today at 5pm... it's the hottest day of the year — hitting a scorching 35 degrees celsius at heathrow. while many people are basking in the record temperatures, others are finding the long summer heatwave hard to bear. well, you arrive at work feeling pretty awful. you know, you are perspiring the entire journey. i mean, it is really, really u nco mforta ble. it is also very crowded. it is really humid, very hot. it is unbearable. it comes as mps warn that heatwaves could become the new normal in the uk — and kill thousands every year. we'll be live at the nation's hotspots — and looking at the science behind the current wave of hot weather. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm... medicinal cannabis is to be legalised on prescription in the uk. it follows the high—profile cases of children with severe epilepsy being denied access to cannabis oil. the death of a woman

killed on a speedboat on the river thames on herfirst date — a man is found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. the former pakistan cricket captain imran khan claims victory in the country's general election. and the legendary football manager sir alex ferguson speaks publicly for the first time since he suffered a brain haemorrhage — with this message for his beloved manchester united. i'll be back later in the season to watch the team. in the meantime, all the best tojose and the players. thank you very much. our main story at 5pm.

it is officially the hottest day of the year so far in the uk with temperatures in many parts of the country well over 30 degrees. the highest temperature was 35 degrees — recorded at heathrow airport this afternoon. forecasters say temperatures could soar even higher tomorrow — perhaps 37 degrees — though the met office has also warned of thunderstorms and torrential rain. well, many people are basking in britain's hot weather — but for some it's too much. conditions on trains, especially the underground, are often uncomfortable and the royal college of nursing say high temperatures in hospitals have left nurses dizzy and exhausted. olivia crellin reports. it is now officially the hottest day of the year and you can feel it. it is now officially the hottest day of the year and you can feel itm does feel warm, it's nice with the breeze though. all the train

stations are really bad. you have got to make the most of it though, haven't you? go for it. people are enjoying the hot weather in parks like this across the country and there is not set to be any letup with temperatures increasing tomorrow. forecasters have predicted a brief respite with thundery showers on the way. the hot weather has not been a help to those going off on holiday via the eurotunnel. passengers now wait several hours with queues of cars and backing up at the folkestone terminal. those still at work during the heatwave are finding it tough. even getting to work for many right now is unpleasant. temperatures on the underground have hit a0 degrees on some lines, leaving many feeling faint, sweaty and a bit bad—tempered. you arrive at work feeling pretty awful. you are perspiring the entire journey. i mean, it is really, really u nco mforta ble. it's also very crowded. i live on the central line and that's really, really, really hot, unbearable,

i avoid it at all costs. you're constantly on the back foot because you're turning up to meetings hot and sweaty and you're trying to cool down before you run into the meeting. it is unbelievable. but it's those on the front line providing vital services that are really feeling the heat. nurses in some hospitals have reported challenging conditions on wards of temperatures above 30 degrees. we've even had an example of a nurse who had to be hospitalised after doing long shifts in a really hot accident and emergency environment. so obviously it is a serious concern that the nurses themselves are becoming the patients. experts seem to think hot weather like this is here to stay and are petitioning politicians for ways to help the nation cope with the predicted higher summer temperatures. but what can the most vulnerable people do right now to protect themselves? the most important thing we can all do over these two days of what are looking like really very hot temperatures is looking out for others.

certain people, older people, very young children and babies and people with long—term health conditions can struggle more than others in this heat, so looking out for them as well as keeping ourselves cool and keeping our homes cool. while the heatwave is proving a nightmare for workers, for those on holiday it's a dream. the forecast promising an endless summer of good weather, paddling pools and ice cream so maybe there are some workers pleased with the weather. i think the hotter the better really. obviously, there is a point where perhaps people stop coming out. but for us we need the sunshine. if it is around 30 degrees it is good for us and people still want ice cream. with the hot weather predicted to continue into august, potentially breaking the all—time uk record of 38.5 degrees, we will all have to work hard to adapt to a new normal. 0livia crellin, bbc news. today's record temperatures come as a group of mps have issued a warning that heat waves are likely to become more frequent — and more deadly.

the commons environmental audit committee says the the number of heat—related deaths in the uk could treble to 7,000 a year by 2050 — unless the government acts quickly. the mps say ministers need make sure buildings such as hospitals and transport infrastructure can cope in extremely hot weather. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. elderly people and severe heat don't mix. people with diseases of the heart, lungs and kidneys are especially vulnerable. the numbers are arresting. the 2003 heatwave in the uk wasjudged a factor in more than 2,000 deaths. by 2050, mps expect climate change to more than treble that number, to 7,000 deaths, unless the government acts quickly. the heatwaves affect our health, our well—being and our productivity. 0ur message in this report is that the government needs to do a lot more to educate the public about the risks that heatwaves pose,

the actions they need to take to protect themselves and other people, and we need to fundamentally redesign our cities so that they are able to cope with higher temperatures. risk factors are high temperatures and humidity combined. being younger than four or older than 65. being overweight, taking diuretics or antihistamines. 0r using recreational drugs. where you live is another risk factor. andrei lewis is a blind musician who works at home in london, his house is nearly 30 degrees and very uncomfortable. we are not built for such weather, we are built for winter. it often feels stagnant and with the heat and no rain it is quite difficult to work. thermal imaging cameras show that living in a city increases the risk of overheating. the yellow showing how pavement pump out heat. what about in school the area. the dark patches showed

the clear benefit of trees. the mps want a shade giving trees protected. it makes the position of sheffield city council to fell thousands of mature trees even more controversial in a warming world. these apartments offer one solution to homes overheating. their retractable sun shades are controlled from indoors. the apartments behind have balconies that cut out the fiercest son out the fiercest son —— sun from the windows below and experts say we have to plan homes for a hot tub britain. we would like the government to recognise overheating at a risk to people's health and well—being. we would like it to be introduced within the regulatory framework from building regulations to planning regulations in a holistic manner. of course, some like it hot. for children, this is a summer from heaven and it looks like hot summers will increasingly become the new normal but the mps are saying that while the children are having fun, we must make sure the elderly are also protected.

how can we adapt to a warming world? the mps want care homes and hospitals inspected for resilience to heat. they want stricter water efficiency standards for buildings and they want maximum workplace temperatures and relaxed dress codes. but put this in perspective was a life in developing countries will be much harder as the climate overheats. the uk can afford to adapt to its heatwaves. poor nations cannot. as we heard a little earlier passengers have been enduring five—hour delays. first let's go to hyde park in central london, people bear enjoying the sunshine. fair to say that plenty of other people are

really hating the hot weather. yeah, it has been a sculpture of an afternoon. just occasionally you get afternoon. just occasionally you get a breeze offering light relief but people seem to be embracing it generally. the football has increased this afternoon, people enjoying the landscape here, playing football, cricket, flying a kite. many people heeding the advice and stay in the shade, someone choosing to sunbathe in the open sun but these conditions do prove challenging for the park authorities. the lush green lawns are no longer, the grass is yellow and parched. they also reminded people that no barbecues are allowed, they say in these dry, hot conditions that it could lead to an increased fire risk. some people not enjoying the hot weather but there is some brief break perhaps with forecasts of thunderstorms in some areas for tonight and tomorrow, so a

bit of respite but we are looking at further high temperatures over the next coming days. let go to our reporter in folkestone. not much fun to be had there if you are a eurotunnel passenger. no, absolutely not. we are overlooking the eurotunnel entrance behind as we have seen queues throughout the day, lorries and cars as they tried to board. the problem here, eurotunnel has told us, is in some of the carriages the air condition is not working. what they have said is these carriages were not built for this kind of heat, it is unprecedented. what they have had to do is close a number of carriages and run at a limited capacity, that has resulted in backlogs of up to three or four hours today and as you can imagine, customers, passengers, have been taken to social media, posting pictures of their frustration. some people have hosed their pets downjust

frustration. some people have hosed their pets down just to trying cubicle. many people were complaining there was no water, no information, they could knows billy might not see anybody around to help. eurostar have said they are trying to put more stuff on this afternoon, they have put more stuff out there to hand out water. they have told people to go to checkpoint pointed they need more help on information. they have said though that delays are likely to continue into today and tomorrow. so what they are saying is if anyone wants a refund either today or tomorrow, they can go ahead and get those. it's notjust the uk that is feeling the heat — temperatures are soaring in many parts of the world. in a moment we'll take a look at how hot weather is affecting people in the united states and in sweden, but first we report from the japanese capital, tokyo. it has been a truly unprecedented

month for weather here injapan. it began with a week of record rainfall that caused the devastating floods in the west of the country. and that has been followed by two weeks of extreme heat. again, that has broken all records. a new absolute high of 41.1 all records. a new absolute high of a1.1 degrees was set on monday and a one—week record has also been broken. this has caused a shocking loss of life. the floods and he'd have taken at least 300 lives. and more than 30,000 people have been sent to hospital. here in north texas we have been dealing with the heatwave for almost two weeks now. we have had ten days at 100 degrees all the way up to 109. numerous records have been broken and in addition to that conditions are extremely dry. moderate to severe drought continues across the dallas fort worth region. but good news,

some much—needed rain is in the forecast next week as well as some cooler temperatures, we might even be below average. stockholm's usually one of the most visibly green cities in europe, about ao% of it is made up of parts but much of it is made up of parts but much of it is made up of parts but much of it is now yellowing crispy after the hottest july since records it is now yellowing crispy after the hottestjuly since records began. sweden is simply not a setup for high temperatures, the buildings are designed to intellect and keep people warm in the snowy winters. few places have air conditioning. the countryside has been affected worst though, wildfires are still being tackled after sweden called for international assistance and more hot weather is on the way in the coming week. just say, just after half past five we have been to be looking at the science behind the current heatwave. we will have a special programme also tonight called feeling the heat, it is on the bbc news channel at pm this evening. the government says doctors will be

able to legally prescribe medicinal cannabis from this autumn. the home secretary, savid javid, has announced that products which meet safety and quality standards are to be made legal for patients with an "exceptional clinical need". it follows the high—profile cases of two young sufferers of epilepsy — alfie dingley and billy caldwell. their families campaigned for them to be given access to cannabis oil because it appeared to help their condition. our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, gave us the background to this decision. parents were denied the right to bring in cannabis oil products produced overseas. their children had severe epilepsy and then ended up in hospital having seizures. it was one case after another that led sajid javid to announce a review which had been very quickly done. and he has now said that, by the autumn, there will be a decision, product by—product, on which ones are going to be allowed to be prescribed by specialist doctors.

the department of health and the medicines regulator will individually look at each product. the thing is about cannabis medicines is there is no doubt that some of them do work. there are two products, in fact, the uk is the biggest producer of cannabis—licensed medicines. 300 tonnes of cannabis plants a year produced legally in the uk. the problem has come from these products produced overseas which are not pharmaceutical products. they don't have a european or an american licence and it is those that have been stopped at the border, so to speak. and it is those ones which now will come under this review. i spoke to one mum today who says she is absolutely thrilled. she was given a special temporary licence for her daughter. she has legally brought the product in and hopefully by the autumn it means that she should be able to go and get that prescription and get it legally here.

charlotte caldwell is one of the parents who has been campaigning for cannabis oil to be made available on prescription. her son billy caldwell suffers from epilepsy and can have more than 100 seizures in a day. she said, "it's over, it's unbelievable, incredible. "it's been an eternity and the click of the fingers at the same time. "thank you, sajid javid. the headlines on bbc news... the temperature reached 35 degrees this afternoon — at heathrow, making it the hottest day of the year so far. medicinal cannabis is to be legalised on prescription in the uk.

it follows the high—profile cases of children with severe epilepsy being denied access to cannabis oil. a man is found guilty of manslaughter after a woman died on a speedboat on the river thames. in the sport this evening, a troubled free day for geraint thomas. stage 18 of the tour de france which was won by a frenchman. adil rashid has been selected in the first test for england despite saying he wants to focus on limited overs cricket. an island cause another shock at the hockey world cup by beating india 1—0. it means that england cannot now qualify automatically for the quarterfinals. more on those stories for you at around 5:30pm. a man has been found guilty

of the manslaughter of a 2a—year—old woman who died after falling off his speedboat into the river thames on a first date. charlotte brown met 30—year—old jack shepherd online in december 2015. both ended up in the water after the speedboat struck a log while she was driving. sophie long has been looking at the background to this case. it was meant to be a romantic evening for charlotte, but her date's reckless behaviour and disregard for her safety ended in the 2a—year—old's death. she was intelligent, funny. just the best daughter ever. the best friend. the girls' best friend. we'll never get over losing her. charlotte met jack shepherd on an online dating site. their evening began in a restaurant at the shard, one of london's most striking skyscrapers.

they shared two bottles of wine. he picked up the bill of £150. then they went back to his houseboat in hammersmith and onto his speedboat, taking champagne on board with them. in the dark and cold, they travelled downriver. shepherd was in control of the boat, and going around twice the speed limit. once they passed the houses of parliament and under westminster bridge, they turned back. just beyond battersea bridge, they slowed down. shepherd said he let charlotte take control for the thrill. that was sheer madness, according to the prosecution. the boat then moved across the river and hit an object, either a floating piece of timber or a tree trunk. the accident happened on this stretch of the thames. both jack and charlotte were flung into the cold water, and the boat capsized. jack was found just there before wandsworth bridge, clinging to the side of the upturned boat. charlotte was found nearby, but she later died in hospital.

shepherd didn't turn up for his trial. thejury never got to see him in the dock. but he was interviewed by the police after the accident. the court heard he'd used the same routine with other women, and he'd been warned before about speeding on the river. his boat also had potentially dangerous defects. the rnli was part of the rescue team on the night. it's an iconic waterway, and we encourage people to engage and use the river, but let's do it safely. so the use of life jackets, the use of vhf radio, making sure your craft is safe. at the moment, anyone can take a boat onto the river for their personal use, without any experience. charlotte's parents want that to change. within the past half hour charlotte brown's older sister, katie, has been speaking alongside other members of the family outside court... we now appeal to jack shepherd

wherever he is in the world to return and assume the responsibility of his guilt and devastation he has caused by his careless actions that fateful night. we appeal to jack shepherd's family and friends to talk to him and urged him to face the consequence of his actions. we cannot allow charlie's passing to be in vain. her legacy will be to highlight the appalling lack of legislation and safety measures present on our waterways. that was shallow brown's older sister, katie, speaking in the last few minutes. —— charlotte brown. one of pakistan's greatest cricketers, imran khan, has declared victory in pakistan's general election — and is on course to become the country's next prime minister. partial results indicate that the former cricketer‘s party will secure the most seats in parliament — but without an overall majority.

his opponents have questioned the legitimacy of the elections and accused him of being too close to the army and religious hardliners. paul adams reports. a night of wild celebrations for imran khan and his supporters. these people worship the former cricketer and feel that pakistan is on the brink of change. a short time ago, he claimed victory and thanked supporters. translation: i want to talk about the members of my party. we have threats of suicide bombings and i want to thank my followers that in spite of all of this week we contested these elections and i thank god that we have succeeded and we have gotten this mandate. but the old guard is not conceding defeat yet. supporters of the former and now jailed prime minister calling this an assault on democracy.

his brother says he rejects the result utterly and is talking of blatant rigging. throughout the campaign, there are accusations that pakistan's powerful military is siding with imran khan. 26 years ago, imran khan was a national hero, leading pakistan's cricket team to world cup glory. he led a playboy lifestyle and married the british heiressjemima goldsmith, the first of three wives. but today's politician seems a very different man. he has campaigned on corruption and his apparent closeness to religious hardliners has entered the epithet "taliban khan". however much he wants to ignore them, imran khan has to work with them. he has a working relationship with dislike of the opposition do. he is no different. the military is extremely important given that pakistan is a state

of war and a huge enemy in india, so any prime minister like imran khan has to work with the military. imran khan's party seemed to win the most seats, not an outright majority but almost certainly enough to put together a coalition. pakistan's new prime minister will face formidable challenges, deepening economic crisis and plenty of political opponents. joining me now from pakistan is bj sadiq, a writer and author of the book let there be justice: the politicaljourney of imran khan. thank you for being with us. it has been quite a politicaljourney hasn't it? from playboy, as we were hearing, and international cricket star, cricket legend, two potential prime minister. how has he done it? imran has been a hot topic for press

globally because of his cricket and his social activism primarily because of his cricket. he made his test debut back in 1971 in birmingham against england and what an awful debut it was because his bowling was so erratic, his full toss soared over the head of the wicketkeeper and crashed into the boundary. he was soon thrown out of the side and he went to oxford to read for a degree. in politics and economics. it was in oxford where he revived himself as a cricketer and he returned in 1971 and from that position he rose to become one of cricket's greatest all—rounders. backin cricket's greatest all—rounders. back in the 1980s, a pakistan general and military dictator

decided to tap into the imran mania, the imranfan decided to tap into the imran mania, the imran fan following by offering him a ministerial position in his cabinet. but imran outright rejected the temptation on the grounds that he was not suitable, was not suited to politics because he felt he did not possess the right ingredients for a political career in pakistan. he thought that addressing a sea of people, addressing huge crowds, would bring him to sweat. he was not a great orator. later when a pakistan won the world cup, he was approached by the head of the pakistan people's party and the leader of another party and he again rejected the temptation on similar grounds. but it was when his mother passed away due to cancer and seeing his mother engulfed in terrible pain, that was the watershed. that

was the turning point. he then resolved to establish a cancer hospital in a country like pakistan, and economically backward country like pakistan. hospital where free treatment was promised for the poor. and that was the breakthrough when he was able to generally connect the people... said that was the breakthrough. what about now? what kind of prime minister will he be? there are people saying he's too close to the army, he is a creature of the army. he is too close to hardliners. i would reject these allegations simply on the grounds that we need to understand the country historically, we need to ta ke country historically, we need to take a step back and understand the country and the army. agree that the army has played a very important role in the history of pakistan pakistan's politics. before politics

the general was not an important commodity. the army owned him and manufactured him in later he became popular because it was a great speaker. even other leaders came from... his popularity gradually rose. other leaders have been manufactured by the army, coming from landed aristocratic families. his popularity as known figure came later on. but here is a man who already has this star appeal. he had 23 years struggle. why did the army not support him before? why now after 23 years? back in 1995 when imran was considering to enter into

politics, he was in talks with the pakistan intelligence agencies, known for its conspicuous reach, and the idea was to have imran be a part ofa the idea was to have imran be a part of a pressure group that would keep a check on the two leading political parties. but imran was expected to serve as a doormat. he had a fallout with the general. i do not think he was ever able to work with generals before, so all the allegations of him siding with the military, whatever i know of pakistan's allegations. i reject these allegations. i reject these allegations. very good to talk to. the rise of imran khan. thank you so much forjoining us from islamabad. time for a look at the weather. the hottest day of the year so far?

we are forecasting 35 in london over all and that is exactly what we got today. we shall have to verify that temperature. that won't happen until little bit later on this evening. it looks as though heathrow was the winner here, or lose, i suppose which way you look at it. 35 celsius. there have also been some thunderstorms breaking out, such as being the heat. part of the east midlands and yorkshire too. look at how hot the evening is going to be. these are the 11pm temperatures. 27 in london and 20 in newcastle. very, very warm. tomorrow, the heat is still pumping up from the continent and is still expecting the extreme east of the country. we are seeing the cooler air nudging in. i don't wa nt to the cooler air nudging in. i don't want to say it will cool down tomorrow because it will be hot. with more cloud and hit and miss thunderstorms, the possibility of

some big downpours from time to time. in the 30s in east anglia and just shy of 30 in london. for many of us it is the mid and high 20s. staying pleasantly fresh in belfast at 21 degrees. this is bbc news. the headlines... it's the hottest day of the year so far — hitting a scorching 35 degrees at heathrow — but mps warn that heatwaves could become the new normal in the uk — and kill thousands every year. medicinal cannabis is to be legalised on prescription in the uk. it follows the high—profile cases of children with severe epilepsy being denied access to cannabis oil. after the death of a woman killed on a speedboat on the river thames on herfirst date — a man is found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. good evening.

it was a trouble—free day for gerraint thomas in the tour de france. he protected his lead on the 18th stage and it's stil a healthy one of 1:59 and it's a good job for the welshman, with a mountainous final test for him tomorrow. nick parrott reports. after a ha rd after a hard mountain stage yesterday, this was a chance for true leader geraint thomas to co nse rve true leader geraint thomas to conserve his energy ahead of another big challenge tomorrow. the flat 106 mile stage to southern france should have been trouble—free for the main contenders. while the train did not pose a challenge in a large group of riders it is always hazardous. after winning yesterday's stage, he was brought back down to earth. running repairs brought back down to earth. running re pa i rs allowed brought back down to earth. running repairs allowed him to join the brought back down to earth. running repairs allowed him tojoin the main group but 30 riders have failed to

make it this far. the colombian who is fifth overall will be hoping his injuries don't end his race. at the sharp end, this french rider won the battle of the sprinters to take the stage victory. thomas crossed the line shortly after. they say the probability of winning the tour rest with geraint thomas as tomorrow's mountain stage will be chris froome's last chance to get back into contention. the former manchester united manager, sir alex ferguson says he would "not be here today", without the "great care" of hospital staff after his surgery for a brain haemorrhage in may. sir alex has spoken publicly for the first time since going home from hospital in a video on social media, released by manchester united, and he thanked all his well—wishers. just a quick message first of all to thank the medical staff at macclesfield salford royal and alexander hospitals. those people

gave me such great care and i wouldn't be sitting here today. thank you from me and my family. thank you from me and my family. thank you from me and my family. thank you very much. it has made me feel so humble as all the messages i have had from all over the world wishing me the best and the good wishes do resonate very strongly with me. thank you for that support you have given me. lastly, i will be back later in the season to watch the team and in the meantime, all of the team and in the meantime, all of the best to joe ‘s the team and in the meantime, all of the best tojoe ‘s a and the you very much. adil rashid has been picked for england's squad for the first test against india next wednesday, despite opting out of the longer form of cricket, with his county yorkshire, to focus on one—day and twenty20 matches. rashid hasn't played a test, since facing india in 2016. former england captain michael vaughan, called the decision to include rashid ridiculous. and yorkshire's chief executive, mark arthur, said he hopes england,

know what they're doing to adil, and the county game. but national selector ed smith, denies rashid's selection, sets a bad precedent. moving forward, it will not be the case that you can adjust to say i don't want to play championship cricket or test cricket. adil rashid understands that and is in no doubt about england's position on that. he knows that next year he will have to have a rebel contract if he wishes to be eligible for selection in test cricket. ireland have guaranteed their place in the quarter=finals of the women's hockey world cup, with a shock victory over india. they secured a 1—0 win, thanks to anna o'flanagan's deflected effort. the result means ireland — who are competing in their first world cup in 16 years — will top pool b. that means england cannot now qualify automatically, for the last eight. england face ireland this sunday to determine where they will finish in the group. england rugby union full back ben foden, has signed a deal to become, player/coach at new york—based, rugby united, who arejoining

major league rugby next season. foden, who won 32 england caps between 2009 and 2013, is the highest—profile englishman to play in the states. he's said rugby in america, "is there is be cracked." we'll have more for you in sportsday at 6:30pm. let's return to our top story — the news that the british heatwave has brought the hottest day of the year so far. 35 celsius at heathrow was a record there. so is our planet getting hotter? and if so, why? more and more scientists are now saying there's a closer link between carbon emissions and rising temperatures around the world. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. dancing queen plays the last time it was so hot in britain for so long was during the long summer of 1976.

the country went wild and abba was in the charts. there were droughts, thousands had their water cut off and people had to collect their supplies in buckets from standpipes. this was the temperature map at the time, the heatwave in red localised to parts of europe, the us and russia. now look at this year. it's all across the northern hemisphere, where it is summer. scientists have been studying whether there is a link to climate change. they feel they have now the answer. absolutely, yes. perhaps 15 or 20 years ago, we would have said it was possible but we can't say whether a particular weather event can be ascribed to climate change, but now it is much clearer that we can and with quite a lot of confidence say that something like an extreme weather event is linked to climate change or it would be unlikely to have happened without it.

this is how the averagejune afternoon temperatures have been rising in britain since 1900. the trend is likely to continue, according to computer modelling. for decades, scientists have predicted that heatwaves like the one we are having will become more commonplace. it seems that is now happening, according to their research, and their projections indicate they will last longer, become hotter and occur more often. in recent years there have been forest fires in california and southern australia which has suffered its worst heatwave in a hundred years. researchers at oxford university have been assessing the impact climate change has had in europe. we have a very strong increase in heatwaves in the mediterranean. it is not that strong in northern europe but there is also an increase and last year we looked at heatwaves injune and found there was a four

times increase in belgium and the netherlands. for many, the crazy summer of ‘76 is a fond memory from a bygone age but climate scientists believe these conditions are likely to become the norm rather than the exception. earlier, a group of mps warned there could be 7,000 heat related deaths every year in the uk by 2050, if the government doesn't act quickly. so how should we prepare for longer, dryer, hotter summers? professor richard dawson from newcastle university has been looking at how our towns and cities should adapt to sustained spells of extreme weather — hejoins me now. what do you think we do need to do asa what do you think we do need to do as a country then? we have heard this dire warning of potentially up

to 7000 deaths a year by 2050.|j this dire warning of potentially up to 7000 deaths a year by 2050. i am very supportive of the environmental audit committee's recommendation to change our building regulations so that we are designing new buildings to be fit for habitation and working, especially hospitals, schools, where some of our most vulnerable people are based. at these sort of temperatures that is important. does that mean designing them how? what sort of things should they incorporate which are not being incorporated at the moment into buildings? well, there are a number of techniques, passive ventilation whereby we improve the cooling and moving of cool air around buildings to keep them cool, keep them more habitable and pleasant places to be. or indeed at its most extreme, we sometimes need to install air conditioning as well. that it obviously comes at a cost of energy

and pounds two fuel it. as you say, air conditioning is expensive, should existing buildings have air conditioning? we have heard about the nurses in hospitals becoming dizzy and a lot of people in the workplace finding it really hard at the moment. i think we need to look at our building stock and seriously consider retrofitting those buildings, especially hospitals and places where we have lots of vulnerable people who are particularly susceptible to extreme heat. and we need to do what is right to actually protect people who are working in them. some people say that that sounds good but it will be very expensive. elizabeth like when we have very cold weather conditions and a big freeze, everybody says we need to do something as a country to improve our transport links and so on in cold weather. but it is an unusual situation. do you believe that heatwaves like the one we are having now are not going to be unusual in the future? certainly all

the projections that i have seen are pointing towards that, that we expect an more heatwaves, more intense, higher temperatures more frequently. especially in the southern uk and your earlier report says southern europe as well. we talked about buildings, what about transport? because right now people will be in the rush—hour heading home on trains and so on, the underground. it can be absolutely unbearable, counted ? how underground. it can be absolutely unbearable, counted? how do you improve transport do you think in terms of this hot weather? absolutely, again, we need to improve the quality of the rolling stock but also one of the other challenges is to make sure that the roads, the railway tracks, they are more resilient, designed to cope and operate in these higher temperatures. it is bad enough, as you say, being in a hot welter in carriage but if the train has you trundle along at half the speed

because there is a risk of potential buckles or kinks in the line, that makes it even more unpleasant and a more stressful journey. makes it even more unpleasant and a more stressfuljourney. it has a significant impact on the productivity of our economy. just briefly, our other european countries, would you say the doing better on this? i suppose i am about countries with similar temperatures and similar weather conditions as the uk. are they better prepared for a heatwave than us? i think some are more used to having hot weather. in some senses a heatwave is relative. so it is that relative increase that we are not used to. if you go to the mediterranean towns and cities, you will see quite different streets. the buildings are often a lot whiter and there are often far more shaded spaces. they are designing those urban areas to be more resilient to

that sort of hot weather. but if it gets hotter there still, again, a lot of our work has shown they might become challenged in terms of the increase in heatwaves there. very interesting to talk to you. thank you for being with us. the greek defence minister says his country's wildfire disaster was made worse by local residents. he claims they built properties illegally, blocking off potential escape routes. the wildfires, near athens, have killed more than 80 people. gavin lee reports. three days after the wildfires, the search for dozens of missing people continues in the coastal village of mati, the most devastated area. without power, crews are working with emergency generators, checking house—to—house. this morning, greece's defence minister arrived in mati to inspect the damage and was met by dozens of residents who shouted that help had come too slowly and that many of the deaths

could have been prevented. there is deep anger and criticism from the survivors levelled at the government about how so many similar people, hundreds, were on this beach and forced into the water for seven hours, and some of them drowned. but there is a deeper anger about what happened in the cliff edges, where many of the 81 people lost their lives, because they did not have an escape route. the defence minister told me that the government rejects the accusations of being slow to act and said some of the blame should be placed on the residents themselves. this is a crime from the past, because in mati, and in this coast of athens, all of these properties, the majority, is without licence. and they have occupied the coast without rules. the difficulties are clear from looking at the cliff face, and many would have had to escape

in the dark, as the smoke rose higher. this resident tells me she left her gates open as an escape route. so basically the people who were here who could not get out, they went into your property, and people escaped this way? yes, many people have passed through this path to find a way of... and managed to make it. managed to save themselves. some residents are returning here, examining their devastated homes for the first time. authorities warn that it will be a long and slow recovery effort to return this area to some normality. gavin lee, bbc news, mati in greece. a high courtjudge has refused to give the bbc the go ahead to challenge his ruling in the cliff richard privacy case at the court of appeal. mrjustice mann ruled in sir cliff's favour last week, awarding him more than

£200,000 in damages. the bbc still has the option of asking a court of appealjudge to consider the case. our correspondent helena lee has been following proceedings. the judge earlier run here today refused the bbc permission to appeal his judgment last week. sir cliff richard won his privacy case against the bbc. the corporation came here to argue that it wanted to appeal against thejudgment. the judge said that he dismissed the bbc‘s grounds for appeal and he described them, just to use a couple of words, he described a couple of words in court today as wrong, irrelevant and meaningless with no prospect of success. he also touched on the bbc‘s argument that this is going to change the way in which the media can report on the early stages of an investigation. and, in court today, thejudge said his originaljudgment did not create a blanket ban on reporting on police investigations. he did not, he said,

intend it to have a chilling effect on journalism. what happens next is the bbc can decide now whether they are going to take this any further. they can go to a judge at the court of appeal and seek permission that way. we have had a statement from the bbc saying that this is a complex case and while they hadn't decided on whether to pursue an appeal, they had sought permission today in order to keep all options open. they have 21 days in which they have to submit an application, if that is the way they want to go. and, just on another point, costs were discussed today in court. to put it very simply, the bbc at the moment has a bill of around £1.5 million. that is to play sir cliff's legal fees and also that is money toward legal costs for south yorkshire police. we expect that figure though to rise significantly. the european union has cast further

doubt on the prime minister's plans for post—brexit trading arrangements — by ruling out allowing the uk to collect customs duties on its behalf. speaking in brussels, after a meeting with the brexit secretary dominic raab — the eu's lead negotiator. michel barnier said maintaining control of laws, money and borders didn'tjust apply to the uk. adam fleming is in brussels for us. you were listening to that. a debut performance by dominic raab alongside michel barnier. what they have to say? first of all there was a bit of good news from both sides and that is they have made some strides forward in terms of post—brexit corporation on security. on sharing things like fingerprints, dna profiles and passenger name

records for people who get flights between the uk and eu. that is something that is the uk has wanted to get a move on with and thought that there was a good case forjust getting that stuff sorted as soon as possible. it seemed that big strides have been made in that direction. here is the bad news and it is about the idea of the backstop to afford these might avoid a hard border between northern ireland and ireland. that was about something being written into the brexit treaty, being stored up in case the future relationship discussions about the trade deal did not come up with a solution for a hard border. they have this in the draw as a back—up plan for what would happen. there have been massive disagreements between the eu and the ukfor disagreements between the eu and the uk for how that would work. the disagreement this week focused on how the issue of customs for good would be handled. the uk has put forward various, quite compensated proposals about the uk collecting eu and uk tariffs at its borders and

simultaneously. and then making sure that companies pay the right amount of money based on where those goods went and also that the eu got the revenue it was due from products that came to the uk and then went to the eu. it was pretty, dated. he is what michel barnier have to say about the uk's proposals. he sounds pretty lu kewa rm. we both want an ambitious free—trade agreement. in march, eu leaders proposed an unprecedented free—trade agreement. another area of convergence between the eu and the uk is the need for ambitious customs arrangements. we are also both committed to a level playing field between our economies. but, to be frank, we are not at the end of the road yet. there are major issues to be discussed and questions to be answered. so whether that means that the uk

needs to go back to the drawing board or whether they can address those concerns in michelle barnier‘s by tweaking them slightly remains to be seen. for dominic raab, that was his first appearance at the podium during a press conference here in brussels. he was here last week for a round of brexit talks but this was the first time we saw him stood next to michel barnier taking questions from journalists. one of the questions was about a comment he made a couple of days ago about whether the brexit bill, the uk's financial obligations, would be paid whatever or whether it would only be paid if the uk got a trade deal but it was happy with at the end of all of this. he is what dominic raab have to say. we have been clear, as the eu has, there will be no deal until we do the whole deal. there are various different aspects, the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration. it is a package as a whole. we had a good

destructive the exact constructive conversation today about how we get that link between those two key areas on the future framework. that link between those two key areas on the future frameworklj will areas on the future framework.” will be brutally honest, i added brexit expert and even i was bamboozled by that conference. there we re bamboozled by that conference. there were quite nuanced phrases and different ideas flying backwards and forwards. my advice is wait until the next round of brexit talks which are scheduled for mid august, the middle of the summer holidays. let's see if they make some progress them or if the things that michel barnier was hinting at, particularly about customs in northern ireland today, whether they could prove fatal to the whole process. you? bamboozled? i don't believe it! the oldest surviving female pilot who flew in the second world war has died at the age of 101. mary ellis joined the air transport auxiliary in 19a1 and spent the war flying 76 different types of plane — delivering them for the front line. ben ando has been looking back at her extraordinary life.

back in april, mary ellis was invited to biggin hill to celebrate the centenary of the raf, an organisation she predated by one year. enjoying the fly—past of a hurricane and a pair of spitfires. during world war ii, she had served in the air transport auxiliary or ata. herjob was to fly spitfires, wellingtons and dozens of other aircraft types from the factories where they were made to the airfields where they were needed. initially, the female pilots were restricted to flying trainers and transport planes but it wasn't long before they were tasked with flying fighters and bombers too. as she remembered in a bbc interview, on one occasion the ground crew simply refused to believe a woman had just delivered their brand—new wellington bomber. i said, "i am the pilot." and they didn't believe me.

and they actually went in the aeroplane and searched it to find the pilot and they came back and said, "there's nobody there! "you must be!" the female ata pilots were also the first women to receive from the british government the same pay as men for doing the same job. on twitter, former airman john nichol described her as a truly remarkable lady, noting that among the 76 different aircraft types she flew, a00 were spitfires. after the war was over, mary lived on the isle of wight where she managed sandown airport for 20 years. but it was in the sky that she'd made her mark and where she would say later she had always felt truly free. up in the air, on your own and you can do whatever you like. you know, iflew a00 spitfires and occasionally i would take one up and go and play with the clouds. it was so delightful and lovely.

i can't tell you how wonderful it was. mary ellis, who has died at the age of 101. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz with the forecast. the heatwave goes on. absolutely, and it believes that we are still in for another hot day tara. today's top temperature was actually 35 celsius. it was 35 at heathrow airport in the middle of the afternoon. it is still very hot out there and those temperatures will continue to remain very high over the next 2a hours, both by night and by day. the hot air still coming in from the south so tomorrow it is increasingly that extreme south and south—east of the country that will have it. this area of low pressure from the atlantic will be sending weather systems in our direction and

weather systems in our direction and we will start to see eventually things cooling off. in the short—term, this is the temperature at 6pm. still in the mid—30s there in london, for many of us it is the high 20s. a much pressure 21 there in belfast. we have seen some vicious than the storms across parts of the midlands, lincolnshire as well. these are the temperatures at around 11pm. still 27 in london and 20 in newcastle. it was extreme in the south—east and east anglia but the south—east and east anglia but the heat was felt across the midlands and into yorkshire. this is the cool air that is in place across the cool air that is in place across the atlantic and it is heading in our direction. it is slow to progress but we are starting to see the weather fronts pushing progress but we are starting to see the weatherfronts pushing into progress but we are starting to see the weather fronts pushing into the uk by the time we get to friday. i had of that, we will see shah was breaking out, possibly some thunderstorms and downpours in one or two places. sunshine around too. 29 or30, into or two places. sunshine around too. 29 or 30, into the low 30s in east anglia. it could hit the low 30s

tomorrow. by the time we are in the two saturday, the atlantic winds win. they will be sunshine and showers. quite breezy around the coasts. temperatures in london will get up to around 25 degrees. in the midlands below will be in the mid—20s and a lot fresher at the further north you go. here is the picture for sunday. the winds are really coming the ocean now. we have a very unsettled picture across western areas with clouds moving through very quickly, bringing in showers and gusty winds around the coasts. some showers expected to break out further east. those temperatures by sunday are really back down to where they should be. we are talking around the low to mid 20s at the most. look at that in the north, around 20 degrees also. yes, still hot tomorrow for a time but then things will be cooling off over then things will be cooling off over the weekend. it's official, it's the hottest day

of the year, with temperatures in the capital hitting 35 degrees celsius. trying to keep cool, as britain basks in high mediterranean temperatures. for many, it's been travel misery, with delays of at least four hours in the channel tunnel because of the ‘unprecedented heat‘. warnings to the elderly and vulnerable continue — the nhs says there's extra pressure on services. the wreck, crown the uk's all—time temperature record could be broken tomorrow, but forecasters also warn of thunderstorms and possible flooding. also tonight... medicines derived from cannabis will become available on prescription, says the home secretary. an apology from the head of the scottish football association