:00:08. > :00:12.Welcome to the late Look North. Gales and blizzards have been
:00:13. > :00:16.battering our region this evening causing disruption to transport and
:00:17. > :00:19.power cuts for thousands. Gusts of over 90 miles an hour were recorded
:00:20. > :00:23.in one part of South Yorkshire and the Fire and Rescue Service says it
:00:24. > :00:27.has been at full stretch. We'll have the latest weather and travel for
:00:28. > :00:36.you in a moment, but first Shamir Masri has this. Tonight we have had
:00:37. > :00:43.wind speed in excess of 90 miles an hour in some places. I am
:00:44. > :00:49.overlooking the M 62 and earlier today police closed section of this
:00:50. > :00:53.road to high sided vehicles with fears of lorries overtraining. Train
:00:54. > :00:59.services have also been cancelled and there has been disruption at
:01:00. > :01:04.Leeds airport. Earlier this afternoon the wind caused this lorry
:01:05. > :01:11.to topple over on the M 62. Just after tea`time a swimming lesson
:01:12. > :01:16.involving 15 children in Huddersfield was dramatically cut
:01:17. > :01:22.short after sections of the roof began to come away. Luckily no one
:01:23. > :01:27.was hurt. The owner of this car was fortunate not to be in it when a
:01:28. > :01:33.falling tree crushed it in Bingley. It has been a busy night for the
:01:34. > :01:40.emergency services. It kicked off at around four 30 PM. Trees had
:01:41. > :01:44.collapsed and traffic collisions. It has started to calm down now but we
:01:45. > :01:48.are still busy responding to a number of incidents. In Leeds this
:01:49. > :01:56.voluntary led the road to be closed. The emergency services helps
:01:57. > :02:00.members of the public were in danger after roof slates were blown onto
:02:01. > :02:04.the road and pavement below. It will not be until daylight tomorrow
:02:05. > :02:09.morning when people will realise the full extent of the damage caused.
:02:10. > :02:13.Our reporter Phil Bodmer has been monitoring the effects of the storm
:02:14. > :02:21.for us this evening and has this update for us. We have been out and
:02:22. > :02:26.about in Bradford and needs in the last three hours. Numerous trees
:02:27. > :02:32.have come down and roof slates have caused a number of road closures.
:02:33. > :02:39.The emergency services have been at full stretch. In the past hour
:02:40. > :02:42.Northern Power Grid have told us there are 20,000 properties in
:02:43. > :02:46.Yorkshire and the North East without power. The majority of those are in
:02:47. > :02:49.west and central Yorkshire. On the railways, expect delays if you're
:02:50. > :02:51.travelling anywhere tonight. Services are suspended between
:02:52. > :03:01.Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester airport because of emergency
:03:02. > :03:12.engineering works. On the M 18 lorry has overturned and recovery work is
:03:13. > :03:19.under way. On the A1 two lanes southbound closed because of an
:03:20. > :03:28.overturned lorry. That is around junction 49. Only a 650 Bridge
:03:29. > :03:36.Street in Bradford, that is closed in both directions due to an unsafe
:03:37. > :03:42.building. There are closures on the Woodhead pass tonight due to the
:03:43. > :03:48.strength of the high wind. A number of other minor routes are also
:03:49. > :03:51.suffering tonight and are closed. You should take extra care if you're
:03:52. > :03:54.travelling this evening. Your BBC Local Radio station is on air until
:03:55. > :03:57.one o'clock tomorrow morning. They'll also have regular travel
:03:58. > :04:11.updates in Breakfast from six o'clock.
:04:12. > :04:19.Paul, has it peaked? The exceptional gusts have peaked but we still have
:04:20. > :04:24.us of around 70 miles an hour. So the exceptional values have gone but
:04:25. > :04:30.gusts can still cause damage. After midnight the wind will start to ease
:04:31. > :04:38.considerably. And the flooding situation? The land is on a knife
:04:39. > :04:42.edge. We saw pictures earlier of water pouring off the land. Still
:04:43. > :04:49.showers to come tomorrow but more heavy rain coming on Friday and into
:04:50. > :04:53.the weekend. Full details at the end of the bulletin.
:04:54. > :04:56.Farmers in Yorkshire are warning that months of flooded fields could
:04:57. > :04:59.lead to food shortages. Much of Yorkshire's farmland is underwater
:05:00. > :05:02.yet again and farmers are calling for new investment in the
:05:03. > :05:05.infrastructure and drainage to ease the situation. Danny Carpenter has
:05:06. > :05:14.been to meet two of them near the River Don in South Yorkshire. The
:05:15. > :05:17.eyes of the nation have been fixed on the South West. The worst
:05:18. > :05:24.flooding in living memory. But this is South Yorkshire were flooding for
:05:25. > :05:29.farmers has become a fact of life. 2007 was the record year here and
:05:30. > :05:37.since then it hardly seems to have stopped. The pump has been running
:05:38. > :05:45.24 74 weeks. The river just keeps on breaking its banks. This is grazing
:05:46. > :05:49.land for Jersey cows. The farmer keeps selling but the water keeps
:05:50. > :05:56.coming back. It kills the grass and the soil it grows on. We need to go
:05:57. > :06:00.back to a managed river system. There are 60 million people in this
:06:01. > :06:07.country and that has a big effect on the environment. These rivers need
:06:08. > :06:12.to be managed so the river runs the way it is supposed to. His neighbour
:06:13. > :06:19.is busy lambing. He also grows food crops when he can. Every year he is
:06:20. > :06:23.losing land to floods and he is worried about the long`term impact.
:06:24. > :06:27.There needs to be new money and some real investment in the
:06:28. > :06:32.infrastructure of drainage. Just to protect houses seems ridiculous
:06:33. > :06:37.because people in those houses need to eat from somewhere. In the future
:06:38. > :06:43.we have to realise that and put more value on farmland. It is a simple
:06:44. > :06:48.fact that the most fertile soil is one `` is found in river valleys.
:06:49. > :06:52.Soil that cannot be cropped if it is underwater. The harsh and simple
:06:53. > :06:58.mouse is that more floods means less food.
:06:59. > :07:02.Meanwhile a farmer from another part of our region is preparing to send
:07:03. > :07:05.help in the form of animal feed and bedding to Somerset. Two tractors
:07:06. > :07:08.and two trailers will be setting off from Mount Farm at Woolley near
:07:09. > :07:11.Wakefield tomorrow. They'll be carrying 15 tonnes of hay, haylage
:07:12. > :07:23.and sileage to help the stricken farmers in the South West.
:07:24. > :07:30.The details of the weather now. It is still quite stormy and will be
:07:31. > :07:41.until midnight. Let us take a look at how those wins have been through
:07:42. > :07:46.the course of the evening. `` wind. Above 70 miles an hour is when you
:07:47. > :07:49.begin to see structural damage. After midnight it is still going to
:07:50. > :07:57.be windy but not the severe gales that we have right now. You do not
:07:58. > :08:03.get areas of low pressure much deeper than that. Tomorrow we have a
:08:04. > :08:10.bit of respite. But this system is coming in for Friday. More wind and
:08:11. > :08:14.rain on its way. Right now it is very windy indeed and we have
:08:15. > :08:18.scattered showers. Those showers wintry over the hills that they use
:08:19. > :08:31.of northwards and it becomes mostly dry. Watch out for icy patches. For
:08:32. > :08:38.tomorrow it is a better day with some sunshine and a scattering of
:08:39. > :08:44.wintry showers. Later we could see showers becoming more organised
:08:45. > :08:55.across northern areas. But worst and South Yorkshire having a lot of dry
:08:56. > :09:02.weather tomorrow. Friday, a fine and frosty start but more heavy rain and
:09:03. > :09:06.strong wind. That is all from me and the team. Here is the summary of the
:09:07. > :09:13.forecast Good evening. What an incredible day
:09:14. > :09:18.of weather it has been. We saw gusts of wind up to 108 mph in the West of
:09:19. > :09:21.Wales. The wind is easing down a notch or two but we still have a
:09:22. > :09:25.high-level amber warning from the Met Office for the strength of the
:09:26. > :09:29.wind over the next few hours over quite a large swathe of the UK.
:09:30. > :09:32.Northern Ireland, northern England and down across Wales, there is
:09:33. > :09:38.still potential for damaging and disruptive gusts of wind. This huge
:09:39. > :09:42.curl of cloud is bringing wet and windy weather across much of the
:09:43. > :09:45.West of Europe. It curls back across the north of the UK and that's the
:09:46. > :09:49.centre of the area of low pressure with the strongest winds just to the
:09:50. > :09:54.south of that. Let's focus on the winds over the next few hours. The
:09:55. > :09:59.ease down by a notch or two but still blustery conditions over most
:10:00. > :10:05.of Wales. High seas around the coast and gusting up to 70 mph. Easily
:10:06. > :10:09.around the 80 mph mark across much of northern England. Across the
:10:10. > :10:14.Pennines this evening and overnight, travelling will be treacherous. Wind
:10:15. > :10:18.and rain at lower levels will produce a lot of spray. You don t
:10:19. > :10:23.have to go to high up the Pennines to see that turned to snow. One way
:10:24. > :10:27.or another, further disruption to travel is more than likely. BBC
:10:28. > :10:31.local radio will keep you up-to date on where you are and where you are
:10:32. > :10:37.trying to get to. The centre of the low system moves northwards. Pretty
:10:38. > :10:40.heavy snow developing across the hills of Scotland with several
:10:41. > :10:43.centimetres by dawn. A bit of snow for Northern Ireland and wintry
:10:44. > :10:48.showers drifting across the southern counties. A risk of ice with most
:10:49. > :10:52.races are seeing the temperatures a degree or so either side of
:10:53. > :10:58.freezing. A cold, windy start Thursday but I think it be a better
:10:59. > :11:02.day. No persistent rain to be seen. There should be some spells of
:11:03. > :11:07.sunshine for many of us, as well. Does it last until the end of the
:11:08. > :11:12.week? I'm afraid not. It goes downhill on Friday. This low
:11:13. > :11:17.pressure will head our way. Lots of isobars on the chart later in the
:11:18. > :11:21.day. Gusts of 60, 70 or 80 mph, with rain spreading northwards.
:11:22. > :11:24.Significant snow for parts of Northern Ireland and southern
:11:25. > :11:29.Scotland. Windy into the start of the weekend. Saturday has outbreaks
:11:30. > :11:31.of rain. On Sunday, something of a respite. The winds will ease down
:11:32. > :11:32.and it should