:00:09. > :00:13.Good evening. Rising flood waters have caused major problems for
:00:14. > :00:17.drivers in Worcester as a number of roads had to be closed. The River
:00:18. > :00:21.Severn is now at its highest level in the city since the summer of
:00:22. > :00:24.2007. Across the Midlands, the Environment Agency has issued 47
:00:25. > :00:29.flood warnings and many homes and businesses, including an historic
:00:30. > :00:42.pub, have already flooded. Bob Hockenhull reports.
:00:43. > :00:46.City siege `` a city under siege from the Severn once more. The main
:00:47. > :00:53.bridge has been closed, splitting the area in two and causing chaos.
:00:54. > :00:58.Tomorrow will be terrible. It will be jam`packed over the bridge.
:00:59. > :01:01.It has come up quick but there's nothing we can do about it.
:01:02. > :01:08.The waters are due to peak overnight here. The authorities are bracing
:01:09. > :01:12.themselves for a difficult week. Due to the volume going under the
:01:13. > :01:18.bridge the decision has been taken to close it and until they are
:01:19. > :01:24.satisfied it is safe, this busy route will stay shut.
:01:25. > :01:31.We are seeing some high levels now. Certainly the highest since 2007 and
:01:32. > :01:33.they are still higher. The impacts are they starting to happen now.
:01:34. > :01:36.Yesterday, this historic pub in the nearby village of Severn Stoke, had
:01:37. > :01:40.put up makeshift barriers which seemed to be holding up. But in the
:01:41. > :01:44.early hours the landlord and his family were forced to flee as the
:01:45. > :01:52.waters seeped in. It'll be closed for several weeks.
:01:53. > :01:56.It was the speed it came up. In the end we just grabbed a pair of
:01:57. > :02:04.trousers each and my son and his lady and my wife and I came across
:02:05. > :02:07.and it was above the height of our waders. We just managed to get out.
:02:08. > :02:11.The state of the surrounding fields has left the pub's neighbours
:02:12. > :02:17.fearing the worst. We are the second house from a
:02:18. > :02:19.church down here. It is probably about one foot from coming into the
:02:20. > :02:22.house. Back in Worcester, contingency plans
:02:23. > :02:27.are being drawn up as the bridge is not likely to open until Tuesday at
:02:28. > :02:32.the earliest. All our emergency staff are working
:02:33. > :02:36.at this time and we will be putting on bus services to get people to and
:02:37. > :02:39.from work during the rush hour in particular tomorrow.
:02:40. > :02:42.Getting back to work is a distant prospect for some though who are
:02:43. > :02:46.left wondering how they'll be able to recover from the devastation
:02:47. > :02:49.that's already been caused. For the very latest on the flooding
:02:50. > :02:52.in Worcestershire, tune into Howard and Toni at Breakfast on BBC
:02:53. > :02:55.Hereford and Worcester from 6am tomorrow morning.
:02:56. > :02:59.A man has died in a fire which police say was started deliberately
:03:00. > :03:03.at a house in Dudley. A 42`year`old woman and two boys, aged nine and
:03:04. > :03:06.15, got out of the house just seconds before the fire took hold at
:03:07. > :03:10.the property in Wood Street in the Holly Hall area last night. They
:03:11. > :03:14.were taken to hospital and released later. Police say they're not
:03:15. > :03:16.looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
:03:17. > :03:25.Neighbours have been speaking of their shock.
:03:26. > :03:32.There were police, fire engines, ambulances, police with guns.
:03:33. > :03:37.It is a sad situation to have that happening in your own area.
:03:38. > :03:42.I'm just shocked because it is a quiet area. I'm just gobsmacked.
:03:43. > :03:46.A Shrewsbury man has been charged after pages were torn from a copy of
:03:47. > :03:48.the Quran and thrown during a football match. The incident
:03:49. > :03:52.happened at the game between Birmingham City and Middlesbrough at
:03:53. > :03:55.St Andrews in December. 25`year`old Mark Stephenson has been charged
:03:56. > :03:59.with causing racial or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or
:04:00. > :04:02.distress. He is due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on the
:04:03. > :04:06.28th of February. A charity which helps people recover
:04:07. > :04:09.from domestic abuse claims women will die if its funding is cut.
:04:10. > :04:14.Worcestershire County Council is considering reducing its budget for
:04:15. > :04:17.West Mercia Women's Aid by half. It comes as the authority battles to
:04:18. > :04:21.save tens of millions of pounds over the next three years. But, speaking
:04:22. > :04:25.on the Sunday Politics Midlands, the charity's chief executive claimed it
:04:26. > :04:29.was a false economy. Money is not handed out. We deliver
:04:30. > :04:35.services under contract with very, very tight monitoring. These are not
:04:36. > :04:39.grants. This is money that comes from the local authority for us to
:04:40. > :04:42.deliver services that, if we didn't deliver them, they would have to.
:04:43. > :04:46.That is something we need to remember, they would have to do it.
:04:47. > :04:50.You can see more on that story on the Sunday Politics Midlands which
:04:51. > :04:53.is now available on the BBC iPlayer. At the Winter Olympics in Sochi,
:04:54. > :04:57.Coventry`born Amanda Lightfoot finished well down the field in
:04:58. > :05:01.today's Biathlon Sprint. The army corporal, who now lives in the North
:05:02. > :05:08.East, came in 75th place in a time of 24 minutes and 48 seconds.
:05:09. > :05:15.Time for more detail on the weather now.
:05:16. > :05:20.After a showery day, as the temperatures drop away overnight,
:05:21. > :05:24.our next concern is ice so The Met Office has got a yellow warning in
:05:25. > :05:27.place which covers large parts of the West Midlands. There will still
:05:28. > :05:31.be one or two showers going into this evening but it is a largely dry
:05:32. > :05:34.picture. We are expecting the temperatures to drop close to
:05:35. > :05:38.freezing and there will be a patchy frost as well. It will be a cold
:05:39. > :05:41.start to the working week. There will still be one or two showers
:05:42. > :05:45.around but they will be lighter. They may turn wintry as we go
:05:46. > :05:48.through the day but then there will be some dry and bright spells
:05:49. > :05:52.around. The winds certainly much lighter than they have been but more
:05:53. > :05:55.wet and windy weather to come. On Tuesday, it remains unsettled.
:05:56. > :05:58.That's all for now but please keep sending
:05:59. > :06:18.Good evening. We have a significant number of severe warnings out. Most
:06:19. > :06:22.of them have been issued on the River Thames today. Now, of course,
:06:23. > :06:27.with more rain due this week, that is not good news, and as well as
:06:28. > :06:31.that, we are expecting some gales as well on the coast. But this week,
:06:32. > :06:36.perhaps an increased risk of some snow as well. At the moment we are
:06:37. > :06:41.in a quiet spell of weather, with fewer showers around, this evening
:06:42. > :06:44.and overnight. There is a risk as temperatures get close to freezing
:06:45. > :06:48.that there could be some ice first thing in the morning. Temperatures
:06:49. > :06:52.will be lower out in the countryside. We could even have a
:06:53. > :06:57.smattering of snow tonight and first thing in the morning over the hills
:06:58. > :06:59.of Wales, the Midlands, up into northern England and Scotland. But
:07:00. > :07:07.tomorrow will be quieter, once again. Still scattered showers
:07:08. > :07:13.around. For the east of England perhaps chilly and grey for Match of
:07:14. > :07:15.the Day. But on Tuesday, the next Atlantic low rushes in. --