:00:00. > :00:00.a slight slip off the rails. Much more throughout the evening on
:00:00. > :00:13.the BBC News channel. We Good evening. Heavy rain and high
:00:14. > :00:16.winds have battered the region, causing travel disruption and
:00:17. > :00:20.damage. Roads have been blocked by fallen trees and trains cancelled
:00:21. > :00:24.due to damaged power lines. There's an increasing risk of flooding in
:00:25. > :00:32.rural areas. A woman and three dogs had to be rescued from their home in
:00:33. > :00:36.Kemsey, near Worcester, last night. Homes and businesses are also under
:00:37. > :00:39.threat in nearby Severn Stoke where a makeshift flood barrier has been
:00:40. > :00:43.erected around the village pub. The heavy rain is further bad news for
:00:44. > :00:47.farmers in Shropshire whose land has been under floodwater for weeks, as
:00:48. > :00:55.Lindsay Doyle reports. Hayes Farm at Melverley on the
:00:56. > :00:58.Shropshire`Welsh border. Fields flooded, winter wheat already washed
:00:59. > :01:05.away and plans for planting spring crops being pushed later and later.
:01:06. > :01:13.The last two years, it has got a lot worse. We lost a lot of spring
:01:14. > :01:19.planting last spring and then we had to replant it and lost it again due
:01:20. > :01:24.to the flooding. As you can see, we have planted autumn crops and that
:01:25. > :01:28.has also flooded. Not good, really. Water which has been cascading over
:01:29. > :01:31.the dam at Lake Vyrnwy Reservoir in Mid Wales has sparked fears that
:01:32. > :01:35.more rain will cause more flooding as it feeds into the River Vyrnwy
:01:36. > :01:42.joining the River Severn near Melverley. Unfortunately for the
:01:43. > :01:48.farmers, it has been time after time over the last four to six days that
:01:49. > :01:53.they have had so much water and it is now starting to interfere with
:01:54. > :01:57.their farming. This farm has brought its capital in for the winter as
:01:58. > :02:00.floods become more common. That again is just another cost to the
:02:01. > :02:03.farmer. Elsewhere in Shropshire, the flood barriers are up in Ironbridge.
:02:04. > :02:07.The Environment Agency is stressing in spite of high river levels, the
:02:08. > :02:17.barriers are ensuring that it's business as usual today in the
:02:18. > :02:20.historic town. Hundreds of people have taken part
:02:21. > :02:23.in a protest march in Shrewsbury against the culling of badgers.
:02:24. > :02:26.Protestors are calling on the Government not to approve any
:02:27. > :02:29.further culls. Last year over 2,000 badgers were killed in a pilot
:02:30. > :02:32.project in Gloucestershire and Somerset. Activists claim farmers
:02:33. > :02:40.can reduce TB in cattle without killing badgers. We want to find
:02:41. > :02:45.alternatives. We can vaccinate badgers and cows and farmers can
:02:46. > :02:48.take measures to control the movements of cattle and better TV
:02:49. > :02:53.testing. You combine those things, you can reduce TB in cattle
:02:54. > :02:59.significantly without killing battles. `` without killing badgers.
:03:00. > :03:02.Onto today's football now. In the Premier League, Aston Villa suffered
:03:03. > :03:05.their eighth home defeat of the season, losing 2`0 to West Ham. West
:03:06. > :03:08.Bromwich Albion slipped into the relegation zone, beaten 3`1 by
:03:09. > :03:10.Crystal Palace. And Stoke drew 2`2 with Southampton.
:03:11. > :03:14.In the Championship, Birmingham City won 2`0 at Charlton to move nine
:03:15. > :03:17.points above the bottom three. It was a bad day for our League One
:03:18. > :03:21.clubs. Coventry City suffered a disappointing 3`0 defeat at Notts
:03:22. > :03:24.County, Port Vale lost 3`2 at home to Swindon, Shrewsbury were beaten
:03:25. > :03:30.2`0 by Sheffield United and Walsall lost 3`0 to MK Dons. Wolves' match
:03:31. > :03:33.at Stevenage was postponed. Finally, in League Two, Burton
:03:34. > :03:39.Albion won 1`0 at Morecambe, while Cheltenham drew 0`0 at York City.
:03:40. > :03:42.At the Winter Olympics, the Coventry`born army corporal Amanda
:03:43. > :03:47.Lightfoot will be the first Midlands athlete to compete when she takes
:03:48. > :03:51.part in tomorrow's biathlon sprint. Amanda who now lives in the North
:03:52. > :03:59.East says she's looking forward to the start of competition. I hope to
:04:00. > :04:02.achieve my best ever result while I am in Sochi and that would be a
:04:03. > :04:06.fantastic achievement for me. It would be great to be within the top
:04:07. > :04:11.30 of the field. That would be me reaching my goal. The pursuit race,
:04:12. > :04:14.it is achievable. So, as yet more storms and bad
:04:15. > :04:16.weather move across the region, let's get the very latest forecast
:04:17. > :04:24.now with Mel Coles. Strong winds and showers continue to
:04:25. > :04:29.work in this evening. Yellow warning in force across Warwickshire,
:04:30. > :04:34.Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Some of the showers
:04:35. > :04:40.will be lively. The risk of hail and thunder. Temperatures overnight will
:04:41. > :04:44.drop to around four or five degrees. Further showers on the cards first
:04:45. > :04:49.thing tomorrow. The winds will be fairly strong. They will ease
:04:50. > :04:56.slightly but Sunday remains a breezy dray. `` day. Showers sporadic. We
:04:57. > :05:04.should see some brightness. Karma on Monday. Wet and windy on Tuesday.
:05:05. > :05:06.Our next bulletin is that 5:50pm tomorrow. Have a good Saturday
:05:07. > :05:19.night. Good evening. Unfortunately I don't
:05:20. > :05:22.have much good news in this forecast. There may be a brief
:05:23. > :05:26.respite later tomorrow with the wind and the rain but it will not be long
:05:27. > :05:30.enough and we have today's storm withers, pounding many coastlines in
:05:31. > :05:35.the south and west, hence the Amber wind warning from the Met Office. It
:05:36. > :05:38.is a windy day across the board and it is not just the wind that is a
:05:39. > :05:42.concern. It is causing high waves, damaging winds, but there is more
:05:43. > :05:46.shower activity, hail, thunder and snow in the north and the potential
:05:47. > :05:50.for another 10-20 millimetres of rain in parts of Wales, the
:05:51. > :05:55.south-west, perhaps some persistent showers in the south-east, coupled
:05:56. > :05:59.with those rather lively wins. They hold the temp Richard tonight but
:06:00. > :06:03.there could be ice in Scotland, given that we have wintry showers
:06:04. > :06:06.Wash they hold the temperatures up to. Here is the respite. The shower
:06:07. > :06:08.frequency edges down in