this is bbc news. the headlines at 6pm. long delays on flights, ferries and eurotunnel trains as the recent extreme weather continues to cause problems mps warn british democracy is in crisis because of targeted campaigns of hate and misinformation on social media. the chief constable of the west midlands admits his police force occasionally provides a poor service, and apologises. we are incredibly busy at this time. the level of calls that we are receiving this summer are very challenging. sometimes, that service that we are providing at those peak times does not meet what the public expects. also coming up. british victory at the tour de france. wales‘ geraint thomas is set to win as he maintains his lead on the penultimate day of the race australian sailor wendy tuck has become the first female skipper to win the clipper round the world yacht race. first it was the hot

weather causing disruption, now its storms leading to misery for tens of thousands of people. violent storms and lightning strikes have caused the cancellation of flights and trains. among the worst affected have been stansted airport, the eurotunnel and the east coast mainline. simonjones reports. the holiday getaway from hell, seemingly unending queues at stansted airport as flights were cancelled, blamed on the thunderstorms that meant planes couldn't fly safely. after waiting for several hours, many had to give up and head home. it's just incredible how unaccountable they are, there is no—one here to deal with it. the queues are never ending. people are supposed to wait. it's ridiculous. we have been waiting for six hours. then they say that

the flight is delayed. then we come back here, another queue for ten hours, just to talk with them. the storms that swept in, heralding the end of the heatwave, were supposed to put a stop to this, too — the chaos at the channel tunnel. for three days, trains had been unable to run at full capacity because it was too hot. the air conditioning couldn't cope. now it's much cooler, but delays have gone up, a six and a half hour wait for some. the company says it's taking time to bring back the carriages that had to be taken out of service. lightning strikes have also taken out some rail services. whoa! and members of the rmt union have walked out on strike on southwestern railway and eurostar. weather alerts remain in place, warning of danger, as the weather continues to claim lives. this morning, a body was found close to the beach at clacton on sea in essex, after a teenager went missing in the water. simon jones, bbc news. and a short time ago,

i spoke to simonjones in folkestone about the delays there. the queue behind me are people waiting to get into the euro tunnel, and it's inching forward but little more than that. at the moment people are being told they are facing a two hour wait in that queue just to get to check—in. once they get to check in their facing another three hours on the terminal, but they may be slightly relieved, because this morning the total weight was six and a half hours, so the euro tunnel saying things are improving, but it's really not a massive improvement of people heading out on the holidays. desperate to get away. the strange thing is that yesterday we were standing here in glorious sunshine, well above 30 degrees and the company was blaming the tree hot weather for the delays of saying some of the carriages had become simply too hot to use. the acquisition

could not cope and for that reason had to be taken out of service. he said as soon as the temperature dipped things should get back to normal. today it's nowhere near as side, the temperature is normal, there a window. but the worst delays than ever. the company says it has taken time to put those carriages that were taken out of service because of the heat back into service, but for the people caught in that try to get away on a holiday is of little comfort. thank you. and heavy rain has led to severe flooding in parts of northern ireland many roads have been affected and drivers are being advised exercise caution. there are reports of some businesses being flooded in belfast too. geraint thomas is set to become only the third briton ever to win the tour de france. he finished third behind tom dumoulin in today's time trial but still leads the dutchman by one minute, 51 seconds. tour convention dictates that the race leader is never challenged on the final stage.

dumoulin will finish second ahead of chris froome. hugh woozencroft in our sports centre said this was an unexpected win by many. they can always be difficult, the tour de france, thomas has been at the tip of the leaderboard for quite sometime but things do change and coming into it, he was meant to be the support writer to chris froome, the support writer to chris froome, the favourite, four—time winner of course and fellow sky team as well, but thomas has building towards this to the success during his lengthy career. always known as a road cyclist that could quickly turn his attention to the track if needed. none of those three world championships that he has known for an part of the bridge and team pursuit team. his form has really builds towards cycling's biggest prize and a 2016 he retained his title, he won the paris to nice in

france. then he saw the potential for the winter. the first british rider to win the tour of the alps and there was a crash where he was placed a second. that's fine with straw and that had more bad luck. the first welshman in yellow at the tour de france, but again crashed out. that was in the ninth stage he suffered a broken collarbone. this year, knows the bugs and he is set to win tomorrow. the difficulty has really been for chris froome who should have been a leader writer as isaid should have been a leader writer as i said when a for tour titles including the last three. at the end of last year and especially going for this year's italian a really took his total. no poor performance from him, but really did not show throughout the tour de france that he was going to be the man that was going to last up until the end it

was thomas that took the mantle from him, as now the? is was thomas that took the mantle from him, as now the? i514 sky whether they can keep chris froome and thomas for next season and if they do give them both who will be that lead writer heading into 2019? steve williams taught geraint thomas pe at whitchurch high school. he gave us his reaction to the win. it's unbelievable. i'm just coming back down and i sought on the screen here. we're also proud of his success, here. we're also proud of his success, and we here. we're also proud of his success, and we are here. we're also proud of his success, and we are delighted that he has one was the most famous cycle race in the world. it'sjust a massive tributes to this commitment, really. all the things you want to think about. as far as wales is concerned is one of the greatest

moments of welsh sport in history. to go from 140th in 2007, now he is first in two dozen 18. that's what you call commitment. it's unbelievable. if he wins today, he wins the race. tomorrow posed backstage is more of a procession around paris with the leader uses off and allows everybody to enjoy themselves. he has not officially w011 themselves. he has not officially won it, but it's as good as. do you think is enough time for you and in paris to cheer him in? i would love to go. i think you might have difficulty getting up there with the weather, but better to watch on tv. your school is extraordinary in how many world beating athletes it has turned out. what is going on at your

school? is there something you need to tell us? we have private things. this has been going on for many, many years since the school started in 1938. not to this level, of course, but up there with gareth and sam, at the six pupils who are in the commonwealth games with eight two gold medals at the silver. we have not been to that sort of level before, but there has always been that, i remember back in 1983 it was a long time ago and there was 27 welshjuniors. 0f a long time ago and there was 27 welsh juniors. of course, a long time ago and there was 27 welshjuniors. of course, nothing like this. he began cycling with the main cycling club at the age of ten. he then rode with future team sky

team—mate luke before ready with other local clubs. did you get the feeling that cycling was his passion? 0h, feeling that cycling was his passion? oh, yes. he did not take too other sports. he represented the school athletics, he plays the rugby team up to your nine and his dad said that cycling is getting pretty serious, now, so he is going to have to come straight on that. he's going all around the country and it was a very good rugby player and a very good athlete as well. from a there of geraint thomas. voters are being systematically manipulated by the spread of fake news, according to a group of mps. in a report due tomorrow, but which has already been leaked, the culture, digital media and sport select committee says the uk is facing a "democratic crisis." it's urging tighter regulation of political posts on social media and measures to combat interference in elections. 0ur political correspondent susana mendonca told me mps believe the law needs to change.

the laws around political campaigning have not kept up with movement and technology. whereas previously we obviously have leaflets that cope through peoples doors, well we have a lot of this online campaigning and we don't know where it's coming from or what have you. mps have been looking at this since last year, and with the revelations of course about people's personal data being harvested on facebook by a company called cambridge analytic a which raised concerns because that was being used as we understand to influence us elections. and please here have been looking out about whether or not something similar might be happening in the eu referendum and whether or not it would have been influenced

from foreign countries like russia. is the areas of concern and if you look at the wording of this report it's pretty strong language. look at the uk facing a democratic races and say that voters have been relentlessly targeted by online m essa 9 es relentlessly targeted by online messages that are basically preying on theirfears messages that are basically preying on their fears and prejudices in order to influence the way that they vote. so what are the recommendations than? it's not easy for police. it's quite a far ranging in what they're suggesting. the government had to decide whether or not any of these things came into play. firstly they're looking at new online campaigning rules, so basically the idea that you would have to make it clear where ads come from because at the moment love those adverts pop up on your social media and you do not know who has generated them. also, a public register as part of those new rule so register as part of those new rule so anybody can see the adverts that are being targeted at other individuals, because the point about

this is that people get targeted according to their interest so if you're according to their interest so if you' re interested according to their interest so if you're interested in immigration, you're interested in immigration, you are you're interested in immigration, you a re interested you're interested in immigration, you are interested in things like animal welfare you will get targeted with adverts specifically around that. then another one of the recommendations is to have a tax on social media networks. with the mps are saying is that the social media networks have a responsibility and they cannot just carry networks have a responsibility and they cannotjust carry on hiding behind the idea that they are just a platform and not a publisher. the mps are saying there something in between in the needs to be a new category for them, and that basically they need to be taxed in orderfor that to basically they need to be taxed in order for that to fund the new regulations around them, and also to fund education in schools and awareness programmes about what fake news is. another recommendation is the electoral commission which is the electoral commission which is the watchdog that polices our electoral processes should be given the power to impose tougherfines, because at the moment they can only impose fines of just

because at the moment they can only impose fines ofjust £20,000. there have been warnings from some campaigners that say mps risk overreacting and actually impeding their rights to freedom of speech, but we have also heard from dominic cummings. the former director of vote leave which is the official campaign to leave the eu. he leads this report that is supposed to come out tomorrow. he leaked it yesterday and also refused to be involved in the report when the mps wanted to interview him. wasn't interviewed and he has described this as fake news. also her from and he has described this as fake news. also herfrom the and he has described this as fake news. also her from the government today, and this is a report by backbench mp is. that would have to ta ke backbench mp is. that would have to take on this recommendations for things to come into play. the government has said they will consider the final recommendations but they're looking for new online safety laws to make being online much safer than it is now. watch for coverage on that report tomorrow as more details come out. or keen is rent guarding the travel chaos caused by the extreme weather we

have been seeing. just an update from euro tunnel, long queues therefore the carjourneys on board therefore the carjourneys on board the trains that take you to france. they're just saying the last few seconds that they have a full railway service operating, nine passenger shuttles in service and that says it gives them for departures per hour now and i its departures per hour now and if its departures per hour now and if its departure every two hours. earlier today passengers being told it was a six and a half hour minimum weight before they could get a train. that reduced slightly a few hours later to it to our 0 and then a three hour wait. they're saying this has all been done to air conditioning problems and trains not in the right place. those problems experienced during extremely hot weather have now not reoccurred but have had to

reset many carrying wagons one by one of the day which means that they have not yet got the full capacity they need for each shuttle. 0vernight they need for each shuttle. overnight in saturday to sunday will be running additional departures with the goal of removing waiting times. they say at present they have two one half hours waiting on the terminal for car passengers and slightly longerfor terminal for car passengers and slightly longer for coaches, to project the already booked traffic this weekend at stop the sales of tickets until monday morning. you are still in for a bit of a weight, but things are beginning to move. that i think is that statement in a nutshell. more updates for you throughout the evening here on bbc news. these are our headlines. long delays on flights, ferries and eurotunnel trains as the recent extreme weather continues to cause problems there are still delays. mps warn british democracy is in crisis because of targeted campaigns of hate and misinformation on social media. britain's geraint thomas is set to win the tour de france after maintaining his lead

on the penultimate day of the race tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in northern california as a huge wildfire continues to burn out of control. two people have been killed and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed. firefighters are battling to control the blaze that's been likened to a tornado of fire. courtney bembridge reports. firefighters say they are battling a fire tornado. fuelled by high temperatures and large pockets of dry vegetation. the fire has destroyed 500 homes in california, and threatened thousands more. oh, my goodness. the blaze has been burning for six days. so far it has scorched more

than 118,000 acres of land, an area larger than the city of san francisco. further south, another fire rages, this one deliberately lit, forcing thousands to flee their homes. i didn't realise how much my home means to me. in the community. while many seek shelter in evacuation centres, others have been able to return to where homes once stood. we came around the corner and saw this and it was pretty... heartbreaking. we knew if a fire came up it was going to take it. well, it took it. it has taken ten years for it to happen but, yes, it's sad. it is the worst start to the fire season that california has seen in a decade. we have had the drought issue for years now in california.

the wildfire aspect has intensified over the years so we've experienced more and more damaging wildfires, fires that start rapidly. it is like throwing gas in these fires. they spread so fast. in december, california's governor said devastating wildfires fuelled by climate change have become the new normal and that large fires could happen every year. almost 3500 firefighters are battling to control the carr fire, working through the night to try to contain the blaze, but authorities warn many homes more may be lost. the chief constable of england's second largest police force says budget cuts mean the current level of policing in the west midlands is not sustainable. dave thompson has apologised to people who feel they've received a poor service from his officers — whose numbers have fallen by around a quarter since 2010.

mr thompson says he's having to prioritise which crimes to investigate. sima kotecha reports. a taxi driver doing hisjob, and then attacked. one of the guys came and smashed the windscreen wipers, threw more bricks, and one of the guys, i did not even see from where he came, he threw a pile of bricks on me. and first it hit me, i was like that, in this position, so it hit me on my elbow, and then on this side, then ijust lie down and i saw them running. he says he was repeatedly targeted in a matter of minutes. his arm and waist were severely bruised. but he claims the police response was nil, leaving him feeling afraid and deflated. i don't feel safe. they're not scared of the police because they feel they will not get caught. that is what they told you to your face. west midlands police admits at times it's struggling to cope and that it simply cannot investigate every crime because of

a lack of resources. sometimes that service that we provide in those peak times does not meet what the public expect, i get that. sometimes that service will be a poor service. sometimes, actually, the service is what we can and say we will offer. and sometimes that might not always be what the public want to see. the head of the country's second—largest force goes even further and says sorry. demand on the service is going up because actually local authorities and other services have been reduced. some more vulnerable people are coming to the police and we are absolutely at a point where that is not a sustainable position for policing any more and i'm sorry about that, but that is the reality where policing is now. west midlands police has experienced the biggest budget cut of any other force in the country. it has 2,000 fewer police officers today than it had in 2010 and over the next few years, it expects to lose hundreds more. new figures show the number of front line police officers in england and wales has reduced by 20,000 over

the last eight years. the government says this force will get millions of extra cash over the next year and that it expects the police to investigate every crime thoroughly, but according to the officer who leads the force, that's simply not possible. sima kotecha, bbc news, in the west midlands. the former president of catalonia and separatist leader carles puigdemont has returned to belgium after spain dropped a european—wide warrant for his arrest. mr puigdemont is still facing rebellion charges after attempting to create an independent republic of catalonia. anna holligan reports from brussels. triumphant and defiant. carles puigdemont crosta european border

and spoke freely to a roomful of attentive reporters in brussels, and these feats alone were enough to allow the new leader of the catalan, to programme this eight days or defeat for the spanish state. today isa defeat for the spanish state. today is a day of defeat for the spanish estate. in germany, as in belgium before the spanish estate has lost the european battles. more will come if they continue to press their case. if they continue to press their case. while that may have scored a victory in this round of the judicial battle, carles puigdemont cannot return home without risking arrest. and to the separatist leader vowed to continue his political campaignfor vowed to continue his political campaign for autonomy in exile. my journey will not and until all political prisoners are released. exiles to return, and the catalan

people and have the right to self determination without the threat of violence. and later, a small crowd of supporters gathered at the place he will, for now, call home. from his residence in waterloo he will frame his peaceful fight for talented pendants of the context of common european talented pendants of the context of common european values. it's a position he hopes to win the support of the european union which so far has to his frustration remained mostly silent. female skippers have taken first and second place in the clipper round the world yacht race — a first in team ocean racing. australian wendy tuck became the first female skipper to win the a0 thousand nautical mile event. her boat — sanya serenity coast — beat 11 other teams to the title. there was also british success at the event — as skipper nikki henderson, who is only 25, came second with her team visit seattle. more than 700 sailors

took place in the race. 0ur correspondent peter harris spoke to wendy tuck at the finish line in liverpool. well this is the prize—giving for the crews who completed the round the world yacht race. and obviously wonderful scenes here. and i am pleased to say we're joined by the winning skipper, wendy tuck. congratulations, wendy. thank you so much. what does it feel like to be here at last to the end? it's amazing — i can't believe it, i can't believe we've done it and this is just extraordinary. the reception here in liverpool is just amazing. you are the first female skipper to win this event. how does that feel? amazing, it still hasn't sunk in yet. i don't think, it's... yeah, not yet. and what message do you hope that imparts to other women, i guess, to give it a go as you have done? i think if you put your heart to anything, you can go out and do anything. if you just believe in yourself, you can do anything. you are a professional. 0bviously, those who you were on board with aren't. what kind of challenges does that bring? the hardest part is getting the team to gel. you might have people who are really competitive, people who aren't.

and just trying to get them all to come together, that's the hardest part. you can teach anybody the sail, and a lot of people who could sail but that's the easy part. it's making the team come together, that's the hardest part. having achieved this, what's next for you ? no idea. a holiday — holiday and lots of champagne! lots of champagne! thank you very much forjoining us. thank you. that's wendy tuck there, the skipper of sanya, the winning yacht there, i'm still getting too excited, here at the round the world yacht race. the cast for the next star wars film has been revealed with a mixture of veteran stars and new faces set to appear. the late actress carrie fisher will also feature, using previously unseen footage. fisher, who played princess leia in the film series, died suddenly in 2016. veterans mark hamill, who plays luke skywalker, and anthony daniels who plays c—3p0, have also been confirmed. as as many others and production

sta rts as as many others and production starts this week in london. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. good evening. the torrential rain that brought flooding to northern ireland eases off this evening but we will see very wet weather pushed across the western half of scotland and that will be confined by the end of the night but winds will strengthen to severe gale force. els oversee outbreaks of rain ease off and then turn wetter again. western england and wales all hope to keep readers up sunday morning. sunday will be a windy day. chong as the winds around the northwest of scotland. a brace of rain heaviest to the west pushing their way eastwards through the day. there will be drama was to have in the afternoon but some brighter skies here and there and dress of all likely to be northern ireland through tomorrow. two pictures wherever you are. temperatures and high teens low 20s, but it's those

wins which will become more of a feature tomorrow even compared with today. the rest of this coming week still at the showers around particularly on monday but warming up particularly on monday but warming up through the week. this is bbc news with chris rogers. the headlines. there have been long delays on flights, ferries and trains to move —— due to the risen weather. your times as it is operating a full service but there are still delays. mps warned british democracy is in crisis because of targeted campaigns of hate and misinformation of social media. the chief constable of the west midlands admits his police force occasionally provides a poor service and he blames budget cuts. britain's geraint thomas is set to win the tour de france as he maintained his lead on the penultimate day of the race. australian sailor wendy talk has won the first —— has become the first female to round the world yacht race. much more on those two sports stories now in sportsday.

hello you're watching sportsday with me, reshmin chowdhury. the headlines tonight. history at the tour de france — briton geraint thomas all but ensures he will be crowned the 2018 champion in tomorrow's final stage in paris. lewis hamilton navigates the stormy conditions in hungary to claim the 77th pole position of his career ahead of tomorrow's grand prix. and the fighting talk is over, as dillian whyte and joseph parker get in the ring tonight at the heavyweight clash in london.