tonight at ten: a four—day extreme heat warning comes into effect over parts of the uk, with temperatures forecast to hit 37 degrees in some places. the tinder—dry land has led to wildfires in and near london — and a warning of an exceptional risk of blazes spreading in many places. last august, in the first week, we attended 42 grassland fires in london. week, we attended 42 this year, for the first week in august we've attended 340, so an eightfold increase. as the heat causes river levels to fall, a rescue mission to retrieve fish from the river mole in surrey. with an official drought expected to be declared in parts of england tomorrow, we'll be looking at the unfolding effects of climate change here and globally.

also on the programme: a meeting in downing street with energy bosses — but it provides no solution yet for households struggling with soaring bills. last month was one of the worst for waiting times in a&e in england — and response times for ambulances were much longer than the target time. and at the european championships, alice kinsella wins silver for great britain in the women's gymnastics all—round final. and coming up on the bbc news channel: eve muirhead calls time on her curling career. the team gb skip retires as an olympic champion and hopes her success inspires girls in years to come. good evening. an amber extreme heat warning has come into force until sunday with temperatures expected to reach 37 celsius in some places over the weekend.

a drought could also be declared tomorrow for some parts of england, with government officials, the water companies and groups including the national farmers�* union due to meet to discuss the prolonged dry weather. the met office alert for southern, central and some of northern england, and also parts of wales, runs until sunday. the met office has also issued its highest alert for fire severity, warning there's an "exceptional" risk of blazes spreading. this was the picture today, with high temperatures stretching to the north of england and into scotland, although the north of scotland is much cooler. our correspondent sarah campbell reports. earlier today in west sussex, one of two fires which destroyed acres of crops. there were similar scenes in fields just outside newcastle... the fire brigade just turned up, so i think we should be all right. ..and in east london, this grassland fire was believed to have been caused by a discarded glass bottle.

last august, in the first week, we attended 42 grassland fires in london. this year, for the first week in august, we've attended 340, so an eightfold increase in the numbers that we've attended. so that gives you a bit of a flavour in the terms of the pressure that is being put on fire services up and down the uk, actually. and we've never seen this, i've never seen this in my 23—year career in the fire service. looking more like a savannah grassland, this is actually richmond park in west london. keeping the manager awake at night, the possibility of fire. and you can see why. so even in these conditions people are having disposable barbecues? yeah, and this is the evidence we are finding. this is a good example, big scorched area. look how dry it is everywhere, and yet someone has decided to cook their food in such a tinder—dry area. it's not great at all. to help prevent fires here and elsewhere, some

supermarkets have temporarily banned the sale of disposable barbecues. it's not quite as hot as it was on those record—breaking days injuly, but the landscape clearly shows the effect of so little rain and day after day of heat. it means there are no muddy fields to contend with at the boomtown festival in hampshire. the main concern is how to keep cool. plenty of water, we're going to refill our bottles at the station. lots of water. and sun cream. yeah, sun cream, shade — if there is any. yeah, we should have a paddling pool! but now we've got a gazebo, i think it'll be a lot easier to keep cool. in wales, bathers have been finding some respite in the waters off barry island. i think i would have melted a long time ago! i would have been a pool on the floor at some point, if i hadn't have been in and out the sea all the time. water levels on the river mole here in surrey have dropped to such an extent, the environment agency have had to rescue the fish, moving

them into deeper, cooler pools. as the water temperature goes up higher, because we are getting very hot weather, the levels are evaporating in the water temperatures increasing, which then means there's less oxygen in the water, which crucially affects fish. like you and i, they need to be able to breathe. with the hot temperatures set to last over the weekend, the message is enjoy the sun responsibly. sarah campbell, bbc news. the high temperatures and dry conditions have also been causing problems across europe, with hundreds of firefighters battling a massive wildfire in south western france. a number of european countries are sending equipment and help. it's prompted increasing concern about the effects of climate change, as our correspondent mark lowen reports. a cloak of fire shrouding south—west france. a landscape of beauty, turned to horror. as flames tear through the gironde, destroying almost 7,000 hectares,

fanned by winds, searing heat and france's worst drought on record. a tranquil village last week, a ghost town this one, with 10,000 people evacuated. firefighters and planes have come from across europe to help france manage a nightmare that keeps recurring. translation: we must continue more than ever to fight _ against climate change, and we must continue to adapt to it. we will begin debates on a new climate change plan this autumn. elsewhere in europe too, fires rage. in spain, galicia is one of a dozen regions battling them. while in portugal, flames have destroyed more than 10,000 hectares of forests, scarring the night sky. how quickly our earth is drying up. this was france a year ago. and now look — lush land turned to waste land, forests and fields barren.

paris may be looking glorious in the sunshine, delighting its tourists, but we are, of course, facing a very serious situation. crops across europe are dying, worsening the global food crisis linked to the war in ukraine. extreme droughts and heatwaves that were freak events are now becoming more common and progressively worse. france's fourth successive heatwave is being lapped up by some, but despite the pleasure, they know the pain is deepening. i think if this summer has taught people anything, it's that this is happening and it is happening now. these temperatures are extreme, and if people don't start to act, it's only going to get worse, by the looks of it. because we are the new generation, we have to live on this planet. it is going really bad. we are a little worried about our future. france is taking the heat of what we are doing to our world. the postcard beauty may look stuck in time, but the planet is changing, and there is fear of what is to come. mark lowen, bbc news, paris.

experts say that heatwaves are becoming more likely and more extreme because of human—induced climate change. our climate editorjustin rowlatt is here with more. thank you. it's easy to see why the government is considering declaring a drought. here's how the uk looked back at the beginning ofjuly — nice and green. now look at this. this is how the uk looked yesterday. you can see how dry the ground is, particularly in the south and east of england. and dry ground makes hot days even hotter because more of the sun's energy goes into heating the air. the met office says this is part of a global pattern. it says there have been five high pressure "centres" dominating the northern hemisphere's weather over the past couple of months. this image shows them at the end of last month. the red colour shows how much hotter it is than normal. the high pressure over the us is why

some 100 million americans have been enduring temperatures over 38 celsius. the weather has been even more extreme in iran and iraq. it's been up to 50 celsius on an almost daily basis in baghdad in the last two weeks. and high—pressure overjapan explains why it has also been enduring some record temperatures. now, the weather has been particularly brutal because the high—pressure systems have been locked in place by waves in the jet stream. the jet stream is a fast—flowing current of air high in the atmosphere. when it is really dry, these waves can sit in place for days, even weeks, meaning itjust gets hotter and hotter. and there is some tentative evidence that suggests this pattern of "blocked" weather could be becoming more pronounced because of climate change.

now, when a high eventually passes, it tends to be replaced by cooler, stormier low pressure. this is what it brought to south korea — dramatic storms and floods. and a deep low brought terrible flooding to parts of the us this summer too. so what does this mean for the uk? the met office is predicting the high we're experiencing now will be replaced with a low early next week. that'll bring some heavy localised downpours. and when the ground is as dry as it is now, you can expect flooding. the good news is they aren't expecting it to be anywhere near as bad as in south korea and the us. reeta. justin, thank you. as always, we'll have a full weather report at the end of the programme — and there is, of course, more in the way of updates, news and analysis on bbc news online — that's bbc.co.uk/news — and by using the bbc news app. borisjohnson and the chancellor nadhim zahawi met bosses from the electricity sector today to discuss mounting concerns about soaring energy bills.

the annual charge for a typical household is set to top £4,000 a year from january — that's over double what it is now. mrjohnson said the sector had been urged to help, but it's thought no firm decisions will be taken until a new prime minister is in place next month. our business correspondent caroline davies has more. i find it quite degrading to live in this situation. there's little left in dallas's one—bedroom flat. she says to keep paying the bills and a roof over her head, she sold the rest. my flat is empty, so ijust don't know how i can possibly make any more adjustments or changes to try and satisfy this gas bill. so in my fridge, just got some bottled water and... dallas says her gas bill went up a few months ago from £30 to £150, and although she's on universal credit and so should be eligible for extra government payments to help, she says any help now is too little, too late. it's making me feel very, very anxious all the time.

just switching a light on and, you know, worrying about where i'm going to be in anotherfew months. dallas may be an extreme example, but the expected rise in energy bills will affect households around the country. today, 15 energy companies and organisations met with the prime minister, chancellor and business secretary. but while borisjohnson said that this winter would be difficult, key decisions will wait until the new prime minister is in place. that won't be until the 5th of september, and consumer groups say decisions are needed now. up untiljust july this year, we've given out 120,000 referrals to food banks and crisis support. that's actually more than 2019 and 2020 combined. so for many people, theyjust can't wait another day for the government to decide what support is needed in winter. there are different ideas about what the government can do to give more support in the next few months. one is to cut vat on energy bills,

put forward by rishi sunak. that could save a typical household roughly about £190. another idea is to temporarily drop energy green levies — that's put forward by liz truss, and could save an average household around £153. the criticism is that with energy prices going so high, that neither of these do enough. at this evening's hustings in cheltenham, ms truss talked again about cutting taxes if she becomes prime minister but didn't rule out direct support. we need to look at exactly what the situation is in september. we need to look at what measures we can take, both on taxes and supply and other measures, but what i am not going to do is announce the results of that work now. mr sunak said he would provide direct support to vulnerable groups if he won the leadership. there will be many pensioners here in the audience tonight. they're used to receiving a winter fuel payment in the winter. and what i did as chancellor is say that we will provide additional payments alongside that,

and we will need to provide more than i thought previously because the bills are worse. and we need to do the same for people on low incomes. the clock is ticking, and while government emphasises that billions of pounds of help is already in place, autumn is looming. even some energy leaders are worried that the big decisions are on hold while the panic over prices is rising. caroline davies, bbc news. let's get more on this story with our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, in westminster. people are desperately worried about how to pay their bills — what did today's meeting achieve? reeta, nothing very much, i think you have to say, for people worried now are worried about the autumn. what we heard from borisjohnson was really when he said any decisions involving spending would have to wait for his successor. chancellor nadeem zaha way said he was looking at what he called the extraordinary

profits made by energy generating companies. he did not say what he would do about it. —— nadhim zahawi. that came about that hustings event. at the heart of the matter is what to do and have to pay for it. liz truss was asked about energy companies and said it would have to be scrutinised, but when it came to a windfall tax, she said that was something she absolutely did not support, and that it was about bashing business, and that profit is not a dirty word. rishi sunak, for his part, said there would definitely have to be direct help. he said liz truss's idea, if followed through, would lead to a conservative government leaving millions of incredibly vulnerable people at risk of real destitution, and he said he would be prepared to borrow money to get through the winter, several billions, he thought it might cost. but while this is all waiting for a decision, it has left an opening for the opposition. we have had labour and the snp today both saying that the conservative

government is missing in action, and the liberal democrats are saying the government should say there will be no more energy price rises at all. many thanks. accident and emergency departments in england had one of their worst months ever injuly, according to latest figures from nhs england. record numbers of patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted. response times for ambulances dealing with emergency cases were also much longer than the target time. our health editor, hugh pym, has been looking at the figures. hugh. yes, reeta — another set of stats illustrating the immense strain right across the nhs. injuly in england, 29% of patients had to wait longer than four hours to be treated or assessed in a&e departments, a record high. and what about the other uk nations? the figure for a&e delays was a bit lower in scotland, but higher in wales and northern ireland, though data is published at different times. and there was a record 6.73 million

people in england waiting for planned operations and procedures injune. some are enduring very long and debilitating waits for their treatment. james is in training for the great north run. he's had his heart valve operation, but only after going private. he felt he had to do that after repeated delays in the nhs system, including last—minute postponements. get yourself prepped, you're starving yourself, you wake up the next morning, they shave your chest, get you all gowned up, get you on the bed, and then the nurse turns up and says, "sorry, it's not happening today." then your emotions just go. and the first time that happened was really tough, the second time, not quite as tough because you have kind of done it, and the third time, you expected it anyway. there are people out there a lot worse than me, but it was emotionally very, very difficult. the longest wait for operations — more than two years —

have been almost eliminated in england after a new push by hospitals, but the number waiting over one year has carried on rising. tackling the backlog is getting harder with intense pressure on hospitals. there are delays in crowded a&e units because it's difficult to find beds, but hospital leaders are worried conditions will get worse. we know it's going to be tough this winter and it's tough because we've got covid, we know that staff absences come along with covid, we've got fears of an early flu outbreak, and we also know that other respiratory diseases are likely to be rife this winter. that's going to put a huge amount of pressure on. nhs england said it was planning to increase capacity for the winter months and reduce response times. july's heatwave might have had an impact — there was a record number of urgent ambulance call—outs — but health leaders know that, whatever the weather, there are huge challenges ahead. hugh pym, bbc news.

in ukraine, it's impossible to know accurately how many soldiers and civilians have been killed since russia invaded the country at the end of february. the challenges in identifying and repatriating soldiers killed in the conflict means that, according to the ukrainian government, only around 400 fallen fighters from either side have been returned home. as wyre davies reports from near kharkiv in eastern ukraine, when occupied villages are taken back, it's a painfully slow and difficult process for those people whose job it is to recover the dead. a warning — his report contains some distressing images. at the very start of this war, russian soldiers were filmed entering the suburbs of kharkiv. some of the fiercest fighting took place in and around this eastern city. while the russian troops were eventually repelled, kharkiv came under relentless shelling and rocket attack.

some occupied villages between kharkiv and the nearby russian border have been liberated. there was an unexploded one sticking out of the ground, right in the middle of the road. but the road to momotove, littered with the detritus of war, is still too dangerous for most civilians to return. and before people come back, there is important work to be done. momotove has to be made safe, and bodies, many of them worried and bodies, many of them buried at haste in shallow graves, have to be recovered. this village was deep inside russian occupied territory. it's still a live firing zone, as you can probably hear in the background. what with these guys doing now, they're locals, they're digging up the bodies of russian soldiers who have been killed in the fighting. after they have been bagged, they will be taken away for dna sampling, and eventually they will be repatriated to russia itself. piled on top of each other, the bodies of six russian soldiers. yuri, the grave digger, takes this grim work in his stride, and even though these men,

when alive, were fighting to defeat ukraine, he feels for theirfamilies. translation: it's not difficult, l but it's not pleasant work either. these men have people waiting for them at home — mothers, fathers and children. i understand that, because i used to serve in the soviet army myself. it's russian police national guard. russian. little giveaways like unit badges help with identification. some of these men fighting for russia may have even come from pro moscow regions of ukraine. it's messy and dangerous work, even as more bodies are uncovered, reminders that this is an active war zone. loud explosion. ukraine says it's meticulously trying to identify those killed, a railway goods yard their resting

place for now. the repatriation of war dead does happen, but it is sporadic. "we find plenty of russians", says lieutenant colonel oleksandr kutsenko, from the repatriation unit. "recently we did a 160 for 160 body swap in the south, but most of those were found here, in the kharkiv region." the bodies we saw being dug up have been repatriated, but with no end in sight to this war, the number of dead will inevitably go up, and more bereaved families on both sides will anxiously wait the return of the fallen. wyre davies, bbc news. the us attorney general has defended thejustice department's decision to seek a search warrant for donald trump's florida residence earlier this week. merrick garland said he had personally approved the move. our north america correspondent john sudworth is in washington, dc,

outside the ministry ofjustice. this is an unusual step, isn't it, for mr garland to hold a press conference like this? it is, in the week in which we have had news of that unprecedented search of aroom paer president's home by the fbi, another very highly unusual intervention, that press conference by the attorney general merrick garland taking place in the bidding behind me, in which he made it clear he was going against long established precedent by speaking out on an ongoing issue, his motivation donald trump's own public statements and this full barrels assault by his supporters on the integrity of the fbi and mr garland's department suggesting they are engaged in politicised justice, mr garland said he was seeking to havest warrant and the list of items taken from mr trump's florida home—made public, something that will put the ball back in mr trump's court, of course where he to resist that move it may look as if he as something to hide. no comment yet really from donald trump, other than

a few social media posts in which he has accused the fbi of going through the former first lady's clothes, but nothing on the substance of mr garland's main point, that this far from an attack on justice, was justice taking its true and proper course. many thanks john. 31 people suffered minor injuries in an accident at a legoland theme park in southern germany. a statement from the park says two rollercoaster trains collided with each other. 14 people were taken to hospital and an investigation into the cause of the collision has started. it's the opening day of the european championships in munich in germany, the venue for the 1972 summer olympics. nine sports are involved, and this evening, alice kinsella has won great britain's first medal in the women's all—round gymnastics final. our sports correspondent nesta mcgregor was watching. munich�*s olympic park, the venue for the biggest sporting event this city's seen for 50 years. a chance to reconnect with the past,

or practise for the future. so out they come, into the arena. fun and games outside, but inside a battle to see who the present belongs to. the women's all around final, and great britain'sjessica gadirova saw her chances of a medal fall away early on. she is ok, that's the main thing. her team—mate, alice kinsella, was a picture of calm until the curse of the beam struck again. and she stays on her feet. still, a nearflawless routine on the floor ensured she would end with a silver medal to go with last week's commonwealth games gold. my body is tired. i'm mentally tired, but it has been a dream of mine to come away with an all around medal, so that is always in the back of my head, and now i can finally say i have one. one gold down here in munich, 176 to go. and look, gymnasts do defy gravity, but if you want to take things up a notch, why not add a bicycle? there aren't many who can manipulate a bike better

than great britain's charlotte worthington. the current olympic champion finished top of the bmx freestyle qualification group. also qualifying, her team—mate sasha pardoe, who atjust 16 could have a european medal before a gcse. day one closes with a medal at least for great britain, clearly enough of a reason for some to go nuts. nesta mcgregor, bbc news in munich. john gilroy, a post—world war ii artist, liked a drink or two — and this unique mural in the bar of a hotel in county durham is an indirect result. gilroy was one of the most popular artists of the last century and now this work has been restored by specialists. and the mural, in case you were wondering, was his way of paying the bill. danny savage has the story. in a traditional english bar, in the hills of county durham is a unique work of art. a mural of dickensian frivolity, created by an artist who liked a drink.

why did he do it? legend has it that he'd run up a bar bill, basically for the gin that he'd drunk whilst he was here. and he can't even remember painting the spider that's on the wall. the man with the brushes back in 1946 wasjohn gilroy, famed for turning toucans into the instantly recognisable brand of guinness. the animals are not caricatured too much, but they were, i thought, always happy. there's nothing... they were very british. he even caricatured himself as the zoo keeper. to think this is his first mural, it's incredible. in the last few weeks, we were given special access to its restoration so it can last another century. i would absolutely love it if he was just to walk in, you know,

order a drink and look up and go, "oh, i've lasted quite well." and you know, that to me would be perfect, job well done. do you think there's that feelgood factor in a room where you should be feeling good? yeah, definitely, like, especially the wall behind us. it's kind of people up dancing, they're drinking. it's kind of a pub environment, but a veryjolly one. once you see other people having fun, even if it is in a painting, you kind of feel happier yourself. gilroy didn'tjust make up the characters in the mural — they were all staff, customers or regulars at the time, and they've had quite the makeover. who's the ancestor on the wall, then? my grandpa. which one? this one here, with his top hat and his cane. but we didn't know he had a cane until it was restored. and the man who pushed for the restoration has been added to the scene. people no longer say to me, "you're no oil painting," because now i can say, "oh, yes, lam." years of cigarette smoke had damaged the original.

that will no longer be a problem in this lovely old bar. danny savage, bbc news, greta bridge, county durham. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. matt, the evenings are getting hotter too. matt, the evenings are getting hottertoo. . matt, the evenings are getting hotter too. . yes, matt, the evenings are getting hottertoo. . yes, it matt, the evenings are getting hotter too. . yes, it is notjust the days but it means you can spend a bit longer staring into the skies with the full moon this month, it is the last super moon of the year, as well. and, just about all parts of the uk will get to see it. why? when you have seen skies like this in each of the four nation, blue skies for most, notice the temperatures have continued to climb, and they will climb further for some in the next few days, not just will climb further for some in the next few days, notjust by day but by night. a warmer night for many. fresh in the countryside in scotland, northern ireland and northern england but temperatures lifting relative to last night in the south. where we have that extreme heat warning which goes

through to sunday, with travel and impacts health impacts expected. a few mist and fog patches in the morning but again a story of blue skies from dawn to disk. in lincolnshire towards eastern scotland chance of mist and sea fog, still cloud to the north of scotland, a bit of patchy drizzle, but, a brighter day compared with today, temperatures here 14—17, but away from some of the eastern coasts, it will be another hot one, temperatures in the midlands and the west of london peaking round 35, as the winds fall light in the south—east for saturday, even hotter, 37 degrees, still those eastern coasts the chance of low cloud. keeping temperatures a bit pegged back, with the dry weather round, some of you desperate for rain, this air of low pressure sunday, monday could produce a scattering of thunderstorm, problem is the ground is dry, where they do occur there could be flooding, the big problem for us is pinpointing where that will be. certainly late on sunday, after another hot day,

thing also turn cloudier and into the start of next week, a greater