welcome to bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: the heat and the havoc — as the uk records its highest ever temperatures the heatwave sparks dozens of fires around london. in the us, 17 members of congress from the democratic party are arrested at an abortion rights protest outside the supreme court in washington. president putin makes just his second foreign trip since the invasion of ukraine — to meet leaders of iran and turkey in tehran — where the export of ukrainian grain was high on the agenda. is it a netflix horror show? what's the true impact for the streaming service as it loses a million subscribers?

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we begin here in the uk where temperatures of more than a0 degrees celsius have been recorded for the very first time. the heatwave has caused widespread disruption, and a major incident has been declared in london, where the mayor sadiq khan said fire crews were struggling to cope. the un's climate chief has warned heatwaves like the one gripping western europe are becoming more frequent. our first report is from our climate editorjustin rowlatt. with today's searing heat came fires, and lots of them. huge plumes of smoke rose above london as grassfires engulfed homes on the outskirts of the capital. the london fire brigade declared a major incident.

a number of the calls that we've been dealing with today have been wildfires or grassfires, where the ground has been tinder box dry result of the weather over the last week, but in particular, the last two days. temperature records were tumbling before midday today. the 39.1 degrees recorded at charlwood near gatwick airport was a warning of what was to come. within an hour, another record had been set at another airport — 40.2 celsius at heathrow. by mid—afternoon, we got a new provisional heat record for the uk when coningsby in lincolnshire reached 40.3 celsius. and there was a new provisional record for scotland, too, incinerating the previous record. we've been beating records by 1.5, two degrees, and really quite an extensive region of over 35 degrees, and this is really unusual.

these are high temperatures over a broad area in england, so quite surprising. just look how today's temperatures compared to previous records. in 1976, it peaked just shy of 36 degrees. it was 27 years before that record was broken. 16 years after that, it hit 38.7 celsius. just three years later, and we've got today's new record. who would have thought over a0 degrees in the uk? and it isn'tjust getting hotter. years ago, temperatures would only reach peaks like this in the far south. but look how these high temperatures are moving north and west across the country. the heat is getting more intense and it is spreading, and, say climate scientists, we need to prepare for more in the coming years. the first thing organisations can do is make sure their heatwave plans are suitable, fit for purpose and they're going to work when the next heatwave kicks in. as individuals, we can recognise that heat waves

are not fun things to enjoy. they can be damaging and really affect our health. it was certainly too hot for most tourists in cambridge today. those brave enough to take to the river brought their own shelter, and they needed it. the only sensible place to be was in the shade, and that says something important about our changing world. this really ought to be a critical warning for everyone in this country, but especially our policymakers, that climate change is not something to be ignored. it's a really critical issue that we have to address as a country and as a world. some people did find ways to cool down. but the message from scientists is clear — if we want to stop britain and the world getting even hotter, we need to start cutting emissions, and quickly. justin rowlatt,

bbc news, cambridge. mackey got a flavour of what has been going on in london with the fires breaking out there. we will show you again some of those pictures. this was the scene east of london where a small fire in a back garden quickly turned into an inferno that ripped through several houses. there have been fires in other areas too — with bone dry conditions providing ideal conditions for blazes to spread. temperatures are now beginning to cool. that is relative for the moment, though, of course. of course it's in france where the most devastating fires have taken hold along the country's atlantic coast. tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson was at the scene and sent this report from one of the affected areas. in teste—de—buch, we drove towards the fire,

following fire crews as they disappeared into the smoke. all around us, the forest still smouldered, waiting for a chance to reignite. you can really taste and smell the smoke in the air here. fire crews have been battling these fires for a week now, and while they're contained in parts, they're still not under control despite the drop in temperatures. you can see some of them still working over here. the key concern now is preventing any fresh fires from taking hold. they talk about an apocalypse here. last week, it was paradise. these campsites carry evidence of both. holiday memories spat out by the flames. the guests evacuated last week. translation: it�*s heartbreaking for the locals, for the tourists who come here, it's upsetting. and of course, us firemen feel the same way, but itjust makes us more determined to finish thejob.

a short drive away, rachel has been packed for days, her husband's old camper van stashed with water. and then, we've got a couple of baskets... anything irreplaceable, packed into a bag. you could actually taste the smoke in your mouth. it was really disconcerting, this acrid taste. and there was ash falling from the sky. this situation is really scary. it's something that is so out of our control and heatwaves are happening more and more. we are surrounded by forest and it's really something that's made us ask the question, are we going to go back to england, perhaps, because of it? it's frightening. across the border in spain, angel was caught on camera yesterday heading out in his bulldozer to dig a firebreak. now you see him, now you don't. it's the closest escape imaginable.

this is what the apocalypse looks like up close. and this is what it looks like to survive it. lucy williamson, bbc news, teste—de—buch. i think that is why they have been using the phrase — a heat apocalypse. absolutely extraordinary scenes. it's notjust europe feeling the heat, more than a0 million people in the united states are under heat alerts. there have been small wildfires in texas and the use of power there and in other central states is expected to break all—time highs in coming days as people turn up air conditioners. president biden is expected to outline his next steps to tackle climate change on wednesday. max boykoff is professor of environmental studies at the university of colorado. the pictures we seeing, you

need to manage the belief that things are changing in terms of climate change with the behaviour, and, do you think thatis behaviour, and, do you think that is happening? thank you for having me on again, i wish it wasn't under these circumstances. this is absolutely raising awareness of people around northern hemisphere around the world. the question becomes, what happens from here? ultimately, a heat wave will subside but this is reallyjust the beginning. this is the coolest summer of the rest of our lives. we need to confront that, we need to face that, then we need to investigate how we can sustain this awareness and are translated into greater engagement and action. it is and are translated into greater engagement and action.- bi engagement and action. it is a big statement _ engagement and action. it is a big statement because - engagement and action. it is a big statement because it - engagement and action. it is a big statement because it isn't| big statement because it isn't necessarily true, is it? it may

be that for the next two or three years it is not as bad as the summer? there is the la nina fact going on right now which essentially masking some of the warning. if it switches to our only know it becomes unwanted. in fact, you're right. we may have a slightly cooler... if you look at the trendlines, 19 of the last 20 warmest years in the last 20 warmest years in the last 140 years of record—keeping have been in just the recent past two decades. we are continuing to break heat records. increasingly, the powers of our scientific ways of knowing through attribution sides are able to link this definitively to our contributions to climate change. for someone like you who looks at the cultural impact of these moments, the need for education, etc, how encouraged, if that's word, might you feel that in australia for example the recent general election was won in part on a climate change ticket. we are having a

leadership contest here for the governing conservative party where climate change is becoming one of the central issues. what are the leaders or prospective leaders make of the climate change commitments at the current government has done? that must be encouraging for you? in some ways, yes, i will take encouragement where i can get it. i have been studying these for a few decades now, these ebbs and flows. we have also seen political retreat. here in the united states and the name of inflation we have seen political retreat in the halls of congress, as well we can encourage and feel enthusiastic about these steps we can also point to tory reluctance to engage with these issues, as you are all searching. as i said at the start, we are not used to some of the outrageous temperatures we have seen and other parts of the world. 40 celsius to ours is new territory, in fact. when you see some of the pictures coming out of a place like the

uk and you bring it back to what you deal with in the us, perhaps it is interesting that we don't necessarily get the full picture of how bad things are. well, that may be true. we all live in different places, what we're talking about global service temperatures were averaging them across globe. rarely do we feel the effects of these contributions that we are making until we experience these sorts of events. all the way back into the late 1980s this really burst onto the scene through these kinds of ecological and meteorological events, particularly in north america where there is a large heatwave and drought, every day us americans are talking about these issues. you know, we have seasonality. what a pointer often is that we see these manifest in a variety of ways, not just manifest in a variety of ways, notjust heated impacts. there

are many other extreme events that can manifest in our lives. it certainly has our attention this week, i wonder how long it can hold it. max boykoff, thank you very much. now to washington, where 17 democratic members of congress have been arrested at an abortion rights protest outside the supreme court. the group includes alexandria 0casio—cortez, a prominent member of the progressive wing of the democratic party. the congresswoman and her colleagues have been led away by police after blocking a nearby street as part of a civil disobedience rally. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent peter bowes. that is quite a statement when you need that number of congress members being hauled in, peter? it certainly is. this was actually quite a small protest in all about 35 people arrested, about 50% of those were members of congress. 17 and all. i think what the

purpose of this was was to simply keep the issue in the headlines, and exceeded in doing that. they have been many other protests ever since the supreme court's ruling a few weeks ago, much bigger than this one. but there is some concern among democrats, especially those in the progressive wing of the party that the administration could have perhaps done more, could have perhaps done more, could have responded more strongly to what the supreme court did, although mr biden has said on several occasions that to some extent his hands are tied and thatis extent his hands are tied and that is very little he could do now, perhaps looking ahead to the elections and from his perspective hoping more democrats are elected, and then a meaningful legislation could be passed, it could get through both houses that could guarantee abortion rights across the country.- guarantee abortion rights across the country. you make an interesting _ across the country. you make an interesting point _ across the country. you make an interesting point that _ across the country. you make an interesting point that the - interesting point that the november midterms are really important. this is a massive issue that i think the biden administration would look at

and want to capitalise on but when have the aggressive arm of the party pushing them, criticising them for not doing enough, it is a double—edged sword. it enough, it is a double-edged sword. , , �* sword. it is tricky, isn't it, for the — sword. it is tricky, isn't it, for the democrats? - sword. it is tricky, isn't it, for the democrats? how l sword. it is tricky, isn't it, | for the democrats? how to position this debate over the next few months. you're absolutely right — there one wing of the party pushing, pushing, pushing, and another saying there's very little they can do right now other than to highlight it as an issue at the ballot box. it will be quite unusual if an issue like abortion or indeed something like gun rights were to dominate a mid—term election, and especially this year when americans are hurting through the economic crisis and the cost—of—living crisis. that is perhaps more likely to feature in people's minds when it comes to voting in november. as far as abortion is concerned, it is perhaps only the only main hub in the foreseeable future of something changing. thank you very much. _ something changing. thank you very much, peter— something changing. thank you very much, peter bowes. -

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: it's notjust temperatures at a record high in the uk. the hunt is on for the winner of the biggest ever lottery jackpot, do you have the hottest ticket in town? radio: i see you coming down the ladder now. i that's one small step for man... ..one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight. for the first crash - in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. _ it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly. seven, six, five...

thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the uk records its highest ever temperatures with the heatwave sparking dozens of fires around london. in the us, 17 members of congress from the democratic party are arrested at an abortion rights protest outside the supreme court in washington. russian president vladimir putin flew to tehran to meet turkish and iranian leaders on tuesday. this was only his second trip abroad since he launched the invasion of ukraine.

the talks were set to focus on the war in syria, as well as unblocking grain shipments in ukraine's black sea ports. but it also comes as russia is increasingly isolated by the west. with me is our news reporter azadeh moshiri. thank you very much forjoining evidence of the invasion of ukraine, putin's this difference back plains list is slightly smaller. this is a show strength that presently today she wants to show the west he doesn't stand alone, he has friends beside him. the problem here is that wow, yes, iran and turkey are allies to russia, their relationship as allies is very complicated. 0n the one hand you have iran, and welcome yes, they both suffer from western

sanctions, the post— stand against the western & sons, russia and iran have competing economic interests when it comes to oil. macon is keenly aware that many countries are looking for non—russian sources of oil and looking for non—russian sources of oiland iran looking for non—russian sources of oil and iran is very keen to help it's a struggling economy, and so while russia and macon have their own economic dealings they are slightly at odds. 0n the other hand you have turkey, and turkey is actually acting as a mediator between the west and russia. also, on opposing sides when it comes to the war in its area. as a show of unity, it wasn't the strongest. it as a show of unity, it wasn't the strongest.— the strongest. it is a mixed band of brothers _ the strongest. it is a mixed band of brothers in - the strongest. it is a mixed band of brothers in a - the strongest. it is a mixed - band of brothers in a sense, so what do you think iran and turkey are going to do this? iran is posing a similar game posing a dilemma for the west, particularly the united states because i iran nuclear deal is at a stalemate. michael wants to show it is not negotiating from a place of weakness. —— iran. there wants to play the

card that the us should be wary of wishing us here, particularly the war in ukraine. the us is hoping russia looks diminished enough that perhaps iran won't rely on them. plus, the war in syria is increasingly important, it has been weeks they have been threatening a new incursion on assyrian quotation forces, and president adorno telling people he no longer wants was supporting one's actual support, —— president erdogan. yes, meeting of allies but they have their own interests at heart and they are playing their own diplomatic games. the streaming giant netflix has just reported its second quarter results. it lost 970,000 subscribers from april throuthune, fewer than than the 2 million customers the company had warned investors it would lose. we can now speak to taylor lorenz who's a columnist at the washington post covering

technology and online culture. taylor, very good to see you. sounds like a major blow to me, but people have been quite positive about these figures. yeah, it's not as bad as you would think. in fact, some estimates — they are projected that they may lose up to 2 million subscribers, so i think losing 1 million isn't great but they also added millions and millions through the pandemic in 2020, so it is two steps forward, one step back. the markets tend to focus on these figures, and subscription numbers are down. it points to a bad sign. there is a suggestion they aren't actually losing on actual viewers though?— though? yes, it is still seeing success. _ though? yes, it is still seeing success. it — though? yes, it is still seeing success, it has _ though? yes, it is still seeing success, it has huge - though? yes, it is still seeing success, it has huge culturall success, it has huge cultural power. when you think about it, netflix doesn't even know

necessarily how many viewers they have total because there is so much password sharing going on right now on the site. our household up to five 0ur household up to five members could be using your netflix account so it still has a lot of impact and by far the biggest service. you bringing up a guilty secret there, that i think many others do. is there much netflix can do. is there much netflix can do about that and is there any point in them trying? certainly there is point in _ point in them trying? certainly there is point in trying, - point in them trying? certainly there is point in trying, even i there is point in trying, even if they could convert some of those subscribers to boost their account, those subscribers to boost theiraccount, pay those subscribers to boost their account, pay for extra, you know, households, they are certainly going to try that and i think they will roll it out in five countries, crackdowns on password sharing, whether thatis on password sharing, whether that is just asking you to pay a bit more incrementally to add a bit more incrementally to add a couple of households on, you know, they haven't may convert users. they are also going to out with an admiral, a lower—priced tear that you are used to that will have adverts on it. i think that may be

appealing for people who currently don't pay for netflix or have gotten kicked off their parents�* account, may not have a subscription. irate parents' account, may not have a subscription.— a subscription. we often focus on the pioneers _ a subscription. we often focus on the pioneers and _ a subscription. we often focus on the pioneers and efforts i on the pioneers and efforts were certainly seen as the pioneer, but are any other streaming services doing significantly better, really eating into netflix or is it more about people generally thinking, tighten the belt saw, maybe we don't need all this content after all.— content after all. apple, comcast. _ content after all. apple, comcast, hulu, - content after all. apple, comcast, hulu, there i content after all. apple, | comcast, hulu, there are content after all. apple, - comcast, hulu, there are so many streaming services right now, hulu. there is certainly competition. whether or not they have been successful, that is up for debate. peacock, we saw cnn two plus a flop. it'll be interesting to see what happens with hulu. will it be folded into disney+? there is a lot of our people in the market and it makes us wobbly. competitors are definitely

eager to see if they can take some of that business. plenty of choice _ some of that business. plenty of choice out _ some of that business. plenty of choice out there _ some of that business. plenty of choice out there at - some of that business. plenty of choice out there at least, i of choice out there at least, thank you very much, taylor lorenz. if you're in the uk and you took part in tuesday's euromillions lottery, you might want to check your numbers right about now. 0ne ticket—holder has scooped a jackpot of nearly 200 million pounds — that's more than $230 million in what's being described as the biggest uk lottery win of all time. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. it was only two months ago that joe and jessica kweda celebrated their immense good fortune. their numbers had come up fortune. their numbers had come up and they had won £184 million in the euro millions lottery. but now, they seem almost like paupers as an even biggerjackpot is about to be claimed. in the latest draw, uk ticket holder has won £195 million. that is worth around

$234 million. in a statement... millions of dollars! get those tickets out! of course, the best thing about it is a lot of money but it pales in comparison with some other lottery jackpot winners. in comparison with some other lotteryjackpot winners. in america, these sort of big pay—outs are not that unusual. a mother of two, mavis, received a cheque for more than $758 million five years ago. and in spain, al gordo as an annual christmas tradition that has a prize fund of nearly 3 billion euros, although the winnings are spread around in much smaller numbers. as for the latest lucky winner, they willjoin the latest lucky winner, they will join a the latest lucky winner, they willjoin a long line winner celebrating with a bottle of

champagne and a big check. it could be you, it almost certainly would be, but it could be. tim allman, bbc news. hello. 0ur historic and unprecedented heatwave is now coming to an end, but on tuesday, we recorded a new provisional uk record of 40.3 celsius. normally when we break records, it's by a fraction of a degree, but that's the old record. we've exceeded it by more than one and a half degrees. this is very significant. eastern parts of the uk start wednesday, still in the grip of some relatively warm air, but out towards the west, something cooler and fresher flowing in from the atlantic. so, waking up to another warm start across eastern parts of england, but with some spells of sunshine. 0ut towards the west, wales, the southwest seeing some cloud and some showers, the odd heavy one. those showers drifting eastwards through the day. quite a lot of cloud for eastern scotland, more brightness further north and west.

sunny spells and just the odd shower there for northern ireland. temperatures lower than they have been. still 29 in the east of england — normally we consider that hot, but obviously not as hot as it has been — more like 18—20 for a good part of scotland and northern ireland. now, through the late afternoon and evening, we will see some quite intense thunderstorms across parts of northeast england, the midlands, east anglia, maybe the southeast — quite hit and miss, but some places could get quite a lot of rain in a short time. a lot of cloud holding on across eastern areas, more clear spells out towards the west, but it will be cooler and fresher for all of us as we start thursday morning. now, the next thing i think many of us would really like is some rain, but with high pressure building in for thursday, we're not going to see very much of that. yes, there mayjust be the odd shower here and there, a lot of cloud across central and eastern parts of england. that could produce the odd spot of rain, but for most, it is looking like a dry day. some spells of sunshine, particularly out towards the west. temperatures, though, much lower than they have been at 17—25 celsius

north to south. friday, we stick with that cooler feel. a greater chance of seeing showers on friday, but they certainly won't crop up everywhere. they will be quite hit and miss. some will be heavy, some will be thundery. best chance of brightness, i think, across southern and southwestern parts, but temperatures much closer to where they should be, actually, for the time of year, 15—23 celsius. as we head into the weekend, the best chance of seeing some rain will be up towards the north and the west of the uk. further south and east, it should stay dry with some spells of sunshine and it will actually start to turn a bit warmer once again.

this is bbc news. the headlines: here in the uk, temperatures of more than 40 degrees celsius have been recorded for the first time since records began. a high set in 2019 was broken more than 30 times on tuesday. the heat caused widespread disruption and sparked a number of fires near london. 17 democratic members of the us congress have been arrested at an abortion rights protest outside the supreme court in washington. they were led away by police after blocking a nearby street as part of a civil disobedience rally. russian president vladimir putin's made just his second foreign trip since the invasion of ukraine. he's met the leaders of turkey and iran in the iranian capital tehran. unblocking ukrainian grain

exports was high on the agenda