this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at two... millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared across parts of england. the declaration covers parts of the south west, southern and central england, and the east of england — after prolonged dry weather. this is an exceptional summer and we could all think about how we use our water. in fact, could all think about how we use our water. infact, even could all think about how we use our water. in fact, even think about where it comes from. when you have a shower, that water is coming from the environment, from rivers like here. there's extreme heat elsewhere in europe, too — firefighters are tackling huge blazes in france, and rivers are drying up in germany. the uk's economy shrank between april and june according to official estimates.

7,000 extra hospital beds this winter including in pop—up sites — the nhs in england unveils its plans to cope with expected pressures. and the shortlist is announced for hosting next year's eurovision song contest — seven uk cities are in the running. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news channel. a drought has been declared across more than half of england, after the driestjuly on record in some areas of the country. it means water companies can impose stricter measures over how we use water at home and at work. a drought is defined by a lack of water due to extreme weather that has been built up over time. the four stages are normal,

prolonged dry weather, drought and severe drought. eight areas have been moved to the third stage, including devon and cornwall, solent and south downs, kent and south london, herts and north london. as well as east anglia, thames, lincolnshire and northamptonshire, east midlands. in the wake of low rainfall and high temperatures, water companies may introduce temporary bans on hosepipe use for watering gardens, cleaning cars orfilling paddling pools. yorkshire water became the latest to introduce a hosepipe ban. restrictions come into force in kent and sussex, and are already in place in parts of hampshire, the isle of wight and in pembrokeshire and a small part of carmarthenshire. the ongoing dry weather has prompted an extreme heat amber warning from the met office. it's currently in place for parts of wales, central and southern england and — which means there are possible impacts on health — transport and infrastructure. here's tomos morgan. a blaze in sussex. the grass scorched in essex. and in durham, rare footage

of a dust devil, essentially a small tornado of dust — another consequence of the heat. this extraordinary period of dry weather in which some areas of the uk have gone over a0 days without rain has made some parts of the land bone dry, dead and at serious risk of fires — and now with several reservoirs at record lows, a drought has been officially declared. this is now moving beyond your normal dry summer into something where water is scarce. water supplies are safe for everyone here at home but it means there's not enough water for the environment, farming and people at home. scientists say we need above average rainfall in september and october to get back to normal levels and yet the met office is predicting warm weather for the next three months. forfarmers, the implications of this period have been devastating. the crops we can't irrigate are the ones we are concerned about.

because we've utilised all our water this season, we have no ability to irrigate sugar beet, maize, so we are estimating that we will see a yield reduction of about 50%. for some of us across england and wales, hosepipe bans have been announced as a way of restricting a less economical use of water. southern water introduce the restriction a week ago whilst south east water's starts today. welsh water's ban will come into force on the 19th with yorkshire water and thames water within weeks. yet with all these warnings and restrictions, many are still making the most of this beautiful weather, just like here on barry island in south wales. after a period of restrictions on hospitality, due to covid, this warm weather is a blessing for those operating here. barry island's still popular, it's got a beautiful beach and people still flock to the seaside. it is a lot cooler here than inland, so it's a win here.

an amber warning for warm weather remains in place until sunday across parts of wales and england. the last chance to enjoy the sun responsibly perhaps before even further measures are introduced across the country. tomos morgan, bbc news, barry island. let's speak now with tom bradshaw, a grain farmer and deputy president of the national farmers�* union. tom, thank you very much for taking time out of your very busy day to talk to us here. just explain if you would how widely affected agriculture in all of its forms has been this year?— been this year? there is not a sector of _ been this year? there is not a sector of agriculture - been this year? there is not a sector of agriculture that - been this year? there is not a sector of agriculture that is i been this year? there is not a | sector of agriculture that is not impacted by what is going on. the fields that should be green at this time of year have turned brown, the grass stop growing and any dairy farms are reliant on those forms to feed their livestock. instead they are having to use the hay that they made early in the year. that is going to put huge pressure on whether they have enough seed over the winter. because if the crisis

going on in ukraine, we have seen very high grain prices. and it is going to be very challenging for those livestock farmers as we head into those winter months. you then move into the horticultural sector, for growing our vegetables whether they use a lot of irrigation. and they use a lot of irrigation. and they have been using their irrigation since the beginning of june and whether they will be crops like onions, lettuce all require irrigation across the fields. and the reservoirs are now running empty. it means a lot of produce is going to be smaller in size and we are really asking our retail customers to flex their recommendations so the maximum number of crops grown can reach retail shelves.— retail shelves. how likely is it that some — retail shelves. how likely is it that some crops _ retail shelves. how likely is it that some crops will- retail shelves. how likely is it that some crops willjust - retail shelves. how likely is it l that some crops willjust spoil? particularly things like un—irrigated potatoes, which make up over a third of the potato area. mays and things that should be

planted now, some are turnips. sugar beet crops. the yield will be significantly reduced. find beet crops. the yield will be significantly reduced. and that in turn creates _ significantly reduced. and that in turn creates higher _ significantly reduced. and that in turn creates higher prices - significantly reduced. and that in turn creates higher prices during| turn creates higher prices during what is already a difficult time for people? what is already a difficult time for eo - le? , what is already a difficult time for --eole? _, ., , people? there is already huge inflationary — people? there is already huge inflationary pressure - people? there is already huge inflationary pressure and - people? there is already huge inflationary pressure and the l people? there is already huge i inflationary pressure and the cost of living crisis. unfortunately we are using a lot of irrigation on farm, the energy costs are much higher, and farmers are seeing all of these increased costs as well. and all we ask retail is that returns are sustainable so we can afford to invest in the crops for next year and continue to make sure we are producing the food of the country needs.— we are producing the food of the country needs. what restrictions do vafious country needs. what restrictions do various parts _ country needs. what restrictions do various parts of— country needs. what restrictions do various parts of the _ country needs. what restrictions do various parts of the agricultural- various parts of the agricultural sector face when it comes to what usage? sector face when it comes to what usa . e? ., , ., , sector face when it comes to what usaue? ., , ., , ., sector face when it comes to what usae? ., , ., , ., ., usage? the only ones that are reliant on _ usage? the only ones that are reliant on a — usage? the only ones that are reliant on a large _ usage? the only ones that are reliant on a large scale, - usage? the only ones that are reliant on a large scale, many| usage? the only ones that are l reliant on a large scale, many of them have irrigation reservoirs that are now empty. if they are not able to extract more water during the summer months anyway. where it is

the impacting is those with flexible licenses. there is also the chance that there is with permanent licences will be stopped from taking water out of the rivers. we are really asking that food production is prioritised and the significance of water to underwrite our food security is recognised so we can make sure we grow as many crops as possible and maximise the yield so we can minimise any impacts to food supply. we can minimise any impacts to food su -l . , ., , , we can minimise any impacts to food su -l . , . , , ., supply. given that this is a trend and we are _ supply. given that this is a trend and we are likely _ supply. given that this is a trend and we are likely to _ supply. given that this is a trend and we are likely to see - supply. given that this is a trend and we are likely to see more i supply. given that this is a trend and we are likely to see more of| and we are likely to see more of these dry spells, if the scientists are to believed, and why shouldn't we? but we are going to have to start growing different crops or different strains of crops that are better able to cope with dry conditions.— better able to cope with dry conditions. �* . ., . ., , conditions. i'm convinced that this is uuite a conditions. i'm convinced that this is quite a reaction, _ conditions. i'm convinced that this is quite a reaction, and _ conditions. i'm convinced that this is quite a reaction, and farmers i conditions. i'm convinced that thisl is quite a reaction, and farmers are right on the forefront of that. we need to make sure we invest in water as a priority. we recognise the significance of water infrastructure. every year, we pump

millions of years of water into the north sea during the winter months when we have an abundance of rainfall. we need to look at how we can store that water and utilise it during the summer months when we tend to have these dry periods. also, if climate change continues, things like sunflower, soybeans become a reality and technology moving forward there is a chance that we might be able to grow crops that we might be able to grow crops that we might be able to grow crops that we haven't previously been able to grow here. i that we haven't previously been able to grow here-— to grow here. i think we are going to grow here. i think we are going to touch on _ to grow here. i think we are going to touch on some _ to grow here. i think we are going to touch on some of— to grow here. i think we are going to touch on some of those - to grow here. i think we are going to touch on some of those issues| to touch on some of those issues about how we transport and store water a little bit later with the royal meteorological society, but we really appreciate you talking to us. thank you. let's speak to rob thompson, professor of meteorology at the university of reading. who is a video i watched this morning on social media. tell us what you have been doing in terms of

looking at how absorptive grass is in this type of weather? it’s looking at how absorptive grass is in this type of weather?— in this type of weather? it's not 'ust the in this type of weather? it's not just the grass. _ in this type of weather? it's not just the grass, it _ in this type of weather? it's not just the grass, it is _ in this type of weather? it's not just the grass, it is the - in this type of weather? it's not just the grass, it is the whole . just the grass, it is the whole ground. the demonstration that you have seen and seen by a lot of people nowjust shows you how different between normal and wet soil and grass, how that works in water. compared to the baked, compressed ground that we have across basically the whole of southern england and wales. it's just yellow now. we are not green and pleasant land any more. are yellow. that doesn't absorb water well at all, and the demonstration in the video shows really clearly the water just sits in the video shows really clearly the waterjust sits on the surface. that matters if we get heavy rain because it won't soak in like it would normally do, it will sit on the top, it will roll off downhills. and that leads to a real danger of flash flooding. we've seen this happen all over the world after

drugs. happen all over the world after dru:s. ., , happen all over the world after drus. ., , ., happen all over the world after dru:s. . , ., ., happen all over the world after dru:s. .,, ., ., , drugs. there was a video they did the rounds _ drugs. there was a video they did the rounds recently _ drugs. there was a video they did the rounds recently about - drugs. there was a video they did the rounds recently about what i the rounds recently about what happened in the death valley when it started to rain, and it was torrents of rain. why did you carry out this experiment now? you did it at the university, just a few metres away from where you are sitting. i did it on monday — from where you are sitting. i did it on monday afternoon. _ from where you are sitting. i did it on monday afternoon. i _ from where you are sitting. i did it on monday afternoon. i discussed | from where you are sitting. i did it. on monday afternoon. i discussed it with a few friends over a lunch conversation of how big will the effect be, and when i did it i wasn't sure how big the effect would be. i am a meteorologist, wasn't sure how big the effect would be. iam a meteorologist, not wasn't sure how big the effect would be. i am a meteorologist, not a soil scientist. this was just a very quick way of doing the demonstration. i had the opportunity to do it, our university garden is right outside my window. so i went out, took that opportunity and i happened to film it because i was going to send it to the friends that i had had the discussion with. but once i'd done it, i seen how powerful the effect was. we made the video, it has since been released

and it has gone viral. so it clearly has struck a chord with people who now understand the danger that heavy rain might have. now understand the danger that heavy rain might have-— rain might have. where did you find the lush grass _ rain might have. where did you find the lush grass and _ rain might have. where did you find the lush grass and the _ rain might have. where did you find the lush grass and the slightly i the lush grass and the slightly drier grass? this the lush grass and the slightly drier grass?— the lush grass and the slightly drier crass? ~ , drier grass? as you say, finding arched drier grass? as you say, finding parched grass — drier grass? as you say, finding parched grass isn't _ drier grass? as you say, finding parched grass isn't exactly i drier grass? as you say, finding | parched grass isn't exactly tricky at the moment. finding lush stuff was the most difficult part of the whole experiment because the university garden has got a couple of flower beds that have been reasonably regularly watered, there is a little bit of grass that i have managed to find towards the end of the flowerbed that is still in a good enough position to be proper grass. that is the bit i have used. there are a couple of different points i got, one that is much more summer level and one that obviously had quite a regular watering because of the types of plants in the bed that absolutely needed it. i imagine it why. really, it was just a case of searching the garden is very good

spot. of searching the garden is very good sot. ., ., ., ., , ., of searching the garden is very good sot. ., . . . , ., . of searching the garden is very good spot. you have had a bit of a kick back, though. — spot. you have had a bit of a kick back, though. from _ spot. you have had a bit of a kick back, though. from some - spot. you have had a bit of a kickj back, though. from some people spot. you have had a bit of a kick i back, though. from some people on social media. some people are still with the scientific objections, some people are saying the grass is the flat, there isn't as much air within the grass itself. and that will make a difference. so what adjustments might you make if you were doing this again? because there are objections in the process, the methodology. i objections in the process, the methodology-— objections in the process, the methodology. i think the most im ortant methodology. i think the most important thing _ methodology. i think the most important thing is _ methodology. i think the most important thing is this - methodology. i think the most important thing is this was i methodology. i think the most l important thing is this was never methodology. i think the most i important thing is this was never a rigorous scientific study. this was a demonstration, it shows a well known fact and effect. for a start, if i was doing it properly i wouldn't do it once, i would be with lots of times, repeated. 0ne lots of times, repeated. one important thing. if you were to do it properly, you would want to try to rule out any dangers of the effect of the grass rather than the dead grass. using their soil and so

on isn't fair because that isn't what the real ground is like. i think what you would need is a cylinder rather than a cup, you could hammer it into the ground so it goes in. you can't really do that in our university gardens without upsetting the gardens. and then you can fill that with an absolutely controlled amount of water. not flipping a cup upside down and trying to spill as little as possible. there are a lot of things that you could do that would definitely make the experiment much more scientifically rigorous. what i was really an experiment. i think part of the real power is that anybody could go outside and do this experiment in their own garden. you just need a cup or a glass and something to try to seal it. what i used was a document wallet. but some eo - le used was a document wallet. but some --eole have used was a document wallet. but some people have suggested _ used was a document wallet. but some people have suggested that _ used was a document wallet. but some people have suggested that you - used was a document wallet. but some people have suggested that you kind i people have suggested that you kind of faked this in some way. that you stacked the odds against the parched

grass. they don't like the outcome. too right, there are definitely people out there. i have been accused of waxing the grass, which is a good one. it was a quick experiment. i can tell you that the three that are in the video are the first three goes i had at doing it properly. i had one test run where i literally did it outside, not on a decent piece of grass, just to make sure whether the cup would actually work. you saw the three genuine ones. there are few people suggesting it time lapsed. you can check that one isn't true because the bubbles go up at the same speed on all three cups. i'm not sure really what more i could do. you have demonstrated _ really what more i could do. you have demonstrated something very simply and very powerfully. and we are so glad to have talk to you about it. thank you very much, and let's hope it doesn't rain too hard or we are going to have floods everywhere.

elizabeth rizzini is here to talk about the drought. the drought hasn't he called for everywhere, but certainly for many parts of the uk. it is the driest july in england since 1935 and the driestjuly for parts of southern england and east anglia on record. and of course it is still dry in august. we had a lovely forecast earlier, i'm sure it will be shown again at some point, butjust to put our weather friends again at some point, butjust to put our weatherfriends ince again at some point, butjust to put our weather friends ince within again at some point, butjust to put our weatherfriends ince within in context. it has been dry in southern england for over a0 days now. who england for over 40 days now. who decides whether _ england for over 40 days now. who decides whether it _ england for over 40 days now. who decides whether it is a drought or not? because it is not about necessarily how much rain has fallen within a certain number of days, is it? this will be decided with information from the met office by

government agencies. what we can do here is say when we think it is going to rain, and they will be some rain in the forecast for next week. and that will help to ease it somewhat, as we havejust and that will help to ease it somewhat, as we have just been hearing. there will be issues because, orfurther issues, because there will be some thunderstorms around, some really heavy showers, but as we see with all showers, they are just going to but as we see with all showers, they arejust going to be hit or miss. some places will see them, other places will see nothing at all. but where we do get these heavy downpours, most likely into next week, although for some parts of the north and west of the uk they will happen on sunday, they willjust be lots of run—off from the ground because it is so hard and so dry. it won't go anywhere in terms of easing the drought because the ground is just too dry for eight to absorb all of the water. and it certainly won't be raining everywhere. the of the water. and it certainly won't be raining everywhere.— be raining everywhere. the soil is very impacted. — be raining everywhere. the soil is very impacted. you _ be raining everywhere. the soil is very impacted, you can't - be raining everywhere. the soil is very impacted, you can't do i be raining everywhere. the soil isj very impacted, you can't do much gardening at the moment. thank you so much. we will see you later.

we are hearing from the communications workers union, the strike dates are august to 30th and august the 31st. as we are seeing with a lot of unions and a lot of workplaces at the moment, this is a dispute over pay. bt workers who belong to the communication workers union, striking over pay on august the 30th and the 31st. the uk is not alone in experiencing extreme heat — a number of european countries have seen record temperatures, with deadly wildfires and droughts across the continent. let's hearfrom our europe correspondent bethany bell, who's in france. we're very, very close to the zone where some of those fires are blazing right now. we're here in an area where we've seen firefighters from germany and as far away as romania arriving to help the thousand or more french firefighters who have been

struggling to bring these huge blazes under control. i spoke just a short time ago to a french official from the french fire brigade, and she said this fire was exceptional. and she said it made you feel small when you thought about the power of nature. and in some areas, the fire has been burning underground in the peat rich soil since july when there was another enormous fire here. so this is a really difficult situation for the emergency services here, and it's another very hot day. and our berlin correspondentjenny hill sent us this update on the impact of drought in germany. this is the riverbed of the mighty rhine. just take a look at it. we should be under water right now. instead, you can see just how dry and arid this particular part

of the upper rhine has become. in fact, the river levels have dropped so far here that they have exposed an old stone footbridge. you can see people picking their way across it to the island in the river, which was previous to now only accessible by boat. a lot of those people, i think, rather enjoying the novelty of the new landscape, but there is serious concern here. that's because this is one of europe's great working rivers. goods go up and down this river, and we have seen barges here today. just a few of them making their way very slowly through the remaining water channel that is left there. to the factories, the industrial complexes, fetching and carrying raw materials and manufactured products. the levels are now so low that some of those barges simply can't get through. the people who run the barges are telling us they're having to lighten the cargo in order to make sure the vessels sit higher up in the water. they're keeping a close eye on the forecast, which is that there is levels will drop further.

if that happens, those companies are saying, then many of those barges won't be able to get through full stop. perhaps even this whole section of the upper rhine may become completely impassible. the uk economy shrank by 0.1% between april and june, according to new figures. that compares to an increase of 0.8% in the first three months of the year. the bank of england has forecast the uk will fall into recession in the coming months, and that the downturn will last for the whole of next year. 0ur economics correspondent, andy verity, reports. in windermere in the lake district, the lakes provide some respite from the heat. it's only the economic climate that's cooling down. for some, coming here is a way of spending less and saving more. one reason the economy is shrinking. we're not going as far as we used to go now, just because of the juice problems. you know what i mean — the petrol and the diesel. we're doing more of this — caravanning, camping, that sort of thing. we would normally be

going across to europe a couple of times a year. we haven't done that for two and a half years because of the pandemic. and i can see usjust sticking to doing this sort of thing from now on. it's easier, it's cheaper. all sectors of the economy shrank injune, with the value of all goods and services, also known as gross domestic product, down by 0.6%. in travel and tour operators, business was down by 6.2%. this is what the economy looks like over the last 15 years. over on the left, you can see the global financial crisis — that big dip. then you get this great big bungee jumping that the economy does around the time of the lockdowns in 2020. by comparison, the slow and downturn now is small — it's only just starting. one big reason for it is the fall in consumer spending. consumer—facing services like shops and restaurants here in ilfracombe in north devon, are a.9% down on where they were pre—pandemic. at the prince of wales pub, just up the road from the harbour, michelle lang is taking on as many extra shifts as possible to support her and her daughter. but when most tourists go home this winter, there'll be no extra shifts,

and she does not think a tax cut will make enough difference to her. it's obvious people cannot afford all these bills, this extra money, it's just not there. you're not earning enough to pay it all. so i don't know, really. they can't expect people to pay it if they're not earning enough money to pay it. the government has lost control of the economy, according to labour, with activity shrinking and inflation skyrocketing. this morning, the prime minister acknowledged the support for households already on offer wasn't enough. there's more money coming — more money coming, anyway, as a result of the decisions we've taken. there will be further help coming october and in the new year. i think over the medium—term, the future's very bright. so far, that's only a promise of more help in october and january from the current prime minister. the detail of how much help

and who gets it is still being left to his successor. andy verity, bbc news. our business reporter, noor nanji, is with me. that's the backward look, isn't it? what are we like to see in the next few months. what are we like to see in the next few months-— what are we like to see in the next few months. . , , , ., few months. that is the big question because of course _ few months. that is the big question because of course we _ few months. that is the big question because of course we had _ few months. that is the big question because of course we had that i because of course we had that warning from the bank of england last week saying that we are heading into recession. a recession being defined as a situation where the economy shrinks for two consecutive three month periods. but that was expected to start later this year, because although we now know that the economy did shrink in the second quarter, we had that figure out today, until now the consensus was that we would then see a small rebound in economic growth in the third quarter of this year, between july and september. but what is interesting is that after this 0ns data today, the office for national statistics, that has led some experts to warn that we could be heading into a recession is likely sooner than expected. for instance, the national institute of economic and social research said it expected

the economy to continue falling for the economy to continue falling for the next three quarters, and capital economics also said that they expect the economy to shrink in the third quarter of this year. we should say not everyone is saying that. for instance, goldman sachs still predicts growth of 0.a% betweenjuly and september, in that third quarter period. there isn't a consensus yet, but it will be something to watch in the coming months. a 75—year—old woman, accused of causing the death by careless driving of a baby boy in cambridgeshire last year, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. ajury at cambridge crown court determined that shelagh robertson's undiagnosed dementia had affected her driving. mrs robertson's car collided with a van at waterbeach, which then hit a pram carrying five—month—old louis thorold. ukraine's president has accused russia of open nuclear blackmail, as international concern mounts about fighting near

the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. volodymyr zelensky urged the world to act immediately to force russian troops to leave the site, saying it was in the global interest. china and the us have called for un experts to be allowed to urgently visit the plant in central—eastern ukraine — but similar demands in the past have not been met. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports. this is the closest ukrainian soldiers can get to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. the dnipro river now a watery front line. across it, russia is in control. the risks of its six reactors getting caught in the crossfire are very clear. but the picture of what is happening here is still murky. we've been messaging two workers from the plant. they describe seeing colleagues kidnapped, as well as their concerns about a nuclear catastrophe. translation: my working day is a constant stress. _ there was shelling of the nitrogen oxygen station, which caused the fire.

by some miracle, the people working there survived. soldiers are walking everywhere with weapons and everyone is actually kept at gunpoint. they back up these pictures, which appear to show russian troops using the buildings as a base. and then there's the daily shelling of the site, as well as the city of enerhodar which it sits in. ukraine and russia continue to blame each other. how dangerous is it currently as far as you are aware, what's your assessment? translation: the occupiers have been shelling the area around _ the nuclear power plant. people have been seriously injured. infrastructure has been damaged. power and water supplies have been interrupted. at a meeting of the united nations security council, a repeat... the united states reiterates the importance... ..for international inspectors to be let in. there are also calls for russian troops to leave, which moscow did not agree to. and so, fears over europe's biggest

nuclear power plant continue. translation: the russian military has been intimidating staff, - kidnapping and blackmailing. i'm concerned about the psychological state of the technicians. the workers are making very important decisions while managing a nuclear reactor. this area has seen more intense fighting in recent weeks. there's still, though, very little movement, suggesting the zaporizhzhia plant will continue to slip from ukraine's control. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. plans have been announced to create the equivalent of 7,000 more nhs hospital beds and to boost staff numbers, as the health service in england prepares for the pressure it's expected to face this winter. it follows figures yesterday which showed one of the worstjuly performances for a&e departments in england. our health reporter katharine da costa joins me now. what detail do you have? the nhs is already under immense pressure and you we are in the summer. you only have to look at those figures from

nhs england that should the worst performance for amd on record. at average response times was nearly an hour for heart attacks. preparing for what could be a particularly bad winter, they think covid and flu could be in circulation together. government advisers have warned that high numbers of extra beds may be needed, and the fact that a winter plan is being set out in august possibly highlights just how busy they think it is going to be. the detail is 7000 more beds, and that will be a mixture of temporary units set up in hospitals and also caring for my people in their own home, so called virtual words. it also includes trying to speed up discharging patients, so last month about a0% of people were able to leave when they were able to do so because there is a shortage in social care. there is the plan to recruit more call handlers for 111

and 999. then there the autumn vaccination programme for covid and flu, but one of the biggest challenges is having enough staff to do it all. there is every effort to recruit more from overseas but that takes time, and in the meantime there are more than 100,000 vacancies within the nhs. the nhs confederation has welcomed the plan but they are calling for more detail to be made available. is there going to be made available. is there going to be made available. is there going to be any more additional funding going into this winter and how our health and social services going to work more closely together to try to free up these hospital beds? they are virtually calling for more support, including pay for social care. the heat will peak today and tomorrow and of course there is that weather warning in place of extreme

heat, an amber warning for most of england and into eastern wales, the heat and comfortable for many and dangerous for some. it's not hot everywhere, where fronts out towards the north west of scotland, a cool a feeling day for aberdeenshire, blue sky and sunshine, temperatures rising into the to mid 30s. 0vernight tonight, feeling warm across the board with clear skies, cloud towards the north sea facing coasts, temperatures the sun, may not drop between 19 or 20 celsius, sunshine across mainland scotland tomorrow. locally, 36 or 37 degrees. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared

across parts of england. the declaration covers parts of the south west, southern and central england, and the east of england — after prolonged dry weather. there's extreme heat elsewhere in europe, too — firefighters are tackling huge blazes in france, and rivers are drying up in germany. the uk's economy shrank between april and june according to official estimates. 7,000 extra hospital beds this winter including in pop—up sites — the nhs in england unveils its plans to cope with expected pressures. and the shortlist is announced for hosting next year's eurovision song contest — seven uk cities are in the running. great britain's mixed ax100m medley team are through to tonight's final at the european aquatics championships in rome.

tom dean was third in his heat in the men's 100m freestyle. that put the commonwealth games silver medallist into this evening's semifinals along with matt richards. luke greenback and brodie williams came through their heats in the 200m backstroke, as did kara hanlon in the women's100m backstroke. away from the aquatics championships, and it's day 2 of the multi—sport european championships in munich — it's been a busy morning for great britain's rowers. tom george and ollie wynne—griffith will hope to claim a medal tomorrow after they cruised through to the final of the men's pair. great britain had their work cut out in the quad sculls after this issue with an oar. somehow, harry leask, george bourne, matt haywood and tom barras fought back to finish third and secure a place in tomorrow's final. kyra edwards celebrated her birthday as she and saskia budgett finished

third in their double sculls semifinal. they're through to the medal final. as is paralympian benjamin pritchard, who was in fine form as he comfortably won his singles sculls race. there are plenty of medals up for grabs in the track cycling today, but great britain won't be winning one in the women's team sprint. that's after a nasty crash during their heat. sophie capewell and emma finucane went down towards the end of the first lap. thankfully, both riders were able to get up and leave the track themselves. meanwhile, the men's team of jack carlin, alistair fielding and hamish turnbull have qualifed for the bronze medal team sprint race. and it will also and it will also be and it will also be the and it will also be the bronze and it will also be the bronze medal and it will also be the bronze medal team in the women's pursuit.

tyson fury has reitirated his wish to retire from boxing with a social media post marking his 3ath birthday. fury wrote, "massive thanks to everyone who had an input in my career over the years and, after long hard conversations, i've finally decided to walk away and on my 3ath birthday i say bon voyage!" he originally announced his retirement from the sport after his win over dillian whyte to retain his wbc title at london's wembley stadium in april. natalie aspinall will make history tomorrow as she becomes only the third woman to officiate in the premier league. she's been promoted as an assistant referee following six years in the efl. speaking to bbc sport, she spoke about the challenges she faced in trying to break through. trying to get to the premier league was something i was told i could not do, i could not be involved in professional football.

it's something i've worked hard to do, so i think, when i was given the opportunity and i knew i had a good season, for me, it was about controlling the controllable and making sure i presented myself in the best way in my interview and making sure i was prepared for the fitness test and i knew that, as long as i done all of the things i needed to be the best version of myself, then the rest is up to the pgmol. cameron norrie is out of the montreal masters. the british number one losing in straight sets to home favourite felix auger—alliasime — revenge for the canadian's defeat to norrie in mexico last week. the good news from canada is that jack draper is through to his first masters 1000 quarterfinal. he took the first set against gael monfils, but the frenchman, ranked 20th in the world, had to retire from the match after injuring his right foot during the second set. draper is on course to meet fellow briton dan evans in the semifinals. the british number two knocked out american 10th seed taylor fritz.

it's the first time evans has reached the tournament's quarterfinals. more now on our top story — drought officially declared in eight areas of southern, central and eastern england. well, in yorkshire, after weeks of high temperatures and low rainfall, there's to be a hosepipe ban for the first time in 27 years. yorkshire water says its reservoirs are now less than half full. the ban means you won't be allowed to use a hosepipe to water the garden, wash your car or fill up a pool. it starts on the 26th of august. 0ur climate correspondent, paul hudson, has been speaking to yorkshire water director neil dewis. well, neil, reservoirs like this were full in march. how have we got to where we are at?

well, paul, we spoke injuly and we said then it had been an incredibly dry spring and it was looking like a very dry summer. since then, we have seen a heatwave which has set all new records, and that has happened in yorkshire as well as across the country. and we have seen that continue over the last few weeks to the point where we are now, which isjust below 50% of the reservoirs. do hosepipe bans actually make a difference? we have seen other companies in the south have brought hosepipe bans in and we have seen a 10% reduction in their demand. so we know that yorkshire customers have responded very well to our last pleas and we hope that, in this new request to put in a hosepipe ban, which is part of our drought management plan, customers will respond. and that will help us preserve stocks and get us into the winter, when we will hopefully then see a good recharge and we can start to then lift the hosepipe ban as soon as we see some significant rainfall. many viewers say that we shouldn't be in this situation because you should have spent more money on sorting out leaks. what would you say to them? well, we have been achieving our leakage target for the last two years. this year, we are on target to achieve our leakage target.

over the last ten years, we have spent £500 million and we are at the forefront of some leakage technology, including satellites. at the moment, we have got additional gangs on working 24/7. we are fixing around 200 leaks a week at the moment, trying to get all visible leaks done within 48 hours. but, of course, customers will still see some leaks and we are prioritising those and getting round to them as fast as we can. what happens if it doesn't rain this autumn and winter? that's exactly why we are asking now for customers to take action. when we look at our model, and we have to model forward, we don't know and can't be certain that it will rain. so that is why we take action now. that allows us then to apply for drought permits and drought orders, which mean we can't reduce some compensation flows from reservoirs, it means we can extract more water from rivers during the winter. and that will all allow us to sustain water supply into next year, but also help recovery. and when we see some rainfall, that willjust speed up the process and enable us to lift the hosepipe ban more quickly.

we can speak now to professorjim hall, a member of the national infrastructure commission. your commission published a report four years ago, titled preparing for a drierfuture, remind us of the key recommendations. that a drier future, remind us of the key recommendations.— a drier future, remind us of the key recommendations. that report pointed out that britain _ recommendations. that report pointed out that britain is _ recommendations. that report pointed out that britain is facing _ recommendations. that report pointed out that britain is facing issues - out that britain is facing issues with the resilience of its water supplies, oursuppliers with the resilience of its water supplies, our suppliers are not as resilient as they should be, and they are at risk of major impacts on drought, and that is what we are beginning to see now, although i would not say that river banks are described as major at the moment. and the commission said that there

should be movement on three fronts, one is reducing water demand, second is dealing with leakage, and third is dealing with leakage, and third is bringing forward more strategic investment in more infrastructure, water supply infrastructure. i believe the commission calculated that the country needed to spend £20 billion to make sure that we are in some way prepared. what would the cost be if we did not invest that money? cost be if we did not invest that mone ? ~ ., ., cost be if we did not invest that mone ? ~ . ., , ., money? well, there are a number of different ways _ money? well, there are a number of different ways you _ money? well, there are a number of different ways you could _ money? well, there are a number of different ways you could look - money? well, there are a number of different ways you could look at i different ways you could look at what the cost will be. we know that the cost will be big, if we get into a situation where there are severe water shortages, we need water rationing, people getting water from standpipes or streets water trucks. that leads to economic disruption, particularly disruption to farmers, may be in the power structure. the

commission initially looked at how much all of that emergency response might cost. the cost of tracking inverter and dealing with a national emergency around a drought. and they suggested that the cost of doing that would be about a0 billion, so twice as much of actually the cost of solving this problem in advance. for years on from your report, what has changed and what has improved? for years and, quite a lot has changed in the policy landscape, so we have had a commitment from the government and water companies to a 2050 target to get per capita water use down from about 1a0 litres per person down to hundred and ten.

there are commitments from the water companies to reduce leakage by 50%. there is a process under way to bring forward some of those big strategic water supply infrastructure investments, which have not happened over the past 30 years or so. but there is really at the level of commitments, plans, in some companies, as we havejust heard, things are heading in the right direction in relation to leakage, but we are not really seeing much faster action on the ground. it seeing much faster action on the round. , ~' ., seeing much faster action on the round. , ,, ., ., , ground. it feels like for most of my life we have _ ground. it feels like for most of my life we have been _ ground. it feels like for most of my life we have been hearing - ground. it feels like for most of my life we have been hearing about i ground. it feels like for most of my. life we have been hearing about how we need to capture water in the winter, stole it, and be able to move it to those drier parts of the country which, because of the rain shadow and the like, i'm not going to ever have enough water, how far on our we with any of those plans?

getting that big supply infrastructure in place is certainly a crucial part of what needs to happen. it is true that a lot of water is moved around at the moment between water companies, but what is being moved around now and where it is being moved around is pretty much the same as it was 30 years ago. so the same as it was 30 years ago. so the big change which is being planned now as some of these big strategic water transfers, like the seven times transfer, some strategic storage, so new reservoirs in the south of the country, so first things will take quite long time to plan as built. bud things will take quite long time to plan as built-— plan as built. and that's the ”lannin plan as built. and that's the planning issue, _ plan as built. and that's the planning issue, we - plan as built. and that's the l planning issue, we appreciate plan as built. and that's the i planning issue, we appreciate you plan as built. and that's the - planning issue, we appreciate you to us, thank you very much indeed for your time today. keir starmer has

reacted to the drought crisis today. it was nearly 12 months ago now on energy bills that we proposed insulation of homes, a massive project to bring down the costs. in january we said there should be a windfall tax, it took the government five months to catch up with that idea. we also said that vat should be taken of energy bills, richie sue nack is only recognising now that labour got it right. today, i have announced that the prepayment metres, the a million people most hardest hit, that would be abolished under labour, it's outrageous, but on monday i will set up a comprehensive set of proposals to plan for how we handle the upcoming costs in the autumn. —— rishi sunak. meanwhile, that we have had on the conservative party is to leadership candidates arguing with each other aboutjust how candidates arguing with each other about just how appalling candidates arguing with each other aboutjust how appalling record in government has been an a prime

minister who recognises this problem and is not prepared to do anything about it, so the best part of 12 months labour has been leading on this issue, i am very proud of the work we have done.— this issue, i am very proud of the work we have done. some would argue that even martin _ work we have done. some would argue that even martin lewis _ work we have done. some would argue that even martin lewis has _ work we have done. some would argue that even martin lewis has been i that even martin lewis has been coming up with these issues, rather than you calling at the government, where have you been? liz than you calling at the government, where have you been?— where have you been? liz trust to sin a where have you been? liz trust to sing a windfall— where have you been? liz trust to sing a windfall tax _ where have you been? liz trust to sing a windfall tax is _ where have you been? liz trust to sing a windfall tax is a _ where have you been? liz trust to sing a windfall tax is a labour i sing a windfall tax is a labour idea, she is right about that, we announced that back injanuary of this year and it took the government managed to catch up with that. vat of energy bills, we announced that months ago, and the government has not caught up with that, today a strong announcement for a million people, the poorest people who are often using these prepayment metres, a very strong proposal today, and a set of detailed plans on monday, comprehensive plan to do with what is coming in the autumn. —— liz

truss is saying. is coming in the autumn. -- liz truss is saying.— is coming in the autumn. -- liz truss is saying. yesterday nicola stura eon truss is saying. yesterday nicola sturgeon said — truss is saying. yesterday nicola sturgeon said the _ truss is saying. yesterday nicola sturgeon said the response i truss is saying. yesterday nicola sturgeon said the response to i truss is saying. yesterday nicola l sturgeon said the response to the cost of living crisis should be something that is a response to covid. ~ ., ., , ., . covid. we do need a strategic credible plan _ covid. we do need a strategic credible plan and _ covid. we do need a strategic credible plan and that - covid. we do need a strategic credible plan and that is i covid. we do need a strategic credible plan and that is whatj covid. we do need a strategic. credible plan and that is what is missing from this government. for weeks now and for weeks to come we have seen the spectacle of the two leadership hopefuls fighting each other, an internal battle, arguing aboutjust how bad they have been in government, and a prime minister who is a lame duck because he recognises there is a problem with energy bills but says, i will not do anything about it, so we don't need a strategic plan, and that is why i will set out on monday that. b, will set out on monday that. a similar question, it's easy to criticise what the candidates for the tory party leadership are proposing, but how would you cover the cost of bills?— the cost of bills? there has to be an immediate _ the cost of bills? there has to be an immediate response -

the cost of bills? there has to be an immediate response today i the cost of bills? there has to be an immediate response today in | an immediate response today in relation to the prepayment metres for a million people. they had been paying over the odds, they have been paying over the odds, they have been paying a premium, so for them the price hikes even steeper, we have made it clear today we will abolish that, that is outrageous and immoral and it should have been done a long time ago, on monday we will have a comprehensive set of plans, but already for over a year now we have been talking about energy bills and how we have secured energy supplies, and that is why i said, a year ago we should have an insulation plan to keep those bills down, what a massive difference that would make, and that is why months ago we introduced a windfall tax, and the argument that vat should be taken of energy bills, so for many months, we have been the ones putting the practical proposals on the table, and the government has been coming up and the government has been coming up slowly with responses and sometimes with no response at all. he took that cutting vat,

insulation, if i am household i am looking at an average bill of £5,000, vast increases, that were not really cut it, that were not necessarily really help, is it enough? ii necessarily really help, is it enou~h? necessarily really help, is it enough?— necessarily really help, is it enou~h? ., ., ., ,, enough? if the government had taken u . enough? if the government had taken u- that enough? if the government had taken up that proposal _ enough? if the government had taken up that proposal for _ enough? if the government had taken up that proposal for a _ enough? if the government had taken up that proposal for a massive - up that proposal for a massive insulation programme last year, many families would already be seeing lower bills, so i don't argue it would make a difference, had the argument acted more quickly on the windfall tax for many more months families would have been protected under a better scheme by labour, if the government acted in labour�*s idea for vat to be eliminated on energy bills, many people idea for vat to be eliminated on energy bills, many people would idea for vat to be eliminated on energy bills, many people would be better off, for the a million who are using prepayment metres, we are saying we would abolish them, it would help the million people have very often others struggling most throughout this crisis, and on monday we will have a fully comprehensive custard plan for the autumn rises which i know are boring

millions of people. what autumn rises which i know are boring millions of people.— millions of people. what you for exam - le millions of people. what you for example consider _ millions of people. what you for example consider extending i millions of people. what you for example consider extending the j example consider extending the windfall tax? == example consider extending the windfall tax?— windfall tax? -- would you. our --roosal windfall tax? -- would you. our proposal for— windfall tax? -- would you. our proposal for a — windfall tax? -- would you. our proposal for a windfall - windfall tax? -- would you. our proposal for a windfall tax i windfall tax? -- would you. our proposal for a windfall tax was i windfall tax? -- would you. our. proposal for a windfall tax was very proposal, tax the excess profits for oil and gas companies, they made more profit than they expected, and use it directly to take money off bills from those most in need, up to £600, the government did not accept that scheme, our proposal includes taking vat of bills, dealing with that, dealing with are struggling the most, and on monday we will have a fully costed plan from labour to take us through the crisis in the autumn. meanwhile, the gulf between us and the government is absolutely fast because they never is a problem. they are squabbling amongst themselves and the prime minister is amorphous but not in power. question, a different topic, but the

weather, there is a drag on hosepipe ban across much of the country for england, ourwater ban across much of the country for england, our water companies doing enough to fix the leaks? —— there is a drought. enough to fix the leaks? -- there is a drou~ht. ~ . enough to fix the leaks? -- there is a drourht, . ., , enough to fix the leaks? -- there is a drought-— enough to fix the leaks? -- there is a drought. water companies are not doinu a drought. water companies are not doing enough _ a drought. water companies are not doing enough to _ a drought. water companies are not doing enough to deal _ a drought. water companies are not doing enough to deal with _ a drought. water companies are not doing enough to deal with leakages| doing enough to deal with leakages and other problems we saw, the sewage going into rivers, and i think some of the regulation should have been better used, i would have liked to see greater fines against those companies that are not doing what is necessary. but there is a pattern here, we have a government with no strategy. this drought in hot period was predictable but as usual we had no plan from the government, and this is the pattern and character of this government, and character of this government, and that's why we have been arguing that the change that britain needs is not a change of leadership at the top of the tory party, it's a change of government and a fresh start for

britain. ~ . ., . ., britain. with climate change, we will expect _ britain. with climate change, we will expect this _ britain. with climate change, we will expect this weather - britain. with climate change, we will expect this weather more i britain. with climate change, we i will expect this weather more often, what would labour do to make the country better prepared? we would have a strategic— country better prepared? we would have a strategic plan _ country better prepared? we would have a strategic plan in _ country better prepared? we would have a strategic plan in place i country better prepared? we would have a strategic plan in place in i have a strategic plan in place in relation to water but other essentials as well, the regulations that are there are not being used to the full extent, and i think there should be new regulations as well to ensure we plan for the future. the difference between the labour government and the government we have got is we look at the problem is coming down the line and come up with a plan to do with them, the government looks at problems and puts its head in the sand, and that's the problem with this country, whether it's water all the other issues that are simply not working, we are stuck with this government that is frankly dysfunctional. 50 government that is frankly dysfunctional.— government that is frankly d sfunctional. ,, ., dysfunctional. so keir starmer, the leader of the _ dysfunctional. so keir starmer, the leader of the labour _ dysfunctional. so keir starmer, the leader of the labour party. - thousands of train drivers who are members of the aslef union will stage a strike across nine rail companies tomorrow, in a dispute about pay. there will be an extremely limited service, or none at all,

on services including great western, greater anglia and lner — with operators warning disruption may continue into sunday. our business correspondent, caroline davies, gave us more detail on the action. avanti west coast, greater western, greateranglia, hull trains, south—eastern and west midlands trains included. this is the second time train drivers have gone on strike previously. it was at the end ofjuly. the train drivers' union aslef said they want a wage that reflects the cost of living and terms and conditions need to be protected. the rail companies say they want to give a pay rise to drivers but they need to have reforms in place to be able to pay for those pay rises. in terms of the disruption we can expect, those companies will have no services.

some will be very limited. there is a suggestion there could be a knock—on impact on some other train services so the advice is to check before you travel. seven uk cities have been announced as the contenders to host next year's eurovision song contest. the shortlist, whittled down from 20 places that expressed an interest, is birmingham, glasgow, leeds, liverpool, manchester, newcastle and sheffield. the uk will host next may after coming second in this year's contest — organisers decided it wouldn't be possible to stage it in the winning country, ukraine. 0ur arts correspondent, david sillito, has more. eurovision 1960 presented by katie boyle. good evening, ladies and gentlemen. on behalf of the bbc, i welcome you all to the fifth annual eurovision song contest. the uk has a long history

of hosting the contest. edinburgh, harrogate, birmingham, all over. the question is where next? there are seven cities on the shortlist. the shortlist was announced on radio 2. birmingham, glasgow, leeds, newcastle, sheffield and liverpool. that's it. that was really tense. they were more than pleased, especially a local eurovision star who came close to winning in 1993. i am over the moon! my fingers are so crossed that it comes to liverpool. we tick all the boxes. we have the arena, the beautiful city, everything's on the doorstep. we are going to have the biggest party ever. liverpool does has a musical heritage. there is romance to their bid. but the winner will be determined by practicalities. these days, eurovision is huge. glasgow has proved its ability

to host major events with the recent international cop climate conference but the fact so many cities have the facilities to be in the running says something. it is a great sign for the north. a lot of tourism in the uk is london centric and the fact there are so many northern cities on the list is a good sign that people are seeing the north for the tourism it can bring. and whoever is finally chosen in the autumn, that's only the beginning. modern eurovision is rather larger than it was when the uk last hosted in 1998. hello there. more blue sky and sunshine for the vast majority of us as we head throughout the rest of the day today. the heat is likely to peak today and tomorrow. temperatures rising steadily into the low to the mid—30s in celsius. and, of course, that met office weather warning is in place for extreme heat —

it's an amberwarning, the second highest level of alert. and it stretches across much of england, as far north as the pennines, into south—west england, devon and cornwall, where we saw highs of 32 celsius yesterday, and into eastern parts of wales as well. the heat will be uncomfortable for many and could even be dangerous for some, but it's not hot everywhere. still, weatherfronts running out towards the far north—west of scotland — cooler and cloudier here. and it's also a much cooler feeling day across aberdeenshire — 30 celsius yesterday, but a drop in temperature today with more cloud and an easterly wind, but blue sky and sunshine for the rest of us. temperatures rising to the low 30s, maybe 3a, 35 degrees celsius for the midlands, perhaps hampshire and sussex. now, overnight tonight, it will be a warmer feeling night across the board. again, some cloud running onshore from north sea—facing coasts. temperatures will generally be in the mid—teens in celsius. we could see another tropical night towards the isle of wight. temperatures here no lower than 20 degrees celsius — also possible for the south coast of england and wales. a head start on those temperatures for tomorrow.

more sunshine tomorrow across mainland scotland and there will be plenty of blue sky and sunshine for the rest of the country too. temperatures could locally peak as high as 36 or 37 degrees celsius. again, most likely for the south—west midlands, the cotswolds, 0xfordshire, perhaps down towards hampshire, sussex and west of london once again. but it's all change on sunday. now, there's an area of low pressure moving in from the south. the high pressure moves away. this introduces the possibility of some thunderstorms as we head throughout the day on sunday and also into the start of next week, along with some fresher feeling air. so, on sunday, most of the thunderstorms will tend to be towards the north and the west. the heat holds on towards the south of england and for much of wales as well, although there is the chance of one or two showers breaking out, but generally still hot here, and then we draw in that fresher air into the start of next week. watch out for those showers. they will be hit and miss, though they won't be everywhere. but there could be a bit of flash flooding and there are localised warnings in place.

this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines... millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared across parts of england. the declaration covers parts of the south west, southern and central england, and the east of england — after prolonged dry weather. this is an exceptional summer and we could all think about how we use our water. in fact, even think about where it comes from. when you have a shower, that water is coming from the environment, from rivers like here. there's extreme heat elsewhere in europe, too — firefighters are tackling huge blazes in france, and rivers are drying up in germany. the uk's economy shrank between april and june according to official estimates. england's health chiefs say they

will create 7000 extra hospital beds this winter to deal with pressures on health care, as part of a plan by nhs england. and the shortlist is announced for hosting next year's eurovision song contest — seven uk cities are in the running. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news channel. a drought has been declared across more than half of england, after the driestjuly on record in some areas of the country. it means water companies can impose stricter measures over how we use water at home and at work. a drought is defined by a lack of water due to extreme weather that has been built up over time.

the four stages are normal, prolonged dry weather, drought and severe drought. eight areas have been moved to the third stage, including devon and cornwall, solent and south downs, kent and south london, herts and north london as well as east anglia, thames, lincolnshire and northamptonshire. in the wake of low rainfall and high temperatures, water companies may introduce temporary bans on hosepipe use for watering gardens, cleaning cars orfilling paddling pools. yorkshire water became the latest to introduce a hosepipe ban. restrictions come into force in kent and sussex, and are already in place in parts of hampshire, the isle of wight and in pembrokeshire and a small part of carmarthenshire. the ongoing dry weather has prompted an extreme heat amber warning from the met office. it's currently in place for parts of wales, central and southern england and — which means there are possible impacts on health, transport and infrastructure. here's tomos morgan. a blaze in sussex. the grass scorched in essex.

and in durham, rare footage of a dust devil — essentially a small tornado of dust — another consequence of the heat. this extraordinary period of dry weather in which some areas of the uk have gone over a0 days without rain has made some parts of the land bone dry, dead and at serious risk of fires — and now with several reservoirs at record lows, a drought has been officially declared. this is now moving beyond your normal dry summer into something where water is scarce and difficult. water supplies are safe for everyone here at home but it means there's not enough water for the environment, farming and people at home. scientists say we need above average rainfall in september and october to get back to normal levels and yet the met office is predicting warm weather for the next three months. forfarmers, the implications of this period have been devastating.

the crops we can't irrigate are the ones we're most concerned about. because we've utilised all our water this season, we have no ability to irrigate sugar beet, maize, so we are estimating that we will see a yield reduction of about 50%. for some of us across england and wales, hosepipe bans have been announced as a way of restricting a less economical use of water. southern water introduce the restriction a week ago whilst south east water's starts today. welsh water's ban will come into force on the 19th with yorkshire water and thames water within weeks. yet with all these warnings and restrictions, many are still making the most of this beautiful weather, just like here on barry island in south wales. after a period of restrictions on hospitality, due to covid, this warm weather is a blessing for those operating here. barry island's still popular — it's got a beautiful beach and people still flock

to the seaside. and it's a lot cooler here than inland, so it's a win—win here for us traders on barry island. an amber warning for warm weather remains in place until sunday across parts of wales and england. the last chance to enjoy the sun responsibly perhaps before even further measures are introduced across the country. tomos morgan, bbc news, barry island. ijust want i just want to give you some breaking news from the communication workers union, this time regarding post opus workers. it is an escalating action over pay, and there is a strike dates are august there is a strike dates are august the 26th, the 27th and the 30th. that is post office workers striking on those dates on your screen. we heard from the same union a little while ago saying that later this month they will be strike action by bt workers, also over pay. back to the drought.

tom bradshaw is a grain farmer and deputy president of the national farmers' union. he told us how widely affected agriculture — in all its shapes and forms — has been this year. there is not a sector of agriculture that is not impacted by what is going on. the fields that should be green at this time of year have turned brown, the grass stop growing and any dairy farms are reliant on those forms to feed their livestock. instead they are having to use the hay that they made early in the year. that is going to put huge pressure on whether they have enough seed over the winter. because if the crisis going on in ukraine, we have seen very high grain prices. and it is going to be very

challenging for those livestock farmers as we head into those winter months. you then move into the horticultural sector, for growing our vegetables where they use a lot of irrigation. and they have been using their irrigation since the beginning ofjune and whether they will be crops like onions, potatoes, lettuce all require irrigation across the fields. and the reservoirs are now running empty. it means a lot of produce is going to be smaller in size and we are really asking our retail customers to flex their specifications so the maximum number of crops grown can reach retail shelves. how likely is it that some crops willjust spoil? particularly things like un—irrigated potatoes, which make up over a third of the potato area. maize and things that should be planted now, like turnips and sugar beet crops. the yield will be significantly reduced. and that in turn creates higher prices during what is already a difficult time for people? there's already huge inflationary pressure and the cost of living crisis. unfortunately, we're using a lot of irrigation on farm, the energy costs are much higher, and farmers are seeing all of these increased costs as well.

and all we're asking retail is that returns are sustainable so we can afford to invest in the crops for next year and continue to make sure we are producing the food of the country needs. what restrictions do various parts of the agricultural sector face when it comes to water usage? the farmers that have irrigation are the only ones that rely on applying water on a large scale. many of them have irrigation reservoirs that are now empty. if they're not able to extract more water during the summer months anyway. where it's impacting is those with flexible licenses. there is also the chance that there is with permanent licences will be stopped from taking water out of the rivers. we are really asking that food production is prioritised and the significance of water to underwrite our food security is recognised so we can make sure we grow as many crops as possible

and maximise the yield so we can minimise any impacts to food supply. given that this is a trend and we're likely to see more of these dry spells, if the scientists are to believed, and why shouldn't we? but we're going to have to start growing different crops or different strains of crops that are better able to cope with dry conditions. i'm convinced that this is quite a reaction, and farmers are right on the forefront of that. we need to make sure we invest in water as a priority. we recognise the significance of water infrastructure. as pa rt of as part of our critical national infrastructure. every year, we pump millions of years of water into the north sea during the winter months when we have an abundance of rainfall. we need to look at how we can store and transport that water and utilise it during the summer months when we tend to have these dry periods. also, if climate change continues, things like sunflower,

soybeans, grain maize become a reality and technology moving forward there is a chance that we might be able to grow crops that we haven't previously been able to grow here. here's the environment secretary. |here's the environment secretary. there _ |here's the environment secretary. there is— |here's the environment secretary. there is no— here's the environment secretary. there is no reason for people to be alarmed _ there is no reason for people to be alarmed at — there is no reason for people to be alarmed at all and our water supply remains _ alarmed at all and our water supply remains resilient. we have had the driest _ remains resilient. we have had the driestjuly— remains resilient. we have had the driestjuly since 1935, remains resilient. we have had the driest july since 1935, and remains resilient. we have had the driestjuly since 1935, and in fact the driest — driestjuly since 1935, and in fact the driest summer for 50 years. but the driest summer for 50 years. but the investments have been made in recent— the investments have been made in recent years means that the infrastructure and the progress made infrastructure and the progress made in the _ infrastructure and the progress made in the last— infrastructure and the progress made in the last four or five years to reduce — in the last four or five years to reduce leaks means we are in a stronger— reduce leaks means we are in a stronger position than ever to withstand these sorts of drought situations. what we are doing at the moment— situations. what we are doing at the moment is— situations. what we are doing at the moment is taking some steps to try to he _ moment is taking some steps to try to be cautious about the way we use water— to be cautious about the way we use water resources, just in case we get a dry— water resources, just in case we get a dry winter— water resources, just in case we get a dry winteras water resources, just in case we get a dry winter as well. and then potentially have problems next year. let's speak now with professor liz bentley, chief executive of the royal

meteorological society. thank you forjoining us here. what sort of measures can be take in the short—term to try to mitigate against drought that we are seeing now? this against drought that we are seeing now? ~ , ., , against drought that we are seeing now? ~ , . , , , , now? as individuals, i guess it is reducina now? as individuals, i guess it is reducing our _ now? as individuals, i guess it is reducing our demand _ now? as individuals, i guess it is reducing our demand for - now? as individuals, i guess it is reducing our demand for water. l now? as individuals, i guess it is i reducing our demand for water. the hosepipe bans clearly are there to take some action, because using water in a hose, you can use a lot more water than if you were filling a watering can or a bucket to wash the car. in the house, we can make some changes. having a quick shower instead of a bath, not letting the water run when you are brushing your teeth. and we could use washing up water, but water to water the garden as well. subtle changes that will have an impact.— as well. subtle changes that will have an impact. actually ready. i find there's _ have an impact. actually ready. i find there's about _ have an impact. actually ready. i find there's about four— have an impact. actually ready. i find there's about four litres i have an impact. actually ready. i find there's about four litres of i find there's about four litres of water that i can run off my tap before the water gets hot. put that

in buckets. — before the water gets hot. put that in buckets, pans, _ before the water gets hot. put that in buckets, pans, water— before the water gets hot. put that in buckets, pans, water the - before the water gets hot. put that| in buckets, pans, water the garden, use it elsewhere in the house. there are sensible things that we can do as individuals to reduce that demand. but that is why the water companies have put the hosepipe bans in place, to enforce some of these behavioural changes. we can all make some changes, i'm sure. what behavioural changes. we can all make some changes, i'm sure.— some changes, i'm sure. what about lona some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? — some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? a — some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? a lot _ some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? a lot of _ some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? a lot of this _ some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? a lot of this is _ some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? a lot of this is to - some changes, i'm sure. what about long term? a lot of this is to do i long term? a lot of this is to do with infrastructure, isn't it? yes, a . ain, with infrastructure, isn't it? yes, arain, if with infrastructure, isn't it? yes, again. if you _ with infrastructure, isn't it? yes, again, if you look _ with infrastructure, isn't it? yes, again, if you look ahead, - with infrastructure, isn't it? yes, again, if you look ahead, we i with infrastructure, isn't it? yes again, if you look ahead, we have seen climate change here in the uk, more heatwave events, they are becoming more frequent and more intense when they happen. we are going to see more drugs in future so the projections show that we are going to get hotter, drier summers but warmer, wetter winters. so from an infrastructure perspective, we need to think about how we can capture that rainfall during the times of year, during wintertime when we get a surplus of rainfall.

and we can keep it for when we get these deficiencies in rainfall, the deficits. and also thinking about moving the water around the country. look at the satellite images of the uk at the moment, it is the south—east, the southern parts of the uk and eastern england that are really affected by this drought. further north—west, there is plenty of water. if we can think about how we move that water around, where there is a surplus to where there is a deficit, that is going to help as well. ~ . , , well. we are seeing firefighters in arts of well. we are seeing firefighters in parts of europe — well. we are seeing firefighters in parts of europe having _ well. we are seeing firefighters in parts of europe having to - well. we are seeing firefighters in parts of europe having to cope i well. we are seeing firefighters in. parts of europe having to cope with wildfires. what are the conditions like here in comparison? might we see the same?— see the same? wildfires are very real concern _ see the same? wildfires are very real concern over _ see the same? wildfires are very real concern over the _ see the same? wildfires are very real concern over the next i see the same? wildfires are very| real concern over the next couple see the same? wildfires are very i real concern over the next couple of days, and the met office have a severe fire burning in place for most of southern england, eastern england as well. that is partly because of the drought, so the ground isjust because of the drought, so the ground is just tender dry, because of the drought, so the ground isjust tender dry, but because of the drought, so the ground is just tender dry, but also because of the hot weather. we can

see fire is being sparked off, we saw that in july when we see fire is being sparked off, we saw that injuly when we had the last heatwave. lots of wildfires being set. we just need to be much more vigilant over the next couple of days, and if this drought continues into the rest of the summer and autumn. continues into the rest of the summerand autumn. a continues into the rest of the summer and autumn. a lot of supermarkets are banning the temporary barbecues that often can cause some of these wildfires, just being careful with what we do with cigarette buts really help to be much more vigilant. because i think wildfires are a real concern, particularly over the next couple of days while we are in this amber extreme heat warning.- days while we are in this amber extreme heat warning. thank you very much for talking _ extreme heat warning. thank you very much for talking to _ extreme heat warning. thank you very much for talking to us. _ the uk is not alone in experiencing extreme heat — a number of european countries have seen record temperatures, with deadly wildfires and droughts across the continent. let's hearfrom our europe correspondent bethany bell, who's in france.

we're very, very close to the zone where some of those fires are blazing right now. we're here in an area where we've seen firefighters from germany and as far away as romania arriving to help the thousand or more french firefighters who have been struggling to bring these huge blazes under control. i spoke just a short time ago to a french official from the french fire brigade, and she said this fire was exceptional. and she said it made you feel small when you thought about the power of nature. and in some areas, the fire has been burning underground in the peat rich soil since july when there was another enormous fire here. so this is a really difficult situation for the emergency services here, and it's another very hot day. and our berlin correspondentjenny hill sent us this update on the impact of drought in germany.

this is the riverbed of the mighty rhine. just take a look at it. we should be under water right now. instead, you can see just how dry and arid this particular part of the upper rhine has become. in fact, the river levels have dropped so far here that they have exposed an old stone footbridge. you can see people picking their way across it to the island in the river, which was previous to now only accessible by boat. a lot of those people, i think, rather enjoying the novelty of the new landscape, but there is serious concern here. that's because this is one of europe's great working rivers. goods go up and down this river, and we have seen barges here today. just a few of them making their way very slowly through the remaining water channel that's left there. to the factories, the industrial complexes — fetching and carrying raw materials and manufactured products. the levels are now so low that some of those barges simply can't get through.

the people who run the barges are telling us they're having to lighten the cargo in order to make sure the vessels sit higher up in the water. they're keeping a close eye on the forecast, which is that those levels will drop further. if that happens, those companies are saying, then many of those barges won't be able to get through full stop. perhaps even this whole section of the upper rhine may become completely impassible. the headlines on bbc news... millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared across parts of england. the uk's economy shrank between april and june, according to official estimates. 7000 extra hospital beds this winter, including p°p�*up hospital beds this winter, including pop—up sites. the nhs in england and wales its plan to cope with expected pressures. the uk economy shrank by 0.1% between april and june, according to new figures. that compares to an increase of 0.8% in the first

three months of the year. the bank of england has forecast the uk will fall into recession in the coming months, and that the downturn will last for the whole of next year. 0ur economics correspondent, andy verity, reports. in windermere in the lake district, the lakes provide some respite from the heat. it's only the economic climate that's cooling down. for some, coming here is a way of spending less and saving more. one reason the economy is shrinking. we're not going as far as we used to go now, just because of the juice problems. you know what i mean — the petrol and the diesel. we're doing more of this — caravanning, camping, that sort of thing. we'd normally be going across to europe a couple of times a year. we haven't done that for two and a half years because of the pandemic. and i can see usjust sticking to doing this sort of thing from now on. it's easier, it's cheaper. all sectors of the economy shrank injune, with the value of all goods and services, also known as gross domestic product, down by 0.6%. in travel and tour operators,

business was down by 6.2%. this is what the economy looks like over the last 15 years. over on the left, you can see the global financial crisis — that big dip. then you get this great big bungee jump that the economy does around the time of the lockdowns in 2020. by comparison, the slowdown and downturn now is small — it's only just started. one big reason for it is the fall in consumer spending. consumer—facing services like shops and restaurants here in ilfracombe in north devon, are a.9% down on where they were pre—pandemic. at the prince of wales pub, just up the road from the harbour, michelle lang is taking on as many extra shifts as possible to support her and her daughter. but when most tourists go home this winter, there'll be no extra shifts, and she does not think a tax cut will make enough difference to her. it's obvious people can't afford all these bills, this extra money, it's just not there. you're not earning enough to pay it all. so i don't know, really.

they can't expect people to pay it if they're not earning enough money to pay it. the government has lost control of the economy, according to labour — with activity shrinking and inflation skyrocketing. this morning, the prime minister acknowledged the support for households already on offer wasn't enough. there's more money coming — more money coming, anyway, as a result of the decisions we've taken. there will be further help coming october and in the new year. i think over the medium—term, the future's very bright. so far, that's only a promise of more help in october and january from the current prime minister. the detail of how much help and who gets it is still being left to his successor. andy verity, bbc news. a 75—year—old woman, accused of causing the death by careless driving of a baby boy in cambridgeshire last year, has been found not guilty

by reason of insanity. ajury at cambridge crown court determined that shelagh robertson's undiagnosed dementia had affected her driving. mrs robertson's car collided with a van at waterbeach, which then hit a pram carrying five—month—old louis thorold. ukraine's president has accused russia of open nuclear blackmail, as international concern mounts about fighting near the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. volodymyr zelensky urged the world to act immediately to force russian troops to leave the site, saying it was in the global interest. china and the us have called for un experts to be allowed to urgently visit the plant in central—eastern ukraine — but similar demands in the past have not been met. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports.

this is the closest ukrainian soldiers can get to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. the dnipro river now a watery front line. across it, russia is in control. the risks of its six reactors getting caught in the crossfire are very clear. but the picture of what is happening here is still murky. we've been messaging two workers from the plant. they describe seeing colleagues kidnapped, as well as their concerns about a nuclear catastrophe. translation: my working day is a constant stress. _ there was shelling of the nitrogen oxygen station, which caused the fire. by some miracle, the people working there survived. soldiers are walking everywhere with weapons and everyone is actually kept at gunpoint. they back up these pictures, which appear to show russian troops

using the buildings as a base. and then there's the daily shelling of the site, as well as the city of enerhodar which it sits in. ukraine and russia continue to blame each other. how dangerous is it currently, as far as you're aware? what's your assessment? translation: the occupiers have been shelling the area around _ the nuclear power plant. people have been seriously injured. infrastructure has been damaged. power and water supplies have been interrupted. at a meeting of the united nations security council, a repeat... the united states reiterates the importance... ..for international inspectors to be let in. there are also calls for russian troops to leave, which moscow did not agree to. and so, fears over europe's biggest nuclear power plant continue. translation: the russian military has been intimidating staff, - kidnapping and blackmailing. i'm concerned about the psychological state of the technicians. the workers are making very important decisions while managing a nuclear reactor. this area has seen more intense fighting in recent weeks. there's still, though, very little movement, suggesting the zaporizhzhia plant will continue to slip from ukraine's control. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. a39—year—old man has appeared at inverness sheriff court charged with murdering his wife and the attempted murdering his wife and the attempted murder of two other people. it comes

after a series of firearm incidents on sky and the north—east mainland. he made no plea and was remanded in custody. two people remain in hospital following the incident. the former us president, donald trump, has said he will not oppose the release of legal documents relating to the search of his home earlier this week. the usjustice department has asked a florida court to allow the search warrant to be made public. it may reveal the nature of a possible criminal case against mr trump. here's our north america correspondent, peter bowes. the sprawling estate that donald trump calls home, the scene of a monday morning visit by federal agents with a search warrant. nearby streets were soon occupied by supporters of the former president, protesting at his treatment by the justice department. senior republicans chimed in, demanding that the authorities

justify their decision. now, that's exactly what america's attorney general is attempting to do. merrick garland said he was asking a judge to authorise the release of the search warrant, along with a receipt left at the trump property for what was taken away. the department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt, in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter. mr garland confirmed he personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant, but he couldn't say why. much of our work is, by necessity, conducted out of the public eye. we do that to protect the constitutional rights of all americans and to protect the the integrity of our investigations. federal law, long—standing department rules, and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time. thank you very much. the search is believed to be part of an investigation

into the handling of presidential papers that were removed from the white house when donald trump left office. the washington post newspaper is reporting that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items fbi agents were searching for. there's been no official confirmation of this, or anything to do with the search. in a statement, donald trump said not only would he not oppose the release of documents related to what he called the break—in of his home in floria, he was encouraging their immediate release. he added he believed they had been drawn up by possible future political opponents who had a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking him. by any standards, this has been an extraordinary week in america. this saga is far from over

but many of the former president's supporters who believe his claim that he's the victim of a witchhunt think it will increase the likelihood that donald trump will run for office again and may even boost his chances in 202a. peter bowes, bbc news. plans have been announced to create the equivalent of 7,000 more nhs hospital beds and to boost staff numbers, as the health service in england prepares for the pressure it's expected to face this winter. it follows figures yesterday which showed one of the worstjuly performances for a&e departments in england. 0ur health reporter, katharine da costa, explained the background to today's announcement. health leaders are preparing for what _ health leaders are preparing for what could be a particularly bad winter. — what could be a particularly bad winter, where they think covid and

look could — winter, where they think covid and look could be in circulation together. government advisers have warned _ together. government advisers have warned that high numbers of extra beds may— warned that high numbers of extra beds may be needed. the fact that a winter— beds may be needed. the fact that a winter plan _ beds may be needed. the fact that a winter plan is being set out in august— winter plan is being set out in august possibly highlights just winter plan is being set out in august possibly highlightsjust how busy they think it's going to be. the detail— busy they think it's going to be. the detail is, 7000 more beds, and that will— the detail is, 7000 more beds, and that will he — the detail is, 7000 more beds, and that will be a mixture of temporary units _ that will be a mixture of temporary units set _ that will be a mixture of temporary units set up — that will be a mixture of temporary units set up in hospitals and also caring _ units set up in hospitals and also caring for— units set up in hospitals and also caring for more people in their own homer _ caring for more people in their own home, so— caring for more people in their own home, so called virtual words. it also _ home, so called virtual words. it also includes trying to speed up discharging patients, so last month about— discharging patients, so last month about ao% of people were able to leave _ about ao% of people were able to leave where they were medically fit to do _ leave where they were medically fit to do so _ leave where they were medically fit to do so because there is a shortage in social— to do so because there is a shortage in social care — to do so because there is a shortage in social care. there is the plan to recruit— in social care. there is the plan to recruit more — in social care. there is the plan to recruit more coal workers for 111 and 99, — recruit more coal workers for 111 and 99, the autumn vaccination programme for covid and flu, and more _ programme for covid and flu, and more support for mental health services — more support for mental health services and gp surgeries. 0ne more support for mental health services and gp surgeries. one of the biggest challenges is having more _ the biggest challenges is having more staff to do so. recruiting from

overseas _ more staff to do so. recruiting from overseas takes time, and in the meantime — overseas takes time, and in the meantime there is more than 100,000 vacancies— meantime there is more than 100,000 vacancies in_ meantime there is more than 100,000 vacancies in the nhs. the nhs confederation has welcomed the plan but called _ confederation has welcomed the plan but called for more detail to be made _ but called for more detail to be made available. is there going to be any more _ made available. is there going to be any more additional funding going into this _ any more additional funding going into this winter, and how our health and social— into this winter, and how our health and social services going to work more _ and social services going to work more closely together to try to flee up more closely together to try to flee up these _ more closely together to try to flee up these hospital beds? they are urgently— up these hospital beds? they are urgently calling on the government to provide — urgently calling on the government to provide more support. stargazers across the uk were last night treated to the fourth and final supermoon of the year. a supermoon is a full or new moon that appears when it's at the closest point to earth. you don't need any special equipment to view it — apart from a camera to take amazing images like these. the next supermoon is expected in july next year. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth. hello there. more blue sky and sunshine for the vast majority of us across the uk for the rest of the day today. the heat will peak today and tomorrow, and of course

there is that met office weather warning in place for extreme heat. an amber warning, second highest level of alert, for most of england and into eastern wales as well, the heat uncomfortable for many and dangerous for some. it's not hot everywhere — still weather fronts out towards the north west of scotland. a much coolerfeeling day for aberdeenshire, where we saw 30 degrees yesterday. blue sky and sunshine, temperatures rising into the low to mid 30s for a few. 0vernight tonight, feeling warmer across the board with clear skies, some cloud towards the north sea facing coasts. temperatures for some, particularly towards the south coast of england, the isle of wight, perhaps south wales, may not drop between 19 or 20 celsius. so a head start on those temperatures for tomorrow. more sunshine across mainland scotland tomorrow. blue sky and sunshine elsewhere. locally, we could see 36 or 37 degrees. millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared

across parts of england. the declaration covers parts of the south west, southern and central england, and the east of england after prolonged dry weather. this is an exceptional summer, and we could all think about how we use our water. in fact, even think about where it comes from. when you have a shower, that water is coming from the environment, from rivers like here. there's extreme heat elsewhere in europe, too — firefighters are tackling huge blazes in france and rivers are drying up in germany. the uk's economy shrank between april and june, according to official estimates. england's health chiefs say they will create 7,000 extra hospital beds this winter to deal with pressures on health care as part of a plan by nhs england. and the shortlist is announced for hosting next year's eurovision song contest — seven uk cities are in the running.

good afternoon. two of england's greatest ever midfielders go head—to—head for the first time as managers tomorrow. steven gerrard's aston villa take on frank lampard and everton in the premier league's lunchtime kick—off. the pair were rivals for many years throughout their playing careers with liverpool and chelsea and team—mates for england. we are different in our personalities but we are both driven and have a plan of what we want to do, i was really pleased to see stephen and it's good to see good, young, english coaches. you get may be analysed in different ways, we have to put that to the side and just walk away. i'm delighted for

steve that he is a club with the quality of aston villa. natalie aspinall will make history tomorrow as she becomes only the third woman to officiate in the premier league at wolves versus fulham. she's been promoted as an assistant referee following six years in the efl. speaking to bbc sport, she spoke about the challenges she faced in trying to break through. trying to get to the premier league was something i was told i could not do, i could not be involved in professional football. it's something i've worked hard to do, so i think, when i was given the opportunity and i knew i had a good season, for me, it was about controlling the controllable and making sure i presented myself in the best way in the interview and making sure i was prepared for the fitness test and i knew that, as long as i done all of the things i needed to be the best version of myself, then the rest is up to the pgmol. in the last few minutes, charlotte worthington has missed out on a medal in the bmx freestyle at the european championships in munich. it's after she crashed early

in both of her runs. she had qualified for the final with the best score in the heats, but it didn't go her way at all today, finishing last after those crashes. fellow brit sasha pardoe finished sixth of the eight riders. ivita miculycova of the czech republic won the gold. paralympian benjamin pritchard was in fine form as he comfortably won his singles sculls race. there are plenty of medals up for grabs in the track cycling today, but great britain won't be winning one in the women's team sprint. that's after a nasty crash during their heat.

sophie capewell and emma finucane went down towards the end of the first lap. thankfully, both riders were able to get up and leave the track themselves. these are live pictures from the velodrome where france have just pipped great britain to the bronze medal. , ., ., , , , pipped great britain to the bronze medal. , ., ., , ,, ., ., ., medal. they narrowly missed out on a celebration for _ medal. they narrowly missed out on a celebration for the _ medal. they narrowly missed out on a celebration for the bronze _ medal. they narrowly missed out on a celebration for the bronze in - medal. they narrowly missed out on a celebration for the bronze in a - medal. they narrowly missed out on a celebration for the bronze in a few- celebration for the bronze in a few minutes' time, it will be the gold medal italy take on germany, and you can watch all the action on munich in bbc one. cameron norrie is out of the montreal masters, the british number one losing in straight sets to home favourite felix auger—alliasime — revenge for the canadian's defeat to norrie in mexico last week. the good news from canada is that jack draper is through to his first masters 1000 quarterfinal.

he took the first set against gael monfils, but the frenchman, ranked 20th in the world, had to retire from the match after injuring his right foot during the second set. draper is on course to meet fellow briton dan evans in the semifinals. the british number two knocked out american tenth seed taylor fritz. it's the first time evans has reached the tournament's quarterfinals. that's all the sport for now. more now on our top story — drought officially declared in eight areas of southern, central and eastern england. professorjim hall is a member of the national infrastructure commission — an independent body of experts who advise the government on the uk's long—term infrastructure planning. he reminded us of the key recommendations in a report his commission published four years ago, entitled "preparing for a drier future". well, that report pointed out that britain is facing issues

with the resilience of its water supplies, that our supplies are not as resilient as they should be, and they're at risk from major impacts in a drought. and that's what we're beginning to see now. i wouldn't say that the impacts would be described as major on people at the moment. and the commission said that there should be movement on three fronts. one is reducing water demand. second is dealing with leakage. and third is bringing forward more strategic investment in water infrastructure, water supply infrastructure. i believe that the commission calculated that the country needed to spend £20 billion to make sure that we are in some way prepared. what would the cost be if if we didn't invest that money? well, there are a number of different ways you could look

at what the cost will be. we know that the cost will be big if we get into a situation where there are severe water shortages — maybe water rationing, people having to get water from stand pipes in streets or water trucks. that leads to economic disruption, particularly disruption to farmers maybe in the power sector. what the national infrastructure commission did was actually look at how much all of that emergency response might cost — the cost of trucking in water and dealing with a national emergency around a drought. and they suggested that the cost of doing that would be about a0 billion. so twice as much. eventually the cost of solving this problem in advance. four years on from your report, what's changed?

what's improved ? yeah. well, four years on, quite a lot has changed in the policy landscape. so we've had a commitment from the government and the water companies to a 2050 target to get per capita of water use down from about 1a0 litres per person today down to 110. there's commitments from the water companies to reduce leakage by 50%, and there's a process under way to bring forward some of those big strategic water supply infrastructure investments which haven't happened over the last 30 years or so. but that's really at the level of commitments, plans. in some companies, as we'vejust heard, things are heading in the right direction in relation to leakage, but we're not really seeing much

fast action on the ground. it feels like for most of my life we've been hearing about how we need to capture water in the winter, store it and be able to move it to those drier parts of the country, which, because of the rain shadow and the like, are not going to ever really have enough water. how far on are we with any of those plans? yeah. so getting that big supply infrastructure into place is certainly a crucial part of what needs to happen. it's true that a lot of water is moved around at the moment between water companies, but what's being moved around now and where it's being moved around is pretty much the same as it was 30 years ago. and so the big change, which is being planned now,

as some more of these big strategic water transfers, like the severn thames transfer, some strategic storages, so some new reservoirs in the south of the country. but those things will take quite a long time to plan and to build. in many parts of england, there are also ongoing battles against field fires. with the heatwave intensifying, fire servces are at full stretch and bracing themselves for more emergencies over the next few days. 0ne fire broke out at thorndon in suffolk yesterday afternoon, as alex dunlop reports. well, 2a hours on, you can still smell the aftermath of this fire, which has destroyed 15 acres of farmland near thorndon yesterday. firefighters were quickly on scene, of course, but what was really striking was that more than a dozen villagers came together with farmers to try and fight the flames, because you can see just how close it came to these houses and that thatched cottage just over there. i'm still terrified. i've been up three times in the night looking to see

if it was really out. i thought, my house was going and i'm just standing _ here thinking all the hard work that we've done i in it was all for nothing. the heat you could feel from you could feel, and it was coming across the field at quite a rate of knots. and that's a scary thing. the speed which was coming towards the house. you live in a beautiful village _ and now we've always known we've got fantastic neighbours. itjust proves it now. because they all tried to do what they could. the first thing i saw was the massive plumes of black smoke. then the noise was just immense crackling beyond belief. and then people were just using everything they possibly could. they had extended their hose pipes from their homes, trying to douse it down. so it sounds like a mass collective effort? brilliant. a lot of the villagers out here. yeah, brilliant. it was just the village, you know, came together. we've only been in the village probably 1a months.

and all we've found is just the village just always works together. well, villagers here in thorndon are acutely aware that this may not be a one off, and they are alreadyjoining forces to try and find ways of mitigating this happening in the future. in the short term, the same plea from firefighters — don't do anything that would increase the risk of a fire. the people who look after our canals and rivers are on red alert this weekend as they monitor falling water levels. sally bowman has spent the morning at foxton locks in leicestershire to find out what they're worried about. welcome to one of the most famous sites on britain's canal network. here at foxton, they've got the longest and steepest staircase flight of locks on the whole network. as you can see, it's pretty busy today given it's the school holidays, all of this behind me needs careful management, particularly in the light of the news today about the drought. the people who have to do that,

one of them is alex goode, who's the site manager here. alex, does today's announcement make much difference to the way that you're managing the canals? not overly, because we've been managing our water very sparingly and being very careful with it, as always. and the hot weather has been here for a while. so we've been very closely managing our water levels on the canals. what about the people using the locks, people who are in the boats or people just walking alongside the canal? any advice for them, given the weather? for boaters, we're asking to share locks wherever possible, even if that means waiting for a little while at a lot. see if another boat comes along. and the obvious thing is of closing gates and closing paddles. and for people taking a walk down the canal or saying, please don't swim in the canals, they can be very dangerous. places may be deeper than they look. they may be shallower and there could be underwater obstructions. so we advise people to go to organised groups or maybe even a swimming pool. what, if anything, will happen if the water levels drop? because obviously people will be concerned about the boaters. but it's notjust about the boaters, is it? no, it's about the wildlife as well.

so we work to maintain a level of water in the canals for our wildlife. also, canals can help with urban cooling. so the canals that go through cities, it can aid with cooling the area. all right, thanks. well, tonight, we're going to be talking to some of the people who are using the canal today, see what they've noticed and see what their plans are in light of today's announcement. thousands of train drivers who are members of the aslef union will stage a strike across nine rail companies tomorrow in a dispute about pay. there will be an extremely limited service, or none at all, on services including great western, greater anglia and lner with operators warning disruption may continue into sunday. our business correspondent, caroline davies, gave us more detail on the action. let's go through exactly which firms and companies are involved. so ava nti west coast, crosscountry, greater anglia, great western railway,

hull trains, lner, london 0verground, southeastern and west midlands trains as well. now, of course, we've seen strikes already during the course of this summer. this is the second time that train drivers have gone on strike. previously, it was at the end ofjuly. now, aslef, who is the train drivers' union — they say that what they are pushing for is that they want to have a pay, a wage that reflects the cost of living and that terms and conditions need to be protected. now, the rail company say that they do want to give a pay rise to train drivers but that they need to have reforms in place to be able to pay for those pay rises as well. now, in terms of the disruption that we're going to expect, of course, those companies — some of them will have absolutely no services at all. some of them will be very limited. and, in fact, there is some suggestion there could be a knock—on impact as well on some other train services. so the advice as always is to check before you travel. seven uk cities have been announced as the contenders to host next year's eurovision song contest. the shortlist, whittled down from 20 places that expressed an interest, is birmingham, glasgow, leeds, liverpool, manchester, newcastle and sheffield. the uk will host next may after coming second

in this year's contest — organisers decided it wouldn't be possible to stage it in the winning country, ukraine. 0ur arts correspondent, david sillito, has more. eurovision1960, presented by katie boyle. good evening, ladies and gentlemen. on behalf of the bbc, i welcome you all to the fifth annual eurovision song contest. the uk has a long history of hosting the contest. edinburgh, harrogate, birmingham, all over. the question is where next? there are seven cities on the shortlist. the shortlist was announced on radio 2. birmingham, glasgow, leeds, manchester, newcastle, sheffield and liverpool. that's it! that was really tense. they were more than pleased, especially one local eurovision star who came close to winning in 1993. i am over the moon!

my fingers are so crossed that it comes to liverpool. we tick all the boxes. we have the arena, the beautiful city, everything's on the doorstep. we are going to have the biggest party ever. liverpool does has a musical heritage. there is romance to their bid. but the winner will be determined by practicalities. these days, eurovision is huge. glasgow has proved its ability to host major events with the recent cop international climate conference but the fact so many cities have the facilities to be in the running says something. it's a great sign for the north. a lot of tourism in the uk is london centric and the fact there are so many northern cities on the shortlist is a good sign that people are seeing the north for the tourism that it can bring.

and whoever is finally chosen in the autumn, that's only the beginning. modern eurovision is rather larger than it was when the uk last hosted in 1998. let's speak to the host of the official eurovision song contest, steve holden. how did they whittle it down to those final seven?— how did they whittle it down to those final seven? they would have looked at how— those final seven? they would have looked at how adaptable _ those final seven? they would have looked at how adaptable each i those final seven? they would have looked at how adaptable each city l looked at how adaptable each city was to hosting eurovision, they would have looked at whether they could notjust put on a show but put on everything else that was necessary that goes with eurovision, so a big press centre, broadcast centre, you have to have the ability of a0 countries to get to each city and fit to be easily accessible. interestingly, one of the criteria going forward to get eurovision next

year is to prove that you can basically showcase ukrainian culture, whether that be music or art or anything else that is ukrainian because essentially ukraine's one this year and sam wright said it best, he said it is basically ukraine's party, so next year's basically ukraine's party, so next yea r�*s context will basically ukraine's party, so next year's context will be this hybrid mix of british culture and quirks and ideals and ukraine as well. so whichever city wants to host it will have to show that they can put that on offer as well, as well as all the infrastructure and ability to work on fans from around the world, three hotels, airports, transport links as well, it is a real mix of qualities. there are a lot of logistics as well before you even get to thinking about what the show will look like, but it will be quite unusual because

it is that mix of the uk hosting, ukraine being the team that won last year. ukraine being the team that won last ear. �* . �* , , ~' year. and that's why i think it will be so interesting _ year. and that's why i think it will be so interesting next _ year. and that's why i think it will be so interesting next year, i year. and that's why i think it will be so interesting next year, they| be so interesting next year, they have already hinted the logo will be a mix of uk and ukraine, but fans are wondering, would there be a ukrainian host in the mix, will the interval act be ukrainian or british or both? how will ukraine be showcased? some of the city is on offer there have got through to the final seven have links, sheffield for example is twinned with donetsk, manchester has the biggest ukrainian population outside london in the uk, so all of the cities will want to prove that they can show their links to ukraine. this is not a british contest, britain and the uk have so much experience of hosting eurovision, ukraine has more experience of hosting it recently,

but it would be a challenge to get the balance right as well, to really honour the fact that the group that won this year were the winners, it wasn't the uk, so i think it's really an exciting prospect. what ha--ens really an exciting prospect. what happens now _ really an exciting prospect. what happens now and _ really an exciting prospect. what happens now and when - really an exciting prospect. what happens now and when do we find out? we will find out sometime in the autumn, they are being loose with the date, but the bbc will have lots of discussions because the ebu are the gatekeepers of eurovision, they will have a look at which city has the best proposal, the best bit, and there are no more rounds after this, this is the final round, they will go through all the criteria, having a suitable venue, making sure, if there are acts due to perform, next year, when they want to put eurovision on, potentially they can be moved, all these little bits and pieces, they will probably do it in a huge document and the bbc and the

ebu will go through it and say, you are one fitted, and it will be announced in autumn. steve, thank very much- — announced in autumn. steve, thank very much- -- _ announced in autumn. steve, thank very much- -- you _ announced in autumn. steve, thank very much. -- you are _ announced in autumn. steve, thank very much. -- you are the - announced in autumn. steve, thank very much. -- you are the one i announced in autumn. steve, thank very much. -- you are the one for. very much. —— you are the one for it. up to 50,000 people are expected in newquay this weekend for the annual boardmasters festival. it's one of the uk's biggest events and combines music and surfing competitions. jemma woodman has been to see how it's going so far. arriving in their thousands into newquay train station, a long weekend of surf, sounds and, this year, plenty of sun ahead. you're putting on the suncream already. yeah! i burn very easily so, yeah, got to be prepared. extra train carriages have been laid on for what is devon and cornwall�*s biggest festival, with these campers avoiding saturday's train strike. laden with supplies, more than 50,000 festivalgoers will head to watergate bay, demanding a stepped up police presence. we work with the people of the town, with the people at the event, and we try and be the glue

in the middle to make sure everyone has a nice, safe time. here at the grounds, there are new features, like a ferris wheel. but with temperatures forecast to hit the 30s, what will really be in demand is drinking water. and there are concerns at how the heat will impact festivalgoers. i there is a big risk if people don't. take plenty of fluids and take shade opportunities and wear a hat - that they may become dehydrated. for traders, of course, it's an opportunity. usually, we sell a lot of hoodies and, like, cardigans and, like, over things for in the evenings. you might not need that this year. well, i was thinking we might, but it's going to be very late in the evening that people get cold. boardmasters has had its fair share of challenges. last year, despite a covid testing policy, there was a massive spike in cases, complaints of 16—hour traffic queues on leaving, inadequate sanitation. but this year those issues have been addressed. we do get random things thrown at us, stuff we can't predict, especially in the sort of slightly unbelievable last couple of years. but we've got an amazing team

here who adapt and work through those problems as best we can. and so far, it's been running really, really well. and we've got a beautiful forecast ahead. so.. of course, if people do need to cool off, there is one massive water supply, and that's the ocean, with many expected to head down and take a dip. gemma woodman, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello there. more blue sky and sunshine for the vast majority of us as we head throughout the rest of the day today. the heat is likely to peak today and tomorrow. temperatures rising steadily into the low to the mid—30s in celsius. and, of course, that met office weather warning is in place for extreme heat — it's an amberwarning, the second highest level of alert. and it stretches across much of england, as far north as the pennines, into south—west england, devon and cornwall, where we saw highs of 32 celsius yesterday, and into eastern parts of wales as well. the heat will be uncomfortable for many and could even be dangerous for some,

but it's not hot everywhere. still, weatherfronts running out towards the far north—west of scotland — cooler and cloudier here. and it's also a much cooler feeling day across aberdeenshire — 30 celsius yesterday, but a drop in temperature today with more cloud and an easterly wind, but blue sky and sunshine for the rest of us. temperatures rising to the low 30s, maybe 3a, 35 degrees celsius for the midlands, perhaps hampshire and sussex. now, overnight tonight, it will be a warmer feeling night across the board. again, some cloud running onshore from north sea—facing coasts. temperatures will generally be in the mid—teens in celsius. we could see another tropical night towards the isle of wight. temperatures here no lower than 20 degrees celsius — also possible for the south coast of england and wales. a head start on those temperatures for tomorrow. more sunshine tomorrow across mainland scotland and there will be plenty of blue sky and sunshine for the rest of the country too. temperatures could locally peak as high as 36 or 37 degrees celsius. again, most likely for the south—west midlands, the cotswolds, 0xfordshire, perhaps down towards hampshire, sussex and west

of london once again. but it's all change on sunday. now, there's an area of low pressure moving in from the south. the high pressure moves away. this introduces the possibility of some thunderstorms as we head throughout the day on sunday and also into the start of next week, along with some fresher feeling air. so, on sunday, most of the thunderstorms will tend to be towards the north and the west. the heat holds on towards the south of england and for much of wales as well, although there is the chance of one or two showers breaking out, but generally still hot here, and then we draw in that fresher air into the start of next week. watch out for those showers. they will be hit and miss, though they won't be everywhere. but there could be a bit of flash flooding and there are localised warnings in place.

this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at four... millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared across parts of england. the announcement covers parts of the south west, southern, eastern and central england, — after prolonged dry weather. this is an exceptional summer, and we could all think about how we use our water. in fact, even think about where it comes from. when you turn on a tap, have a shower, that water is coming from the environment, from rivers like here. there's extreme heat elsewhere in europe, too — firefighters are tackling huge blazes in france, and rivers are drying up in germany. the uk's economy shrank between april and june according to official estimates.

england's health chiefs say they'll create an extra 7,000 hospital beds this winter to deal with pressures on health care, as part of a plan by nhs england. and the shortlist is announced for hosting next year's eurovision song contest — seven uk cities are in the running. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news channel. a drought has been declared across more than half of england, after the driestjuly on record in some areas of the country. it means water companies can impose stricter measures over how we use water at home and at work. a drought is defined by a lack of water due to extreme weather that has been built up over time. the four stages are "normal", "prolonged dry weather", "drought" and "severe drought". eight areas have been moved

to the third stage — including devon and cornwall, solent and south downs, kent and south london, herts and north london. as well as east anglia, thames, lincolnshire and northamptonshire. in the wake of low rainfall and high temperatures, water companies may introduce temporary bans on hosepipe use for watering gardens, cleaning cars orfilling paddling pools. yorkshire water became the latest to introduce a hosepipe ban. restrictions came into force in kent and sussex on friday, and also in place in parts of hampshire, the isle of wight and in pembrokeshire and a small part of carmarthenshire in wales. the ongoing dry weather has prompted an extreme heat amber warning from the met office. it's currently in place for parts of wales, central and southern england — which means there are possible impacts on health, transport and infrastructure. here's tomos morgan. a blaze in sussex. the grass scorched in essex.

and in durham, rare footage of a dust devil — essentially a small tornado of dust — another consequence of the heat. this extraordinary period of dry weather in which some areas of the uk have gone over a0 days without rain has made some parts of the land bone dry, dead and at serious risk of fires — and now with several reservoirs at record lows, a drought has been officially declared. this is now moving beyond your normal dry summer into something where water is scarce and difficult. water supplies are safe for everyone here at home but it means there's not enough water for the environment, farming and people at home. scientists say we need above average rainfall in september and october to get back to normal levels, yet the met office is predicting warm weather for the next three months. forfarmers, the implications of this period have been devastating. the crops we can't irrigate are the ones we're most concerned about. because we've utilised

all our water this season, we've no ability to irrigate sugar beet, maize, so we're estimating that we'll see a yield reduction of about 50%. for some of us across england and wales, hosepipe bans have already been announced as a way of restricting a less economical use of water. southern water introduced the restriction a week ago whilst south east water's starts today. welsh water's ban will come into force on the 19th with yorkshire water and thames water within weeks. yet with all these warnings and restrictions, many are still making the most of this beautiful weather, just like here on barry island in south wales. after a period of restrictions on hospitality, due to covid, this warm weather is a blessing for those operating here. barry island's still popular — it's got a beautiful beach and people still flock to the seaside. and it's a lot cooler here than inland, so it's a win—win

here for us traders on barry island. an amber warning for warm weather remains in place until sunday across parts of wales and england. the last chance to enjoy the sun responsibly perhaps before even further measures are introduced across the country. tomos morgan, bbc news, barry island. the government says water companies have provided reassurances that essential supplies are still safe. here's the environment secretary — george eustice. there's no reason for people to be alarmed at all, in that our water supply remains resilient. we've had the driestjuly since 1935, and in fact the driest summer for 50 years. but the investments that have been made in recent years mean that the infrastructure we have to move water between reservoirs and the progress made in the last 4—5 years to reduce leaks means

we're in a stronger position than ever to withstand these sorts of drought situations. what we're doing at the moment, really, is taking some steps to try to be cautious about the way we use water resources, just in case we get a dry winter as well and then potentially have problems next year. let's speak to keithjones — who's national specialist climate change adviser at the national trust — he joins us from north wales. thank you very much forjoining us here on the bbc news channel. the national trust are very big landowners, what are the sort of issues that the estates are having to consider at the moment? this hot weather we — to consider at the moment? this hot weather we are _ to consider at the moment? this hot weather we are currently _ to consider at the moment? this hot weather we are currently getting i to consider at the moment? this hot weather we are currently getting as. weather we are currently getting as part of a cycle from the storms early in the year, the floods at the end of last year, and now the peak weather. it is what we knew was going to happen for the last 10—20 years. so the impacts we are seeing is on everything, especially on wildlife, water. wildfires are very taxing at the moment because it can happen anywhere. it is everything from small—scale stuff like bats

falling out the air because of dehydration in the daytime, which they are not supposed to be out, two rivers are drying up, water features not being able to function. so it is everywhere and wide. did not being able to function. so it is everywhere and wide.— not being able to function. so it is everywhere and wide. did you 'ust sa bats everywhere and wide. did you 'ust say bats fauing i everywhere and wide. did you 'ust say bats falling out i everywhere and wide. did you 'ust say bats falling out of i everywhere and wide. did you 'ust say bats falling out of the i everywhere and wide. did you “ust say bats falling out of the air?j- say bats falling out of the air? yes, the wellington estate in the north—east, the rangers there were picking up bats of the floor because they were dehydrated. i can because if the warm weather. bats are not used to the sort of weather. i did not meet _ used to the sort of weather. i did not meet to _ used to the sort of weather. i did not expect to hear _ used to the sort of weather. i did not expect to hear you _ used to the sort of weather. i did not expect to hear you say that this afternoon. an unexpected consequence of this incredible dry heat that we have had for several weeks now. what are you asking of visitors? be careful, are you asking of visitors? ea: careful, especially with are you asking of visitors? ea careful, especially with wildfires in terms of throwing your cigarette away or disposable barbecues, or even throwing a bottle away because it turns into a magnifying glass in grasslands and then can spark wild flowers which can be very damaging and quite destructive —— spark

wildfires. and quite destructive -- spark wildfires. ~ :, :, , :, and quite destructive -- spark wildfires-_ and quite destructive -- spark wildfires. ~ :, :, , :, wildfires. what are your staff doing differently so _ wildfires. what are your staff doing differently so that _ wildfires. what are your staff doing differently so that they _ wildfires. what are your staff doing differently so that they don't - wildfires. what are your staff doing differently so that they don't take l differently so that they don't take risks that don't need to be taken? in some properties, they are changing the hours of working based on the temperature. we know they are looking at hydration a lot. there is a lot of advice going out to staff, keep hydrated. and the other bit is they are keeping an eye out for behaviour, and especially for wildfires. :, : , :, :, :, wildfires. how much preparation have ou been wildfires. how much preparation have you been able — wildfires. how much preparation have you been able to _ wildfires. how much preparation have you been able to do? _ wildfires. how much preparation have you been able to do? you _ wildfires. how much preparation have you been able to do? you say - wildfires. how much preparation have you been able to do? you say it - wildfires. how much preparation have you been able to do? you say it has l you been able to do? you say it has been expected for a long time, these sort of conditions.— sort of conditions. everything from fire risk assessments _ sort of conditions. everything from fire risk assessments in _ sort of conditions. everything from fire risk assessments in terms - sort of conditions. everything from fire risk assessments in terms of l fire risk assessments in terms of where is it likely to happen, how is it impactful, and therefore we are working with partners such as the fire services and the local authorities to enable them to help us in the process. so it has all been about planning and risk assessing, more than anything else. what sort of help would you like, as

a very large organisation but a charity nonetheless, from the government? we charity nonetheless, from the government?— charity nonetheless, from the government? ~ :, , :, government? we have been having discussions — government? we have been having discussions internally _ government? we have been having discussions internally about - government? we have been having discussions internally about senior| discussions internally about senior government embedding climate resilience into all of its functions, because if you are going to do a thing, is it resilient to climate change? to assess climate risk and to put it into the planning system. that is one of the big tasks of us and our partners. you system. that is one of the big tasks of us and our partners.— system. that is one of the big tasks of us and our partners. you must be in contact with _ of us and our partners. you must be in contact with the _ of us and our partners. you must be in contact with the fire _ of us and our partners. you must be in contact with the fire brigade - of us and our partners. you must be in contact with the fire brigade in . in contact with the fire brigade in particular on a regular basis, just in case you need them? we particular on a regular basis, 'ust in case you need them?�* particular on a regular basis, 'ust in case you need them? we are always in case you need them? we are always in contact with — in case you need them? we are always in contact with the _ in case you need them? we are always in contact with the fire _ in case you need them? we are always in contact with the fire brigade - in contact with the fire brigade because of the risk to fire anywhere, notjust because of the hot weather. we call it good management.— hot weather. we call it good management. hot weather. we call it good manauement. : :, :, , :, management. and how many extra visitors are — management. and how many extra visitors are you _ management. and how many extra visitors are you seeing _ management. and how many extra visitors are you seeing because - management. and how many extra visitors are you seeing because the weather is so good, or has it had the opposite effect? we weather is so good, or has it had the opposite effect?— weather is so good, or has it had the opposite effect? we have been recorrnisin the opposite effect? we have been recognising that _ the opposite effect? we have been

recognising that weather _ the opposite effect? we have been recognising that weather makes i recognising that weather makes people do different things. so we have been... there are a lot of visitors and our coastal properties and countryside properties, less visitors in some of the mansion sites. we know that climate change means a different business model in the future because people do different things in hot weather, but we are planning for this. keith jones we are planning for this. keith jones from — we are planning for this. keith jones from the _ we are planning for this. keith jones from the national - we are planning for this. keith j jones from the national trust, we are planning for this. keith jones from the national trust, thank you very much for talking to us. a short time ago, i spoke to the bbc weather presenter who spoke to the effects of the lack of rainfall. it's the driestjuly in england since 1935, and the driestjuly for parts of southern england and east anglia on record. it is still dry in august and we had a lovely chart on the forecast earlier, butjust august and we had a lovely chart on the forecast earlier, but just to put our weather friends in context. it is been dry in parts of southern

england for over a0 days now. ilifeline england for over 40 days now. who decides whether _ england for over 40 days now. who decides whether it _ england for over 40 days now. who decides whether it is a drought or not? how do you decide? because it is not about necessarily how much rain has fallen within a certain number of days?— rain has fallen within a certain number of da s? , , : number of days? this will be decided with information _ number of days? this will be decided with information from _ number of days? this will be decided with information from the _ number of days? this will be decided with information from the met - number of days? this will be decided with information from the met office | with information from the met office by government agencies. of course, what we can do here is say when we think it is actually going to rain, and there will be some rain in the forecast for next week. that will help to ease it somewhat, but as we have just been hearing from rob thompson there, there will be issues because further issues, because yes, there will be some thunderstorms around, some really heavy showers. but as we see with all showers, they are going to be hit or miss. some places will see them, other places will see absolutely nothing at all. where would you get these heavy downpours, most likely into next week, although it some part in the north and west of the uk will have them on the sunday, there will be lots of run—off from the ground

because it is so hard and so dry that it won't go anywhere in terms of easing the drought because the ground is just too dry for it to absorb all of the water. the uk is not alone in experiencing extreme heat — a number of european countries have seen record temperatures, with deadly wildfires and droughts across the continent. let's hearfrom our europe correspondent bethany bell, who's in france. we're very, very close to the zone where some of those fires are blazing right now. we hear and an area where we've seen firefighters from germany and as far away as romania arriving to help the thousand or more french firefighters who have been struggling to bring these huge blazes under control. i spoke just a short time ago to a french official from the french fire brigade, and she said this fire was exceptional. and she said it made you feel small when you thought about the power of nature.

and in some areas, the fire has been burning underground in the peat—rich soil since july when there was another enormous fire here. so this is a really difficult situation for the emergency services here, and it's another very hot day. and our berlin correspondentjenny hill sent us this update on the impact of drought in germany. this is the riverbed of the mighty rhine. just take a look at it. we should be under water right now. instead, you can see just how dry and arid this particular part of the upper rhine has become. in fact, the river levels have dropped so far here that they have exposed an old stone footbridge. you can see people picking their way across it to the island in the river, which was previous to now only accessible by boat. a lot of those people, i think, rather enjoying the novelty of the new landscape, but there is serious concern here. that's because this is one

of europe's great working rivers. goods go up and down this river, and we have seen barges here today. just a few of them making their way very slowly through the remaining water channel that's left there. to the factories, the industrial complexes — fetching and carrying raw materials and manufactured products. the levels are now so low that some of those barges simply can't get through. the people who run the barges are telling us they're having to lighten the cargo in order to make sure the vessels sit higher up in the water. they're keeping a close eye on the forecast, which is that those levels will drop further. if that happens, those companies are saying, then many of those barges won't be able to get through, full stop. perhaps even this whole section of the upper rhine may become completely impassible. the uk economy shrank by 0.1% between april and june, according to new figures. that compares to an increase of 0.8% in the first three months of the year. the bank of england has forecast

the uk will fall into recession in the coming months, and that the downturn will last for the whole of next year. our economics correspondent, andy verity, reports. in windermere in the lake district, the lakes provide some respite from the heat. it's only the economic climate that's cooling down. for some, coming here is a way of spending less and saving more. one reason the economy is shrinking. we're not going as far as we used to go now, just because of the juice problems. you know what i mean — the petrol and the diesel. we're doing more of this — caravanning, camping, that sort of thing. we'd normally be going across to europe a couple of times a year. we haven't done that for two and a half years because of the pandemic. and i can see usjust sticking to doing this sort of thing from now on. it's easier, it's cheaper. all sectors of the economy shrank injune, with the value of all goods and services, also known as gross domestic product, down by 0.6%. in travel and tour operators, business was down by 6.2%. this is what the economy looks

like over the last 15 years. over on the left, you can see the global financial crisis — that big dip. then you get this great big bungee jump that the economy does around the time of the lockdowns in 2020. by comparison, the slowdown and downturn now is small — it's only just started. one big reason for it is the fall in consumer spending. consumer—facing services like shops and restaurants here in ilfracombe in north devon, are a.9% down on where they were pre—pandemic. at the prince of wales pub, just up the road from the harbour, michelle lang is taking on as many extra shifts as possible to support her and her daughter. but when most tourists go home this winter, there'll be no extra shifts, and she does not think a tax cut will make enough difference to her. it's obvious people can't afford all these bills, this extra money, it's just not there. you're not earning enough to pay it all. so i don't know, really. they can't expect people to pay it if they're not earning enough money to pay it.

the government has lost control of the economy, according to labour — with activity shrinking and inflation skyrocketing. this morning, the prime minister acknowledged the support for households already on offer wasn't enough. there's more money coming — more money coming, anyway, as a result of the decisions we've taken. there will be further help coming october and in the new year. i think over the medium—term, the future's very bright. so far, that's only a promise of more help in october and january from the current prime minister. the detail of how much help and who gets it is still being left to his successor. andy verity, bbc news. a 75—year—old woman, accused of causing the death by careless driving of a baby boy in cambridgeshire last year, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. a jury at cambridge crown court determined that shelagh robertson's undiagnosed dementia had affected her driving.

mrs robertson's car collided with a van at waterbeach, which then hit a pram carrying five—month—old louis thorold. a 39—year—old man has appeared at inverness sheriff court, charged with murdering his wife, and the attempted murder of two other people. it comes after a series of firearm incidents on skye, and in the north east mainland, on wednesday morning. finlay macdonald made no plea, and was remanded in custody. two people remain in hospital following the incidents. ukraine's president has accused russia of open nuclear blackmail, as international concern mounts about fighting near the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. volodymyr zelensky urged the world to act immediately to force russian troops to leave the site, saying it was in the global interest. china and the us have called for un experts to be allowed to urgently visit the plant in central—eastern ukraine — but similar demands in the past have not been met. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports.

this is the closest ukrainian soldiers can get to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. the dnipro river now a watery front line. across it, russia is in control. the risks of its six reactors getting caught in the crossfire are very clear. but the picture of what is happening here is still murky. we've been messaging two workers from the plant. they describe seeing colleagues kidnapped, as well as their concerns about a nuclear catastrophe. translation: my working day is a constant stress. _ there was shelling of the nitrogen oxygen station, which caused the fire. by some miracle, the people working there survived. soldiers are walking everywhere with weapons and everyone is actually kept at gunpoint. they back up these pictures, which appear to show russian troops using the buildings as a base. and then there's the daily shelling of the site, as well as the city of enerhodar which it sits in. ukraine and russia continue to blame each other.

how dangerous is it currently as far as you are aware, what's your assessment? translation: the occupiers have been shelling the area around _ the nuclear power plant. people have been seriously injured. infrastructure has been damaged. power and water supplies have been interrupted. at a meeting of the united nations security council, a repeat... the united states reiterates the importance... ..for international inspectors to be let in. there are also calls for russian troops to leave, which moscow did not agree to. and so, fears over europe's biggest nuclear power plant continue. translation: the russian military have been intimidating staff, - kidnapping and blackmailing. i'm concerned about the psychological state of the technicians. the workers are making very important decisions while managing a nuclear reactor. this area has seen more intense fighting in recent weeks. there's still, though, very little movement, suggesting the zaporizhzhia plant will continue to slip from ukraine's control.

james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. some breaking news to bring you now regarding the author, sir salman rushdie, according to the ap news agency he has been attacked as he was about to give a lecture in new york. it was witnessed by an associated press reporter, as a man stormed the stage at the chateau choir institution and began punching and possibly even trying to stab salman rushdie as he was being introduced at the event. you will remember that salman rushdie was subject to a religious decree in the late 1980s. his book, the satanic verses, which some people believed

to be blasphemous due to its depiction of the prophet muhammad. salman rushdie was in hiding for about nine years, and even six years ago there was still references being made that call for him to be put to death because of that blasphemous book. we don't know if this has anything to do without, but we are hearing is that he has been attacked, punched, perhaps even an attempted stabbing as he was introduced to an event in new york. we will bring you more details as we get them. —— chautauqua institution in new york. plans have been announced to create the equivalent of 7,000 more nhs hospital beds and to boost staff numbers, as the health service in england prepares for the pressure it's expected to face this winter. it follows figures yesterday which showed one of the worstjuly performances for a&e

departments in england. our health reporter katharine da costa explained the background to today's announcement. you only have to look at those figures from yesterday, from nhs england, that showed the worst performance for a&e on record. the average response times for ambulances to get to heart attack and stroke patients was nearly an hour. and now health leaders are preparing for what could be a particularly bad winter, when they think covid and flu could be in circulation together. government advisers have warned that high numbers of extra beds may be needed. the fact that a winter plan is being set out in august possibly highlights just how busy they think it's going to be. the detail is, 7,000 more beds, and that will be a mixture of temporary units set up in hospitals and also caring

for more people in their own home — so called virtual wards. it also includes trying to speed up discharging patients. so last month about ao% of people were able to leave when they were medically fit to do so because there is this shortage in social care. there's the plan to recruit more call handlers for 111 and 999, the autumn vaccination programme for both covid and flu, and there will be a bit more support for mental health services and gp surgeries. one of the biggest challenges is having enough staff to do it all. there is an effort to recruit more from overseas but that takes time, and in the meantime there's more than 100,000 vacancies within the nhs. the nhs confederation, which represents health trusts, has welcomed the plan but they're calling for more detail to be made available. is there going to be any more additional funding going into this winter? and how our health and social services going to work more closely together to try and free up these hospital beds? they're urgently calling on the government to provide more support, including pay for social care. the former us president, donald trump, has said he will not oppose the release of legal documents relating to the search of his home earlier this week. the usjustice department has asked a florida court to allow the search warrant to be made public. it may reveal the nature

of a possible criminal case against mr trump. here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. the sprawling estate that donald trump calls home, the scene of a monday morning visit by federal agents with a search warrant. nearby streets were soon occupied by supporters of the former president, protesting at his treatment by the justice department. senior republicans chimed in, demanding that the authorities justify their decision. now, that's exactly what america's attorney general is attempting to do. merrick garland said he was asking a judge to authorise the release of the search warrant, along with a receipt left at the trump property for what was taken away. the department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt, in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter. mr garland confirmed he personally

approved the decision to seek a search warrant, but he couldn't say why. much of our work is, by necessity, conducted out of the public eye. we do that to protect the constitutional rights of all americans and to protect the the integrity of our investigations. federal law, long—standing department rules, and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time. thank you very much. the search is believed to be part of an investigation into the handling of presidential papers that were removed from the white house when donald trump left office. the washington post newspaper is reporting that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items fbi agents were searching for. there's been no official confirmation of this, or anything to do with the search. in a statement, donald trump said not only would he not oppose the release of documents related to what he called the break—in of his home in floria, he was encouraging their

immediate release. he added he believed they had been drawn up by possible future political opponents who had a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking him. by any standards, this has been an extraordinary week in america. this saga is far from over but many of the former president's supporters who believe his claim that he's the victim of a witchhunt think it will increase the likelihood that donald trump will run for office again and may even boost his chances in 202a. peter bowes, bbc news. stargazers across the uk were last night treated to the fourth and final supermoon of the year. a supermoon is a full or new moon that appears when it's at the closest point to earth. you don't need any special equipment to view it — apart from a camera to take amazing images like these.

the next supermoon is expected in july next year. far too hot for a lot of people. let's find out what the weather forecast has in store with elizabeth. temperatures are steadily rising today again. there is still that met office weather warning in place for extreme heat, and that stretches as far north as the pennines, into eastern wales as well. it is valid until the end of the day on sunday. the peak of the heat likely to be tomorrow. for the rest of today, we have already seen temperatures of 3a celsius across parts of west sussex. temperatures rising into the mid 30s perhaps for many. there is some clout out towards eastern areas in scotland. a lot colder than it was yesterday. it could be some low cloud and mist tomorrow morning as well, some

temperatures not dropping overnight below 19 or 20 celsius. a warm start to the day tomorrow, uncomfortable for sleeping. temperatures could peak as high as 37 celsius towards the west of london, perhaps into tomorrow afternoon it will turn cooler next week.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared across parts of england. the announcement covers parts of the south west, southern, eastern and central england, after prolonged dry weather. there's extreme heat elsewhere in europe too — firefighters are tackling huge blazes in france and rivers are drying up in germany.

the author salman rushdie has been attacked on stage in new york state, witnesses say they saw a man ran on stage and punched and stabbed him. the uk's economy shrank between april and june, according to official estimates. england's health chiefs say they will create an extra 7,000 hospital beds this winter to deal with pressures on healthcare as part of a plan by nhs england. two of england's greatest midfielders go head—to—head for the first time tomorrow a managers when steven gerrard's aston villa take on frank lampard's everton in the premier league's lunchtime kick—off. gerrard and lampard were rivals for many years throughout their playing careers with liverpool and chelsea and, of course, team—mates for england. i think you could see very early on, when i started sharing a dressing room with him, he would stay in the

game in some capacity, so it's no surprise to see in.— surprise to see in. very similar osition surprise to see in. very similar position to _ surprise to see in. very similar position to myself. _ surprise to see in. very similar position to myself. to - surprise to see in. very similar. position to myself. to progress, move forward. but in terms of competing against each other, whether on the pitch or as a manager, you have two people that will be desperate to be on the winning end of it, that will never change. it certainly won't from a touchline point of view. natalie aspinall will become only the third woman to officiate in the premier league when she's the assistant referee at wolves v fulham. she's been promoted after six years in the efl, but she admitted to the bbc sport it's been a challenge to make the breakthrough. trying to get to the premier league was something i was told i could not do, i could not be involved in professional football. it's something i've worked hard to do, so i think, when i was given the opportunity and i knew i had a good season, for me, it was about controlling the controllable and making sure i presented myself in the best way in the interview and making sure i was prepared for the fitness test

and i knew that, as long as i done all of the things i needed to be the best version of myself, then the rest is up to the pgmol. great britain have won their first medal in the track cycling at the european championships in munich. it came in the men's team pursuit where rhys britton, oliver wood, charlie tanfield and kian emadi managed to hold off germany in the bronze medal race to get onto the podium. france beat denmark to take the gold. in the women's team sprint, there was a nasty crash during the british team's heat. sophie capewell and emma finucane went down towards the end of the first lap. thankfully, both riders were able to get up and leave the track themselves. still at the europeans in munich, and britain's bmx olympic champion charlotte worthington crashed out in the freestyle. after qualifying for the final with the best score in the heats, she crashed early in both of her subsequent runs, finishing last out of the eight riders. fellow briton sasha pardoe was sixth. the czech republic's ivita

miclacova won the gold. sometimes this sport is a test of confidence. if you hold back, you might look back and wonder and always question, i went all in again. but like you say, it is sport and going all in is what it is in the sport, for an adrenaline, and thatis the sport, for an adrenaline, and that is where you have to handle. —— what. over at the rowing lake, it's been a busy morning for great britain. tom george and ollie wynne—griffith will hope to claim a medal tomorrow after they cruised through to the final of the men's pair. and in the quad sculls, an issue with an oar meant they had their work cut out to qualify for tomorrow's final which they somehow managed, the quartet regrouping to finish third. in the women's double skulls semifinal, kyra edwards celebrated her birthday as she and saskia budgett finished

third to reach the medal final. and paralympian benjamin pritchard was in fine form as he comfortably won his singles sculls race. that's all the sport for now. more now on our top story — drought officially declared in eight areas of southern, central and eastern england. the ban means you won't be allowed to use a hosepipe to water the garden, wash your car or fill up a pool. earlier i spoke to professor liz bentley, the president of the royal meterological society, and started off by asking her about some of the practical ways people can save water. so, as individuals, i guess it's reducing our demand for water. the hosepipe bans clearly are there to to take some action because,

you know, using water in a hose, you can use a lot more water than if you were filling up watering cans to water the garden or a bucket to wash the car, for example. and in the house, we can make some changes. so maybe having a quick shower instead of a bath and not letting the water run, you know, when you're brushing your teeth, and we can use grey water as well. so, you know, washing up water, bath water to water the garden as well. so there's some subtle changes that we can make that will have an impact. yes. you need buckets at the ready, don't you? i find there's about four litres of water that i can run off my tap before the water gets hot. so, if i catch that, it doesn't go down the drain. yeah. so put that in buckets, pans, take it outside, water the garden, you know, use it elsewhere in the house. yeah. i mean, there's some kind of, you know, sensible things that we can do as individuals really, to reduce that demand. but that's why the water companies are putting the hosepipe bans in place really to kind of enforce some of these behaviour changes.

but we can all make some changes i'm sure. but what about longer term then? i mean, yes, that's the individual level, but a lot of this is to do with infrastructure, isn't it? yeah. sol mean, again, if you look ahead, i mean, we're seeing our climate change here in the uk. we're seeing more heatwave events. they're becoming more frequent and more intense when they happen. we're going to see more droughts in future. so the projections show that we're going to get hotter, driersummers but warmer, wetter winters. so, from an infrastructure perspective, we need to think about how we can capture that rainfall during the times of year, you know, during wintertime when we get a surplus of rainfall and we can keep it for when we get these deficiencies in rainfall, the deficits, and also thinking about moving water around the country. and, again, you look at the satellite images of the uk at the moment, it's the south—east, the southern part of the uk and eastern england that are really affected by this drought. further north—west, you know, there's plenty of water — if we can

actually think about how we move that water around, where there is a surplus to where there's a deficit, that's clearly going to help as well. we're seeing, aren't we, firefighters in parts of europe, notably france today, having to cope with wildfires? what are the conditions like here in comparison? might we see the same? yeah, wildfires, i think, are a real concern over the next couple of days. and the met office have a severe fire warning in place for most of southern england, eastern england as well. that's partly because of the drought. so the ground is just tinder dry, but also because of the hot weather. and, you know, we can see fires being sparked off. we saw that injuly when we had the last heatwave. lots of wildfires being set off. i think we just need to be much more vigilant over the next couple of days. and if this drought continues into the rest of the summer and autumn, again, we need to be vigilant. so, you know, a lot of supermarkets are banning the temporary barbecues that often can cause some of these wildfires. you know, just being very careful

with what we do with cigarette butts and things like that really help to just be much more vigilant, because i think wildfires are a real concern, particularly over the next couple of days while we're in this amber heat, extreme heat warning. earlier, i spoke to rob thompson, professor of meteorology at the university of reading, about a video he posted explaining why heavy rain might be dangerous after drought. the demonstration that you've seen, seen by a lot of people now, that video just shows you how the difference between normal and wet soil and grass, how that lets in water compared to the dry, parched, absolutely baked compressed ground that we have over basically the whole of southern england. wales really. we've seen some of these satellite images and so on. it's just yellow now. we're not green and pleasant land any more, we're yellow, and that

doesn't absorb water very well at all. and the demonstration in the video shows really clearly the water just sits on the surface. now, that will matter if we get heavy rain because it won't soak in like it would normally do. it will sit on the top, it will roll off down hills and so on. and that leads to a real danger of flash flooding. and we see this happen all over the world at other times after drought, once there's heavy rain, then you get flooding. yeah, there was a video that did the rounds recently about what happened in the death valley when it started to rain. and it was torrents of torrents of rain. why did you carry out this experiment now? i mean, you did it at the university just a few metres away from where you're sitting. i did it on monday afternoon, and i vaguely discussed it with a few friends over a lunch conversation of how big will the effect be? when i did it, i wasn't sure how big the effect would be. i'm a meteorologist, i'm not a soil scientist and so on. and this was just a very quick way of doing the demonstration. i had an opportunity to do it. our university garden is right outside my window.

and so i went out, took that opportunity, and i happened to film it as much because i was intending to send it to the friends that i'd had the discussion with. and then, once i'd done it, i'd seen how powerful and obvious the effect was. we made the video that has since been released and it's gone viral. so it clearly has sort of struck a chord with people and helped them understand the danger that heavy rain might have. where did you find the lush grass and the slightly drier grass? because there's plenty of the parched stuff about, as you say. as you say, finding parched grass isn't exactly tricky at the moment, but finding the lush stuff — that was the most difficult part of the whole experiment, realistically, because the university garden right outside, it's got a couple of flower beds that have been reasonably regularly watered. there's a little bit of grass that i managed to find sort of towards the edge of a flower bed, but still in a good enough position to be proper grass. it's not like the flower bed —

that is the bit i've used. and there's a couple of different points that i got, one which has sort of been watered occasionally and it's much more normal summer kind of level and one that obviously had quite a regular watering probably because of the type of plants in the bed that absolutely needed it. but really it was just the case of searching the gardens for a good spot. you've had a bit of kickback, though, from some people on on social media. i mean, some people let's deal with the sort of scientific objections, shall we say, some people are saying, well, the grass is flat, there isn't as much air within the grass itself, and that will make a difference. so what sort of adjustments might you make if you were doing this again? because there are objections in the sort of process and the methodology, aren't there? absolutely. and i think the most important thing is this was never a rigorous scientific study. this was a demonstration. it shows a well—known effect. and for a start, if i was doing it

properly, i wouldn't do it once. i'd do it lots of times and repeat it, measuring the times. so that one important thing. i think, if you were to do it properly, you'd want to try and rule out any dangers of the effect of the grass rather than the dead grass and so on. but using bare soil and so on isn't fair because that's not what the real ground is like. i think what you'd need is sort of a cylinder rather than a cup. you'd have to hammer it into the ground so it goes in. can't really do that in our university gardens without upsetting the gardeners. and then you could fill that water with an absolutely controlled amount of water, not flipping a cup upside down and trying to spill as little as possible. i think there's a lot of things that you could do that would definitely make the experiment much more scientifically rigorous. but what i did was really an experiment that i think part of the real power is that anybody can go outside and do this experiment in their own garden. you just need a cup or a glass and something to try and seal it,

a piece of paper orjust plastic sheets or something like that that you can quickly swipe out. what i used was a document wallet. so it's simple. but some people have suggested that you kind of faked this in some way, that you'd stacked the odds against the very parched grass. you know, they don't like the outcome. they don't like what you've demonstrated. yeah, too right. there's definitely people out there. i've been accused of waxing the grass, which was an interesting one. it was a quick experiment, and i can tell you that the three that are in the video are the first three goes i had doing it properly, i had one test run or i literally did itjust outside, not on a decent piece of grass, just to check whether my cup would even work, basically. so you saw the three genuine ones. there's a few people suggesting it's time lapsed, for instance, you could check that one isn't true because the bubbles all go up at the same speed on all three cups.

well, in yorkshire, after weeks of high temperatures and low rainfall, there's to be a hosepipe ban for the first time in 27 years. the ban means you won't be allowed to use a hosepipe to water the garden, wash your car or fill up a pool. it starts on the 26th of august. paul hudson has been speaking to yorkshire water director neil dewis. well, neil, reservoirs like this were full in march. how have we got to where we're at? well, paul, we spoke injuly and we said then it had been an incredibly dry spring and it was looking like a very dry summer. since then, we've seen a heatwave which has set all new records, and that's happened in yorkshire as well as across the country. and we've seen that continue over the last few weeks to the point where we are now, which is just below 50% in the reservoirs. do hosepipe bans actually make a difference? well, we have seen other companies in the south have brought hosepipe bans in and we have seen that 10% reductions in their demand. so we know that yorkshire customers

have responded very well to our last pleas and we hope that in this new request to put in a hosepipe ban, which is part of our drought management plan, that customers will respond and that will help us preserve stocks and get us into the winter when we'll hopefully then see a good recharge and we can start to then lift the hosepipe ban as soon as we see some significant rainfall. now, many viewers say that we shouldn't be in this situation because you should have spent more money on sorting out leaks. what would you say to them? well, we've been achieving our leakage target for the last two years. this year, we're on target to achieve our leakage target. over the last ten years, we've spent £500 million. and we're at the forefront of some leakage technology, including satellites. at the moment, we've got additional gangs on working 2a seven. we're fixing around 200 leaks a week at the moment, trying to get all visible leaks done within a8 hours. but, of course, customers will still see some leaks, and we're prioritising those and getting around them as fast as we can. what happens if it doesn't rain

this autumn and winter? that's exactly why we're asking now for customers to take action. when we look at our model, and we have to model forward, we don't know and can't be certain that it will rain. so that's why we take action now. that allows us then to apply for drought permits and drought orders, which mean we can reduce some compensation flows from reservoirs. it means we can abstract more water from rivers during the winter, and that will all allow us to sustain water supply into next year, but also help the recovery. and when we see some rainfall, that willjust speed up the process and will enable us to lift the hosepipe ban more quickly. thousands of train drivers who are members of the aslef union will stage a strike across nine rail companies tomorrow in a dispute about pay. there will be an extremely limited service, or none at all, on services including great western, greater anglia and lner with operators warning disruption may continue into sunday. our business correspondent, caroline davies, gave us more

detail on the action. let's go through exactly which firms and companies are involved. so ava nti west coast, crosscountry, greater anglia, great western railway, hull trains, lner, london 0verground, southeastern and west midlands trains as well. now, of course, we've seen strikes already during the course of this summer. this is the second time that train drivers have gone on strike. previously, it was at the end ofjuly. now, aslef, who is the train drivers' union — they say that what they are pushing for is that they want to have a pay, a wage that reflects the cost of living and that terms and conditions need to be protected. now, the rail company say that they do want to give a pay rise to train drivers but that they need to have reforms in place to be able to pay for those pay rises as well. now, in terms of the disruption that we're going to expect, of course, those companies — some of them will have absolutely no services at all. some of them will be very limited. and, in fact, there is some suggestion there could be a knock—on impact as well on some other train services.

so the advice as always is to check before you travel. seven uk cities have been announced as the contenders to host next year's eurovision song contest. the shortlist, whittled down from 20 places that expressed an interest, is birmingham, glasgow, leeds, liverpool, manchester, newcastle and sheffield. the uk will host next may after coming second in this year's contest — organisers decided it wouldn't be possible to stage it in the winning country, ukraine. our arts correspondent, david sillito, has more. eurovision 1960, presented by katie boyle. good evening, ladies and gentlemen. on behalf of the bbc, i welcome you all to the fifth annual eurovision song contest. the uk has a long history of hosting the contest. edinburgh, harrogate, birmingham, all over. the question is where next? there are seven cities on the shortlist. the shortlist was

announced on radio 2. birmingham, glasgow, leeds, manchester, newcastle, sheffield and liverpool. that's it! that was really tense. they were more than pleased, especially one local eurovision star who came close to winning in 1993. i am over the moon! my fingers are so crossed that it comes to liverpool. we tick all the boxes. we have the arena, the beautiful city, everything's on the doorstep. we are going to have the biggest party ever. liverpool does has a musical heritage. there is romance to their bid. but the winner will be determined by practicalities. these days, eurovision is huge. glasgow has proved its ability to host major events with the recent cop international climate conference but the fact so many cities have the facilities to be in the running says something.

it's a great sign for the north. a lot of tourism in the uk is london centric and the fact there are so many northern cities on the shortlist is a good sign that people are seeing the north for the tourism that it can bring. and whoever is finally chosen in the autumn, that's only the beginning. modern eurovision is rather larger than it was when the uk last hosted in 1998. i asked steve holden, host of the official eurovision song contest podcast, how the final nine were decided. they would have looked at how adaptable each city was to hosting eurovision, they would have looked at whether they could notjust put on a show but put on everything else that was necessary that goes with eurovision, so a big press centre,

a broadcast centre, you have to have the ability for a0 countries to get to each city and for it to be easily accessible. interestingly, one of the criteria going forward to get eurovision next year is to prove that you can basically showcase ukrainian culture, whether that be music or art or anything else that is ukrainian because essentially ukraine won this year and sam ryder said it best, he said it is basically ukraine's party, so next year's context will be this hybrid mix of british culture and quirks and ideals, and ukraine as well. so whichever city wants to host it will have to show that they can put that on offer as well, as well as all the infrastructure and the ability to welcome fans from around the world, through hotels, airports, transport links as well,

it's a real mix of qualities. there are a lot of logistics as well before you even get to thinking about what the show will look like, but it will be quite unusual because it is that mix of the uk hosting, ukraine being the team that won last year. and that's why i think it will be so interesting next year — they have already hinted the logo will be a mix of uk and ukraine, but fans are wondering, will there be a ukrainian host in the mix, will the interval act be ukrainian or british or both? how will ukraine be showcased? some of the cities on offer that have got through to the final seven have links, sheffield for example is twinned with donetsk, manchester has the biggest ukrainian population outside london in the uk, show their links to ukraine.

this is not a british contest — britain and the uk have so much experience of hosting eurovision, ukraine has more experience of hosting it recently, but it will be a challenge to get the balance right as well, to really honour the fact that the group that won this year were the winners, it wasn't the uk, so i think it's really an exciting prospect. so what happens now and when do we find out? we will find out sometime in the autumn, they are being loose with the date, but the ebu and the bbc will have lots of discussions because the ebu are the gatekeepers of eurovision, they will have a look at which city has the best proposal, the best bid, and there are no more rounds after this, this is the final round, they will go through all the criteria, having a suitable venue,

making sure, if there are acts due to perform next year, when they want to put eurovision on, potentially they can be moved, all these little bits and pieces, they will probably do it in a huge document and the bbc and the ebu will go through it and say, you are the one for it, and it will be announced in autumn. september, octobertime, september, october time, who knows? some breaking news, the author salman rushdie was prepared —— attacked after he prepared to give the lecture, he fell to the ground after being punched or stabbed, his condition is not known, his 1998 novel drew condemnation from sub—muslims about his depiction of the prophet muhammad. —— some muslims. now it's time for a look at the weather. it has been very dry recently as we

have been hearing, some spots in southern england have not seen any rain at all for the last a0 days. odiham in hampshire has not seen any rain for a2 days and the isle of wight none the 39, rain for many as we head into the start of next week but in the form of showers, they will be hit or miss, many places could just stay dry and they could even be flash flooding. eventually, fresh feeling ebutt the heat hangs on the most of this weekend, still a met office weather warning for extreme heat and there could even be flash flooding. eventually, fresh feeling ebutt the heat hangs on for most of this weekend, still a met office weather warning for extreme heatin office weather warning for extreme heat in place until sunday, stretching as far north as the pennines and wales as well. temperatures have been rising steadily again today, it is feeling hot, not as hot as yesterday for eastern scotland and aberdeenshire, a big drop in temperature here. still cooler cloudy conditions for the north west of scotland, temperatures reached 3a celsius in

west sussex. an overnight it will feel warmer than it was last night pretty much across the board, still low cloud, mist and fog that could lap on shore at times, but many temperatures will drop into the mid to high teens, we might see a tropical night for the isle of wight, temperatures did not drop below 20 celsius, so a head start on those temperatures tomorrow morning and it's likely to be the peak of the heat tomorrow as well. clouds the heat tomorrow as well. clouds the eastern facing coasts, warm and sunny across most of mainland scotland. temperatures 36 locally, somewhere in central southern england even into the west midlands in west london. but things start to change on sunday, low pressure towards the south, it moves northwards, sending unstable air, sparking off a few thunderstorms, not just on sparking off a few thunderstorms, notjust on sunday but also further south perhaps as we head into the start of next week, so monday,

tuesday and wednesday, the chance of wet weather. most of those thunderstorms will be out towards the north and west, the heat and dry weather hangs on the southern england and wales and as you can see from these temperatures, london still 36 on sunday and 32 on monday but the air turns fresh are just about everywhere as we head through to the middle part of the week, and heavy, thundery showers.

this is bbc news. the headlines... millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared across parts of england. the announcement covers parts of the south west, southern, eastern and central england, — after prolonged dry weather. this is an exceptional summer, and we could all think about how we use our water. in fact, even think about where it comes from. when you turn on a tap, have a shower, that water is coming from the environment, from rivers like here. author salman rushdie is attacked on stage at an event in new york state. the uk's economy shrank between april and june according to new figures — economists are still warning of recession later this year.