24/12/2012 Spotlight

Good evening. Passengers face days of severe disruption on the South

West's rail network after flooding caused by heavy rain. Network Rail

says the main line near Exeter won't reopen until the weekend at

the earliest. It's also been a difficult day on the region's roads

following two serious crashes which have blocked the A30 for hours at

Honiton in Devon and Scorrier in Train stations have come to

resemble coach stations in parts of the south-west as passengers face

more disruption because of flooding. And at this, Christmas time. Would

not be too bad if it was just from home to the train station, but if

it is a coach and a bus, quite a long time! And my Catt in Tote!

Berry hard work when she is in the eye all the time. It is tough. But

I expected it to happen, in you still have to get home at the end

of the day for Christmas. Pretty hectic. I was going to London

Paddington, now will be going to water looked so spend Christmas

with my son, daughter-in-law grandson. There are region's main

rail line remains closed in Exeter. These booms can only be removed

when the risk of flooding has eased. And then the track has to be shored

up. Network Rail tells us that means that the line he will not

reopen until Friday at the earliest. And the problems on the trains had

been made worse by a landslide on the track. It is Christmas Eve, the

numbers are quite small today, most people appear to have done their

long-distance journeys over the weekend. We will look after the

rest of the customers that come through. Many roads are passable

only with care or a blocked by landslides or floods. The advice

remains to travel only if necessary. The Environment Agency currently

has 31 flood warnings and 57 flood alerts in place across the region.

People in many flood-affected areas, including Braunton and Lostwithiel,

are still struggling to cope with the effects of the bad weather over

the weekend. One family in South Devon are clearing up after a

landslip at their home in Ermington near Ivybridge. The Rogers family

were woken by the sound of mud and water as it swept away vehicles and

destroyed outbuildings. Saturday morning, at 7:45am, my

daughter woke me up, saying there was a massive landslide coming down

the yard. Ran downstairs only to see my truck been driven down the

road by the mud and landslide. Consequently, we had approximately

300 tons of soil, trees, roots and a yard.

In other news, the chief executive of Cornwall Council is leaving his

job to take up a post in New Zealand. Kevin Lavery will take

charge of Wellington City Council from March. The job carries a

It has been a wet run-up to Christmas. The rain has not helped

in this morning I the. We will seek some drier and brighter weather as

we head through Christmas Day. The weather fronts are clearing the way.

They are followed by a few showers, but for this evening, some dry

weather around. A few showers been blown in. A few clear spells for a

time further east, but the showers become more frequent. Heavy bursts

in there as well and it is good hail and thunder. In the south-west,

the winds pick up. 6-9 Celsius the minimum temperature. On Christmas

Day, we will keep some of these showers, especially in the morning.

The downpours come within weather warning as well. There will be some

drier weather as well. The chance of a few brighter spells.

Temperatures up to 10 at Celsius. For Boxing Day, it looks a fine to

start the day, but further rain comes in from the West on a

Thursday and Friday, still unsettled.

Every night last week, we ended the programme with Christmas music

recorded at The Great Barn near Exeter. Now, on Christmas Eve, we

leave you with one of the most traditional carols of all, Away in