has been made a dame. just a few of over 1,000 people being honoured. lizo mzimba, bbc news. helen willetts has the weather. a largely sunny picture, less clout than yesterday, temperatures sleeping. not only fall, clothes and northern ireland in western scotland with some rain, that is because of the weather front, but away from that, unusually high uv levels across england and wales. that sunshine continues to the rest of the day. however, it will be rather damp and breezy affair across the north—west highlands of scotland, today the rain will affect the northern isles as well. cooley here, but temperatures reaching the central 20s, in the south and east it could be as high as 28 or 29. if we do not see 30 today we almost certain to tomorrow, temperatures overnight will not drop, the

temperatures are expected in the low 30s tomorrow. as you can see, into the mid—20s for eastern parts of scotla nd the mid—20s for eastern parts of scotland are not known. notjust the weekend, the heat lost since the beginning of next week. —— into the mid—20s for eastern parts of scotla nd mid—20s for eastern parts of scotland and northern ireland. hello. this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers. the headlines... the queen says it's difficult to escape a very sombre national mood following tragedies in london and manchester. she's led a minute's silence at the start of events in london to mark her official birthday. the prime minister has been chairing a task force to coordinate efforts to help those affected by the g re nfell tower to help those affected by the grenfell tower fire. she theresa may is to meet some victims of the grenfell tower disaster at downing street amid criticism of her handling of the tragedy. in other news, pc keith palmer who tried to stop the terror attack in westminster has been awarded the george medal for his bravery

as the queen's birthday honours are announced. among others to be recognised is the scottish comedian and actor billy connolly, who's been knighted. seven us navy crew are missing after a us destroyer collided with a container ship off the east coast of japan. more on those stories later. let's cross to the bbc sports centre for all the latest, with catherine downes. hello. with the first test against new zealand nowjust a week away the british and irish lions have this morning beaten the maori all blacks by 32 points to 10. leigh halfpenny kicked 20 of those points for warren gatland's side in a very cold rotorua. the saracens player maro itoje scored the only try for the tourists fifteen minutes into the second half. this was the lions‘ third win of the tour in their five matches. there is nowjust one more warm—up game to come against the chiefs before the opening test. before the game it was confirmed that ross moriarty had left the tour

due to a back injury. it comes as coach warren gatland added four wales players to his squad. cory hill, kristian dacey, gareth davies and thomas francis willjoin the set—up this afternoon. scottish duo allan dell and finn russell have also been called up. it's now two wins from two as scotland head coach for gregor townsend. and they'll remember this one for a while. they've beaten australia in sydney for the first time ever. 2a points to 17 the final score — as alex gulrajani reports. tussles between these two nations have recently been tight affairs. 0nly have recently been tight affairs. only a point separated their last two meetings. best make an impact... early. duncan taylor did just that. quick thinking catching the wallabies off—guard. finn russell, one of those heading to join wallabies off—guard. finn russell, one of those heading tojoin up wallabies off—guard. finn russell, one of those heading to join up with the lions in new zealand, would do

the lions in new zealand, would do the same as scotland pressed further ahead. nothing michael cheikhou kouyate do about that, although his tea m kouyate do about that, although his team started to find their range. israel folau scored twice as the hosts edged closer. now the wallabies were making their presence felt, on the pitch and on the scoreboard. australia ahead for the first time. going with recent form, it was close. they had won the last three encounters, but this time hamish watson made sure it would be scottish victory. fast flowing rugby from the tourists, now the fourth best tea m from the tourists, now the fourth best team in the world. perhaps they few more have crept into the thoughts of warren gatland. —— perhaps a few more. a great win for scotland. a busy morning of live rugby union. ireland have also been in action this morning, they beat japan 50—22. england play argentina this evening. england's women are the world's number one side this morning — after they beat new zealand. the red roses had beaten australia and canada already in the international series —

they'll take great confidence from these results in what is a world cup year. lydia thompson, marlie packer and vicky fleetwood added second half tries to help seal a 21—29 victory. coming across the world to rugby mad country is not an easy place to play or win. we found out four gets the ha rd or win. we found out four gets the hard way when we lost all three tests. i think tonight was a showcase of women's rugby, the top two sides in the world going hammer and turn against each other. we're really ha p py and turn against each other. we're really happy about our performance. now golf. for the first time since world rankings began in 1986, the world's top three golfers have missed the cut at a major. dustinjohnson, rory mcilroy and jason day are all out of the us open in wisconsin. whilst they were struggling, others were making light of the huge course at erin hills. england's paul casey set the early pace, finishing on seven under. there he was joined by another englishman tommy fleetwood. they are both part of a four—way tie for the lead with the americans brian harman

and brooks koepka. i've never led a us open so tomorrow will be a very cool experience. 36 hours is a very long time in a us 0pen, anything could happen and there are always ups and downs. but, no, ithink there are always ups and downs. but, no, i think with how wrong the course is and the days are, make the most of relaxing for a bit and not worry. and the queen's birthday honours have recognised a number of figures from the sporting world. double 0lympic rowing champion heather stanning, who won her second gold with helen glover in rio last year, is now an 0be. lions prop rory best has also been awarded an 0be. the coach who guided great britain's women to hockey gold in rio, danny kerry, has received an mbe, as has world superbike championjonathan rae and northern ireland football captain steven davis. and judy murray receives an 0be too. congratulations to all of those from

the world of sport. more from me in the next hour. see you then. thank you. the prime minister has been chairing a meeting of the government task force that's been set up to support victims of the grenfell tower fire in west london. at least 30 people are known to have been killed but many are still missing and it's feared that the final number of dead will be about 70. this afternoon, some of the residents from grenfell will meet theresa may at downing street. last night, newsnight‘s emily maitlis spoke to the prime minister. prime minister, you've come here today to the bbc, instead of doing the interview at the site where you just were, why is that? well, what i want to talk about today is what the government is making available to the victims of this absolutely horrendous tragedy. i think we were all, when we saw the horrific scenes of what had happened at grenfell tower, we were all deeply affected by that. it's absolutely horrifying and i've been hearing stories today from people about their experiences. i've also been hearing from the local community, about the issues and concerns

that they have. now, the government is making £5 million available, emergency funds for people who need... just to get money to be able to buy normal things of everyday life. this morning i was in one of the hospitals meeting some of the victims there. one of the women said to me, basically she ran out of grenfell tower in a t—shirt and a pair of knickers. she has nothing. that is why the government is putting that funding in. there are other things we will do as well to provide support for people to ensure they are rehoused within three weeks. but immediately we need to make sure people have the help they need. 0k. there is a need for the public to hear you say in words of one syllable, something terrible has happened, something has gone badly wrong. "it is our fault, we acknowledge that and we accept responsibility". something terrible has happened. this is an absolutely awful fire that took place. people have lost their lives. people have had their homes destroyed.

they have fled for their lives with absolutely nothing. that is why... do you accept that you misread the public mood on this one? you misread the anger that people feel about this. they shouted coward you this afternoon when you left st clements. what i have done since this incident took place, first of all, yesterday, ensure that public services had the support that they needed in order to be able to do the job they were doing in the immediate aftermath... prime minister, this is friday evening, they needed those things in place on wednesday. people we spoke to were housed for one night and didn't know where they would spend the next night. had no money to spend on food. and were not told anything by anyone. no one was in charge. what i have done today is ensured that we are as a government putting that funding in place for people in the area. this has been an absolutely terrifying experience. when do they get that funding?

when are they told where they are going to be housed? it has been a terrifying experience for people. this is why, when i've heard stories, i heard stories yesterday from the emergency services about the issues around the fire, that is why i came straight back to downing street and i ordered a public inquiry. and we'll make sure that takes place as soon as possible to get to the bottom of this. this is notjust about finding what happened. this is notjust finding out who is responsible for what happened. it's about ensuring that support is there, here and now. why wasn't it there in place? any other tragedy, flooding, you would have had the army there, you would have had organisers. i was there on the ground, i saw the chaos myself. there was no one in charge. there was no one willing to accept responsibility. we are making sure that support is put in place the people. —— for people. that means that money should be made available and we have... one of the things i have just heard from people is about making sure that that money actually

gets through to people. and that's a very real issue. because we have to, as government, make the money available. i want to make sure that people actually get that money in their hands so they can go and buy the things that they need. but they are being rehoused outside the borough, in places they don't know, don't live, don't have friends, don't have family. we are committed to making sure the people are rehoused as far as possible within the borough or in neighbouring boroughs. some people may actually want to go to another part of london where perhaps they have a greater support network, where they have friends and relatives. we are making sure that within three weeks people will be rehoused so they have a home to go to. do you accept, though, that you misread the public mood and the level of anger? you didn't visit the residents and they really resented that. this was a terrible tragedy that took place. people have lost their lives and others have lost everything. all their possessions, their home and everything. what we are doing is putting

in place the support that will help them. but it is a terrible tragedy. i have heard horrifying stories from the fire brigade, from the police, and from the victims themselves who were in that fire, but also from other local residents, some of whom, of course, have not been able to go back to their homes either. what i'm now actually focused on is making sure that we get that support on the ground. as i say, government is making money available and we are making sure that we're going to get to the bottom of what's happened and we will make sure that people are rehoused. but we need to make sure that that actually happens. this was preventable, wasn't it? in 2013 a coroner had safety recommendations which included putting sprinklers in all these buildings and it was never done. there were two types of material that could have been used in the cladding, one was flammable and one was fireproof. the fireproof one cost £2 more.

was that not £2 worth spending? we have yet to find out what because of the fire was. —— what the cause of the fire was. the fire service are doing that. you could have stopped it spreading by spending £2 more. the fire service are looking at what because of the fire was and it's important that we get to the bottom of this, that we find out exactly what happened. —— the fire service are looking at what the cause of the fire was. you were recommended this in 2013. you were in government and the coroner said you can stop this with a sprinkler system in every block. and the government has taken action on the recommendations of the coroner's report. but what we need to do in relation to this incident, to this horrifying fire, is to make sure that we get to the bottom of why is fire took place, what happened, why did it spread so unexpectedly and so ferociously. but we know gavin barwell sat on a report from last october, that he should have looked at. he knew about these recommendations then. the government acted on recommendations from the coroner's report. but what we need to do is make sure that information to this fire we do find out what caused the fire.

—— in relation to this fire. now that will be done. the fire service will make a report. the fire service will look at what it was that immediately happened, but beyond that, the public inquiry will get to the wider issues of responsibility in relation to this. around the country there are 4000 other high—rise blocks. there are many, many residents tonight wondering what kind of precautions you're taking. when will you be able to tell them that they are safe when they go to sleep? the government is doing everything in its power to make sure that people are safe. we've identified those buildings and over the weekend, now and over the weekend, people are going in and inspecting those buildings. we will do everything in our power to make sure that people are safe. does the culture have to change? does it have to be a culture where you start putting health and safety first instead of cutting corners? what we need to do is to make sure that immediately people have the support that they need in order to deal with what is a horrific and terrible circumstance that people are in.

we then also need to look at how this happened, why it happened, and what lessons need to be learned. and if action needs to be taken, we will take it. prime minister, thank you. the prime minister reacting to criticism of the government handling of the fire at the grenfell tower block. more than 30 people are known to have died in the blaze. that figure is expected to rise. the bbc understands it could be as many as 70 people. those victims and their families from black tower block have been remembered at a mass being held right now. let's cross live to st pius the 10th church in west london where the archbishop of westminster, cardinal vincent nichols, is celebrating mass for victims of the grenfell tower fire. he hasjust spoken

he has just spoken and will be speaking to the press shortly afterwards. we also understand the police are due to hold a news conference shortly as well, with an update on the operational side of things at the tower. meanwhile, the queen has led a minute's silence at the start of events to mark her official birthday. in a statement, she said it was difficult to escape a very sombre national mood in the country. that minute's silence held especially for the victims of the g re nfell tower especially for the victims of the grenfell tower fire. then what preceded was trooping of the colour, which continues. many thousands of people turning out in central london to celebrate the queen's official birthday. tight security, as you can imagine, particularly following the two recent terror attacks in london and manchester but that has not stopped massive crags —— massive

crowds turning out. the crowds are currently making their way towards hyde park, where there will be the official gun salute to honour her majesty on her official birthday. we will see more of the royalfamily later as well at butting valet —— at buckley —— at buckingham palace, to greet the crowds. a royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, telling us earlier that despite trooping of the colour continuing as planned, despite tight security, the mood has understandably changed following the blaze at grenfell tower, with massive loss of life. she visited families of victims, the many families affected, and that followed the queen's visit to victims of the terror attack in london and manchester as well. she said she got a great sense from those visits of communities coming together, standing united in the face of the and adversity. she said

this is britain at its best. just let's listen in on my colleague, hugh edwards, who is doing the commentary for viewers on bbc one. we will just commentary for viewers on bbc one. we willjustjoin those viewers for a few moments. i am looking right back up the mall. tens of thousands. i could not put a figure on it. it isa i could not put a figure on it. it is a reflection of what an important event bases, not just is a reflection of what an important event bases, notjust for the people of london, the people of britain, but for people all over the world. i have met people in that crowd over the years have flown in from as far as australia. it is the day you see all the while family, everything that so many people think of as being great about great britain. do you think that we can say with confidence today that this crowd, which is exceptionally big, it seems to me, is something to do with an

expression of solidarity with london and parts of the uk that have been experiencing difficult times recently? i think that is right. it is quite interesting, feeling the tone of the crowd. it is reflected by the queen's message, that in previous years has been more euphoric. today people are here, they are proud, they want to be here and together, they want to see the queen, but there is possibly not the same exuberance we have seen in previous years. that is appropriate and that is what the queen wants. she says this is a sombre moment, that we are united in sadness and without fear or failure, we will get things right. there is that combination. clearly there are lots of people who are british, but lots of people who are british, but lots of holiday makers as well, who are delighted to be here and part of what is one of the most impressive ceremonial events anywhere in the world. a reporter has one of those people with her. i am with

16—year—old madison from philadelphia in the united states. what brought you here today? where he rana what brought you here today? where he ran a family vacation. we thought we we re he ran a family vacation. we thought we were coming to see the changing of the guard. there were so many people when we got here. i asked my dad, is this what happens every day? he asked one of the police officers, and he said, this is so special, the royals will come out. i said, we have to stay. i love the fact you stumbled upon one of britain's biggest parades? i'm surprised. i never even knew about this.” biggest parades? i'm surprised. i never even knew about this. i am glad you did. enjoy it. thank you so much. we can state officially that this does not happen everyday. just imagine if they actually advertised this event. the king's troop, ready to fire the first of the gun salutes in green park. six guns, formed in a line, a breast in the royal park. numberone, fire.

number one, fire. gunfire. number two, fire. gunfire. number three, fire. gunfire. number four, fire. gunfire. numberfive, fire. fire. gunfire. number four, fire. gunfire. number five, fire. gunfire. number six, fire. gunfire. number five, fire. gunfire. numbersix, fire. gunfire. numberone, fire.

gunfire. numbertwo, fire. gunfire. number two, fire. gunfire. number three, gunfire. number two, fire. gunfire. numberthree, fire. gunfire. number two, fire. gunfire. number three, fire. gunfire. the gun salute echoing all over central london. telling the world, really, that the birthday parade is taking place and that this is the day of the queen's official birthday. as we saw earlier, the queen accompanied once again by the duke of edinburgh, who has maintained his own close personal relationship with servicemen and women. in 1953, he was appointed admiral of the fleet,

field marshal of the royal air force. as we were discussing, the duke of edinburgh stepping down from lots of public and royal duties later this year. like all of us who served in the navy during the war, i lost many friends and shipmates who are commemorated here. his first salute is for the vessel, and it is her captain that prince philip now greets. the tenant, and harper is now the guest and prince philip commences vassell. hello, we are seeing a big leap in temperatures compared with yesterday. temperatures are expected to get to the high 20s in some areas today. not surprising that we are seeing plenty of strong sunshine across the southern half of the uk.

equally, we had low cloud to start the day, particularly for the north—west of england, low cloud and misty and it's elsewhere. the cloud across the north west is stubborn, tied in with the weather front and it will bring damp conditions to the north—west highlands. here, low levels of uv light, but unusually high levels from the north of england size. for the bulk of england and wales, the sunshine will be strong today. it will continue across the eastern side of scotland and northern ireland, across the bulk of england and wales. the cloud will melt away and wales. the cloud will melt away and there will be fair weather cloud at very best. across the highlands, the western isles and the northern isles, we had good sunshine yesterday, but we have this weather front bringing patchy rain. the east of the grampians, through the central lowlands, the eastern half of northern ireland, decent spells of northern ireland, decent spells of sunshine and lots of warmth. it is fresher around the coast. more

likeable 20s. even though we will see the low 20s compared with 28 degrees inland, the sunshine isjust as strong. it is not temperature dependent, which can catch people out. high levels of pollen as well. 0vernight, it will not be co mforta ble 0vernight, it will not be comfortable for sleeping in southern and eastern areas. humidity is rising as we go through the next 2a hours. humidity air with damp conditions continuing for the west of scotland, the northern isles as well, perhaps the far north west of ireland, but otherwise, it is a similar day, with more sunshine and we saw this morning. because temperatures will not be low overnight, we will see temperatures up overnight, we will see temperatures upafew overnight, we will see temperatures up a few degrees on today. potentially 31 or 32 degrees. the heat will stay through england and wales on monday and into tuesday, it will cool slowly, so a while until we see the diminish. it will not be

co mforta ble we see the diminish. it will not be comfortable by night for some as well. there is more on the website. good afternoon. these today's headlines: the queen says it is difficult to escape a very sombre national mood following tragedies in london and manchester. she has led a minute silence at the start of events to mark her official birthday. theresa may chairs a task force to coordinate efforts to help people affected by the grenfell tower tower fire. she will be meeting begins at downing street later. and the archbishop of westminster celebrates mass at a service to remember those who died and asked your missing. —— are still missing.