:00:00. > :00:00.Korean ferry capsized. That's all from
:00:00. > :00:29.Their 40 residents will have to move. They already made their mind
:00:30. > :00:35.up. They decided that the die was cast, as they call it.
:00:36. > :00:37.Offshore ` just. The region's newest wind farm opens off the North East
:00:38. > :00:40.coast. And food for thought. Breeding flies
:00:41. > :00:43.on an industrial scale, to provide a greener feed for livestock.
:00:44. > :00:45.In sport, Sunderland are re`united with their League Cup final
:00:46. > :00:48.conquerors Manchester City for one of the toughest games of their
:00:49. > :00:51.troubled season. And what will the revamped Super
:00:52. > :00:53.League do for women's football, as our two clubs prepare to go head to
:00:54. > :01:10.head? If you own a car, a camera or a
:01:11. > :01:14.digital watch ` you'll have one. And the chances are you'll have quite a
:01:15. > :01:17.few of them. Button batteries. But there's a warning today about just
:01:18. > :01:21.how dangerous they can be to children. Once swallowed, they'll
:01:22. > :01:25.send an electrical current that, believe it or not, is enough to burn
:01:26. > :01:28.through a child's windpipe. The Royal Society for the Prevention of
:01:29. > :01:31.Accidents says what happened to a little girl from Boldon Colliery, in
:01:32. > :01:35.South Tyneside, shows quick medical help can be the difference between
:01:36. > :01:41.life and death. Our Chief Reporter, Chris Stewart, has the story.
:01:42. > :01:49.16 months old and lucky to be here. Amari, the latest toddler to fall
:01:50. > :01:52.victim to a button battery. Taken from a childminder's house to South
:01:53. > :01:55.Tyneside General, she was then collected by a specialist team of
:01:56. > :02:02.medics and rushed to be operated on at Newcastle's Royal Infirmary. I
:02:03. > :02:06.just thought the worst. I thought we were going to lose her or in fact
:02:07. > :02:14.had lost her when I received the call. You go through so many
:02:15. > :02:17.emotions. It is just panic, really. What Mum didn't initially realise
:02:18. > :02:20.was that the battery had already started to cause damage and was
:02:21. > :02:29.about to burn through Amari's gullet. It was when the specialist
:02:30. > :02:33.team from the RVI came to collect Amari, that was when it was
:02:34. > :02:38.mentioned, the fact that we have got to get a move on here. This button
:02:39. > :02:43.battery to a child is like a sweet. They will see it and put it in their
:02:44. > :02:48.mouth. The problem is that the size of a child's oesophagus is about the
:02:49. > :02:55.size of my finger. So if she swallowed it, it would go in and
:02:56. > :03:02.just get stuck. It is when the battery has stuck, that is when it
:03:03. > :03:05.becomes dangerous. A current forms between the negative side of the
:03:06. > :03:10.battery and the lining of the bowel, which will then form a hole in the
:03:11. > :03:14.oesophagus if it is not got out in time. And that time limit can be as
:03:15. > :03:17.little as one hour. I could not thank them more. They all acted
:03:18. > :03:20.really quickly and she got the best care possible, obviously that is
:03:21. > :03:25.shown here today. There are no official statistics on the number of
:03:26. > :03:28.accidents caused by these batteries. Their use in key fobs, watches, even
:03:29. > :03:34.greetings cards means there are countless millions in our homes and
:03:35. > :03:37.every one can kill. There's been another fall in
:03:38. > :03:41.unemployment in the North East and Cumbria. There were 10,000 fewer
:03:42. > :03:45.people out of work in the North East in the last quarter. The figure now
:03:46. > :03:51.stands at 124,000 ` but the jobless rate of 9.3% is still the highest in
:03:52. > :03:53.the UK. In Cumbria there are now just over 6,500 claiming
:03:54. > :04:01.job`seeker's allowance ` a drop year`on`year of more than 2,300. The
:04:02. > :04:04.figures came as Employment Minister, Esther McVey, visited Newcastle to
:04:05. > :04:15.meet some of those who've found work. And following her was our
:04:16. > :04:18.Political Editor Richard Moss. Jamie Barker is one man who's left
:04:19. > :04:20.the dole queue behind. A government`training scheme has
:04:21. > :04:23.helped get a job in event management. Recently he's roadied
:04:24. > :04:27.for Rihanna. So meeting a minister was probably no big deal to him `
:04:28. > :04:32.but earning a living certainly is. When I get paid at the end of the
:04:33. > :04:37.month, I pay my bills and I whole always have extra to go and spend on
:04:38. > :04:41.my partner and my girls. It makes us feel more of a man. And the minister
:04:42. > :04:47.believes the economic mood music in the north is becoming more positive.
:04:48. > :04:53.What we are seeing now is that these trends are falling, they are
:04:54. > :04:58.reaching to all parts of the country, falling unemployment,
:04:59. > :05:01.long`term unemployment is coming down, youth unemployment is coming
:05:02. > :05:04.down, so all of that has to be positive news. Next stop, a new city
:05:05. > :05:08.centre restaurant to meet assistant host Laura. She's delighted to have
:05:09. > :05:11.found work here. Critics have suggested too many of the North's
:05:12. > :05:17.new jobs have been short`term and part`time. But could that be
:05:18. > :05:25.changing too? Today's figures for the North East suggest that over the
:05:26. > :05:29.last year there has been a 13% drop in the number of people in temporary
:05:30. > :05:33.jobs. A 2% fall of those in part`time work. A 2% increase in the
:05:34. > :05:35.people in full`time jobs. And a 5% increase in the number of people
:05:36. > :05:38.employed in manufacturing. But Labour believe there's no cause for
:05:39. > :05:41.big celebrations. We have had zero hours contracts they have tripled
:05:42. > :05:44.under this government, more people still are in part`time work and
:05:45. > :05:48.there was a year ago. Bearing in mind because we seen this morning,
:05:49. > :05:52.that there is nearly 1 million people now on food banks, it is not
:05:53. > :05:56.time to get the bunting out yet. And at this Newcastle jobs fair, there
:05:57. > :05:59.are people who still feel left behind. 21`year`old Daniel is here
:06:00. > :06:02.looking for his first jobs since leaving college last summer. It has
:06:03. > :06:09.been quite difficult since I left college. Most places don't even get
:06:10. > :06:13.back to you. It doesn't have that human element to it, it is just
:06:14. > :06:16.machines. But while some are still searching, it does seem others in
:06:17. > :06:26.the North are reaping the benefits of a growing economy. Richard joins
:06:27. > :06:28.me now. Food banks were mentioned by Labour, and figures do suggest that
:06:29. > :06:31.despite lower unemployment, more people are using them? We heard the
:06:32. > :06:37.national figures. The north`east has seen the biggest rise in food bank
:06:38. > :06:41.use in the country. One bank has jumped from 10,500 a few years ago
:06:42. > :06:46.to almost 60,000 people using them in the last 12 months. Evidence that
:06:47. > :06:50.although there are good growth figures, some people are being left
:06:51. > :06:55.behind. Something is very wrong when you have that number of people who
:06:56. > :07:00.are struggling to feed themselves and in many cases to feed their
:07:01. > :07:03.families. We have to say that is not right. Something needs to be done
:07:04. > :07:07.and we have to accept that this is not the sort of country in which we
:07:08. > :07:12.want to live if that is the way things are good to be. To find out
:07:13. > :07:17.who is using the food banks, we went to one in Durham. They have seen a
:07:18. > :07:25.number double in the past year. We spoke to a user of the food bag for
:07:26. > :07:29.the first time. I felt properly upset, to be honest. It is not
:07:30. > :07:36.right. Shouldn't be doing it these days. I should have a full`time job
:07:37. > :07:42.but I can't find one. I feel depressed, basically. We sold you
:07:43. > :07:46.met the Employment Minister. Did she have anything to say about food
:07:47. > :07:49.banks? They say increased publicity is part of the reason why there has
:07:50. > :07:56.been a surge in interest in food banks. You have to be referred by a
:07:57. > :08:02.GP or the Jobcentre. The minister said the rise of blood banks did not
:08:03. > :08:05.start under the coalition. Food banks started in 2000, 2002, and
:08:06. > :08:09.there was a tenfold increase by 2010. So we totally agree, it has
:08:10. > :08:13.been a tough time for a lot of people for a long time. `` the rise
:08:14. > :08:17.of food banks. And that is what you are seeing here. That we have slowly
:08:18. > :08:25.turned around the country but it was a massive thing to do. Interesting.
:08:26. > :08:28.Thank you very much for coming in. Councillors in Durham have been
:08:29. > :08:32.accused of being puppets after deciding to close all their elderly
:08:33. > :08:35.care homes in the county. The council says the homes in Belmont,
:08:36. > :08:40.Ferryhill, Chester`Le`Street, Peterlee and Stanhope aren't value
:08:41. > :08:44.for money. But protesters say moving elderly vulnerable people could kill
:08:45. > :08:54.them. Our Political Correspondent Mark Denten is outside one of the
:08:55. > :09:01.homes now. Yes, this is Newton house and I went down that drive there, at
:09:02. > :09:06.the moment a council run care home. Residents range in age from their
:09:07. > :09:10.70s right up until 100. All of them, everything one, will have to move
:09:11. > :09:14.because the council is closing all five of its council run local
:09:15. > :09:21.authority elderly people is care homes. Today was decision day. It
:09:22. > :09:26.was an emotional one. People chained to railings, protest
:09:27. > :09:30.banners, unusual scenes perhaps near the peace and quiet of a care home
:09:31. > :09:33.but over the last few months, Durham council's proposal to close its five
:09:34. > :09:39.remaining elderly care homes has created campaigners that of unlikely
:09:40. > :09:44.people. Today, this man and his 83 dear old dad are two of them.
:09:45. > :09:47.Donald, a teacher for 20 years, about his year whether his former
:09:48. > :09:59.employers are now closing the care home. I worked for this county. And
:10:00. > :10:05.the payback is what is happening. You have had it. He has done all of
:10:06. > :10:10.that service for the County Council. No luck this time when he needs that
:10:11. > :10:14.bit of support, it is going to be pulled out from under his feet, the
:10:15. > :10:18.cockpit. Intake this building, councillors spoke of sleepless
:10:19. > :10:24.nights, of the need to save money, of an emotional decision. Just after
:10:25. > :10:30.1120 comedy made the decision to shut all the homes, hopes a reprieve
:10:31. > :10:34.of last. When we make our priorities, surely we should think
:10:35. > :10:40.about people who have worked and put into the community all of their
:10:41. > :10:44.lives. And are now just needing a little bit of help. We have lost
:10:45. > :10:51.that today. The already made their end. And if they did. The die was
:10:52. > :10:54.cast, and they call it. Wail today's decision means all five of the
:10:55. > :10:59.councils are remaining elderly people's care homes will close,
:11:00. > :11:02.there is most concerned here in Weardale, worries that closing the
:11:03. > :11:10.council's oh down there in stand`up will lead this rural area even more
:11:11. > :11:13.isolated. I would accuse the Labour councillors of being puppets to the
:11:14. > :11:17.chief officers because they make the decisions recommended by officers.
:11:18. > :11:26.In an X number of weeks, somebody will die in there because of this.
:11:27. > :11:31.`` in the next number of weeks. Other jobs have gone as well. It is
:11:32. > :11:39.a sad day. As you may have seen on that piece, this woman chained
:11:40. > :11:43.herself to the railings behind us. You campaigned against the closure
:11:44. > :11:47.of this particular care home. How right you feeling? I share the
:11:48. > :11:52.feelings of the whole community. It is a sad and disappointing day. What
:11:53. > :11:56.can you do about it? There is nothing more we could have done.
:11:57. > :12:01.There is a real sense of feeling let down by the council. This community
:12:02. > :12:07.relies upon this homes year. It is a vital part of this community. It is
:12:08. > :12:11.so isolated here and the questions that have been asked and answered by
:12:12. > :12:16.the community, it feels as if it has not really been taken seriously. I
:12:17. > :12:23.actually think it is wrong that every home has been closed. Thank
:12:24. > :12:25.you very much for that. Let's get a response from the County Council,
:12:26. > :12:32.the leader of the council is this man. The financial position, as we
:12:33. > :12:38.know, is very difficult for local authorities, it continues to be
:12:39. > :12:41.difficult. We have had to make ?130 million of savings, another ?90
:12:42. > :12:46.million is to come so we are having to make decisions that we don't want
:12:47. > :12:50.to meet. And one of these is, unfortunately, the decision we have
:12:51. > :12:53.had to make to close all of our remaining in`house County Council
:12:54. > :13:00.run residential long`term care homes. You had a three`month
:13:01. > :13:03.consultation and the clear message coming out of that consultation was
:13:04. > :13:11.particularly for one of the homes, the one in Stanhope, do not close
:13:12. > :13:16.it. Why have a consultation and then ignore it? It is not unusual for
:13:17. > :13:19.consultations to come back with response ECM, please don't close
:13:20. > :13:23.this facility and we have had a lot of experience that in recent years.
:13:24. > :13:27.Clearly nobody wanted facility that they used to be closed and that is
:13:28. > :13:31.very understandable. But unfortunately, the position we are
:13:32. > :13:36.in is that the council moving forward will be smaller. There will
:13:37. > :13:38.be less buildings, not just in terms of residential care homes but all of
:13:39. > :13:44.our facility. Did a decision leaves Durham with no
:13:45. > :13:47.council run care homes, there are none in Middlesbrough and Newcastle
:13:48. > :13:51.either. Cumbria council tell us they still have 29 but they are the
:13:52. > :13:57.exception rather than the rule. Thank you.
:13:58. > :14:00.Teesside's offshore wind farm was officially opened today. Off the
:14:01. > :14:03.coast at Redcar, it's claimed the scheme will be able to generate
:14:04. > :14:06.enough energy to heat and light 40,000 homes for a year. It's our
:14:07. > :14:09.third offshore wind development, joining the large`scale Robin Rigg
:14:10. > :14:11.farm in the Solway, and the more modest turbines at Blyth in
:14:12. > :14:16.Northumberland. Our Business Correspondent, Ian Reeve, reports
:14:17. > :14:20.from Redcar. The North East's first large`scale
:14:21. > :14:23.offshore wind farm. 27 turbines that have taken more than a decade of
:14:24. > :14:30.planning and wrangling to become operational. Of course, they are
:14:31. > :14:33.undoubtedly impressive as they would be at 80 metres tall. But there is
:14:34. > :14:36.still a nagging question. Does it matter that the wind farm is
:14:37. > :14:42.French`owned and operated, and that the turbines are built by Siemens of
:14:43. > :14:44.Germany and a Dutch company? On dry land, the Energy Minister,
:14:45. > :14:51.officially opening the wind farm, said not. A lot of the jobs are
:14:52. > :14:53.here. There are jobs in assembling them, installing the turbines, in
:14:54. > :14:59.servicing the turbines, the maintenance. There is plenty of work
:15:00. > :15:03.for wind farms like this. So what about how they look? Harry and Tommy
:15:04. > :15:09.watched daily as the turbines went up, changing the view from Redcar
:15:10. > :15:12.forever. I think they are great. It is the difference between a blackout
:15:13. > :15:16.and electricity. One thing in particular, it is clean. I think
:15:17. > :15:20.they are better out there than being on land. On land, they are an
:15:21. > :15:25.eyesore. It must be, for people who live in the area, the noise and the
:15:26. > :15:29.fact that they are there, it must be disturbing. But when they are out at
:15:30. > :15:33.sea, I don't think people take a lot of notice when they have been there
:15:34. > :15:35.a while. That is just as well. Government policy now encourages
:15:36. > :15:39.offshore schemes more than onshore ones, cutting subsidies to the
:15:40. > :15:46.latter. That policy, says the government, pays offshore companies
:15:47. > :15:49.?155 per megawatt hour. A megawatt hour equals roughly the amount of
:15:50. > :15:56.electricity used by 330 homes during one hour. The money paid is way
:15:57. > :15:58.above the market rate. And we all pay for it through a levy in our
:15:59. > :16:00.energy bills. above the market rate. And we all
:16:01. > :16:07.pay But it's meant to encourage investment and see renewable energy
:16:08. > :16:10.targets met. The Government is doing the right thing to encourage
:16:11. > :16:15.investment. In a way which, at the end, delivers secure, clean and
:16:16. > :16:19.affordable energy. Redcar will now play its party in the energy mix `
:16:20. > :16:35.supplying, it's claimed, the annual need of 40,000 homes.
:16:36. > :16:40.Apologies in advance for this one. Most of us think flies are nothing
:16:41. > :16:42.more than a nuisance. But in North Yorkshire, millions are being bred
:16:43. > :16:45.deliberately. Because researchers say fly maggots can be turned into
:16:46. > :16:48.highly`nutritious food for livestock. Phil Connell has
:16:49. > :16:50.tonight's Look North Report. And if you don't like maggots, well, you've
:16:51. > :16:54.been warned. It is the kind of job that requires
:16:55. > :16:59.a strong constitution and a poor sense of smell. In this farmer is
:17:00. > :17:04.shared, millions of flies are being specially bred. And all in the name
:17:05. > :17:09.of science. On the outskirts of York, at the food and environment
:17:10. > :17:15.research agency, scientists have discovered hidden qualities to these
:17:16. > :17:20.normally annoying pests. How long have these been in for? As part of
:17:21. > :17:24.the research project, they are turning their maggots produced by
:17:25. > :17:30.flies into high`protein food for pigs and chickens. When you look at
:17:31. > :17:36.animal feed currently, we are using a lot of lamb to produce soya and
:17:37. > :17:40.fishmeal, which is not as sustainable as we would like it to
:17:41. > :17:46.be. The potential, I believe, for exploiting flies, as I say, normally
:17:47. > :17:52.considered a pest, for the benefit of society is huge. Inside, it is
:17:53. > :17:56.estimated there are 2 million flies. Each one laying hundreds of eggs. It
:17:57. > :18:00.is not the kind of place you want to spend a lot of time but if this
:18:01. > :18:07.project does take off, fly farms like this could spring up all over
:18:08. > :18:12.the country. The maggots laid by flies are dried in machines before
:18:13. > :18:17.being ground into animal feed. It is a process that takes around five
:18:18. > :18:21.days. At the moment, most pig farmers rely on soya to feed their
:18:22. > :18:26.stock. It can take up to three months to grow. It is imported and
:18:27. > :18:32.expensive. Researchers say flies could save the industry millions of
:18:33. > :18:36.pounds. Maggots are even being converted into diesel. They could
:18:37. > :18:41.help develop a new industry in the UK. Not only can we extract protein
:18:42. > :18:48.or use insect meal in animal feed, there are other potential uses. In
:18:49. > :18:52.countries like China, maggots are widely used to feed livestock, in
:18:53. > :18:59.Britain, their use in animal feed is presently banned under European
:19:00. > :19:02.regulations. At the laboratory 's new York, the regulations are being
:19:03. > :19:06.looked at and with tests being carried out to check the long`term
:19:07. > :19:12.safety of maggots, entering the food chain. Animal feed regulation is
:19:13. > :19:17.stricter than food. It is imperative that we carry out a lot of
:19:18. > :19:20.analytical techniques to be able to cover the amount of contaminants
:19:21. > :19:25.that could end up in the final product. This is our number one aim,
:19:26. > :19:31.to make sure that it is safe for the consumer. Is said the state could
:19:32. > :19:36.take several years to establish the importance of flies and maggots
:19:37. > :19:44.belay. The annoying pests with emerging qualities that could change
:19:45. > :19:49.the way we live. It is safe to watch again now.
:19:50. > :19:53.Now here's one for the Crimestoppers files. A mystery car vandal in the
:19:54. > :19:56.Cumbrian town of Brampton has been captured ` on camera. For more than
:19:57. > :19:59.six months, some residents have been plagued by punctures to their car
:20:00. > :20:03.tyres. So they resorted to rigging up a CCTV system, which revealed the
:20:04. > :20:06.culprit ` Jess, a border collie with a serious attitude to tyres. Her
:20:07. > :20:14.owner's promised to keep her away from cars in future. Must have been
:20:15. > :20:17.barking! Sorry. Bookmakers across the country have
:20:18. > :20:20.slashed the odds on Gus Poyet leaving Sunderland before the end of
:20:21. > :20:23.the season ` that's despite newspaper reports that the
:20:24. > :20:26.Uruguayan's said he won't quit. Sounds like there are issues to sort
:20:27. > :20:30.out with the club's American owner, Ellis Short. All this ahead of one
:20:31. > :20:33.of their toughest games of the season.
:20:34. > :20:37.It is hard to believe just how far Sunderland have fallen since the
:20:38. > :20:41.match Manchester City for long periods of the classic Capital One
:20:42. > :20:44.Cup final. Even the boss can't quite explain why this season's been one
:20:45. > :20:53.of massive highs ` and depressing lows. It is incredible. I think that
:20:54. > :21:03.in a season that looks very dark, we had great moments, we had miserable
:21:04. > :21:06.days. We go to a final, we had a dream for 45 minutes. There is
:21:07. > :21:11.plenty of things that were magnificent. There is still
:21:12. > :21:18.something in there that is not working. It is too heavy to be taken
:21:19. > :21:21.away that we have been carrying the whole season. Seven red cards and
:21:22. > :21:24.just as many own goals haven't helped, of course. And it's hard to
:21:25. > :21:27.shake the impression that some players have given up since that
:21:28. > :21:32.Wembley disappointment. There is so many things that happened during the
:21:33. > :21:39.season, it is scary. There is something wrong. The only thing we
:21:40. > :21:44.can do is to keep being professional, working hard, giving
:21:45. > :21:52.your maximum. The fans deserve that. Trying to go to the end.
:21:53. > :21:58.Unfortunately, there are three teams that will go down. They will be the
:21:59. > :22:01.worst three. Last night, a goalless draw at
:22:02. > :22:04.promotion rivals Braintree kept Gateshead in the Conference play`off
:22:05. > :22:07.positions. Tomorrow evening, a new era in women's football gets under
:22:08. > :22:10.way for our leading clubs. Highly`rated Sunderland travel to
:22:11. > :22:13.New Ferens Park to take on Durham Women in the second division of the
:22:14. > :22:19.re`vamped Super League. It's a big occasion for the newly`formed home
:22:20. > :22:24.side. There is two clubs in the region. Two clubs playing at the
:22:25. > :22:28.highest level and I think that is great for young players and for
:22:29. > :22:32.girls and women who want to get involved in the game and who may
:22:33. > :22:36.have went down south to play down there. They can now stay up here and
:22:37. > :22:38.we can really raise the profile of the game.
:22:39. > :22:41.On to cricket, and Durham are hoping to complete the signing of the Sri
:22:42. > :22:44.Lankan wicket`keeper/batsman, Kumar Sangakkarra. The 36`year`old
:22:45. > :22:48.recently helped his country win the World 20`20 title. The champions
:22:49. > :22:53.came close to opening their campaign with a win, they were denied by
:22:54. > :22:56.Northamptonshire's last wicket. And in a high`scoring encounter at
:22:57. > :23:01.Taunton, Yorkshire's game with Somerset ended in a draw.
:23:02. > :23:04.There's another big date to look out for, on the region's speedway
:23:05. > :23:07.calendar ` Berwick Bandits will host one of the qualifying rounds for
:23:08. > :23:10.next year's world Grand Prix. The sport's governing body asked the
:23:11. > :23:13.Shielfield Park track to step in, after problems with the Austrian
:23:14. > :23:17.round of the tournament ` so the meeting's been switched to Berwick,
:23:18. > :23:22.on the evening of Saturday, June the 7th. By which time the weather will
:23:23. > :23:26.be better. This time last year, spring hadn't
:23:27. > :23:29.arrived and parts of Cumbria were still struggling with snow. It was a
:23:30. > :23:32.difficult time for the tourism industry, which is worth more than
:23:33. > :23:36.two billion pounds a year to the County. Twelve months on, spring has
:23:37. > :23:39.sprung ` and there's optimism that the fine weather will help pull in
:23:40. > :23:41.plenty of visitors. Adam Powell reports.
:23:42. > :23:45.As indicators go, the sign on the window of this Keswick guesthouse is
:23:46. > :23:48.a positive one. Like last year, all five rooms here are full this Easter
:23:49. > :24:00.but this time, the inquiries are up. Martin and Julie Lancaster opened
:24:01. > :24:04.their guesthouse 14 years ago. They are optimistic 2014 is shaping up to
:24:05. > :24:07.be a good year. The last few years have been...ve suffered a little
:24:08. > :24:11.from the downturn in the economy. `` have suffered a little. But Easter
:24:12. > :24:15.has come a little later this year. The weather is looking good. And I
:24:16. > :24:18.am very hopeful of a good season. Tourism is Cumbria's third biggest
:24:19. > :24:25.industry, with 38 million people coming to Cumbria in 2012,
:24:26. > :24:28.generating ?2.1 billion. We have got good strong advance bookings,
:24:29. > :24:34.businesses are feeling confident and we are expecting a lot of visitors.
:24:35. > :24:38.A year ago, parts of Cumbria were in the icy grips of distinctly wintry
:24:39. > :24:44.weather. What a difference 12 months makes. The sun is out, and so too
:24:45. > :24:49.are the crowds. I got sun a little bit so it has been wonderful. The
:24:50. > :24:52.weather is exceptionally good. We come here quite a lot. We got
:24:53. > :24:57.engaged here. The family has been coming for a long time, it is a
:24:58. > :25:01.lovely place. It is beautiful when the sun is out. Lots of things to do
:25:02. > :25:05.whether you are climbing a mountain or in a cafe having some nice coffee
:25:06. > :25:12.and scones. Anyone who is familiar with Cumbria knows that the weather
:25:13. > :25:14.can be changeable to say the least. Tourism bosses say that good weather
:25:15. > :25:27.certainly helps attract visitors, but so too does the county's
:25:28. > :25:28.undeniable charms. And from there we move seamlessly
:25:29. > :25:33.onto the weather forecast. And from there we move
:25:34. > :25:38.There will be some fine weather in Cumbria in the next few days.
:25:39. > :25:41.Tomorrow we are expecting it to be cooler and cloudier than today, a
:25:42. > :25:46.change in the weather just for the day. Through this evening, things
:25:47. > :25:49.stay dry and fine at first but an increasing amount of cloud in the
:25:50. > :25:56.north and west. Through the early hours of the morning, rain spreading
:25:57. > :25:59.across our map. It is my other than last night, delete that blanket rain
:26:00. > :26:04.temperatures probably know Laura than around six or eight Celsius. A
:26:05. > :26:08.mild start to your morning tomorrow but it is a gloomy one. Further
:26:09. > :26:13.outbreaks of patchy late rain and everywhere stays pretty overcast
:26:14. > :26:17.into the afternoon. Let's see how your Thursday afternoon looks. It is
:26:18. > :26:22.mostly dry across North Yorkshire but only very limited breaks in any
:26:23. > :26:29.cloud, temperatures generally no higher than around 12 or 13 Celsius,
:26:30. > :26:33.so down on today when we reached 16. In the West, one or two showers
:26:34. > :26:38.behind that main band of rain across Cumbria and colour of your, brisk
:26:39. > :26:43.westerly winds as well over 20 miles per hour in places. That is how
:26:44. > :26:48.tomorrow looks. Let us look further forward. The big picture, high
:26:49. > :26:52.pressure will start to dominate again and it reasserts itself over
:26:53. > :26:57.the long bank holiday weekend. Good news for Good Friday and into holy
:26:58. > :27:03.Saturday as well. By the time we get to Easter day, he weather system
:27:04. > :27:06.down to the south`east threatens to bring rain across the North East
:27:07. > :27:12.Wales Cumbria is likely to stay dry. Look at this. Here is Friday and
:27:13. > :27:18.Saturday in Cumbria. Here is how it looks in the north`east. Bright blue
:27:19. > :27:22.skies for the start of Easter. Thank you very much. Tomorrow we are
:27:23. > :27:28.live from South Shields. Hope you can join us. Goodbye.