rain. this is what happened through the small hours, these thunderstorms developed to the south, pushed northwards. we ve seen around 5000 lightning strikes so far today and a lot of rain as you can see from the radar picture. in some places but not in all places. however, where it has been wet, take this figure, bury saint edmonds, above 70 millimetres of rain so far, that is more than that place would normally expect in the whole month of august, so it has been an exceptionally wet day so far but this rain is now starting to clear eastwards, taking a while to do so i have to say but generally improving through the midlands and eastern england this afternoon. sunny spells elsewhere although cloud bringing showers for northern ireland and western scotland and asked that rain clears through a fresh feel than we have had of late and certainly cooler and fresher overnight. with all the moisture on the ground, could see some fog patches developing across parts of the midlands and
eating a steak that was harvested by a robot! south east wales and parts of mid wales are moving into drought status from today, joining parts of west wales. it comes as plans to tap into a welsh reservoir are being considered by thames water to help drought stricken parts of england. some claim revenue from water sales could be invested back into local communities. 0ur environment correspondent, steffan messenger, reports. across the south east of england, water companies have warned of severe pressure on resources. this summer s challenge is clear to see from space, raising questions again about whether water could be moved from rainy regions like wales. thames water, which supplies 50 million customers in and around london is already in talks about how feasible it would be to access supplies from the river severn, as well as this reservoir in powys.
to other parts of the uk, outside wales, - it should be paid for. the independence movement, yes cymru, has launched a petition calling for a full debate on the issue in the senedd, but others say suggestions wales could capitalise on its water are problematic. that would stir up the sort of divisions where people elsewhere would say why are we sending nearly £1 billion over to wales for growth deals and why will wales benefit from the electricity that goes on the grid as a result of what happens at hinckley? while there are no firm plans yet, the debate around this issue has well and truly begun. steffan messenger there. it s six months since people across the uk offered homes to ukranians fleeing the invasion of russia. mary and juan were two of their first to arrive in louth in lincolnshire, a town whose generosity far outweighed its size. this week, they will celebrate getting the keys to their first flat. but the couple say family members in odessa, still suffering in the war, sh