Browse content similar to 14/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
to British coastlines, with winds of up to 80 mph. That's all | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight. Cut off since | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
Christmas ` the villagers in Gloucestershire who've been marooned | :00:07. | :00:16. | |
by the flood waters. We have just been sort of forgotten. We are not | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
in the village, we are not in the city, mostly we are forgotten about. | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
We'll be live in Tirley in Gloucestershire for the latest, | :00:25. | :00:27. | |
after another day of heavy rain and strong winds. Assessing the damage, | :00:28. | :00:30. | |
homeowners in Worcester wade through the waters to monitor the impact. | :00:31. | :00:37. | |
Very messy. Is not look good at all. I am travelling into a community | :00:38. | :00:44. | |
largely cut off by flood water and now Gailes mean they have been | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
without power for two days. The rain is still falling and the river | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
levels are rising. But all signs point to things getting a little | :00:56. | :01:02. | |
better next week. I'll have all the details later. Also tonight, as the | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
Prime Minister visits Jaguar Land Rover's new engine plant. | :01:07. | :01:08. | |
Local manufacturing firms claim they've lost out to overseas | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
suppliers. And the farmers using social media to boost business and | :01:12. | :01:18. | |
to share some fun photos. Good evening. People living in a | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
village in Gloucestershire say they've been cut off by flood water | :01:24. | :01:32. | |
for nearly two months. Roads around Sandhurst were flooded at Christmas | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
and the water has only risen since then. | :01:37. | :01:48. | |
It is not just river water flooding these homes, it is sewage. Matt | :01:49. | :02:00. | |
Beesley lives here. Why did I leave? Human faeces floating around in the | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
kitchen. No, thanks. We have had to make all the telephone calls. It is | :02:05. | :02:12. | |
too late. These sandbags cover a manhole cover in Matt's garden and | :02:13. | :02:15. | |
it was the manhole cover that exploded sending human sewage all | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
over the place. We've taken the sensible decision probably not to | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
walk any further into Matt's garden and I have to say the smell, as you | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
can guess, is shocking. Severn Trent have told us they've sent extra | :02:28. | :02:30. | |
pumps to Diglis Avenue but the water levels have got so high, they say, | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
there's nothing more they can do until they recede. Horror stories | :02:35. | :02:41. | |
like this are rare, and whilst some homes and businesses have flooded, | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
it's not widespread. Police patrols are going door to door in vulnerable | :02:48. | :02:55. | |
areas ` to offer reassurance. I can absolutely assure people we have had | :02:56. | :02:58. | |
no crime as a result of the flooding. We have lots of resources | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
out on the ground. People can be confident. All of the resources | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
including the Army, there is nothing for people to worry about. At Bishop | :03:07. | :03:08. | |
Hampton in Herefordshire supplies are being delivered in four by fours | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
because the roads are flooded by standing water. The army has been in | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
both Herefordshire and Worcestershire helping the emergency | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
services. We're here for a minimum of five days. However, we know that | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
we could be here for up to four weeks. If it takes four weeks, then | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
that is what we are prepared to provide. The rain continues to fall | :03:29. | :03:31. | |
and the Environment Agency's expecting the River Severn level to | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
rise again this weekend. And the extent of the flooding remains | :03:36. | :03:37. | |
breathtaking. One Midlands Today viewer filmed this footage of | :03:38. | :03:40. | |
Worcester from a train ` the river bank and roads are indistinguishable | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
in places. But there was some relief today, a nice touch when a Sikh | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
charity turned up to feed emergency workers and local authority staff. | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
Right now, the country is unaided of a crisis so we have been down to | :03:55. | :04:01. | |
Somerset over the weekend `` in a bit of a crisis. It is time to show | :04:02. | :04:08. | |
our support. All Matt can do is wait for the water levels to drop. How | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
was it looking? Very messy. It does not look good at all. Hundreds of | :04:14. | :04:21. | |
homes in north Shropshire have been without power for two days since | :04:22. | :04:24. | |
gales battered the region. And for a village largely cut off by | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
flood water, the lack of electricity is adding to their feelings of | :04:29. | :04:36. | |
isolation. Joanne Writtle reports. Past flooded fields and down a lane | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
which is now a river, there are people who feel forgotten. I am | :04:41. | :04:46. | |
heading into the remote community of Royal Hill, by pretty much the only | :04:47. | :04:54. | |
means possible. The farmer has been helping people get in and out for | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
weeks. This is a natural flood plain. In there somewhere is the | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
River Severn and people are used to all this water. What is bothering | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
them is that the Gailes on Wednesday mean they have been without power | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
for two days. Everything is a hassle. The heating in the house, it | :05:10. | :05:18. | |
is a hassle setting it up, we have an emergency generator. Minutes | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
before we arrived, good news, power was restored. But two days without a | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
fridge, it means there is a lot of waste. It has been quite horrific. | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
It is a little warmer now but it has been like living in a fridge. The | :05:37. | :05:44. | |
weather has been horrific. It impeded our movements, getting | :05:45. | :05:47. | |
around the house. It has been quite bad really. At the pub, a warm | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
welcome. Until just now, they have coped with a generator. We are a | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
country pub and we like to make sure we are open whatever the weather, so | :05:59. | :06:03. | |
that people who have not got food or warmth or power can come in here. | :06:04. | :06:08. | |
Power may be back here but hundreds of houses in Shropshire are still | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
cut off. The difficulty we get is when the wind starts to get up, it | :06:14. | :06:19. | |
becomes unsafe for the crews to work and that is my concern for today. If | :06:20. | :06:25. | |
we get winds of that magnitude, we will be delayed in storing supplies. | :06:26. | :06:31. | |
In this Hamlet, they may be swamped but at least they have now got | :06:32. | :06:35. | |
power. And relaxing by a cosy fire is maybe the best way to switch from | :06:36. | :06:57. | |
all this water. The Prime Minister's been visiting | :06:58. | :07:00. | |
Jaguar Land Rover's new ?500 million engine plant near Wolverhampton | :07:01. | :07:07. | |
today. When it opens in the autumn, it's expected that an engine will | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
come off the production line every 36 seconds. However, some Midlands | :07:11. | :07:12. | |
manufacturers have expressed disappointment that more parts | :07:13. | :07:14. | |
aren't being made locally. It's emerged today that 50% of components | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
going into the new engines will be made abroad. Our Business | :07:19. | :07:20. | |
Correspondent, Peter Plisner, reports. | :07:21. | :07:22. | |
A big investment in a big engine plant in fact it's the size of 14 | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
football pitches. With much of the hi`tech equipment still being | :07:27. | :07:28. | |
installed, today the Prime Minister, a big fan of Jaguar Land Rover, came | :07:29. | :07:48. | |
to see the plant for himself. This epitomises everything we need | :07:49. | :07:51. | |
to see in the British economy. We need to make more things and here we | :07:52. | :07:54. | |
are, a pneumatic factoring plan. We need more investment and jobs around | :07:55. | :08:02. | |
the country. It's also a boost for people like | :08:03. | :08:06. | |
Steve Bird, whose one of the first employees to take up a post here. It | :08:07. | :08:13. | |
is a great experience. All of the new machines coming in. There is | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
little doubt that this plant is good for the region 's economy and job | :08:19. | :08:22. | |
creation in the Midlands but there is some concern that around 50% of | :08:23. | :08:29. | |
the parts are being made abroad. Although this Willenhall based Forge | :08:30. | :08:32. | |
didn't bid for work from the engine plant, management are still | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
concerned that more isn't being made locally. It is disappointing. We do | :08:36. | :08:44. | |
have the capacity locally. But it is not surprising because it is going | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
to low`cost countries where the energy prices are considerably lower | :08:51. | :08:57. | |
and the labour costs are also lower. But according to JLR management | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
today sourcing parts is complex issue. We have a competitive | :09:01. | :09:08. | |
sourcing strategy, like any other global company. We have tried doing | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
very Jasmine Birtles possible in the UK to participate in the bidding | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
process. `` as many companies as possible. | :09:19. | :09:24. | |
One of those decisions has brought more jobs to this Birmingham | :09:25. | :09:27. | |
engineering. It's making a variety of parts for the new engines and | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
it's one of the biggest contracts they ever won. It means job | :09:32. | :09:38. | |
stability, job creation, it is a learning that we can take elsewhere | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
to other vehicle manufacturers. The new plant which has cost ?500 | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
million to set up will produce it's first engine in the autumn. And | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
Peter's here now. So exactly how much of what's going into these new | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
engines will actually be made in the Midlands? | :09:56. | :10:03. | |
As you said, 50% being made abroad but 50% being made in the UK. Of | :10:04. | :10:09. | |
that 50%, 20% being made in the West Midlands. But is lower than most | :10:10. | :10:12. | |
people expected but let's not forget, there are some substantial | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
contracts that have been one. The company in the film has an eight to | :10:18. | :10:25. | |
ten year contract. That is securing jobs and creating new jobs. What can | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
be done to make it easier for firms here to win work in the future? One | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
of the problems is the energy costs. The companies pay a lot for | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
electricity, that is continuing to rise. In Germany, energy costs are | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
often fix for businesses. They say it is not a level playing field. | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
Labour is also cheaper abroad. It is difficult to get money to invest | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
here. And to fulfil the kind of orders they are coming out with, | :10:54. | :10:56. | |
they need to invest but companies are finding that very difficult. | :10:57. | :11:04. | |
Even without those jobs in the supply chain, this is a big | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
investment in the Midlands. It is indeed. ?500 million, one of the | :11:09. | :11:11. | |
biggest construction projects anywhere in the country and it is a | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
local construction firm that has won a lot of the work. There are 1400 | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
people working in this plant and a lot of those are apprentices, it has | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
been a really big project with some big numbers. Serial killer Joanna | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
Dennehy has told a court she's sorry for the attempted murders of two men | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
in Hereford, but not for the murders of three others in Cambridgeshire. | :11:36. | :11:37. | |
31`year`old Dennehy, from Peterborough, pleaded guilty to the | :11:38. | :11:40. | |
offences at an earlier hearing and appeared before Cambridge Crown | :11:41. | :11:43. | |
Court today for sentencing. She made her remarks after the case was | :11:44. | :11:47. | |
adjourned and she was being led from the dock. | :11:48. | :11:53. | |
One of Coventry's oldest firms has been saved from going out of | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
business. Cash's UK, which has made name tags for school uniforms for | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
more than 160 years, went into administration last month. It's been | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
sold as a going concern, production is expected to restart immediately. | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
And a senior Labour MP has attacked the war of words between the main | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
parties over flood protection. Labour identified 24 Midlands | :12:15. | :12:16. | |
Conservatives who voted against a Labour motion three years ago, which | :12:17. | :12:19. | |
condemned cuts to flood protection budgets. The Government say the | :12:20. | :12:22. | |
defences are holding`up well in most Midlands towns and cities. But a | :12:23. | :12:25. | |
former business minister said the debate was not what people directly | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
involved wanted to hear. I do not think that people who are currently | :12:30. | :12:34. | |
battling flooding welcome party political battling on this. This has | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
been truly terrible for people, it is ultimately mostly down to the | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
weather and the terrible storms and rain that we have had and I want to | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
pay tribute to every environment agency member of staff, army | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
officer, police and fire officers, volunteers, they have been doing | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
their best to help in what has been a really difficult situation for the | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
country in recent ones. `` months. And there'll be more on | :13:01. | :13:03. | |
this on this weekend's Sunday Politics, when Patrick Burns will | :13:04. | :13:06. | |
also be joined in the studio by Alison Munro, the Chief Executive of | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
HS2 Ltd, the company responsible for delivering high`speed rail. That's | :13:11. | :13:22. | |
from 11pm here on BBC One. ``11am. Today, the Fire and rescue | :13:23. | :13:32. | |
service were bringing vital resources to people by boat. We have | :13:33. | :13:35. | |
been finding out how they have been coping. | :13:36. | :13:38. | |
Cut off since Christmas. The residents of Sandhurst in | :13:39. | :13:41. | |
Gloucestershire have not been able to leave their homes for weeks. How | :13:42. | :13:50. | |
long have you been stranded? One day merges into the next. None of us can | :13:51. | :13:53. | |
remember. In some places, the water is six foot deep. | :13:54. | :14:02. | |
We were trying to pump water out last night, we were in shifts, | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
waking each other up. Trade keep the water out through the night. This | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
afternoon, human contact that lass. Specialist water genes bringing `` | :14:14. | :14:20. | |
specialist water teams bringing much`needed supplies. Upstream in | :14:21. | :14:29. | |
Jukes Brie, a lot of water but far fewer problems. Although not all | :14:30. | :14:36. | |
houses escape. This is a perfect example of the problems they face. | :14:37. | :14:42. | |
Behind me, believe it or not, are actually two rivers. Close by is the | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
River Avon. Right in the distance, that is where the River Severn runs. | :14:47. | :14:49. | |
Of course when they fled, they become one huge river and that | :14:50. | :14:57. | |
affects the town. For hotels and restaurants, relief as the town | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
stayed open on one of their busiest days of the year. We have had some | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
cancellations but we are getting a lot of local residents coming to | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
join us for a nice romantic meal. We are open. As normal. To which water | :15:11. | :15:17. | |
is even causing problem at this marina. Some of the boats have sunk. | :15:18. | :15:23. | |
It has been flooded for so long and the owners have not been able to get | :15:24. | :15:26. | |
to it to bale it out. Back in Sandhurst, more vital supplies but | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
with the water not expected to go any time soon, the villagers will | :15:32. | :15:38. | |
have to wait for some time yet. Ben Sidwell is in the village of | :15:39. | :15:45. | |
Tirley, just south of Shrewsbury. It is clearly very windy. What are | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
conditions like? It is incredibly windy. Huge gusts of wind coming. | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
You may be able to see behind, that is part of the River Severn. There | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
are actually waves on that. And that is dividing this village in half. | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
That is the big problem. Just like Sandhurst, here in Tirley, they have | :16:05. | :16:07. | |
had this problem pretty much since Christmas. I cannot speak to the | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
chairman of the parish council. Do you feel like you are cut off and | :16:15. | :16:20. | |
people are forgetting about you? I think it is because we are tiny and | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
there are far more problems in the big towns. But we have people living | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
down at the river who have been in their homes since Christmas, have | :16:31. | :16:33. | |
not been able to get out. It is difficult to get food to them. Is it | :16:34. | :16:39. | |
a community thing? The community has to pull together. We have formed an | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
emergency action group a couple of years ago because we were concerned | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
about the flooding. And we appointed a chairman. And he has done a | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
wonderful job. Let's speak to the flood warden in Tirley. We can see | :16:56. | :17:03. | |
how awful it is. About three foot of water behind us on the main road. | :17:04. | :17:08. | |
How bad is it in the village? It is really bad. It goes from here about | :17:09. | :17:16. | |
three quarters of a mile, over to where we have 18 houses... | :17:17. | :17:23. | |
Apologies, the wind is causing problems with the connection to the | :17:24. | :17:28. | |
village of Tirley. I think we can actually return to our reporter. | :17:29. | :17:35. | |
Carry on if you can. Absolutely. A number of properties | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
are flooded. Absolutely, yes. That is right. What can you do? We are | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
doing everything that we can. We have identified who is staying in | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
their houses. If we need to get people out, we are keeping | :17:52. | :17:54. | |
information on the website. We have a team of volunteers that are kind | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
of working to put sandbags out, organise food and just keep a link | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
to the people that deserted down at the river. If you look behind us, | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
these guys are doing absolutely everything they can. But | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
potentially, this water could be here for a month or so yet. | :18:12. | :18:19. | |
You can see all of our reports on the flooding situation on our | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
Facebook page. And for the latest weather, travel | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
and news updates on the flooding, tune into your local BBC radio | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
station. Selfie ` it was the word of 2013, | :18:33. | :18:35. | |
taking your own picture and posting it on social media. Now there's a | :18:36. | :18:41. | |
new version ` the felfie. But behind the fun, there's a more serious side | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
to the social media craze as our Rural Affairs correspondent, David | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
Gregory Kumar, has been finding out. Celebrities love a selfie, taking a | :18:51. | :18:54. | |
picture of themselves and putting it online. Here's mine... And if you | :18:55. | :19:08. | |
want to find it you can search for it using the hashtag felfie. You'll | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
find plenty from our farmers. But felfie isn't the only farming | :19:14. | :19:19. | |
hashtag out there. I have heard that you are working of the hash tag team | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
dairy. According to some people, yes. It is what we are all about. As | :19:26. | :19:33. | |
regards Twitter and farming, it is instant, you can do it wherever you | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
are. Whether you are in need looking parlour, in the tractor, you can get | :19:38. | :19:44. | |
it out there as quickly as possible. Businesses large and small have | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
followed the farmers onto twitter. By using twitter, I have got into | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
conversations with people that are interested in what we do. How much | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
business have you picked up? We joined in April last year and I | :19:59. | :20:02. | |
would estimate between ten and ?15,000 worth. And both Chris and | :20:03. | :20:11. | |
Jim have been involved with the huge task of helping flooded Somerset | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
farmers. And social media was at the heart of relief effort. One farmer | :20:15. | :20:18. | |
said to me that in the old days, you waited for farmers weekly to drop | :20:19. | :20:21. | |
onto your doormat and that is when you found out what was happening. | :20:22. | :20:24. | |
But now it is all immediate. They say that is a good thing. But of | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
course, Twitter is not for everyone. What would you say to farmers who | :20:29. | :20:31. | |
think this is just a stupid waste of time? Fair enough. Don't use it. | :20:32. | :20:38. | |
Each to their own. Some people love it. I know I do. This gives you a | :20:39. | :20:43. | |
chance to talk to so many people so quickly, a photo with a bit of an | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
excavation can put so many would accrue `` so much information out | :20:50. | :20:52. | |
there very quickly. And sometimes of course that photo can be very silly | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
indeed. A centre in Birmingham will begin | :20:58. | :21:00. | |
serving breakfast to the homeless again, after an overwhelming | :21:01. | :21:03. | |
response to an appeal by Worcester Warriors rugby club. Rising costs | :21:04. | :21:06. | |
forced the SIFA Fireside centre in Digbeth to give up the service at | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
Christmas. The Worcester players stepped in to buy food and cook | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
breakfast once a week. After we featured the story on Midlands | :21:16. | :21:18. | |
Today, other businesses and groups have come forward to help provide | :21:19. | :21:21. | |
meals for around 100 homeless people a day. | :21:22. | :21:24. | |
A former West Bromwich Albion striker has left the entire contents | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
of his luxury home to charity. Markus Rosenberg has left the club | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
to play for Malmo in his native Sweden. But instead of taking the | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
furniture from his home in Solihull, he got his agent to arrange to give | :21:37. | :21:45. | |
it to the Sue Ryder charity. We were absolutely amazed. We have | :21:46. | :21:48. | |
never had a foot taller donate any items to us that we are aware of. | :21:49. | :21:56. | |
The money that we raise we believe will be around ?3500. It will go | :21:57. | :22:01. | |
towards incredible care. Let's hope it raises more money than he managed | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
to score goals for the Albion. Onto sport. And it's been a pretty awful | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
week to be a groundsman. Out in all weathers, working hard to get the | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
game on despite the nonstop rain. Tomorrow lunchtime, Shrewsbury Town | :22:15. | :22:17. | |
are due to play Port Vale. So today, Ian Winter went to the Greenhous | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
Meadow to check up on the state of the pitch. | :22:22. | :22:23. | |
For one day only, Richard... Andrew... And Ken have acquired a | :22:24. | :22:26. | |
willing apprentice. So this morning, at the Greenhous Meadow, it was four | :22:27. | :22:29. | |
blokes with four forks working flat out to make sure tomorrow's game | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
between Shrewsbury and Port Vale has the very best chance of beating the | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
weather. Have you ever known anything like it? No, we have had | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
some windy times but it is just so matter storm. We have seen the | :22:43. | :22:50. | |
forecast, we will wait to see what happens in the morning. We will have | :22:51. | :22:55. | |
to wait and see what tomorrow brings. You have done well to find | :22:56. | :23:03. | |
him. There is usually a cardboard cutout of him and he's in the pub by | :23:04. | :23:13. | |
now. Since moving here, she was behind never had a game called off | :23:14. | :23:21. | |
due to a waterlogged pitch. What a contrast to their previous ground. | :23:22. | :23:24. | |
Ever since 1911, flooding used to be an almost annual event for | :23:25. | :23:27. | |
Shrewsbury Town. When the river burst its banks, the phrase | :23:28. | :23:29. | |
waterlogged pitch somehow felt inadequate. For 25 years, it was | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
Brian Perry's job to care for the football pitch beneath the floods. | :23:34. | :23:36. | |
And today, he's returning to the site of the old Gay Meadow for the | :23:37. | :23:39. | |
first time since retiring. No wonder he's surprised to find 179 | :23:40. | :23:42. | |
family homes being built exactly where Shrewsbury Town used to play | :23:43. | :23:50. | |
football. Your job must have been a nightmare. | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
Yes, it was but I enjoyed every minute of it. People would ask me | :23:55. | :24:00. | |
about if the rain will stop the game on Saturday. It used to come down | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
quick and come up quick. Once the water on the pitch was there, there | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
was nothing I could do. But is when I went home for a cup of tea. Which | :24:11. | :24:13. | |
is exactly what groundsmen have always done when the rain pours | :24:14. | :24:17. | |
down. And the forecast for the next few hours remains wet, wet, wet. And | :24:18. | :24:21. | |
there'll be a pitch inspection at 8:15am. | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
Throughout the programme we've seen just how awful the weather has been | :24:26. | :24:28. | |
today. How's it looking for the weekend, Rebecca? | :24:29. | :24:30. | |
I almost dare not say this, Mary, but all signs are pointing to things | :24:31. | :24:36. | |
improving ever so slightly as we head into next week, and things | :24:37. | :24:39. | |
today haven't been quite as bad as we were expecting. Although we have | :24:40. | :24:42. | |
had some heavy bursts across the region. That said, we do still have | :24:43. | :24:46. | |
a Met Office yellow weather warning in place for heavy rain tonight and | :24:47. | :24:49. | |
through tomorrow as low pressure continues to sit above the country. | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
And this is the system that has brought today's unsettled weather, | :24:54. | :24:55. | |
and through tonight winds are strengthening. We could get gusts of | :24:56. | :24:58. | |
40`50mph tonight as we head towards tomorrow morning. We also have | :24:59. | :25:01. | |
showers rattling through the region too. At times they will be heavy and | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
with the cloud and the winds temperatures aren't going to fall | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
away too far. Temperatures 5`6 Celsius. It'll be a grey and wet | :25:11. | :25:13. | |
start to Saturday, with blustery conditions too. Those showers | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
banding up again at times. As that area of low pressure moves, our wind | :25:18. | :25:20. | |
direction will change, bringing in some colder air, we could see some | :25:21. | :25:23. | |
wintry showers over the Staffordshire moorlands. But slowly | :25:24. | :25:26. | |
through the day tomorrow we will see those showers moving away. With | :25:27. | :25:29. | |
drier and brighter conditions from the north, feeling colder though. | :25:30. | :25:32. | |
Temperatures a few degrees colder than today. So a clear night to | :25:33. | :25:39. | |
come, with a few showers remaining over the north midlands, at times | :25:40. | :25:47. | |
they could be a little wintry. But under clear skies with cooler air a | :25:48. | :25:50. | |
widespread frost is on the cards, with temperatures dropping down to | :25:51. | :25:53. | |
around freezing point. We could see some icy stretches developing too on | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
untreated surfaces. But Sunday is looking like a much better day ` the | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
best day of the weekend with dry and bright conditions, sunshine and | :26:02. | :26:04. | |
lighter winds through the day. It is feeling colder though, with | :26:05. | :26:06. | |
temperatures hovering between seven and nine Celsius. It doesn't last | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
too long though as cloud starts to build through the afternoon ahead of | :26:11. | :26:13. | |
the next band of rain moving in. Despite that though, the low is not | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
as extreme as we've seen recently and it finally looks like we are | :26:18. | :26:20. | |
returning to slightly more normal winter weather. | :26:21. | :26:28. | |
That was the Midlands Today. I'll be back at 10pm with the latest on the | :26:29. | :26:33. | |
flood warnings. It's been a week dominated by the weather, we'll | :26:34. | :26:36. | |
leave you with some of the images captured by phone, and on our | :26:37. | :26:39. | |
cameras from helicopter, four by four, tractor, boat and in lots of | :26:40. | :26:41. | |
pairs of wellies. Unfortunately, the impacts are | :26:42. | :26:59. | |
really starting to happen now. It has been seeping through the | :27:00. | :27:02. | |
concrete. Water gets everywhere, doesn't it? | :27:03. | :27:08. | |
You just find yourself thinking, what else am I going to do? | :27:09. | :27:20. | |
Quite significant damage. And some very upset children when they | :27:21. | :27:33. | |
realise what has happened. This has caused a lot of distress | :27:34. | :27:39. | |
for a lot of people. The city centre has been in sort of locked down. | :27:40. | :27:45. |