further south. the radar shows the showers really nicely, a rash of them working in and gradually they will spread further south and east. they are rattling through fairly quickly on the brisk north—westerly wind. quite fast but heavy potentially with hail and thunder and we've had reports of lightning in parts of hull. these are the average wind speeds around the showers particularly blustery. 30 mph possible. it feels much cooler under those showers. temperatures are down across the board throughout the day. mid to high teens at best. this evening, those showers continuing for a while but they will start to ease and fade. most places having a dry night with clear skies. in sheltered spots it will be particularly cool. temperatures down into single figures. a much colder start on saturday morning than we've been used to. particularly down north sea coasts courtesy of a rather keen northerly wind. as high pressure starts to build, that will

ease and saturday a fairly decent day. we've still got fresh conditions so it won't be warm but plenty of sunshine throughout the day, just the chance of one or two showers and temperatures are picked up showers and temperatures are picked up on today. it's all change as we head into sunday because look what's lurking in the wings. an area of low pressure bringing outbreaks of rain. first in northern ireland and then working into south—west england and up working into south—west england and up into wales, north—west england and scotland and gradually through the day that edges eastwards. fairly blustery with south—west winds on sunday. some of the rain heavy and underneath the cloud it's going to be another cool day. temperatures backed down in the teens. 0n be another cool day. temperatures backed down in the teens. on monday once the rain has cleared out to the east it's another quiet day. plenty of fine, east it's another quiet day. plenty offine, dry east it's another quiet day. plenty of fine, dry and bright weather around with some breaks in the cloud allowing sunny spells to develop.

0ne allowing sunny spells to develop. one or two showers affecting north—west scotland but temperatures back up in the high teens across the northern half of the uk, down towards the south and the east temperatures back in the low 20s. remaining fresh with a lot going on but there's plenty of dry, bright weather to be had. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime. alex salmond — scotland's former first minister — describes sexual misconduct allegations against him as ‘patently ridiculous'. mr salmond is taking legal action to challenge the scottish government's process over the complaints which he has described as unjust. i haven't sexually harassed anyone andi i haven't sexually harassed anyone and i certainly haven't been engaged in criminality. i'm no saint, i've got flaws but these are... i'm looking forward to the opportunity

to establish that point. thomas cook is investigating the death of a british couple in egypt who died while staying at a red sea resort. that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — good afternoon. it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news. fernando alonso says he wants an apology from red bull, after they denied his claim they'd offered him a drive for next season. alonso retires at the end of the year, after failing to secure a deal away from the mclaren team, but red bull boss christian horner insisted they hadn't offered him a contract since 2007. alonso said horner had apologised by email for previous comments, claiming he's difficult to work with, and hopes he'll apologise again this weekend. 0n the track at spa, as formula one returned

from it's summer break, ferrari's sebastian vettel showed his determination to narrow the gap on championship leader lewis hamilton. he was quickest in first practice, more than three—tenths of a second ahead of hamilton. chris ashton‘s hopes of an england recall could be further complicated, with the dates of his ban for a dangerous tackle during preseason possibly subject to change. his seven—week ban was due to start with another preseason friendly scheduled for tonight. but that match isn't on the fixture list, which means his ban could start later, and he won't get to play at all before england boss eddiejones names his squad for the autumn internationals. burnley‘s manager has been critical of the officials after his side's defeat in the first leg of their europa league play—off in athens. the clarets lost 3—1 in a game in which their defender ben gibson was sent off and both sides were awarded a penalty. he was also upset regarding the home team's conduct at half—time. after that penalty, i don't know how

may people were on the pitch, the linesman, referee, fourth official, i keep getting told the referees need to respect, respect the conduct around the referees, and as soon as i saw it at half—time, around the referee, it was interesting from all and sundry on their side, and then things changed in the second half. the first track gold of the day at the european para—athletics championships has been won by david devine. he added to great britain's impressive tally in berlin with victory in the t13 5000—metres. that's on top of the silver he won in the 1500m earlier in the week my new coach said i would go to the

front and control it. and then get ready to go. that's exactly what i did. 0ne ready to go. that's exactly what i did. one of the spanish guys went past me a few times. half a lap, each time, so i'm made up with that. that's exactly how i wanted to go. the three—time 0lympian david murdoch david murdoch has been named as british curling s new national coach, ahead of the 2022 winter olympics. murdoch won silver with great britain at sochi four years ago, as well as two world and three european titles. he turned his attention to full—time coaching last year and said he was honoured to be given the role. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. i will be back with more at 2pm. thank you very much indeed. let's get more on scotland's former first minister, alex salmond has strongly rejected

allegations of sexual misconduct, dating back to his time in office. he's taking the holyrood government to court to challenge the way it's handling the complaints, saying he hasn't been allowed to see the evidence against him. in the past half hour, alex salmond has been speaking to our scotland political editor, brian taylor. i read about this complaint in march which was two months after the process started. crucially, we were told at that time, this was a confidential process, that nothing would be said about it, i offered to contribute on that explicit basis. this week the scottish government proposed to put out a statement breaching that confidentiality. now that sort of thing is important, not just for me, but for the complainants. who on earth is going to enter a process like this if confidentiality is breached by the

scottish government itself? i cannot understand what they are doing. the inherent nature of a processor chip this depends on confidentiality throughout the process, not least for the people who have made the complaints. the two complainants have made complaints. do you deny the allegations totally and fully?” deny i harassed anyone and i am explicitly refuting any suggestion of criminality. now i can't talk about the complainants or of the complaints. the process is now going to court. the highest court in the land. if you had asked me would i ever be in a position of taking the scottish government to court, i'd have been totally amazed, but that's what's necessary in order to establish a fair process and you have to have a fair kick at the boy full speed got to have justice have to have a fair kick at the boy full speed got to havejustice in the process, not just full speed got to havejustice in the process, notjust for the present on the receiving end of the complaints, but for the complainers

are themselves for have to have to have a just process. that's what i hope and believe the court session will deliver. left talk in general terms. have you ever sexually harassed someone or been involved in behaviour which could be misconstrued as sexual misconduct? no, i've never been engaged in criminality of that kind. ijust wa nt criminality of that kind. ijust want the opportunity to establish that point through a fair process and, you know, i obviously regret deeply that the scottish government decided to breach the confidentiality of their own process. it a thing for them to do. this one benefit is now that this matter moves to a real court, where things can be properlyjudged and everybody will know it is a fair account for everyone, because it is that settlement, and in a way, that benefit of the reactions the scottish government. sticking with

the allegations, the generality, did you behave at any time in a way that could be misconstrued as inappropriate? listen, brian, i've made many mistakes in my life, political and personal, buti made many mistakes in my life, political and personal, but i have not sexually harassed anyone and i certainly have not been engaged in criminality. i'm no saint, i've got flaws, i understand that, but these... i'm looking forward to the opportunity to establish that point. will or close to somebody, touch somebody inappropriately? brian, i cannot go into it, i'm not allowed. i'm ina cannot go into it, i'm not allowed. i'm in a court process. i've already said toa i'm in a court process. i've already said to a number of times i've not sexually harassed anyone and i'm certainly not guilty of criminal that if. taking the scottish governor to court, which you lead, that's quite a remarkable step. well, it's a step i taken with great

relu cta nce well, it's a step i taken with great reluctance and it's been forced upon me. through this whole thing for the last five months, i've tried absolutely with my legal team, mediation, arbitration, to see if the process is something i've never heard of. until i got a letter in march. it's a process that has been put on the scottish government website at 12 o'clock last night. i suspect even for somebody like yourself, have never had a process where retrospectively, five years later, a former ministers are called before it. it's an astonishing thing. what really worries me about this is the question of fairness. everybody is entitled to fairness for the people make complaints, people on the receiving end of complaints, and that's what i believe the court will deliver. the permanent secretary says there are significant inaccuracies in your account, your version of procedures. noticeably she didn't say what they

were. the scottish government has allowed the top level of the civil service i'm not talking politicians, . .. not nicola service i'm not talking politicians,... not nicola sturgeon. i've never heard of the scottish government saying last night we are now in court but we are restricted in what we can say and the next day we get a statement from lesley evans saying there are significant inaccuracies in my statement but not saying what they were fools can just say, just as i will take my case does court of session, lesley evans will be able to take her case to the court of session is, process which she devised and sits injudgment court of session is, process which she devised and sits in judgment on and in front of a real court we will see what is a fair way to deal with these incredibly sensitive matters. how do you feel about the permanent secretary's behaviour?” how do you feel about the permanent secretary's behaviour? i think it's

quite extraordinary. i'm not questioning her motives but i do not understand why she has embarked on this particular course of action and in particular, not taken... i know this is a new thing just introduced by the permanent secretary, untried and untested, but we offered for example opportunity for arbitration, which would allow this to be settled so which would allow this to be settled so that the complaints could be heard properly. that was rejected, as well. that was an opportunity to do things abiding by the confidentiality of the process. now we are in the court of session for the one thing i have asked for in terms of the court of session procedures is to protect the anonymity of the complainants. how do you feel about the complainants themselves? i've got no animosity whatsoever. people at the absolute right to make complaints, but there has to be confidentiality otherwise you'll never get people making complaints in future. and secondly, there has to be a fair and just way

to deal with these things and that is what i believe the court of session will provide. if any good comes out of this, then perhaps that courtjudgment will comes out of this, then perhaps that court judgment will enable a comes out of this, then perhaps that courtjudgment will enable a proper just process to be in place. how do you feel about the impact on nicola sturgeon? this could not be welcomed by hairand the sturgeon? this could not be welcomed by hair and the government she leads. the first respondent is not nicola sturgeon. if the permanent secretary of the... nicola sturgeon. if the permanent secretary of the. .. the impact will be felt by her government and the party. i didn't want this to happen. ididn't party. i didn't want this to happen. ididn‘t want party. i didn't want this to happen. i didn't want this process. i'm stuck with an unfair process. i took the legal action i've taken. for five months we've been going through this. my legal team have advised me that this process is defective, unjust, and does not allow you to state your case. you don't get access to witnesses. you know the

accusations in general terms but not in detail? you don't actually to the witness statements. you don't get to present your case either. i'm banned by the permanent secretary to speak to any current civil servant, who could be valuable witnesses to it. you offered to make a statement in response. you can do but you don't things by people who can corroborate. you have to see what evidence is against you and what the witnesses are far to say. you have to be able to speak directly to own witnesses. so you can present your case. luck, brian, if the permanent secretary are so confident that position, she would have to make sure a position, she would have to make surea high position, she would have to make sure a high courtjudge could have looked at it. the highest court in the land. and then abide by the result of that process. and therefore i think the one good thing to come out of this is we will find

out not just for this to come out of this is we will find out notjust for this occasion but for future occasions if there is a fairandjust for future occasions if there is a fair and just process in place. do you regret the damage that could be caused to the snp? these are totally u nfortu nate caused to the snp? these are totally unfortunate circumstances, not of my making, but at the end of the day, i saw the scottish government statement saying these rules are to apply to everybody regardless who they are. absolutely. i agree with that absolutely. but equally the rules have to be fair regardless of the highest person in the land or the highest person in the land or the lowest person in the land, that the lowest person in the land, that the whole point of having a quasi—judicial process and luckily the highest court in the land, the court of session, we'll do this. at after what the impact on everybody else but what about the impact on you personally? in terms of, obviously, it's been five months and i'm not disputing the fact it's been wearing five months, but look, i've beenin wearing five months, but look, i've been in politics for than 30 years.

therefore, to some extent i'm used to it. the thing about confidentiality is the people involved not in that situation, not just talking about the complainants, but there anonymity could be in jeopardy, but also the families of the various people involved. itjust strikes at the heart of why you have to have a fair, just, quick, effective way of resolving these complaints and hopefully the court of session will provide that. finally, these complaints date to a period when you are in office, in power, at the height of your powers, prior to the referendum for the yard and you are innocent, adamant you are not culpable, adamant you are not open to these complaints at all? iam not not open to these complaints at all? i am not guilty of sexual harassment. sexual misconduct? or

sexual misconduct. the scottish government describe it as harassment and i'm certainly not guilty of any criminality. i believe i can take my case to the court of session. if i lose, then i would have to answer these complaints fully and publicly andi these complaints fully and publicly and i will. but if i win, then the ball will be in the court of the scottish government at the very highest level. it will be the most serious question to be asked. do you expect the permanent secretary to resign? now it's going to a proper court. let that court make its judgment. alex salmond speaking there to add a scottish political editor brian taylor. in a moment the business news. scotland's former first minister, alex salmond, strongly rejects allegations of sexual misconduct, dating back to his time in office, and says he'll take the scottish government to court over its handling of the allegations

meanwhile the current first minister — nicola sturgeon — said the allegations against her predecessor could not be ignored, and the priority for the scottish national party was to ensure fair and due process. a post—mortem is to be carried out on the bodies of a british couple who died in egypt while staying at a hotel in the red sea resort of hurghada. i'm ben bland. in the business news. customs brokers, who make electronic declarations for uk firms that import and export, are expecting a huge spike in work if britain leaves the eu without a trade deal. the boss of one of the uk's largest such brokers warns the amount of customs processing work could rise by 500%. george baker said it will be "very difficult to cope" if there is no brexit deal. trade talks between the us and china have ended with little progress — in fact the trade war between the world's two biggest economies has heated up this week.

on thursday, the us imposed a second wave of tariffs on more than £12 billion worth of chinese goods. china immediately retaliated — and imposed import duties on the same value of us products. omg! the consumer goods giant procter & gamble has reportedly applied to trademark various textspeak abbreviations. if it succeeds, it could then use terms like lol and nbd, that's no big deal, to market products. it registered the trademark application with the us authorities. there's one abbreviation they could not share with you on here but we will come to that later. a stark warning from the national farmers union on the prospects for the uk farming industry if there's no trading deal when britain leaves the european union. the nfu has emphasised the need for free and frictionless trade with the eu. it has also called for clarity on what exactly would happen to trade of all agricultural food products from the uk after march 29th 2019.

i think we have to remember this just isn't about farmers but about the impact on food. so we need a very serious, very grown—up conversation about food. about the nation ‘s supply of food. how we will produce it at home, how we will create stability and how we will make sure that we do have free and frictionless movement. of food and agricultural products. now it is very uncertain at the moment. we had a strong idea food would be carved out of the deal and then on the back of the checkers speech heard that agri— food was going to be brought back in. we still don't know the detail of what that will mean, that this has seismic impact notjust for farmers but for consumers, as well. prepared to play i little spy with my little eye this weekend.

traffic and travelling is expected to be much more difficult than it normally would be on the august bank holiday weekend. 14 million cars are expected to take to the roads and rail closures and a strike at liverpool airport will make getting away even more difficult than it normally would be on this busy weekend. joining us is andrew smith, chief executive of transport focus, the independent transport user watchdog. so, andrew, are we looking at a particularly bad august because they are always seems to be some disruption which makes it worse than normal, doesn't it? i don't think it's a particular bad august weekend. the roads will be very busy, yes, quite a bit of engineering work on parts of the network so the advice to anybody travelling this weekend is plan ahead, just check before you set off what's happening and secondly, just ta ke what's happening and secondly, just take a bit more time because it's going to be busy and disruptive out there, so it will take you longer so patients is called for. any particular modes of transport which will be more badly affected than

others? on the major roads, highways england has lifted the roadworks are games which are traditionally does on bank on days, which is great, so the big roads will be as possible so it will still be very, very busy which means if there's any disruption, if accidents, hold—ups, the roads will be packed. traditionally, this is the quietest time of yearfor traditionally, this is the quietest time of year for rail travel, so we will see less passengers around but if you travel in euston, the northern network, birmingham airport, quite a bit of disruption and you must check ahead. we don't wa nt and you must check ahead. we don't want people turning up not knowing what's happening. i'm going to be travelling by rail and hopefully i will get a seat. tell me about the liverpool airport situation because a strike there, how much disruption will the cause? any disruption like there's pitched at a time when people are really wanting to travel to get away and enjoy themselves, is really, really unfair. whether it's at liverpool airport or the railways, it heads passengers. it's

very unfair. it's quite difficult to predict the extent of the disruption. northern rail are predicting around 30% of their trains on saturday, a knock—on effect on sunday, so again, check before you travel please. apart from the advice on checking before travel, it's also a busy time for roadside recovery. more so than usual and again it's a case of being prepared in advance. all the basic rules apply, take water with you, make sure you know where you're going and if you are held up for goodness' sake listen to the radio and find out what's happening and be patient. there's a lot of cars out there and a limited amount of space. 0k, andrew, thank you very much for that sound advice. trade war was still front and centre of investors' minds after inconclusive talks between us and chinese officials. 0il majors royal dutch shell and bp were giving the index a boost. they were up after a norwegian government—appointed commission

ruled norway's massive sovereign wealth fund should stay invested in energy stocks. the price of oil rising has helped them as well. housebuilders persimmon, berkeley, barratt development and taylor wimpey were among the worst—performing after data showed mortgage approvals fell in july despite appetite for remortgaging ahead of an expected bank of england rate rise. that's all the business news. thank you very much indeed. now it's time for a look at the weather mel coles. good afternoon. yes, blustery showers are the order of the day and there are plenty of them around feeding in on a very keen north—westerly wind. there are some dry and bright intervals to be had particularly the further south and east you go, but you can see from the radar how the showers got going

for the north west of scotland and england but as the day goes on, they filter their way further south and east. parts of kent could be holding the drier conditions for longer but even here you are not immune to them. these showers will rattle through fairly quickly on that blustery wind. but it will feel fresh and leave them. reports of lightning in hull. these are the average speeds of showers, 30 miles an hour, and it feels particularly cool but across the board of those temperatures are down on where they have been. mid—teens to possibly low 20s in the south—east at best. as we head into this evening. the showers will continue but they will fade and most areas will be dry. lengthy clear spells and we keep a brisk north—westerly wind and it will be much cooler particularly in sheltered spots, but temperatures will be back down into single figures. we have not seen that for quite some time so a much colder

start to saturday morning. a keen northerly wind down north sea coasts at first but is high pressure starts to build on, the winters will gradually ease and at a decent day. some good spells of sunshine on offer throughout. and, as a result, that temperatures will fare a little bit better. it should feel fairly pleasa nt bit better. it should feel fairly pleasant as we had to saturday but it won't last because look what's waiting in the wings, a low pressure system which will bring more rain and this will start to edge its way into northern ireland as we approach dawn on sunday morning. spilling into south—west england, wales, north—west england and scotland and gradually working its way eastwards as we head to the day. some of the rain is heavy and it will be a brisk south—westerly wind as we had through the day and, as a result, it will feel much cooler once again. temperatures back down in the mid to high teens but it's all change again on monday. a bank holiday for many. fine, dry weather throughout the day with a chance of one or two showers

particularly in north—west scotland. more cloud around but some breaks allowing for bright sunny spells to emerge and temperatures bearing a little bit better as we had through monday. high teens, possibly low 20s once again. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm martine croxall. today at 2: alex salmond, scotland's former first minister, describes sexual misconduct allegations against him as ‘patently ridiculous' and says he'll take the scottish government to court over its handling of the allegations i deny that i harassed anyone and i am explicitly refuting any suggestion of criminality. the scottish government confirms two cases are being investigated. mr salmond's successor, nicola sturgeon, insists the claims won't be swept under the carpet. it isa it is a difficult situation, but

what is important is that complaints are treated seriously, regardless of who the person complained about is. thomas cook removes guests from an egyptian hotel following the deaths of a british couplejohn and susan cooper