music plays. man speaks. northern syria is a war zone on the frontline

of climate change. in the cast few years, extreme heat and conflict have created a crisis. water has become the new front in this area's battle for survival. phone rings.

hasaka is a city without water. around 1 million people in this area depend on the water driven in by tankers like ahmad's. nashwa is a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city. ahmad is driving for an ngo which provides people here with free water.

the free water isn't enough to go around.

i am a kurdish film maker originally from iraq. i have come to hasaka, a city experiencing extreme heat. i have filmed in this area for years, but i have never seen the people so desperate. this region is a self—administered area within syria called rojava. born out of the chaos of the syrian civil war, people here hoped it would be a kurdish state for stateless people. but in recent years, rojava has been bombed by turkish forces. turkish president erdogan has vowed to stop the formation of what he describes as a terrorist state next to its border, saying they are targeting a turkish kurdish militant group called the pkk. the pkk have been fighting for autonomy in south—east turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since the 1980s.

i am here to find out how climate change is affecting this region, and how the conflict with turkey is impacting the people living here. man: hello. yahya ahmed has one of the toughest jobs in the city. he is a kurd and co—director of hasaka's water board. the water board tries to make sure that institutions like schools and hospitals and those most in need have water. head of laboratory osman gaddo has been testing water

here for 20 years to make sure it is safe to drink. in recent years the city's population have relied upon groundwater from wells. some residents have brought in water samples from their wells for him to test. not so long ago these problems did not exist. this is the khabour river, filmed in the 1990s flowing through hasa ka.

the rivers only flow for a limited time during the year. and extreme drought has been recorded for the last four yea rs. with the khabour no longer a reliable source of water, people have to look elsewhere. but the alouk wells were 65 kilometres from hasaka, in an area called ras al—ayn. water had to be piped in. then in 2019, rojava lost control of ras al—ayn when the turkish army launched an offensive on north—eastern syria. newsreader: around 60,000 people have fled their homes i in north—eastern syria on the second day of a major air and ground assault

by turkish forces. some civilians have been killed and dozens more have been injured. president erdogan said were seeking to prevent a terror corridor across their southern border and to bring peace to the area. turkish forces seized what they called a safe zone inside north—east syria which meant that alouk wells are now in territory controlled by turkey today, there is no water coming from alouk to hasaka.

this man and his wife are a two—salary household and they say buying water costs half their monthly income. the demands at the water board never stop.

fatima is the co—director. fatima is heading to nashwa, to one of these streets that gets free water from an ngo. the women here are angry and frustrated because the water provided by the ngo seems to have stopped. this is just one street and there are many others in the same situation.

i could not spend long in nashwa. it is still considered dangerous. it is one of the places where kurdish fighters defended the city from the so—called islamic state, street by street. the human cost was high and everyone here was affected.

waves of conflict have brought hundreds of thousands of idps here to hasaka. this camp alone contains around 30,000 people. they were displaced when turkey took control of ras al—ayn, the territory where the alouk wells are. this influx has made ever more demands on hasaka's water supply. ahmad is delivering water to an ngo which provides people here with free water.

the school's classrooms are now home to 50 families. ahmad is an idp himself from ras al—ayn, the area now under turkish control.

0n the outskirts of hasaka is the facility where the water from alouk, the water from the city's main water

source, used to flow. two years after turkey took over ras al—ayn where the alouk wells are situated, the un was raising an alarm. we are concerned about reports of another disruption of the water supply in syria from alouk water station. this is the 24th such disruption recorded by our humanitarian colleague since november 2019. this latest disruption follows months of reduced functionality. up toi million people in the region are affected when alouk ceases to operate. there are disputed accounts of what was going on. turkey accused the pkk of deliberately cutting the power rojava was still supplying to the station. an insiderfrom the rojava authorities told me that turkey was asking for more power than the water station needed. meanwhile, turkey was bombing the area. newsreader: at least 30 civilians have been killed l during days of airstrikes.

turkey has said their attempts are targeting terrorist facilities, but bbc eye has analysed data from over 100 attacks on oilfields, gas facilities and power stations provided by conflict monitoring groups, human rights organisations, local authorities and ngos. using satellite imagery, eyewitness videos, news reports and visits to the sites we have verified multiple attackshave been carried out on this region's four key electricity regions. they power the grid that provides electricity to vast areas of north—east syria including the largest power station, swadiyah. travelling around the area i see downed power lines and mangled pylons.

ahmad is off to fill up his tanker. he faces a long hotjourney to a place called shamoka. shamoka is 25 kilometres away from the city and hasaka's only reliable source of drinking water. for months, fatima and her colleagues have been worrying about the shamoka wells drying up. now the height of the summer it looks like it is happening. the well owners here are worried. with water levels low, the pumps have to work harder and longer to get out what is needed.

electricity could power water pumps around the clock and speed up the extraction. but with no electricity they have to use diesel—powered generators. and oilfacilities have been bombed too. making diesel scarce and expensive. the pressure is on for the water board to find new sources of water for hasaka. this man is a water board engineer who has been tasked with a project to drill new wells in amouda.

drilling 20 wells is only the first challenge. then they have to get the water to hasaka, which is 70 kilometres away. the engineers hope to build a pipeline to the city. it is just too far away for the water to be transported by tanker.

he is trying to save this city, but at home he still has to buy his own water. with the well running low he is worried about unsafe water. he adds chlorine to his water to disinfect it. in north—east syria two years ago there was an outbreak of cholera. many parents here are worried about their children getting sick because of the water. the only short—term solution to the water problems of hasaka was to guarantee water

from alouk wells again. but in october 2023, turkey delivered a major blow. turkey bombed rojava's main electricity station, swadiyah. electricity from here supplied 900,000 people. it also once drove the alouk water station but that was now impossible. we put ourfindings about the impact of the wider turkish attacks in north—east syria to international human rights lawyers. they told us that these attacks on infrastructure with severe loss of water affecting people's abilities to survive could constitute a severe violation of international law. turkey says they are attacking terrorist targets. an independent un commission was not able to identify any military targets near

the power station. they said the october attacks on swadiyah power station may amount to war crimes. by january 2024, turkey's bombing had put north—east syria into near darkness. in nashwa fatima has managed to organise a delivery.

the street�*s long wait for water is over. fatima believes that the government of turkey wants to destroy the dream of a kurdish homeland for north—east syria.

back at the wells, one of the drilled wells is complete. there are still 12 to go. for now he is going for now he is going to lock this well up. to lock this well up. the water department does not the water department does not have the money yet to build have the money yet to build the pipeline needed to take the pipeline needed to take the water to hasaka. the water to hasaka.

hello there. plenty of heavy rain through the day on sunday from storm bert and some strong, gusty winds too — this time, strongest across the southern half of the uk. here are some of the highest wind gusts here. gusts of wind in yeovilton in somerset of 76 miles an hour, and that is the strongest gust recorded at this site for 3h years. and some curiously mild air too — 19 celsius in santon downham in suffolk. but of course, of most concern has been just how much rainfall we've been seeing — parts of south—eastern wales, of course, seeing some severe flooding. there are plenty of flood warnings in force across the uk and that number could well rise as,

of course, all of that rainfall just continues to feed into the rivers. and here's the area of low pressure associated with storm bert. it's gradually pulling its way further northwards and eastwards, still a tight and eastwards, still a tight squeeze on the isobars, squeeze on the isobars, the centre of the storm still over the centre of the storm still over the north of scotland. the north of scotland. as we head through the rest as we head through the rest of the night and into tomorrow of the night and into tomorrow morning, still gales here. morning, still gales here. still a few more showers still a few more showers affecting some of these affecting some of these flood—affected areas flood—affected areas across south—eastern wales, across south—eastern wales, but it's turned a lot drier now but it's turned a lot drier now with that band of rain with that band of rain across south—east england, across south—east england, and that will clear as we head and that will clear as we head through the morning. through the morning. now, in terms of showers, the worst of them will tend it is a cooler—feeling day. to be across north—west scotland, gradually pushing further eastwards, more organised rain here. also for northern ireland and for north—west england, there'll be further showers too. the winds are strong in the north, lighter in the south. towards south—eastern wales, there will be some showers on and off through the day. they'll all be blowing further eastwards on still quite a brisk westerly wind, but some dry spells in between. drier for eastern england and it's feeling cooler across the board. as we head into tuesday,

there could be some rain and some strong gusty winds for parts of east anglia, perhaps, as we head through the day on wednesday. it's a quieter day on thursday. again, there will be some frost for some as we head through the middle of the week as temperatures tend to dip. here's the outlook for our capital cities, so a quieter week of weather ahead with some sunshine and feeling cooler.

presidential elections in romania look separate runoff between a pro—russian candidate in the country's pro—european prime minister. and in the uk, storm bert brings heavy snowfall, rain and strong winds, causing widespread disruption. iam i am helena iam helena humphrey. good to have you with us. the united arab emirates says it arrested three suspects on sunday in the killing of an israeli—moldovan rabbi. it comes hours after israel's government reported that the missing rabbi was found dead. the government added that zvi kogan was last seen on thursday and described his death as an act of anti—semitic terrorism. rabbi kogan represented the ultra—0rthodoxjewish group chabad in the uae. the us condemned the murder,

calling it a horrific crime, and