this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. raf helicopters have dropped hundreds of tons of rubble on the broken down wall to keep it from collapsing completely. the dam has protected the nearby town of whaley bridge for years but police say effo rts bridge for years but police say efforts to stop it flooding could still fail. yes, and this is normally the town's football club at tonight the pitch this evening, boris johnson this evening, borisjohnson met residents who are spending a second night evacuated from their homes. also, the liberal democrats when the brecon and radnorshire by—election, cutting the commons majority of

borisjohnson to one, as they vowed to fight rex there. has leader of the liberal democrats i will fight to keep our country in the european union and we now have a parliament with one more mp who will fight that —— to make that happen. with one more mp who will fight that -- to make that happen. two holiday firms collapse affecting tens of thousands of travellers. and a battle of britain veteran has died hours after celebrating his 100th birthday. and in sport, a maiden test century 43 as england fights back on day two of the ashes. and at 11.30 we will take an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers.

good evening. boris johnson good evening. borisjohnson has visited derbyshire this evening to talk to crews working to repair a damaged reservoir. and to meet residents who have been evacuated because the town could be evacuated —— engulfed by water. police warned that the risk of flooding is still critical. raf helicopters have spent the day trying to reinforce the structure. and as many as 1500 people have left their home since pa rt people have left their home since part of the dam collapsed yesterday. while the authorities say there is still a substantial threat to life if it fails completely and a severe weather warning does remain in place in the areas you can see in red. 0ur correspondent is in whaley bridge and she sent us this report.

this is the front line. a new defence built, tons of sand and gravel brought back 300 million gallons of water. helicopters working flat out to shore up the reservoir dam. we need a precision drop and we need to get as close as we can. we need to make sure it is done not too high so we don't add more stress to the dam itself. tonight, the prime minister made his own helicopter the journey, flying into meet displaced residents. some seemed to welcome the diversion on a difficult day. that he was also heckled. invest in infrastructure! it isa heckled. invest in infrastructure! it is a disgrace! boris johnson also met some of the emergency crews who have been working long hours. well, it is looking dodgy but stable is

how i would describe it. they have done an amazing job. as you can tell, the helicopters have brought in about 400 bags of stone. a huge quantity of aggregate have gone in yet you cannot tell that the hole has been filled. it is a major structural problem with the dam. though it has not rained today, there is still a real risk of the dam collapsing. there has been a national response with emergency ci’ews national response with emergency crews coming from across the uk.” must stress that the structural integrity of the dam wall is still ata integrity of the dam wall is still at a critical level. and there is still a substantial threat to life should the dam wall fail. so how request is that we ask for presidents —— for residents to continue to heed advice and stay away from whaley bridge. this is the ce ntre away from whaley bridge. this is the centre of whaley bridge this morning. it is super quiet. but not eve ryo ne morning. it is super quiet. but not everyone has stayed away. this

jogger everyone has stayed away. this jogger went for a dawn run and said she accidentally found herself behind police lines. she film whaley bridge empty and vulnerable. homes evacuated, rhodes cordoned off. this is as far as you can go into whaley bridge. everything beyond this court and is classed as a red zone. i am told it is also the first point in the town that would be hit by water if the dam burst. police officers here say if it happens they will hear a siren here say if it happens they will heara siren and here say if it happens they will hear a siren and they will move eve ryo ne hear a siren and they will move everyone this point to higher ground. those on the edge of the court and though they may have to move quickly. like madness, who lives 50 yards from the danger zone and ventured inside it last night to —— like this man. and ventured inside it last night to -- like this man. i walk through the town on the way to my daughters and a police car approached me and asked me why i was on the street. they told me i should not be in the town oi’ told me i should not be in the town or walking about. if i don't get off the street i would be arrested. have you thought about what would happen if the dam does burst? do you expect you would have to go? if it goes, i

will be gone. up the hill. this evening, people were allowed back m, evening, people were allowed back in, under supervision and only briefly, to collect pets and vital possessions. the dam has protected the town beneath it for nearly 200 yea rs. the town beneath it for nearly 200 years. a whole community is holding its breath. the reservoir level is slowly dropping, with pumps working and water being diverted. but the danger has not yet passed and the sta kes danger has not yet passed and the stakes could not be higher. this will end with either a return to normality or disaster for an entire town. earlier i spoke to a resident from whaley bridge about what the situation was like for people in the town. it is improving, that is a fa ct town. it is improving, that is a fact from last night. when you say improving is it the weather or

knowing what is going on? the weather has been helpful and the levels asserting to go down now. about one foot down robert linnell from the level it was —— about one foot down from the level it was. how much is this impacted you? we are right on the limit. we are just about two foot above the level of the reservoir but we have an overflow channel that runs down the side of our house although it is six foot below our wall. it does run around the side of the house and thatis around the side of the house and that is where they are trying to pump some of the water. did you ever think that something like this would happen around the reservoir? have there ever been fears of this sort of thing happening? we bought the house

six years ago and we have been here for a while and occasionally you will see a trickle of water that comes over the main spillway, the one that is overflowing badly, the one that is overflowing badly, the one that is overflowing badly, the one that has collapsed. in the winter mainly or when the weather would —— was bad you would see a trickle but nothing, really. 0bviously trickle but nothing, really. obviously the reservoir does fill up all the time, especially in winter, thatis all the time, especially in winter, that is normal. but not like this. it is very rare. i don't know if you heard the update at the news conference... is that reassuring in terms of what is being done? to be honest, i did not hear much. we are possibly in a better position where we can have a chat with people standing by so we can see the

helicopters coming in and out and we can see the pumps and all of that and they are pumping it out and you can and they are pumping it out and you ca n start and they are pumping it out and you can start to see the effect of that as it gets the water out it has a long way to go but it is starting to show a marked difference. so what can be done to try and stop an entire town from flooding? the authorities say that 400 tons of stone, gravel and sand are being used to shore up the dam and they are also attempting to divert waterways. so far, ten high—volume waterways. so far, ten high—volume water pumps have also been installed. and then once the situation has been stabilised, engineers will set about repairing the dam. 0ur science editor explains how. these are nervous times in the struggle to save the dam. 0ur helicopter spotted the scene yesterday, a sudden order to leave. we are witnessing a test of strength

between the weight of water in the reservoir and the condition of the dam. in a crisis, triggered by an extraordinary amount of rain. this sight of the torrent of water overflowing the dam two days ago reveals the incredible forces involved. far beyond what the victorian engineers had built this place can ever have imagined. designed and constructed in the 19th century to store water for local canals, the dam is pretty simple, made with clay, surrounded by mud. but if there is torrential rain, some of the water is deliberately allowed to escape over the top to relieve pressure. but the flow on wednesday was so powerful it threatened a dam that had been built to older and very different standards. the construction of these old dams are such that it was done in the horse and cart era and the soil would have been placed in position, but not compacted like they are these days.

so old dams, when you look at them, you have to imagine how they were constructed and the standards to which they were designed. as engineers battle to keep the dam intact, there is something they really need to know. how much damage has erosion done to the dam? the structure could be much weaker internally than it looks. so a key task is reducing the water level to minimise pressure. more pumps are being deployed but all this takes time. so what repairs are possible? well, rock can add strength, as we've seen, but longer term the whole place may have to be drained and maybe even rebuilt. 12 years ago in yorkshire, a frantic effort to save another dam. it nearly collapsed. an inquiry back then called for tougher inspections amid fears about the safety of the oldest dams. with this video, researchers investigated how dams can actually break.

there are real risks, particularly as temperatures rise. warmer air can hold more moisture, so rainfall is set to become more intense. last month may have been the hottest on record and the latest emergency is a reminder of challenges ahead. david shukman, bbc news. the liberal democrats have won the broken by—election, gaining the seed from the conservatives. it was the first electoral test for boris johnson, days after becoming prime minister. the result now lives in with a working majority in parliament of one, even with the support of the dup. jane dodds overturned a majority of over 8000 to be the —— beat the conservative candidate. he had stood again after a conviction forfalse candidate. he had stood again after a conviction for false expenses came —— claim.

cheering. that's the sound of success. a buoyant lib dem leader and the party's newest mp fresh from a victory that makes life even harder for the government. here we stand bursting borisjohnson‘s bubble in the first week of his premiership. theirs was a campaign focused on the risk of a no—deal brexit. 0ther pro—eu parties, plaid cymru and the greens, stood aside to give them the best chance of winning. this, the first major test of a remain alliance, and it might not be the last. in most constituencies across the country, it is going to be the liberal democrats that are the strongest party of remain, but we recognise the value and cooperating in working with others for that wider national goal to protect our country's future. after a long night, the lib dems might have been celebrating, but the tory candidate was quiet after the result was announced. do you think it was the right decision to run? he'd already been unseated

by his constituents over a false expenses claim. for the government, it means their majority in westminster is down to just one, making it harder to get parliament on side but no sign of a new approach. more than 50% of the vote was secured by pro—brexit parties. you know, we need to make sure we work hard to deliver a deal, but i think what the people of britain really don't want is any more limbo. labour's leader acknowledged his pa rty‘s distant fourth place was disappointing. a lot of voters were determined to get rid of the conservative and that is what they voted for. so we were squeezed but it is a place we have not held for a very long time. this constituency voted almost the same way as the country in the referendum three years ago. the result here shows that borisjohnson‘s do or die brexit policy leaves the conservatives open to attack from remain parties, particularly when they work together, but the fact the tories did far better than the brexit party here is, for some, proof that the new prime minister's

uncompromising stance on the eu is attracting support. at this children's farm near the brecon beacons, the owner says no deal must remain an option. hopefully, he can do a deal based on that strong bargaining position but you can't give all your cards away and hope to come out with fair results for britain for the long—term future for britain. you think he has taken the right approach at the moment with that line? 100%. for many here, brexit has become the defining issue in elections. i'll vote for them with borisjohnson but i didn't vote for them before because i didn't like who was there before. well, to be honest, brexit, especially a no—deal brexit, frightens me. i would vote for a party which was trying to prevent us from leaving europe. so, party loyalty could be giving way to brexit allegiances, as the issue continues to dominate public votes. alex forsyth, bbc news, brecon.

earlier i spoke to the mp heidi allen, deviously a conservative but now is an independent who backs the idea of remaining. i said that perhaps boris johnson idea of remaining. i said that perhaps borisjohnson was putting the country first. boris johnson is putting boris johnson first, the country first. boris johnson is putting borisjohnson first, and putting borisjohnson first, and putting himself into number ten as prime minister. he will do whatever it takes to stay there, being fully aware that he may well do a pact with nigel farage and the brexit party, i think getting very likely for a general election in the autumn. i think the by—election is a test of concept, and i am excited

that we might be able to get significantly more seats across england and wales in the general election. do you think it will be a success , election. do you think it will be a success, won't it get rather messy politically? it is called being grown up. politically? it is called being grown up. that is normally not what people expect to do, they put themselves first, but i have always been a great believer in cross—party work, getting the right people around the table who can make anything possible. to be honest the thought of boris johnson anything possible. to be honest the thought of borisjohnson and nigel farage running our country, or equallyjeremy corbyn at the other end, that is focusing minds and i have been surprised by the appetite amongst independent mps and the remains supporting parties that they wa nt to remains supporting parties that they want to do this, this is a massive opportunity and we cannot afford to put own self—interest first, we have two look up the country. are you worried that brexit supporting parties will follow your example and unite? had they done that in brecon,

the conservatives would have one. yeah, and it is not that they will follow us, they are thinking about already, and that is why we cannot afford to wait a minute longer, and we have to start this work now over the summer in anticipation of the general election. because boris johnson now in number ten, he will do whatever it takes to stay there, and that is not good representation of the country. a lot of people out there are terrified of no deal, that is where he and the conservatives are now heading, it is economic suicide, from a security point of view, they need to leave their rosettes at the door and do what is necessary , rosettes at the door and do what is necessary, what cross—party lines to stop that. heidi allen. the government is planning to create up to ten free ports across the uk after brexit stop international trade secretary claims that it will create thousands ofjobs. free ports allow firms to import goods and then re—export outside of normal and

customs rules. time for the headlines. prime minister boris johnson a that threatens to flood adoption town. the lib dems when the bracken by—election, reducing boris johnson? working majority tojust one. two holiday firms with bookings from more than 50,000 people have ceased trading. more than 50,000 people are facing disruption to their travel plans after the colla pse their travel plans after the collapse of two package —— package travel firms, super break and late rooms .com are in administration. it is the holidays, and a terrible time for a holiday provider to go under.

in this group, supe rbreak has 400 people overseas and 53,000 forward bookings, many within the uk. then there are customers who have booked hotels via late rooms, the advice is because the payment go straight to the hotel they should be ok. the stories have been emerging on social media of people who think their brea ks media of people who think their breaks may be ruined, including winter bookings in iceland for instance. we have researched the company thoroughly before we have paid out the money, and there was no hint of that just a paid out the money, and there was no hint of thatjust a month ago, there was any financial difficulties at all. super break was drumming up business close to its end, never too late to visit manchester, it said. and ina late to visit manchester, it said. and in a statement after its value, it added: hotel only bookings to be cancelled and people might be asked to pay twice. this is a massive worry for thousands of people who might have booked tickets to shows in london's west end or entries to a

theme park, along with the hotel rooms to put the family out for the night. and the concerns are that the hassle factor, trying to sort it all out, whether they will be allowed m, out, whether they will be allowed in, and whether they will lose their money. there is some reassurance that helps aquarium said it would honour entry vouchers from affected families are saying it was not their fault. 0wners families are saying it was not their fault. owners of legoland at alton towers so they were charge 50% of the gate price. but the travel body says many to be able to get their money back later. if you have rail tickets plus a theatre ticket, that isa tickets plus a theatre ticket, that is a package holiday which will be protect, if you have a package holiday which involves a flight, that will be protect it. so if you have what we call accommodation only, for example a hotel booking on its own, that would not be protected. apta advises that those ona protected. apta advises that those on a break having to pay again for

the hotel should get receipts and if it isa the hotel should get receipts and if it is a package, they will be reimbursed after making a claim. a mother who murdered her two young daughters after they got in the way of her sex life has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 yea rs. life with a minimum term of 32 years. louise porten was found guilty yesterday of killing her three—year—old and i7 —month—old less tha n three—year—old and i7 —month—old less than three weeks apart last week. the jury at crown court convicted her of both murders saying —— following a five week trial. early this morning the judge described her actions as evil and calculated. and told her "these were blameless young children who were plainly vulnerable and ought to have been able to rely on their mother to protect and nurture them. instead you took their young lives away. " a swedishjudge has you took their young lives away. " a swedish judge has ordered the american rapper asap rocky to be released from custody until a

verdict is announced in his trial. he has been injailfor a month in sweden. asap rocky argued the two men a few —— refused to stop following his entourage in stockholm leading to an altercation outside a burger bar. resident donald trump has prompted criticism in calling for the wrapper‘s release. russia's arctic north and far east are being ravaged by huge wildfires, with up to four million hectares ablaze, and vast areas engulfed by smoke. fires are common at this time of year, but record—breaking summer temperatures and strong winds have made this year's particularly bad. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has travelled to the remote irkutsk region of siberia, and he sent this report. for weeks now, siberia has been smouldering. vast swathes of forest shrouded in smoke and many ravaged by fire.

wildfires are common here, but not on this scale. in siberia, an area the size of belgium is burning. the kremlin has sent in the army, military planes doing what they can to extinguish the blaze. the fires are sparked by hot weather and dry thunder storms. they're mainly in remote areas, but could the effects be more widespread? there's concern that carbon emissions from here may be melting ice in the arctic and speeding up global warming. so black carbon is black, small particles, which falls down on ice and turns them from the white so the ice cannot reflect sun radiation and sun starts to heat the ice in the arctic and it melts faster. and as if fire wasn't bad enough,

there have been floods too. in this town, injune, a dam burst, following torrential rain, 23 people died. now, the town has flooded again. from forest fires, to flooding, so far this has been a summer of hell for people in siberia. and it's because of wild fires and the floods that a state of emergency has been declared in large parts of this region. victor's house is uninhabitable, but they make people tough in siberia. "russians are ready for any challenge," victor tells me, "we'll get by." picking up the pieces after a natural disaster. for russia, it's

becoming second nature. archie maginness who flew hurricanes in the kaiser bridge and became a turning point over world war ii. he became a centenarian on wednesday and died later that night. i spoke toa and died later that night. i spoke to a friend of the veteran, asking him what he made of the tributes pouring in for archie. it has been incredible, overwhelming response, archie himself was very unassuming and modest and never liked the attention so i'm sure he is looking down laughing and shaking his head at the national recognition he is now getting. how did you meet him? i have been an aviation enthusiast or my life, particularly in the battle of britain, so i made a conscious effort to try and meet and shake

hands and think of many of the pilot asi hands and think of many of the pilot as i could, ifirst met archie at hands and think of many of the pilot as i could, i first met archie at an airshow at as i could, i first met archie at an air show at oxford back in 2016 —— duxford, he was not registered with any of the battle of britain site —— societies so it was my curiosity as to why he had slipped under the radarfor to why he had slipped under the radar for so to why he had slipped under the radarfor so long, to why he had slipped under the radar for so long, and to why he had slipped under the radarfor so long, and i got in conversation and unearthed his story over the last few years, and have now managed to hear about told. what was he like talking about his story? a lot of war veterans don't like to talk about it. no, archie... he didn't have any problems talk about the war, he was very honest and pragmatic about everything, he never really dwelled on any of the morbid, darker side of war, if you asked him of his memories they were always a happy ones, even despite the tragedy that he suffered in 1941 when he got

shot down and lost his left arm, which he lived with for the rest of his life. but yeah you always talked about it... and i understand he was about it... and i understand he was a prankster? yeah, he did like his jokes, particularly in his recovery phase, one story that always sticks in my mind is when he and his squadron were posted out to north africa, and they had to ferry some hurricanes back, quite long whole staging flight and they made their entertainment within the air, and one story of archie's was that he was flying wing to wing with another aircraft and the pilot was looking the other way, and to amuse himself he got so close that he tapped the wing of the other aircraft with his, which made the pilotjumped and gave him a surprise. that is one of many that sticks in the mind. we're going

to ta ke that sticks in the mind. we're going to take an in—depth look at the shortly with our reviewers,. that is coming up at 1130, stay tuned for that, in the meantime, here is the weather. it was only just it was onlyjust over a week ago that we were in the peak of the heatwave and breaking uk temperature records, since then it has been low pressure that has been in charge and bringing a lot of rain. this map shows the rainfall anomalies for the summer so shows the rainfall anomalies for the summer so far, june shows the rainfall anomalies for the summerso far, june and shows the rainfall anomalies for the summer so far, june and july, brown is below average rainfall, blue is above average rainfall. significantly above average rainfall for those areas that have had the flooding of late. cheshire, great manchester into derbyshire. low pressure will loom large over the next few days as well, this one coming in from the atlantic slowly will bring more at weather. ahead of

it we have a weak ridge of high pressure on saturday, so very few showers around, most places will be dry again with some sunshine, probably drier across the eastern side of england this time, one or two showers popping off here and there out towards the west, particular in northern ireland. those are the temperatures are no great difference from what we have seen over great difference from what we have seen over the past day or two, so around the mid— 20s also. a few showers arriving across north—west england, and south—west scotland during saturday evening, head of what is the main weather system coming in from the atlantic, as that area gets a little bit closer during the second half of the week. there will be more ran around during the second half of the weekend, this band of showery rain coming in over the irish sea away from northern ireland, bringing some showers into northern england and also scotland, and these could be heavy and hungry, later on in the afternoon and into the evening. the risk of more localised flooding. south—eastern england, is anglia, may well be dry, some sunshine at times,