18/12/2017 London News


18/12/2017

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Transcript


LineFromTo

Plenty of food from thought there

fromical foreigna.

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--

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Good evening, welcome

to the programme.

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BBC London has found there's been

a huge rise in the number of victims

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of sexual assault coming forward

to the Met Police.

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We've obtained figures that show

reports have gone up by more

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than 7,000 in the last four years.

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Scotland Yard says it suggests

victims are more confident that such

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crimes will be taken seriously.

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But support groups say many cases

are still not reaching the courts.

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Our home affairs correspondent,

Nick Beake, reports.

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Jenn Selby wants to speak out

about what happened to her.

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She says she was raped

by a man she knew well.

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It was a really difficult decision

for me to come forward about it,

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because it involved a lot of people

that I knew and a lot of friends,

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and it took me quite a few days

to decide to go to the police.

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I was in a lot of shock.

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I did that, and I ended up

being on this absolute emotional

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roller coaster of a court system.

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It took police a year to charge

the man, and the court

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case was delayed twice,

before being dropped -

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just three days before the trial.

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The first time was absolutely

devastating because as a diligent

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worker that I am, I'd organised

all my own time off and cover,

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and I was determined to come back

and get on with my job and get

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on with life, and this would be

done, and I was so mentally

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transfixed on this date

being the time that it

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would be over.

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And then it just moved,

and I couldn't imagine

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going through another six months

of waiting and waiting.

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There's been a big rise

in the reporting of sexual assaults.

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10,000, in all, back in 2012.

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Last year, more than 17,000.

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The number of reports

of women being raped went

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from 3,000 to more than 5,400,

and reports of male rape has tripled

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in the last four years.

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Mary Mason's charity

is supporting more and more

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victims of sexual crimes.

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She says the increased reporting had

not been matched by a similar

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rise in prosecutions.

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So, they'll say the woman

won't make a credible witness

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in court, which I find

deeply, deeply troubling.

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So, because somebody is vulnerable,

do we allow them to be

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raped, with impunity?

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That is not acceptable.

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Police officer Richard Unwin has

supported victims of sexual

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offences for over a decade.

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His force says it's now

better at investigating,

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and attitudes have changed.

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Some things have been in place

for such a long time.

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The attack in a dark alley at 2am

because of what someone

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was wearing, or by a stranger -

that can happen, but it's not

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something that we deal

with all the time.

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What we tend to deal

with are assaults, sexual violence

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involving partners, or friends.

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The Crown Prosecution Service says

more defendants have been

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convicted for sexual offences

than ever before.

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It insists it wasn't its fault

Jenn's case was delayed and then

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dropped, but campaigners say more

offenders need to be

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brought to justice.

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Nick Beake, BBC London News.

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The widow of a man killed

when a plane exploded over Libya -

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killing 157 people, 25 years ago -

is demanding compensation.

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At the time, experts believed

it was a mid-air collision.

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But since the fall of Gaddafi,

there have been claims the plane

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was deliberately destroyed.

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That, and the deaths

of many other Londoners,

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have all been linked back

to his regime.

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But so far, no UK families have

received compensation,

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despite Libyan assets

in London being seized.

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Jim Wheble reports.

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This piece I did, self-portrait,

it represents my lost life.

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I'd lost my husband,

I felt I had been killed and I'd

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lost my life as well.

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Her husband was Victor Prazak,

a contractor working in Libya,

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and one of those on board

Flight 1103.

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Denied the right to bring

back her husband's body,

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or even to visit the grave for years

after, painting was how she coped.

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I can express myself more

in paintings than in words.

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How I felt.

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And then, after the fall of Gaddafi,

a different truth emerged.

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His inner circle admitting the plane

was shot down on Gaddafi orders -

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an act of terror the present Libyan

government has not

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publicly accepted.

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Yet, Felicity has never received

a penny of compensation.

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It's just what I should have.

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If other people have had big

pay-outs, why is my husband ignored?

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As a family, we try to cope,

but we know our lives would have

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been very different.

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And yet in the UK, around £9

billion-worth of Gaddafi

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frozen assets are held.

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This house in North London was some

of it until, in this case,

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the High Court gave it back

to the current Libyan authorities.

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The question for UK victims

of Gaddafi-sponsored terrorism -

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why can't some of these frozen

assets be used to pay compensation?

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Yesterday, a memorial

was held for the victims

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of the 1983 IRA Harrods bomb -

the explosives supplied by Gaddafi.

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Susanne Dodds' police

officer father, hailed

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a hero, lost his life.

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Our government should be stronger

with the frozen assets.

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We do have a bill going

through the House of Lords.

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It's going to the Commons,

hopefully in January.

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And the Government needs to stand up

for their victims, to actually give

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us the compensation.

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In a special debate here last week,

the Minister for the Middle East,

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Alastair Burt, addressed these

questions of Gaddafi's

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frozen billions.

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He said that the UN resolution used

to freeze the assets is clear -

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they should be for the benefit

of the Libyan people, and to breach

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that would break international law.

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This is the aftermath of the IRA's

1996 Docklands bombing -

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again, using Gaddafi explosives.

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The local MP feels compensation

for the victims in his

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constituency needs to be paid.

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Families have not been compensated.

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The frozen assets are

sitting in bank accounts.

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Other countries have been able

to compensate their victims.

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I don't understand why the UK

Government can't compensate ours.

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You've lived with this for 25 years,

and I can see you've lived with it

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every day of your life.

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I think you never give up hope.

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Once you give up hope,

all is lost, really.

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At points, I have given up hope, but

something will happen, in new window

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will open.

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in new window will open.

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A Foreign Office spokesman said

the Government is determined

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to see a just resolution,

but due to the problems

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facing Libya, progress

is likely to remain slow.

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The hope is, another 25

years won't pass by.

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Jim Wheble, BBC London News.

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She has described it as a wonderful

privilege.

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A former nurse in the NHS

has been appointed as

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the new Bishop of London.

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The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally

is the first woman to ever be

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appointed to the role,

which is one of the most

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senior positions within

the Church of England.

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Some of the first to meet her

following the announcement might not

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be who you'd expect.

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Here's our religious affairs

correspondent, Martin Bashir.

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It wasn't the congregation

at St Paul's Cathedral,

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but students at Urswick secondary

school, in Hackney, that had

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the first opportunity to meet

with the new Bishop of London.

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A nurse by training and profession,

her appointment as the 133rd Bishop

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of London marks an historic move

toward gender equality and means

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that a woman now holds one

of the three most senior positions

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in the Church of England.

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London is a diverse place and,

therefore, it is right

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that we represent the diversity

of this city.

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The Diocese of London is one

of the few areas where the Church

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of England is growing.

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But it also has a formidable

presence of conservatives -

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both from the Anglo-Catholic

and Evangelical traditions -

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who disapprove of women priests.

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For those that can't

accept my ordination as either

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a bishop or a priest because I'm

a woman, I say to them I fully

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respect their theological position.

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And my question to them always is,

how can I enable their

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ministry to flourish?

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Bishops of London are traditionally

made Dean of the Chapels Royal.

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Churches like St George's

Chapel, in Windsor.

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This raises the prospect of

Bishop Sarah at the Royal wedding.

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Is there any possibility that

you might officiate at the wedding

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of Prince Harry

and Miss Meghan Markle?

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I haven't even officially become

the Bishop of London yet.

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There are many parts of my roles

that I have yet to discover.

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At the moment, I just

want to celebrate with Prince Harry

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and Meghan, and my prayers go

with them in the time ahead.

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Bishop Sarah will now prepare

for the installation

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at St Paul's Cathedral,

which is likely to take

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place in June next year.

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Martin Bashir, BBC London News.

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Let me wish you a very

goodnight now, and I'll

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leave you with Elizabeth,

who's got the weather for us.

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A lovely day today, starting with a

frost which was crisp, and lots of

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sunshine around. This is more like

what we will be looking at tomorrow.

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Or not looking at! A lot of fog

forming overnight. As we look at the

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weather for the week ahead, Doctor

night, quite widespread. Some of it

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is freezing fog patches. Very cold

out there. Mild for much of the rest

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of the week at Melton are from

Tuesday onwards. And mostly dry.

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Under the influence of high

pressure. Overnight tonight,

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conditions ripe for widespread fog,

moist and colder, clear skies, light

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winds. Temperatures below freezing

away from towns and fog very

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stubborn to clear into tomorrow

morning. A Met Office weather

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warning for the fog, very poor

visibility on the roads tomorrow. If

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you are travelling in the rush-hour

or flying, check before you go to

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the airport even. Very poor

conditions. Keep up-to-date by

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watching BBC London in the morning.

Some clearance of the fog through

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the afternoon. It should brighten up

at temperatures between 5-7. For

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many, the fog lasts until the

afternoon and a bleak December day.

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Wednesday, more brightness and help

fog around, temperatures up to ten,

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11 degrees. That is where they will

stay on Thursday and possibly

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Friday. A couple of degrees lower.

For the weekend, mild and a touch

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breezy. And

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