three people have died after a train derails and bursts into flames in aberdeenshire following heavy rain and storms across scotland. the passenger train came off the tracks near stonehaven this morning — one carriage slid down an embankment, others were crushed. six people are in hospital. this is devastating news. this has been a tragic incident and my condolences are with the loved ones of the three people who have lost their lives. the train was on its way from aberdeen to glasgow when landslips were reported. we'll have the latest from the scene. also tonight... the uk is officially in recession after the economy contracts by more than 20%. today's figures show that hard times are here. hundreds of thousands of people have already lost theirjob, and sadly many more will.

the education secretary gavin williams apologises for disruption to exams as the government makes last—minute changes to the way stu d e nts last—minute changes to the way students are graded. a big fall in the uk's coronavirus death toll after england changes the way it calculates the daily figures — they've fallen by more than 5,000. and weather extremes — from six days of scorching temperatures for some to lightning strikes and flooding for others. and coming up on bbc news... super league is forced to postpone two matches due to an outbreak of coronavirus at hull fc following their opening game of the season.

good evening, and welcome to the bbc news at six. three people have died after a passenger train derailed near stonehaven in aberdeenshire this morning. six others have been taken to hospital. the train was on its way from aberdeen to glasgow when it left the line. 0ne carriage slid down an embankment. it's thought the train may have hit a landslip following bad weather overnight. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon is at the scene now. sophie, the railway line follows the cutting down there and for much of the day smoke could be seen rising from the tree line behind me where the dealer ailment happened. there are still dozens of emergency vehicles here and their crews working on the site, which is a very difficult location to reach. -- the derailment happened. the tangled wreckage of the derailed train, one passenger carriage halfway down the bank. another

carriage seemingly crushed in the force of the crash. shocking images showing what's left of the early morning service from aberdeen to glasgow. the scale of the incident all too clear. scotland's first minister expressing her shock at the day's events. this is devastating news. this has been a tragic incident and my condolences are with the loved ones of three people who have lost their lives and that includes the driver of the train. clearly this is an ongoing operation. i have been briefed by network rail and the emergency services on that, but devastating news for the bereaved but also for those who were on the train and my best wishes go to those who sustained injuries. the weather overnight was described as atrocious. around the time of the crash, network rail published this footage showing how poor conditions we re footage showing how poor conditions were with lines blocked. heavy rain caused flash flooding in the nearby

town of stonehaven. early indications are that the derailment in this rural part of aberdeenshire may have been caused by a landslide. emergency services working through the day to get the injured to hospital and to recover the dead. very sadly, despite the best efforts of paramedics, we can confirm three people have been pronounced dead at the scene. while formal identification has yet to take place, the driver of the train is sadly believed to have died. his family have been informed and are being supported. the prime minister said his thoughts were with all those affected. absolutely, and one of the reasons this accident is so shocking is of course that it is this type of accident on the ra i lwa ys this type of accident on the railways is thankfully so rare, but oui’ railways is thankfully so rare, but our thoughts are very much with those who have lost their lives, theirfamilies those who have lost their lives, their families and those who have been injured in the derailment. i talked to first minister. for much

of the day smoke was seen billowing out of the valley below where the wreckage sits. an awful indicator of the force of what happened. an investigation into what caused the first derailment in over a decade now under way. lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire. rail accidents are very unusual nowadays in the uk — it looks like the storms overnight played a major role in this. yes, the flash flooding seems to have been one of if not the main factor, but it is worth noting other rail lines in the area were closed this morning because of the poor weather. we saw the videos posted by network rail showing how poor the conditions were. before the accident i'm told this train encountered flooding on its line, it then a p pa re ntly flooding on its line, it then apparently switched to another line adjacent before continuing on its way to glasgow, then at some point later derailed. it's a fair question to ask whether any train should have been running in that part of

scotla nd been running in that part of scotland this morning given the conditions. a recent report from the rail regulator warned about the worsening conditions and the risk that has for railways. incidents of this nature are incredibly rare. you have to go back 13 years for the last major derailment, but they cause huge devastation as the images from the crash site show and they almost always result in someone dying. thankfully there weren't too many people on that service. tom, thank you. the uk has fallen into its largest recession on record because of the coronavirus lockdown, contracting by more than 20% between april and june in the biggest slump of any major global economy. the services sector was worst affected. the recession — defined by six months in a row of falling output — is the first since the 2008 financial crash. the chancellor, rishi sunak, said the figures confirmed that hard times were here and many more people were expected to lose theirjos. here's our economics editor faisal islam.

this is a recession like no other. the consequence of having to shut the economy down, the result is an unprecedented hit — the hope that it proves to be short lived. at this somerset outdoor events manufacturer, what remains of dozens of music sports and cultural events that never occurred. this shed would normally be completely empty at this time of year. recovery here, far from assured. it's heartbreaking. march, april, may time, it was really rough. we try and stay positive, but for some of our staff, they couldn't stay with us longer term now, it's horrible. a fall of over 20% isn'tjust a record, but it's off all historical scales. the last recession, the great financial crisis of 2008/9 saw a worse three—month fall ofjust over 2%. go back the entire history of official calculations and there's never been a fall bigger than 3%. i said that hard times were coming and what today's numbers show is that hard times are here.

hundreds of thousands of people have already lost theirjob and, sadly, many more will. in june, the economy did bounce back a bit, making up about a third of the shutdown slump. that can be seen here in bath, where only some of the lost international tourism has been replaced by domestic tourists, tempted out by the chancellor's cheap meals. we are maybe 35 to 40% of normal. in nearly four decades here, the local antique shop has seen nothing like this. there's a shop here that's closed, i don't know when they are reopening. another one there. closed down, i think it has gone under and i don't think they will be back. 0n the main street there are several. so people are kind of holding on. yes. the government said they had a bridge to the other side, but not everyone is going to make it through? not everyone is going to make it through. the official confirmation of a recession is no surprise, but the number reported this morning was simply staggering. a colossal hit to the economy affecting every high street and home

up and down the country, mainly in march and in april. since then, the economy has started to grow a bit again, but not all the lights that were switched off to protect public health will turn back on. while the recession was inevitable, it doesn't explain why the uk has been amongst the worst hit of major nations, both in terms of health and the economy. this morning's number is the worst of the major g7 economies reporting so far from france to the us, with canada and japan also forecast to confirm smaller hits. are there not some questions about how your government has handled this, that we are bottom of both these tables? social activities — for example, going to have a meal, go shopping, go and see a movie, those kinds of activities comprise a much larger share of our economy than they do for most of our european cousins. the opposition said the recession showed the need to retain the furlough job scheme beyond the autumn. we need to have targeted financial backing. we haven't had that sufficiently yet

from the conservative government and we really need it. i think, until we have that, we will continue to see, potentially, a deeper recession in the uk than in other countries. but the chancellor, adamant today that the scheme will not be extended, but the economy and people will have to adapt, that some jobs will not return after this record pandemic recession. faisal islam, bbc news, in bath. well, the chancellor said that the uk is grappling with something unprecedented and warned there would be more job losses to come. our business correspondent emma simpson has been speaking to three people in leicestershire to find out what impact it is having on them and their businesses. we are 82 years old. set up by my grandfather at the dawn of the jet age. over the years this business has survived umpteen recessions but it has never seen a downturn like this. this is a turbine blade, it is

typical of the product we make. if people are not flying and airlines are on the ground, no spares are needed. his orders collapsed and andrew had to let 50 staff go, nearly half its workforce. these are good people, skilled people. people who have worked for us in many insta nces for who have worked for us in many instances for decades. how tough has that been? inordinately tough. having to say goodbye to half is tough, but much harder would be not making that decision and then ending up making that decision and then ending up with frankly no business. the long—term future looks brighter. he is also keeping his apprentices, but cannot take on any more. they are feeling the knock—on effects at this training provider. we focus on the fundamentals of engineering. we believe that's the right way... benjamin is hoping for an apprenticeship here but there will be 40% fewer places than usual as

employers rein back. it's a bit nerve—racking really, just because it is the uncertainty of we don't know if it's going to go back to normal. what does this recession mean for you? i do feel like it will affect the younger generation more than the older ones because we are the ones coming up and learning at the ones coming up and learning at the minute. we are the newer generation going into the workforce when the older workforce retire. sophie is self—employed, and she's focused on trying to keep the show on the road. she designed high—end weddings and events. the pressure has been immense, it's been extremely stressful. this isjust her showroom. her real weddings have been postponed to next year. she has got to keep the plates spinning now. i will pay my staff in november and december despite having no work. what about january and february? can i start my weddings again? if i know it will be five months i can plan for that. i'm waiting for the little

a nswe i’s for that. i'm waiting for the little answers before i can no what direction i take. it feels a bit blind. she is determined her business will make it, but like so many others, if only the economic uncertainty would come to an end. emma simpson, bbc news, derby. changes to the appeal system and exa m changes to the appeal system and exam grades have prompted dismay. schools might now be able to appeal foran schools might now be able to appeal for an upgrade on the basis of mock exa m for an upgrade on the basis of mock exam results. 0ur education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. their generation has had its education turned upside down. in england he's the man in charge, under pressure on student grades, defending changes made at the last moment. what parents and children

would expect is that i do absolutely everything i can, with no stone unturned to make sure we have a system that is always fair to the child. you have known since march that exams were going to be cancelled. just yesterday you were saying that the system was good, and 110w saying that the system was good, and now you are changing it. you make no apology for changes at the last moment? what i said, and this goes back months, i apologise to every single child right across the country for the disruption they have had to suffer. he is dealing not just with cancelled exams but the growing concern over children missing lessons. just to be clear, you have no regrets about how education in england has been handled during this pandemic? if we had the opportunity... god forbid... what would you do differently? there are many things we would take a different approach from because the

situation we were dealing with a com pletely situation we were dealing with a completely unprecedented set of circumstances. and, you know, where we haven't got everything right, of course i'm incredibly sorry for that. these a—level students could now appeal using mock exams. they can resit in the autumn so are they reassured? as much as i can understand why the government have given that option, i don't feel very reassured by that because mock exams are not standardised tests. we cannot replace the actual exams with anything 100% the same. putting together the teacher assessment will be the closest option we can have. using the mark is an appeal, it is not an option to me because i think ifi not an option to me because i think if i had written the exam i would have had that extra mental preparedness. i would

have had that extra mental preparedness. iwould have have had that extra mental preparedness. i would have studied harder. having that option taken away and using the mark, it's not a good idea. today labour said generation was being let down. this isa generation was being let down. this is a complete fiasco. it was obvious this was going to be difficult but it's been weeks or months in the coming. to have an 11th hour decision that has caused widespread decision that has caused widespread decision amongst people i have spoken to smacks of incompetence. stu d e nts spoken to smacks of incompetence. students will get a—level results tomorrow but won't get details of the new system until next week. we wa nt the new system until next week. we want a robust, fair system whereby mock evidence can be brought to bear. we will be doing that urgently over the next couple of days. in terms of a student getting their results, we hope they will do as in any other year and move on and be able to take those decisions tomorrow. he has had to deal with

one crisis after another. education, a growing political headache for the government. do you feel as though you are fighting for your political survival, given the people there has beenin survival, given the people there has been in education? i'm fighting for every single child. i'm notjust fighting for my own children but every single child out there. for students, just one more night of nerve—racking waiting. tomorrow universities will be competing to offer them places. in the last hour, the welsh government has guaranteed that a—level students grades this year will be no lower than their as—level results. let's get more from chris mason in westminster. this was always going to be difficult but pupils and schools and teachers are faced with this flurry of last—minute changes? teachers are faced with this flurry of last-minute changes? yes, this was always going to be a bodged job. if you cancel exams you have to hand out medals without running the race.

however, the governments around the uk have had since march to work this out. here we are in results season and changes are happening left, right and centre. the change in wales announced in the last hour. in northern ireland and england, mocks able to be used as the basis of an appeal. the regulator is trying to bodged together some sort of solution for how to work it through by the beginning of next week. let's be clear, this was always going to be clear, this was always going to be difficult. let's also be clear, it is ms. mason, thank you. our top story this evening... three people have died after a train crashes in aberdeenshire following heavy rain and storms across scotland. six and storms across scotland. people are in hospital and coming up... and storms across scotland. what's the reason behind the extreme differences in weather

we're seeing this week? coming up on sportsday on bbc news — competing in the race that nearly cost him his career, chris froome returns to the criterium de dauphine, as he bids to secure his place at this month's tour de france. more than 1,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the uk in the latest 24—hour period as the number of new infections continues to rise again. some parts of northern england are still under tight restrictions after early spikes in areas including manchester and bradford. residents in 0ldham and pendle have been warned that they could face even stricter measures if they don't keep to the social distancing rules. 0ur north of england correspondent, judith moritz, has travelled across the region to see how affected communities are trying to reduce the spread of the virus. thank you very much, everyone. this is 0peration 0verlap... this is how covid is being policed, officers briefed at the start of their shift... more and more calls that is leading to more and more enforcement... ..trying to keep on top

of the volume of work which the virus is creating. saturday night and the officers of trafford division are on their way to the bars and restaurants of altrincham. the town is one of those under tighter restrictions and they're checking that the latest coronavirus rules are being followed. you guys all right making a loop round that way? there's definitely confusion. people don't know which restrictions are still in place, if any have superseded others. it has given us a different challenge in terms of the numbers that are allowed into these premises. the way they're allowed to serve them and stuff has changed completely. nobody has been through this, so it's all new to everybody, including the police. how are you finding the track and trace system? the police are working with licensing officials and the hospitality industry, but the pressure is growing. this weekend, the greater manchester force received 1,100 reports of covid breaches. officers have the power to issue fines to those flouting the law. the authorities here in trafford are working hard to bring down the infection rate

so that the tighter restrictions which are in place here, can be relaxed. but elsewhere, there's been alarm at the increasing cases amongst the under 30s and concern that some are ignoring and others are missing the public health message. scientists and the medics and the department of health haven't really caught up with the new way of communicating with young people. the traditional media doesn't get picked up and we need to find influencers, perhaps celebrities, and get them to pass on the message about how important it is to take heed of the guidance. a growing number of areas like calderdale over in west yorkshire have warned that the nhs tracing system isn't reaching enough people. as a result, they're now planning their own local service alongside it. when someone tests positive, if the national test and trace programme hasn't been able to reach them in 48 hours, we'll send them a text message and say, "hi, it's coledale friendly test and trace service." if we don't hear back from them, then we'll go out and we'll knock

on the door, talk to them about what they need to do to stay safe. liverpool has kept infection rates low enough to stave off government restrictions and they want to keep it that way. the council is targeting taxi drivers who could unwittingly spread the virus as they travel to areas with rising rates. there's also driving test centres, you can book online. the cabbies are encouraged to get tested. it has been helpful. they've give us every bit of advice they can they can physically give you. so you think this will make a difference? i think it will make a difference, yeah. everyone i know on here is going to go and get tested. eight of the ten places in england with the highest rates of infection are in the north. how these communities deal with coronavirus will have an impact on how the whole country emerges from the pandemic. judith mauritz, bbc news, manchester. 0ur evening update on coronavirus data across the uk. 77 deaths were recorded in the latest 2a hour period.

that takes the total number of deaths in the uk to 46,706. there were 1,009 new confirmed cases of covid—19 across the uk in the latest 2a hour period. with the average number of new cases each day in the last week standing at 945. 0ur health editor hugh pym can tell us more. ijust said the i just said the total death toll ijust said the total death toll but as of tomorrow that will change and it will have fallen by more than 5000, explain why. it emerged last month that death totals were being calculated in different ways across the uk. in scotland and northern ireland, anyone that passed away within 28 days of testing positive was recorded. in england, there was no such time—limit so hypothetically somebody could have tested positive in february and died injuly. that seemed odd to many people and to be fairto

seemed odd to many people and to be fair to public health england, there is no standard way of doing it and if you have a cut of 28, what about somebody who tested positive at 29 01’ somebody who tested positive at 29 or 30 days before, they are not recorded. now there has been a review, england will come into line with the rest of the uk on the 28 day measure and the net result will bring the total down by 5400. it is a big impact onjuly with a 75% fall in the number of coronavirus deaths. it will bring the uk a bit below italy and spain in terms of deaths per million of population. but we shouldn't forget, however you measure it, there are tens of thousands of families out there who have been bereaved and lost loved ones. hugh pym, thank you. france has reported more than 2,500

new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours. the prime ministerjean castex yesterday warned that the country had been going "the wrong way" for weeks. he extended a ban on meetings of more than 5,000 people to the end of october and asked local authorities to further extend the requirement to wear face masks in public. more than half of the elite sportswomen who took part in a bbc survey said that their periods have had an impact on their performance and more than a quarter use the contraceptive pill to manage their menstrual cycle. those are among the findings of the bbc s elite british sportswoman survey, which is out this week. it also found that deciding when to have a family is a difficult decision for many athletes as they try to keep performing at the highest level. laura scott has the story. they have come from nowhere this season, and they are going away 0lympic silver medallists. silver at the rio 0lympics, and for vicky thornley, the culmination of years of fine—tuning her body to perform at the highest level. i've been on the pill the whole way through my career and it's really worked well for me, and that's not the case for everybody.

she says the advice available to athletes needs improvement. when i was suffering from over training, it definitely had an impact on my periods, so it was quite a marked change. i would definitely love to know more about it because i've asked questions to experts and they don't have the answers. dozens of athletes have told us about their experiences with one recalling how a coach told her to pull her tampon out and man up. the bbc surveyed more than 1,000 elite british sportswomen. of the 537 who responded, 60% said their period had affected their performance or they'd missed training or competition because of it. but 40% said they wouldn't feel comfortable talking to their coach about it. 28% of athletes said that they took the contraceptive pill specifically to control the impact of their period on performance. we also asked athletes about the reproductive cycle and family planning, and a third of athletes said they had delayed starting a family because of their sport. jodie grinham is a paralympic archer and, like vicky, won a silver medal in rio.

you've really got to weigh up and basically plan to a tee, if we're going to have a baby, we need to do it in this month. it needs to be born hopefully around then, because i need this time to recover, because i need to be back to shoot at this competition right here. so, no, it is really hard. sport has learnt how to use nutrition and sleep to maximise performance. many are now calling for the same focus to be applied to understanding the workings of the female body. laura scott, bbc news. heatwave conditions are continuing with temperatures above 34 degrees celsius for the sixth day in a row in parts of southern and central england, for the first time in almost 60 years. but for other areas, including several parts of scotland and lancashire, there's been heavy rain and thunderstorms and flooding. so what is causing these extremes of weather? 0ur science correspondent victoria gill has more. a week of extremes. in some parts of southern england, there've been a record breaking six consecutive days above 34 degrees.

intense storms further north and overnight in parts of scotland, a month and a half of rain fell injust six hours. so many of us are asking the question, what on earth is going on with the weather? this week we've seen remarkable contrast in our weather, 20 degree contrast from the far north, the uk to the far south. and it's within that contrast where we've seen two different air masses clash. cool atlantic air clashing with hot air coming up from the near continent. and it's around that boundary that you often get serious thunderstorms developing. the effect that climate change is having on temperatures is increasingly evident. a report by the met office today revealed that 2019 concluded the warmest decade since the industrial revolution. it feels more like the tropics than the north west of england here, but it's not unusual to get weather patterns like this that drive heatwaves. but with climate change, we're just turning up the dial on that thermostat and that increases the probability of this kind of weather.

the fact that the average temperature has increased by one degree over the last hundred years, we've lifted the baseline of the temperature. so it means we get more frequent heatwaves and when we do get these heat wave events, that the heat in them is much more intense than we have ever seen before. for now, though, there won't be too much more meteorological drama. this unseasonal heatwave is set to break across the countryjust in time for the weekend. victoria gill, bbc news. time for a look at the weather here's chris fawkes. yes, we have been looking at severe thunderstorms that have broken out through the course of the afternoon. west london, twickenham had large hail stones and in wales these look horrendous. this is a view of the clouds through the atmosphere and this was one of those downpours

working across bucks. we have seen hail, torrential rain and 20 millimetres in the space of an hour already recorded. and in the last half an hour, a met office and the weather warning has been issued. this is for wales and parts of west england. the problem with these storms as they will bring a lot of rain. 30 or40 storms as they will bring a lot of rain. 30 or 40 millimetres possible in the space of an hour but some of the storms will be slow—moving so we could see much more than that. maybe 70 or perhaps 100 millimetres of rain and that is extreme. it could lead to localised flooding. aside from the storms they will be dramatic lightning displays and we have been used to enduring these kinds of temperatures overnight, lows of only 20 degrees. tomorrow, quite a quiet picture across the northern areas of the uk. a ridge of high pressure keeping showers at bay. murky round some coastal areas. further south in england and wales it is another humid day. there will

be some sunshine