this is bbc news. the headlines: as the floodwaters continue to rise in texas — officials warn a major damn is starting to overflow, threatening local residents. streets are going to be flooding. they will continue to flood. new streets will continue to flood. new homes will continue to flood. president trump is on his way to texas — to see the flooding first—hand. siren sirens sound as north korea fires a missile overjapan — the country's prime minister says it's an ‘unprecedented threat‘. it's unacceptable. they have violated every single un security council resolution that we've had. soi council resolution that we've had. so i think something serious has to happen. the government says listed companies will have to reveal the pay ratio between bosses and workers. police are investigating the death of a ii—year—old boy at a swimming pool in north devon.

also in the next hour — the light fantastic. a multicoloured show for the handover of the queens ferry crossing, the uk's tallest bridge. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. a major dam outside houston, texas, has begun overspilling as storm harvey pushes the reservoir past capacity. engineers have been periodically releasing water from the addicks dam to relieve pressure to limit the damage down to nearby homes. but now six neighbourhoods nearby are being told to leave their homes. since the storm hit, 30 inches of rain has fallen we're going live to our

correspondent who is at la grange in texas. this is such a fast—moving story. we're 100 miles west of this is such a fast—moving story. we're100 miles west of houston here and we're hearing that in houston, two of the reservoirs are overflowing, the reservoirs that they have been doing controlled releases of water from in order to manage the flooding. now that situation is becoming impossible. behind me, you can see people are beginning the clean—up efforts here inla beginning the clean—up efforts here in la grange texas, after experiencing historic levels of flooding. we're inland, by the way. we're not on the gulf coast. because of so much rainfall from the tropical storm, that's been churning around over houston, the colorado river broke its banks. like thousands of people across this region of texas, here, we have familiesjust region of texas, here, we have families just trying to pick up the pieces of their lives after this epic flooding. trying to paddle to safety in texas. the floodwaters are expected to rise further, with reports elderly people, some in their 90s, are caught up in it all.

there's a lot of older people who have struggled getting out of their houses, so a lot of people have come in with their boats and, like, saved them. i'm feeling a little tired. i'm glad to be here. i want to go in and sit down, put my feet up and get something to eat. we're going to get something to eat. thousands of people have been rescued. at least nine are reported to have died in the houston area. the authorities have been explaining why they decided not to evacuate the city. if 6.5 million people had gotten on our roads without a plan, what happened the last time when people were evacuated from the city of houston? about 100 people lost their lives. flood officials say they are struggling to control the water flow of dams which could make the water situation worse. residents adjacent to the reservoirs both upstream and downstream need to be vigilant because the water in the reservoirs

is rising that the bleak and has —— rapidly and has significant potential to cause additional flooding impacts. here's the gator moving along. one woman recorded two alligators swimming in her back garden. not too far from just climbing on into the backyard and getting right here to the patio. this school was turned into an emergency shelter after harvey became the most powerful hurricane to hit texas in more than 50 years. it has weakened and is now being described as a tropical storm. president trump and the first lady today left for texas. they'll visit austin as well as corpus christi, on the coast. it is an historic amount of water, in particular. there's never been anything like it. so the people are handling it amazingly well. and the people of texas, as

you know have really persevered. well. and the people of texas, as you know have really perseveredm houston, forecasts suggest some areas in and around the city could see up to 12 inches of rain today. that's around 30 centimetres. in dallas, a megashelter is being prepared for evacuees. volunteers have been setting up camp beds and cots. estimates suggest the flooding could destroy up to $20 billion in insured property, making it one of the costliest storms in us history. president trump will arrive here in texasin president trump will arrive here in texas in just over an president trump will arrive here in texas injust over an hour's president trump will arrive here in texas in just over an hour's time to be updated on the relief efforts. he'll be told about the efforts of families like the hess family behind me, who are there going through their belongings in this shed, which was carried hundreds of feet from outside their home to here. we can just take a look now at the scale of the aftermath of the flooding. so here, where the colorado river broke

its banks, a river normally at five feet was flowing at 55 feet, you can see this charity shop, the second chance empourup. it's somewhere people would have gone in the aftermath of a tragedy like this, it's been completely flooded. look at the strength of the water. it buckled the garage door. it has spread belongings far and wide. just imagine the flood damage inside that building. we're looking at the inside of a charity store where they have clothes. they have books. all things that will have been com pletely things that will have been completely ruined by the flood water that coursed through that building. people are just beginning to clean up people are just beginning to clean up now. some people here have flood insurance. but others don't. if you didn't have flood insurance and you lost everything and you've gone to live in a shelter now, what prospect do you have of getting out of a shelter? in houston last night, there were 9,000 people living in a shelter, many of them without beds.

this storm is not over either. the storm has gone out into the gulf of mexico. but it's predicted to make a third landfall tomorrow, a little to the east of houston, bringing more heavy rains and flooding in its wake. when we know that houston is already at capacity with its reservoirs flooding, what would it do if got another three or four inches of rain? it's reallyjust quite frightening to think about. this is a major emergency here in texas, with the storm also headed east to louisiana, where they've already had mandatory evacuations under way. today is the 12th anniversary of hurricane katrina, which flooded new orleans. that will be very much in president trump's mind, when he lands here injust over an hour's time. the importance of being decisive and responding to the scale of the need on the ground, something his republican predecessor, president george w bush was criticised for not doing in the aftermath of katrina. president trump knows he needs to strike the

right note when he comes to texas, a state in trauma. so president trump heading to the region and we will bring you any pictures that we get as soon as we get them. also a series of press conferences we do expect possibly during the next hour. the mayor of houston is due to give a press conference at some point. then we're just getting little bits of information coming in from across the region. 0ne information coming in from across the region. one that i noticed in the region. one that i noticed in the last few moments, which is — it just highlights how alarming what is going on at the moment. a tweet has been put out, emergency alert, the levee at columbia lakes has been breached. get out now, two! exlamation marks. the levee has been breached. the levies we talked about

12 years ago with hurricane katrina. in places they're being breached again in the zones affected by tropical storm harvey. residents who can get out are being urged to get out now. there are emergency situations developing across the region. we'll bring you as much detail as we get it throughout the afternoon. the other story that's developing: north korea has heightened tensions in the pacific region once again by firing a missile that blasted over northern japan before crashing into the sea. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, described it as a unprecedented threat to his country. the communist state has conducted a flurry of missile tests recently — but this is the first time it's fired what's thought to be a ballistic weapon overjapan. the un security council is due to hold an emergency meeting in response — president trump has said all options are on the table. 0ur correspondent, yogita limaye is in the south korean capital and sent us this report.

siren a warning that a north korean missile has just flown over the country. this is what many injapan woke up to on tuesday morning. a rocket launch from near pyongyang flew over the northern island of hokkaido, before breaking into parts and landing in the sea about a thousand kilometres from the coast. the range is shorter than this intercontinental missile north korea tested injuly, but the latest launch more dangerous in many ways because it passed over japan and had the potential to cause serious harm. the country's prime minister described it as an "outrageous act" and "an unprecedented threat". it left the people of his nation worried. translation: i can't imagine what would actually happen if anything from the missile falls onto us and i'm scared. translation: despite sanctions being imposed, north korea keeps developing missiles and firing them overand overagain. this is a dreadful situation.

hours after the missile launch, japanese troops conducted drills at a us base near tokyo. such joint exercises with american forces are also under way in south korea. they are preparations for an attack from the north and pyongyang often uses them to justify its actions. here in south korea, president moonjae—in has ordered his military to display overwhelming force against north korea. it's a strong statement from a leader who, for weeks, has advocated dialogue as a way out of this crisis, but this time pyongyang seems to have gone too far and south korea also wants to respond with a show of strength. four south korean fighter jets staged live bombing drills, practising how they could attack the north korean leadership. an attempt to display military might, but despite the strong tactics from both sides, many believe that the korean peninsula is not on the brink of war.

despite all of the rhetoric, the bloodcurdling rhetoric that we hear, we have not seen things such as the mobilisation of forces. moving assets into the region. north korea and south korea calling up reservists. preparing logistics chains and bringing resources into the region. evacuating civilians. but north korea's missile tests continue to provoke, despite sanctions and international condemnation. the world seems to have run out of ideas on how to stop them. this story has been developing through the day with reaction coming in from around the world. the united nations security council will meet later to discuss its response to north korea's missile launch. a short while ago, the us representative at the un, nikki haley, said something serious has to happen.

the united states, along with japan and south korea, have called for an emergency security council meeting this afternoon. we are going to talk about what else is left to do to north korea. no country should have missiles flying over them like those 130 million people injapan. it is unacceptable. they have violated every single un security council resolution that we've had, and so, i think, something serious has to happen. that united nations security council meeting is going to happen in the coming hours. we'll bring it to you here on bbc news. ijust want to return to texas for a moment. i mentioned that tweet that had been put up by officials. let's show it to you: this is the sort of thing that's

happening at the moment. they monitor the impact on the levees, the dams designed to keep floodwaters out. up to maximum height. those levees in some places are beginning to be breached. it's exactly what we saw in new orleans 12 years ago today. that city was inundated. 0fficials there, in brazorla county, they say a levee has been breached because of tropical storm harvey. they have urged residents, who have not already evacuated the area, to leave immediately, get out now is what they're saying. i think we can also show you some live pictures from houston's convention centre. this is just outside that convention centre at the moment. the city, as we know, battling the massive flooding because of the storm harvey. the mayor has said that more than 8,000

people had been brought to shelters in the city. it's a city of more than six million. it's the us fourth biggest city, i think. it's the fourth most populist city in the us. at the moment, the rain doesn't look too bad. but the weather forecasters, we'll get an update in 15 minutes or so, the forecasters are saying that the storm may well return to the houston area in the next 2a hours. and that will, of course, add to the already dramatic flooding that we're seeing. but the pictures you're looking at at the moment are people queueing up to get into the convention centre in houston, which has now been set up as an emergency shelter for thousands of people in that city. they wait to see a, what the storm brings next, and then b, the legacy of the storm. it's already — emergency workers in the united states saying it is going to take

yea rs states saying it is going to take years to states saying it is going to take yea rs to recover states saying it is going to take years to recover from this. it's hit the oil markets. the oil companies on wall street. there are talks of massive insurance claims. president trump is heading to the region as well. both to offer his thoughts and support to the people there. but as you see, support to the people there. but as you see, as support to the people there. but as you see, as the crew is walking there into the convention centre, i wonder, perhaps we will stick with the pictures longer if they continue to move in. these places can get incredibly chaotic. you see law enforcement officers and others there at the moment. clearly, donations as well being given. there's water on the side. these are people who will have, many of them — there's a person clutching a bag full, presumably of the belongings they were able to bring out. the picture goes to black there. a desperate situation developing in the united states and continuing to develop. we will keep you up to date with that. as i say, in about 15 minutes, we will be bringing you

some analysis of both the weather patterns and the environmental concerns attached to this. the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, has said none of the brexit position papers published by the uk government are satisfactory. his comments come during the latest round of brexit talks in brussels. 0ur correspondent adam fleming spoke about the comments from the mrjuncker. he's basically saying in slightly starker terms what he's chief negotiator michel barnier said yesterday, that the view in the building yesterday, the people who run the talks on the eu side, that the slow progress of the talks as they see it is as a result of the british not given enough information. not enough information about their positions and moving towards the eu position on more issues. he said he had been given all the papers over the summer but that none of them were satisfactory, and that has left some british officials perplexed because they wrote a paper on northern ireland, for example,

and they said they are looking will stay as intended, in other words brexit related issues citizens rights and northern ireland, there needs to be progress on them beforejudgment can be made in october december at a summit that the talks can move to the next phase of our trade and the future relationship. david davis thinks all these issues should be discussed at the same time and that this division is a bit artificial. he will be slightly annoyed, i imagine, by these comments from jean—claude juncker. where does this leave us? the british government are saying let's get on with the substance. let's do the trade talk. we have the european commission

saying they have got to hold on, but is there any indication as to who is going to win? from where i'm sitting it looks as though the commission is digging its heels in and saying no. this is the issue that william hague has made it an article for the daily telegraph today, saying negotiations have been structured in a way where the uk has been given the runaround. michel barnier the chief negotiator has received instructions from the other 27 leaders and is stuck in that circular holding pattern, holding the line of those instructions. it won't be until the other leaders intervene at a summit to say yay or nay. and in terms of the substance of the negotiations, in five different rooms behind me, over many hours of talks in the next few days, the issues, so many disagreements on the substance of them, as well, citizens rights, the rights of eu citizens living in britain after brexit and brits living abroad. the eu would like the european court ofjustice to be the final arbiter and uk government says the british

courts are suitable for that role instead. the uk have referred to the paper on northern ireland published a few days ago which they say was very detailed, but eu has said some of that is magical thinking. and on the so—called brexit bill, what are the financial obligations as it departs the eu, the commission would like the uk to start saying what they think it would and wouldn't be prepared to pay for, and as a the big thing, the uk has presented a legal analysis, verbal presentation, about whether the eu is entitled to ask the uk for a bill at all. so that is where we are at. the second day of round three. let's go back to texas now. more on the ongoing chaos caused by flooding in that us state. 30,000 people have

been taken to emergency shelters. the city of houston is one of the worst affected. let's go over there live now to speak to a man called jim mcinvale. good afternoon to you. you're known as mattress mac i understand, because of your houston—based business. you're the founder of gallery furniture. some of your stores are being used as shelters, sir? two of the three being used as shelters. 0ne shelters, sir? two of the three being used as shelters. one with 350 people, the other a50 people. we are taking in displaced people. we were looking at pictures of the convention centre earlier. they've got a couple of thousand people, if not a bit more there. so people like yourself are doing your bit — i mean what, 30,000 people who need emergency shelter at the moment? 30,000 people and it keeps growing all the time as the rain keeps coming down, so we're doing our part to help out the city and the state.

the government are doing a great job. we're trying to rescue some of these people and bring them to the gallery furniture locations and take some of the pressure off the people whose lives have been so disrupted by this biblical proportion flood in houston. let's talk about the flood itself in a moment. paint the picture for us. you've got these large stores with beds and mattresses in and in effect, people are now using them as a giant dormitory? yes. a giant slumber party on steroids. people are sleeping on the mattresses, laying on the recliners, sofas. we're feeding them breakfast, lunch and dinner. it's quite an undertaking. great volunteers. people are pitching in free food. a great outreach of the people of texas. you also make it sound fun but it is an utter disaster for the city and the region. the impression we're getting here is that so much a large proportion of the city and the region is under water. now it won't be like that but where places are

under water, can you describe what you've seen. you know, our employees are trying to get to work, they can't because so many roads are closed. normally when we have flooding in houston it's isolated to one area. unfortunately, this time it's within100 miles, almost the whole area is flooded. it's been catastrophic. the response from the community has been great. but thousands of people have water in their homes. they have water in their homes. they have water in their apartment, their cars are washed out. it's been an absolute coo trast fay. we're responding —— catastrophe. some forecasters saying the storm may well return. yeah, u nfortu nately the storm may well return. yeah, unfortunately it may. we had a levee breach in a local counties, that happened 15 minutes ago. things aren't getting any better. texans aren't getting any better. texans are resilientjust like the people of great britain are. we'll get through this. we'll come out 0k.|j wonder if you know, perhaps you do,

brazorla county, outside houston, they say a levee at columbia lakes has been breached. they're telling residents there to get out now. do you know that area, can you describe it? i know that area very well. it's kind of rural. i know the man who developed columbia lakes many years ago. it'sjerry moore, he's since deceased. it's a very nice area. i'm not surprised the levee breached. some areas got up to 50 inches of rain in the last four, five days. it's still raining today. we're just hoping and praying the rain will stop and co—get back to some sense of normality here. in the meantime, there's lots of people who need lots of people. it's difficult, but we'll be ok. it's fantastic that you are giving them that help. well done on your efforts so far. and good luck with the rest of this unfolding tragedy. i want to stay with the story and also stay in houston, becausejohn falco is on the line to us now. he lives in south—eastern houston. i

wonder if you mightjust describe the scene around where you are. yes, actually i'm in south—west houston and, well, about a mile from where i live, there are homes that have three feet of water in them. i live in an area that is, it's the mireland area. it's known for being, for having flooding issues. but nothing of this nature. so your house has not been flooded? no, it has not. fortunately our house is at the higher point of the area, of the subdivision. there are people down the road not too far that have water in their homes, that are seeking shelter and things of that nature. you don't have to travel very far from where i am to find out that

people are suffering so badly here. i wonder if there are problems presumably for some with water supply, presumably for some with water supply, with electricity. you know, there are lots of power outages. i saw on the local news centrepoint energy, that's our energy provider here in houston, is working diligently to get that power restored. but many people are having issues with power and i'm sure with basic supplies of water and things of that nature. presumably, i mean, at the moment, there is nothing that you and your family at the moment, there is nothing that you and yourfamily can do at the moment, there is nothing that you and your family can do other than stay indoors? you know, right now, there's not much that we can do, you're right. actually, this morning, my wife is a paediatrician at texas children's hospital here in houston. she's part of the relief

team, that is a team that comes in, if the people — the doctors that have been there since the storm started. now they can — some of them can actually get to their homes. my wife — we can travel to the hospital, so she can relieve some of the doctors that are there. they've been there since saturday. the doctors that are there. they've been there since saturdaylj the doctors that are there. they've been there since saturday. i was going to say, there have been these reports that because back—up staff could not get to the hospitals, that you had doctors and nurses and others in the hospitals who were just working round the clock, two, three days. that's exactly right. they've been working round the clock. we're at a position now where some people that work with my wife's

section of paediatric hospital medicine can actually get to the hospital and some cannot u nfortu nately. hospital and some cannot unfortunately. but we can. 0ur area is clear, so we know many people, we have many colleagues and friends who are in shelters who are displaced, who just — you know this is a devastating storm. some people are calling it an 800—year storm. that's how bad it is. my mother is native to houston. she's been here 7a yea rs. to houston. she's been here 7a years. she said this is the worst that it's ever been. than any hurricane or anything. is there any sense at the moment as to whether things are getting better or worse? well, in ourarea, things are getting better or worse? well, in our area, there's a sense that things are getting better. that's west houston, south—west

houston area. but as you go further east, as things are not necessarily getting better, i mean, it's still raining. it may not be raining as hard, but it's still raining. and the bayous are still full. a river has breached its banks. there are many people in texas, south—western louisiana that need help as well. absolutely. it does appear as you point out there that this is a crisis which is spreading, thank you very much for bringing us up to date there. we are now being told by the national weather service in the united states that the rain south—east of houston has exceeded a9. 32 inches at 10am eastern time

in the united states. that was 2pm our time. 3pm our time. that breaks tropical cyclone record which was set in 1978. right, we have the weather now. i will be down in a moment to talk a little bit more about the rainfall in euston, but as far as we are concerned, the weather is very quiet, it has been a very warm day in kent, temperatures up to 29 celsius, but for most of the uk a cooler day compared to yesterday, because we have had a little bit more cloud. these are the 7pm temperatures, still pretty warm, 15 for most of us, bright conditions to end the day across northern and western areas of the country. tonight, for most of us, it is dry, but a little bit of rain moving into south—western parts of england,

spots in birmingham, and also across south—eastern part of the country. 0ver south—eastern part of the country. over the country tomorrow overall, there will be more cloud across the southern half of the uk, you can clearly see where rain is falling, most of it will be drizzle and damp, really, but not a pleasant picture across east anglia and the south—east, and then western areas, i think, relatively bright, so not so bad there in the lake district. that is it, that is your uk weather. thank you very much indeed, we're going live to the pentagon, a press briefing has started. this is the national guard director of domestic operations, who is giving a brief on tropical storm harvey. to alleviate the pain and suffering that has been experienced by citizens in houston and southwest texas. i would also like to emphasise that as we talk about national guard response, the training and equipment the national guard receives for our fighting

missions also makes it possible for us missions also makes it possible for us to be very good to respond to state' needs, so that training becomes very important to our ability to rapidly respond and some of the capabilities that we bring in support of civil authorities. that training on the federal side allows us training on the federal side allows us to apply those unique skill sets and capabilities, especially as you look at this in terms of waterborne rescue, ground rescue, and things along those priorities. it is extremely important that we recognise that we have a dual purpose, to fight wars but also to respond on behalf of our governors and adjutant is —— adjutants generals. we continue to sport civil authorities in the state of texas, life—saving, search and rescue, ground and air rescue remain at the top of the list, property protection, we are supporting not

only security but presents missions around the state of texas, especially in the city of houston, so budding local, state and federal law enforcement. we are also supporting shelter operations, route clea ra nce supporting shelter operations, route clearance operations in terms of starting points towards the recovery phase as we get out of the response phase. there are currently 3000 texas guardsmen on duty today, growing to a000 over the next 2a hours. the governor of texas has requested a military police battalion, and international guard security forces to support law enforcement in heavily flooded areas, the big metropolitan area around houston is where we think that assistance will be required. the secretary of state approve the dual status commander in texas, who is in place, in command of both the national guard forces in the state of texas and any title ten or federal forces of texas and any title ten or federalforces coming in, so a unity

of effort under the gill status commander at this time. texas has already used over 500 vehicles, including 200 high profile vehicles, able to go through three feet of water with more than 200 more ready, and we can posture additional high profile vehicles from surrounding states to be able to come into texas at request. there are currently 30 national guard helicopters and approximately 30 supporting search and rescue efforts and many back capacity where required. 2a more have been requested by the state of texas through the emergency assistant compact and will be en route to texas today, and there is potential that we could grow up to 100 helicopters as required by the state of texas as we continue to respond to this historic flooding. in terms of rescues, i want to

become for one i talk numbers in terms of rescues, obviously these are very terms of rescues, obviously these are very fluid, as you see, there is are very fluid, as you see, there is a great deal of rescues occurring by the minute, but those that the national guard has done all supported civil authorities for, including over 3500 personnel rescued, most of those, as you see, by some type of boat, but these also include almost 300 hoist rescues, which, as you know, very technically difficult intends of hoisting people off routes where they are inaccessible by other methods. also 300 animal rescues have occurred as pa rt 300 animal rescues have occurred as part of this, so not only humans, but also pets, and as we continue to alleviate the pain and suffering that the citizens of texas are experiencing right now. i don't want to leave louisiana out of the equation, as the storm continues to move equation, as the storm continues to m ove a cross equation, as the storm continues to move across the gulf, potentially making a third landfall, louisiana

is posturing capability in advance of that, currently a00 soldiers and airmen on active duty in the state of louisiana. we are placing materiel in advance of anticipated large flooding across the south—west portion of louisiana there. the governor has not requested a gill status commander, but the louisiana national guard has identified a dual status commander in the event that title ten forces looked to be required in the state of louisiana. we anticipate louisiana will also request a dual status commander, as texas has already done... that statement from the pentagon, saying that the priorities are on search and rescue and protecting properties, the focus on houston, but he is also talking about the storm and the effect of the storm spreading, and the preparedness of louisiana. we are going to get a bit of analysis now from our environment a nalyst of analysis now from our environment analyst roger harrabin in a moment

about the science behind the storm, but first our weather presenter tomasz schafernaker. in the last few minutes, we have been having these figures, officially coming out, confirming how unprecedented this is. they are saying 49 inches of rain, 125 centimetres. i mean, you know, that is an awful amount of rainfall, we don't often see that in tropical storms, and to put it in context, london gets less than half of that in the space of a year. that is more rainfall than manchester, which is quite a wet place overall in the uk, about as much as manchester gets in the whole year, and we are saying that this has fallen in the space of four days, however long it has been. most of the downpours are more short lived, so the most amount of rainfall that has fallen has actually fallen in an even shorter space of time, and if

you think about these slow—moving waterways, all of that water flowing into those waterways, itjust can't cope, so a horrendous amount of rain. and then there was talk about the storm returning — well, the centre of the storm, so if you match in these storms rotate, that is one from a few days ago, when it first made landfall, but the eye of the storm is back out at sea, and as long as the centre of the storm is out and sea, the storm can sustain itself, that is where the engineers, and whilst it is out at sea, it is drawing in more energy, more moisture, dumping it in land because the winds are blowing it back inland. because the storm is kind of stuck, it has stalled, not moving an awful lot, the rain falls in the same place over and over again. by the yellow is, that is the heavy rain, so most of it is slightly to the east of houston, also affecting

louisiana, parts of alabama as well. so yes, the centre of the storm is going to drift back inland, and that isa going to drift back inland, and that is a good thing in a way, because once the centre of the storm is back in land, it will start falling apart. 0ther in land, it will start falling apart. other areas will get rain, it will peter out. any indication as to when it moves back in land? yes, the next 2a—a8 hours will be crucial, it will probably lose tropical storm status in about a day or so, the rain bands will be picked up by other weather systems, and it will drift further northwards. roger, this is astonishing, the same amount of rain that manchester gets in a yearin of rain that manchester gets in a year in two or three days in houston, and that is leading environmental lawyers to question whether we should call these acts of god. yes, natural disasters, because clearly hurricanes are natural disasters, they have been in texas history throughout time, and so has huge amounts of rainfall, and so has

flooding, and nobody can say that any of these are caused by climate change. what scientists can say with a great deal of confidence is that warmerair a great deal of confidence is that warmer air carries more water. that is undisputed, basic physics, and higher sea levels, the sea level is increasing as it expands, because of extra heat, and that will bring higher storms surge us, those things are certain. so these natural disasters are, at least in part, man—made. but how you would get to attributing that leaves the lawyers to this conclusion, that before long we will be able to say that, in this storm, that event is made x amount by man, and therefore somebody is responsible. it has enormous invitations for the insurance industry, for politics, especially with president trump and his thoughts on climate change. with president trump and his thoughts on climate changem with president trump and his thoughts on climate change. it has massive implications. i don't know when we would see it, there have been attempts in the past to bring

lawsuits through, and they have consistently failed. 0ver lawsuits through, and they have consistently failed. over the past ten years or so, consistently failed. over the past ten years or so, we consistently failed. over the past ten years or so, we have consistently failed. over the past ten years or so, we have seen a new branch of knowledge emerge called attribution science, how much of this event can we attribute to human causes. it is based probabilistically, so things would be 50 times more likely to happen because of man—made climate change, all 100 times more likely to happen because of man—made climate change, and the lawyers, one firm in the uk, climate at, they think that in future the science and that will be strong enough to be able to pursue a lawsuit. bring in president trump, he has pulled the usa out of the international forum on climate change. there is no mechanism by which to force him back in, but if, for instance, the usa were to be sued even in its own courts, that would be interesting. interesting, roger. tomasz, the storm is having an impact beyond the emergency evacuations of people from their houses and the like — it is having

an impact on the landscape as well. absolutely, and you can see that the landscape in texas is flat, that is the problem here. 0ften landscape in texas is flat, that is the problem here. often when storms hit a landmass, hit rugged terrain, storms fall apart quickly, and we get a lot of flash flooding and devastating floods locally where rains all down ballets and rivers swell. —— where rain falls down ballets. but this is a slow—moving area of bad weather over flat terrain, it will be completely saturated, the water will be stagnant, not moving quickly, it will take ages to empty back into the sea. so we can see will take ages to empty back into the sea. 50 we can see some will take ages to empty back into the sea. so we can see some before and after here. yeah, look at that. an astonishing amount of water. i don't know how deep that water is, but perhaps in and of itself, it is not that deep, and yet it is going to ta ke not that deep, and yet it is going to take time to drain away, because the rest of the ground outside the

city is so sudden. yeah, and think of the climate, it is a hot climate, humid, and is not going to feel great. and the other thing is, looking at the same images, you cannot see a green thing in sight. all you are looking at is concrete, this is a vast conurbation that has been concreted over four miles and miles, there is nowhere for the surface water to go. connected to this is the problem with the dams, because they have now got stands which are within centimetres of overtopping, they may be topping overtopping, they may be topping over at the moment according to some reports, and they are going to have to release the water, and then you are going to flood areas, or at least send more water downstream. absolutely, and i cannot remember having seen numbers like this on the amount of rainfall, they are truly staggering. as tomasz said, the problem is that the storm is sitting on the coast, and there is a debate between scientists at the moment as to whether or not climate change is

implicated in holding that storm in its place, and there is no conclusion on that yet. roger, tomasz, thank you both. the government is going to introduce a law to force bosses to reveal what their bosses are paid compared to workers. it is already being criticised as not tough enough, andy verity has the story. ever since she entered downing street, the prime minister has attacked excessive executive pay. we all know that in recent years, the reputation of business as a whole has been bruised. that when a minority of businesses and business figures appear to game the system and work to a different set of rules. i'm putting you on warning — this can't go on anymore. a change has got to come, and this party is going to make it. last year, the chief executives of the 100 biggest companies listed in london were paid an average of £a.5 million, 129 times the salary of the average british worker.

what an average worker earns in a year, a chief executive can make in less than three days. the government's plan is to force companies to publish how much the chief executive earns compared to the average worker. when boards are setting pay and when they're disclosing pay, they shouldn't do itjust with an eye on pay in the board, but they should look at pay across the company and be prepared to set out publicly how they can justify boardroom pay in the context of the pay that the rest of the workforce get. the proposals have been welcomed by the accountants who report company figures to shareholders. anything which will boost transparency around this area and make people understand better how companies are run and the say different stakeholders can have and the potential for making a difference is vitally important. but the reforms can be confusing. charlie mayfield, chairman ofjohn lewis, which owns waitrose, was recently paid just

over £1 million. 73 times the average pay of non—management staff. at the same time, the former uk head of investment bank goldman sachs, michael sherwood, was paid more than £15 million, only a5 times as much as the highly paid employees who average more than £300,000 each. the problems with pay seem to be at the larger end of the corporate universe, the big companies. and if you look at the historical performance record of those who perform the least, they clearly have a lot of lobbying power in actually trying to resist a lot of this stuff. but the political impetus does seem to be growing for change. in today's reforms, there's no sign of a previous promise of annual binding votes by shareholders on director's pay. the pay gap between directors and employees will become more obvious than ever. it is less obvious how that gap might shrink. ina

in a moment, we will take a look at the financial markets in europe, but first the headlines. as floodwaters rise in texas, officials warn that dams are starting to overflow, threatening local residents. sirens sound as north korea fires a missile overjapan, the american ambassador to the imaginations once the behaviour cannot be tolerated. —— ambassador to the united nations warns the behaviour cannot be tolerated. let's have a look at the markets across europe. the ftse100, in common with the other european and world stock markets, has closed lower. it's after north korea fired a ballistic missile overjapan, deepening geopolitical worries. but it's sent the euro and gold higher.

let's look at that in more detail. the euro has surged — it's up against the dollar, hitting $1.20 for the first time since january 2015. it's partly due to the weakness of the us currency. storm harvey, and the economic damage it's causing, has weighed on the dollar, as the prospect of a us interest rate rise looks less likely. a strong euro though has caused a downward pull on the dax — as german exporters find their products become more expensive to foreign buyers. when there are big geopolitical tensions like north korea firing a missile overjapan, investors tend to move money from riskier stocks and put them into safe havens like government bonds and gold. with the gold price up, that has boosted shares in companies that mine gold and precious metals — among the top gainers on the ftse100 is randgold resources. at the other end of things, itv shares were among the biggest fallers.

down more than a%. that's a bit of a pattern seen across europe — spanish and german broadcasters' shares were down. it's partly due to the weakening advertising market. tv ad sales were losing steam, according to the german commercial broadcaster prosiebensat. it follows a similar warning last week from ad giant wpp. jeremy stretch is head of currency strategy at cibc world markets jeremy, good to see you, we welcome onto the euro and the dax in a moment, but really interesting, itv, you know, no particular results are anything out, but feeling the effect we are seeing anything out, but feeling the effect we are seeing across anything out, but feeling the effect we are seeing across other european broadcasters. that is correct, not a

specific story in elation to domestic broadcasting, very much in relation to any in the advertising space in general, those warnings that we saw highlighted in germany have really amplified some of the negative tendencies that have been ripped large across the sector over the course of the last few weeks. we have seen some negative news from wpp, the major player in the advertising sector, so it does suggest that corporate is are likely to bea suggest that corporate is are likely to be a little bit more circumspect in theirad to be a little bit more circumspect in their ad spending, and that will hit revenues for corporate broadcasters. the euro has pushed past the $1.20 mark, having a bit of a downward drag on the german index, the dax, a lot of exporters listed there, and they feel a downward turn when the euro surges. the german exporters will find it more difficult in terms of their competitiveness if the euro

continues that significant appreciation, and we only have to go back to april or may when we were trading in the1.10 back to april or may when we were trading in the 1.10 range, so breaking 1.20 and aligns the scale of that appreciation against the dollar, or depreciation in terms of the dollar, because there are two elements in this. but the euro has gained ground significantly, and that as negative invitations for european corporate yeah who are translating money back into euros, so it is calling a headwind for those european falls is. regarding the bigger picture, the firing of the bigger picture, the firing of the missile overjapan by north korea, that send people to save havens, gold up today. yes, in periods of uncertainty, investors seek shelter in the currency space, that will benefit the japanese yen, but in the bigger picture, they see a safe haven in gold, and not only are we seeing that price moving up

because of that, but as the us dollar tends to depreciate, then we also see a positive impact in terms of commodity prices. so there is a twin tailwind which has been helping to drive the gold price to levels we haven't seen since late last year. arche, jeremy, thanks very much indeed. —— 0k, jeremy. a quick recap of the markets, the american market is now open, not doing very much, fairly flat. that is all from me this afternoon, but there is a round—up of the top business stories on the website, whenever you would like to have a look. for now, matthew, back to you. thanks very much, ben. the queensferry crossing was lit up last night in a special show, to mark the formal handover of the new bridge to the scottish government.

it will open to traffic tomorrow, joining the forth road and rail bridges connecting edinburgh and fife. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon is there. she has given us this update. this is one of the busiest transport arteries in scotland, and people who use the other bridges and who live in the communities have watched with interest as the queensferry crossing has risen up out of the waters and into the sky and now the uk's tallest bridge is on the verge of finally opening. lighting up scotland's latest bridge. the queensferry crossing in the spotlight before opening to drivers for the first time. in its own right, it is a feat of design, engineering and construction. in its own right, it is absolutely amazing. it is in every sense, in every way, an amazing achievement. the scale of this construction is impressive. it's the longest bridge of its kind in the world, and this is a chance for some of the many thousands who worked on it to celebrate its completion.

whata night, eh? i know, fantastic. it's the end of a long journey, but it's been a wonderfuljourney. stressfuljourney but the most rewarding job i've ever been on, and i've been on many a bridge. these guys have put a lot of work into this place. in years to come, there will be grandchildren of mine saying, "my grandad worked on that". that's what i want. there are now three bridges across this stretch of the forth, the legacy of the generations of workers who built them. for some, the story of these crossings, stretching back three centuries, is part of their family's history. my great grandad worked on the forth rail bridge, my grandad worked on the forth road bridge, and i worked on the queensferry crossing. three bridges, three centuries, all special in their own way. which is your favourite and why? definitely the queensferry crossing, because it feels most like my bridge. are you chuffed? after seeing it all come together,

i'm fair away with it. i'm proud to have been working on the bridge. those who travel this busy route have had to contend with plenty of roadworks as the new bridge has taken shape. so what can they expect tomorrow? there have been miles of cones out there for a long time now, while the bridge was under construction. there will be a a0mph limit. i'm sure people want to see what the bridge looks like. we ask people to drive carefully, keep their eyes on the road. for now, it's all about admiring the view. tomorrow, a chance for all to enjoy the journey across this latest bridge over the forth. there is a lot of symbolism surrounding the queensferry crossing, next monday the queen will officially open the new bridge exactly 53 years after she opened the forth road bridge, and before that 50,000 people who won tickets in a public ballot will get to cross the crossing in what is being described as a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. indeed it is, lorna gordon there.

time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. he was down here earlier, but he is getting the exercise in today, he has rushed back up there! i know, only a few minutes to get ready! ? the weather today has been mixed, beautiful sunshine there from east sussex, the cloud across northern areas, and today was the warmest day in august, temperatures up to 29 degrees, i have already forgotten the detail, but one day! not for everybody, most of us seen temperatures in the upper teens, and this is the temperature around about now, still mid 20s in london, but many of us 1a—15d. what is happening tonight, then? the evening lodge

dry, showers developing later on in the night across south—eastern areas, possibly some rain getting into cornwall, maybe devon, southern parts of wales, some showers in western parts of scotland. but tomorrow is the day when the clouds really will increase across southern areas, you will notice a huge contrast in the far south—east, because today we have a temperatures close to 30. tomorrow, it will be more than 10 degrees lower, i suspect, in the far south—east, with the thick cloud, and outbreaks of rain as well. so let's zoom into this area to see what is happening at four this area to see what is happening atfour in this area to see what is happening at four in the afternoon, about 30 today, look at that at four o'clock, thatis today, look at that at four o'clock, that is a big drop in the temperatures. so anywhere from bournemouth, parts of the midlands, east midlands into lincolnshire, not raining heavily, but there will be some rain. the rest of the uk, however, fine, some sunshine around for the north—west into lancashire, cumbria. scotland and the west,

northern ireland probably having occasional showers moving through, but on balance a bright fresh day, so some good weather around tomorrow, but not in the south—east without rain. eventually that rain will push away to affect our friends a little bit further east, and then on thursday and friday, thursday in particular quite a few showers across the uk, a good chance to use your brolly. friday, a few showers, then the weekend is looking better. a quick update on harvey, over one metre of rainfall in houston, more on the way, 1.2 metres of rain just to the south of houston, you can see where the rainfall is falling, not just over texas but affecting louisiana and into his city as well, so the storm is not over. we will be dealing with it for another two or three days. —— affecting louisiana and into mississippi as well. today at 5 — a major dam outside houston has begun spilling over as storm harvey pushes the reservoir past capacity.

engineers have tried to release some of the water in the addicks dam to the west of the city, but officials warn their efforts may not be enough. rescuers continue to search for people stranded in their homes as thousands are forced to flee from the texan city. president trump and the first lady melania are due to arrive in texas in the next half an hour, to see the flooding first—hand. the lagrange,