today. If you're going to the rugby tomorrow night, a

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cloudy night, but temperatures for kick-off will be around nine

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Celsius. Tomorrow night, fairly quiet night to come, but of cloud,

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mist and reef forming fog, dry weather with temperatures no lower

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than eight Celsius. Fairly mild night. Saturday, a little bit of

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mist and fog first thing. That will lift. Patchy rain through the day,

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becoming drier in the afternoon across parts of the north and west.

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Sunday, more rain yet again in the morning, becoming drier and brighter

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by the afternoon. Attach fresher as we will be in a north-westerly flow.

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Attach fresher as we will be in a north-westerly flow.

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We'll be back in Breakfast with updates from around

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