:00:09. > :00:10.Hello, welcome to Midlands Today with Sarah Falkland and Nick Owen.
:00:10. > :00:20.The headlines tonight: Staffordshire and West Midlands
:00:20. > :00:24.Police collaborate on more services but insist it is not a merger.
:00:25. > :00:29.public can expect a better level of protection - more resilience from
:00:29. > :00:32.those critical services they depend on. In the midst of a rain-sodden
:00:32. > :00:35.drought, farmers call for a fairer deal on water usage. How a 200-
:00:35. > :00:45.year-old master could help a hospital buy the latest in robotic
:00:45. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:50.equipment - a cyberknife. We will meet Ken, who is old enough to be
:00:50. > :01:00.the grandad of Stephen Hendry, but who is still potting balls at the
:01:00. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:06.Good evening, welcome to Wednesday's Midlands Today from the
:01:06. > :01:11.BBC. Tonight: Two of our police forces agree to share armed
:01:11. > :01:14.officers and other specialist units. But the men at the top of
:01:14. > :01:18.Staffordshire and West Midlands forces deny it is a merger - more a
:01:18. > :01:22.ground breaking collaboration. Tonight, the body representing rank
:01:22. > :01:32.and file police officers in the region said they fear it is a step
:01:32. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :01:39.In the firing line, specialist units like armed officers. Dog
:01:39. > :01:43.handlers and accident investigators are to be combined - West Midlands
:01:43. > :01:47.and Staffordshire teams becoming one unit. At a special meeting
:01:47. > :01:57.today, one word was banned. This is not a merger and definitely not a
:01:57. > :02:03.takeover. This is a question of commonsense - a much better use of
:02:03. > :02:07.public money. We can retain excellent levels of operational
:02:07. > :02:12.resilience and operational services for the community. There is no
:02:12. > :02:14.question at all in terms of one partner being more dominant in that
:02:14. > :02:17.relationship. Both police authorities met in Stafford today.
:02:17. > :02:26.Smiles all round but could this spell the end of the Staffordshire
:02:26. > :02:31.force? Absolutely not. I would like to make the point it is not, in any
:02:31. > :02:38.way, but back door to mergers. Mergers are over and done with.
:02:38. > :02:42.Only a few jobs will be lost. The savings will be �2.5 million a year.
:02:42. > :02:48.Today's decision means there will be just one unit controlling these
:02:48. > :02:54.specialist teams - like Jamie and his job, Harley. It could mean they
:02:54. > :02:58.will be policing, not Staffordshire in parts of Birmingham. This means
:02:58. > :03:04.they can put the bite on criminals. Sceptics are warning the public
:03:04. > :03:11.could lose out and there are fears this could mean the start of
:03:11. > :03:15.privatisation. Money is tight. Budgets have been cut. We need to
:03:15. > :03:21.streamline. We do not need to lose the quality of service. This is the
:03:21. > :03:26.start of the introduction of private companies into the policing
:03:27. > :03:30.family. But what will the public get out of this? They will get a
:03:30. > :03:33.better service and better protection, which will be delivered
:03:33. > :03:36.in a more affordable manner. Both Staffordshire and West Midland
:03:36. > :03:41.forces plan to speak to their neighbours, Warwickshire and West
:03:41. > :03:47.Mercia, in the next few weeks - about working with those forces.
:03:47. > :03:54.Peter joins us now. Do the police federation have a point or is this
:03:54. > :03:59.a sensible financial decision? Those two chief constables say it
:03:59. > :04:04.is all about practicalities and clear-sighted financial efficiency.
:04:04. > :04:09.The Police Federation, what they are concerned about, they know that
:04:09. > :04:14.West Midlands Police is pioneering partnership work with private
:04:14. > :04:19.companies. Contracts are being advertised for �1.5 billion. What
:04:19. > :04:25.they fear is, perhaps, a long way down the road - this is all about
:04:25. > :04:30.economies of scale. Perhaps it would make the combination of new
:04:30. > :04:36.units more attractive to a private company. The chief constables say
:04:36. > :04:39.it has nothing to do with privatisation. Do you see more of
:04:39. > :04:46.these link ups in the longer term? It is already happening. West
:04:46. > :04:51.Murcia and Warwickshire already do it. Do you think forces could end
:04:51. > :04:55.up merging completely? Not merger because of the when they are
:04:55. > :05:00.financed. If you are in Staffordshire, you will say to
:05:00. > :05:05.yourself, I am paying a premium amount of council tax for my police
:05:05. > :05:10.force. Our Staffordshire police officers armed officers going to be
:05:10. > :05:19.poured into areas of the West Midlands? Will they get married --
:05:19. > :05:24.value for money? Yes, say the police constables, no, maybe not.
:05:25. > :05:28.Coming up: We will be live in Coventry as the countdown to the
:05:29. > :05:31.Olympics continues. Yes, I am backstage at the City of Coventry
:05:31. > :05:33.stadium as more than 400 young dancers create an evening of
:05:33. > :05:36.Olympic celebration. Drought then deluge. The recent weather has
:05:36. > :05:39.exposed some of the tensions between the environment and water
:05:39. > :05:43.users. Farmers feel their use of water is penalised while water
:05:43. > :05:49.companies take as much as they want. Everyone agrees though that water
:05:49. > :05:54.rules are inflexible and outdated. David Gregory has been
:05:54. > :05:57.investigating for a special edition of Inside Out. It has been the
:05:57. > :06:07.wettest drought many of us have known, but has recent rain changed
:06:07. > :06:07.
:06:07. > :06:11.things? We have built up a big debt over the past two years. One month
:06:11. > :06:15.of above-average rainfall will not really repay that debt
:06:15. > :06:19.significantly. It will take maybe six months of above-average
:06:19. > :06:22.rainfall to get anywhere near repaying the debt. I have been
:06:22. > :06:26.investigating the rules that govern our water supply and it has brought
:06:26. > :06:29.me here, to the banks of the River Severn in Worcestershire, where our
:06:29. > :06:32.two-year dry spell has exposed some real problems - not least for the
:06:32. > :06:36.people running the system, the Environment Agency. I think there
:06:36. > :06:42.is a nervousness with sitting down with the Environment Agency. They
:06:42. > :06:48.do not understand demountable to retake had is only 1% of all water
:06:48. > :06:53.usage. -- up the amount of water we take out. To the individual
:06:53. > :06:59.abstracting water, it is the make and break of the whole business. It
:06:59. > :07:03.makes it difficult to sit down with an official who you feel does not
:07:03. > :07:13.understand your situation. It is your livelihood, your income, your
:07:13. > :07:13.
:07:14. > :07:21.family you are affecting extracting the water. But the agency says it
:07:21. > :07:27.is doing its best with an antiquated and inflexible system.
:07:27. > :07:32.We have pushed the system as far as we could. An extended season in
:07:32. > :07:38.terms of failing winter storage reservoirs. In the summer, we can
:07:38. > :07:42.take high flows. We have tried to be as flexible as we can with the
:07:42. > :07:47.farmers. If the farmer is having troubles with their licensing
:07:47. > :07:49.regimes, they can approach us and we can see what we will do. And, if
:07:49. > :07:54.after April our dry spell does continue, the tensions between
:07:54. > :07:56.farmers, environment and water companies will only increase.
:07:56. > :08:00.Earlier, I spoke to Environment Minister Richard Benyon and began
:08:00. > :08:07.by asking him if it was simply too difficult for farmers in our region
:08:07. > :08:16.to get planning permission for water storage. Planning decisions
:08:16. > :08:19.taken locally. We want to encourage farmers. We are talking about
:08:19. > :08:23.reservoir of guidance. It is sometimes an impediment for farmers
:08:23. > :08:28.have in storage John Mann farms. We published a paper loss to which
:08:28. > :08:36.wants to seek more on farm storage by businesses such as the ones you
:08:36. > :08:39.have seen. Are we likely to have some change on that? In the
:08:39. > :08:44.national planning policy framework, we talk about sustainable
:08:44. > :08:48.development. It fits in with that. We want to see farmers equipped
:08:48. > :08:52.with being able to cope with changing climate. One is to be able
:08:52. > :08:58.to store water in the winter when we have rainfall in the winter. We
:08:59. > :09:02.have not had much over the past two years. Food security is fundamental
:09:02. > :09:06.to this government. We want to make sure farmers are equipped in every
:09:06. > :09:11.way they can to do this kind of work. If there are problems, we
:09:11. > :09:17.want to hear about it. We do not have a hosepipe ban in the West
:09:17. > :09:22.Midlands. What would your message be to water uses? I understand, it
:09:22. > :09:30.seems absurd than a here we are in drought and then they see heavy
:09:30. > :09:35.rainfall and flirts. -- that they here we are in drought. We have to
:09:35. > :09:38.make sure we are planning for the future. This wet weather could end
:09:38. > :09:42.quite soon we could have continued dry weather and we know we will
:09:42. > :09:46.then have problems in many parts of England, through the year. We have
:09:46. > :09:52.also got to plan for next year. The Government has seen this coming. We
:09:52. > :09:55.have been planning from a year ago. They think we can cope with the
:09:55. > :10:00.difficulties. This rain helps but it is not getting us out of trouble
:10:00. > :10:03.in terms of the trout in many parts of England. I hope the West
:10:03. > :10:07.Midlands and areas around Birmingham will be OK for the rest
:10:07. > :10:13.of the Year. David Gregory joins us now from Edgbaston Reservoir in
:10:13. > :10:17.Birmingham. What is your reaction to the minister's interview? Many
:10:17. > :10:21.farmers will be quite disappointed in the comments about planning. It
:10:21. > :10:27.is a local issue. Farmers say it can take up to 18 months to get
:10:27. > :10:32.planning permission to build water storage on farms. You can spend up
:10:32. > :10:35.to �25,000 jumping through hoops. Farmers would like the Government
:10:35. > :10:39.to simplified the bureaucracy and red tape to allow them to take
:10:39. > :10:46.advantage of wet month likely had just been through. The drought has
:10:46. > :10:56.exposed these tensions, hasn't it? What can be done? That is what we
:10:56. > :11:00.are looking out tonight. It is these old, and dictated rules --
:11:00. > :11:05.antiquated rules. Trying to simplify them is difficult. Taking
:11:05. > :11:09.away water rights means you have to compensate. We need to look at it
:11:09. > :11:19.otherwise we cannot take advantage of poor water we're getting.
:11:19. > :11:20.
:11:20. > :11:24.howlers are looking at Edgbaston reservoir? -- what water. With
:11:24. > :11:28.ground water, it right beneath our feet, it is at all-time lows right
:11:28. > :11:36.across the Midlands. It is causing real problems for the embarrassment
:11:37. > :11:40.in the summer. That is what we are in environmental drought. -- why we
:11:40. > :11:43.are. And Drought 2012, an Inside Out special, is on BBC1 at 7:30pm
:11:44. > :11:47.this evening. If you miss it, it will be on the BBC iPlayer. UK Coal
:11:47. > :11:49.has confirmed it is cutting around 150 jobs at its Daw Mill colliery
:11:50. > :11:52.in North Warwickshire. Last month, the company said the mine would
:11:53. > :11:54.shut in two years' time, unless it can cut costs and increase
:11:55. > :11:57.productivity. The Stoke City footballer, Jermaine Pennant, has
:11:57. > :11:59.been arrested on suspicion of assault in Manchester. The 29-year-
:12:00. > :12:02.old was charged earlier this week with drink-driving, and driving
:12:03. > :12:07.while disqualified, after a car crash near his home in Cheshire in
:12:07. > :12:11.the early hours of Sunday morning. The assault is alleged to have
:12:11. > :12:16.happened in a nightclub shortly before. He has been bailed pending
:12:16. > :12:20.further inquiries. Staff at an IT firm in Solihull have staged a
:12:20. > :12:22.protest over plans to axe 640 jobs from its UK business. The Unite
:12:23. > :12:28.union says the Computer Science Corporation wants to make
:12:28. > :12:34.compulsory job cuts and is ignoring offers of voluntary redundancy. CSC
:12:34. > :12:44.was behind a project for the NHS which was scrapped last year. The
:12:44. > :12:44.
:12:44. > :12:49.company says it is in the early stages of consultation with unions.
:12:49. > :12:52.The staff along with the staff and Chesterfield are integral in being
:12:52. > :12:58.able to provide the services but government and other important
:12:58. > :13:02.clients, including British Aerospace and a number of the
:13:02. > :13:05.financial institutions, with the facility to carry out their work.
:13:05. > :13:08.hospital charity has been trying to sell an old masters painting for
:13:08. > :13:11.nearly �1 million, so that it can buy a new treatment called
:13:12. > :13:15.Cyberknife. The painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds now belongs to the
:13:15. > :13:18.Queen Elizabeth Hospital's Charity. Strenuous efforts are being made,
:13:18. > :13:24.though, to keep the painting in Birmingham. Our health
:13:24. > :13:28.correspondent has this exclusive report. For 224 years, Dr John Ash
:13:28. > :13:30.has glowered down on the people of Birmingham. For the past 18, on
:13:30. > :13:35.loan to Birmingham's Museum and Art Gallery, where he resides alongside
:13:35. > :13:44.other city grandees, Matthew Boulton and James Watt. But he is
:13:44. > :13:48.up for sale and the museum wants to keep him. For are the people of
:13:48. > :13:55.Birmingham, we have to get this. It was painted for the people of
:13:55. > :13:58.Birmingham and it has always been here. It is a major work by a major
:13:58. > :14:01.artist. One of the first portraits of a Bourgeois, and not an
:14:01. > :14:03.aristocrat. Reynolds shows Dr Ash in all his grandeur, as founder of
:14:03. > :14:06.Birmingham's first hospital, the General. But buildings change and
:14:06. > :14:09.so do priorities. At the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham,
:14:09. > :14:12.they have two of the most up to date radiotherapy machines in the
:14:13. > :14:21.country. But they want to buy this, Cyberknife, so precise that robots
:14:21. > :14:25.alter their aim according to each breath a patient takes. To be able
:14:25. > :14:30.to have the best treatment in the world at a local Cancer Centre in
:14:30. > :14:35.Birmingham is what we are aiming for. The sooner we can do it, the
:14:35. > :14:37.better. If selling the painting is part of that, my vote is to sell.
:14:37. > :14:45.Selling the painting means the Cyberknife could be bought by
:14:45. > :14:50.December. We have been asked by the hospital to fund raise. The money
:14:50. > :14:53.from that would be a large part of our appeal. The slightly grumpy
:14:53. > :15:00.looking doctor might have been quite tickled that his final legacy
:15:00. > :15:07.would be to provide cutting-edge treatment to the people of
:15:07. > :15:11.Birmingham. There were a lot of very wealthy people in the world.
:15:12. > :15:21.The Americans are great collectors. The museum has raised �150,000 and
:15:22. > :15:24.
:15:24. > :15:27.is placing its hope on Heritage Still to come: What links this man,
:15:27. > :15:36.a microscope, a stethoscope and Botox with the Diamond Jubilee
:15:36. > :15:38.celebrations? And, April was a washout. So far, May's not filling
:15:38. > :15:46.us with confidence and, with bank holidays hardly ever scoring highly
:15:47. > :15:51.for weather, could we be on a losing streak this week? If you
:15:51. > :16:01.keep watching, you will find out before the end of the programme.
:16:01. > :16:02.
:16:02. > :16:07.Time for sport. Ian Winter is here. Aston Villa fans will be keeping a
:16:07. > :16:17.close eye on Bolton Wanderers tonight. They are at home to Spurs,
:16:17. > :16:19.
:16:19. > :16:25.who visit Villa Park on Sunday. Last night Stoke City drew 1-1. It
:16:25. > :16:31.was a bizarre own goal by Peter Crouch. Cameron Jerome equalised
:16:31. > :16:38.within two minutes of coming on. That is how it finished. The game
:16:38. > :16:48.was a bit flat and needed a bit of a sparked and tempo. Up we provided
:16:48. > :16:54.
:16:54. > :16:57.that with fresh legs. It caught Everton by surprise a bit.
:16:57. > :17:00.Brookes could not believe it when he heard the news. The snooker
:17:00. > :17:03.fanatic from Birmingham thought it could not possibly be true. But it
:17:03. > :17:06.was. Stephen Hendry, the seven times World Champion, is retiring
:17:06. > :17:09.at the age of 43. So, this afternoon, I popped out for a quick
:17:09. > :17:11.frame with Ken, who has just celebrated his 90th birthday. The
:17:11. > :17:14.Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, April 1990. And Stephen Hendry was
:17:14. > :17:19.winning the first of his seven World Snooker titles at the ripe
:17:19. > :17:24.old age of 21. Ken Brookes did not start playing until he was 27. But
:17:24. > :17:34.when he did, he was soon hooked and his passion for the game means he
:17:34. > :17:37.
:17:37. > :17:47.is still playing every week, at the age of 90. The best player --
:17:47. > :17:52.Stephen Hendry is a cruelly the best player there has ever been.
:17:52. > :17:57.arguably. Lucky for me there was only pride at stake this afternoon.
:17:57. > :18:05.Ken is still better it -- very competitive. I could only sit and
:18:05. > :18:12.watch and wonder. He is old enough to be the grandad of Stephen Hendry.
:18:12. > :18:21.Come on, Ian, played the shot! During his career Icarus Stephen
:18:21. > :18:28.Hendry made 800 century breaks. Ken has managed it twice. -- during his
:18:28. > :18:32.Korea, Stephen Hendry has made. will continue as long as I can hold
:18:32. > :18:39.the cute and gives a reasonable account of myself on the table, I
:18:39. > :18:46.will be delighted. -- beat queue and give a reasonable account.
:18:46. > :18:50.was 68 when he won the Veterans Cup. He will dine out on the memory of
:18:50. > :18:57.beating yours truly. Perhaps Stephen Hendry retired not a moment
:18:57. > :19:07.too soon. Well done! Carry on putting. Shrewsbury Town will have
:19:07. > :19:15.
:19:15. > :19:24.I went to watch Derbyshire against Gloucestershire today and it was
:19:25. > :19:28.really nice. You have a blue mark on the lawsuit - chalk dust. --
:19:28. > :19:31.your suit. A century after the Titanic disaster, a fundraising
:19:31. > :19:34.appeal has begun in the Black Country to create a memorial to a
:19:34. > :19:37.cellist who performed in the ship's legendary band. The body of John
:19:37. > :19:40.Woodward, who grew up in West Bromwich, has never been recovered.
:19:40. > :19:43.His name was added to his family's gravestone in a local cemetery, but,
:19:43. > :19:47.after decades of erosion, it is crumbling away with no known
:19:47. > :19:50.relatives to repair it. It is said that when Titanic plunged through
:19:50. > :19:52.the icy depths, John Woodward, a humble 32-year-old from West
:19:52. > :20:02.Bromwich, was alongside his fellow band members, clutching their
:20:02. > :20:04.
:20:04. > :20:06.instruments, stoically playing on. Paul Kidson and Lorna Jenkins are
:20:06. > :20:13.relative strangers. They happened to visit Heath Lane cemetery and
:20:13. > :20:21.felt urged to act. The Woodward family grave is hard to spot - the
:20:21. > :20:26.sandstone facade is crumbling away. We were shocked to find a stone in
:20:26. > :20:31.this condition. We said it needs attention. If we have another
:20:31. > :20:36.memorial, we will put on marriage, cellist. All over the country there
:20:36. > :20:44.are statues and everything, but Paul has come up film stars,
:20:44. > :20:50.everything. This man was a real hero. -- footballers, film stars.
:20:50. > :20:53.John Woodward was eager to please. He chose his finest cello for the
:20:53. > :21:00.trip. Nearer My God Timmy is thought to be the last piece of
:21:00. > :21:06.music he played and his body was never found. John Woodward lived in
:21:06. > :21:10.West Bromwich. The census shows as he was one of nine children. By the
:21:10. > :21:16.time he joined the maiden voyage of Titanic, his family have moved to
:21:16. > :21:22.Oxford. The only one we heard Bob was a grand niece called Charlotte.
:21:22. > :21:27.We know nothing about her. -- we heard off. The new memorial will be
:21:28. > :21:37.cast in marble. A public appeal for donations has started to raise up
:21:38. > :21:47.
:21:47. > :21:49.450 young people are on stage tonight in Coventry helping to
:21:50. > :21:52.build up excitement in the city, ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
:21:52. > :21:54.Coventry will be an Olympic football venue during the games,
:21:54. > :21:56.and tonight's event, entitled Believe, is promising carnival-
:21:57. > :22:06.inspired costume and high energy dance. A perfect assignment then
:22:07. > :22:09.
:22:09. > :22:14.I did try to get hold of one of the costumes but they would not let me
:22:14. > :22:18.get into it. This is the world premiere. That is the only time it
:22:18. > :22:22.will be performed. 400 children from across Coventry and
:22:22. > :22:26.Warwickshire and here tonight giving their all, in aid of the
:22:26. > :22:32.Olympics. You are of the Simon Cowell of this event. How hard has
:22:32. > :22:35.it been to get the kids to do what we are seeing now? If it has been a
:22:35. > :22:39.positive journey. All of them have taken on board the commitment to
:22:39. > :22:49.the project. What they have done tonight has been a credit to their
:22:49. > :22:52.
:22:52. > :22:57.hard work. I have seen Death Has Been Smiling At Me, which was a bit
:22:57. > :23:01.surreal. It is the story of perseverance and getting over
:23:01. > :23:06.adversity. We have taken inspiration from the athletes and
:23:06. > :23:10.the Olympic Games this summer. have to say, or the children here,
:23:10. > :23:14.one thing they all deserve a gold medal for his staying as quiet as
:23:14. > :23:19.they are far the performance is going on. I am the one who's been
:23:19. > :23:23.told to be quiet the whole time. I spoke to someone tonight he was
:23:23. > :23:29.only four and I said to him, what does that mean about being here? He
:23:29. > :23:33.said, it is just about having fun and that is what I'm doing. If you
:23:33. > :23:38.look at all the children's faces, that is exactly what they're doing
:23:38. > :23:42.- having fun. Back to you in the studio. I cannot believe she did
:23:42. > :23:44.not get the costume. Now, the story of a microscope, a stethoscope,
:23:44. > :23:47.Botox, and our reigning monarch. A Birmingham artist has created
:23:47. > :23:51.what's thought to be the world's smallest portrait of the Queen. It
:23:51. > :23:56.is less than 2 mms high and took him nine months to complete. And
:23:56. > :23:59.there were a few dramas along the way. You need a microscope to see
:23:59. > :24:03.artist Graham Short's latest masterpiece. That is because his
:24:03. > :24:13.portrait of the Queen is less than 2 mms across and has been engraved
:24:13. > :24:14.
:24:14. > :24:19.on the head of a pin. It was about five years ago I saw a portrait of
:24:19. > :24:27.the Queen by Rolf Harris and I liked his work. I thought, I would
:24:27. > :24:33.try to do this more as portrait in the world. It took about 90 months.
:24:33. > :24:38.It took about 90 pins. I have to polish the head and start again.
:24:38. > :24:46.makes his engravings and his tiny workshop in the jewellery Quarter
:24:46. > :24:51.in Birmingham. And he tends to work mostly at night. I need to be
:24:51. > :24:56.perfectly still when I am working. My arm is strapped to the bench. I
:24:56. > :25:01.wear a stethoscope and try to engrave when I am still between
:25:01. > :25:08.heartbeats. Add to not take caffeine. I have Botolphs round my
:25:08. > :25:15.eyes every few months, just to deaden the nerves and muscles. -- I
:25:15. > :25:18.do not take caffeine. His other works include the Lord's Prayer,
:25:18. > :25:21.parts of the Koran and this incredible engraving of the words,
:25:21. > :25:24."nothing is impossible" on the sharp edge of a razor blade. Did
:25:24. > :25:33.you get right near to the end of the Queen and slip and have to
:25:33. > :25:36.start again? No, a no. While I am near to the end, I'm very careful.
:25:36. > :25:39.-- when I am. Some of the engravings have sold for around
:25:39. > :25:47.�50,000, and there is already interest in Her Majesty by a well
:25:48. > :25:53.known cruise ship operator. On Bank Holiday Monday we will be reporting
:25:53. > :26:03.on diamond jubilee celebrations around the region. Please e-mail us
:26:03. > :26:04.
:26:04. > :26:06.with the details. How is the It is quite late in the day for
:26:06. > :26:09.those official figures but, as it turns out, April was cooler,
:26:09. > :26:13.sunnier but with more than double the usual rainfall But, at least,
:26:13. > :26:18.today was good. Don't bank on it staying that way though we have a
:26:18. > :26:22.couple of fronts tumbling down from the north before we hit the weekend.
:26:22. > :26:28.But it becomes largely drier after that, which is a turn up for the
:26:28. > :26:38.books. It will however become colder by then with night frosts
:26:38. > :26:39.
:26:39. > :26:45.with temperatures almost halve today's values. We have a few
:26:45. > :26:49.showers across the region this evening. This rain will light
:26:49. > :26:53.across southern parts of the patch a move steadily northwards. I do
:26:53. > :26:59.not think it will reach the extreme north, so Staffordshire should
:26:59. > :27:05.remain dry tonight. There is a warning for torrential downpours in
:27:05. > :27:11.the south. That will extend to central areas as well. It will be a
:27:11. > :27:16.mild night with temperatures around 6-eight Celsius. It will be a wet
:27:16. > :27:21.start to the day. The band of rain will move northwards. There will be
:27:21. > :27:27.heavier outbreaks by the afternoon. Elsewhere it begins to dry up.
:27:27. > :27:32.Temperatures will suffer. Highs of only 11-14 Celsius. More showers on
:27:32. > :27:36.Friday in fairly dry for the weekend. A look at the headlines.