the words of london's fire brigade chief, dany cotton. now the weather, with jay wynne.d afternoon. this rainbow was captured in somerset from a passing shower. one thing will notice today as it will turn that bit fresher and we have sunshine and showers, but not an equal measures. we have the fresh aircoming in behind equal measures. we have the fresh air coming in behind this band of cloud, just moving its way eastwards. you can see the speckling of showers, mostly in scotland and northern ireland. for the bulk of england and wales cricket board of fine weather this afternoon. a bit ofa fine weather this afternoon. a bit of a breeze but some good spells of sunshine. a lovely afternoon across the south—west, 17—18, still a bit breezy but a good deal of sunshine. a bit of patchy cloud. a lovely afternoon on the south coast. but the breeze is there to contend with. maybe a shower for the breeze is there to contend with. maybe a showerfor some the breeze is there to contend with. maybe a shower for some parts of south—east of england but most bases fine and dry. not as war

that was the london fire commissioner, dany cotton speaking this morning. heard from the metropolitan police confirming also that there have been a number of fatalities and there are others receiving medical care. we understand from the london ambulance service that 50 people have been taken to hospital. it's likely that commander stewart cundy said it will ta ke commander stewart cundy said it will take sometime before the emergency services can establish the cause of the fire, but released a number for the fire, but released a number for the casualty bureau which is 0800 0961 233. this is the numberfor anyone 0961 233. this is the number for anyone who 0961 233. this is the numberfor anyone who is concerned about loved ones, in relation to the fire. this is the number that they should use. 0800 0961 233. it number that they should use. 0800 0961233. it is worth saying this morning, we're hearing some very harrowing stories of those caught up in the fire it's deaf and tim muffett is at one of the centres where they have been helping some of those caught up

that is exactly what dany cotton, the commissioner, is saying, m figr realised she was sending her shesituation but she felt there were lives to be saved in the building, they had to go in. we should never forget, this is what they do and why they do it. looking at the front page of the express now, the queen calms a shaken nation, this is again about her visit to the site in west london. it is interesting because the queen is held in great respect and regard, but she is not known as somebody who shows empathy or emotion. yet, actually, this seems to be the figure she has become. very much so. even her break with tradition to talk about the difficult times and how the nation has remained resolute in the face of adversity and her visit as well and those of the duke of cambridge as well, very moving and showing humanity and compassion. unfortunately for the prime minister, even critics within her own party, they felt she was unable to show that. and the fact the royal family were able to go to the estate quite comfortably, it gives the lie to the claim is coming out from the government t

this is from dani cotton saying that the london fire brigade took multiple calls.mber of fatalities, but i cannot confirm the number at this time due to the size and the come paralympicsity of the building and it would be wrong to speculate further. so, just to repeat, this is from dani cotton, london fire commissioner confirm that there have been a number of fatalities. the cause of the fire is not known at this stage, but the crews wearing breathing apparatus have been working, she says in extremely challenging and very difficult conditions, trying to rescue people and bring this majorfire under control. she added in her 29 years asa control. she added in her 29 years as a firefighter she had never seen anything on this scale. that's reflected in the eyewitness accounts we've been hearing all morning. we can talk to andy moore who is our correspondent some 500 meters from the scene. andy, it is very difficult to see close up with this building, butjust in the last half an hourorso, we building, butjust in the last half an hour or so, we were definitely seeing fla

the words of london's fire brigade chief, dany cotton.shift ended absolutely exhausted, but they really did do an incredible job and we we re really did do an incredible job and we were hearing from one of the other fire commanders about how dark and intensely hot it is when you go into a fire like that. let alone a 24 into a fire like that. let alone a 2a story building that is a blaze. all these firefighters have extraordinary training and that kicked in but nothing could prepare them for what they saw in this building behind us. that is the latest from here in the shadow of g re nfell tower. latest from here in the shadow of grenfell tower. back to the studio. thanks, much more from you later. the prime minister is meeting the main northern ireland parties at downing street this afternoon. sinn fein the ulster unionists, alliance and the sdlp will hold separate meetings with theresa may. the pm held talks with the dup earlier this week about a deal to support a minority conservative government. let's get more from our correspondent gar

london fire brigade's chief dany cotton has heaped praise on herfirefighters, the emergency service heroeso were trapped. hero! look at that. i hope everyone gets out safely too. early on in the fire, my firefighters tried to reach some of the higher floors. i spoke to a crew before i left who had been to the 20th floor looking for people. we specifically targeted flats where we were getting calls, where we knew where people were. as the commissioner of the london fire brigade, it was a very stressful and difficult time. i was looking at a building engulfed in fire, i knew members of the public were still trapped yet i was committing hundreds of firefighters to a building which to a lot of people looked terribly unsafe.

dany cotton, the london fire commissioner has been there from the outset, i will let her speak now, andly. the london fire brigade received the first of several calls at 12:56am, we arrived within six minutes and got extra resources on scene. the fire crews have continued to work tirelessly to go into the premises and extinguish the remaining fire and search the premises. as you will appreciate this is a completely unprecedented fire. in my 29 years in london fire brigade i have never seen a fire of this nature, and i have seen many high—rise fire. this will of course be subject to a major investigation, but at this moment in time we do not wish to speculate further about the cause of the fire, or the fire spread. that is something that will be closely with that in the very near future. we continue at the moment to search the premises, to try and identify any people. as the mayor of london has said we have concerns that there may be more people still inside the premises. it has been a very large a very significant fire. i anticipate london fire brigade will be on scene dealing with this

the commissioner of the london fire brigade, dany cotton, says crews have been as far as the 19th and 20th floors of the block. >> let's get back to one of the bigger stories overnight this is the grilling of u.s. attorney general jeff sessions, where he denied he coclued willt russian interference calling it a detestable lie testifying before the senate intelligence committee sessions repeatedly refused to ask question from senate democrats saying it would be improper for him to discuss private conversations he had with the president. sessions defended his recusal from the russian investigation as a procedural matter rather than an indication of any wrongdoing ron wyden pressed sessions on the circumstances of his recusal. >> mr. comey said there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >> why don't you tell me they are none, senator widen there are none i can tell you that for absolute certainty, you tell -- this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it. >> just reading vario

i spoke to dany cotton, the fire commissioner, earlier on and she told me that in her 29 years of servicenever seen an incident like this. this was unprecedented in her experience. i think that was in particular because of the speed and the ferocity with which the fire spread. i spoke to a local resident here this morning and she told me she watched as the fire seemed to pick up from about the eighth or ninth floor and spread incredibly rapidly upwards towards the top of the building. very sadly probably trapping a lot of people inside. we know now from the emergency services and from the mayor, sadiq khan, that at least six people have been killed, but they are expecting more fatalities and sadly, the next stage in this process, once that building is made relatively safe, is that search and rescue teams will go in and they will probably have to recover bodies from the higher floors, from those areas where people were unable to get out. there there is a lot of anger here as well. a resident association called the grenfell action group has been in touch with us. they say they're a group of

we have got a press conference which is about to start with dany cotton which is about to start with tart with dany cotton from the london fire service and stuart cundy and paul woodrow. these three individuals are arriving now. we'll go live to that press conference as soon as now. we'll go live to that press conference as soon as they are in position. we already know, of course, there have been several fatalities today. we are not sure of the numbers, but let's go live to the numbers, but let's go live to the three commissioners as they speak now. good morning, everybody. at six minutes to one london fire brigade received the first of many calls to a fire in grenfell tower that you can see behind me. the first crews we re can see behind me. the first crews were on can see behind me. the first crews were on scene can see behind me. the first crews were on scene in under six minutes and found a rapidly developing fire. as you can appreciate from looking at the building now, this has been a very serious and a very complex fire. 0ur firefighters on scene have been working tirelessly and

we are going to get the latest from the fire service now, we can speak to dany cotton, the commissionerstructurally, you know, safe for them to go to the edges of the building. while we have been doing over night watching briefs and firefighting from inside the central part of the building, we do not want to put any firefighters at risk. there will still be some smoke coming from the building. the plan going forward for today is, along with structural layers and the local authority, i have my urban search and rescue team coming down to make an assessment of the building. to look at ways that we can shore up the building, to enable us, and the police and dvi to continue the search. 24 residential floors, how many of those have your office has been able to search so far? we have been able to do a very brief search of all floors, we have been up as far as the 24th floor. that has not extended up to the wider area of all the floors, due to the severity of the fire and all the fire debris spread across the floors, it will be a difficult and painstaking process to search through systematicall

that is dany cotton of the london fire brigade.ose premises. sadly i can confirm that the number of people who died is now 17. we do believe that that number will possibly increase. from our colleagues in the health service, there is still a number of people receiving treatment in hospital. there are 37 people receiving treatment of which 17 are still in critical care. as we explained yesterday, our absolute priority for all of us is about identifying and locating those people still missing. it would be wrong for me to get into numbers but —— buti wrong for me to get into numbers but —— but i do not believe are accurate. our casualty bureau number is... if you have reported somebody missing and you know who might know they are safe and well, please contact that number so you can identify those were still trying to find. —— and you now know that they are safe and well. commander stuart cundy of the metropolitan police, just talking about those who are still unaccounted for. we have been talking to a lot of distressed relatives who a

a short time ago, dany cotton spoke to us and explain the latest.ry difficult for officers to get in there and in order to do a systematic and proper search, we need to make the building safe so that officers can get in there and go through it. we are aware that there are people unaccounted for, family and friends are very unaccounted for, family and friends are very distressed and need to know the whereabouts of loved ones. we are doing everything we can to work as hard as we can with police and other colleagues to make that happen. can you tell us a little bit about the immediate aftermath, when office rs about the immediate aftermath, when officers first arrived, what were they able to do, what levels were they able to do, what levels were they able to reach? very early on in they able to reach? very early on in the fire, my firefighters battled through intense heat, to reach some of the higherfloors. i spoke through intense heat, to reach some of the higher floors. i spoke to a crew who had been to the 20th floor. we targeted flats where we were

we heard from dany cotton, the london fire brigade commissioner, telling us that some have been injuredthat is part and parcel of thejob. we're happy line every day. that is part and parcel of the job. we're happy to do that. i have heard witness accounts from people saying as they were running out of the building, we were running out of the building, we were running towards the danger into the building. that is what we do. in most early as firefighters, we put up most early as firefighters, we put up emotional walls, so we are not too badly affected by is —— by these kind of incidents. otherwise we wouldn't be able to do ourjobs. something like this is absolutely unprecedented. we have never seen anything even close to this. i do worry for my firefighters. i do worry for my firefighters. i do worry for my members. we hold the london fire brigade to account. they said they will support us. i hope they do. we have been outside since they do. we have been outside since the incident took place and we will continue to be onside to ensure that our firefighters and control are supported. i'm