till ten o'clock tonight — many of the party leaders have already voted. also on the programme this lunchtime... the metropolitan police reviews its investigation into the crash that left two young schoolgirls dead at a school in london. joe biden insists he won't pull out of the us presidential election, despite his disastrous performance in the tv debate with donald trump. 36—year—old virginia mccullough pleads guilty to murdering both her parents in essex — their bodies were only discovered in her house four years after she killed them. and it's brits day at wimbledon with the murray brothers and a host of other british stars all in action. and coming up on bbc news... after keeping hisjob, now erik ten hag has extended his contract at manchester united by another year. the dutchman survived an end—of—season review after winning the fa cup.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. millions of people are voting in the general election — 40,000 polling stations in 650 seats across the uk are open till ten o'clock tonight. it is the first general election where voters will need to show photographic id. 0ur political correspondent, sean curran, reports. it's decision time. across the uk, tens of thousands of polling stations opened at 7:00 this morning. the prime minister, rishi sunak, cast his vote in yorkshire. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, voted in north london. the liberal democrat leader, sir ed davey, posed for photographers in southwest london.

and the snp leader, john swinney, walked to a village hall in perthshire to cast his vote. in north wales, the plaid cymru leader rhun ap iorwerth voted in anglesey and the green co—leader carla denyer cast her vote in bristol. the west of england. many people have already voted by post, including the leader of reform uk, nigel farage. the polls are open until 10:00. you'll need to show an accepted form of photo id, such as a passport, driving licence or an older or disabled person's bus pass. if you've asked for a postal vote and it hasn't turned up, you can go in person to your local council to ask for a replacement ballot paper before 5:00. and if you've got a postal vote but haven't sent it back, you can still drop it off at the polling station today in england, scotland, and wales or ask someone else to do it on your behalf.

at this royal mail office, they're sorting through completed postal votes to get them to the right place to be counted. if somebody opts to vote by post, we will get the postal vote to them. that goes out in something we call a ballot pack. they then return the postal vote and let's get a clear, purple strip in it. all our machines are set up to automate that process. but on the very final day, we do a final—day sweep just to make sure everything that comes through, even on the very last day, we can get to the returning officers. and here in london, that's to 16 different returning officers. most of us vote in person, whether it's at a laundrette, a hairdresser�*s, or at the local hall. and some of us take our best friend. voting is taking place for all 650 seats in the house of commons. the candidate with the most votes in each constituency will be elected as an mp. to secure a majority and form a government,

a political party needs to win at least 326 seats. sean curran, bbc news, westminster. throughout the night and into the morning, we'll bring you results. we'll have our reporters at counts across the uk. coverage begins at 9.55pm tonight on bbc one and iplayer — and at 9.1i5pm on bbc sounds. the metropolitan police is reviewing its investigation into a car crash at a school in wimbledon, in which two 8—year—old pupils were killed. it happened when the driver of a land rover suffered an epileptic seizure and crashed into an end—of—term party last summer. the girls' families say they're not convinced there was a thorough investigation, and now, in theirfirst interview, staff at the study preparatory school also say the police have failed to answer key questions, as our special correspondent, lucy manning, reports.

so it was like a... like a war zone. standing on the lawn where their pupils, selena and nuria, died when a land rover smashed through the children here. and the car... well, the car had gone into the building and dented the building, then sort ofjumped back. debris everywhere. the eight—year—old girls had just been celebrating at an end—of—term party, tables and mats laid out. nuria — talented and chatty, selena — hard—working, with a twinkle in her eye, said her teachers. prosecutors last week decided not to charge the driver because they said she had suffered an epileptic seizure, which hadn't previously been diagnosed. a decision the school struggles with. i was very surprised. i think we were both very surprised. as was the whole community, really. and we've waited and waited

and given the police and the cps the time and the space to make that decision, and now we feel very angry and sad and upset and confused. but their greatest frustration is with the met police, its investigation, and what they see as a failure to answer questions since the decision not to prosecute. there were numerous questions that they were unable to answer. that's made the last week incredibly difficult. i mean, the police said that their officers worked tirelessly through every detail of the incident to ensure a complete investigation. that... it didn't. .. you know, it didn't look like that to us at each of those three meetings because they were not able to answer some of those questions. you were shaking your head there? no, i think the words "thorough" and "tireless" suggest that you would have a body of evidence that you would be able to share. but in some areas, there was just a complete lack of knowledge —

the lack of thoroughness was how it appeared. have you felt let down by the met police? at the end of this process, at this moment in time, it would appear to be that i have been let down by them. the met has now decided it will review its investigation, saying it has listened to concerns from the families of nuria and selena and others affected. last week, the driver, claire freemantle, expressed her deepest sorrow to the families and said she had no recollection of what took place. the flowers on the lawn planted from those the community left in tribute to selena and nuria. helen comforted nuria as she lay injured. ijust talked to her about how wonderful she was, how much we loved her, how much mummy and daddy loved her and, you know, what a special girl she was.

but we couldn't keep them safe on that day, and that...you know, i will always live with that. that was our special correspondent lucy manning reporting. us presidentjoe biden has insisted he won't pull out of this year's presidential election, despite calls from some democrats for him to do so after his disastrous performance at last week's tv debate with donald trump. mr biden, who's 81, said he won't be pushed out of the race. and several democrat governors who met mr biden at the white house have rallied behind him, as our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. this is the biggest personal challenge facing joe biden since he launched his re—election campaign. many democrats are widely reported still to be in panic mode a week after this. making sure that we are able to make

every single solitary person eligible for what i have been able to do with the covid... excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, er... the president's fumbling performance during his debate with donald trump has led to growing calls from members of his party for him to abandon his bid for a second term. two democratic congressman have urged mr biden to step down, while us media outlets say a letter is circulating in the house of representatives with party members urging colleagues to sign, to persuade the president to call it a day. but mr biden has, it seems, the backing of democratic governors after a meeting at the white house, where they said they had a frank discussion with the president. it was candid. i think that, you know, we always believe that when you love someone you tell them the truth. i think we came in and we were honest about the feedback that we were getting, we were honest about the concerns

we were hearing from people. we were also honest about the fact as the president continued to tell us and show us that he was all in, we said we would stand with him. earlier, it was business as usualfor mr biden. he appeared at a ceremony to posthumously award medals to two civil war heroes. he ignored the shouts of reporters and left the white house press secretary to answer the question of the day. the president is clear—eyed and he is staying in the race. i don't have anything else beyond that. he is staying in the race. that is what the president has promised to do. later, the president spelled out his intentions in a campaign message to supporters. "i am the democratic party's nominee," he wrote, "no one is pushing me out. "i am not leaving. i am in this race to the end." americans will watch the 81—year—old closely over the next days when he is scheduled to give a high—profile tv interview and appear at a campaign rally. in the meantime, donald trump,

who is 78, is pushing ahead in opinion polls, while more voters are saying joe biden is too old to be president. 0ur north america correspondent nomia iqbaljoins us now from washington. nomia, some pressure from democrats onjoe biden to stand aside, but so far he's resisting it? he is, but the truth is, his presidential candidacy is under a very, very dark cloud, being fuelled by the american media which largely believes that the president has not been honest with them. it has led to days and days of very negative headlines and articles. donald trump usually dominates the news cycle but we haven't really heard about him or officially from him. you've got some editorial boards of newspaper saying that mr biden should stand down. they say for the sake of democracy. you've got senior democratic

leaders, as peter mentioned in his report, calling for him to stand down. there was one member, jim clyburn, very close to president biden who said yesterday we could have many primaries to find a replacement if it gets to that. that in of itself is very telling. but he has to be seen to be believed. he has to be seen to be believed. he has interview coming up on friday and the big nato summit next week where he is hosting world leaders. 0ne slip—up, one weakness, will be seized upon. i think the president is going to be scrutinised in a way he has never been before. nomia, thank you. police in australia investigating the disappearance of a 12—year—old girl following a crocodile attack, have found human remains. the girl was last seen while swimming in a creek with her family near a remote town south of darwin, in australia's northern territory. the area is home to an estimated 100,000 saltwater crocodiles, more than anywhere else in the world. six people have been arrested in connection

with a stampede at a hindu event in india's northern state of uttar pradesh, which killed more than 120 people. the crush at the religious gathering is one of the deadliest such disasters in more than a decade. concerns have been raised over the care the former arsenal and everton footballer kevin campbell received in hospital at the manchester royal infirmary before he died. the inquest into his death has heard that the hospital trust declared a maximum level 5 patient safety incident about aspects of his care. his provisional cause of death is multi—organ failure due to a heart infection. a woman has admitted killing her parents, after their bodies were discovered at her home. virginia mccullough pleaded guilty to murdering lois and john mccullough injune 2019 — but their bodies were not discovered

until more than four years later — last september. 0ur reporter frances read is at the crown court in chelmsford. frances, bring us up to date on what's happened in court? this is what we have heard in court today. virginia mccullough, who is 36, was charged with murdering her parents, lois and john mccullough backin parents, lois and john mccullough back in 2019. they were in their 70s at that time. mr and mrs mccullough�*s bodies were found at their home in essex back in september, as you said. police arrived at the couple's home after welfare concerns had been raised. they had been reported missing and it was the next day the police then found human remains at the property at the same location. an inquest later found that mrs mccullough had died of a stab wound to the chest but the cause of death for mr mccullough is still unknown at the moment. police at the time said it

was a very complex investigation. but today in court in chelmsford, virginia mccullough pleaded guilty via video link from prison in peterborough to two counts of murder. sentencing is due to take place in october. frances, thank you. the lebanese armed group hezbollah says it's launched more than 200 rockets and attack drones into northern israel. smoke can be seen rising at the border — no injuries have been reported. meanwhile, israel is studying the latest response from hamas on a possible ceasefire in gaza and a hostage release deal. hamas says it's sent new proposals to qatari and egyptian mediators. the time is 13:15. our top story this afternoon... millions of voters across the uk are casting their ballots in the general election, with 40,000 polling stations around the country open till 10 o'clock tonight.

it is brits day at wimbledon with andy and jamie murray and a host of other stars in action. coming up on bbc news, british players dominate the order of play on wimbledon�*s show courts today after two head—to—heads in the singles, then andy murray begins his championship swansong, alongside jamie in the opening round of the men's doubles. it's thought there are just 15,000 southern white rhinos left in the wilds of africa — and because of that dwindling population, many are inbred and more susceptible to disease. now researchers are trying to protect them by harvesting the eggs from rhinos kept in european zoos, to help make the wild animals more genetically diverse. 0ur science editor rebecca morelle reports. zanta is a 22—year—old adult southern white rhino. she's unable to have calves of her own, but scientists want her valuable genes to live on. she's having her eggs harvested. first, she's given some anaesthetic.

and once the team are sure she's asleep, they get to work. a specialist team from germany has flown to dublin zoo for the procedure. zanta is being checked all the time while she is under sedation. for the last week, she's been given a special hormone injection to help her produce eggs, but collecting them is far from easy. it requires painstaking precision. the hope is, though, that she could help to safeguard the future of her species. the scientists want to harness zanta's genes for the wild rhino population. southern white rhinos almost went extinct. there were just a few dozen left. now their numbers have recovered, but they're all descended from that tiny group, so they lack genetic diversity. but rhinos in zoos have been carefully crossbred so their genes are more mixed up. a wider genetic diversity gives for a healthier population in terms of disease,

in terms of their ability to survive. so zanta having wonderful genetics that are worth preserving, we know from a previous reproductive assessment that she can't breed. the great thing about this is that zanta will be represented in future generations of rhino. the scientists look inside zanta's ovaries on the ultrasound. 0n the ultrasound, they locate her eggs inside follicles, small sacs of fluid that appear as dark circles. they extract them using an ultra fine needle. good. good reaction. it's taken years to develop and perfect this fertility technology. it's an extreme form of conservation, but scientists say it's vital. they are products of evolution for millions of years. and they didn't fail in evolution. they are not bullet—proof and they were wiped out by human activity, and i think we have really the responsibility as scientists to provide new solutions to make it possible that the rhinos can live another million years.

in a makeshift lab, the researchers take stock of what they've found. they've extracted four eggs. three are of high quality. they're packed up and will be taken to a fertility centre in italy to create new southern white rhino embryos. rhino ivf is still in its infancy, but the hope is they could eventually be implanted in a female surrogate. it's a lot of effort. a lot of people invest a lot of energy and time and effort, and in the end, we actually come home with a few cells. but however, these cells have the potential to become embryos and to form a new rhino, a huge two—tonne animal so, yeah, it is worth it. but it's always a relief when we have a good outcome in the end. a few minutes after the procedure, zanta is up — a little unsteady at first. although she doesn't know it, the eggs she's donated could make

a big difference in ensuring the survival of future generations of southern white rhinos. rebecca morrelle, bbc news, dublin zoo. there are warnings of dangerous floods and mudslides injamaica after hurricane beryl deluged the island with heavy rain for more than 12 hours. beryl crossed the south of jamaica overnight and is expected to move over the cayman islands this afternoon — although the eye of the storm mayjust miss them. it's then forecast to hit the coast of mexico later tonight or in the early hours of tomorrow. it's killed at least ten people so far across the caribbean. 0ur correspondent, will grant, has the latest from mexico. having ripped off roofs and tossed aside homes as it tore through the caribbean, hurricane beryl has now hitjamaica. for days, the island's government has said that the storm's destructive force was not to be underestimated. that beryl would lash the country with high sustained winds, strong gusts and heavy rain.

they also warned of life—threatening storm surges, too. and even within the first hours of the storm making landfall, streets in the capital kingston began to flood, damaging homes and businesses. an evacuation order for low—lying areas was put into place, and the prime minister stressed that residents of at—risk communities should move to safer districts. we urge alljamaicans to comply with notices to evacuate if and when they are issued. the coming hours will revealjust how much damage beryl has wrought in jamaica. but other islands show the devastation it can cause. in carriacou, off the coast of grenada, entire communities have been left homeless, with buildings destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. in st vincent and the grenadines, union island was among the worst affected places in the caribbean, receiving the full brunt of beryl�*s power. beryl is an unprecedented storm.

none have formed as quickly or have intensified as fast in atlantic hurricane history, and satellite pictures show it's not done yet. as the storm leaves jamaica's territory, it will move towards the mexican mainland. the tourist resort of cancun is directly in its path. just as people in grenada, in st vincent and the grenadines and injamaica had prayed for the best as beryl drew near, now mexicans are crossing their fingers in the hope that this extraordinarily powerful storm begins to weaken before it reaches their communities, too. will grant, bbc news, mexico. tom hanson is a reporter with the us news network cbs. hejoins us now from montego bay. we talked to you this time yesterday before the hurricane hit so tell us how bad the damage has been.

the damage, we are getting a better sense of that as the day goes on and we get more daylight. i'm standing on one of the main thoroughfares in montego bay and i'm going to try and cross safely. this is one of the areas there's been substantial damage but there's been substantial damage but there are people on the ground clearing the way and you are seeing cars able to pass what was once an impassable road. let me show you the scale of this because this is the size of the tree, it is taller than me, that was yanked out of the earth from the sheer ferocity of the wind brought by hurricane beryl and i want to point out something really interesting. these storms out at sea, the sea level as that way, the tree is pointed towards the sea, because we are on the dirty side of the storm and the storm winds you think would not pull the tree away from the ocean. and as you can see,

they are still admirably cutting these trees so we will come back to you later but for now, it is an active scene. tom, thank you. clearly a lot of work still going on injamaica. a teacher has been sentenced for having sex with two schoolboys. 0ur reporters at manchester crown court. bring us up—to—date. the reporters at manchester crown court. bring us up-to-date._ bring us up-to-date. the sentencing has taken place. _ bring us up-to-date. the sentencing has taken place, rebecca _ bring us up-to-date. the sentencing has taken place, rebecca jones, - bring us up-to-date. the sentencing | has taken place, rebecca jones, aged 30, was a maths teacher at a high school in manchester and has been convicted of six sexual offences against two boys under the age of 16 and was sentenced to six years and

six months but will serve half of that, three year some three months in prison with three years and three months out of prison but on licence. this goes back to 2021 when she manipulated and abused both boys. she took one of them to the trafford centre, a shopping centre in manchester, she bought him a belt costing £345 before taking him back to her flat and abusing costing £345 before taking him back to herflat and abusing him. the boys have said, one of the boys said as part of this, he is now bringing up as part of this, he is now bringing up a child, he is woefully looked after by the local authority services, and he said there needs to be more help for people who are victims like him.— it's brits' day at wimbledon. andy murray begins his tournament farewell as he takes to centre court with his brother, jamie in the men's doubles. and there are all—british clashes between katie boulter

and harriet dart in the women's singles, and jack draper and cameron norrie in the men's. jo currie is at wimbledon for us now. andy murray is back on centre court and it will be an emotional day for him? it and it will be an emotional day for him? , , ., , ., �*, him? it is festival season and it's only fitting _ him? it is festival season and it's only fitting that _ him? it is festival season and it's only fitting that we _ him? it is festival season and it's only fitting that we brought - him? it is festival season and it's only fitting that we brought you | only fitting that we brought you britain's best here at wimbledon, anticipation building ahead of andy murray �*s match this evening but the unexpected opening act of the scottish wild card, 22—year—old jacob finally taking on seven time champion novak djokovic, he says he did not sleep a wink last night and who could blame him but there will be waiting around for the headline act of andy murray, finally taking to the court for the first time this year with his brotherjamie in the doubles. he says it will be a very special moment and he needs to make the most of it. all on court number one we have the top two british

players in the men's and women's singles going head—to—head. harriet dart is leading katie boulter by tu — one games in the opening set, a very busy day today, the queue was 11,000 people with everyone wanting a ticket to a blockbuster for british tennis. irate a ticket to a blockbuster for british tennis.— a ticket to a blockbuster for british tennis. we cannot wait. thank yon _ england fans are heading to dusseldorf for their team's quarter final clash with switzerland at the euros this weekend. there's been speculation gareth southgate could change his tactics for the game. john watson is in dusseldorf. there was always going to be a change in personnel with the suspension of a player but it looks like there could be a change in formation with england moving to a three—man defence in the victory against slovakia last time. they have worked on it in training. they have worked on it in training. they

have had relative success that previous tournaments but if used, will it have the success against a very tough swiss side? they're the small nation making a big noise. switzerland have been one of the surprises of these euros, just 19th in the world rankings. but you wouldn't guess it. might be a shooting opportunity straight away... in the last round, they knocked out the champions italy. and now theirfans here in dusseldorf believe england are next. fans sing. # england, go home...# the team spirit in switzerland is very, very great. _ it's very great? and it's greater thanl the spirit of england. and i think, uh, we win 2—0. 2-0? can you win the cup? yes! so can switzerland's players live up to that expectation? they're captained by former

arsenal star granit xhaka. and there's no shortage of belief. it's a good challenge. and my team is ready to have this big fight against big england. well, here at the dusseldorf arena, switzerland will be hoping to make history. they've never been beyond the quarterfinals of a major tournament, and they haven't beaten england in some 43 years. at their last euros meeting in 2004, a teenage wayne rooney inspired england to victory. the teams also met at euro �*96, and one of the swiss players that day says england need to be careful. do you think there is a danger that england might underestimate switzerland ? so if england will underestimate them, that would be huge mistake. i think at the moment now england has to play extremely at the top of their game if they want to do a good result against switzerland. england then have been warned.

can they cope with the very handy swiss? andy swiss, bbc news, dusseldorf. we will hear from the england camp later and no doubt they will be asked about the change in tactics but i guess it's inevitable with performances not being at the level that was quite expected, and every tweet that gareth southgate employs will be analysed. switzerland will be the top as team england have faced at the tournament, they came close to beating germany in the group stages but it's fascinating. the england supporters arriving here at dusseldorf and talking to them they tell you they are into the quarterfinals but they are not quite sure how england have managed it. thank you so much. good to see swiss reporting the swiss! still to come,

we hear about on the grasslands of sussex. now it's time to join our colleagues with the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh ferris. our top stories: number one court brings two british head to heads... with katie boulter and harriet dart playing for a place in the third round of wimbledon... later, two british brothers — andy murray's swansong begins alongsidejamie as centre court puts on its first opening round doubles match for nearly three decades. and blame the players, says phil foden as england hope to wash away the criticism in their euros quarterfinal.

there's a distinctly british feel to the order of play at wimbledon, even more than the union jacks in the crowd — they'll be able to cheer no fewer than seven home players on the two show courts. number one court has two british head—to—heads, while the centre court programme ends with a moment of history for the murray brothers. let's head to the all england club, where chetan pathak is waiting for us. chethan, they're just about to get underway on centre and cumber 0ne. they certainly have, what is a gloriously sunny at wimbledon. they were about 1000 people in the queue. i've not seen it busier in the championships this week. part of thatis championships this week. part of that is over on cordoba one we have two battles of the brits. this one is katie boulter serving, trying to see off harriet dart, but she is digging in. this is at a six deuce. both the same age, 27 years old.

katie boulter comes into this is the favourite, the british number one, but harriet dart says she likes being the underdog. that first served from katie boulter was wide. we will hang on this for a moment because we have jack draper and cam norrie to come. don't put that into the net, so katie boulter will have the advantage. the last time the men's one and two played each other, it was in 2002. camera is the underdog in that one. let's take you to centre court. we have another british player in action there,

jacob fearnley taking on novak djokovic, who is a seven time champion here. he has had that need surgery, djokovic, and there were those questions about how he would be able to perform. yet in the first round match he was outstanding. jacob fearnley has never played on centre court before. he is a wild card wisdom it should be fairly straightforward for novak djokovic. later we will see andy murray and jamie murray on centre court. andy murray unable to play in the singles having had surgery on his final last month, but we will see him in the doubles. 0ne month, but we will see him in the doubles. one result to bring you before i had back, lily mia zaki has gone out in straight sets. it took just 50 minutes. a busy day at

wimbledon here on day four. thank you. there won't be many managers on the eve of the euro 2024 quarterfinals that are facing as much scrutiny as england's gareth southgate, and even one of his players says he feels sorry for his boss. phil foden says those that have underwhelmed on the pitch so far at the tournament in germany have to take some of the blame. questions continue about southgate's tactics and team selection, with foden saying it's up to the leaders in the dressing room to find a solution to why it is not working. ahead of saturday's last—eight match in dusseldorf.

away from the euros, manchester united have extended the contract of manager erik ten hag untiljune 2026. he had been widely tipped to leave old trafford after a disapointing league campaign. however, a club review in the wake of united's fa cup victory decided that they would stick with ten hag, and they've triggered a clause to sign him for an extra year. having broken the record for most stage wins at the tour de france with his 35th victory on wednesday, mark cavendish might fancy a crack at number 36 later, and his former 0lympic teammate, ed clancy, says he wouldn't rule out cavendish adding to his record and perhaps continuing to race into his 405. the tour's sixth stage today finishes with a sprint in dijon.

theoretically, this is going to be the end. i believe his contract is up at the end of the year. he will be 40 next may. you know, he's not a spring chicken any more. there is a tidal wave of youthful talent coming through the sport. that said, anyone who watched the sprint closely yesterday saw that that wasn't just his technical and tactical awareness that got him the win, he was strong. when he did start leading the sprint out, the big favourite, philipsen, was on his wheel in the slipstream and didn't really have an answer. for what it's worth, i think he probably has more stage wins in him this year in the tour de france. while there are signs of him slowing down, if he wanted to carry on for another year or two, i dare say there would be a fair few teams who would be looking to sign him up by the end of the year. ahead of this weekend's british grand prix,

it's been confirmed that 0liver bearman will become the fourth british driver on the formula 1 grid for next season. the 19—year—old has signed a "multi—year contract" with the haas team after impressing in finishing seventh on his f1 debut for ferrari at this year's saudi arabian grand prix, stepping in for the unwell carlos sainz. you can follow wimbledon on the bbc this afternoon on tv, radio and online via the bbc sport website and app. but that's your sport for now. so it's back to the news at one team and ben brown. quite significantly, it will be andy

murray's farewell at wimbledon, playing alongsidejamie in the men's doubles. the humble glow worm is largely in decline across the uk, but in grasslands in sussex there is a healthy breeding population which is proving popular with academics and conservationists. 0ur reporter charlie rose stepped out into the darkness to join them. i'm starting to blush! tonight, on the south downs, love is in the air. this is x—rated stuff, this is! laughter. but these amorous insects won't be getting much privacy here. well, she's wiggling her legs. to really see why glow—worms have such a passionate fan base, we have to turn off the lights.

is that the first time you've seen a glow worm? yeah. what do you make of it? strange thing to be doing - in the middle of the night but it's very cool to see them. at first it was, like, j everyone was, like, you'll see something" and i'm thinking, "0h, we're not- going to see anything" - and we've seen quite a few. it's not the sort of thing you see every day, is it? where would you find glowing insects in this country? you find them on this sort of reserve. so, there really special. over the past 100 years, the uk has lost almost all of its wildflower meadows. at this reserve near hove, scientists are counting glow—worm numbers by imitating the female's light to lure the flying males into traps. so, what we really want to do is find out how many males there there are in a population like this. which we normally do by catching a whole load like this. marking them subsequently

with little tiny, tiny dots of paint, which don't harm them at all, releasing them back into the habitat, and then seeing how many we can recapture again subsequently the next night or perhaps two nights later. that gives us a very accurate estimate of the population size. experts say the insects act like a sentinel for the health of the natural environment. when conditions deteriorate, or the glow—worms' habitat is destroyed, then the flightless females are in deep trouble. if are going to be here, we need to make sure they survive and hopefully so the others come back year after year and see them again. this reserve seems to be acting like a sort of love island for glow—worms. where the admirers of these little stars hope the creatures never stop twinkling. charlie rose, bbc news. now the weather with chris fawkes. today, we have loads of showers

across the northern half of the uk in particular but in thejuly in the july sunshine, in thejuly sunshine, it feels in the july sunshine, it feels pretty good in thejuly sunshine, it feels pretty good outside. it is in the july sunshine, it feels pretty good outside. it is across the more northern areas, we have gusts of 40 miles an hour in western scotland and that combined with the relatively cool air will make it feel chilly. 0vernight tonight, the rain continues from the north west of scotland and we have rain skirting into southernmost areas of england and wales, between it is largely dry with temperatures similar to those of last night. tomorrow we have some changes on the way, it's down to this weather front

across the south of the uk, developing into an area of low pressure into saturday, bringing rain for a pressure into saturday, bringing rainfora time pressure into saturday, bringing rain for a time to many of us. the first signs of the rain across southern england and wales, getting into east anglia and wales. further north on friday it's brighter for northern scotland and northern ireland, some showers around but with lighter winds, more in the way of sunshine, the temperature is coming up a couple of degrees so 17 in aberdeen and belfast. 0n coming up a couple of degrees so 17 in aberdeen and belfast. on saturday low pressure is there with outbreaks of rain, heavy rain across the east, also a chilly wind affecting some eastern coasts and temperatures below par. also a chilly wind affecting some eastern coasts and temperatures below par. that also a chilly wind affecting some eastern coasts and temperatures below par. that is also a chilly wind affecting some eastern coasts and temperatures below par. that is the also a chilly wind affecting some eastern coasts and temperatures below par. that is the latest. also a chilly wind affecting some eastern coasts and temperatures below par. that is the latest. thank ou so below par. that is the latest. thank you so much- _ below par. that is the latest. thank you so much. that _ below par. that is the latest. thank you so much. that is _ below par. that is the latest. thank you so much. that is all— below par. that is the latest. thank you so much. that is all from - below par. that is the latest. thank you so much. that is all from us. i you so much. that is all from us. goodbye.