heat waves hit cities the hardest. good morning and welcome to bbc news. authorities in the us city of houston have described the flooding caused by tropical storm harvey as catastrophic. meteorologists say the storm in the biggest to have ever hit the state of texas. so far more than two and a half feet of rain has fallen in houston, with the city warned to expect to be deluged by up to a year's worth within the week. five people are reported to have died in the rising floodwaters. emergency services in the area are overstretched and 3000 soldiers have been mobilised to help people to safety. 2000 people have been rescued, including the residents of one care home, who were evacuated after images of them in waist—deep water were shared on social media. president trump is due to visit the deluged city tomorrow. 0ur north america correspondent james cook is in houston — and has this report. nearly three days after hurricane harvey smashed into texas, houston is still struggling in its wake. rescuers in boats, helicopters, and lorries, have been bringing forecasters say the storm is on track to dump a record 50 inches of rain on the state. we want people to know in this city that if you have a need, we will get to you. i simply ask you remain calm and a little patient. but we will get to you. anyone with a boat, large or small, has been pressed into service. but the flooded city streets are difficult to navigate. the currents are swift and treacherous. in these conditions, making the wrong turning can quickly become a matter of life and death. we just... we prayed a lot. and we just praised god and we were rescued, so we are very thankful. you get a sense here ofjust how quickly the situation is unfolding. the flooding clearly caught these drivers by surprise, and still the rain is coming down with no sign of it stopping. the fourth largest city in the united states has now ground to a halt. motorways are cut off, both the airports are closed, and 3,000 soldiers have mobilised to help. president trump plans to visit tomorrow. he will find a city in crisis. james cook, bbc news, houston. while covering the hurricane on live television, a reporter for the us network cbs spotted a stranded trucker, whose cab was filling with water, in an area too deep and fast—moving to swim out of. this is the moment she flagged down a rescue crew, to try and save the man. we have a boat coming. i am going to flag these guys down and see... hold onjust a second. are you guys headed down to the truck right here? there is a truck driver stuck here in about ten feet of water. thank you! 0k. these guys have a boat. we have got the harris cou nty have a boat. we have got the harris county sheriff water rescue teams and their boat. hopefully we can get down to this guy. so, they are putting the boat in just now. they are on their way! here we go, the airboat is now approaching this semi—that has been stalled here heading westbound in the eastbound lanes. i don't have any word on how long he has been there or what kind of condition he is in. i'm sure he's very wet, very cold, very frightened. i am terrified for him. and here he comes. i feel like i can ifeel like i can finally i feel like i can finally breathe. ifeel like i can finally breathe. a sigh of relief. 0ur weather presenter sarah keith—lucas is here. these pictures are extraordinary. tell us why it is so bad and how this compares with what has gone before. this is a very big storm, category four when it made landfall, and the last time a category four hurricane made landfall in texas was backin hurricane made landfall in texas was back in 1961, soap more than 60 yea rs back in 1961, soap more than 60 years ago. it has been very slow moving, so the storm made landfall and then stalled across south—eastern parts of texas, so we have seen the persistent rain over the past three days or so. so far some places particularlyjust to the east of houston have seen around a0 inches of rainfall, about a metre, and it isn't just inches of rainfall, about a metre, and it isn'tjust the intensity and duration, but also the storm surge as well around the coast. the wind brought a storm surge of around nine foot, so significant problems exacerbating the flooding. and the wind has been a huge problem as well, the hurricane force winds, and more than 60 tornadoes hampering the effort as well. what is the forecast? we are certainly not out of the woods yet in terms of this storm. it looks like it is going to remain slow—moving but pushed off the coast out into the gulf of mexico, so once it does that over the next 2a hours, it will gather a little more intensity over those waters, so warm air feeding the storm, and really over the next 2a-a8 storm, and really over the next 2a—a8 hours, further very heavy rainfall in similar areas as well. the flooding problems could get a little worse before they do eventually start to get better. it will be wednesday into thursday before the rain. stick ease. thank you very much. more than 130 people have been treated at a hospital in east sussex, and hundreds more have been affected by a mysterious gas cloud that drifted along the south coast of england. beaches between eastbourne and birling gap were evacuated as people complained of streaming eyes, sore throats and vomiting. police say they're investigating what caused the haze but the beaches will be open as normal today. simonjones reports. this is the moment a strange haze began rolling in off the sea as people were trying to enjoy a day at the beach. with streaming eyes and sore throats, many decided to leave before it was evacuated by emergency services wearing gas marks. the mist quickly spread further along the coast. we all had really sore eyes, and then my partner had a sore throat. i had a bit of a dry chest, and then as we came off the beach, it really kind of hit and we were all coughing a little bit, and my children were really u pset a little bit, and my children were really upset because their eyes were really upset because their eyes were really painful. and it lasted, i was coughing until ten o'clock, woke up this morning still with a dry cough, but fingers crossed, nothing lingering. more than 100 people headed to hospital in eastbourne where they went through a decontamination process. others were urged not to go to hospital unless it was an absolute emergency. the haze prompted a huge response from the ambulance service, the police, the fire service, and the rnli. residents were told to stay in doors and keep their windows closed. what caused the chemical cloud is still unclear. it appears to have come from the coast somewhere. i know in previous incidences we have had here, it has come from an industrial unit in france and stuff like that. we will work with our agencies to try and find out where this has all come from. the gas now seems to have blown away, and thousands are prepared to flock to the beach for bank holiday monday, the police believe it is isolated and it is not expected to happen again. simonjones, bbc simon jones, bbc news. simonjoins me now in the studio. the big question is what caused it, and it seems as if the emergency service is our thinking about pointing the finger at france, but nothing is certain. people were suggesting it could be chlorine, because it's not like they were at a swimming pool, but much stronger than normal, but the police are saying given the problems people suffered, they don't think it was, but they are not sure what it was. is it safe to go back to the beach today? the police are saying the gas is dissipated, so the beaches are going to be open today, and we have seen pictures of people returning. the bank holiday for a lot of people and it is going to be hot, so beaches will be busy, perhaps people will be concerned. but this was a pretty nasty experience, 150 people feeling they needed to go to hospital, and hundreds more suffering from the symptoms of vomiting and streaming eyes a lot of than phoning doctors and 111 just to see what they should do. but the doctors decided it was necessary to carry on with full decontamination that they were doing initially with the full biohazard suits, so that was established pretty quickly, but for most people it was simply that they could run water through their eyes for about 20 minutes of that seem to solve the problem, but very concerning the people. simon, thank you. brexit secretary david davis and government officials return to brussels today for the latest round of brexit negotiations. british negotiators are urging the eu to show flexibility and imagination. this is the third round of talks sincejune, and our brussels reporter adam fleming has been following every twist and turn. we can go live to him now in brussels. powers that message likely to go down asking for flexibility and imagination? the british strategy employed at the moment is to try to broaden out the talks from the three priority areas that have been identified as the eu on their side and broaden it out to start talking about the future relationship between the eu and the uk on things like trade. so that is why the government has issued a whole load of papers in the last two weeks trying to make the talks a little broader. in terms of how that goes down here in brussels, not amazingly well. eu officials at the end of last week were saying that you mess with the timetable at your peril. they say that if you leave big sensitive issues like northern ireland and the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland all the financial settlement, the so—called brexit bill, to the end of the talks, you risk there being no deal at the end of the process, so that is their reason for why they want to deal with those issues upfront. so will david davis get his wish about discussing things for the future instead of just discussing things for the future instead ofjust the withdrawal issues? i guess we will find out by the end of this week. and as ever, there is always the backdrop to what is going on politically here, and the political talk here around labour shifting its stance on brexit. how much does that filter through to what is happening there? things that happen in the uk do filter through. people here in brussels read the british press, listen to the today programme, watch this to see what is happening. i think they will be slightly less interested in labour's shifted position on things like a transition deal than they will be about the hardening up of the position in the government, because after all, that is who they are negotiating with. and all the interesting stuff that labour has been talking about this weekend has been about the transition deal, the interim period after brexit day in march 2019, and thatis after brexit day in march 2019, and that is not something that the eu side really want to talk about yet, because they are laser focused on these three priority issues for the first phase of talks, which is the rights of eu citizens living in the uk and british people living abroad, the so—called brexit bill, the uk's financial obligations on leaving the eu and the issue of what to do with the northern ireland border. 0ne british news story that really has resonated here is, due under another thing happened last week when the home office accidentally sent out letters to about 100 eu national save in my get deported? people here in brussels really, really noticed that. thank you very much, adam fleming. a lorry driver is due in court accused of causing the death by dangerous driving after eight people were killed in a crash on the m1 near milton keynes on saturday. ryszard masierak, who's 31 and from worcestershire, is also accused of causing serious injury to four people and being over the alcohol limit. the driver of a second lorry will appear in court next month. the headlines on bbc news: 3000 soldiers are being sent to houston to help residents affected by severe flooding in the wake of hurricane harvey. more than 130 people have been treated in hospital and hundreds more affected — by a mysterious gas cloud that drifted in off the sea in east sussex. the third round of brexit talks take place in brussels this afternoon — with british negotiators urging the eu to show flexibility and imagination. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. arsene wenger tore into his arsenal players after what he labelled an "absolutely disastrous" performance. it was a a—0 thrashing by liverpool at anfield. the reds were already a goal up then watch this from sadio mane. razor sharp footwork. cuts inside and swings it around the keeper. arsenal's defence was a shambles. perhaps best illustrated by this goal. daniel sturridge unmarked and an easy header. we were really well organised. if you give arsenal a little bit of space, a little bit of time, the opportunity to do what they want to do, you are lost before the game starts. when liverpool usually plays arsenal usually a lot of goals are involved, usually a lot of goals are involved, usually from both sides. today thank god it was just from one side. we were not at a level of commitment physically and mentally as well. a performance like that is, of course, very disappointing. tottenham hotspur are still without a premier league win at wembley. chris wood scored on his league debut in the 92nd minute to earn burnley a 1—1 draw. both teams have four points from three games. champions chelsea made it back—to—back wins by beating everton 2—0. cesc fabregas opened the scoring at stamford bridge before new signing alvaro morata headed in the second just before half time. and stoke's peter crouch made the most of a defensive mix—up to end west brom's100% start to the season. his equaliser earned them a 1—1 draw. in the scottish premiership, dundee secured their first point of the season to lift themselves off the bottom of the table. a 1—1 draw against hibs at dens park ended a run of five league defeats in a row. and rangers won, 3—1, at ross county. you'd have to say it's advantage west indies heading into the fourth day of the second test against england in leeds. joe root‘s team are playing catch up in their second innings. mark stoneman hit a maiden test half century before being bowled for 52. root will resume unbeaten on a5 with england leading by only two runs — they have seven wickets in hand. it is set up well for the next two days and we just hope we can get ourselves in a good position. any targets ? ourselves in a good position. any targets? one step at the time, keep trying to build a lead and keep the west indies out in the field as long as possible. lewis hamilton celebrated his 200th race in formula one with a faultless display to win the belgian grand prix. the three time world champion started on pole but was angry about a safety car coming out, which he said could have ruined his chance of winning. but he held off the challenge of sebastian vettel to take the victory. hamilton's now just seven points behind vettel in the drivers‘ standings. andrea dovizioso won the british motogp at silverstone and now leads the championship. marc marquez lost his place at the top of the standings when his honda broke down with seven laps to go. dovizioso took the lead from valentino rossi with just three laps left and held on to take the chequered flag. britain's cal crutchlow was fourth, while scott redding was eighth. after a stage victory on sunday chris froome will enjoy today's rest day at the vuelta a espana, after extending his lead over esteban chaves to 36 seconds. he made his break with a few hundred yards to go at the end of yesterday's ninth stage. froome is aiming to become only the third man to win the tour de france and the vuelta in the same year. a 17—year—old boy has died at the reading festival. emergency services were called to a tent in the campsite shortly before 2am this morning. thames valley police say the death is being treated as unexplained. the teenager has not been formally identified but his family have been informed. police and troops have been deployed in force in the north indian city of rohtak, where a controversial guru is due to be sentenced shortly for raping two women. followers of gurmeet ram rahim singh rioted after his conviction on friday. at least 38 people died in the violence. tell us more? this is a very controversial self—styled spiritual leader gurmeet ram rahim singh who claims to have millions of all followers around the world, this case dates back to 2002 when he was accused of raping two female followers, it took the police five yea rs followers, it took the police five years to gather enough evidence to charge him and finally he was convicted on friday. you have already talked about the violence which took place after the conviction, we expect him to be sentenced within the next hour. interestingly thejudge sentenced within the next hour. interestingly the judge who will sentence is being flown out to the prison where he is being held and will pronounce the sentence there because authorities are concerned there could be more violence. they have put several thousand soldiers in place around the courtroom but also around the headquarters of the sect he has founded, something like 16,000 troops there, 5—10,000 of his supporters believed to still be in the complex and we are told once the sentence is announced soldiers have orders to enter the premises so there is concern about what reaction they are likely to face given the violence we experienced. has he said anything, has he been able to communicate through this process, his view of what is going on? our head of his conviction on friday he put out a statement asking his followers to remain camped but when he actually appeared in court he arrived in a convoy of 100 vehicles, most of them carrying supporters, it was a show of strength and there has been a lot of criticism of the government forfailing been a lot of criticism of the government for failing to anticipate this level of violence and this passionate reaction. since then he has not been seen, he was flown out of the court in a helicopter to the prison where he is being held, eve ryo ne prison where he is being held, everyone waiting to see what sentence he will receive, it could be anything between seven years to life imprisonment. thank you for bringing us the latest on that, we will stay up—to—date on that as the sentencing comes through. it was one of the most familiar names on the high street, but today marks a year since the last bhs stores closed, after the retailer went into administration. it brought to an end nearly 90 years of trading for the famous chain. so what's happened to all those shops? our business correspondent, emma simpson has been finding out. bhs, one of the best—known names on the high street. it had its heyday, but last year, nearly 90 years of trading came to an end. and the question, who would fill this gap? at this shopping centre, a shiny new department store. newjobs for these two former bhs staff. we couldn't get anyone in to fix anything for bhs, but now we've got brand—new everything. it is like moving out, having it refurbished and moving straight back in. for us, it's's like a home from home. whatever was going on in in this building, we would be interested. the fact that we both work here is amazing. it is a good outcome, but what has happened to the other 159 bhs stores around the uk? more than half are empty. 35 properties have deals or plans in place. four are being demolished. only 25 of the former bhs stores have so far been reoccupied. that is about one in six shops. i am not surprised that a vast majority are unoccupied, many of them are very large and costly to reoccupy, and they are in marginal towns where there is a lot of competition from other locations. those retailers who would normally have been there in the past have moved elsewhere. i have lived in stockport all my life, i remember being dragged around on a saturday morning with my mum. it would never be a complete visit without coming to bhs. there is a gaping hole now. the council is spending millions on improving the town centre. it's leader is convinced a solution can be found. it is a shame, because it is actually a successful shopping centre. 90% of units are let. we feel there is a lot of potential interest in this building. i think there is an incredible opportunity. i think it can be easy let. but they may need to come up with something creative than just another shop. the same goes for many of the other former bhs stores sitting empty as well. a british family have been rescued from their stranded catamaran, it distress call and coordinated with the nearby yacht to receive the couple and two children, officials say the family were very lucky that a nearby yacht, the only vessel in the area was monitoring the channel and was to rescue them. if i was to say "quaffle", "bludger" and "snitch" it could only mean one thing: quidditch. the sport was created byjk rowling and played by harry potter. but it's now an actual real life sport. over the weekend the final of the british quidditch premier league was held. 0ur entertainment correspondent colin paterson dug out his broom and went along to take a look. quidditch, very much harry potter's favourite sport. very much a real thing now. eight teams battling it out for the quidditch premier league championship. the first time it has been played in the uk at a professional stadium. we have lots of people coming down, they get to see that it is a real sport. quidditch has three main rules. when you get hit by this, you have to go back into your hoop. this is the golden snitch, if you catch it, you get 30 points and it ends the game. for the players, all this is done with one of these between their legs. if you get hit by a bludger or it comes from between your legs, you have to go and tag back in at your hoops. would it be easier if you could fly? yes, much easier. it was clear to see how seriously they were taking it. this is a pre—match team talk. are you absolute and this man is the commentator. many of the players were attracted to the sport by a certain wizard. probably at the top end of fans. but it is so separate now but i am separating quidditch from harry potter. that is not true of everyone. i have never read the books. not even the quidditch sections? no. there were no tactics in there. west midlands verses the south—east in the final. a tight contest, but finally, a game ending catch. i got the snitch in the end, thanks to my beaters. presented with a trophy that was bigger than ron weasley. the sport is aiming to be recognised by sport england, and one day it could be a case of harry potter and the olympic sport. could be the hottest late august bank holiday we have recorded, temperatures potentially 28—30.m will turn cooler as we go through the week but by the end of the week high pressure starts to return so things become a bit more settled. rain moving south and east, in the north—east of scotland for most of england and wales it will stay dry and sunny, temperatures in the northern areas, potentially 29 or 30 degrees for this evening are largely fine end to the day, rain spreading its way into north—western england and wales, that will move south and east, rain breaking up, cooler and fresher conditions, still pretty warm across the south east, goodbye.

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