up 30 rockets a yearfrom hearing unst up into space.again talking about rain, but we have been counting up the july rain, but we have been counting up thejuly rainfall, and it has been thejuly rainfall, and it has been the wettestjuly on record in northern ireland, more than double the average. those records go back to 1836. it has also been the wettest for merseyside, greater manchester and lancashire, we have a bit more rain on the charts as well. an area of low pressure continues to develop, and justice hook and the weather system. develop, and justice hook and the weathersystem. really develop, and justice hook and the weather system. really strong winds for the time of year working into parts of southern england. the rain from that area of low pressure has started to arrive and pushes northwards and eastwards over night, so one way or another, most of us will see outbreaks of rain at some point during the night, and those temperatures in the mild side, 13-15 c. temperatures in the mild side, 13—15 c. tomorrow morning, many of us wi

unst is already a place of immense natural beauty and ancient heritage.red not far from the launch pad. few places in the world can boast bronze age and space age sitting side by side. laura goodwin, bbc news. rain and wind and cool temperatures have dominated the uk in recent weeks and last month was the six wettestjuly on record and the wettestjuly on record and the wettest everjuly in northern ireland according to figures from the met office. northern ireland had an average of 185 millimetres rain last month, just above the previous record set in 1936. the figure could be revised once all the data is collected and some parts of england also set you rainfall figures with greater manchester and merseyside all having their wettestjuly. have you ever suffered from hiccups? you are not alone. take a look at this. you cannot hear it but you can see it, a giant panda in china, suffering from a bout of hiccups. we want to end the programme with a bit of cuteness. the animal was found at a world leading centre in panda conservation efforts. you are watching bbc

unst is already a place of immense natural beauty and ancient heritage.e and space age sitting side by side. laura goodwin, bbc news. more on that story in the next hour and we also of course have more from niger, and we have reaction after the england victory at the world cup. they have made it into the last 16. and we will hear from the estonian athlete who did that slack line walk in qatar. incredible pictures. it was astonishing to hear from him. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello, there. we're into a new month, but very little change to the weather pattern. it's going to remain unsettled throughout the rest of this week with low pressure systems dominating the scene. and it will feel rather cool as well for the time of year. now, july was a wet month up and down the country. many places saw more than double their normal amounts of rainfall. a few areas even saw three times the amount of rainfall, all because of low pressure. now, that's yesterday's area of low pressure. this is tomorrow's low pressure. we're in between weather systems for

the land is on unst, one of the shetland islands.y from securing a spaceport licence. 0ur correspondent laura goodwin has the story. as you might imagine, getting to the most northern point in the uk is a bit of a mission in itself. first up, a flight from mainland uk. then onto one ferry and then onto another ferry before you reach your final destination. but its remoteness is just one of the reasons unst in shetland could soon become something of a superhighway — that way. 0nce part of an raf radar base, the land was bought by frank strang and his wife around 15 years ago. never in my wildest dreams did i think we'd be building a spaceport. it's all about geography and location, location, location, and we're the most northern tip of the united kingdom, so when we launch, we're launching over sea. we've got a clear trajectory into the orbits that we're trying to get to and the airspace itself is very uncongested, so there's very little civilian air traffic flying overhead, so from this location here, we can get the satellites into t

unst is already a place of immense natural beauty and ancient heritage.y side. laura goodwin, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's stav danaos. high, good afternoon. the unsettled theme continues even though we are starting the new month of august. the rest of this week will be dominated by low pressure and will feel rather cool for the time of year as well. it has been a very wet july as we all know many of the regions saw double the normal amount of rain. preston in north—west england saw three times the normal amount of rainfall. there is more to come thanks to low pressure. that is yesterday's lo, this is tonight and tomorrow's low but we are between weather systems today which is why weather systems today which is why we have seen quite a lot of dry weather. more through northern ireland, central and southern scotland and northern england, where we will see some spots of rain but the final scotland and central and southern england should stay dry, quite a lot of cloud, bit of sunshine, lighterwinds quite a lot of cloud, bit of sunshine, l

that is the hope in unst.the correct permissions, rockets can be blasting off from unst in shetland. that is the hope. that will begin in around a year's time. the couple who bought the spaceport, i have been finding out, it has been tricky. as you might imagine, getting to the most northern point in the uk is a bit of a mission in itself. first up, a flight from mainland uk, then onto one ferry and then onto another ferry before you reach your final destination. but its remoteness is just one of the reasons unst in shetland could soon become something of a super highway — that way. 0nce part of an raf radar base, the land was bought by frank strang and his wife around 15 years ago. never in my wildest dreams did i think we'd be building a spaceport. it's all about geography and location, location, location. and it's really we're the most northern tip of the united kingdom. so when we launch, we're launching over sea. we've got a clear trajectory into the orbits that we're trying to get to and the airspace its

this is the most northern tip of the united kingdom, unst, in the shetland isles.st vertical spaceport. this launch pad behind me, launch pad freda, could soon have a 29m rocket on top of it, carrying small satellites into space. it's one of three that have been built here at the saxavord space centre and their hope is that this could soon become a pivotal part of the uk's space programme. many people are wanting to get small satellites into space to help with connectivity and also weather and climate monitoring. they are awaiting final approvals from the civil aviation authority. the hope is that, once that's complete, a suborbital launch

this is the most northern tip of the united kingdom, unst, in the shetland isles. a pod of orca whales, and soon could also be the base for the uk's first vertical spaceport. this launch pad behind me, launch pad freda, could soon have a 29m rocket on top of it, carrying small satellites into space. it's one of three that have been built here at the saxavord space centre and their hope is that this could soon become a pivotal part of the uk's space programme. many people are wanting to get small satellites into space to help with connectivity and also weather and climate monitoring. they are awaiting final approvals from the civil aviation authority. the hope is that, once that's complete, a suborbital launch could be completed by the end of this year, with actual rockets going up into space by the middle of next year. in the women's world cup, defending champions the usa suffered a huge scare against world cup newbies portugal before scraping through to the last 16. they drew 0—0 with portugal — with the portuguese hitting the post in the closing stages. the usa w

this is the most northern tip of the united kingdom, unst, in the shetland isles. it's home to 700 people, plenty of sheep, even a pod of orca whales, and soon could also be the base for the uk's first vertical spaceport. this launch pad behind me, launch pad freda, could soon have a 29m rocket on top of it, carrying small satellites into space. it's one of three that have been built here at the saxavord space centre and their hope is that this could soon become a pivotal part of the uk's space programme. many people are wanting to get small satellites into space to help with connectivity and also weather and climate monitoring. they are awaiting final approvals from the civil aviation authority. the hope is that, once that's complete, a suborbital launch could be completed by the end of this year, with actual rockets going up into space by the middle of next year. police in australia say a former childcare worker has been charged with more than 1,600 child abuse offences, including 136 counts of rape. the man's alleged victims, more than 90, were all young girls.

and we are here in unst which hopes to become the first vertical spaceport in the uk.tuesday, the 1st of august. the price of some wines and spirits will rise from today, while the cost of weaker drinks will fall after a major shakeup to alcohol taxation. the system aims to simplify alcohol duties by taxing according to strength. 0ur reporter ben king has the details.

the land on unst, one of the shetland islands, was bought by a husband and wife team around 15 yearsaway from securing a spaceport licence. scott hammond is one of those planning the launch. he's the deputy ceo of shetland space port — and we can talk to him now. how excited are you? are you nervous?— how excited are you? are you nervous? ~ ., ., ., , ., nervous? we are not nervous about the licence _ nervous? we are not nervous about the licence and _ nervous? we are not nervous about the licence and we _ nervous? we are not nervous about the licence and we have _ nervous? we are not nervous about the licence and we have been - nervous? we are not nervous about l the licence and we have been working very hard with the civil aviation authority because the number one priority is safety and that is what they are responsible for, so we are working hand—in—hand with them and making good progress. the excitement when the launch happens, i will be on tender hooks, no doubt about it. when do you hope that is? hopefully towards the end _ when do you hope that is? hopefully towards the end of

well, our next guest very nearly does own a spaceport on the island of unst in the shetland .now. really good to see you this morning. talk us through debbie , because this is the stuff of dreams for me. , because this is the stuff of dreams for me . what is going on? dreams for me. what is going on? how did you get to this point. >> um, well, about 15 years ago, my husband and i bought what was the old saxavord and tending to turn it resort . and we were turn it resort. and we were happily doing that. and about five years ago , government five years ago, government report actually was looking at all the sites that were suitable for vertical launch. this is for the launch of small satellites and they're in black and white in the report was saxavord as the best site in the uk and in fact europe . and so we thought, fact europe. and so we thought, right, let's give it a go . right, let's give it a go. >> how do you go about sorting out? because i mean like ounces and all the rest of it are one thing, but it actually must be quite expensive just to set it up in the first place .