:00:04. > :00:06.Hello and welcome to Midlands Today, with Sarah Falkland and Giles
:00:06. > :00:09.Latcham. The headlines tonight:
:00:09. > :00:19.The second stage of HS2 brings protests but supporters say it
:00:19. > :00:27.makes business sense. And all you people of Birmingham, it will be
:00:27. > :00:30.the best connected City at in the UK. They all are going to have
:00:30. > :00:32.their lives wrecked by it. Also on tonight's programme:
:00:32. > :00:36.After two deaths, fire safety advice for tramps and squatters.
:00:36. > :00:45.Fed up of hearing Birmingham slated? Perhaps you could be a
:00:45. > :00:51.Brummie ambassador. We do not expect special treatment... And a
:00:51. > :01:01.new week with a new set of problems to put up with. No snow but plenty
:01:01. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:08.Good evening. There were winners and losers today as the Government
:01:08. > :01:13.spelled out plans to go Birmingham at the heart of the country's high-
:01:13. > :01:18.speed rail network. Two new lines will slash journey times to Leeds
:01:18. > :01:22.and Manchester. They will link to the HS2 flying to London. People
:01:22. > :01:27.who found out only today that the new routes will be close to their
:01:27. > :01:34.homes are already planning protests. The Transport Minister says the
:01:34. > :01:38.routes will make Birmingham the best connected city in the country.
:01:38. > :01:43.For the second time in three years, homeowners and visitors are tonight
:01:44. > :01:48.facing up to the fact they will be affected by a chest to. The Brits
:01:48. > :01:55.announced today mean more blight and more misery. -- affected I
:01:55. > :02:04.think. James runs a riding stable. He is already close to the original
:02:04. > :02:08.HS2 line. Now he and his horses are just yards away from theTo Leeds.
:02:08. > :02:12.The access will be difficult in and out of the stables. Elsewhere,
:02:12. > :02:16.lives are in number. This couple are desperate to sell but the
:02:16. > :02:24.proximity of HS2 to establish a house has meant a little interest
:02:24. > :02:28.from buyers. Concerned about our future. We can't actually have any
:02:28. > :02:33.plans in life. Our life is permanently on hold. But according
:02:33. > :02:37.to Government ministers, while some might lose out, others will be
:02:37. > :02:42.winners, with predictions of improved growth and prosperity.
:02:42. > :02:46.the country it shows the commitment to build the infrastructure for the
:02:46. > :02:50.21st century. For Birmingham it will mean jobs during construction,
:02:50. > :02:54.new, permanent jobs. And for Birmingham it will be the best
:02:54. > :03:04.connected city in the UK. Journey times between Birmingham and the
:03:04. > :03:10.
:03:10. > :03:16.Behind me the site of the proposed Birmingham City Centre HS2 centre.
:03:16. > :03:21.There has already been quite a bit of regeneration here. Manchester,
:03:21. > :03:27.Leeds are hoping that when HS2 arrives, that will continue. And
:03:27. > :03:33.Birmingham Chamber of Commerce says there is more Choosing To Die than
:03:33. > :03:40.just regeneration. It brings the cities closer and that shows more
:03:40. > :03:47.business gets done. -- and there is more to the HS2 than just
:03:47. > :03:53.regeneration. The Government plans a hybrid bill which could pave the
:03:53. > :03:59.way for high-speed lines to be built in two faces, London to
:03:59. > :04:03.Birmingham by 2026 and then Leeds and Manchester six years later.
:04:03. > :04:08.The route that HS2 will take for Staffordshire was revealed at 7am
:04:08. > :04:12.this morning and for many it has come as an unpleasant surprise. The
:04:12. > :04:17.high-speed line will skirt around Stafford but the nearby village of
:04:17. > :04:21.Hopton will have high-speed trains on the doorstep. Further north at
:04:21. > :04:27.Madeley near Newcastle-under-Lyme, trains will hurtle through at up to
:04:27. > :04:30.2025mph. And with no HS2 stops in the county, will staff the Czech
:04:30. > :04:34.get all of the pain and none of the gain?
:04:34. > :04:39.In the village of Hopton near Stafford, families greeted news
:04:39. > :04:43.they are on the HS2 route with shock. June Brown-Bullivant chose
:04:43. > :04:48.her home because of its stunning views across the Staffordshire
:04:48. > :04:53.countryside, but HS2 is likely to change the view from here. It may
:04:53. > :04:57.not be in my lifetime when it is built but we will fight for future
:04:57. > :05:02.people who will be living here. Staffordshire will be effective
:05:02. > :05:06.from north to south by this route. The line is expected to pass close
:05:06. > :05:10.to the County Showground here, one of many parts of the landscape like
:05:10. > :05:14.to do be affected. Amongst those areas will be Madeley, near
:05:14. > :05:18.Newcastle-under-Lyme, also close to the planned rigged. At the village
:05:18. > :05:23.centre there was scepticism about the benefits of the high-speed link
:05:23. > :05:29.to rural communities like this one. We get the pain but none of the
:05:29. > :05:36.game. Who are they spending the money for? Not for us. It could
:05:36. > :05:41.take a lot more traffic than it does. The West Coast Mainline. So
:05:41. > :05:46.what is the need to have something like that? I good sooner the money
:05:47. > :05:50.be spent on other things. I feel really sorry for people who are
:05:50. > :05:54.going to have their lives completely wrecked by it, but this
:05:54. > :05:58.is progress. The rich north from Birmingham to Manchester will cut
:05:58. > :06:00.through swathes of Staffordshire countryside. The Conservative-led
:06:00. > :06:08.county council says the environmental impact will be
:06:08. > :06:16.significant. Communities will be affected. Houses will be worth 50%
:06:16. > :06:19.less overnight. The Winnie to work with those homeowners.
:06:19. > :06:23.Staffordshire has long had an association with the railways, but
:06:23. > :06:31.passengers here will not have a high-speed station, and there are
:06:31. > :06:34.many who feel economic benefits of the route will be distant.
:06:34. > :06:39.I transport correspondent joins us now from the stables in
:06:39. > :06:45.Warwickshire which we saw earlier in his report, threatened by a HS2.
:06:45. > :06:53.The devil is in the detail with these routes published today?
:06:53. > :06:56.least. These stables are affected by not one but two and HS2 lines
:06:56. > :07:02.and the hat to relocate. But what compensation will be available to
:07:02. > :07:05.those who find themselves affected? To find the answers, I am joined
:07:05. > :07:09.from an estate agent. Tell me what compensation is available
:07:09. > :07:13.immediately to people who find themselves affected? Right now, the
:07:13. > :07:18.scheme is threefold. For those within 60 metres of the line, there
:07:18. > :07:24.is the advance purchase scheme where they get a 10% loss of
:07:24. > :07:28.payment on its top of the value of their property. 60 metres out, 120
:07:28. > :07:34.metres out is on a trooper this -- purchase scheme, but they only get
:07:34. > :07:40.the value of their property. And beyond 120 metres is the
:07:40. > :07:43.exceptional hardship scheme. that is pretty hard to claim?
:07:43. > :07:48.You have to prove that you have tried to sell your property through
:07:48. > :07:51.every means you possibly can and you need to sell it right now. If
:07:51. > :07:55.you are in financial difficulty, you need to move because of a job,
:07:55. > :07:59.health, you have to be in exceptional hardship. But general
:07:59. > :08:03.compensation is not really available until compulsory purchase
:08:03. > :08:07.orders come out after the high brick purchase bill -- hybrid Bill
:08:07. > :08:11.passes through Parliament? That is right. Not even until the spring
:08:11. > :08:16.will you be able to start considering compulsory purchase,
:08:17. > :08:21.let alone moving on to the hardship except us. How bad is the blight? I
:08:21. > :08:27.have heard some properties have been devalued by up to �100,000.
:08:27. > :08:33.Those properties sitting near to the line, you would get a full
:08:33. > :08:38.market value. The extraordinary hardship scheme, you will get the
:08:38. > :08:42.full value. But in between, there is an argument for people to be put
:08:42. > :08:45.off from buying. We are talking about a railway line that could be
:08:45. > :08:50.20 years away. We would like to know what you
:08:50. > :08:53.think of the proposed new route for HS2. Please get in touch with us.
:08:53. > :08:57.We will read out some comments later.
:08:57. > :09:07.Coming up, the perils of Twitter. Another Premier League footballer
:09:07. > :09:09.
:09:09. > :09:13.is heading for trouble because of Homeless people sleeping rough are
:09:13. > :09:17.being offered smoke alarms and fire safety advice when they are seeking
:09:17. > :09:21.shelter in abandoned buildings. It is the first scheme of its kind in
:09:21. > :09:26.the country and follows a number of fires where people have been killed
:09:26. > :09:31.or injured. You have to be careful... In a dark
:09:31. > :09:35.and damp squat, starting a fire may seem a good way to stay warm.
:09:35. > :09:39.to put his cigarettes in the ashtray. West Midlands firefighter
:09:39. > :09:44.Ian Sturmey has joined outreach workers in Birmingham. He knows it
:09:44. > :09:52.is not just home owners who need fire safety checks. I can see her
:09:52. > :09:57.at least five. There are two and others in the bedroom. They are bad
:09:57. > :10:06.hat -- habits. In 2010 two homeless men died in a fire in Birmingham
:10:06. > :10:11.and it prompted a response on the streets. It was hurried because
:10:11. > :10:17.they were issuing information about the tattoos on the bodies so that
:10:17. > :10:20.people could identify them. -- it was horrid. The truth is that no
:10:21. > :10:25.one knows the exact figure of homeless people in the West
:10:25. > :10:29.Midlands, because many are hiding away for their own protection. The
:10:29. > :10:35.concern is that many of these sanctuaries are in fact derelict
:10:35. > :10:41.death traps. The firefighters have -- this charity, SIFA Fireside, has
:10:41. > :10:45.been working with the homeless for 30 years. They are going to light a
:10:45. > :10:50.fire to keep warm, which is our worst nightmare. This 19-year-old
:10:50. > :10:58.has been in and out of prison. He calls this disused toilet block his
:10:59. > :11:03.home. Keep away from the blankets with fire and put all of the
:11:03. > :11:08.rubbish into bags. I as another squat is found, the team build
:11:08. > :11:15.trust slowly. They give some more fire safety advice. They hope they
:11:15. > :11:19.are saving lives. There will be a full report on the
:11:19. > :11:22.held being offered to rough sleepers particularly with the
:11:23. > :11:28.current weather. That is on Inside Out tonight.
:11:28. > :11:30.The family of a kayaker from Worcestershire who died after being
:11:30. > :11:35.pulled from a swollen stream in North Yorkshire say he died taking
:11:35. > :11:39.part in the sport he loved. Matthew Baird-Parker, 36 from Kidderminster,
:11:39. > :11:43.got into difficulties near Richmond yesterday. He was taken to hospital
:11:44. > :11:49.by air ambulance but later died. A pensioner has died a fortnight
:11:49. > :11:53.after she was mugged on her doorstep. Carole Mudie, 68, had her
:11:53. > :11:58.back stolen and broke her hip when she was pushed outside her home
:11:58. > :12:01.near Kings Norton in Birmingham. She died in hospital on Tuesday.
:12:01. > :12:05.Police have launched a manslaughter investigation and are appealing for
:12:05. > :12:10.witnesses. Flood defences have been put up in
:12:10. > :12:15.several places along the River Severn tonight. There are currently
:12:15. > :12:17.21 flood warnings and also flood alerts in the region. The apparent
:12:17. > :12:23.agency will erect barriers in Ironbridge this evening. I have
:12:23. > :12:28.already gone up in Shrewsbury and Bewdley. It is another flood, the
:12:28. > :12:31.third in three months. We have a lot of rain water upstream and that
:12:31. > :12:36.melt water as well, combining together is causing the floods down
:12:36. > :12:39.here. So we are getting ourselves ready, getting the barriers in
:12:39. > :12:42.place and we are expecting a peak in Bewdley here probably tomorrow
:12:42. > :12:46.evening and it will come up to the barriers.
:12:46. > :12:50.Birmingham is considering introducing a Brummie History Week
:12:50. > :12:53.and appointing "Brummie ambassadors" In order to improve
:12:53. > :13:00.the second City's image and bring its hundreds of communities closer
:13:00. > :13:06.together. 21st century Birmingham is changing fast and a report says
:13:06. > :13:12.it is people coming from Eastern Europe and the white working class
:13:12. > :13:17.people who feel most alienated. It is almost impossible to define
:13:17. > :13:22.what it means to be a Brummie. The Soho Road in Handsworth is typical
:13:22. > :13:25.because so many different cultures exist side by side. Some
:13:25. > :13:32.communities feel overlooked altogether. A report says Eastern
:13:32. > :13:38.Europeans feel like ghosts. whinny to ensure there is no
:13:38. > :13:40.community left behind. We need to work with the refugee communities
:13:40. > :13:45.but also the white working-class communities who have shaped
:13:45. > :13:49.Birmingham. This is one of the most distinctive places I know in
:13:49. > :13:53.Birmingham, the outdoor fruit and veg market. One suggestion of the
:13:53. > :13:57.report is that there should be many more like this all over the city,
:13:57. > :14:01.not just selling food but how make products as well so that Birmingham
:14:01. > :14:06.can be showcased across the world. But even in a place where every
:14:06. > :14:15.community comes together, the term Brummie is an alien one. Where are
:14:15. > :14:24.you from? From Dublin. I am Irish. How long have you lived here?
:14:24. > :14:31.67 years. But you do not consider yourself a Brummie? Oh, no expat --
:14:31. > :14:34.oh, no,! A never heard of for me. In this museum in the jewellery
:14:34. > :14:39.Quarter, one of the city's most ardent ambassador's says Birmingham
:14:39. > :14:42.must take more pride in itself. need to reach out further afield
:14:42. > :14:46.from Birmingham but we also need to do it in a way that is not
:14:46. > :14:53.apologising for what we are and who we are but saying, this is what we
:14:53. > :14:56.are. This is what we have done for this country. That is a neat way to
:14:56. > :15:06.sum up what the report says, it is time to take pride in being a
:15:06. > :15:06.
:15:06. > :15:14.Phil Mackie is with us now. What are the city council going to do
:15:14. > :15:18.with their findings in this? That they are going to discuss said. We
:15:18. > :15:23.know Birmingham is struggling for money, they need to do things they
:15:23. > :15:27.can afford, a history week, supporting ambassadors, like the
:15:27. > :15:31.Olympics, a welcome pack for immigrants. That will not cost a
:15:31. > :15:38.large, but they might do something to bring those desperate
:15:38. > :15:43.communities into the fold. The big change is the attitude, they need
:15:43. > :15:48.to try and think about representing those other communities, eastern
:15:48. > :15:51.Europeans, we don't see them on the council, or the police. The white
:15:51. > :15:58.working class also seems to have been lost.
:15:58. > :16:03.Anything else surprising about what was found? The most surprising
:16:03. > :16:07.thing is how honest and frank it has been. We always talk about
:16:07. > :16:12.Birmingham as being integrated and multicultural, you see that in the
:16:12. > :16:15.city centre. The report says once you get back out into the local
:16:15. > :16:19.communities people live quite isolated from each other, and that
:16:19. > :16:29.is what the report is hoping to do, get people back together and make
:16:29. > :16:31.
:16:31. > :16:35.them proud of the city. Our top storey, high-speed rail is
:16:35. > :16:37.welcomed by business, but many homeowners save their lives will be
:16:37. > :16:43.devastated. Your detailed weather forecast to
:16:43. > :16:45.come shortly: Also in tonight's programme. We reveal the part
:16:45. > :16:48.Birmingham university scientists played in helping Jamaica's
:16:48. > :16:57.athletes win Olympic glory. And who are they? Long lost photos found in
:16:57. > :16:59.Worcester and the secrets they reveal about the city's history.
:16:59. > :17:04.Competition among elite athletes is so intense that the difference
:17:04. > :17:06.between winning and losing can come down to the tiniest detail. So when
:17:06. > :17:09.the Jamaican Athletics team won more medals than they'd anticipated
:17:09. > :17:14.at last year's Olympics - was it due, in part, to scientists at
:17:14. > :17:17.Birmingham University? Maybe so because the Jamaicans spent three
:17:17. > :17:26.weeks ahead of the games at the University's high tech sports
:17:26. > :17:31.science department. The Men's 110m hurdles final at
:17:31. > :17:35.London 2012. For young Jamaican athlete Hansel Parchment just being
:17:35. > :17:45.in the final is a result. But Hansel has spent the Olympic build-
:17:45. > :17:50.up training at the University of Birmingham. The sprinting technique
:17:50. > :17:55.was one of the top ones. He is very young, and his starting technique
:17:55. > :18:01.is not quite up to scratch, so we worked on that. We worked on the
:18:01. > :18:07.placement of the starting blocks. And that hard work paid off. Hansel
:18:07. > :18:10.Parchment won an unexpected bronze medal. And that's thanks in part to
:18:10. > :18:16.the high-tech sports science available here at the University.
:18:16. > :18:21.All of this was top secret of course. The running track is behind
:18:21. > :18:25.those hedges, and when the Jamaicans noticed that one of the
:18:25. > :18:28.security cameras was taking in the start line, they asked for it to be
:18:28. > :18:31.removed, politely! This secrecy means the researchers won't discuss
:18:31. > :18:34.superstars like Bolt or Blake, but the relationship with the
:18:34. > :18:37.University will continue in the run up to Rio and it's not the
:18:37. > :18:45.superstar sprinters that the scientists here say have most medal
:18:45. > :18:49.potential. The women can also improve tremendously, there is
:18:49. > :18:55.potentially more room for improvement in the women's team ban
:18:55. > :18:58.in the men's team. -- ban. could see a revolution in the
:18:58. > :19:02.fortune of Jamaican athletics, powered by Birmingham know how.
:19:02. > :19:04.Fascinating. Perhaps they might have a few tips to pass on to our
:19:04. > :19:07.footballers? Here with sport - Dan Pallett.
:19:07. > :19:10.Every football manager has learned to fear the dreaded vote of
:19:10. > :19:12.confidence. And this afternoon, it duly arrived from Randy Lerner. In
:19:12. > :19:16.a statement, the Aston Villa chairman also mentioned his
:19:16. > :19:26.frustration that nothing has yet materialised in the transfer market.
:19:26. > :19:26.
:19:26. > :19:30.And he's not the only one backing In 64 AD Emperor Nero was accused
:19:30. > :19:39.of fiddling whilst Rome burned. Any comparisons with Nigel Kennedy and
:19:39. > :19:41.his beloved Aston Villa are purely coincidental. For the second cup-
:19:41. > :19:44.tie in four days, they took the tie in four days, they took the
:19:44. > :19:46.lead against lower league opponents, and blew it. Darren Bent's early
:19:46. > :19:50.goal wasn't enough to beat Millwall, who twice exposed Villa's defensive
:19:50. > :19:57.frailties to complete a miserable frailties to complete a miserable
:19:57. > :20:05.week for Paul Lambert. I can only do my best for this club, there is
:20:05. > :20:12.no chance to be walking away from it. I don't think you can blame
:20:12. > :20:22.managers, Martin O'Neill was forced to leave, then Gerrard the AA left
:20:22. > :20:27.
:20:27. > :20:29.the club. -- Houllier. We have had a lot of great managers. This
:20:29. > :20:31.morning, all eyes turned towards tomorrow's vital relegation scrap
:20:32. > :20:34.against fellow strugglers Newcastle. Whilst they've spent 20 million
:20:34. > :20:44.pounds on five new Frenchmen. Paul Lambert has discussed several
:20:44. > :20:44.
:20:44. > :20:49.players with his chairman, but signed no-one. His -- is the
:20:49. > :20:52.chairman willing to spend the money? Them is not a lot of money.
:20:52. > :21:02.You can only play the hand you are dealt with. This afternoon Randy
:21:02. > :21:06.Lerner pledged his backing for the In April, Nigel Kennedy's UK tour
:21:06. > :21:16.is called Bach Meets Fats Waller. In August, he's hoping it's not
:21:16. > :21:16.
:21:16. > :21:20.Barnsley Meets Aston Villa, in the With Stoke City losing 1-0 to
:21:20. > :21:23.Manchester City we no longer retain an interest in FA Cup. Birmingham
:21:23. > :21:27.City were our only winners at the City were our only winners at the
:21:27. > :21:31.weekend. They beat Burnley 2-1. Curtis Davies put them ahead with a
:21:31. > :21:36.first half header. They were pegged back by a penalty but Marlon King's
:21:36. > :21:38.late volley gave them their first win since Boxing Day. They now
:21:38. > :21:44.climb above Wolves in the Championship after Wolves lost 2-1
:21:44. > :21:47.at home to Blackpool thanks in part to this defensive mix-up. And Leon
:21:48. > :21:57.Clarke was on the mark again as Coventry City drew 2-2 at Preston.
:21:57. > :21:59.Coventry City drew 2-2 at Preston. The Sky Blues are 7th in league one.
:21:59. > :22:03.Dan, what's all this about one of our Premier League footballers
:22:03. > :22:07.getting into trouble on Twitter? Yes that's West Bromwich Albion
:22:07. > :22:10.striker Peter Odemwingie. He spent an hour and a half on Saturday
:22:10. > :22:13.night tweeting about his row with the club. He wants to move to
:22:13. > :22:17.Queens Park Rangers but they've turned down two bids for him and
:22:17. > :22:19.rejected a transfer request. What did he say in these tweets?
:22:20. > :22:24.Well some of them were a little bizarre talking about bananas,
:22:24. > :22:28.Satan and Guinness. But most were replying to criticism from fans.
:22:28. > :22:32.Here's an example where he told one man who said the club should let
:22:32. > :22:35.him rot in the reserves that it was "not wise for the club", he was
:22:35. > :22:38."ready for anything" and it was a matter of principle. The club says
:22:38. > :22:41.they'll deal with it internally and that's likely to mean a big fine.
:22:41. > :22:45.Odemwingie isn't the first footballer to get in trouble on
:22:45. > :22:49.Twitter is he? No and I'm sure he won't be the
:22:49. > :22:51.last either. For example Ashley Cole was fined 90,000 pounds by the
:22:51. > :23:01.FA for abusing them on Twitter and Manchester United defender Rio
:23:01. > :23:06.
:23:06. > :23:10.Ferdinand had to pay 45,000 pounds A pile of 1950's photographs found
:23:10. > :23:14.in a drawer are helping tell the story of an almost forgotten part
:23:14. > :23:17.of Worcester. The people in the photos lived in a place called
:23:17. > :23:25.George's Yard and the National Trust's appealing for help to fill
:23:25. > :23:28.in the gaps in their story. VJ day 1945. The end of the Second
:23:28. > :23:37.World War. The country celebrates, as does a five year old girl in
:23:37. > :23:43.Worcester. I was born here at George's yard in 1945. But all that
:23:43. > :23:49.survives of Chris Evan's childhood home are her memories. This would
:23:49. > :23:55.have been your door? Yes, there was no running water, no toilets, it
:23:55. > :23:59.was cold in those bedrooms! Used to go to bed with three cardigans on.
:23:59. > :24:01.Ten houses were built in Georges Yard in the 1820s. They were behind
:24:01. > :24:05.one of Worcester's oldest houses, Greyfriars which dates from the
:24:05. > :24:08.15th century and is now run by the National Trust. During a recent
:24:08. > :24:16.spring clean they discovered photos of the last people to live in
:24:16. > :24:20.George's Yard before the site was bulldozed in 1954. We thought that
:24:20. > :24:25.we didn't know much about this, who lived here, why the houses where
:24:25. > :24:28.hair, what do they look like? All of these questions. So who are the
:24:28. > :24:37.people in the photos? Well Chris can name a few - and the National
:24:37. > :24:41.Trust is now appealing for help to identify the rest. It is really
:24:41. > :24:50.nice that they have found them. These memories will disappear, and
:24:50. > :24:53.we will have nobody to last, and think what are they all about? It
:24:54. > :24:56.is part of the heritage. The hope now is that more people will get in
:24:56. > :24:59.touch, with an exhibition planned in September.
:24:59. > :25:02.Snow may have disappeared gut a lot of rain around. Here with the
:25:02. > :25:08.of rain around. Here with the forecast is Shefali.
:25:08. > :25:10.If it isn't snow that's causing us problems, it's the rain. We're
:25:10. > :25:13.likely to see more localised flooding this week with further
:25:13. > :25:16.warnings for more heavy rain - this particular one coming into effect
:25:16. > :25:25.from midnight tonight and it's for heavy rain through the course of
:25:25. > :25:29.tomorrow. This is the front that brought us today's rain. This is
:25:29. > :25:31.the system that's going to usher in tomorrow's. Now although the winds
:25:31. > :25:35.are strengthening from the Southwest as those tightening
:25:35. > :25:37.isobars indicate, we are in a this warn sector tomorrow and it is
:25:37. > :25:47.going to be unseasonably mild tomorrow with temperatures well up
:25:47. > :25:49.
:25:49. > :25:53.into double figures. -- warns. Right now though - most of today's
:25:53. > :25:59.rain has cleared off to the East - we're left with the legacy of a few
:25:59. > :26:02.showers - just grazing parts of the East and South of the region. After
:26:02. > :26:06.that - some clearer spells for a time before the cloud thickens up
:26:06. > :26:11.from the South ahead of tomorrow's rain. But quite a mild night albeit
:26:11. > :26:13.occasionally breezy. Temperatures falling to 6-7. So through the
:26:14. > :26:19.morning and afternoon then - heavy pulses of rain spreading
:26:19. > :26:23.Northeastwards - but that should tend to ease through the afternoon.
:26:23. > :26:26.And although it could be gusty in the rain. Temperatures are well
:26:26. > :26:32.above average tomorrow - into the low teens in some parts and you
:26:32. > :26:35.really will feel considering we down to freezing just a week ago.
:26:35. > :26:39.So tomorrow night - the rain peps up again as another front just
:26:39. > :26:41.clips the Southern half of the - so quite wet followed by blustery
:26:41. > :26:43.showers and sunshine on both Wednesday and Thursday.
:26:43. > :26:46.Let's recap tonight's top stories: New High Speed Rail connections
:26:46. > :26:49.north from Birmingham will make the country more competitive says the
:26:49. > :26:51.Government. Those affected by HS2 question the case for the new lines
:26:51. > :26:55.running through Warwickshire and Staffordshire. Back to our top
:26:55. > :26:58.story - on the second phase of HS2 and Jaspreet on Twitter says "I
:26:58. > :27:02.love convenience so HS2 sounds great, but I don't live in the
:27:02. > :27:05.homes it plans to slice through. Must be awful having to leave
:27:05. > :27:07.home." Luke Carry on Facebook believes HS2 is "a good thing,
:27:07. > :27:11.considering how long other countries have had equivalent
:27:11. > :27:15.transport systems. We are well behind." But Sue Cartwright wants
:27:15. > :27:17.the money invested in "hospitals not railways. We already have
:27:17. > :27:22.existing railways and HS2 will probably be exclusively used for
:27:22. > :27:26.government employees!" John Harrison emailed in and argues "to
:27:26. > :27:29.spend so much money on one project in a time of austerity, for so
:27:29. > :27:38.little benefit to the population as a whole is nothing less than