The clock news follows in a minute after the weather details from Michael Fish.
Good evening to you. If you want an easy life then don't be a weatherman. Yesterday
you recall we had troubles with this area of low pressure and as it turned
out it headed southeastwards and not northeastwards and that's the reason why
there was only snow really in Wales and the southwest and although that's moving
out of the way now we've got a quieter period although still in those cold
easterly winds it looks as if we've got more problems to come another area of
low pressure heading towards us and that's going to do a repeat performance
tomorrow night and whether it snows or not very much hangs in the balance.
However as far as tonight's concerned there's still some of that snow around
over the south of Wales parts of southwest England but I think as the
night goes on that should very very gradually die away perhaps hanging on
for a while down in Devon and Cornwall but even there by the morning most of it
should have petered out and then for most places a dry fairly misty night a
cold night again not as cold as recently but cold enough for a widespread frost so
do watch out for those icy patches on the roads and just here and there perhaps
the odd flake of snow or spot or two of rain or drizzle and then for tomorrow
well I think really a rather misty murky day really for most parts of the country
fairly cloudy too although hopefully as the day goes on it will brighten up in
one or two spots for most of the country it's going to stay dry but just here and
there there will be a spot or two of rain or a light flurry of snow chiefly
near to the East Coast although late on in the day in Devon and Cornwall some
more general rain or sleet. On BBC 2 now David Vincent continues his struggle
against alien forces in The Invaders. This is BBC One.
The Six O'clock News from the BBC with Sue Lawley and Nicholas Wichelt.
Good evening the headlines at six o'clock the cost of a mortgage is to go
up by about 11 pounds a week on average the building societies association has
recommended a rise of between one and one and a quarter percent next month
police have a lead in the hunt for the man who stole the army payroll and killed
the three men carrying it two witnesses saw a soldier dressed like this we
report on the old people who are struggling to keep warm in some of the
worst weather for 20 years. Mrs. Thatcher has been telling the Germans why we'll
celebrate the day the Nazis surrendered it was a rebirth of freedom for everyone
she said. In Madras victory for England India avoided an innings defeat but we
went to one up in the test series and Wilfred Bramble best known as Albert
Steptoe has died at the age of 72. The week which began with the government
coming to the aid of a tumbling pound has ended with house buyers facing higher
monthly bills for their mortgages. The building societies will probably put up
their interest rates next month by between one and one and a quarter
percent that was the recommendation of their association the Halifax and the
nationwide have already announced their increase of one and a quarter percent
the others are likely to follow. The rise was almost inevitable after the
government ordered an increase of one and a half percent in bank interest rates
on Monday. They did it to help the pound which has certainly steadied over the
past few days and closed tonight at one dollar twelve point one cents and there
was another piece of cheering news for the government today the inflation rate
for 1984 had come in only a shade above target at four point six percent and the
stock exchange which has been practically ignoring the problems of the
pound broke through the magical 1000 mark as the Financial Times index
closed at a record one thousand and four point four. A report first on the mortgage rate
from John Fryer. Building society managers went into this morning's meeting
without a common view some said a rise was inevitable and should be done now
others felt there was no need to rush but their chairman said there was no
alternative. I believe we have a strong obligation to our investors 30 million
of them many of them of course to depend on the income that they get from their
building society investment it is only reasonable that they have a fair return
and we think that this adjusts the position appropriately the borrower yes
has to pay but we've kept that down as much as possible and I think it's a
reasonable and responsible approach that has been made. The societies are still
fairly flush with funds and that was one reason why Abbey National mounted a
spirited lobby against an increase today. There's sharp competition between
societies these days and Abbey Nationals been accused by its rivals of just
touting for business because if other rates go up so will theirs. We had the
second highest inflow ever in December over a billion pounds for the industry
as a whole. January has started reasonably well there's been no signs of
the inflow dropping off in the last few days so that is why we were saying that
it was unnecessary and it's unnecessary rush decision to make those changes
today. If mortgages do go up by one and a quarter percent the monthly repayment
on a ten thousand pound mortgage will increase by five pounds eighty for a
twenty thousand pound loan it'll be eleven pounds sixty and on thirty
thousand pounds the repayment will rise by seventeen pound forty. The cost of
loans varies slightly between societies and each will be meeting next week to
decide where to pitch its new rate. Today's move reverses the cut in
mortgage rates last November which for many borrowers is only just taking
effect. The building societies placed the blame firmly on the run on the pound
which has in turn pushed up interest rates generally but it will do nothing
to help the government in its battle to keep prices down. The government announced
today that the annual inflation rate dropped to four point six percent last
month but that's set to rise as today's mortgage increase will add another
naught point four percent to the index. Detectives hunting the gunman who killed
two soldiers and retired army major in a wages snatch have a new lead. Two
witnesses saw a man dressed as a soldier hurrying away from the scene of
yesterday's triple murder at Penny Cook near Edinburgh. This report from Mike
Smart. The man seen hurrying along the secluded country lane where the bodies
of the three murdered men were found very soon afterwards was dressed as
Corporal David Campbell was at this afternoon's press conference in the
uniform of a Scottish lowland regiment. One witness a hill walker who also
discovered the Pale Roll party's abandoned Land Rover saw the uniformed
man walking about a hundred yards from where the vehicle had been left in a
ditch. Another witness saw him running a further hundred yards along the road but
he didn't seem to be armed or carrying anything. Now the police are hoping to
interview all 600 men at Corporal Campbell's barracks and check the
ammunition store. They've already established that no soldier was absent
without leave yesterday. The police say the sightings are an important lead. As
we haven't traced this individual yet he obviously has considerable importance as he's in an area at or around the material time.
It's self-evident we very much like to know who he was and what he was doing there.
Would you describe him at the moment then as your most important lead? He is one
of our most important leads as of now. Although most of the police inquiries are
now centered around the two sightings of the man in uniform senior officers are
keen that potential witnesses don't necessarily assume that he was a serving
soldier. The southwest of England and parts of Wales have been experiencing
the worst winter weather people there have known for a number of years. Cornwall
was effectively cut off for a time this morning and tonight only main roads are
passable. The West Country took the worst of the overnight weather according to
the weatherman the blizzards forecast for central and southern areas of the
country were blown off course by strong winds. Tonight much of southwest Britain
is under deep snow. Some villages are cut off and police say in some places
conditions are getting worse. They've told motorists not to travel unless they
have to. Chris Lowe reports. Cornwall suffered its worst snowfall for 15 years
and the county's road links with the rest of Britain were cut. Police advised
drivers to keep off the roads and motorists heading for Cornwall across the
Tamar Bridge were warned to go no further. Many isolated villages were cut
off under eight inches of snow. Farmers brought their livestock down from the
High Moors and the city of Plymouth was brought to a standstill with hundreds of
workers being sent home early many of them on foot. There's been heavy snow in
Wales too and the police have been advising drivers without four-wheel drive
vehicles to keep off the mountain roads. Most of the main routes have been just
passable but many minor roads have been completely blocked as high winds whipped
up the snow leaving some drivers completely stranded. It's the same story
in the West of England where six inches of snow have fallen in the last 24 hours.
One county Wiltshire has used up its entire winter allocation of salt and
some gritting crews are sleeping in their cabs so that snow clearance can go
on around the clock. In Gloucestershire police found a man in a wheelchair
heading up the hard shoulder of the M5. He said he'd broken down and was looking
for an emergency phone. For the weathermen the last 24 hours have been
rather embarrassing. Earlier this week they unveiled their new radar system
designed to make short-range forecasting even more accurate. Last night however it
came unstuck because we were told that London and the southeast would fall
victim to the worst blizzard for years.
In the event scarcely a flake of snow has fallen because at the last minute
the bad weather changed course and it's now on its way to the Mediterranean.
Well with the weathermen predicting sub-zero nighttime temperatures for
several more days yet there's increasing concern for Britain's old people.
Welfare organisations have today urged everyone to keep a close watch on
elderly neighbors especially for signs that they might be at risk from the cold.
And as Andrew Harvey reports the problem is already putting increasing pressure
on many local authorities. The big freeze demands long hours and extra vigilance
from nurses and social workers. Often their patients in a desperate attempt to
keep warm present a pathetic picture. Ethel Lepage is in her 90s living alone
in a West London basement with just a single fire in her living room the gas
oven in the kitchen is kept burning all day to add a little extra warmth. But
it's only the three visits a day from nurses like Linda Berkery that prevent
Mrs. Lepage becoming just another hypothermia statistic. The effects of
extreme cold are reckoned to have killed 35,000 people last year. Many health
workers now have emergency hypothermia packs ready to rush to severe cases
containing everything from hot water bottles and extra food to a gas stove
and warm bedding. But as the present freeze goes on local authorities have an
impossible task trying to identify all those at risk. This three-bedroomed house
is owned by Hilda Littlejohn yet for weeks she's been living in a single room
downstairs. She spends much of the time in bed sheltering from the freezing
temperatures. It's very bad because I got a job I mean it takes me hours to get
warm with I put all these things on and I've got a job to hold anything in my
hands and the things just go on the floor you know I mean I get no
circulation in my hands and they'll go white and dead even in bed that happens.
The important thing is really to choose a room it's usually the living room that
they're going to sleep in as well as live in and really make sure that room
is warm up to 70 if at all possible and once they're in the room to stay in that
room as far as possible live in it and the other thing too is to make sure they
have at least one hot meal a day plenty of hot drinks and good tip is to actually
fill a flask at night before you go to bed with hot tea or coffee whatever you
like so you've got a hot drink in the night as well as first thing in the
morning and not to have a lot of very thick clothing on but lots and lots of
layers of thin clothing that's closely woven so that you get lots of layers of
air in between the clothing. Now a good neighbor approach is being urged by old
people's organizations as the cold weather goes on they say only increased
vigilance will save thousands of the elderly from illness or even death.
Andrew Harvey reporting. The Prime Minister has said the West is on the
verge of a great step forward in its relations with the Soviet Union after
talks in bond with the West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl she said the
American-Soviet agreement to resume talks on nuclear arms control gave new
hope she also said she hoped Germans and Russians would attend British national
celebrations of the VE Day anniversary to mark not the defeat of Germany but
40 years of peace and freedom from Bonn here's our diplomatic editor John
Simpson. In the winter landscape which greeted Mrs. Thatcher's helicopter as it
came down in the grounds of the presidential palace the snow lay deep
and crisp and more or less even but because in Germany's standards are
maintained the red carpet was laid out for her snow or no snow and huskies
might have suited the conditions better than the police dogs which patrolled the
grounds this never looked like being a controversial meeting Europe's two
foremost conservatives see eye to eye on almost everything and any points of
disagreement were fielded by the team of ministers they brought with them
Patrick Jenkin for instance was button-holed about the British pollution
that's causing a smog hazard here the two foreign ministers meanwhile chatted
about East-West relations the most important subject on the leaders agenda
too but as they settled down with their backs to the snowscape question most
people wanted answered was how the two countries plan to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of VE day in May. Chancellor Cole's government has been changing its
mind almost as much as Mrs. Thatcher's about it all but he said it would be a
day of remembering the terrible things done in Germany's name and the fact that
it was a day of liberation for Germans liberation from Nazism like West Germany
we'll have our own separate celebration in Britain but the details still seem
uncertain. So naturally we would wish to have we would expect to see our
ambassador from Germany and of course we would wish also expect to see the
ambassador or the Soviet Union I'm in some difficulty about this because
please the former celebration has not entirely been decided and I'm almost
talking about invitations before anyone can receive them or before consultations
have taken place in full. Among the third of West Germany's population which still
remembers the war there are mixed feelings about marking the anniversary
for the organization that represents prisoners of war VE day holds very bad
memories indeed and it's not because they're Nazi sympathizers far from it
but May the 8th 1945 was the day Werner Kiesling the organization's president
was taken prisoner by the Russians together with hundreds of thousands of
other members Kiesling was held under dreadful conditions for five years he
says now he understands that Britain wants to celebrate but for him it'll be
a day for remembering. 40 years after the Allied forces liberated Europe the
commemorative events being planned by the different nations are generally low
key the emphasis will be on celebrating peace rather than glorying in the Allied
victory the exception will be Russia where there are plans for six days of
special events and a massive rally at the Kremlin the Communist Central
Committee says the occasion should be used to unmask the militaristic plans of
the United States and its NATO allies. For Mrs. Thatcher the knowledge that West
Germany was offended as being excluded from last year's D-Day celebrations is
thought to explain her initial reluctance to agree to a national
commemoration of VE day in Britain but now the official view has changed and
plans are being considered for a special service at Westminster Abbey.
In the West German city of Cologne which was almost destroyed in the war there
are plans for a similar service and at Belsen the site of one of the most
notorious Nazi concentration camps there will be a memorial gathering attended by
Chancellor Cole he says it will be a day of confrontation with his country's
history. Ten years ago the French cancelled the annual tribute at the tomb
of the unknown soldier but their attempts to abolish the VE day
celebrations were defeated by public opinion and the ceremony was reinstated
their theme this year will be reconciliation.
President Reagan is still considering the form of America's celebrations like
Mrs. Thatcher he's wary of offending German feelings. Many of the celebrations
will be left to individual groups and communities. In Norway the people of
Stavanger have invited back 700 Allied servicemen who liberated the town 40
years ago. The Royal British Legion is organising monthly pilgrimages for war
widows to visit their husbands graves. More than 400 widows are already planning
to take advantage of the government's offer of financial help for those who
can't afford the trip. Plans to commemorate victory in Europe Day. Later
in the program a report on the children of a remote island who go over the seas
to school. Their parents are asking the government to build them classrooms of
their own. Now the time is 617.
Tonight's headlines arise in the mortgage rate of one to one and a quarter
percent has been recommended by the building societies Association the rise
is likely to take effect next month. The pound has ended its uncertain week with
a closing price in London tonight of one dollar twelve point one. The stock
exchange has closed tonight at an all-time high the FT index has passed
one thousand for the first time closing at one thousand and four point four.
Police in Penny Cook think the person who killed three military men and snatched
an army payroll may himself be a soldier. Parts of the West of England and Wales
are still badly affected by the severe weather. A number of roads in Devon and
Cornwall are blocked. Abroad now and Florida's campaign to put a stop to drug
smuggling has forced traffickers to move into adjoining states. Now federal and
state officials say they're losing the fight to control the drug trade. With
consignments coming in by night on planes flying low to evade radar it's
turned into something of a war. A report from Brian Barron. The Florida authorities
have had tremendous success against cocaine smugglers. But they're not
winning the war against the drug kings despite thousands of arrests in a three
year operation. For the smugglers are bypassing Florida and shipping in
marijuana and cocaine by the turn to other southern states. From Texas to
Georgia the authorities talk of being overwhelmed. In New Orleans a group of
governors demanded more federal help. They have the responsibility and the
authority to employ even the use of our Army Navy and Air Force in efforts to
stop this trafficking across our borders. Most of the smugglers flights from the
Caribbean or South America are made at night at very low level. They often land
on makeshift runways. As this film shot by American customs agent shows the
smugglers are taking huge risks and sometimes don't make it. One smuggling
tactic is trying to bribe local sheriffs. Nine have been arrested in two years. I
was approached or some overtones were made to me that there would be a
hundred thousand dollars that I could have if I would have my men in certain
areas where they wouldn't be bothering anyone else. That sheriff turned them
down but that doesn't deter the smugglers. This is Brian Barron for the
six o'clock news in Washington. Two British engineers who've been held in
Nigeria since last May were acquitted of serious charges in court today and then
immediately rearrested by Lagos police. The two men Kenneth Clark and Angus
Patterson both from Scotland are employed by Bristow helicopters. The
British High Commission is trying to reestablish the reasons for the
rearrest. The Foreign Office has announced that the RAF airlift of
emergency supplies for Ethiopia's famine victims is to be extended for another
two months until the end of March. The government has also sent a message of
condolence to Ethiopia after last weekend's rail crash in which nearly 400
people died. An explosion followed by a fire at a refinery near Cologne has
injured 33 people at least seven of them seriously. Flames and smoke rose 3,000
feet above the refinery. The explosion happened when a pipe carrying liquid gas
broke. Police say there was no danger from escaping fumes. The co-boards say
more miners than at any time since last November have given up their strike
this week. The board say 218 men returned today making more than 2,800 this week
alone. The miners unions say the figures are grossly exaggerated. In Derbyshire
miners wives and their supporters were joined by the MP for Chesterfield Tony
Benn. He insisted that in terms of public support the miners had already
won their case. Some who supported the strike totally were being forced back to
work through starvation. Wilfred Bramble who for 20 years played the part of
Albert Steptoe in the TV series Steptoe and Son has died. He was 72. He'd been
ill for several months and for the last two weeks he'd been treated for cancer
at the Westminster Hospital in London. Wilfred Bramble went into the theatre at
an early age but he was best known as the scruffy old rag and bone man Albert
Steptoe forever quarrelling with his son Harold played by the actor Harry Corbett
who died two years ago. Together they became a national institution forming
one of the most popular partnerships in British television.
I remember this. Mussolini invades Albania. King's dog fleas.
That's nothing mate we got king size fleas here.
It's out of the lock of pig stale filth!
And it smells too. I can't smell anything. Of course you can't you smell worse than your house does.
Wilfred Bramble who died today. England have won the second test in Madras.
Their captain David Gower called it a great victory which would do wonders for
English cricket and Glasgow Celtic has been punished for the violent behavior of
its supporters during a game last December. They received a small fine and escaped a ban.
With more details of the test and other sports news here's Mark Austin.
So as expected England won the fourth test against India in Madras to go 2-1 up in the series
with one match to play but India's batsmen salvaged some pride by avoiding
an innings defeat and a record equaling last wicket partnership ensured England
had to bat again. They knocked off the runs for the loss of Fowler to win by
nine wickets. Azharuddin had added only two to his overnight score of 103 when
Pocock struck just the early blow England needed. Gower turned down the new ball
opting for spin. He was proved right when Ravi Shastri fell to Edmonds.
Of all the Indian batsmen Shastri had looked the best equipped to spend all day at the crease.
With him gone India were in deep trouble but Saeed Kermani soon proved
there was life left in the Indians and Kapil Dev too was in no mood for surrender.
The pair put on 82 in just 74 minutes. Cowans was recalled with the new ball
and soon put an end to Kapil's brief but boisterous innings. Neil Foster also
returned and soon trapped Shivarama, Foster's 11th wicket of the match.
He looks a fine replacement for Bob Willis. Yadav went soon after lunch one
wicket left and an innings victory beckoning for England. When the end came
courtesy of Edmonds Kermani and Sharma had made England bat again. Their last
wicket partnership equaling the record against England. With stacks of time left
England needed just 33 to win but Fowler who made 200 in the first innings this
time made just two. But that was the only fright for England Robinson and Gatting
finishing the job.
The winning runs were hit by Robinson. An historic victory for England they need
only a draw in the last test to become the first English side to win an
overseas series since the tour to Australia in 1978 and 79. David Gower was
understandably delighted. A number of gentlemen played very well indeed I think
you have to give immense credit to people like Grand Fowler and Mike Gatting
for their batting and Neil Foster especially with the ball and his tally
of wickets in this match was tremendous to see having just included him in the
side for this game. I didn't put it down to a team effort we've worked very well
together we've kept working throughout the test once we were so many runs ahead
that put us in a very very good position. Well probably almost as pleased as
David Gower although for different reasons are the players and officials of
Celtic Football Club. Celtic have escaped a ban from European
competitions following crowd trouble and their replayed Cup winners cup tie
against Rapid Vienna last month instead they've been fined 17,000 pounds and
ordered to play their next European match behind closed doors. The game was
replayed at Old Trafford Manchester after crowd trouble in the first match at
Celtics ground. The Glasgow side were facing defeat when one of their fans
attacked the Austrian goalkeeper. After the game was over another fan ran across
the pitch and kicked the Austrian goalscorer in the groin. Both supporters
were eventually jailed for three months and the outlook for Celtic looked grim
indeed. It had been expected that the club would face a ban from European
competition for at least two years. There's great relief that they've
escaped that playing their next match behind closed doors may cost them up to
a quarter of a million pounds but that's little compared with what in all
honesty they must have been expecting. Manager David Hay gave his reaction. I
feel personally happy and relieved for the players because basically they had
done nothing wrong. If they had lost their chance of playing the quarterfinals of the
Cup this year and for them to have suffered anymore I felt it would be unfair.
Anyone traveling in the West Country at the moment is likely to be having
difficulties but for one group of school children there are problems every day.
They live on the tiny island of Breyer one of the Silly Isles. There is a
school building on the island but it's closed and the Education Secretary Sir
Keith Joseph has just rejected an appeal from the Isles of Silly Council to
reopen it. He says there aren't enough children to justify it so as Peter Gould
reports the children have to make a daily boat journey to the neighboring
island of Tresco. On the Sillies the locals say it's the coldest winter in
20 years and no one feels it more than the children of Breyer. The island has a
population of 60 but the nearest school is across the water on neighboring
Tresco. So every morning at daybreak the eight primary pupils from Breyer set off
to catch not the school bus but the school boat.
And for these children oil skins and life jackets are as much a part of their
lives as satchels and school books. In winter it's wet and often bitterly cold
although the crossing between the two islands takes only a few minutes and at
Tresco the local version of a lollipop lady is waiting to see them all safely
ashore. But many islanders feel that the journey is too tiring for the children
some of whom like Katie Dan are as young as four and a half. The campaign to
reopen the school on Breyer is being led by the Islands counselor. I think for the
very young children from say four to six years old then we're adding I don't know
how long well over an hour it's traveling time on top of their school
time each day so they're away from school from home from about eight o'clock in
the morning and our children often it's 20 to 5 when they get home. I think it's
a long day for a four-year-old. This is the old school on Breyer it was built by
men of the island in their spare time and closed 12 years ago when the number
of pupils fell from six to just one. But islanders were promised then that it
would reopen if numbers rose and now there are eight children the Isles of
Silly Council is backing parents demands for that pledge to be honored. But the
Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph has rejected their request and so the Breyer
children must continue their extraordinary journey. He says they will
do better if they stay at the larger school on Tresco and it will save him
money but the Education Authority has to pay out four thousand pounds a year for
the hire of the boat. By the time the children arrive home it's getting dark
and the cold journey has been too much for young Katie Dan. And it's the younger
children who are causing mothers most concern. Not that we have anything
against the school on Tresco or the journey there particularly it's just that
it lengthens the school days so much. The children leave very early in the morning
and don't return until nearly five o'clock at night. Sometimes in wet
weather and sometimes it's choppy in the channel and whatever they sometimes
arrive on Tresco damp and they have to remain like that all day. But the
Department of Education has made up its mind. Breyer school will remain closed
and Sir Keith will go on paying the ferryman. Rabbi Cliff Cohen who was sacked
from his synagogue for not taking his duties sufficiently seriously has been
rehearsing his comedy double act today. He and his partner playing under the
stage names of Muzzle and Toff begin a series of late-night shows in a small
London theatre on Monday. The rabbi has made no secret of wanting to be a
success in show business. Gavinezla watched him prepare for the big time.
It was all about the Messiah the Lord is a coming from his throne on high. Now
when you're Jewish. When the curtain came down on Cliff Cohen's last performance
as a rabbi in a London synagogue he had shocked his congregation by telling
jokes on serious occasions. The Jewish tradition says that if all the Jews were
to correctly observe the Sabbath twice in a row says our tradition that would
bring the Messiah. Why twice? I don't quite know. You know once would be such
an improvement but there we are. When they sacked him he said if Impresario Lou
Grade phoned he'd jump at any offers. Mr. Grade didn't call but theatre manager
Andrew Imson did. He is a man that has a talent that is very special to
himself. I mean everybody likes you know a Jewish joke. Today Cliff was
rehearsing with his partner Jane Ward for their opening night on Monday in a
theater that used to be a mortuary. Two-thirds of the seats for their musical
comedy show have already been taken.
Rabbi Cliff Cohen and that was the six o'clock news on Friday the 18th of January
the day on which the Met Office explaining the absence of the blizzards
they predicted across southern Britain said we were right about there being a
lot of snow it just wasn't in the right area. Let's hope it's not in your area
tonight. Have a good weekend keep warm we'll see you next week.
At 5 past 4 on Sunday another chance to see the award-winning series of King's
Country.
Young naturalist and cameraman Simon Kings unique view of the wildlife which
makes its home in and around the ponds and streams of the south in King's
Country freshwater this Sunday at 5 past 4. Now on BBC one it's time for the
latest news in the south Bruce Parker and Debbie thrower present south today.
Winter's icy blast hits the vegetable trade the South's market gardeners face
a bleak prospect it could mean shortages and even higher prices.
Hello good evening the snow gets worse in the West but it's not so bad in the
East. Tonight we look at how to drive in the icy conditions and indeed how not to.
And it has to be better by rail 130 million pounds better as British Rail
unveil a new age of the train on the Brighton line and our snow desk will be
bringing you a full roundup of the latest effects of the weather what's on
this weekend and what's off. And we start tonight with the havoc the snow and frost
is bringing to vegetable producers in the south. Many market gardeners face
severe financial losses crops have been ruined and spring planting is being
delayed this could lead to a shortage of vegetables in the shops and of course a
hefty increase in prices. Charles Waste reports on that now. Today's heavy snow
falls couldn't come at a worse time for market gardeners whose crops have
already been severely damaged by the recent overnight frosts. The owners of
the Cloverville nursery near Wickham in Hampshire are facing losses of thousands
of pounds. Not only has the snow covered fruit and vegetables but it's blocked
roads leading to the nursery making it impossible for any remaining healthy
vegetables to be taken by lorry to market. Much of the produce here though
is destined to go nowhere. This field of cabbages are impossible to
economically pick. The frost has also made many of them inedible. Leaks which
should now be on their way to market are also buried beneath snow. More than half
are thought to already be ruined. The nursery says the weather's led to losses
of up to 400 pounds a week and that's only the beginning. Thousands of
lettuces have been frost damaged. The continuing cold weather has also
ensured the ground which should now be ready for planting is frozen solid
inside the greenhouse. There's no space for the thousands of young lettuces still
under propagation and due in the shops later this year. The nursery says it's
impossible for them to insure against the cold weather. The premiums are just
too high. Well it's so serious that as you can see we cannot find our crops.
They're absolutely frozen into the ground and it's impossible to get to
anything on the land today. What effects that gonna have on your business? Well
it's meant that everything's come to a standstill. We've got nothing
going out today and we're not going to try and do anything today. What effect do
you think all this is gonna have on prices in the shops and the supply of
goods generally in the shops at the moment? Well we're gradually seeing a shortage
of vegetables, home-produced vegetables. This is going to get worse and worse
obviously. Particularly as the roads get snowed up and they can't be brought in
from other areas. Do you think you'll be able to stay in business? I'm sure we're
we've seen worse times and we'll live to see the better ones. This is pretty bad
isn't it? Probably as bad as it's going to get. The snow will bring the South's
growers even more problems in the coming months when they finally do get their
remaining fresh vegetables onto the shop shelves. They fear they could be
competing with cheap foreign imports which will further cut their market
share in the years ahead. But of course it's not just the South's market
gardeners who've been hit by the weather. Schools, businesses and public transport
throughout the region have also been affected. John Andrews has the details
now. Well the snow held up emergency services as they were on their way to
rescue an elderly woman in a burning house at Downton near Salisbury. By the
time they arrived the woman who was 82 was already dead. It's thought she fell
onto an open fire. At Woodley near Reading a woman fell down an embankment
and lay seriously injured with a broken hip in the snow until she was spotted by
a passerby walking a dog. The woman Mrs. Doris Sharp is undergoing surgery in
hospital at Reading. A school bus and a gas fan crashed in the icy conditions at
Fairham this morning. The children weren't injured but they were getting
very cold until the police stepped in with their own minibus to take the
youngsters on to school. A hundred schools in Dorset have been closed today
because of the conditions and a special snow desk set up by Salisbury police had
700 calls this morning. Several villages on Salisbury Plain have been cut off
during the day and even some major roads in Dorset and Wiltshire were closed
for quite a while although most are now open again. Gatwick Airport stayed open
but the regional airports at Bournemouth, Herne Airport and Eastleigh Airport near
Southampton they were both closed. The buses too have been having a hard time.
Many services have been withdrawn because of blocked roads but British
Rail say they've been maintaining an almost full service despite the extra
difficulties they faced as a result of yesterday's strike. But let's pay tribute
to the men who've been working around the clock to keep us moving especially
the driver of a gritting lorry at New Milton in the New Forest whose truck
slid off the road and straight into a car showroom causing several thousand
pounds of damage to two cars. Well we'll be looking at some of the other
casualties of the snow later. We've details of some of the events that have
had to be called off because of the bad weather. Well British Rail are getting
there also they promise us and today they unveiled the final stage of plans
to improve the Brighton line. More than a hundred million pounds has apparently
been spent cutting the journey time to London and modernizing that section of
the southern region. Part of the package is a complete facelift for Brighton
station as Andy Webb reports now. The whole 130 million pound project is known
as Operation New Look. British Rail admit that some of the equipment they're now
using will be more at home in a railway museum. Much of it is more than 50 years
old. Before long Brighton's ancient signaling system will be replaced by a
computer based at Crawley. Already much of the track has been renewed. In the
next few months engineers will straighten out many of the curves on the
Brighton approach. Another target for modernization is the massive New England
viaduct. 140 years old it carries traffic over the A27 in the town centre. The work
will mean that the roads completely closed for four days over Easter. Well
ironically it was exactly this stretch of road that was closed for half a day
this week after an accident in the snow. Then there were traffic jams stretching
way back up the Shoreham Road. Though British Rail say that they've chosen the
four days over the Easter weekend, Good Friday to Easter Monday, specifically to
avoid those kind of delays when they start work. While work on the track is
completed all trains to and from London will have to go via Hove throughout the
month of April, adding 10 minutes to the journey time. But after April British
Rail say trains will travel to Victoria in 52 minutes, a six minute saving on the
normal time, but surely a costly one. It's not just that we're basically
rebuilding a railway much of which is 50 years old. The signaling in the Brighton
area is 50 years old and we certainly expect to get a lot of extra business
over the years from the modernization and coupled with the track and
re-signaling work we're modernizing the station itself and we're making a start
on modernizing the trains too. So is Brighton station then going to look much
different after all this? Brighton station will have a new attractive
terrazzo tiled concourse, it will have a new indicator system of the electronic
type that's used at London Termini replacing the old indicator and it will
have a new barrier line. And so soon it'll be all change at Brighton station
the one piece of historic equipment with a future is the old indicator board due
for a trip itself to the National Railway Museum in York. Well thousands of
people are suffering the misery of going without water in this cold weather. In
Sussex repair teams are working round the clock to fix burst water mains. The
Southern Water Authority in Brighton is dealing with 15 emergency calls a day
compared with the usual one or two. Tim Hurst reports. Most water mains are laid
beneath roads so any escaping water in these temperatures immediately freezes
and puts a layer of sheet ice across the road. The repair teams can often only
guess about exactly where to dig their holes. The mains are four feet underground
and thousands of gallons of escaping water may seep some distance before
rising to the surface. We're probably having about 10 to 12 burst mains a day
in the area. What's causing them? Well it's the bad weather the temperatures are
going well below freezing the pipes are contracting the grounds moving and it's
just snapping the mains. But why at this particular time? Is it I mean the Thor
hasn't even started yet? No it hasn't but this is an exceptional winter it's
probably our worst winter for 22 years since the 1962-63 winter. Are you managing
to cope with all the calls as you get them? We're coping at the moment. What do
you think is going to be the worst period when the Thor starts? I think possibly it
may well be that. So what's your advice if you have any? Well there's nothing the
general public can do with regards to burst water mains but their own
particular plumbing I would hope that now that they will go and lag all their
pipes if it's not too late. All emergency calls from the Brighton area are
handled in the huge southern water control room at Falmer from where the
repair teams are directed by radio. The ridge boarding team your name and address
sir.
And you say it's a burst mine it's clean water. Spotting trouble before it happens
should be easier now with a new weather radar which can pinpoint approaching
winter weather before it happens. It should also help in milder weather when
it's warm enough to rain then the water engineers can use it to predict floods.
Well now Dare One said but the people in London seem in their usual
metropolitan way to think that because it didn't snow very much in London it
didn't snow anywhere at all. That's right. That's what they were saying on the 6 o'clock
news isn't it. You were a darn sight more accurate than most other people
forecasting last night weren't you? Yes I'd like to think we were Debbie we weren't
perhaps quite right for Sussex there was really not a great deal of snow there
today perhaps unusually the Isle of Wight was the worst hit place in our region
not only in our region it was the worst hit place really in the country in the
last 12 hours or so there's a quite a lot of snow down there and out towards
Dorset as well. I think possibly you're seeing the last of that now and perhaps
we're going to have 24 36 hours of slightly better weather. This afternoon
satellite picture shows all the cloud that produced that snow during today
being pushed along by this low pressure near Biscay there. The cloud is tending
to swing westward here taking its snow with it and somewhat clearer weather
coming in although not that clear really and we haven't quite seen the last of
snow yet there's still some lingering around the Dorset Weymouth Portland
area but that is now drifting away from Dorset and then we'll have a dry night
but a very misty one you'll find if you're driving around a cold one not
quite as cold as it's been just lately but nevertheless temperatures of which
are now around freezing point are dropping further so there'll be a
widespread frost again but as I say a fairly dry night once this last bit of
snow is cleared away from Dorset and a dry day tomorrow a brighter day that
doesn't say there'll be much sunshine around I fancy but nevertheless the sky
will look brighter and it's going to be a dry day as well. Temperatures zooming
up to around two degrees centigrade I say that because that's a good deal
higher than they've been for some time in the past and furthermore only very
light winds of a very variable direction so that will help it make make it feel a
little warmer. Later in the day some southeasterlies picking up on the
Dorset coast. Strange as the temperatures shot up to zero today it felt quite
warm actually. Indeed while the snow may be easing off it'll be too late though
to save the majority of sporting events which should have taken place this
weekend. Here's John Andrews again with the latest on the list of cancellations.
As far as the football program is concerned there's hardly a match being
played at any level in the south this weekend. Southampton decided after
yesterday's snowfall that their game at the Dell couldn't go on and today's
blizzards made conditions at the ground even worse. And while Sussex has escaped
the worst of today's snow the state of Brighton's Goldstone ground hasn't
improved enough to allow their match against Carlisle to go on. Older shots
home game against Halifax has also been cancelled. But for teams playing away
it's a brighter picture. The games between Middlesbrough and Portsmouth,
Doncaster and Reading and Rotherham against Bournemouth are still on. But soccer
cancellations are just the tip of a very large iceberg. BMX riders belonging to
the Pool Panthers, the Farnham District and the Gosport clubs won't be peddling
this weekend. And two show jumping events have been cancelled. They're at
Stockland's show centre in Lippoek and Burleigh Villa Arena at New Milton.
Obviously the cold weather means many elderly folk are sensibly staying at
home. So tomorrow's whist drive at the Avenue Church in Southampton and the
Lions Club meeting at Ventnor are both off. Southampton's Opportunity Group for
the Disabled has cancelled tomorrow's Skittles evening and the next Handy Club
meeting for the disabled in Swanage is off too. A spare a thought for 15
disappointed youngsters from Southampton will be staying in the warm
this weekend. Their junior chamber survival course has been called off
because in all this snow they just might not survive. Meanwhile do bear in mind
that Radio Solent will be broadcasting a special snow program at 10 past 7 this
evening. While Radio Sussex is manning a special phone line tomorrow to help
bring you the very latest weather news. Thanks John. Now if you have to go out in
a car in this weather it's best to know what you may be in for. Richard Vaughan
has been picking up a few tips from the experts on just how to cope. What you're
about to see is how not to drive on snow and ice. The man who's demonstrating is
Ian Taylor, racing driver and instructor at Thruxton. As I come down here I'm
beginning to brake and if you just brake without coming off the pedal at all the
wheels will just lock up and the car will just go in a straight line. At the same time
the either the back end or the front end could break away. If that happens to you
it's so important again to come off the pedal and unfortunately most people in a
panic situation just tend to keep their foot heavily on the brake and the car
will just go in a straight line and unfortunately that's when they tend to
hit things. Just look at the difference in stopping distances between the white
police car where the driver pumps on and off the brakes and the blue car where
the brakes are simply slammed on.
The experts advice is brake in a straight line before you reach a corner
not in the middle of the bend like this and of course if you get into a skid turn
the steering wheel in the opposite direction. It's so important in these
conditions to have light control in other words the driver who drives on ice
tends to tense up but if you just feel the steering very gently and do gear
changing very smoothly you can save yourself an awful lot of trouble. It's
more important than ever in weather like this to be very much aware of other
drivers because since snow and ice it takes everybody that much longer to stop
perhaps as much as ten times the distance it would normally take. Things
to check before you even set out on your journey anti-freeze for your windscreen
washers very important this if you can't get hold of any a little methylated
spirits will do the trick and the manufacturers recommended amount of
anti-freeze in your radiator that is a must and that's not all. It's absolutely
essential to make sure that the battery is properly maintained that it is
regularly charged especially in weather like this because when you're driving
with a heater and washers and everything else going perhaps there's more coming
out of the battery than you're able to put in. Perhaps another little-known
thing is the fact about headlights for instance typical headlight been used for
a day look at the difference with the quick wipe. If you've been tempted to
lower your tire pressures in the snow the word from the experts is don't just
leave them as they are. One of the most dangerous times is when the temperature
is on the point of freezing but what are the warning signs? Probably one of the
best telltale signs is if it begins to go very quiet because the slush is
no longer slush it is turning to ice and therefore it will go very quiet and the
steering will go very light. If ever that happens slow right down. What if you're
stuck out in the wilds and the car breaks down there's a snow drift
something like that what should you do? The best thing to do is to stay
with the car and obviously if you're going to stay with the car you should
have made some preparation in the first instance to keep some warm clothing or a
blanket in the back to prevent obviously hypothermia. A lot of people have in fact
lost their life simply because they've abandoned the car and try to walk for
help. Stay with the car. So there you are now you all know but now who's for tennis?
It may not seem appropriate at the moment to start thinking of summer
sports but at a village close to Basingstoke you could indulge in a game
of tennis whatever the weather. We sent John Andrews, busy chap, along to
investigate. Here's his report. We're in the heart of North Hampshire in the
depths of winter. There may be a watery sun filtering through but even at mid
day it's still four degrees below freezing. The last place you would think
to hear the thud of tennis balls against catgut. It seems to be coming from this
bubble behind me. I'll go and investigate.
Inside this strange plastic bubble are two top-class tennis courts where you
can keep fit and practice your skills 365 days a year. The many down tennis
centre lives under a polythene bubble at a farm at Wotton St. Lawrence near
Basingstoke. Indoor courts are few and far between and generally they don't
come cheap. It can cost 15 pounds an hour to hire one. The many down courts have
cost a hundred thousand pounds to build but the higher fee is a more reasonable
five pounds an hour. Tennis now if you're looking to play it seriously has to be
played all year round. One can do a certain amount of fitness but you have
to do some work on the court to keep your timing in there everything to be
able to keep up with people now who are playing all year round especially abroad.
So especially for youngsters who are developing their game something like
this without it they would never make the top grade. They wouldn't have a chance
in my opinion competing abroad where they play indoor tennis all the time and
all year round. The actual bubble itself is designed to be able to play through
the winter but at a reasonable and affordable cost and that is the only way
really that the youngsters and the people who matter can afford to play
tennis and we can broaden the base of the game that way. The strange bubble by the
farmyard has been built by farmer Hugh Oliver Bellisus in a corner of his
5,000 acre estate but why branch out from the livestock and land rover world
of farming into all-weather tennis. The farming community are under a certain
amount of pressure with surpluses in Europe and we've looked at first of all
golf courses and we we went into it quite seriously we got planning
permission and in fact found that it wasn't financially viable and so we then
hit upon the idea of looking at tennis courts and an indoor facility
particularly. It is much cheaper and and of course the thing that has actually
killed off two of the big tennis centers in this country is the fact that they
built a structure at 35 pounds a square foot and they've gone bust twice or three
times so you've got to keep your capital cost down which enables you to keep
your cost of playing down and then we'll encourage more people to play tennis
which is what we need to produce really good tennis players. Although the
centre is going to be most attractive to developing young players and committed
competitors anyone can book a court for a knock around or join the coaching
classes complete with video playback. Watching Mackenroe and Lindell in action
will never be the same after you've seen your own awful service in full-colour
close-up. Those dreams of winning Wimbledon may mean more work than you'd
imagined. All you need now is the sound of Dan Maskell that well-known tennis
voice and you could actually imagine that it could be summer. Well now you may
remember the Southampton Tramp who narrowly escaped being crushed in a
refuse skip well he's now left hospital. He'd fallen asleep in the skip which was
loaded onto the back of a rubbish lorry. He spent two weeks in hospital but now
he's made a full recovery and is settling into a new home. Charles Waste
reports.
Jimmy Hannafy fell asleep in the skip after having far too much to drink
earlier this month. He only woke up when the crusher started working. Horrified
refuse operators only stopped the machine when they heard his screams.
Jimmy was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he was treated for
fractured ribs shock and bruising. After two weeks treatment in a private room
sheltered from the bitter cold outside Jimmy who's 51 was pronounced fit enough
by doctors to leave. He says he remembers nothing of the night he spent in the
refuse skip having consumed 20 pints of beer. You're now going into bed and
breakfast accommodation. Will that suit you? Oh yeah it's a good house. Will you stay there?
Yeah. What about the drink? Can you give up the drink?
It's not for me to do that. That money is no good to me. It would only last me hours.
So you're still looking to have a drink? Good session. After his two weeks stay at
the hospital Jimmy who's still weak on his legs seemed anxious to leave.
You'd be good wouldn't you at home? Go on then.
Because of the cold weather ambulance services in Hampshire have been dealing
with emergency cases only so the hospital administrator are south today
to take Jimmy the several miles to his new bed and breakfast accommodation
provided by the social services. Jimmy says that now that he's got his own room
in a warm house he'll be much more selective about where he sleeps in the
future. Well good luck to Jimmy and I think at this stage of the program the
end of it we ought to say well done to all the postmen the milkmen the paper
boys and of course the men have been out gritting the roads. We're doing a
splendid job. Say something nice about them today. I'm saying something nice about them
today because in fact the roads were superbly clear well done you gritting men all over
the south and all our counties we're very very proud of you. We are indeed. That's it you're
back tomorrow aren't you? Yep 5.15 tomorrow so tune in to us then. Good night.
Friday night entertainment on BBC One in a moment blankety blank and then at 7.30
Terry and June. You've got a lovely lovely green dress in there. That old thing I can't wear that.
Makes you look like a million dollars. Yes all green and wrinkles. At 8 o'clock detectives Starsky and Hutch
employ a cafe owner with psychic powers to help them solve a kidnap.
Daddy they promised not to hurt me.