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tv   BBC News at Six  BBC News  September 21, 2022 6:00pm-6:31pm BST

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today at six — the government steps in to help businesses with their soaring energy bills this winter. firms like this will benefit from huge government support that mean bills will be cut by around half their expected levels to try to keep companies afloat. there's some welcome bits but there's a lot really unclear. until i get my final bill and my final quote and i know what it is going to be, i can't relax. schools, hospitals, charities will also get help. we'll be looking at the numbers. also on the programme... russia's president announces plans to call up 300,000 reservists to help its military campaign in ukraine — and he issues this threat to the west...
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translation: if the territorial integrity of our country is - threatened, then to defend russia and our people, we shall, of course, use all means at our disposal. i am not bluffing. donald trump and three of his children face a fraud suit after investigation into their business in new york. the father of 14 year—old molly russell who took her own life after viewing harmful content online — tells an inquest she'd been able to access material from the ghetto of the online world. warming upfor warming up for his final farewell, the tennis legend roger federer tells us about his plans after his last match in london this weekend. coming up on the bbc news channel, it has emerged that the pilot of the plane that crashed killing the footballer emiliano sala had earlier told a friend that he was worried the plane was "dodgy."
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good evening. billions of pounds of further support has been announced by the government — to support businesses with soaring energy bills. this will almost half the amount they would have paid for their bills. the cost of gas and electricity that industry pays is to be capped for six months in an attempt to stop companies from going bust. hospitals, schools and places like community halls and churches will also receive the support. the plans are on top of the £150 billion already announced to help households with their bills for two years. industry groups have welcomed today's package, though warned that further help may be needed after the winter. our business editor simonjack has more. red hot higher energy prices have threatened to have a chilling effect on the uk economy. today, businesses and other nondomestic users got details of a six month cut in wholesale
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energy costs this winter. annette dolan says she welcomes a cut to the wholesale part of her bill but wants clarity on other uncapped charges. there is some welcome bits but also a lot really unclear and until i get my final bill and my final quote, and i know what it is going to be, i can't relax. it's really worrying. so, how is this going to work? the government will cap the wholesale price of gas and electricity from october the 1st to march the 31st next year. for example, prices for electricity are expected to be around £600 per unit this winter, a cap of £211 will be applied. the government will fund the difference with a similar discount for gas. other costs like standing charges are not capped, but the government hopes it could mean final bills are roughly half what they would have been this winter. the programme will be reviewed in january to assess which sectors need extended support beyond april. we've got 5,000 staff... the prime minister has already
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hinted that hospitality may qualify for that, which would be welcomed by pub owners like fuller's. i think this was looking very bad for the hospitality sector overall. i've already seen pubs and restaurants start to close midweek and close down permanently. i think this will be a lifeline for so many businesses to enable them to battle through the autumn and the winter period. now what we need to make sure it is the consumer still comes out. the government's plan to revert a nasty recession had two parts. the first, two weeks ago, hold down household bills so people's disposable income isn't totally wiped out. and part two today, make sure businesses don't have to close down and lay off staff from their own crippling energy bills. but there is no such thing as a free lunch, the combination of those two packages could present future taxpayers with a bill easily in excess of £100 billion. the government insists this is a simple, speedy and significant response that can be altered as required.
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what we needed now, immediately, quickly, was something simple that would give people confidence through the winter. what we will have is a review in three months�* time which will allow us to see that we are giving support in the right places and that we can ensure continued support if that's necessary, is directed at where it needs to go. the labour party said that businesses still didn't have enough clarity to plan for the future. if you're a business and you need to be able to plan on any kind of reasonable time frame, you are not getting any of the certainty that you should get from an announcement of this significance. so, i'm a bit worried about people still not knowing what the future will hold for them. this is intervention on the scale of the covid furlough scheme. and it's not guaranteed to prevent recession, but, like then, the alternative may have been a severe economic slump. simon jack, bbc news. the government expects the scheme for businesses to cost tens of billions of pounds — although the exact figure is not yet known, and as we've heard ministers
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have already announced a £150 billion plan to help households with their bills for two years. so how will it all be paid for? here's our economics editor faisal islam. the cost of today's energy plan for businesses is, says the government, in the tens of billions of pounds. 25 billion says one top energy analyst, a bit more, £40 billion, according to the economic thinktank the institute for fiscal studies. it's actually quite difficult to work out as it depends on gas prices and the structure of people's bills, but that gives a sense of scale — almost half the pandemic furlough scheme. let's add on some of the other announcements we have had. £60 billion for the support to households for a year. and the tax cuts liz truss has promised, could leave a hole of about £35 billion.
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the costs will be borrowed, are not paid for upfront. we have had no numbers and forecasts which is how we normally work this out. this is where borrowing was thought to be going at the last official forecast in march. now take a look at the latest reduction from the iss. borrowing is higher in every single year —— ifs. they think it will be more than double that, and all this borrowing is costing more as interest rates rise. and this adds to government debt, which the government pledged to reduce earlier this year. you can see it in this dotted line going a little lower. but with these new announcement, you can see that government debt is predicted to rise, and there are other options — further cuts to government spending. borrowing will rise and continue to do so, notjust because of the
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energy package but also because of the ongoing tax cuts and the slow economy. all this comes at a time when the interest rate on government borrowing has trebled. so the hope is in the next year this will help businesses and households to avoid a major recession and beyond that the government thinks it can grow the economy much faster. either way, it is forecast to borrow hundreds of billions of pounds more in the coming years as a result. sophie. there's more updates, news and analysis on bbc news 0nline — that's bbc.co.uk/news — and by using the bbc news app. vladimir putin has announced the call up of reservists. more than 300,000 could be called up.
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he confirmed there would be a partial mobilisation of reservists to bolster troops already in ukraine — with up to 300,000 reservists being called up. mr putin also warned of further retaliation to what he called "nuclear blackmail" by the west. before threatening to use nuclear weapons. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. under pressure in ukraine, russia's president has chosen the path that is most familiar to him — escalation. translation: to defend our motherland, its sovereignty l and territorial integrity, for the security of our people, and on the liberated territories, it is necessary to support the proposal of the defence ministry and chief of general staff to announce a partial mobilisation of military reservists. seven months after invading ukraine, the kremlin is calling up 300,000 reservists to support what it still calls the "special military operation".
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and from russia's commander in chief, this threat to the west... translation: our country, too, has i different weapons of destruction. l in some cases, they are more modern than those of nato. if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, then to defend russia and our people we shall, of course, use all means at our disposal. i am not bluffing. so, why the threat, and why now? well, in a few days time, the kremlin will try to annex a whole swathe of ukrainian territory. vladimir putin's sabre rattling sends a message to ukraine and to the west — "don't attack. "don't try to take those areas back." as news of mobilisation spread, there were reports that flights out
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of russia were selling out fast amid concern that men are fighting age would soon not be allowed to leave the country. "i'm worried this is just the start and that there "could be full mobilisation", sergei tells me. but margarita says, "if our leaders demand this, "we must do our duty. i trust putin 100%." later, the president met his defence minister. they have decided on mobilisation because they are short of troops. so short, that in prison camps across russia this mercenary chief, a close putin ally, has been recruiting inmates to fight in ukraine, promising them their freedom if they serve six months with his group, wagner, and survive. when vilena went to visit her husband in prison a few days ago, she was told the husband,
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a convicted murderer, wasn't there. translation: | said, - "what do you mean not here?" "he has been here 13 years and suddenly he's gone?" they told me they had no more information. a few days later he called me from a ukrainian number. i know for sure that my husband is in ukraine. even if he agreed to go there, he was sent illegally. sending convicts into combat is against the law. now, vladimir putin will send reservists to ukraine. this was his invasion. this is his war with the west, and he's determined not to be defeated. steve rosenberg, bbc news. this afternoon, president biden called the conflict in ukraine a brutal needless war and said it was "chosen by one man". so how will the the rest of the world respond? 0ur diplomatic corrrespondent
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james landale is here. earlier this month ukraine launched a counter offensive against russian forces and it's been successful, ukrainian troops have taken back some territory. shown here in purple, you can see russian forces have been pushed back here in the south in kherson, but most significantly up here in the north in kharkiv region and it is thought this is what's prompted president putin's escalation. part of that is to stage so—called "referendums" in the russian occupied zones in these four regions of ukraine. president putin wants to ask people if they want to join russia, the idea being that if these regions are annexed by moscow, that would allow him to claim any further ukrainian offensive would be an attack on russia itself. this is not an argument the west will accept.
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the kremlin is organising a sham referendum. this war is about extinguishing ukraine's right to exist, plain and simple. the second part of the escalation is mr putin's hint that he might be ready to use short—range battlefield nuclear weapons, saying he would use all means at his disposal to protect russia's territorial integrity. but how credible is this threat? i think russian nuclear use on the battlefield in ukraine is pretty unlikely. although it's a worrying prospect, it would be a really significant number of weapons that would be required to materially alter the balance of forces and fundamentally such a large use would spread radiation not only over ukraine but into russia, as well, and it would also alienate russia's few remaining allies. what is clear is that russian forces are suffering losses and mr putin mightjust want to buy some time, as winter comes and the energy crisis bites, but there is no sign yet of western or ukrainian resolve
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weakening, even in the face of these new threats. let's go live to new york because liz truss has just announced five british nationals being held in ukraine have been released. 0ur political editor, chris mason is there, what more can you tell us? fix, there, what more can you tell us? statement in the last couple of minutes from liz truss but she says hugely welcome news, five british nationals held by russian backed proxies in eastern ukraine are being safely returned. ending months of uncertainty and suffering for them and theirfamilies. the uncertainty and suffering for them and their families. the statement goes on, i thank president zelensky of ukraine for his efforts to secure the release of these detainees and also saudi arabia for their assistance. russia must end the ruthless exploitation of prisoners of war and civilian detainees for political ends. so welcome news for
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britain and for the new prime minister, who arrived here at the united nationsjust minister, who arrived here at the united nations just a minister, who arrived here at the united nationsjust a couple minister, who arrived here at the united nations just a couple of minutes ago for her next big meeting, that would president biden, which should be getting under way in the next couple of minutes. it is a gathering that is dominated by the war in ukraine for its obvious international and diplomatic ramifications. and as we have been reporting, its domestic implications, where lots of world leaders are having to make tough and expensive domestic decisions to prop up expensive domestic decisions to prop up businesses and households faced with this colossal rise in energy bills. there is some optimism that president putin is in a weak position, but also a fear that position, but also a fear that position, him backed into a corner may provoke him into a kind of reaction the world would not want to see. so the conversation he is still dominated by ukraine but good news as far as the prisoners are concerned. as far as the prisoners are concerned-— as far as the prisoners are concerned. , a, ,., concerned. chris mason in new york, thank yom —
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our top story this evening: energy bills for businesses will be cut by up to half their expected level this winter as part of a huge government support package. and the 20 time grand slam champion roger federer tells the bbc he wants to stay involved with tennis, after he retires from the sport this week. come up in sports day on the bbc news channel, steve clarke challenges his players to regain their momentum as scotland host ukraine in the nation's league, just three months after the visitors ended their world cup dreams. a baby is born every 5a seconds in england. the vast majority of them arrive safely. but when serious problems do occur the impact can be devastating.
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the nhs in england set aside £8 billion for compensation, after mothers and babies were harmed or died during childbirth. the bbc has looked at the official statistics and found that more than half of maternity units in england consistently fail to meet safety standards. and the health regulator says 7% of maternity units pose a high risk of avoidable harm. despite attempts to transform maternity care, the figures are worse than a few years ago. 0ur health correspondent cath burns has this report — and a warning — you may find parts of her report distressing. she was my best friend, lucy. i lost that. everything changed when lucy was 22. we used to have fun, we had banter. she always looked out for me. now, all her family wants is to have a proper conversation with her. lucy, i've got your feed. going to put yourfeed on. this is life for lucy now. she can't talk or walk. she needs 24—hour support.
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her sister zoe leads her team of carers. she also helps bring up lucy's daughter millie who is eight now. the problem started just after lucy gave birth to her. she had millie and put her onto her chest and within a few seconds lucy said to me, "just take her, take her, mum," and i could see her going. that was the last thing lucy said before she lost a huge amount of blood. shall we sing a song? # lucy, lucy, lucy... in surgery she was wrongly given an epidural, meaning she was awake. her body couldn't cope with this and the bleeding. her heart stopped, her brain is starved of oxygen, and she has been left with severe brain damage. your life has been totally transformed by this. you were just 19 when this happened? yes, a bit ofa kid. i had to grow up because i had to bring millie up.
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lucy's story shows the human cost of when a birth goes wrong but there is a financial one, as well. the family receives payments from the nhs for lucy's care. compensation is nothing to me. i would have still liked lucy normal and carry on with life as it was, have a happy life. 0ne baby is born every 5a seconds in england and the vast majority do arrive safely. i'm happy because i've got my little boy in my arms, that's the most important thing. there were almost 600,000 births in england last year. a small number, just over 1200, ended in compensation claims. that is 12% of all cases made against the nhs in england. but maternity mistakes are expensive, so the nhs expects this area to account for 60% of the money it will end up paying out the problems that happened last year. which means those claims will over time come to almost £8 billion.
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to give you an idea of what that £8 billion could be worth, it is about four times the annual salary of all maternity doctors, nurses and midwives in england. if we invest in maternity services now, the compensation costs will go down, but actually the most important thing is that women and families won't have the poor care and outcomes, the devastating outcomes that we all know about. the government says it wants the nhs to be the best place in the world to give birth and has invested more than £200 million in maternity care. we want to make sure that babies and mums are cared for safely, and if we get it right first time those claims will reduce. meanwhile, lucy's family are left rebuilding their lives. i will probably get married one day but kids... the thought goes through your mind, like, will it happen to you?
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danger is my fear now because i'm always thinking, well, if i injure myself, that's another one down. catherine burns, bbc news. donald trump and three of his adult children have been accused of fraud by the state of new york. the lawsuit alleges that the trump 0rganisation engaged in "numerous" acts of fraud and misrepresentation between 2011 and 2021. the former president has denied any wrongdoing. 0ur north ameria editor, sarah smith is in new york. the new york attorney general is accusing donald trump, along with donald junior, ivanka and eric trump are falsely exaggerating how much he was worth by billions of dollars in order to persuade banks to lend the money at preferential rates and reduced taxes. claiming you have money you do not have its not the art of the deal she said, it is the
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art of the deal she said, it is the art of the steel. for instance, donald trump is accused of claiming that his manhattan apartment was worth more than it actually was by billions of dollars, by claiming it was actually three times the size it really is. donald trump has responded already on social media accusing the new york attorney general of a racist witchhunt and say she has her own political agenda. he was interviewed by investigators in this case a few weeks ago and that he refused to answer questions, invoking his right not to answer more than 400 times. this is a civil suit, so there cannot be anyjail sentences, but the attorney general says she believes she has got evidence that both state and federal laws have also been violated. sarah smith, many thanks. the father of molly russell, the 14—year—old who took her own life five years ago after being exposed to harmful content online, has told an inquest into her death that he was shocked
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when he discovered what she'd been looking at online. he said it was only after her death he realised she had been accessing posts concerning anxiety and suicide. 0ur correspondent angus crawford is at the inquest in north london. for the first time the hearing was shown some of molly's content she had been accessing online and also revealed it was a secret twitter account. the family are happy to share it, but you may, and i say this as a warning, find some of this report distressing.— this as a warning, find some of this report distressing. they were words mole 's report distressing. they were words moley's family _ report distressing. they were words moley's family were _ report distressing. they were words moley's family were never - report distressing. they were words moley's family were never meant i report distressing. they were words moley's family were never meant to see. . ., moley's family were never meant to see. ,, ., ., ., moley's family were never meant to see. ., ., ,., moley's family were never meant to see. ., ., ., see. some of them are so painful to read. we see. some of them are so painful to read- we just _ see. some of them are so painful to read. we just wish _ see. some of them are so painful to read. we just wish we _ see. some of them are so painful to read. we just wish we had _ see. some of them are so painful to read. we just wish we had been - see. some of them are so painful to | read. we just wish we had been able to help her. read. we just wish we had been able to help her-— to help her. june, 2017, six months before she — to help her. june, 2017, six months before she died _ to help her. june, 2017, six months before she died and _ to help her. june, 2017, six months before she died and she _ to help her. june, 2017, six months
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before she died and she wrote... it| before she died and she wrote... it sucks when you want to cry but you just sit there doing nothing. she also wrote. _ just sit there doing nothing. 51s: also wrote, how can you... how can you tell the people you love that you tell the people you love that you want to die. fist you tell the people you love that you want to die.— you tell the people you love that you want to die. at times, her mood did lift. you want to die. at times, her mood did lift- she — you want to die. at times, her mood did lift. she followed _ you want to die. at times, her mood did lift. she followed celebrities - did lift. she followed celebrities like ariana grande and she loved harry potter. but then her worries and insecurities would seem to overwhelm her. ml; and insecurities would seem to overwhelm her.— and insecurities would seem to overwhelm her. g ., , , overwhelm her. my mind has been full of suicidal thoughts _ overwhelm her. my mind has been full of suicidal thoughts for _ overwhelm her. my mind has been full of suicidal thoughts for a _ overwhelm her. my mind has been full of suicidal thoughts for a while, - of suicidal thoughts for a while, but reading harry potter and the world you created is my escape. in la, molly does seem to have been asking for help, but ian says she was just shouting into the ether, none of the celebrities she tweeted a message to her back. of course they didn't, how could they have noticed her amongst their millions of followers. celebrities, like an american influence are called salisu rose. molly idolised her and
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messaged repeatedly. i don't want to be in this world any more, molly wrote. i kind of want to die. louisa runs children fat—macro mental health charity beyond. it is runs children fat-macro mental health charity beyond.- runs children fat-macro mental health charity beyond. it is a clear call. health charity beyond. it is a clear all help. — health charity beyond. it is a clear all help. a _ health charity beyond. it is a clear call. help, a clear— health charity beyond. it is a clear call. help, a clear call— health charity beyond. it is a clear call. help, a clear call for - call. help, a clear call for support _ call. help, a clear call for support. she is saying she needs help but— support. she is saying she needs help but she sang it into a vacuous void~ _ help but she sang it into a vacuous will a _ help but she sang it into a vacuous void. a social media cannot respond, it is void. a social media cannot respond, il is not— void. a social media cannot respond, it is not equipped. it is really sad — it is not equipped. it is really sad. , it is not equipped. it is really sad, , ., it is not equipped. it is really sad. , ., ., ., , sad. salisu rose did not want to be interviewed. _ sad. salisu rose did not want to be interviewed, but _ sad. salisu rose did not want to be interviewed, but she _ sad. salisu rose did not want to be interviewed, but she did _ sad. salisu rose did not want to be interviewed, but she did send - sad. salisu rose did not want to be interviewed, but she did send thisl interviewed, but she did send this message. i interviewed, but she did send this messaue. . ., ~ ., message. i am sad i did not know her before she even _ message. i am sad i did not know her before she even did _ message. i am sad i did not know her before she even did what _ message. i am sad i did not know her before she even did what she - message. i am sad i did not know her before she even did what she did. - message. i am sad i did not know her before she even did what she did. myj before she even did what she did. my wish i _ before she even did what she did. my wish i could _ before she even did what she did. my wish i could have _ before she even did what she did. my wish i could have called _ before she even did what she did. my wish i could have called and - before she even did what she did. my wish i could have called and said, - wish i could have called and said, don't _ wish i could have called and said, don't do — wish i could have called and said, don't do this _ wish i could have called and said, don't do this.— wish i could have called and said, don't do this. things get better. it is november. _ don't do this. things get better. it is november, 2017 _ don't do this. things get better. it is november, 2017 and _ don't do this. things get better. it is november, 2017 and molly - don't do this. things get better. it. is november, 2017 and molly writes her final message.— her final message. molly tweeted, ha - - her final message. molly tweeted, happy birthday. —
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her final message. molly tweeted, happy birthday, have _ her final message. molly tweeted, happy birthday, have an _ her final message. molly tweeted, happy birthday, have an amazing l her final message. molly tweeted, i happy birthday, have an amazing day. at evening, i really don't know that she was thinking. she wouldn't be there the next morning. all i would say is, if you are in a place, a horrible place where you actually want to end your life, please reach out. reach out to those people that you love, because they would so much rather you did. this you love, because they would so much rather you did-— rather you did. as crawford, bbc news. and if you have been affected by any of the issues raised by this story, you can find help and support from organisations listed at bbc.co.uk/actionline. roger federer is waving goodbye to top—flight tennis at the rudd labour cup this weekend. he is hoping to play doubles with ruff and adele.
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but he says he will not disappear completely, he wants to stay involved with tennis in some form. he has been speaking to our sports news correspondent, laura scott. umpire: game, set| and match, federer. after 24 years and 20 grand slams, roger federer is facing the end of a career he said he could never have dreamt of. on friday night he will take to the court for one final doubles match and said playing alongside his oldest rival, rafael nadal, would be a fitting finale. i think it could be quite a unique situation if it were to happen, and for that reason it would be great, and i don't know if it will happen, but i think it could be special, special moment. federer said he's most proud of his longevity and had hoped his career go on forever but at 41 by the time has finally caught up with him. having not played since last year's wimbledon, he took up a ceremonial role this summer, and a scan a few days later left him no option but to retire, just weeks after the tennis world waved goodbye to another great, serena williams.
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it is interesting that we are almost the same age, and retiring within weeks of one another. she has had the most incredible career, as well. for me, personally, it has been a tough decision but at the same time also one i could see coming for a number of years now. having initially felt scared to face the music, federer says he is now at peace with his decision, but he knows gracing the court one final time in front of his fans will be emotional. a few weeks ago i could almost not bear the thought of how it was going to be but once i stand out on court, i almost feel like i'm looking forward to it. with retirement comes reflection. eulogies of his balletic artistry and featherlight flair, but federer doesn't want his final farewell to be one of sadness. he's hoping to bow out with a party. laura scott, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett.
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change is on the way. we have had sunshine across many parts of the country and it has been reasonably warm for this time of year. we have seen temperatures reaching the heights of 20, 201 degrees. but there are some changes to come because we are going to see cloud and rain moving down from the north—west. this is what we're looking at at the moment and finally we see the back of the cloud across east anglia, that is moving away. but this thick band of cloud in the north—west. that is a weather front and it is notjust bringing cloud it is bringing rain as well. ahead of it we have some warm air we had today with temperatures of 20 degrees or so. but this band of rain, the weather front will slip south eastwards over the next few days and around this area of high pressure we will draw down a cooler north—westerly breeze. there is the rain we have at the moment, many affecting the north—west of scotland but it will be wetter in other parts of scotland and northern ireland overnight. england and wales should
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be dry and we will see clear skies in many areas.

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