hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 2: feeling the heat more extreme weather for parts of the uk and a chance of record—breaking temperatures. there's relief of sorts in store for some as the met office warns of the arrival of storms and heavy rain. travel chaos as roads and rails struggle at the start of one of the busiest weekends of the summer holidays. the custody battle over two young children living in a rural town in china unaware that their british father is dead after being murdered by their chinese mother. we will go anywhere to fly them and see them. the brother has said, no, you cannot see them. yes, so far so good for geraint thomas as he leads the tour. he began stage 19 with the lead of 1.59. we will have a look at what he

is facing at half past two. thank you very much. thomas, that looks dramatic! yes, storms on the way. an amber warning is in force for the met office for part of east anglia and lincolnshire and be prepared for dramatic weather. heavy downpours, hail, high winds. thomas, and will taught you about that in more detail later. what are you doing at nine o'clock tonight? if you look to the sky and it's clear, you could be treated to the longest "blood moon" lunar eclipse of the 21st century. hello, this is afternoon live. the heatwave is causing disruption for commuters and holiday makers at the start of the summer getaway. trains have been cancelled across yorkshire because of lightning strikes, eurotunnel has cancelled

hundreds of day—trip tickets — to try to ease the backlog caused when air conditioning units failed on some carriages. and despite the arrival of storms in parts of the country, the uk'sjuly temperature record could still be broken today. misery for motorists facing hours of delays at eurotunnel in folkestone. for many families, their holidays are getting off to the worst possible start. the hot conditions leaving some hot under the collar on a third day of disruption. after waiting for about two hours in a queue, just to speak to a customer service agent, we have got passengers with special needs, terminal illnesses. and what happened was, they prioritised so that we could get the next train. we were supposed to travel at 20 past nine, but we ended up travelling at ten to three. we had three children

in the car with us. one to five. it was extremely hot, uncomfortable, there were no services available. in total, eventually,, we spent approximately five hours just waiting in queues. there was nowhere to go, there were no refreshments, there were no updates. 12,000 cars are expected at the channel tunnel today and 400 tickets for day trips have been cancelled, as the company concentrates on getting holiday—makers on their way. it's blaming unprecedented high temperatures, saying the air conditioning in some of the trains can't cope, so some carriages are not being used — to save passengers from sweltering. eurotunnel is apologising to passengers, but it says it can't control the weather and, as temperatures have been rising once again, so too have the queues. 0vernight, some passengers said they had to wait seven hours to get on a train. airports too are trying to cope, not only with the heat, but also with massive demand. uk air traffic controllers are expecting their busiest day of the year. we've had a heatwave and, don't

get me wrong, the seaside towns in the uk are thriving. but today, most people will be flying to spain, it's still the number one holiday spot for the british market. really interesting, turkey has really grown for summer 2018. it has been quiet, tour operators took the capacity out, that's the big story this summer, that the brits are happy to go back to turkey and it's doing really well. and just getting to the airport might prove a challenge too. we're expecting a breakdown to happen every four seconds. so, before you get in your car, check your water coolant levels, check your oil levels, check your tyre pressure. make sure you have lots of water in the car. and also, when you travel at slower speeds, if you can handle it, turn your air conditioning off, bring your windows down, let your air circulate in the car and that will alleviate some of the pressure that is probably happening to your engine at the moment. the predicted relief from the heat has already arrived for some. this downpour hit doncaster.

rail services on the east coast mainline and across yorkshire have been disrupted after lightning strikes damaged signalling. more storms are on their way, but the july heat record could still be broken. today, we'ill see temperatures on par with yesterday, up into the mid—30s, but the heat and humidity, they will combine across eastern england. some severe storms possible here. the ground is so dry, as well, that could cause flash flooding. in storms and heat, people are being advised to take care. the search for a teenager who was last seen in the sea near clacton pier, in essex, has resumed. a sign of the dangers the warm weather is bringing with it. simonjones, bbc news, folkestone. rescue teams are searching the lake following report of a 17—year—old going missing after getting into difficulties in the water, warwickshire police have found a body in the blue lagoon last night after the alarm was first raised at 630 pm. after the alarm was first raised at 630 p. m. yesterday. after the alarm was first raised at 630 pm. yesterday. you're watching

afternoon live. 0ur correspondent is in folkestone. in this heat, anyway is miserable, but long waiting. that is right, it is scorching here andi that is right, it is scorching here and i cannot imagine what it must be like being stuck in a car, in a queue. the waiting times are not as bad as they were yesterday when they exceeded six hours, but they stand at around exceeded six hours, but they stand ataround 2.5 exceeded six hours, but they stand at around 2.5 hours, half an hour before check—in, when you are stuck ina car before check—in, when you are stuck in a car hoping you have enough supplies of snacks and water. they have tried to alleviate the delays by putting on extra services overnight as well as asking some people to cancel any unnecessary travel. and also, they have cancelled around 400 same—day tickets. it is ironic, it is one of the busiest weekends of the summer, people trying to get away to find

the sun? well, the sun will be chasing them. it is incredibly sunny here, people do have holiday plans. it is the first weekend of the holidays so we have seen increased death —— traffic in airports, over 8,000 flights, busy on the motorways and busy at the eurotunnel. 12,000 cars expected to pass through here today. thank you very much. a letter from the prince of wales has been read out at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. the inquiry is considering the case of peter ball, a former bishop of lewes, and gloucester, who was convicted of abusing 18 young men. prince charles was in close contact with ball, and it's been claimed he helped to protect him. we will have more on that in a moment but first, more on that crash in scotland where five people were killed. and 63—year—old man are travelling in an orange nissan also delete died

from their injuries. the 39—year—old female driver sustained serious injuries and is being treated. everyone in the car was local to this area. a white beard minibus carrying italian tourists was also involved in this collision. —— the act. two people, a woman and four—year—old boy, have also died. the male driver, and male passenger, a female passenger and a three—year—old boy who also within the minibus, were taken to hospital with a variety of injuries. the woman is considered to be in a critical condition and is being treated at aberdeen royal infirmary. the little boy sustained minor injuries and is being well cared for. the dreadful scene faced by emergency responders from police, fire and ambulance and the maritime and coastguard agency was both stressful a nd and coastguard agency was both stressful and extremely challenging for everybody involved. i would like

to ta ke for everybody involved. i would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who made valiant attempts to save the passengers lives, their effo rts to save the passengers lives, their efforts cannot be underestimated. i would also like to thank members of the public who came across this terrible incident and phoned emergency services and provided first aid emergency services and provided firstaid and emergency services and provided first aid and comfort. every loss of life on our roads is a tragedy, but to have so many killed in one incident, the impact on their families and friends and community is massive. 0ur families and friends and community is massive. our thoughts are with eve ryo ne is massive. our thoughts are with everyone who has been involved and is affected. an investigation is ongoing into the exact circumstances so ongoing into the exact circumstances so it would be wrong for me to speculate further at this time and i am unable to answer questions relating to what exactly might have happened. i would relating to what exactly might have happened. iwould however ask relating to what exactly might have happened. i would however ask anyone in the area last night who saw either vehicle involved in the lead—up to this incident to please contact police on 101. likewise, if you have camera but each which may assist the investigation, please get

in touch with us, thank you. an update on that horrific collision. let's hear a bit more. ican collision. let's hear a bit more. i can confirm three adult passengers, two women aged 69 and 70 and 63—year—old man, travelling in and 63—year—old man, travelling in an orange nissan x trail sadly died of their injuries. the 39—year—old female driver sustained the —— serious injuries and is being treated and everybody in this car was local to the area. a white fiat minibus which had been carrying italian tourists was also involved in this collision. tragically, two people who are passengers within the vehicle, a woman and a four—year—old boy, have also died. a male driver, a male passenger, female passenger and three—year—old boy who also within this minibus, were taken to hospital with a variety of injuries and the woman is considered to be a

critical condition and is being treated at aberdeen royal infirmary. the little boy sustained minor injuries and is being well cared for. that was the bit we missed the beginning of the news conference so tragic news from scotland. and this was the a 96, on the road to hu ntley. was the a 96, on the road to huntley. it happened at 20 to 11 last night. and as we were hearing, italian tourists in one of those vehicles and two died, a four—year—old boy and a woman. and three others also killed, two men, sorry, one man aged 63 and two women aged 69 and 70, died as a result of this collision. last night. that is the latest from police. two in hospital, at least, with serious injuries. we will keep you updated with any more from that story. let's

return now to that letter from the prince of wales. the inquiry is considering the case of peter ball, a former bishop of lewes, and gloucester, who was convicted of abusing 18 young men. prince charles was in close contact with ball, and it's been claimed he helped to protect him. but in the letter, read by counsel to the inquiry, prince charles says he was misled by ball, who told him he was a victim of a vendetta. jon donnison reports. peter ball was a senior and powerful figure within the church of england for decades. but in 2015, the former bishop of lewis and gloucester — seen here on the left with his twin brother — was jailed for 32 months for sexually abusing teenagers and young men. he'd been cautioned by police more than ten years earlier, and resigned his position. this inquiry is addressing allegations of an establishment cover—up. a cover—up that allegedly involved the church, senior figures in the judiciary, and even the royal family. peter ball claimed to be a close

friend of prince charles. today, the inquiry was read extracts from letters that the prince of wales sent peter ball, written in the 1990s, after he had been cautioned. this is what the prince wrote to peter ball in february, 1995. i wish i could do more. i feel desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs done to you and the way you have been treated. the inquiry also heard about a house that prince charles' estate had bought and rented to peter ball and his brother after he had been cautioned by police. the inquiry heard extracts from a letter the prince had written to peter ball talking about that transaction, negotiated by a figure known only as x. "i'm so glad x has been in touch, as i requested. i pray the duchy will be able to find something suitable

for you in due course, but it may take a little time to locate it. i long to see you both settled somewhere that suits you and gives you peace and tranquillity." prince charles was out and about in norfolk today. in a letter submitted to the inquiry, he admitted he had occasionally sent peter ball and his brother small gifts of money, but that the details of the house rental were handled by the duchy estate. he said he was aware of the transaction, but didn't select the house. the prince stressed that at no point had he sought to influence the police investigations into peter ball or encouraged his staff to do so. peter ball was released from prison in 2017, after serving 16 months. jon donnison, bbc news. the prince of wales is firmly saying that he was misled. yes, and what we heard from the prince of wales in this letter submitted to the inquiry was that he says he was not aware of the full

extent of the complaints and allegations against peter ball until peter ball's trial and conviction in 2015. he says when he sent those historical letters in the 1990s, he was not aware that peter ball had been cautioned by police. we put that point to one of the lawyers representing some of the victims and he said that that simply would not sit very well with them, given that the prince of wales should have access to the finest legal minds in the country. prince charles did say, in conclusion of his letter, that throughout his life, his position had occasionally brought him into contact with prominent people, who subsequently had been accused of serious wrongdoings. he said rather than rushing to judgment, serious wrongdoings. he said rather than rushing tojudgment, he had a lwa ys than rushing tojudgment, he had always taken the view that the judicial process should take its course. he added that his heart goes out to the victims of abuse and he applauded their courage, in their effo rts applauded their courage, in their efforts to rebuild their lives.

where are we with this inquiry, what we expect to happen next? well, this is an incredibly lengthy inquiry and this isjust well, this is an incredibly lengthy inquiry and this is just one well, this is an incredibly lengthy inquiry and this isjust one part well, this is an incredibly lengthy inquiry and this is just one part of it. we had been looking at the case of peter ball this week and that will conclude today. we have closing remarks this afternoon. but this case, this inquiry in general, much broader and that could go on for months, if not years, i think. thank you very much. you're watching afternoon live. these are our headlines: more extreme weather for parts of the uk and a chance of record—breaking temperatures. relief for some as the met office warns the arrival of storms and heavy rain and j. arrival of storms and heavy rain and j. travel chaos as roads and rail services struggle in one of the busiest weekends of the summer holidays. and sport, so far so good for welsh rider geraint thomas as he takes on the last mountain stage at this

yea r‘s the last mountain stage at this year's tour de france. starting with a lead of one minute and 59 seconds as he chases his first tour title. daniel ricciardo is fastest and best practice at the hungarian grand prix with lewis hamilton in fifth, second practice is under way. and we —— with lewis hamilton in fifth, second practice is under way. and we -- qpr have been buying 42 moon pounds and cannot make transfers in the january window after they lost a claim against financialfair window after they lost a claim against financial fair play —— have been fined £42 million. more on those stories. the foreign secretary has been asked to intervene in a custody case involving two children living in china, whose british father was murdered by their chinese mother. the family of michael simpson want jeremy hunt to appeal to chinese officials when he visits the country next week, as katharine da costa reports. seven—year—old jack and six—year—old alice are at the centre of an international custody battle. their british father, michael, was stabbed to death in his shanghai apartment in march last year

by his estranged chinese wife. she is serving a life sentence for murder. since their father's death, jack and alice have lived with their chinese grandparents, unaware of what has happened to their parents. but their english grandfather wants to raise them back in the uk and is fighting for them to be brought back here, which he says is what his sone michael desperately would have wanted. michael raised them very much in a western style and they spent two visits a year over here, they speak english — it's suffering a bit of a moment, for obvious reasons. they've travelled in spain and thailand with our family. when they were talking about a divorce, and weiwei was happy the children would go with michael, because he was the real carer.

so that is where they should be. the foreign and commonwealth office said, "we are supporting the british relatives of michael simpson at this difficult time. we helped the simpson family visit their grandchildren earlier this year and remain in contact with the children's chinese relatives and the local authorities regarding this case." 0ur argument is they are both british citizens. jack has a chinese passport, but alice has no documentation, which means she cannot go to school over there because she needs an id card to do that. mr simpson says his daughter—in—law‘s family are demanding tens of thousands of pounds in exchange for the children. he thinks political intervention is needed and hopes with the backing of the british government, and the new foreign secretary, they can be reunited by the autumn. a man found guilty of killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the river thames during their first date has been sentenced to six years in prison.

jack shepherd, who's 30, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence yesterday. charlotte brown, who was 24, was thrown overboard from the boat, which had a series of defects, in december 2015. police have issued a warrant for shepherd's arrest, because he had skipped bail and didn't attend his trial at the old bailey. a six—year—old boy has died from what is believed to be a pellet gun injury. police were called to sproatley, in east yorkshire, yesterday afternoon, following reports that a boy had been seriously injured — he died later at hull royal infirmary. police say they're looking into the circumstances and their investigation is at an early stage. tributes have been paid to ellie soutter, who died on the 18th birthday. she won a bronze medalfor great britain at the youth 0lympics winter festival and carried the british flag at the closing ceremony. herfather tony british flag at the closing ceremony. herfathertony said british flag at the closing ceremony. herfather tony said he was so ceremony. herfather tony said he was so proud of the beautiful young woman she had turned into. skywatchers will be treated

to the longest lunar eclipse this century, this evening. the phenomenon known as a ‘blood moon' occurs when the earth comes between the sun and the moon, causing the moon to turn a reddish brown colour. the eclipse will be visible in the uk, clouds permitting, between 9pm and 10:15 this evening. 0ur science correspondent, victoria gill, has more. 0ur familiar satellite heading into our own planet's shadow. tonight, as it rises over the uk at 9pm, the moon will be turned blood red, as the earth passes between it and the sun. this particular lunar eclipse, or ‘blood moon' as it's known, will be the longest this century, lasting for one hour and 43 minutes. you need to be able to have a clear south—eastern horizon as the moon comes up, so we'll see low down to the south—east. and as it rises, you'll see it more and more clearly, and then the eclipse finishes about quarter past ten.

it's just lit by the light filtered through the earth's atmosphere, which is why it looks this sort of dusky red. at the same time, our solar system neighbour, mars, will reach the nearest point to earth possible in its own journey around the sun. where they're at their nearest point to each other, it's known as a close approach of mars. the minimum distance is 54.6 million kilometres. but that does significantly improve our view of the red planet. so, clouds permitting, there could be a celestial show tonight, with a brighter red planet in the same sky as a blood—red moon. victoria gill, bbc news. that is the latest on tonight. between nine o'clock and 10:15pm is the time that people are being advised to go outside and look towards the south east. just to update you on the story from scotland. by people have been

killed. a minibus and 4x4 crashed on the a96 in moray. people have been giving more details of the victims. two who died were italian tourists. 0ne two who died were italian tourists. one of them, a four—year—old boy. in the transit van, three people were killed, two women aged 69 and 70, and a man aged 63. you are watching afternoon live. now, let's talk more about what is happening tonight and the lunar moon tonight, what is it about? doctor sarah crowther is from the university of manchester and she can shed light on the science, it will look spectacular, explain why it is happening. good afternoon, as the clip said, a lunar eclipse occurs when the earth is between the sun and the moon, so the earth is in the shadow. most of the earth is in the shadow. most of the light from the sun cannot get to the light from the sun cannot get to the moon and the reason it looks red is because a bit of the light

bounces round the earth's atmosphere to get to the moon so it cannot take a direct path but bounces around to reach the moon and it is the red that reaches the moon. the blue bounces off in a different direction and they don't reach the moon. this is unusual tonight because of the length of it. yes, it is the longest this century, i believe. the reason it is so long is that the moon is passing through the widest pa rt moon is passing through the widest part of the earth's shadow whereas often come up with a lunar eclipse, the moon is passing through a smaller path through the earth's shadow. you could see something 0range shadow. you could see something orange and you are probably a lot —— looking at mars. moss will be the closest to earth it has been for around 15 years. -- mars. how big a deal is it, you having a special party? no, thunderstorms had been forecast in manchester so we have to wait and see! that is the irony, weeks of nothing in the sky and the

one evening he wanted it to be clear and you have problems. in terms of the science, could you learn something from the moon because it is so close relatively than usual? it gives people a good chance to look at the moon and you should be able to see it with the naked eye but if you have binoculars or a telescope, you can get a fantastic view of it. our researchers looking at samples of the moon or other tech —— extraterrestrials materials and we analyse them in the lab. what last bit of research made you go, oh? i have looked at samples from the martian meteorite which is very interesting. we had breaking news from mars the other day they found water, was that a surprise to you? yes, it did. there is water in the ice caps and evidence there has been water on mars in the past, we can see riverbeds and things. but if they have found liquid water, that is quite an impressive discovery. yes, it means there could be life?

who knows? you talk about the lunar moon and we are talking about life on mars. thank you very much. let's catch up with that weather now. you are ruining it for some people who wa nt to are ruining it for some people who want to look at the moon, but the warning says it all, some people will get really heavy rain. storm swept across northern england and we saw dramatic footage earlier. a road with high winds and flowers. it was a shopping area and it was a flower sharp. but is it, that is what i was trying to stay. i think it was darlington. we could see scenes like this, it hasn't started yet, but the met office thinks it is an area around the east midlands. sorry, east anglia. the east midlands and into lincolnshire. places like ipswich, cambridge, lincoln, those areas could see by

woods storms. everybody‘s saying, great, my garden fears have been solved, but there is a danger it could run off? yes, the ground is so hard, you don't want a lot of rainfall in a short space of time because it runs off and floods, we want something more persistent and lighter. but you can't have it all! 0h, can't have it all! oh, dear, you are having a bad day! so what is in store? let's move from the warning and let's see what is happening. this weather system is what is responsible for bringing that big, big massive change to the weather over the next 24 hours. look what is happening ahead of the weather front. the winds coming out of the continent. and in the netherlands, they could see record—breaking temperatures. currently reaching 34 degrees in east anglia. they could nudge up a bit more, depending on how quickly storms form. norwich could be 33, just over 31 in london.

towards the west, we are seeing changes so the weather front marching in off the atlantic and ahead of it, storms of our own are developing. lots of things at play. it isa developing. lots of things at play. it is a very complicated picture right now. on this lunar eclipse, the best chance is probably across central parts of the uk. maybe the central midlands, possibly central southern england, between nine o'clock and ten o'clock. where is the stump to the country are likely to be pretty cloudy with thunder and lightning and rain during that time. simon was saying, we have had the clear skies for so long, it was dry, and on that one night where we really would like to be clear if you are an enthusiast, it is not. it is clearly overcast here, a lot of rain around eastern areas. this is basically the beginning tonight of fresh air starting to come in. this

coming night, pretty warm and muggy in eastern areas, 18 or 19 degrees. a very warm start to the morning, but these oceanic winds will just race in and it will feel so much cooler across the south—eastern areas because this is where the biggest temperature drop is going to happen by 10 degrees or more. whereas towards the west and even a bit cool, 16 degrees in belfast. we have talked about the rain and russia are, but it is also the wind that will pick up. so for any holiday—makers this weekend, cornwall, devon, around wales, it is going to be blowing a gale. 40, 50 mph. i don't know what the threshold is for tents to lift from the ground, but if you have gone for brea kfast, ground, but if you have gone for breakfast, i don't know, it might be a mile down the road. very windy towards the south—west. and look at

those temperatures, backgrounds of low 20s. so changes on the way. this is bbc news our latest headlines. forecasters say the temprature could yet reach a record high forjuly. yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far with the mercury reaching 35 at london heathrow. but the heatwave could be coming to an end as the met office warns of intense storms across parts of england and scotland later today and into saturday. flooding could cause a danger to life. the extreme hot weather is causing disruption for commuters and holiday makers at the start of the summer getaway. eurotunnel suffered long delays as some carriages had to be taken out of service because of problems with the air conditioning. the foreign secretary is being urged to intervene over a custody battle over to young children living in a rural town in china. they are

unaware their british father is dead after being murdered by their chinese mother. sport now on afternoon live with azi farni. geraint thomas isn't far off. he is leading the way at the tour de france after a relatively easy flat stage yesterday. geraint thomas and the other riders are facing one of the hardest stages of the tour today. stage 19 is a tough mountainous stage, in the pyrenees in the south west of france. 125 miles from lourdes, to laruns, that's the equivalent of riding from cardiff to birmingham. but just look at the mountains in the way. those three major peaks are much higher than ben nevis in scotland... in the last couple of minutes, they have just reached the top of the one in the middle, the col de tourmalet, which is nearly double the size of the scottish mountain. a lot of tough riding for them today. what are his prospects? it's so far so good for geraint thomas.

there's two days of racing to go before the final ceremonial stage in paris. this morning, the welshman had a lead of one minute and 59 seconds over tom dumoulin — and at the moment they're both riding in the same group, so no change there. team sky have said that thomas will have the support of the man who's third in the overall standings. the defending champion, chris froome, is riding today to help thomas — and team sky — defend that yellow jersey. queens park rangers have been fined almost £42 million and won't be able to make any transfers in the january window after a football league arbitration panel dismissed their claims that football's financial fair play rules are unlawful. the championship club's case relates to breaking spending limits on their way to winning promotion to the premier league in 2014. it's believed the efl will let them settle the fine over 10 years. wolves goalkeeper carl ikeme has announced his retirement from football.

the 32—year—old's decision came following advice from with medical experts following his year—long battle with leukaemia. ikeme announced last month he's in complete remission. he made more than 200 appearances for wolves afterjoining the club as a 14—year—old. the long awaited world boxing super series super—middleweight final between george groves and callum smith will take place in saudi arabia on the 28th of september. the fight was due to be held injune but it was delayed after groves suffered a shoulder injury in his victory over chris eubankjr back in february. he'll defend his wba world title against the unbeaten smith at the king abdullah sports city in jeddah. that's all the sport for now. we can surely what is happening in the united states. we will hear from president trump. we havejust had

economy figures in the united states showing growth accelerating in the second quarter of the year at an annualised rate of 4.1%. that's the fastest seen since the third quarter of 2014. donald trump had tweeted about this... unusually. he said earlier this week that the us has the best financial numbers on the planet. these figures do not match that promise completely, although they are encouraging and we are awaiting a news conference where president trump will give more details of the us economy and those figures. looking fairly imminent. we will return to the white house as soon as will return to the white house as soon as he goes to the podium. when the government announced the part privatisation of the probation service in england and wales in 2015 it hoped it would lead to a reduction in reoffending but now the justice secretary is scrapping a number of contracts after they are not delivering the benefits as promised. the decision will cost £170 million.

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. lunch, shortly to be served at this 0ldham community centre. but back in the kitchen, the staff are also serving sentences. this is community payback. you have criminals working for you here. is that a bit odd? what do you think of it? it's great, to be quite honest. yeah, it is. we're happy with them. they don't ask us questions and we don't ask them. i have been sent here because of benefit fraud. it is payback, isn't it? it is unpaid. the fact i've been placed here, it's an amazing place. when you have been convicted with something you have to do your time and it's the best way you can do it. this is privatised probation run by a community rehabilitation company. the government's big idea three years ago to cut reoffending, transform the service and introduce

investment and innovation. it has allowsed us to work more flexibly, work out in the community rather than sit behind a desk or in interview rooms, which sometimes are not the nicest places to meet service users. but private provision has run into trouble, in particular financial trouble. these companies are paid for each offender they persuaded not to reoffend. but the courts have been sending fewer of them, partly because judges and magistrates are not certain if these sorts of schemes work. yes, the number of people heading back into prison has fallen by 2%. but reoffenders are reoffending more frequently. and partial privatisation caused upheaval in the probation service, as well as serious questions about standards. the clear majority of these companies are operating at a significant loss. it cannot be right that, as a country, we rely on private providers to operate at a loss to deliver critical services, because those services will be pared down because of that. so the government is having a rethink. it is important hat

we have a probation system that helps people rehabilitate. the existing contracts are not working as well as they might do. they are not working as well for us in order to ensure that we can help rehabilitation, so we want to bring those to an end early. we want to improve some of the services in the interim and put in place new contracts which make sure that we get a probation service that is working properly. that will involve directing an additional £170 million into private probation. the changes were the brainchild of then justice secretary chris grayling. in ministerial language, they are now described as ambitious. new contracts will have to be designed. but the government insists there should still be a role for companies in the community trying to steer offenders from committing more crime. tom symonds, bbc news, 0ldham. north korea has returned what is believed to be the remains

of about 50 american soldiers who died during the korean war. the repatriation of those killed in action was a promise made by kim jong—un to president trump during their meeting in singapore earlier this year. the move comes on the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the korean war. laura bicker reports. after nearly 70 years, the fallen soldiers are welcomed home with an honour guard. one by one the small caskets, wrapped in the united nations flag, were carried back onto american soil, a us airbase in south korea. this is just the start of their final journey. next week they will be taken to hawaii to be examined, to check they are the remains of us soldiers. this appears to fulfil a key pledge made by kim jong—un to president trump during the singapore summit. and it comes in the same week as north korea appears to be dismantling one of its main missile launch sites. but what does north

korea want in return? kim jong—un chose his date well to keep his word. today marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice which officially ended the korean war. in north korea, they call it the day of victory. "in tears and rapture, veterans run into the arms of chairman kim," announced state media. mr kim is trying to persuade the world his focus is on building his country's economy rather than building nuclear weapons. some doubt his sincerity. president trump, however, will see this as a promise kept, and publicly thanked him in a tweet. "after so many years this will be a great moment for so many families. thank you to kim jong—un," he said. in seoul, korean war veterans from around the world gathered to remember the millions who died. and they hope that at some point peace will one day come to the peninsula.

for the last 30 years we have not seen anything very positive. and i think today we are starting to see a few positive things happening. the return of these remains may breathe new life into a peace process that has seeemed stalled since the singapore summit. the fundamental problem remains. north korea has yet to hand over any of its nuclear weapons. and until it does, the us will still believe it poses a global threat. laura bicker, bbc news, south korea. the search for victims of greece's deadly wildfires is continuing today. there have already been at least 83 people confirmed dead. a full police investigation is underway as authorities say they have serious indications the blaze was the result of arson. meanwhile, a bitter debate has now erupted over who should be held to account over the response to the disaster. james reynolds reports. we will come to that report in a

moment. just looking at pictures from the white house, and if we take you there live it appears president trump is about to emerge to address the nation, following the release of the nation, following the release of the latest official figures on us economy growth. 4.1% is the figure. he has already tweeted today saying, great figures on gdp. he's emerging with his economic team and we can expect to hear from the president shortly. this is the fastest rate of economic growth since the third quarter of 2014, boosted by consumer spending and farmers bringing forward exports of soybeans to china to be in position of trade tariffs. some of the details. president trump probably giving a broader explanation for why the us economy is doing so well at the moment. everybody in place, and we will

stick with this, because it's just moments away. exports in united states growing at the fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 2013. on the debit side... this is because a lot of companies wanted to seek to avoid the new tariffs being introduced by the president, tariffs on $34 billion worth of chinese goods from july six. we can hear from president donald trump as he ta kes to from president donald trump as he takes to the podium with the vice president at his side. good morning. moments ago, the numbers for america's economic growth, or gdp, we re america's economic growth, or gdp, were just released. i am thrilled to announce that in a second quarter of this year the united states economy grew at the amazing rate of 4.1%. we are on track to hit the highest

annual average growth rate in over 13 years, and i will say this right now, and say it strongly, as the trade deals come in one by one, we are going to go a lot higher than these numbers, and these are great numbers. during each of the two previous administrations we averaged just over 1.8% gdp growth. by contrast, we are now on track to fit an average gdp annual growth of over 396, an average gdp annual growth of over 3%, and it could be substantially over 3%. each point, 3%, and it could be substantially over3%. each point, by 3%, and it could be substantially over 3%. each point, by the way, means approximately $3 trillion, and 10 millionjobs, think of means approximately $3 trillion, and 10 million jobs, think of that. means approximately $3 trillion, and 10 millionjobs, think of that. each point, you go up one point, it doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot, it's doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot, its $3 trillion, 10 million jobs. if the gamma growth continues at this pace, the the united states at this pace, the the united states a commie will double in size more

than ten years faster than it would have either under president bush or president 0bama. perhaps one of the biggest wins in the report, and it is indeed a big one, is that the trade deficit, very dear to my heart, because we have been ripped off by the world, has dropped by more than $50 billion. 52 billion to be exact. it has dropped by more than 50, think of that. the trade deficit has dropped by more than $50 billion. and that's added and adding one point two gdp. a tremendous drop. we haven't had a drop like that in a long time. you have to go a long time before you find it. by increasing growth to 3% over the next ten years, that would mean 12 million new american jobs and $10

trillion of new american wealth, at least. and that's not including the fa ct least. and that's not including the fact that since i was elected we have created approximately $7 trillion of new wealth. the year before i came into office private business investment group at only 1.8%. last year itjumped to 6.3%. that was my first full year and we had to do a lot of things to get it to grow. this year it is growing at 9.4%, so that's a very tremendous increase. there hasn't been an increase. there hasn't been an increase like that in many, many yea rs, increase like that in many, many years, decades. and i think the most important thing, and larry kudlow just confirmed to me, along with kevin harrison, that these numbers are very, kevin harrison, that these numbers are very, very sustainable. this is not a one—time shot. i happen to think we are going to do extraordinarily well in our next report next quarter. i think it's

going to be outstanding. i won't go too strong, because then if it's not quite as good, you will not let me forget it. but i think the numbers are going to be outstanding. we have accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions. when i came into office, 1.5 million fewer prime age americans were working than eight years before. we had lost almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs under the previous administration, and you all know... they say, you have to lose manufacturing jobs and it'll get worse and worse. manufacturing jobs are obsolete. no, they are not obsolete. they are the greatest jobs we have. they are not obsolete. they are the greatestjobs we have. more than 10 million additional americans had added to food stamps in the past yea rs. added to food stamps in the past years. but we have turned it all around. 0nce years. but we have turned it all around. once again, we are the economic envy of the entire world. when i meet the leaders of countries, what they first say,

invariably, is, mr president, so nice to meet you, and congratulations on your economy. you are leading the entire world. they say it almost each and every time was that america is being respected again and america is winning again because we finally putting america first. everywhere we look we are seeing the effects of the american economic miracle. we have added 3.7 million newjobs since the election. a number that is unthinkable if you go back to the campaign. nobody would have said it, nobody would have even in an optimistic way protected it. we are in the midst of the longest positive job growth street in history. new unemployment claims have recently achieved their lowest level. in almost half a century. the african—american unemployment rate has achieved the

lowest level in recorded history. african—american unemployment is the best it's ever been in the history of our country. the hispanic unemployment rate has reached the lowest level, likewise, in history. the asian unemployment rate has recently reached the lowest level again likewise, in history. women unemployment rate recently reached the lowest level in 65 years, and soon the lowest level in 65 years, and soon that will be in history. give it another two or three weeks. vetera ns it another two or three weeks. veterans unemployment is at its lowest level in 18 years, and that number is rapidly going up. on top of which, wejust number is rapidly going up. on top of which, we just received and won from congress, choice where veterans can go out and see a doctor if they can't get the service they deserve.

unemployment for disabled americans has hit a record low, its lowest in history. more than 3.5 million americans have been lifted off food stamps, something you haven't seen in decades. 3.5 million americans have been lifted off food stamps. that's because they are able to go out and get a job. and they are going to love theirjobs. 95% of american manufacturers are optimistic about their compa ny‘s outlook, and that's the highest level also in history. and that's an old survey, it's been around a long time. manufacturing wages are expected to rise at the fastest rate in over 17 years. business and consumer confidence has reached historic highs. so far this year, american exports are up nearly 20%.

i have only been here a little more than a year i have only been here a little more thana yearand i have only been here a little more than a year and a half. 0ver i have only been here a little more than a year and a half. over the same period in the year before i took office we had become a net exporter of natural gas for the first time since 1957. we have got rid of tremendous amount of regulations, which allows us to do things. and we still have tremendous regulations on clean air, clean water and the environment. that's very important to me and very important to everyone. but we had unnecessary regulations that were hurting the economy and our country. we have eliminated a record number ofjob killing regulations. and with the help of republicans in congress we've passed, without one democrat vote, the biggest tax cuts and reform in our history. as you know, the democrats want to end that and raise everybody‘s taxes. that would bea raise everybody‘s taxes. that would be a disaster for raise everybody‘s taxes. that would be a disasterfor our raise everybody‘s taxes. that would be a disaster for our economy. raise everybody‘s taxes. that would be a disasterfor our economy. as

raise everybody‘s taxes. that would be a disaster for our economy. as a result, more than 6 million americans are now enjoying new bonuses, better jobs americans are now enjoying new bonuses, betterjobs and far bigger paycheques. yet every single democrat voted against the tax cuts, every single one, we didn't get one vote. they voted against working families, they voted against small businesses. not good. in the first three months after tax cuts, over $300 billion poured back into the united states from overseas. we think it's going to be, in the end when completed, over $4 trillion will be back into our country. apple alone is bringing in $230 billion and they are building new plants and building a magnificent campus. they will be spending their money very wisely, but spending it in our country, not some other country. that was made possible by the new tax cut and reform plan. at the same time we finally cracking down on

decades of foreign trade practices. we were abused by companies. we were abused by the companies within countries, but in particular we were abused by countries themselves. including allies. abused like no nation has ever been abused on trade before. because we had nobody watching. they stole ourjobs, and they plundered our wealth. but that ended. yesterday i was at granite city steel in illinois. it was an incredible sight. we had an audience of steelworkers, some of the roughest and toughest people you have ever seen. and half of them had tea rs have ever seen. and half of them had tears coming down their face. have ever seen. and half of them had tears coming down theirface. i don't know if these people ever cried before in their life, to be honest. half of them had tears coming down because we opened a tremendous united states steel plant. they are opening up seven

other plans, and the steel industry is back. they are open for business. and we need the steel industry. and the tariffs did it. and nobody mentions the fact that these plants are creating tremendous numbers of jobs. tremendous. and billions of dollars are pouring into the united states offers. billions of dollars. —— united states' coppers. we are getting jobs, money coming —— united states' coppers. we are gettingjobs, money coming in —— united states' coppers. we are getting jobs, money coming in and we are respected. eventually the steel prices will come down because these new plants will be competing against each other. but we will not have foreign companies dumping, and that's the word they use, dumping steel all over the place and destroying our factories and steel all over the place and destroying ourfactories and plants, destroying ourfactories and plants, destroying ourfactories and plants, destroying our companies and destroying our companies and destroying our companies and destroying our jobs. destroying our companies and destroying ourjobs. since i was

elected we have added 400,000 new manufacturing jobs. remember, that was the obsolete deal. i used to say, why is it obsolete? we have to make things. manufacturing jobs are among our best jobs. make things. manufacturing jobs are among our bestjobs. and we arejust getting started. we have also liberated millions of americans from the crushing burdens of 0bamacare. the cruel individual mandate penalty is gone. that's where you pay a lot of money for the privilege of not having to buy bad health care and pay for it. it's gone. nobody thought we could get rid of it. that was the most unpopular provision by far. probably on anything, but certainly in 0bamacare. 0bamacare is now on its last legs, fortunately. through associated health plans we are giving americans the ability, just open, millions and millions of people are going to be signing up. we are giving americans the ability

tojoin together to we are giving americans the ability to join together to purchase we are giving americans the ability tojoin together to purchase much better and more affordable health care, and health insurance, including bidding across state lines. so all of the insurance companies are going wild. they want to get it. you're going to have great health care at a much lower price. it will cost the united states nothing. nothing. think of that. it will cost us nothing. and that. it will cost us nothing. and that secretary is coming up with another health care plan. somewhat different, result, the same. much less expensive health care at a much lower price. it will cost our country nothing. we are finally taking care of our people. finally there is another matter that is of profound importance, to me, and i wish to discuss it right now before we leave, because there's nothing

like what we have been working on. so important for the lives of not only americans, but lives all over the world. at this moment, a plane is carrying the remains of some great fallen heroes from america, back from the korean war. they are coming back to the united states. mike pence, our wonderful vice president, will be there to greet the families, and the remains, and i wa nt to the families, and the remains, and i want to thank chairman kim for keeping his word. we have many others coming. but i want to thank chairman kim in front of the media for fulfilling a chairman kim in front of the media forfulfilling a promise he made to me and! forfulfilling a promise he made to me and i am sure he will continue to

fulfil that promise as they search and search and search. these incredible american heroes will soon lay at rest on sacred american soil. even during the campaign people would come up to me. it was a long time ago, many decades ago, oftentimes they were older. in some cases they were younger, great grandfathers. my great—grandfather, my grandfather, my father. they askedif my grandfather, my father. they asked if i could do something about it. i would look at them and say, we don't get along too well with that country. they said, whatever you can do. it was something that was very important to me. many people have asked that. i have asked the vice president and others to pay a special tribute and they will do that. we honour the sacred memory of every incredible american patriot who fought and died in that war. in

everything we do and every action we ta ke we everything we do and every action we take we are fighting for loyal, hard—working, patriotically citizens of our placid —— blessed nation. we are making our country great again. we are respected again all over the world. our military will soon be stronger than it has ever been by far. that in itself will produce thousands and thousands ofjobs. nobody makes equipments like we do. nobody, whether its planes, missiles, any form of military equipment, we make the best in the world by far. we are making it possible for our allies to buy that equipment quickly. we don't have to wait for two year approvals and more. we are doing great. and i am very honoured to see that 4.1 number. perhaps i am even more honoured to see that trade deficit shrinks so much will stop with that

i would like to ask kevin, the chairman of the council of economic advisers... studio: we will pull away just there. we advisers... studio: we will pull awayjust there. we got advisers... studio: we will pull away just there. we got a advisers... studio: we will pull awayjust there. we got a glimpse of donald trump's pleasure at the united states gdp figures, a 4.1% increase. he did not say he did this, but he said his policies had helped. i think, to be absolutely fair, these figures we have today, 4.1% growth, it's an annualised figure over the last three months. so if the commie was to grow at this rate for the next of the year it would over the year grow at 4.1%. and to be fair it is largely due to mrtrump. for and to be fair it is largely due to mr trump. for two quite contradictory reasons. first is tax reforms. there is no doubt that we saw the economy is running pretty hot as a result of the tax cuts, which a lot of it larger companies received. that has had a real boost going behind the economy. the other

side of this particular set of figures are largely to do with steel tariffs, the tariffs that have been imposed in china, which is a lot of exporters. and a lot of this growth comes from exporters, and these exporters are racing to get their exports out of china before the ta riffs exports out of china before the tariffs came in. you hear stories of ships and boats leaving the states and racing to try to get there before the date when a chinese imposed tariffs. some made it and some didn't, some were turned away at the last minute because they didn't make it. the president says they are tremendous and amazing figures. and because so much of it depends on the imposition of those tariffs, once we look at the next lot of figures, we are likely to see a sharp downturn. this is all about putting america first, as we have heard again and again. he was talking about the growth in business investment, the

other interesting figure he certainly will not have mentioned, and it does tie into this nationalistic look at the economy is about foreign direct investment. chinese warren direct investment, chinese warren direct investment, chinese companies building and investing in the united states, it is down 90% compared to this time last year. 24 billion at this time last year. 24 billion at this time last year. 24 billion at this time last year. now it is at 2.5 billion. it has fallen off a cliff in terms of chinese companies and other countries investing in the states. so investment coming domestically, but not coming from abroad. a quick word about twitter because we have had figures from that. the shares have gone down very sharply largely because they lost about 1 million users. largely because they are getting rid of fake accounts. they warned about this and they said it was coming but the market has been shocked by the fact the user numbers have gone down. investors looking at

tweet are looking at user numbers and they don't worry about the profits. the company until three quarters ago was making a loss on a regular basis. it is now making a profit, investors are just looking at the number of users they have got and that is down by about at 335 million. still a lot of users, but they have lost 1 million. still a lot of users, but they have lost1 million users and markets don't like that, even though the markets have been warned this would happen because they are clearing up fake accounts and being very keen on privacy laws and imposing them on their operation. at the moment, the shares have had something of a shock. the moment, the shares have had something of a shocklj the moment, the shares have had something of a shock. i know you are back later, thank you for holding on to see the president clearly pleased. hello, you're watching afternoon live. the main story this afternoon. trains have been cancelled across yorkshire because of lightning

strikes, eurotunnel has cancelled a day trip tickets to ease the backlog. when air conditioning units failed on some carriages. and despite the arrival of storms in parts of the country, the uk'sjuly temperature record could still be broken today. simonjones reports. misery for motorists, facing hours of delays at eurotunnel in folkestone. for many families, their holidays are getting off to the worst possible start. the hot conditions leaving some hot under the collar on a third day of disruption. after waiting for about two hours in a queue, just to speak to a customer service agent, we have got passengers with special needs and terminal illnesses. and what happened was, they prioritised so that we could get on the next train. we were supposed to travel at 9:20, but we ended up

travelling at 2:50. we had three children in the car with us. one to five. it was extremely hot, uncomfortable, there were no services available. in total, eventually, we spent approximately five hours just waiting in queues. there was nowhere to go, there were no refreshments, there were no updates. 12,000 cars are expected at the channel tunnel today and 400 tickets for day trips have been cancelled, as the company concentrates on getting holiday—makers on their way. it's blaming unprecedented high temperatures, saying the air conditioning in some of the trains can't cope, so some carriages are not being used — to save passengers from sweltering. eurotunnel is apologising to passengers, but it says it can't control the weather and, as temperatures have been rising once again, so too have the queues. overnight, some passengers said they had to wait seven hours to get on a train. airports too are trying to cope, not only with the heat, but also with massive demand. uk air—traffic controllers are expecting their busiest day of the year. we've had a heatwave and, don't

get me wrong, the seaside towns in the uk are thriving. but today, most people will be flying to spain, it's still the number—one holiday spot for the british market. really interesting, though, turkey has really grown for summer 2018. it has been a bit quiet, tour operators took the capacity out, so that's the big story this summer, that the brits are happy to go back to turkey and it's doing really well. and just getting to the airport might prove a challenge too. we're expecting a breakdown to happen every four seconds. so, before you get in your car, check your water coolant levels, check your oil levels, check your tyre pressure. make sure you've got lots of water in the car. and also, when you travel at slower speeds, if you can handle it, turn your air conditioning off, bring your windows down, let your air circulate in the car and that will alleviate some of the pressure that's probably happening to your engine at the moment. the predicted relief from the heat has already arrived for some. this downpour hit doncaster. rail services on the east coast

mainline and across yorkshire have been disrupted after lightning strikes damaged signalling. more storms are on their way, but the july heat record could still be broken. well, today, we'ill see temperatures on par with yesterday, up into the mid—30s, but the heat and humidity, they'll combine across eastern england. some severe storms possible here. the ground is so dry, as well, that could cause flash flooding. in storms and heat, people are being advised to take care. the search for a teenager who was last seen in the sea near clacton pier, in essex, has resumed. a sign of the dangers the warm weather is bringing with it. simon jones in folkestone. a six—year—old boy has died from what is believed to be a pellet gun injury. this was around four o'clock yesterday afternoon. police have held a news conference. this is

humberside police speaking a few moments ago. sorry, we have a problem with that. we will bring you that clip. that was in the last few minutes. we will bring you that press conference very shortly. you are watching afternoon live. a letter from the prince of wales has been read out at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. the inquiry is considering the case of peter ball, a former bishop of lewes, and gloucester, who was convicted of abusing 18 young men. prince charles was in close contact with ball, and it's been claimed he helped to protect him. but in the letter, read by counsel to the inquiry, prince charles says he was misled by ball, who told him he was a victim of a vendetta. jon donnison reports. peter ball was a senior and powerful figure within the church of england for decades. but in 2015, the former bishop of lewis and gloucester — seen here on the left with his twin brother — was jailed for 32 months for sexually abusing

teenagers and young men. he'd been cautioned by police more than ten years earlier, and resigned his position. this inquiry is addressing allegations of an establishment cover—up. a cover—up that allegedly involved the church, senior figures in the judiciary, and even the royal family. peter ball claimed to be a close friend of prince charles. today, the inquiry was read extracts from letters that the prince of wales sent peter ball, written in the 1990s, after he'd been cautioned. prince charles says he was not aware of the police caution. this is what the prince wrote to peter ball in february, 1995. i wish i could do more. i feel desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated. the inquiry also heard about a house that prince charles' duchy estate had bought and rented to peter ball and his brother after he had been

cautioned by police. and after he had resigned as bishop. the inquiry heard extracts from a letter the prince had written to peter ball talking about that transaction, negotiated by a figure known only as x. "i am so glad that x has been in touch, as i requested. i pray the duchy will be able to find something suitable for you both in due course, but it may take a little time to locate it. i long to see you both settled somewhere that suits you and gives you peace and tranquillity." prince charles was out and about in norfolk today. in a letter submitted to the inquiry, he admitted he had occasionally sent peter ball and his brother small gifts of money, but that the details of the house rental were handled by the duchy estate. he said he was aware of the transaction, but didn't select the house. the prince stressed at no point had he sought to influence the police investigations into peter ball or encouraged his staff to do so. peter ball was released from prison in 2017, after serving 16 months. jon donnison, bbc news. let's return to that incident in

east yorkshire, a six—year—old boy died after being hit by a pellet gun ata died after being hit by a pellet gun at a house in east yorkshire. we have been hearing from dc! mark goldring from humberside police and a name has come out from that press conference. stanley metcalf died after being injured in the village of sproatley, he died in hospital. the investigation continues into the circumstances of this accident. that's printed that clip from dc! mark goldring speaking a short time ago. our teams ago. ourteams are ago. our teams are supporting the family of six—year old stanley metcalf, who died yesterday following an incident ata died yesterday following an incident at a house in church lane, sproatley. we were called at 4pm

following reports that stanley had suffered serious injuries and was taken to whole royal infirmary. where he sadly died. we are still investigating the circumstances of what exactly happened. but the initial indications are that this was a tragic accident involving a pellet gun. we have not made any arrests in connection with this incident, but we are speaking to a number of family members to assist us number of family members to assist us with our enquiries. our thoughts are with stanley's family, who have asked that they be given privacy at this very difficult time. stanley's family have released a photograph which is available with this statement. it is in our website. they ask that you use this image for your media outlets. thank you. can you tell us something about the

circumstances of stanley's accident? was he alone at the time, was he playing with a sibling, was he with his parents? because it raises the question it is not easy for a six—year old to pull the trigger on a pellet gun. it really is at the very early stages of our investigations. there were other family members in the house and we are still piecing together what happened in the events of yesterday. we understand stanley's great grandfather may have been with him and subsequently taken ill as a result of what happened. and subsequently taken ill as a result of what happenedlj and subsequently taken ill as a result of what happened. i can't comment at this stage of the investigation. was stanley visiting relatives? stanley was just visiting relatives? stanley was just visiting relatives in the area. how is the house connected to stanley?fl relatives in the area. how is the house connected to stanley? it is a family member's address. from parents, great—grandparents?” family member's address. from parents, great-grandparents? i don't wa nt to parents, great-grandparents? i don't want to comment on this stage. he is visiting family members. i am not

confirming at this interview. sta nley confirming at this interview. stanley is from the local area. does the owner of the weapon have a license? we are still making enquiries into that at this stage. to stanley have any brothers and sisters? i don't want to comment at this stage about the family members andi this stage about the family members and i would ask for privacy for the family. can you give more explanation about what you need to hold an airgun, do you like/ need a license? for certain levels about gun, no you don't. was this the kind of egg and you would need a license for? we're making enquiries and i cannot say at this stage —— airgun. for clarification, was definitely an airgun? that is what i believe, yes. is there any criminal offence? it is

too early to say. dci mark goldring on the back —— on the death of the boy stanley metcalf, we will bring you more on that as we get it. you're watching afternoon live. these are our headlines: more extreme weather for parts of the uk and a chance of record—breaking temperatures. but the met office has issued a number weather warning for thunderstorms in the east of england and east midlands. travel chaos, as roads and rail services struggle on one of the busiest weekends of the summer holidays. and in sport, so far so good for welsh rider geraint thomas as he takes on the last mountain stage at this year's tour de france. starting with a lead of one minute and 59 seconds, as he chases his first tour title. daniel ricciardo is fastest in first practice at the hungarian grand prix with lewis hamilton fifth, second practice is under way. qpr have been fined £42

million and cannot make transfers in the january window after they lost a claim against financial fair play. a boy who died was among a party of italian tourist travelling on a minibus. our correspondent is at the scene minibus. our correspondent is at the scene and he can bring is the latest. james. yes, you can see the location of the crash, that's weeping curb behind me. you would not think that anything had happened, but it was the most devastating crash. a little while earlierfrom the most devastating crash. a little while earlier from police scotland, superintendent louise blake cook gave us details of those involved.

emergency services were made aware of the —— to vehicle collision between keith and huntly shortly before midnight last night. it is with deep regret that i can confirm that very adult passengers, two women aged 69 and 70 and 62—year—old man who are travelling in an orange nissanx man who are travelling in an orange nissan x trail all sadly died from their injuries. the 39—year—old female driver sustained serious injuries and is being treated. everyone in this car was local to this area. a white fiat talento minibus which had been carrying italian tourists was also involved in this collision. tragically, two people who were passengers within this vehicle, a warrant national woman and a four—year—old boy, have also died. —— a woman. a male driver, male passenger, beam passenger and a three—year—old boy within the minibus were to hospital within the minibus were to hospital with injuries. the woman is considered to be in a critical

condition and is being treated at aberdeen royal infirmary. so just to recap on those details. five people died, three of them were local, from this area of moray in north east scotland and two were italian tourists, a woman and a boy, four years old, and another italian tourist, a woman, is critically ill in hospital. so a devastating accident. and one more detail, a little while ago close to the scene of the accident, we saw four figures down there and we believe that was the police interviewing a couple of young people who may have been witnesses to the accident. so clearly, the police investigation is ongoing. they will want to understand why this accident was so devastating. james, from keith, thank you very much. warwickshire police have confirmed they've found a body in their search for a 17—year—old boy at a disused quarry. the emergency services

were called to the blue pool, near bishop's itchington, just after six last night following reports of a teenager in trouble while swimming. a man found guilty of killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the river thames during their first date has been sentenced to six years in prison. jack shepherd, who's 30, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence yesterday. charlotte brown, who was 24, was thrown overboard from the boat, which had a series of defects, in december 2015. police have issued a warrant for shepherd's arrest, because he had skipped bail and didn't attend his trial at the old bailey. president trump has hailed new figures released today showing the us economy has grown at the fastest rate in almost four years. the greatest among the highest in industrial nations. growth boosted by domestic sales and strong exports, but since tariffs were brought in by president macro's foreign investment in the country has slipped. to reflect on that, but go to our north american political correspondent. and despite that but,

president trump is cock—a—hoop! he is, this is what he promised he would do during the election campaign and you won't be surprised to do he was —— and you won't be surprised he was on the south lawn as quick as you like to deliver these ad hoc remarks. this is an annualised figure, but these are one quarter numbers. a quarter in which there are some extra factors at play, notably, things like the tax changes brought in, extra consumer spending as a result of those, will back carry on? we are not sure. there is also a big bump in exports, 9000% rise in soya bean exports. that is not because that has suddenly become very popular, it is because people somewhere else stockpiling goes ahead of the ta riffs stockpiling goes ahead of the tariffs to be slapped on them. so thatis tariffs to be slapped on them. so that is something that will come out of the figures in the next quarter. having said all that, it is a bigger

numberand it having said all that, it is a bigger number and it starts with a four, which is what he promised. and it will put him in good stead going into the autumn and those elections. because as president clinton's had once said, it it's the economy, stupid. thank you, gary. and in terms of tax cuts, that is what he is saying is behind this. business love him because he has made them all more money. yes, and there was a big cut in the corporate tax rate as part of the tax package congress passed. the american corporate rate was in the mid—30s and not all companies were paying that rate. it was a nominal rate in many ways. but it was still a big cut, down to 21, 20%. that meant of course that as well as part of that deal, a number of companies we re of that deal, a number of companies were encouraged to repatriate some of their profit they had earned abroad will stop you mentioned apple, tens of billions of dollars

brought back. and other companies. and the manufacturing strategy he put in place have meant that factories have been reopening and he was in illinois yesterday, at an iron factory, which he said was now at full capacity which it had not been before. so he has a narrative going here which fits in with his america first policies. and he has got numbers now to back it up. so this will be very welcome distraction from some of the other things swirling around at the moment. notably, that his own lawyer of long standing has now turned on him really thoroughly and is saying he knew much more about russian connections or meetings with russians during the election campaign than he said he did. michael cohen said he was present whenjohn mould michael cohen said he was present when john mould trump's michael cohen said he was present whenjohn mould trump's elder son donald junior informed him of the

meeting —— donald. donald junior informed him of the meeting -- donald. yes, vigorously denied by donald trump and his son donald trump junior and others, denied by donald trump and his son donald trumpjunior and others, so one man's word against a group of others. but this is a conjugated issue because what michael cohen is offering to do is to talk to the special counsel investigating the allegations of collusion between the trump campaign and russia, and what the president says is this is a diversionary tactic because michael cohen is facing a criminal investigation into his own financial dealings and that this is a way out for him, if you like, that is what the president is saying. his lawyers, including rudy giuliani, going further and calling michael cohen a pathological liar. thank you very much, from washington. skywatchers will be treated to the longest lunar eclipse this century, this evening. the phenomenon known as a ‘blood moon' occurs when the earth comes between the sun and the moon, causing the moon

to turn a reddish brown colour. the eclipse will be visible in the uk, clouds permitting, between 9pm and 10:15 this evening. in the uk, clouds permitting, that in the uk, clouds permitting, is important because be that is important because there will bea that is important because there will be a lot of cloud this evening. our science correspondent, victoria gill, has more. our familiar satellite heading into our own planet's shadow. tonight, as it rises over the uk at 9pm, the moon will be turned blood red, as the earth passes between it and the sun. this particular lunar eclipse, or ‘blood moon' as it's known, will be the longest this century, lasting for one hour and 43 minutes. you need to be able to have a clear south—eastern horizon as the moon comes up, so we'll see low down to the south—east. and as it rises, you'll see it more and more clearly, and then the eclipse finishes about quarter past ten. it's just lit by the light filtered through the earth's atmosphere, which is why it looks this sort of dusky red. at the same time, our solar system neighbour, mars, will reach the nearest point to earth possible, in its own journey around the sun. where they're at their nearest

point to each other, it's known as a close approach of mars. the minimum distance is 54.6 million kilometres. but that does significantly improve our view of the red planet. so, clouds permitting, there could be a celestial show tonight, with a brighter red planet in the same sky as a blood—red moon. victoria gill, bbc news. the foreign secretary has been asked to intervene in a custody case involving two children living in china, whose british father was murdered by their chinese mother. the family of michael simpson want jeremy hunt to appeal to chinese officials when he visits the country next week, as katharine da costa reports. seven—year—old jack and six—year—old alice are at the centre of an international custody battle. their british father, michael — seen here with them —

was stabbed to death in his shanghai apartment in march last year by his estranged chinese wife. she is now serving a life sentence for murder. since their father's death, jack and alice have lived with their chinese grandparents, unaware of what has happened to their parents. but their english granddad wants to raise them back in the uk and is fighting for them to be brought back here, which he says is what his son michael so desperately would have wanted. michael raised them very much in a western style, they spent two visits a year over here, they speak english — though it's suffering a bit at the moment, for obvious reasons. they've travelled in spain and thailand with our family. when they were already talking about a divorce, and weiwei was happy the children would go with michael, because he was the real carer. so, as far as we're concerned, that is where they should be.

the foreign and commonwealth office said, "we are supporting the british relatives of michael simpson at this difficult and trying time. we helped the simpson family visit their grandchildren earlier this year and remain in contact with the children's chinese relatives and the local authorities regarding this case." our argument is, they're both british citizens. jack does have a chinese passport, but alice has no documentation, which means she cannot go to school over there because she needs an id card to do that. mr simpson says his daughter—in—law‘s family are demanding tens of thousands of pounds in exchange for the children. he thinks political intervention is needed and hopes with the backing of the british government, and the new foreign secretary, they can be reunited by the autumn. we can speak to the grandfather of jack and alice. thank you for

joining us here on afternoon live. jack and alice or in the village in the middle of a rural area of china, not speaking english, how confident are you that you will see them ain? are you that you will see them again? i think the only way we can see them is to get the custody case heard as soon as possible. and get a proper hearing for why we think they should be with us. yes, the longer they are in a chinese only environment, and also in a false environment, and also in a false environment, where they are being told that their parents are away working abroad, they do not know what has happened to their father. they do not know where mother is. so they need to be brought into a truthful world, a better world, a world that michael wanted for them, which was very much a western environment. they have travelled

with him, they have gone to english schools in shanghai. we need to get them back. now that she has been sentenced, the custody case must be heard as soon as possible. that is the support we need from jeremy hunt because there is a reticence because a lot of the courts are worried because we are foreigners, they are worried about what will happen if they get the case wrong. so we need they get the case wrong. so we need the case to be heard, rather than being dragged on for any more time, it has gone on long enough and we need the case heard. and we also wa nt need the case heard. and we also want the foreign secretary to point out that both of them are british citizens. in fact, alice has only english documentation. so we need that to move on now. there will be those that will say their mother, yes, she killed their father, she is in prison, but she still bear mother and they should perhaps be as near her as is possible. there she is still bear

mother. interesting comment. she is going to serve at least 25 years in a shanghai women's penitentiary. she will be 1,000 kilometres from them, with a poor family who can't afford a lot of travelling. so i question whether it is a good idea that the only time they see their mother is by travelling for a day and seeing her ina by travelling for a day and seeing her in a visiting room in a prison. i really do question that. i also would emphasise that during her trial, weiwei herself said she would have no problem with the children coming to us. she understood, she said all loud at the trial in november children love others and she knows how much we love them and she knows how much we love them and she has no problem with them coming here, the family stopped this happening. we offered a deal to bring them here, she accepted, but the family said no. i do question

whether the best thing for children of their age is visiting their mother injail. i really do question that. iam i am listening to you talk about yourformer i am listening to you talk about your former daughter—in—law. i am listening to you talk about yourformer daughter—in—law. she murdered your son, but there seems to bea murdered your son, but there seems to be a level of understanding there. have you her? no, ithink... i don't feel a raving hatred or anything like that. i think as a family we have moved on from that. i think what we have really concentrated on is on the children. it was hard for us to see her carted off at the sentencing. to be told the mother of your grandchildren is going off to jailfor life, a minimum of 25 years, which is not a nice thing in a chinese jail, with all respect to them, they are not

exactly hotels, to see her carted off and looking in a terrible state was not something we found edifying. and also, because we had made the offer to give the forgiveness and get the children months ago, which she accepted back injune and again in march, it was only herfamily that stopped it, and we never expected it to be there. i think when you forgive people, i will try to say quickly, if i spill your beer, and i say sorry and then walk past you, it's not the same as me spilling beer and then saying, i will buy you another beer and then walking past. there is a sorry, but there is no action and i can't give a full forgiveness because of that. i still find the family's behaviour abhorrent. ifind

i still find the family's behaviour abhorrent. i find the fact they have let their daughter go to jail for life, when they could have cut that in half, down to something like 12 yea rs, if in half, down to something like 12 years, if they had accepted our offer, ifind why years, if they had accepted our offer, i find why they would do that to their daughter absolutely mind blowing. i just don't to their daughter absolutely mind blowing. ijust don't understand them. you know how the media works around the world. interviews like this will be picked up and might well be watched in china. i have no idea, but if it is and ifjack and alice are in a room, and you are there on the television, what is it you would like them to hear you say? very obvious, how much i love them. how much the family loves them. theirgrandma, how much the family loves them. their grandma, their grandma diana, andrew and the whole family. all the kids... i have another granddaughter, all the stepchildren know them and love them. we want

them back. the dogs are looking forward to seeing them, maisie and alfie, they love the dogs when they are over with us. they are a fantastic pair of children that michael did a greatjob bringing up basically by himself. he was a great father, and we want to give them the life they wanted, which i know they are not getting. they are not getting it stuck in a one—bedroom flat where they are sharing a bedroom with their cousin as well, because the brother doesn't even look after his own child, he dumps them on the grandparents, which is them on the grandparents, which is the only source of money the grandparents have, is the son, the brother paying for them to look after the children. and we want them home. i am really gratefulfor after the children. and we want them home. i am really grateful for your time to stop i think we may have interrupted your holiday to hear your story, but i am grateful you had time to do that. thank you very much. thank you for giving me the

time. let's catch up with the weather now and tomasz schafernaker has forecast. some very big changes on the way to the weather pattern we have been used to for so long now. today is still very hot in east anglia and the south—east with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees and we could see violent thunderstorms erupting, a bit like the last 24 hours, and storms moving northwards. it is starting to freshen up now across western parts of the uk. this evening is still pretty warm and temperatures at 11pm will be in the low 20s across east anglia and the south—east. still around 20 in the north—east. by the time we get into saturday that pressure air is well and truly established across the uk. the winds are coming off the ocean and it will feel a lot cooler and we will see spells of rain moving across the country. sunshine, the possibility of a downpour and back to sunshine again. temperatures will

drop and you will also notice the strength of the wind. it will be breezy. a huge, huge change on the way. this is bbc news. our latest headlines. forecasters say tempratures in the uk could yet reach a record high forjuly. yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far with the mercury reaching 35 celsius at london heathrow. but the heatwave could be coming to an end — the met office has issued an amber weather warning for thunderstorms in the east of england and the east midlands meaning flooding could cause a danger to life. the extreme hot weather is causing disruption for commuters and holiday makers at the start of the summer getaway. eurotunnel suffered long delays as some carriages had to be taken out of service because of problems with the air conditioning. the foreign secretary's being urged to intervene in a custody battle over two young children living in a rural town in china. they're unaware that their british father is dead after being murdered by their chinese mother. sport now on afternoon live with azi farni.

how is geraint thomas getting on in the tour de france, it's a big day for him today. after a relatively easy flat stage yesterday, geraint thomas and the other riders are facing one of the hardest stages of the tour today. stage 19 is a tough mountainous stage, in the pyrenees in the south west of france. 125 miles from lourdes, to laruns, that's the equivalent of riding from cardiff to birmingham. but just look at the mountains in the way. those three major peaks are much higher than ben nevis in scotland. and they're now on the way up the last one, the col d'aubisque, but that's a very long climb — it'll be almost another hour before they get to the top. i think ithinki i think i would rather do cardiff to birmingham. how is he doing so far?

it's so far so good for geraint thomas. there's two days of racing to go before the final ceremonial stage in paris. this morning, the welshman had a lead of one minute and 59 seconds over tom dumoulin — and at the moment they're both riding in the same group, so no change there. team sky have said that thomas will have the support of the man who's third in the overall standings. the defending champion, chris froome, is riding today to help thomas — and team sky — defend that yellow jersey. queens park rangers have been fined almost £42 million and won't be able to make any transfers in the january window after a football league arbitration panel dismissed their claims that football's financial fair play rules are unlawful. the championship club's case relates to breaking spending limits on their way to winning promotion to the premier league in 2014. it's believed the efl will let them settle the fine over 10 years. wolves' goalkeeper carl ikeme has announced his retirement from football. the 32—year—old's decision

came following advice from with medical experts following his year—long battle with leukaemia. ikeme announced last month he's in complete remission. he made more than 200 appearances for wolves afterjoining the club as a 14—year—old. the long—awaited world boxing super series super—middleweight final between george groves and callum smith will take place in saudi arabia on the 28th of september. the fight was due to be held injune but it was delayed after groves suffered a shoulder injury in his victory over chris eubankjr back in february. he'll defend his wba world title against the unbeaten smith at the king abdullah sports city in jeddah. that's all the sport for now. we will have more for you in the next hour. when the government announced the part privatisation

of the probation service in england and wales in 2015, it hoped it would lead to a reduction in reoffending. but now the justice secretary is scrapping a number of contracts, after admitting they're not delivering the benefits they promised. the decision will cost £170 million. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. lunch, shortly to be served at this 0ldham community centre. but back in the kitchen, the staff are also serving sentences. this is community payback. you have criminals working for you here. is that a bit odd? what do you think of it? it's great, to be quite honest. yeah, it is. we're happy with them. they don't ask us questions and we don't ask them. i have been sent here because of benefit fraud. it is payback, isn't it? it is unpaid. the fact i've been placed here, it's an amazing place. when you have been convicted with something you have to do your time and it's the best way you can do it. this is privatised probation run by a community rehabilitation company. the government's big idea three years ago to cut reoffending, transform the service and introduce

investment and innovation. it has allowed us to work more flexibly, work out in the community rather than sit behind a desk or in interview rooms, which sometimes are not the nicest places to meet service users. but private provision has run into trouble, in particular financial trouble. these companies are paid for each offender they persuade not to reoffend. but the courts have been sending fewer of them, partly because judges and magistrates are not certain if these sorts of schemes work. yes, the number of people heading back into prison has fallen by 2%. but reoffenders are reoffending more frequently. and partial privatisation caused upheaval in the probation service, as well as serious questions about standards. the clear majority of these companies are operating at a significant loss.

it cannot be right that, as a country, we rely on private providers to operate at a loss to deliver critical services, because those services will be pared down because of that. so the government is having a rethink. it is important hat we have a probation system that helps people rehabilitate. the existing contracts are not working as well as they might do. they are not working as well for us in order to ensure that we can help rehabilitation, so we want to bring those to an end early. we want to improve some of the services in the interim and put in place new contracts which make sure that we get a probation service that is working properly. that will involve directing an additional £170 million into private probation. the changes were the brainchild of then justice secretary chris grayling. in ministerial language, they are now described as ambitious. new contracts will have to be designed. but the government insists there should still be a role

for companies in the community trying to steer offenders from committing more crime. tom symonds, bbc news, 0ldham. north korea has returned what is believed to be the remains of about 50 american soldiers who died during the korean war. the repatriation of those killed in action was a promise made by kim jong—un to president trump during their meeting in singapore earlier this year. the move comes on the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the korean war. laura bicker reports. after nearly 70 years, the fallen soldiers are welcomed home with an honour guard. one by one the small caskets, wrapped in the united nations flag, were carried back onto american soil, a us airbase in south korea. this is just the start of their final journey. next week they will be taken to hawaii to be examined, to check they are the remains of us soldiers. this appears to fulfil a key pledge made by kimjong—un to president trump during

the singapore summit. and it comes in the same week as north korea appears to be dismantling one of its main missile launch sites. but what does north korea want in return? kim jong—un chose his date well to keep his word. today marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice which officially ended the korean war. in north korea, they call it the day of victory. "in tears and rapture, veterans run into the arms of chairman kim," announced state media. mr kim is trying to persuade the world his focus is on building his country's economy rather than building nuclear weapons. some doubt his sincerity. president trump, however, will see this as a promise kept, and publicly thanked him in a tweet. "after so many years this will be a great moment for so many families. thank you to kim jong—un," he said.

in seoul, korean war veterans from around the world gathered to remember the millions who died. and they hope that at some point peace will one day come to the peninsula. for the last 30 years we have not seen anything very positive. and i think today we are starting to see a few positive things happening. the return of these remains may breathe new life into a peace process that has seeemed stalled since the singapore summit. the fundamental problem remains. north korea has yet to hand over any of its nuclear weapons. and until it does, the us will still believe it poses a global threat. laura bicker, bbc news, south korea. in a moment we will be seeing what's hot and what's not in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. feeling the heat, more extreme

weather for parts of the uk and the chance of record—breaking temperatures still. but the heatwave could be coming to an end. the met office has issued an amber weather warning for thunderstorms in the east of england and the east midlands. travel chaos as roads and weather services struggle at the start of one of the busiest weekends at the beginning of the summer holidays. here's your business headlines. the us economy grew at an annualised rate of 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the latest figures from the us department of commerce. that is the fastest growth rate in almost four years and pretty much in line with expectations. the first quarter growth figures were revised up to 2.2% from 2.0%. the technology meltdown at tsb earlier this year has cost the bank almost £180 million and that's the reason it made a loss in the first half of the year. in april, almost 2 million customers lost access to online

banking services after the bungled introduction of a new it system. tsb says only 37% of more than 130,000 complaints have been resolved so far. twitter‘s latest results — record profits but falling user numbers. and the shares have plummeted, down 17%. it's the number of people who use twitter that investors really care about more than profits and on a monthly basis they fell by one million on the previous quarter to 335 million. an investigation into the effects of a cashless society? if you were to suddenly have a cashless society tomorrow, you wouldn't have to worry about it. we are nearly there though. it goes down every time, the number of people using cash goes down pretty much every year, but we never get to the point where we don't have cash was that the figures last year, a 14% rise in debit payments last year and a 15% fall in

cash payments. however, you have 2-3,000,000 cash payments. however, you have 2—3,000,000 people who just use cash mainly at the moment. do you? no, notts since pubs started using co nta ctless. notts since pubs started using contactless. there are a few shops that do not accept any cash payments. when did you last write a cheque? about a month ago, but before that... i looked at my cheque—book and it was... before that... i looked at my cheque-book and it was... that old one, i can't find my cheque—book! you have always been good at that. the cash thing is odd because there are these holdouts, people who will continue to use it. one of the places where they are encouraging digital payments are buskers. you can have a fixed payment on a terminal. natalie will be looking at

this, running this access to cash review. natalie senior, you are starting the review now. you are a formerfinancial starting the review now. you are a former financial ombudsman. you have experience there. you haven't gone through the whole investigation yet, but what is your idea about why people hold on to cash in this digital age? most of us in britain still use cash as well as digital, even though in decline. but there are 2-3,000,000 even though in decline. but there are 2—3,000,000 people in britain who only use cash. there are many reasons for that. the people who use just cash are more likely to be old, more likely to be poor and more likely to live in rural communities. there are parts of britain where it is quite hard for digital because internet connectivity is bad. when you think about debt, people who have been through a cash crisis, they are advised by debt charities to cut up your cards. using just cash is a good way to control your money. we will have to interrupt you

with some breaking news. i would like to continue. theresa may as had meetings in austria with the austrian leader. there is flash photography that is likely to continue throughout this news conference. she has been holding brexit talks with the chancellor. we can listen in. it is a position we see negatively, but it has been taken by the british people. now we have to find a way to deal with it. from our point of view, it is important to avoid a hard brexit. i think the negotiations are going quite well. i would like to thank you and also the chief negotiator michelle barney, for his work. i hope we can be successful and find a solution until october. one that you

and michel barnier can find a way. and after brexit the relations will continue between the uk and austria, and also the relations with the european union remain very strong. thank you once again for being here. thank you once again for being here. thank you once again for being here. thank you very much, chancellor sebastian kurz, it's a great pleasure to be here in austria, in salzburg. thank you particularly for the invitation to the salzburg festival and i am very much looking forward to that this evening. we met at ten downing stjust forward to that this evening. we met at ten downing st just a few weeks ago. but since we met, a great deal has happened. we then went on to the summit, which the uk was hosting. we have also seen jean—claude juncker meet president trump and take on the discussions about trade between the

united states and the european union. of course, you mentioned brexit. the uk leaving the european union. we are acting on a vote from the british people. they asked to leave the european union and we will deliver for the british people on that. since we met we have published our white paper with our proposed future relationship between the uk and the european union, which i look forward to being able to discuss with you. and also, i was very pleased that we were able to meet today as you assume presidency of the european union. there are many shared opportunities that we will wa nt shared opportunities that we will want to discuss, i'm sure. and the bilateral relationship between austria and the uk is an important relationship for us, and i look forward to discussing how we can harness that for the future. studio: the prime minister having held talks

with the austrian chancellor. this is actually her last official public engagement before heading off on her summer engagement before heading off on her summer holiday. she is attending a music festival in salzburg as a guest of the chancellor, sebastien kurtz, who is just guest of the chancellor, sebastien kurtz, who isjust 31 guest of the chancellor, sebastien kurtz, who is just 31 years old, in case you were wondering. let's catch up case you were wondering. let's catch up with where we were. we were talking with jamie about a cashless society. we were talking to natalie senior, the former financial ombudsman. i am sorry we were interrupted, but just to ombudsman. i am sorry we were interrupted, butjust to go on, we we re interrupted, butjust to go on, we were talking about the people who still rely on cash. you are saying particularly poorer people and those in rural areas. the problem is, as one reduces the infrastructure which provides the cash, it is very easy that those people might be left out. if you reduce the number of atms you mightfind a if you reduce the number of atms you might find a village or town without access for those people. it must be difficult to organise that

infrastructure and system for this sort of downsizing. that's right and that will be the main focus of the review. thinking about the cash infrastructure in britain, everything from printing notes, distributing to atms and running those machines, there is no one organisation responsible for that and it is very expensive, and we estimate it costs around £5 billion a year to estimate it costs around £5 billion a yearto run estimate it costs around £5 billion a year to run the cash infrastructure. most of the companies involved in organising that our commercial organisations that our commercial organisations that will make their own commercial decisions whether to close branches, close atms, to take cash or not to ta ke close atms, to take cash or not to take cash. the risk is that some areas of britain will be quite badly affected and the risk is that people will be left behind. you have this slight conflict between the interests of organisations, commercial organisations running these systems, and a social duty to provide an infrastructure for these

people. how are you going to square that circle? will you have to have government say, you have to provide this utility for these groups of people at this particular time? that's exactly the set of questions we will be looking at. what i have been really encouraged by, all the commercial organisations i have spoken to, including the banks, recognise we have an issue here and they want to work with us to find a solution. we are also looking overseas, because some countries, like sweden, have already gone quite a long way down this route and are asking the question, do we need to pull back and put more safeguards in place. i think we need to look and say, what kind of society do we want and what provision do we need for people if cash is still going to be 93v, people if cash is still going to be gay, which most people think it is, and bring commercial organisations to the table. —— if cash is still going to be here, which most people think it is. on the markets, a

slightly weaker pound, which can happen, the footsie moving up. it's right at the start of the summer holidays. the pound can weaken. right at the start of the summer holidays. the pound can weakenlj will be back with more to say in an hour. speak to you then. time for a look at the weather... here's tomasz schafernaker. for some of us, another sweltering hot afternoon out there, but after today, it really is all change. the winds will pick up and it will turn a lot fresher. there will be a dramatic drop in the temperatures, particularly across the south—east of the uk. this is the weather system responsible for the big change with lots of cloud streaming and across ireland and some western parts of the uk. ahead of this weather system, the winds are still coming in off the near continent, you can see out of france where we

get the high 30s. we could still hit the mid—30s in east anglia today. suchis the mid—30s in east anglia today. such is the heat that we will see further thunderstorms breaking out. we have had storms in the last 24 hours and there could be violent ones later today, anywhere from east anglia, the south, and parts of eastern england. flash flooding, hailand eastern england. flash flooding, hail and gusty winds. there will be variable cloud is eating through. we have the lunar eclipse, the best time to see it is from 9pm until 10:15pm. but these showers are hard to predict so some places will be overcast this evening, with rain, and other places will have clearer skies. through the early hours of saturday morning, the weather front is moving through, meaning the gates to the fresher air will be opened. it will still be relatively warm first thing on saturday morning, with temperatures in the high teens in the south, but temperatures will not actually rise a great deal through the course of saturday because those fresh atlantic winds

will be in place, bringing showers, gusty conditions around the coasts and particularly in the west and south with plenty of sunshine as well. best of the temperatures on saturday, 23, 24 in the south—east, but for many like it's in their teens, 16 or 17 in northern ireland. the weather systems keep moving in from the atlantic through the course of sunday. this other little weather system could bring some very wet weather to the hills of wales, the west country, and very gusty winds, 40-50 west country, and very gusty winds, 40—50 mph, so it's a massive change to the weather. but there will be sunshine in between, not a complete wash—out, but you will notice the temperatures being a lot lower than of late. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 4pm: feeling the heat — more extreme weather for parts of the uk and a chance of record—breaking temperatures. but the heatwave could be coming to an end. the met office has issued an amber weather warning

for thunderstorms in the east of england and the east midlands. travel chaos as road and rail services struggle at the start of one of the biggest weekend of the summer one of the biggest weekend of the summer holiday. president trump says new gdp figures with growth of 4.1% show his government has achieved an economic turnaround of historic proportions. i will say this now and strongly, as the trade deals come in one by one, we're going to go a lot higher than these great numbers. coming up, all of the sport. the riders are inside the last 20 miles of stage 19 of the tour de france. geraint thomas began with a 1.59 seconds lead as he began with his first tour title. i'll be looking at what they are facing in today's tough mountain stage. tomasz schafernaker, things are livening up. that's right, and the

focus will turn to the storms, which are expected to develop. already some storms on the south coast and, over the coming hours, more of us could get big downpours, with hale, gusts of wind and thunder and lightning. talk to you later. also coming up... what will you be doing at 9pm? if you look at the sky and it's clear, you look at the sky and it's clear, you could be treated to the longest la rd you could be treated to the longest lard moon lunar eclipse of the 21st century. we'll tell you later what this is about. —— the longest blood moon. hello, this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. the heatwave is causing disruption for commuters and holiday makers at the start of the summer getaway. trains have been cancelled across yorkshire because of lightning strikes, eurotunnel has cancelled hundreds of day—trip tickets to try to ease the backlog caused

when air conditioning units failed on some carriages. and the met office has issued an amber warning for heavy thunderstorms in the east midlands and east of england throughout tonight. despite the arrival of storms in parts of the country, the uk'sjuly temperature record could still be broken today. simonjones reports. misery for motorists, facing hours of delays at eurotunnel in folkestone. for many families, their holidays are getting off to the worst possible start. the hot conditions leaving some hot under the collar on a third day of disruption. after waiting for about two hours in a queue, just to speak to a customer service agent, we have got passengers with special needs and terminal illnesses. and what happened was, they prioritised so that we could get on the next train. we were supposed to travel at 9:20, but we ended up travelling at 2:50. we had three children in the car with us. one to five. it was extremely hot, uncomfortable,

there were no services available. in total, eventually, we spent approximately five hours just waiting in queues. there was nowhere to go, there were no refreshments, there were no updates. 12,000 cars are expected at the channel tunnel today and 400 tickets for day trips have been cancelled, as the company concentrates on getting holiday—makers on their way. it's blaming unprecedented high temperatures, saying the air conditioning in some of the trains can't cope, so some carriages are not being used — to save passengers from sweltering. eurotunnel is apologising to passengers, but it says it can't control the weather and, as temperatures have been rising once again, so too have the queues. overnight, some passengers said they had to wait seven hours to get on a train. airports too are trying to cope, not only with the heat, but also with massive demand. uk air—traffic controllers are expecting their busiest day of the year. we've had a heatwave and, don't get me wrong, the seaside

towns in the uk are thriving. but today, most people will be flying to spain, it's still the number—one holiday spot for the british market. really interesting, though, turkey has really grown for summer 2018. it has been a bit quiet, tour operators took the capacity out, so that's the big story this summer, that the brits are happy to go back to turkey and it's doing really well. and just getting to the airport might prove a challenge too. we're expecting a breakdown to happen every four seconds. so, before you get in your car, check your water coolant levels, check your oil levels, check your tyre pressure. make sure you've got lots of water in the car. and also, when you travel at slower speeds, if you can handle it, turn your air conditioning off, bring your windows down, let your air circulate in the car and that will alleviate some of the pressure that's probably happening to your engine at the moment. the predicted relief from the heat has already arrived for some. this downpour hit doncaster. rail services on the east coast mainline and across yorkshire have been disrupted after lightning strikes damaged signalling.

more storms are on their way, but the july heat record could still be broken. well, today, we'ill see temperatures on par with yesterday, up into the mid—30s, but the heat and humidity, they'll combine across eastern england. some severe storms possible here. the ground is so dry as well — that could cause flash flooding. in storms and heat, people are being advised to take care. the search for a teenager who was last seen in the sea near clacton pier, in essex, has resumed. a sign of the dangers the warm weather is bringing with it. i spoke to our correspondent in folkestone, near the eurotunnel terminal, and she told me more about conditions there. it's absolutely scorching, and i cannot imagine what it must be like being stuck in a car ina it must be like being stuck in a car in a queue. wait times aren't as bad

as they were yesterday, when they exceeded six hours, but they are still around two and a half hours. that's half an hour before check—in, where you are stuck in that car, hoping you've got enough supplies of snacks and bottles of water. they've tried to alleviate delays by putting on extra services overnight, as well as asking some people to cancel any unnecessary travel, and also they have cancelled around 400 same—day tickets. it's ironic, this is one of the biggest weekend of the some of them are people trying to get away to find the sun?! be some will be chasing them. it's very sunny here. people have holiday plans, the first weekend of the summer holidays, so weekend of the summer holidays, so we are seeing increased traffic in airports, the busiest day for airports, the busiest day for airports with over 8000 flights, busy on the motorways and at eurotunnel. 12,000 cars are expected

to pass through beer today. i'll be talking to andy thomas, network rail‘s managerfor talking to andy thomas, network rail‘s manager for england talking to andy thomas, network rail‘s managerfor england and wales. i'll talk to him about 4:20pm if you want to treat a question, let me know, bbc simon mccoy is the account, hashtag afternoon live. you'll be talking about rail buckling and what effect that this having 4:20pm. warwickshire police have confirmed they've found a body in their search for a 17—year—old boy at a disused quarry. the emergency services were called to the blue pool, near bishop's itchington, just after six last night following reports of a teenager in trouble while swimming. a letter from the prince of wales has been read out at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. the inquiry is considering the case of peter ball, a former bishop of lewes, and gloucester, who was convicted of abusing 18 young men. prince charles was in close contact with ball, and it's been claimed he helped to protect him. but in the letter, read by counsel to the inquiry, prince charles says he was misled by ball, who told him

he was a victim of a vendetta. jon donnison reports. peter ball was a senior and powerful figure within the church of england for decades. but in 2015, the former bishop of lewes and gloucester — seen here on the left with his twin brother — was jailed for 32 months for sexually abusing teenagers and young men. he'd been cautioned by police more than ten years earlier, and resigned his position. this inquiry is addressing allegations of an establishment cover—up. a cover—up that allegedly involved the church, senior figures in the judiciary, and even the royal family. peter ball claimed to be a close friend of prince charles. today, the inquiry was read extracts from letters that the prince of wales sent peter ball, written in the 1990s, after he'd been cautioned. prince charles says he was not aware of the police caution. this is what the prince wrote to peter ball in february, 1995. i wish i could do more.

i feel desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated. the inquiry also heard about a house that prince charles' duchy estate had bought and rented to peter ball and his brother after he had been cautioned by police. and after he had resigned as bishop. the inquiry heard extracts from a letter the prince had written to peter ball talking about that transaction, negotiated by a figure known only as x. "i am so glad that x has been in touch, as i requested. i pray the duchy will be able to find something suitable for you both in due course, but it may take a little time to locate it. i long to see you both settled somewhere that suits you and gives you peace and tranquillity." prince charles was out and about in norfolk today. in a letter submitted to the inquiry, he admitted he had occasionally sent peter ball and his brother small gifts of money, but that the details of the house rental were handled by the duchy estate. he said he was aware

of the transaction, but didn't select the house. the prince stressed at no point had he sought to influence the police investigations into peter ball or encouraged his staff to do so. peter ball was released from prison in 2017, after serving 16 months. jon donnison, bbc news. a six—year—old boy has died from what is believed to be a pellet gun injury. he has been named as stanley matthews. this was around four o'clock yesterday afternoon. he died later at whole royal infirmary. earlier, police gave this statement. our teams are supporting the family of six—year—old stanley metcalf, who died yesterday following an incident at a house in church lane. we were called at 4pm

following reports that stan lee had suffered serious injuries and was taken to hull royal infirmary, where he sadly died. we are still investigating the circumstances of what exactly happened. initial indications are that this was a tragic accident involving a pellet gun. we have not made any arrests in connection with this incident, but we are speaking to a number of family members to assist us with our enquiries. our thoughts are with sta n enquiries. our thoughts are with stan lee's family. they've asked us that they be given privacy at this very difficult time. his family have released a photograph, which is available with this statement. it's on our website and we ask that you use it. a four—year—old boy was among five

people killed in a crash on the a96 in north—east scotland. a woman also died. james short has been at the scene. you can see the location of the crash, that's sweeping curve. now you wouldn't think anything had happened, but it was the most devastating crash. a while earlierfrom was the most devastating crash. a while earlier from police scotland, louise blacklock gave us more details of those involved. emergency services were made aware of a two vehicle collision on the a96 between keith and huntley before midnight la st keith and huntley before midnight last night. it is with deep regret that i can confirm three adult passengers, two that i can confirm three adult passengers, two women that i can confirm three adult passengers, two women aged 69 and seven and a 63—year—old man who were

travelling with them or sadly died. a 39—year—old female driver sustained serious injuries and is being treated. everyone in the car was local. a white fiat minibus which had been carrying italian tourists was also involved in this collision. tragically, two people, passengers in this vehicle, a woman and a four—year—old boy, i also died. the male driver, a male passenger, female passenger and a three—year—old boy, who were also on the minibus, were taken to hospital with a variety of injuries. the woman is considered to be in a critical condition and she is being treated at aberdeen royal infirmary. just to recap on those details, five people died, three of them local, from this area of moray in north—east scotland, and two were italian tourists, a woman and a

four—year—old boy, and another italian tourist, a woman, is critically ill in hospital, so that's —— a devastating accident. a little while ago, close to the scene of the accident, we can see four figures down there, and we believe it was the police interviewing a couple of young people who may have been witnesses, so clearly the police investigation is ongoing. they'll want to understand exactly why this accident was so devastating. these are our headlines: more extreme weather for parts of the uk and a chance of record—breaking temperatures. but the heatwave could be coming to an end. but the met office has issued an amber weather warning for thunderstorms in the east of england and east midlands. travel chaos, as roads and rail services struggle on one of the busiest weekends of the summer holidays. geraint thomas is racing to keep the

leader's yellow jersey on geraint thomas is racing to keep the leader's yellowjersey on the final mountain stage at the tour de france. he started the day with a lead of almost two minutes. sebastian vettel was fastest in second practice at the hungarian grand prix, hoping to close a 17 point gap to lewis hamilton in the driver standings. the british reigning world champion finished fifth. qpr have been fined almost £42 million and won't be able to make any transfers in the january window after they lost a claim against financialfair window after they lost a claim against financial fair play. i'll have more on those stories just after half past. the search for victims of greece's deadly wildfires is continue, with 83 people confirmed dead and dozens missing. a police investigation is under way, as authorities say they have serious indications it was the result of arson. wejoined from indications it was the result of arson. we joined from the town of mati, which was devastated by fire. there's a lot of anger, james. that

angle was expressed yesterday against the visiting greek defence minister. a lot of locals surrounded him and asked him why it took so long for them to be rescued, and he in turn had accusations of his own, accusing people here of making the problem worse by not following planning permission over the years. essentially now, there is a debate about why the death toll was so high. perhaps the answer is it's an accumulation of decisions, uncoordinated decisions and omissions over a number of decades, which allowed this town to develop without a coherent plan, which allowed buildings to be built right on the coast side here, depriving people in a fire of emergency evacuation routes. essentially, this town has no landmarks, no public squares, and as an official from the ministry of infrastructure or so said, it had no available emergency exit routes, narrow roads, pine

trees next to houses, and someone now will have to investigate why on earth this was allowed to happen. and there was a big question for greece. this account is an awful lot like towns —— this town is an awful lot like other towns. problems with sound. looking at how towns develop in order to ensure, next time there is afire, and order to ensure, next time there is a fire, and there will be a next time, there was a proper way for people to evacuate. on top of this, the devastating news that this could have been started deliberately. that is what the minister suggested, that there is evidence. the fire started at the same time up in the hills at two different places but the fact that that happened, according to satellite evidence, suggests to them that there was evidence that it was created by arson. that's happened in the past... people clearing spaces

for development. 30 separate fires we re for development. 30 separate fires were started, and the rest didn't cause. . . were started, and the rest didn't cause... people have been known to start fires to clear land for development without causing death... essentially, it's caused huge problems and huge depths. sorry about the slight sound problems with that. the storms in searing heat causing travel disruption for commuters and holiday—makers at the start of the summer holiday—makers at the start of the summer getaway. andy thomas is network rail‘s managing directorfor england and wales and he joins network rail‘s managing directorfor england and wales and hejoins me from cardiff. first of all, how are we doing today in terms of travel? what disruption is there? good afternoon. as you know, we have some extreme temperatures at the moment, and our teams extreme temperatures at the moment, and ourteams are extreme temperatures at the moment, and our teams are out there, ensuring that we keep passengers safe while they travel to and from

their places of work and on holiday. those extreme temperatures are giving us challenges in terms of expansion of the rails and, as you know, we do a lot of activity within network rail to ensure that we mitigate any chances of buckling of those rails, so that we prevent associated derailments or alternatively any damage to the network, so we can maintain that quickly and get it back to service as quickly as possible following those temperatures starting to drop. how many trains are we talking about, where passengers on board are going, why are we crawling? we've got three areas across the country, one in the north, where we've had to slow some trains down to prevent any type of buckling that's going on around the network because of those heat related problems. of course,

those passengers, we do ask them, please check before you travel and ensure you are carrying water with you so that you are able to endure some of the temperatures. why doesn't this happen in other countries, greece, france even? similar temperatures but less chaos. i think you'll find that actually prevention of buckling activity is something that international right across the world as soon as temperatures exceed maximum levels. we have to slow service is down for safety reasons, and searing but passengers are kept safe, and we get them to where they need to be as quickly as we can and we restore services as quickly as possible without damaging the network through buckling type activities. you must dread going to tv studios to do this, because we are talking about

one of the busiest weekends of the summer. one of the busiest weekends of the summer. a lot of people watching will be going, we don't seem able to cope. there are a lot of people watching, a lot of people across their travelling on the network, and ijust ask you, their travelling on the network, and i just ask you, please, their travelling on the network, and ijust ask you, please, please, please, do contact network rail, —— national rail, check before you travel, carry bottles of water. we know these are extreme temperatures and we also know that there is, and it is here in cardiff already, temperatures have plummeted from 28 222 in the last hour because of the weather front that is coming across the uk. like i say, we keep those speed on for safety reasons. as soon as temperatures drop, we release them, and services go back to normal as good as possible. what does a temperature change like that visit to do to the track? with high temperatures, metal expands and contracts, and when it expands,

massive stresses are out there, and hence we reduce things, such as putting speed restrictions on to reduce the tension and stress on those rails, where we know we've got risks. we monitor temperatures and we even paint some of the track so it is white and reflects the sunshine. temperature on the track, on the railhead, can be 20 degrees hotter than the ambient temperature around it. when it's painted white it reduces that 5 degrees but even so, when it gets to that critical point, it has potential to buckle. if it buckles, that takes that track out of service a long time, while we have to replace it. that is a major engineering work. it's really important that we reduce that the safety reasons so that we can recover the service as quickly as possible, so we can get passengers moving again quickly. the argument, this is a one—off, extreme weather,

we keep hearing this is going to become the norm. what are companies and organisations like yours doing to nco that, in future, when we have another hot summer like this, we will not face this disruption? —— doing to ensure. asda we do a lot to reduce disruption already, but this is extreme circumstances. normally it hits us for a couple of hours, and then that railhead calls back down, and services go back to normal. this has been a long time and i'm sure you will agree, it's an extreme circumstance. what clap thank you, andy thomas. —— extreme circumstance. what clap thank you, andy thomas. -- thank you, andy thomas. skywatchers will be treated to the longest lunar eclipse this century, this evening. the phenomenon known as a ‘blood moon' occurs when the earth comes between the sun and the moon, causing the moon to turn a reddish brown colour. the eclipse will be visible in the uk, clouds permitting, between 9pm and 10:15 this evening. our science correspondent, victoria gill, has more.

our familiar satellite heading into our own planet's shadow. tonight, as it rises over the uk at 9pm, the moon will be turned blood red, as the earth passes between it and the sun. this particular lunar eclipse, or ‘blood moon' as it's known, will be the longest this century, lasting for one hour and 43 minutes. you need to be able to have a clear south—eastern horizon as the moon comes up, so we'll see low down to the south—east. and as it rises, you'll see it more and more clearly, and then the eclipse finishes about quarter past ten. it's just lit by the light filtered through the earth's atmosphere, which is why it looks this sort of dusky red. at the same time, our solar system neighbour, mars, will reach the nearest point to earth possible, in its own journey around the sun. where they're at their nearest point to each other, it's known as a close approach of mars. the minimum distance is 54.6 million kilometres. but that does significantly improve our view of the red planet. so, clouds permitting, there could be a celestial show tonight, with a brighter red planet

in the same sky as a blood—red moon. victoria gill, bbc news. i'm joined by the manager of the european space educational resource office, an initiative by the european space agency to improve youth engagement and education. it helps inspire the next generation. events like this, alex, are great for everybody, but for young people and particularly, they can inspire. they really can, because anybody who has met a child for five they really can, because anybody who has met a child forfive minutes knows they are incredibly inquisitive, so being able to see images such as the blood red moon inspires you and get you to question, how does that happen, why does it happen, and there is an answer. the magic of seeing the visuals with the beautiful science behind it really inspires young people. and that's important when

you are trying to get young people involved in science generally. the uk hasa involved in science generally. the uk has a stem shortage at the moment. science, technology, engineering and maths. research around this area is, there was a need for people with those skills, and the only people we'll get young people interested is by events like this that inspire them, and then you can read that love of the subject at an early age but -- you can read that love. i don't know people who don't go wide—eyed at things like this. young people are interested into things, dinosaurs and space. and then the news from mars about possibly water there, and that brings the issue of life into the new century. for young people, it's an incredible time. they are the future of the space industries, regardless of what industry is, observing earth with satellites to do weather forecasting, or life on

mars. they are the future and they've got this all open to them, and it can all start from observing the moon tonight. so what does your office do? what is the aim? we are funded by the european and uk space agencies to help teachers use space for inspiring content in schools. it's a small part of the curriculum but you can take any subject about space. you can teach about human biology. space astronauts, like tim peake... i biology. space astronauts, like tim peake. .. i thought biology. space astronauts, like tim peake... i thought you biology. space astronauts, like tim peake. .. i thought you are biology. space astronauts, like tim peake... i thought you are pointing at me there! that would have been way off the mark! you will gradually get thinner and thinner up there. for science, that's interesting, but it helps treating osteoporosis, so you can use the concept of space but then teach biology around it. we offer teachers the support to do that through free classroom activities, some of which are releva nt for

activities, some of which are relevant for parents as well so, if you're thinking of observing the moon tonight with your kids and you wa nt moon tonight with your kids and you wantan moon tonight with your kids and you want an activity to do at the weekend, go on the website and you can find some free rhys sorted and activities on there. what would you doing at 9pm? actually, i'm thinking of being at the proms, but i'm planning to look at it on my way home. i think it ends at 10:15pm. i hope we can get straight out into hyde park and have a look. you are watching afternoon life. the foreign secretary has been asked to intervene in a custody case involving two children living in china is british father was murdered by their chinese mother. the family of michael simpson want jeremy hunt to appeal to chinese officials when he visits the country next week, as katharine da costa reports. seven—year—old jack and six—year—old alice are at the centre of an international custody battle. their british father, michael — seen here with them — was stabbed to death in his shanghai apartment in march last year by his estranged chinese wife. she is now serving a life

sentence for murder. since their father's death, jack and alice have lived with their chinese grandparents, unaware of what has happened to their parents. but their english granddad wants to raise them back in the uk and is fighting for them to be brought back here, which he says is what his son michael so desperately would have wanted. michael raised them very much in a western style. they spent two visits a year over here, they speak english — though it's suffering a bit at the moment, for obvious reasons. they've travelled in spain and thailand with our family. when they were already talking about a divorce, and weiwei was happy the children would go with michael, because he was the real carer. so, as far as we're concerned, that is where they should be. the foreign and commonwealth office said, "we are supporting the british relatives of michael simpson at this difficult and trying time.

we helped the simpson family visit their grandchildren earlier this year and remain in contact with the children's chinese relatives and the local authorities regarding this case." our argument is, they're both british citizens. jack does have a chinese passport, but alice has no documentation, which means she cannot go to school over there because she needs an id card to do that. mr simpson says his daughter—in—law‘s family are demanding tens of thousands of pounds in exchange for the children. he thinks political intervention is needed and hopes with the backing of the british government, and the new foreign secretary, they can be reunited by the autumn. you know when you think of weather

forecasters, you know who knows exactly what's happening in the area. you have left your cushions out in the garden and now you hear there is a thunderstorm coming. out in the garden and now you hear there is a thunderstorm cominglj took all the cushions in, but there isa took all the cushions in, but there is a good table outside, and it's not good, because it will be soaked. i don't think my microphone is switched on... it's been a busy day! anyway, you have that forecast run for your garden? no, ijust anyway, you have that forecast run for your garden? no, i just took a gamble. but there is one side sweeping london right now, with some downpours across central and southern england and a huge storm has broken out across norfolk in the last hour. when you say huge storm, what do you mean? very heavy rain, frequent lightning, hail and strong gusts of wind. it's very local, the storm might only be five or ten miles across. either side of that he might have nothing. the skies might

turn hazy and more threatening. it feels like it's going to rain and a lot of us are seeing scenes we haven't probably seen in weeks and weeks. you get that really heavy feeling just before and does this mean that as soon as we have a thunderstorm the weather has broken and we suddenly feel a bit fresher? yes and no. what is happening at the moment, but the weather front is approaching the far west of the uk, which we have been hearing about when we talk about the rails buckling and contracting. what we are seeing in the east of the country, where there is an amber warning from the met office, these are storms sparked by fantastically high temperatures we have had so the atmosphere is very volatile creating its own weather systems and storms. the weather front is a separate thing, which will sweep across and freshen things up for everybody. the

two not a surly going to collide, but a lot of things come into play with the storms coming into play. —— the two are not necessarily going to collide. to repeat all of that again now! this is the weather front here, you can see the motion, moving roughly, tracing in this direction. in the west is whether temperatures are dropping. these clusters of cloud cover these are the thunderstorms starting to break out. there is one around east anglia that has also developed. looking at the radar, all of this is rainfall. these are not storms, this is the weather front. these are the darker

colours, one across southern england and a vicious thunderstorm developing in the last hour or so in east anglia. i don't think even the radar has picked that up yet, at least on our graphic. that is the here and now. these are the high temperatures that have been sparking off the thunderstorms. the last time we checked with the weather centre, the top temperature was at 34.2 degrees celsius, pretty much what we had been forecasting. we were not expecting the record today and we did not get a record. back to the lunar eclipse, yes, there is a lot of cloud out there. the problem might be between these times, 9pm and just after 10pm, even if you don't get the rain and heavy cloud, the skies might be quite hazy so the blood red moon could be blurry for some of us. it's very difficult to pick out where the breaks in the cloud will be. this is what is

happening by six o'clock in the morning on saturday with some residual warmth left across eastern areas, 16—18 degrees. by the time we get to saturday morning, that's when the gates... the weather front is over here, that's roughly in cardiff right now but by this time on saturday, it's way over there. and the breeze comes in off the atlantic, cooling things off. it's only 16 in northern ireland. there is one weather front and another one heading our way on sunday. we can count some isobars, and i'm sure you haven't forgotten what that means! lots of isobars and weather fronts means it will turn windy. to the south—west, some big gusts of wind, gale force, and the holiday—makers there will notice that. sunday is a breezy and bright day, let's not write it off completely, because there will be some sunshine, but the typical whether you would expect

across this part of the world. is this the end of the heatwave? i don't think so. because by the end of next week and the weekend, it looks as though things could be hotting up into the 30s again. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. forecasters say the temprature could yet reach a record high forjuly. yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far with the mercury reaching 35 at london heathrow. but the heatwave could be coming to an end as the met office warns of intense storms across parts of england and scotland later today and into saturday. flooding could cause a danger to life. the extreme hot weather is causing disruption for commuters and holiday makers at the start of the summer getaway. eurotunnel suffered long delays as some carriages had to be taken out of service because of problems with the air conditioning. sport now on afternoon live with azi farni. powys geraint thomas doing at the tour de france? they are into the final few miles.

it was looking a bit dodgy for wild. he was on his own for a bit with dumoulin. his team sky team—mate chris froome had fallen behind. thomas started the day with a one minute and 59 second advantage and chris froome is still third overall with the defending champion riding to help thomas and team sky defend the yellowjersey. to help thomas and team sky defend the yellow jersey. sebastian to help thomas and team sky defend the yellowjersey. sebastian vettel was fastest in second practice at the hungarian grand prix with the ferrari driver taking advantage of errors from other drivers to finish less tha n errors from other drivers to finish less than a tenth of a second quicker than max verstappen's red bull. lewis hamilton has a championship leader of 17 points over vettel and was three quarters ofa over vettel and was three quarters of a second off the pace setting time at the hungaroring. queens park rangers have been fined almost £42 million and will not be able to make any million and will not be able to make a ny tra nsfers million and will not be able to make any transfers in the january window after a football league arbitration

panel dismissed their claims that football's financial fair play rules we re football's financial fair play rules were unlawful. the championship club's case relates to them breaking their spending limits on their promotion winning season in 2014. now on afternoon live let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let's go to dominic heale in nottingham, where a free and confidential drug testing facility will be available at one of derbyshire's biggest festivals this year, to try and prevent substance related deaths. and beccy barr is in salford, with news of a secret paul mccartney gig that thrilled fans in liverpool last night. or perhaps not so secret. dominik, what is the why not festival? or perhaps not so secret. dominik, what is the why not festival7m

ta kes pla ce what is the why not festival7m takes place at pike hall near matlock this weekend. over 30,000 people are expected. this year's festival line—up includes jamirioquai and the libertines. it has been taking place for 13 years. last year it became a quagmire of incessant rain. but this year, they might have more problems trying to get tent pegs into the ground. tell us about the drugs tent. it's not about testing people to see if they have taken drugs, it is testing the drugs that people perhaps fully intend to take. of course, the organisers have a very strict drug prevention policy, it says so strict drug prevention policy, it says so on strict drug prevention policy, it says so on their website and that policy is prevent, pursue and protect. prevent drugs on site,

pursue the dealers and protect festivalgoers. but there is also pragmatism this year. the view is that people will take drugs at music festivals. sadly there have been deaths at other events. the aim is to make sure substances festivalgoers take have not been adulterated and don't take higher levels of toxic chemicals or other stuff that can kill or seriously harm them. in previous years, fans going to the y— not festival have taken drugs that have been found to include rat poison and washing powder. the confidential and free drug testing service at y—not is run bya drug testing service at y—not is run by a independent outfit. you hand over your drugs and come back later to find out the results. at that point you will be offered some information and perhaps a bit of a lecture on the dangers of drug taking. today we went up to the festival site and spoke to one of the organisers. festivals have a very high concentration of people at

them. as is often the case with music events, some people will choose to use drugs. it's a good opportunity for us to engage with people who might never have spoken toa people who might never have spoken to a health professional about their drug use before. we see about nine in ten of the people who speak to us have never spoken to anyone about theirdrug have never spoken to anyone about their drug use before. it allows us to cooperate closely with the police, give them intelligence and feedback and learn from each other. you know there will be those who says this officially condones illegal drug use. those involved say absolutely not. everyone involved, derbyshire police, for instance, say the service is intended to keep festivalgoers safe. it's not a free pass for people to take illegal substances. to quote them, they say, "our stance will always be the same. people should not take drugs, however we are realistic in the view that some ticket holders will still choose to buy them. " it's worth

pointing out that no drug tests are 100% safe and there will always be risks. but some people will see this asa risks. but some people will see this as a tolerance of something that is just plain illegal outside the gates of the festival. they kind of normalisation that could encourage young people to dabble because at least they know the drugs they are taking will not kill them. the counterargument is that if testing prevents just one death, it will be worth it. thank you. let's go to sa lfo rd. worth it. thank you. let's go to salford. this is not so secret gig, how did it all start? talking about the cavern. that's right. surprise, surprise, it's all about her new album. but to be less cynical and flesh out the detail, paul mccartney, famous with the beatles many years ago, was at the liverpool institute of performing arts on wednesday. in conversation with jarvis cocker on stage she dropped a big hint there was going to be a secret gig the following night. then

came beatlemania. he didn't give away the location but it doesn't ta ke away the location but it doesn't take a great work of academia to figure out it might be at the cavern clu b figure out it might be at the cavern club where the beatles started their career. so people flocked to the club, lots going on there, probably a decent bet that's where it would be. however, people camping out, queues of people waiting for tickets to the gig, but it turned out they would giving out free tickets at the echo arena on the other side of liverpool. people dashed across town to try to get the tickets. there we re to try to get the tickets. there were only 150 tickets being given away. only 250 people were at the club, taking place on thursday night, and it looked like an exciting event. how did fans and critics react? it's a long time since the beatles started up, but they still inspires such mania among theirfans. they still inspires such mania among their fans. people absolutely loved it, coming from all around the world, as you might expect. they descend anyway on matthew street where the cavern club is, but when

word came out about the concert there was a huge excitement in the city about it. people love the gigs, as these fans demonstrated after the show. it was amazing, can't believe itjust show. it was amazing, can't believe it just happened. i'm show. it was amazing, can't believe itjust happened. i'm in shock. extraordinary, my head is melted. we see him all the time, singing extraordinary, my head is melted. we see him allthe time, singing his songs. it was unbelievable. looking at the crowds there as well, not all of those people even got in. not to rain on anyone's parade, but as a point of fact, that cavern club is not the original club. the original where the beatles played almost 300 times in the early 1960s was filled in in1973, times in the early 1960s was filled in in 1973, where they've built a new replica cavern club down the road, where that event took place. lots of people didn't get tickets for that, but paul mccartney will be touring around the world so lots more people will get to see him. not to rain on the parade, as she reigns

on the parade! think to you both. dominic cummings you remember the beatles! i do, but i was only ten yea rs old beatles! i do, but i was only ten years old when they formed, let's not forget! if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them through the bbc iplayer. a reminder that we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm on afternoon live. and dominic is still trying to work out the maths. president trump has hailed new figures released today showing the us economy has grown at the fastest rate in almost four years. the 4.1% growth in the second quarter of the year is among the highest in industrial nations. growth was boosted by domestic sales and strong exports. but since tariffs were

brought in by the administration, foreign investment in the country has slowed, the president insists that move has made the us more successful. once again we are the economic envy of the entire world. when i meet the leaders of countries, the first thing they say invariably is, mr president, so nice to meet you, congratulations on your economy. you are leading the entire world. they say it almost each and every time. america is being respected again and america is winning again because we are finally putting america first. everywhere we look we are seeing the effects of the american economic miracle. at the american economic miracle. at the same time, we are finally cracking down on decades of abusive foreign trade practices. we were abused by companies, we were abused by the companies within countries. but in particular we were abused by countries themselves, including allies. abused like no nation has

ever been abused on trade before. because we had nobody watching. they stole ourjobs. and they plundered our wealth. but that ended. studio: jamie roberts and is here. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. feeling the heat with more extreme weather for parts of the uk. but the heatwave could be coming to an end — the met office has issued an amber weather warning for thunderstorms in the east of england and the east midlands. travel chaos as roads and rail services struggle at the start of one of the busiest weekends of the summer holidays. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the us economy grew at an annualised rate of 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the latest figures from the us

department of commerce. that is the fastest growth rate in almost four years and pretty much in line with expectations. the first quarter growth figures were revised up to 2.2% from 2.0%. amazon has reported record profits helped by a rise in online sales and demand for its cloud services. the numbers are for the last three months. profits hit a record £1.9 billion in the three months to the end ofjune — about 12 times more than it made during the same period last year. as people use cash less and less and use digital payments more and more, a new independent review has been set up to look at what it means for all us consumers. the access to cash review will examine how we will be affected by things like online banking, co nta ctless cards, fewer cash machines and so on. the review is funded by link, the uk's biggest network of cash machines, but is independent from it. the economy in the united states is

motoring. it is, and i have to say, it has a lot to do with trump. a lot of people are saying the tax cuts he brought in at the start of the have pushed the economy forward. the figures, 4.1%, the best figures since the obama administration. in four years. it has to be said, the obama administration, on four occasions it saw growth at higher levels tha n occasions it saw growth at higher levels than this, in 2010, 2011, 2014. you have to take into account the rush by american companies to export to avoid tariffs. there was one ship called the peak pegasus that was racing to get to china. people were taking bets on whether it would get there and it got there three hours before the deadline. it was trying to get soybeans there, but it couldn't unload its stuff on shore. that's another factor. but it couldn't unload its stuff on

shore. that's anotherfactor. if thatis shore. that's anotherfactor. if that is a strong factor, we would expect to see those gdp figures fall sharply in the next quarter, the third quarter of this financial year. those figures will be really interesting. other figures from twitter with shares down quite a lot, and this is off the back of facebook. it's to do with user numbers. user numbers coming down by just1 million, it's a substantial amount because with twitter we have seen amount because with twitter we have seen exponential growth in users, and it's the user numbers that investors are and it's the user numbers that investors a re really and it's the user numbers that investors are really interested in. it's not so much the profits, because investors generally look at profits in the future, and they expect profits in the future to be better if you get the user numbers up. if you have a falloff in user numbers, even though it was expected because twitter at the moment is cleaning up its previous econ sessions in the way it deals with fa ke accou nts sessions in the way it deals with fake accounts and the rest of it. and even so, the market was really spooked by this and the shares fell

about 17%. they have come back a little bit but are still looking weak. let's talk about tsp. just briefly, this was as a result of the it compliance. -- let's talk about tsb. we can talk to jasper lawler from london capital, head of research. what do you make of tsb, they still have a way to go before they still have a way to go before they can sort out the repercussions from this it meltdown. that afternoon. yes, ithink from this it meltdown. that afternoon. yes, i think this is the first time that tsb have reported a loss. we're already seeing the financial effect of this, sol loss. we're already seeing the financial effect of this, so i think it will continue. if there is a silver lining, a positive to be taken silver lining, a positive to be ta ken away, silver lining, a positive to be taken away, it's that actually there wasn't an outflow of customers as some might have expected. around

6000 customers closed accounts out of5 6000 customers closed accounts out of 5 million, so a small percentage. you could say maybe it takes awhile to get around to doing it even if you were very unhappy with the service at that time, maybe you haven't got around to closing your account next, so that's a figure to watch going forward. it will cost a lot more than it has so far, this doesn't include the finds from regulators and how many customers might leave the bank. we have been through a lot of the us growth numbers and! through a lot of the us growth numbers and i am sure you heard president trump talk about the tremendous achievements of his administration. how do you think the american economy is going at the moment? i think it is something to be celebrated in america. trump said he would get to 4% and he has got there. they say when america sneezes there. they say when america sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. it works in reverse, we should benefit from a strong us economy. as you alluded to, there is a good aspect here where tax cuts have followed through to stronger business confidence and they have invested more. business investment

is up but there is a one—time factor about exports being unusually strong, and a lot of that is because of the last—minute shipments of soybeans etc. president trump this week announcing a stimulus package for farmers because farmers are saying there is a lot smaller demand for the exports going forward. you will not have that big export number going forward, so it is definitely doing better and i expect tax cuts to help, but maybe not as good as the numbers suggest. and a word on twitter. revenues are doing well. profits are doing well, but user numbers, which we all knew would be down a little bit, the markets are taking it very badly still.|j down a little bit, the markets are taking it very badly still. i think the reason the market has taken it so the reason the market has taken it so badly is that this is part of a broader theme, so badly is that this is part of a broadertheme, particularly so badly is that this is part of a broader theme, particularly with social media companies. we are seeing that in a slight distortion of the world, the fake news that was going on was good for business,

creating a lot of fake accounts, putting fake news out. the market follows the monthly active users, and by cutting all these users it meant the figure was less. and there was advertising money being spent, driving people to these news sites. with that being stripped back as companies fight back, or both twitter and facebook, there is a question over what the real rate of growth should be. there is a general sense of uncertainty, not that these company can't do well, but how quickly they can do well as people thought previously. the markets are not moral, i think that's the lesson to take. they are motoring at the moment. not as much as they were. brent crude is still up around $70 per barrel. the pound is a little bit weaker against the dollar. good results out from bp. up 0.5%, so a good day and a good end to the week. former bbc news presenter alistair

yates has died at the age of 66. he was a presenter for yates has died at the age of 66. he was a presenterfor more yates has died at the age of 66. he was a presenter for more than 20 yea rs on was a presenter for more than 20 years on bbc and was also one of the first presenters of sky news in 1989 and those who worked with him will miss him. next is the bbc news at five. temperatures in one or two spots in east anglia are around the mid—30s, and that's enough to spark some thunderstorms and there is a warning from the met office. parts of east anglia and lincolnshire could see high wind and potential downpours, and also hail. there is a change on the way with a weather system are marching in that will bring fresh weather tomorrow. ahead of it, we still have wind blowing out of the south—west, very hot in the netherlands today and we could see some record—breaking temperatures and some of that heat is still

drifting over to places like kent and east anglia. so it's very hot across this part of the world, and this amber warning is in force from the met office in east anglia and parts of lincolnshire where we could see nasty storms bringing potential flash flooding. the storms would be very ha rd to flash flooding. the storms would be very hard to predict, meaning cloud cover is also hard to predict this evening, and many of us are looking forward to the lunar eclipse between 9pm and 10:15pm. many of us will probably catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse. you will have plenty of time but will have to do it between the showers and storms. variable amounts of cloud through tonight, and into tomorrow there is afair bit tonight, and into tomorrow there is a fair bit of rain on the weather maps, something we haven't seen in a long time. tonight is still pretty one. in the mid to high teens across the country. the very different picture on saturday with wind coming

in off the ocean, with fresher air moving inland. there will be a mixture of sunshine and showers with more typical weatherfor mixture of sunshine and showers with more typical weather for our part of the world. for many others in the south—east and east anglia, temperatures will be close to the high teens. this area of low pressure will bring some blustery and windy conditions on sunday. for any campers out in the south—west, it will be windy with 40 or 50 mph gusts. rain could be heavy around the welsh hills. the south—east could continue to see a bit of rain as well. there will be some sunshine as well. there will be some sunshine as well. there will be some sunshine as well with a mixed and blustery day on sunday with some rain on and off. today at 5pm: travel chaos across the uk, as the the transport network struggles in the extreme weather. rail services on the east coast mainline are disrupted after lightning strikes damaged signalling equipment. meanwhile, the heatwave disruption is continuing at the channel tunnel, where eurotunnel says there are delays at its folkestone

terminal of over two hours. two and a half hours queuing from the motorway down to the check—in. sat on the motorway embankment in 34 degrees heat. but the heatwave could be coming to an end. the met office has issued an amber weather warning for thunderstorms in the east of england and the east midlands we'll have the latest on the heatwave and the travel disruption, live from folkestone in kent. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm.