:00:12. > :00:16.This is BBC World News Today with me Kirsty Lang. Terror strikes at a
:00:16. > :00:21.Christmas market in Belgium. Five people are dead and dozens injured
:00:21. > :00:28.after a gunman opens fire and throws grenades in Liege.
:00:28. > :00:30.Vital to life, but have they found it? Scientists report tantalises
:00:30. > :00:35.glances of the list of Higgs Boson article.
:00:35. > :00:38.Canada goes cold on stopping climate change - it pulls out of
:00:38. > :00:43.the Kyoto Protocol which caps greenhouse emissions, Colin it
:00:43. > :00:47.unworkable. It is now clear that Keele tour is
:00:47. > :00:53.not the path forward to a global solution to climate change.
:00:53. > :00:57.Anything, it is an impediment. Also coming up: His own party
:00:57. > :01:02.chairs has British bulldog spirit, but across Europe, Prime Minister
:01:02. > :01:07.David Cameron is accused of poor diplomacy. In politics there is one
:01:07. > :01:13.golden rule - you only walk away if you are sure that the others will
:01:13. > :01:23.come up after you to win you back. And offensive or inspired? The plan
:01:23. > :01:27.
:01:27. > :01:32.skyscraper in Seoul that is bringing back memories of 9/11.
:01:32. > :01:36.Fay hello and welcome. A grenade and gun attack in the
:01:36. > :01:42.Belgian city of Liege has left five people dead, including a baby girl
:01:42. > :01:47.and two teenagers and the attacker himself. Officials say 75 others
:01:48. > :01:55.were injured. A man opened fire in a city centres where that was full
:01:55. > :02:02.of Christmas shoppers, before killing himself.
:02:02. > :02:07.They ran for their lives this afternoon. 1230 in a European city
:02:07. > :02:14.centre. As rumours swirled that one possibly two or three gunmen on the
:02:14. > :02:19.loose. Shots were fired in the main square, next to Liege's Christmas
:02:19. > :02:27.market. And grenades were thrown. They were at least two large
:02:27. > :02:33.explosions. It is very terrible. I am still shocked. I just saw one
:02:33. > :02:38.man shooting people. And some explosion, two were three. All the
:02:38. > :02:43.people ran from there to here. Some people went into the shopping
:02:43. > :02:49.centre. Special forces won the city centre. Cutting it off and sealing
:02:49. > :02:53.off office and shop workers indoors. The attack happened just outside
:02:53. > :03:00.the main court house here. Many of the wounded were taken there. As
:03:00. > :03:05.ambulances struggle to get to them in time. I saw in the market all
:03:05. > :03:12.the people lying down bleeding. I stop my card to seek if I could
:03:12. > :03:16.help some people. All the people must have gone inside. By this time,
:03:16. > :03:22.it was becoming clear there was just one gunman. And now he lay
:03:22. > :03:26.dead, just off the main square. He killed himself, the police said. A
:03:26. > :03:30.33-year-old, he had previous convictions were gun and drug
:03:30. > :03:35.offences according to local media. This evening the Belgian King and
:03:35. > :03:40.Queen arrived in Liege to see the misery for themselves. Prosecutors
:03:40. > :03:49.say they do not know yet why this happened. What everyone here does
:03:49. > :03:58.not is that this was a day of panic, of death that few will forget.
:03:58. > :04:07.Let us go live to the city of Liege. Has any more emerged about who this
:04:07. > :04:13.gunman was? We know that he was a 33-year-old. He lived in Liege,
:04:13. > :04:17.Nordine Amrani. He was known to police and has previous convictions.
:04:17. > :04:21.He was due today to be having an interview with the police about
:04:21. > :04:26.other matters related to drug trafficking. But clearly that did
:04:26. > :04:30.not take place. He ended up in the square behind me, carrying out this
:04:30. > :04:36.terrible attack. Shooting from a rooftop and throwing explosives as
:04:36. > :04:42.well. We have heard from local media. It is believed five people
:04:42. > :04:48.in addition to the gunmen are dead. A two-year-old baby has now died,
:04:48. > :04:58.as has the 20-year-old. That is an addition to a 15-year-old boy, a
:04:58. > :05:01.
:05:01. > :05:08.17-year-old Beryl and his 75-year- old women. -- a 17-year-old goal.
:05:08. > :05:13.Thank you very much. Also this afternoon at man in the
:05:13. > :05:16.Italian city of Florence opened fire and killed two Senegalese
:05:17. > :05:22.street vendors. He also winded four others before turning the gun on
:05:22. > :05:27.himself. He was described as a far- right militants. Around 200
:05:27. > :05:32.Senegalese street vendors demonstrated after the shootings.
:05:32. > :05:37.It is perhaps the toughest question in physics - how did the universe
:05:37. > :05:41.start. Today scientists at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland say they
:05:41. > :05:46.may be close to an answer. They believe they have found evidence of
:05:46. > :05:48.the mysterious particle known as the Higgs Boson. It has the
:05:49. > :05:54.nickname the God particle because it is thought to be the original
:05:54. > :05:57.building block of the universe and explains why objects have last. Our
:05:57. > :05:59.science correspondent reports on what could be one of the more
:05:59. > :06:04.scientific breakthroughs of all time.
:06:04. > :06:07.In an underground laboratory near Geneva, the world's largest
:06:07. > :06:12.experiment is homing in on one of the greatest mysteries of the
:06:12. > :06:21.universe. Firing particles through a circular tunnel, scientists are
:06:21. > :06:24.closer to understanding the basic building blocks of life. This
:06:24. > :06:30.afternoon, a long-awaited announcement.. Her we are here
:06:30. > :06:35.today to hear the latest. Some of the brightest minds in physics
:06:35. > :06:41.gathered in one room, comparing findings from two experience that
:06:41. > :06:48.both point to the existence of a fundamental and -- fundamentally
:06:48. > :06:52.important article that it remained hidden until now. We will get a
:06:52. > :06:57.definite answer on the Higgs. We saw some tantalising hints today.
:06:58. > :07:02.To explore how the universe works, scientists have delved deeper into
:07:02. > :07:06.atoms and the strange world inside them. First there is the nucleus
:07:06. > :07:11.with electrons orbiting around it. That has been known for over a
:07:11. > :07:15.century. Inside the nucleus there are protons and neutrons. The
:07:15. > :07:20.journey goes on, inside them are quarks and other minute particles.
:07:20. > :07:24.But what gives these tiny thing substance or mass? The theory is
:07:24. > :07:28.that the smallest particles travel through force called the pigs field
:07:28. > :07:33.and they get slowed down by it. This is how the Higgs Boson works.
:07:33. > :07:38.You cannot see but you can see how it gives particle substance. The
:07:38. > :07:42.creation of matter. That is why these first answer so momentous.
:07:42. > :07:46.Every particle in your body at every Montes interacting with this
:07:46. > :07:51.field. It is like a cosmic treacle that permeates the universe. That
:07:51. > :07:59.is what gives particles mask and that it ultimately gives us
:07:59. > :08:05.structure. They come from two channels. One is a Higgs Boson.
:08:05. > :08:10.This results are being examined by signed is all over the world. Here
:08:10. > :08:16.are the students watch the events unfold. People have been waiting a
:08:16. > :08:20.whole is for this. I feel this is a special moment. It is nice to be
:08:20. > :08:23.part of the group that has had a big part in this. This
:08:23. > :08:28.extraordinary machine is so vast they lent me a bicycle to go round
:08:28. > :08:33.it. It has not given us a definitive answer. They may come
:08:33. > :08:39.next year. But these detectors have revealed vital clues about how the
:08:39. > :08:44.universe got started. I am joined by a professor Steven
:08:44. > :08:49.Weinberg, the Nobel winning Prize physicist who first predicted that
:08:50. > :08:57.Higgs Boson. How excited are you buy if what they announced today?
:08:57. > :09:03.It is extremely exciting. It is always amazing when things that
:09:03. > :09:08.were emerging out of mathematics and a theoretical way turn out to
:09:08. > :09:14.exist in Riyait -- existing in the real world. I must admit that it is
:09:14. > :09:18.always exciting. Did you expect to see this in your lifetime? Yes. I
:09:18. > :09:26.expected it to see it earlier. There was a large accelerator that
:09:26. > :09:31.was going to be built in Texas. Congress and this was done to
:09:31. > :09:35.cancel the 1993. If that had been built, we would have seen this a
:09:35. > :09:41.decade or so earlier. You were awarded the Nobel Prize for a
:09:41. > :09:47.Theory there predicts the particle. Does this prove you're right, your
:09:47. > :09:52.theory right? It proves that if this holds up, and we should add
:09:52. > :09:59.that, it proves the simplest version of the theory right. Most
:09:59. > :10:03.of the features of the Theory are well-established. There is a
:10:03. > :10:09.fundamental cemetery in Nature that of unbroken would prevent any
:10:09. > :10:14.particles, any element, from having masses. That symmetry has been
:10:15. > :10:18.broken. This experiment, if it holds up, will confirm the simplest
:10:18. > :10:27.idea of how that symmetry was broken. And how particles got the
:10:27. > :10:33.masses. But we are not there yet? CERN have said we have seen hits.
:10:33. > :10:37.Professor Higgs, after whom the particle is named, says he is not
:10:37. > :10:42.cracking open the sound -- champagne yet. Is that them being
:10:43. > :10:49.cautious? It is good to be cautious. Looking at the research articles
:10:49. > :10:56.that CERN put out today, my guess is that the chance of this being a
:10:56. > :11:00.statistical accident, a fluke, is probably less than 1%. But as every
:11:00. > :11:10.insurance company will tell you, things that have a likelihood of
:11:10. > :11:11.
:11:11. > :11:15.only 1%, do happened about 1% of the time. Thank you very much.
:11:15. > :11:24.Staying with his subject, I am joined by another physicist,
:11:24. > :11:29.Professor Jim Al-Khalili from central London. I am going to ask
:11:29. > :11:34.you that very difficult question - what does this all mean? Why should
:11:34. > :11:38.we all care? To begin with, it is not going to lead to some sort of
:11:38. > :11:44.technological breakthrough that will change are the peoples' lives.
:11:44. > :11:49.This is part of putting the jigsaw together of how the universe is
:11:49. > :11:54.made up. The Higgs Boson is the fundamental particle that explains
:11:54. > :12:00.why all the other particles, all the older building blocks have the
:12:00. > :12:03.properties they do. As Professor Steven Weinberg mentioned, the
:12:03. > :12:09.theory has been frozen for some decades. Finally we have some
:12:09. > :12:13.evidence a weak heart on the right tracks. -- have been proven.
:12:13. > :12:18.Brian Cox said it's like some cosmic trickle doubles as
:12:18. > :12:24.altogether. Someone said it is like a celebrity walking through a crowd
:12:25. > :12:30.of paparazzi. There was a competition. Almost 20 years ago
:12:30. > :12:35.for physicists to come up with that explanation. The celebrity who
:12:35. > :12:39.walks into a room with partygoers, the more famous there, the more
:12:39. > :12:44.there is a huddle of wannabes gathering around them. In particle
:12:44. > :12:54.physics, the equivalent is the more heavier particle is, the harder it
:12:54. > :12:55.
:12:55. > :12:58.is from A to B. So, yes it is like treacle. Without it, all the
:12:58. > :13:02.particles would travel at the speed of light. You can only travel at
:13:02. > :13:07.that speed if you do not wear anything. But we know that some
:13:07. > :13:12.particles are heavy and some are like. Why are they so different?
:13:12. > :13:17.The Higgs Boson is the particle version of the field, the field
:13:17. > :13:20.that permeates the whole universe explains why some particles are
:13:20. > :13:25.light and some are heavy. So it fits everything into place very
:13:25. > :13:31.nicely. And why is it called the God particle? This was a nickname
:13:31. > :13:35.it was given some years ago by an American physicist in trying to get
:13:35. > :13:39.across how important this article was to our fundamental theories.
:13:39. > :13:46.Without it we would have to go back to the drawing boards and start
:13:46. > :13:50.again. So the God particle is because it is a very powerful
:13:50. > :13:56.explanation that helps describe the rest of the particles. They all
:13:56. > :14:04.behave the way they do because of the Higgs Boson. It is a sort of
:14:04. > :14:09.missing link thought. It is not the last piece of the jokes. If it is
:14:09. > :14:14.confirmed, there are still more questions. There is still what is
:14:14. > :14:24.dark matter are dark energy? There are plenty more puzzles to solve.
:14:24. > :14:26.think I understand it a little bit The Russian President Dmitry
:14:26. > :14:29.Medvedev has said the new parliament chosen in the election
:14:29. > :14:32.earlier this month will have its first session on December the 21st
:14:32. > :14:34.- that's despite allegations of fraud. In a meeting with party
:14:34. > :14:36.leaders, Mr Medvedev acknowledged the complaints of malpractice, but
:14:36. > :14:40.gave no indication that he was considering a re-run.
:14:40. > :14:42.The Burmese opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi has been given
:14:42. > :14:47.official permission by the government to re-register - paving
:14:47. > :14:50.the way for it to re-join the political system. The party was
:14:50. > :15:00.declared illegal after it boycotted last year's election, which was
:15:00. > :15:02.
:15:02. > :15:04.widely criticised as unfair and undemocratic.
:15:04. > :15:09.Tunisia's new President Moncef Marzouki has said he will remain
:15:09. > :15:11.faithful to the goals of the country's revolution. At his
:15:11. > :15:16.swearing-in ceremony, Mr Marzouki said Tunisia was being watched as
:15:17. > :15:25."a laboratory of democracy". Tunisia's mass protests were the
:15:25. > :15:28.trigger for the Arab Spring revolts across the region.
:15:28. > :15:35.The Palestinian flag is flying for the first time at the headquarters
:15:35. > :15:38.of a United Nations agency. It was hoisted at a ceremony at the Paris
:15:38. > :15:41.office of the cultural agency, UNESCO. The admission of Palestine
:15:41. > :15:43.as a member in October represented a symbolic victory in the
:15:43. > :15:50.Palestinians' push for an independent state. It sparked fury
:15:50. > :15:54.in Israel and the US. There's a confrontation in Papua
:15:54. > :15:57.New Guinea between two men who both claim to be prime minister. Sir
:15:57. > :16:03.Michael Somare was deposed in August while recovering from heart
:16:03. > :16:05.surgery in Singapore. But Peter O'Neill, who replaced Mr Somare and
:16:05. > :16:15.is recognised by parliament as the legitimate prime minister, has
:16:15. > :16:18.
:16:18. > :16:22.rejected a court ruling asking him to step down.
:16:22. > :16:26.Canada has pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol on reducing emissions of
:16:26. > :16:31.greenhouse gases. The announcement comes the day after international
:16:31. > :16:35.climate talks in Dublin finished without agreement on a successor to
:16:35. > :16:39.Kyoto which expires at the end of next year. Canada's Environment
:16:39. > :16:44.Minister said that staying in the treaty would be harmful to his
:16:44. > :16:51.country's economy. It is the world's largest car-borne
:16:51. > :16:59.emitter, so China may not be the obvious candidate to lead criticism
:16:59. > :17:04.of Canada's decision to withdraw from kilter. Hence, from the
:17:04. > :17:09.Chinese foreign ministry, this response to the Canadian move.
:17:09. > :17:14.TRANSLATION: Canada's decision to withdraw it is against the efforts
:17:14. > :17:18.of the international community as - - and is regrettable. We also hope
:17:18. > :17:22.cannot double face up to its two responsibilities.
:17:22. > :17:25.But Canadian Government is unapologetic about its decision
:17:25. > :17:30.which was saved the country billions of dollars in fines for
:17:30. > :17:34.missing its Kyoto targets. They Kyoto protocol does not cover the
:17:34. > :17:39.world's two largest emitters, the United States and China, and
:17:39. > :17:43.therefore cannot work. It is now clear that Kyoto is not the path
:17:43. > :17:47.forward for a global solution to climate change. If anything, it is
:17:47. > :17:51.an impediment. The Government says it is still
:17:51. > :17:55.committed to addressing climate change in a way that is fair and
:17:55. > :17:58.does not harm the Canadian economy, but its move, the first formal
:17:58. > :18:03.withdrawal from Kyoto, has been attacked by environmentalists and
:18:03. > :18:09.opposition at home. Many see Canada's bombing past vans Industry,
:18:09. > :18:16.opening the way to death vast oil reserves, opening the way to that
:18:16. > :18:20.its move. Canada was already on the defensive
:18:20. > :18:23.at the latest international climate change talks in South Africa which
:18:23. > :18:27.a volley just concluded, but it says the deal which there is a way
:18:27. > :18:34.forward, aiming for a new pact covering all the big emitters,
:18:34. > :18:39.including China. The President of the European
:18:39. > :18:44.Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, as attacked David Cameron's use of the
:18:45. > :18:49.veto at last week's EU summit. He said that Britain's demand to
:18:49. > :18:53.exclude its financial institutions in the City of London had made an
:18:53. > :18:59.agreement impossible, and it would have harmed the EU's internal
:18:59. > :19:02.market. Gavin Hewitt reports. At the European Parliament, David
:19:02. > :19:08.Cameron was today the man who everybody seemed to want to talk
:19:08. > :19:11.about. His use of a veto to protect British interests has already drawn
:19:11. > :19:14.comment from that French President and the German Chancellor. Today it
:19:14. > :19:18.was the turn of the President of the European Commission to
:19:18. > :19:23.criticise the British for demanding safeguards.
:19:23. > :19:27.The United Kingdom, in exchange for giving its agreement, ask for a
:19:27. > :19:33.specific protocol on financial services, which was a risk to the
:19:33. > :19:37.integrity of the internal market. This made compromise impossible.
:19:37. > :19:40.Downing Street denied the Prime Minister had any intention to
:19:40. > :19:45.undermine the single market. But the prevailing view here at least
:19:45. > :19:49.was that Britain was now on its own. It politics there is one golden
:19:50. > :19:54.rule - you only walk away if you are sure that the others will come
:19:54. > :19:56.after you to win you back. French member of the European
:19:56. > :20:04.Parliament when father and demanded Britain be punished for acting
:20:04. > :20:09.selfishly. TRANSLATION: I think the British rebate is now offer
:20:09. > :20:13.question. Tax money should be spent on something other than selfish
:20:13. > :20:18.nationalism. He was referring to the rebate negotiated by Margaret
:20:18. > :20:23.Thatcher, and worth about 3 billion euros a year to Britain. Some
:20:23. > :20:27.British MEPs saw the crisis leading to Britain's exit from the EU.
:20:27. > :20:32.Britain is going to make the Great Escape, we will be the first
:20:32. > :20:38.European country to get our freedom back. There are is no question
:20:38. > :20:42.David Cameron and his use of the veto has irritated many people in
:20:42. > :20:45.Europe. But increasingly other national
:20:45. > :20:50.politicians in Parliament have raised concerns about the deal to
:20:51. > :20:55.enforce budgetary discipline, struck here last week.
:20:55. > :20:59.Back in London the Cabinet held its first meeting since the divisions
:20:59. > :21:05.emerged within the commission over Europe. Although the differences
:21:05. > :21:09.remain, David Cameron insisted the collision had been not been damaged.
:21:09. > :21:14.The condition is very strong, and the condition came together for a
:21:14. > :21:17.good reason, which was to put aside party interests and act for the
:21:17. > :21:22.national interest, particularly when there are so many challenges
:21:22. > :21:31.to a our economy. There are increasing doubts as to whether
:21:31. > :21:35.last week's summit has eased the the eurozone crisis.
:21:35. > :21:40.But is in Pakistan say they have freed almost 70 boys and men from a
:21:40. > :21:45.religious school in the southern port city of Karachi. Many were
:21:45. > :21:51.fined under grind in chains. The youngest was only seven years old.
:21:51. > :21:54.Two clerics were arrested but ahead of the school managed to get away.
:21:54. > :22:00.Pakistan's income a minister has ordered an investigation. Orla
:22:00. > :22:04.Guerin reports. Descending into a torture chamber,
:22:04. > :22:09.that is what local officials have called this basement. Still in
:22:09. > :22:16.chains down below, the men and boys who police say were kept like
:22:16. > :22:22.animals. Shackled, starved and beaten. It was known locally as the
:22:22. > :22:29.jail to madrassa. For those trapped here, that is what it was. They
:22:29. > :22:32.which tie us up, and chained asked 200 times. They were beating
:22:32. > :22:37.everyone too much, and they would not give us any food.
:22:37. > :22:42.The cleric insure charge of all this managed to make a getaway.
:22:42. > :22:46.Police are investigating any links with militants, as some pupils have
:22:46. > :22:49.claimed. Some -- so far there is no proof.
:22:50. > :22:54.After they were freed from the madrassa, the students were led
:22:54. > :22:58.away still chained together, because police could not find the
:22:58. > :23:03.keys. Some were said to be drug addicts or petty criminals. Sent
:23:03. > :23:07.there by their families for rehabilitation. Some parents even
:23:08. > :23:12.provided the chains. Others were enrolled at the madrassa for a
:23:12. > :23:16.religious education, some could not hold back the tears. Police say
:23:16. > :23:20.children as young as eight were beaten and shackled for
:23:20. > :23:27.disobedience. By day, parents gathered outside
:23:27. > :23:33.the police station, some angry that madrassa was close. We are not here
:23:33. > :23:35.to take our children back, this man said. We cannot control them. They
:23:35. > :23:40.will start stealing and misbehaving again.
:23:40. > :23:46.Their ordeal may be over, but these students will bear the scars. The
:23:46. > :23:55.madrassa is the only option for many of Pakistan's poor. This one
:23:55. > :23:58.was unregistered and unregulated, like thousands of others.
:23:58. > :24:05.Architecture is often a controversial subject, especially
:24:05. > :24:09.when a new building goes up. But plans for a new skyscraper in this
:24:09. > :24:13.South Korea capital of salt have been dismissed as tasteless. Why?
:24:13. > :24:17.Because many who have seen the design for the first time say it
:24:17. > :24:26.reminds them of New York's Twin Towers being demolished by the
:24:26. > :24:30.terror attacks on 9/11. Sol's city skyline, it never stays
:24:30. > :24:36.the same for long, and it is getting harder for new buildings to
:24:36. > :24:41.stand out. But this one has, before it has even been built. Two
:24:41. > :24:45.apartment blocks linked by what developers called a pixelated cloud.
:24:45. > :24:50.But which critics say it resembles the collapse of New York's will
:24:50. > :24:55.trade centre during the 9/11 attacks. TRANSLATION: Went I heard
:24:55. > :24:59.that, I was totally surprised and bewildered. It felt like something
:24:59. > :25:03.out of a novel, and because this is just one of many buildings in the
:25:03. > :25:07.development, I wondered whether it was a conspiracy.
:25:07. > :25:12.So embolism in building design is important in South Korea. The front
:25:12. > :25:16.gate of the main palace here was actually moved and rotated a few
:25:16. > :25:21.years ago to wipe out changes made under the an old Japanese colonial
:25:21. > :25:27.rulers. So the company says this latest row is not about
:25:27. > :25:31.insensitivity, it is about different cultural perceptions.
:25:31. > :25:37.TRANSLATION: Even if it does remind people of 9/11, there is no law
:25:37. > :25:42.saying it cannot be built. TRANSLATION: I know there has been
:25:42. > :25:45.criticism of this because it looks like the 9/11 attacks, but in my
:25:45. > :25:50.view it is in a piece of architecture at and I think it is a
:25:50. > :25:55.fantastic design. The apartment complex is part of a
:25:55. > :25:59.flagship project to redevelop a major site in central Seoul. The
:25:59. > :26:04.design will not be finalised until next year, but for now the
:26:04. > :26:06.pixelated cloud is here to stay. But even some at the development
:26:06. > :26:15.company admit they might feel differently if they were at New
:26:15. > :26:16.Yorkers themselves. Be interesting looking building. A
:26:17. > :26:21.reminder of our new its stories tonight.
:26:21. > :26:26.A man has opened fire and thrown grenades from a rooftop in the
:26:26. > :26:31.Belgian city of Liege, killing five people in a Christmas market before
:26:31. > :26:36.killing himself. 75 others were wounded, some seriously. The
:26:36. > :26:40.attacker has been named as Liege Western Nordine Amrani.
:26:40. > :26:44.Scientists working at the CERN Laboratory in Geneva say they have
:26:44. > :26:47.found signs of the elusive Higgs boson. They say they will have to
:26:47. > :26:50.carry out more work over the next few months to find conclusive
:26:50. > :27:00.evidence. That is all from the programme.
:27:00. > :27:03.
:27:03. > :27:08.From me, Kirsty Lang, goodbye for This evening we are at in for wet
:27:08. > :27:12.and windy weather, a company by gale-force winds. First this
:27:13. > :27:17.evening, us no warning affecting Northern Ireland, Scotland and the
:27:17. > :27:21.north-west of England. These tightly squeezed isobars mean we
:27:22. > :27:25.could have some treacherous driving conditions, but also a band of
:27:25. > :27:31.heavy showers sweeping through the South East of England, and
:27:31. > :27:34.Wednesday's forecast yet again dominated by frequent heavy showers.
:27:34. > :27:39.Many northern areas reasonably sheltered, but through the Midlands,
:27:39. > :27:43.showers and a rising by the afternoon. Southern counties of
:27:43. > :27:47.England are in the firing line to pick up a frequent heavy showers,
:27:47. > :27:52.but it is likely as we head through the day for southern areas they
:27:52. > :27:56.will mostly be of rain. Heavy showers across Wales, the risk of
:27:56. > :28:01.the odd rumble of thunder, and perhaps a little bit of sleet over
:28:01. > :28:05.the top of the high ground. Adding further north we are back into the
:28:05. > :28:10.cold air. There is increased risk that the showers affecting western
:28:10. > :28:14.areas of Scotland will fall as snow on the high ground, but nothing as