here's phil avery. a mini heatwave coming? you are getting excited, aren't you? your word. it was a glorious and a start, as yet again evidenced by one of our more artistic weather watchers and thursday are always was going to be one of the more better days of the week, with regard to the amount of dry weather and the amount of sunshine on offer. that's not to say that it's sunshine all the way. it's quite breezy across scotland and come the latter part of the afternoon there will be enough cloud around for there to be just a gaggle of showers running through on that rather noticeable breeze and you will lose the sunshine late on gci’oss will lose the sunshine late on across the western side of northern ireland. those are the exceptions to a drywall. a fresh appeal to today compared to yesterday. will still make 18 somewhere. then we will push the weather front cover which we seen the first sign of the cloud, there comes the rain again, and pretty strong winds. there's a gale to be had across the north of scotland, not a cold start to the new day but it will be a wet and windy one across much of northern britain and the rain returning again to areas that saw far too much in the way of rain yesterday, for example. so we're back in the southern part of scotland, come mid—afternoon, perhaps you are travelling for the weekend, no great issue in the northern part of scotla nd issue in the northern part of scotland having had the rain in the first part of the day. but rainfall totals mounting up and there could be 70 millimetres falling towards the cumbrian fells area before the day is out and the wind all the while. the rain also getting into another wet spot of late, the high ground in the north of wales. generally speaking the further south and east you are, the dryer and fine your day could be, you could see 20 celsius. not quite a heatwave. into the weekend the southerly and south—west breezes will flood warm air towards us, south—west breezes will flood warm airtowards us, i'm south—west breezes will flood warm air towards us, i'm not sure south—west breezes will flood warm airtowards us, i'm not sure if 22 01’ airtowards us, i'm not sure if 22 or 23 qualify as a heat wave, but sophie is nodding. the weatherfront eases north and you have to be south of that to get the full benefit of that warmth. if you are close to it, more rain for the western side of scotland, maybe the far north of northern ireland. this is where we are in the 21,22 northern ireland. this is where we are in the 21, 22 territory. a similar prospect on sunday. the rain is still plaguing the north, suppressing the temperatures, but at that stage 21 with a bit of sunshine, 22 or 23. at the same time as i'm watching all of that, this is hurricane 0phelia. as we move towards monday will become perilously close, we think, to the western side of the british isles. as far ahead as tuesday and very strong winds will be a nuisance across the northern parts of scotland. a lot to come on that, a lot of uncertainty at the moment. we'll keep you posted, of course. that's all from the bbc news at one. it's goodbye from me. 0n bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. you're watching bbc news. exactly 1:34. i'm 0lly foster at the bbc sport centre. british swimming has apologised to some of its paralympic athletes after it was found that a former head coach "created a climate of fear". an independent investigation into complaints of bullying from 13 paraswimmers found that an unnamed member of staff, understood to be rob greenwood, had been "communicating with athletes in an abusive manner, as well as using derogatory terms to describe athletes". greenwood, who won a national coaching award following the team's 47 medals at the rio paralympics last year, left his job before the inquiry started. contacted by the bbc, he has declined to comment. another senior figure investigated was found to have management and communication issues but remains in post. it cannot be a case of achieving success at any cost. the culture must sit well with the way in which we behave in achieving success. it isa thin we behave in achieving success. it is a thin dividing line, in achieving medals, proper conduct and achieving medals, proper conduct and achieving success by improper conduct is wrong. if we get the culture right... idea not believe we will not achieve success, damage aspirations of affiliates. gordon strachan‘s future as scotland manager could be decided today. the scottish fa are holding a board meeting and his position will be on the agenda. bbc scotland report kheredine idessane is there. the eight man scottish football association board convened at hampden park shortly after nine o'clock this morning, several items on the agenda but none more important than the future of the national manager gordon strachan who was appointed in january 2013. national manager gordon strachan who was appointed injanuary 2013. he has presided over two failed campaigns to get scotland to a first major competition since france 9098. iam major competition since france 9098. i am told that the meeting could stretch long into the afternoon and it could be a decision by the end of today, possibly followed discussions could be required. the sfa has got a decision, stick or twist? gordon strachan and scotland are unbeaten in 2017 but just strachan and scotland are unbeaten in 2017 butjust failed for another campaign, the world cup in russia. the sfa me not want to be seen to be rewarding failure. big decision to be made but we do not know if it is going to be today or more discussions required. the season looks to be over for the british number one johanna konta. she has pulled out of next week's kremlin cup with a foot injury and that means she's unable to qualify for the wta finals in singapore. she had to reach the final in moscow to break back into the world's top eight. she has slipped to ninth in the rankings following a poor run of form. she could still attend the singpaore event as stand—by, in case of injury to another player. ireland's first test match will be against pakistan at home next may. the irish were given test status alongside afghanistan in june to become the 11th and 12th full members of the icc. the dates and venue of their inaugral test are still to be decided. much more on the website. you can get more on this story, injuries for rugby union players. that's on the rise. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you. detectives in belfast have begun a murder investigation after discovering the body of a woman who may have been dead for almost three years. police found marie conlon dead in her bed in herflat in the west of the city last week. we can talk to our correspondent. on friday, police said they received a report, concern for welfare about marie conlon who lived in a flat a development in the west of the city. having to break into the flat... and they found marie conlon dead in bed. it was apparent she had been undiscovered for some time. the results of the examination have suggested that marie conlon‘s death may have been suspicious. what's more... the last known sighting of her was january 2015. two years, nine months ago. and medical evidence leads them to believe that miss conlon could have died so long ago that it could have been around that time. january 2015. one man has been arrested. 23 years old. in custody and detectives questioning him on a number of offences including murder. southern health has been fined £125,000 plus costs at basingstoke magistrates for failing to provide safe care and treatment to people in its care. it is the first time the care quality commission has launched a prosecution against a trust. let's get more from our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan. there is significant case. explain the background. this involves a series of failures at a psychiatric hospital, run by southern health. the court was told that between 2010-16, the court was told that between 2010—16, patients managed to access a low roof on ten separate occasions. information was given about a man called mr ab, he managed to get onto this low roof. when he then had to combat in 2015, after his mental health act deteriorated, the family told the staff about the danger of him getting onto this roof. but enough was not done to prevent that happening. he managed to get on the roof. eventually sustained what the court heard where life changing injuries. staff knew about despot that nothing about it. 2012, 2014, 2015. internal documents, saying that you have got to do something about this. it is a risk to patients. but nothing has been done. it was a lack of money to do anything. because of the repeated history, knowing about this, the trust was today fined £125,000. it could have been a lot more, but getting some credit for pleading guilty. any money find would be taken out of the money that they can spend on patient care. this is the first prosecution that southern health have faced over care faring, but not the last. due to be fined again in several weeks, over the death of a young man with learning difficulties. the problem is that this trust has had for a couple of yea rs this trust has had for a couple of years continue. the current management argue that they are dealing with the fielders of the past and the trust has changed significantly since these problems we re significantly since these problems were evident and not properly dealt with. people convicted of plotting acts of terror will face longer prison sentences, under proposed new guidelines. the sentencing council wants judges in england and wales to deal more harshly with offenders behind less sophisticated butjust as deadly terror plots seen recently. it says that minimum sentences should rise to between three and six years. here's our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani. an unprecedented year of terrorist attacks. khalid masood killed five in the westminster attack in march. four on the bridge as he turned a car into a weapon. the fifth victim, pc keith palmer, stabbed as he tried to stop masood entering parliament. one of five major incidents this year, with police saying they've stopped at least six more. the severity of the threat and the way it's been changing has led the sentencing council for england and wales to intervene. the council of senior judges and their advisers say terrorism suspects are moving more quickly to attack than ever before. they're turning everyday items, like cars and knives, into weapons. so it's recommending longerjail terms for those guilty of preparing acts of terrorism. we simply looked at the experience in this country in recent months and realised that the nature of the terrorist threat has undoubtedly changed in recent times. we felt it important to react to it and reflect this different type of offending. it's much more home—made than some of the terrorist schemes that we have had to deal with in the courts in the past. naweed ali, from birmingham, and two other men are already behing bars on life sentences. jailed this year, they hid weapons in a car, used encrypted communications to avoid detection and indoctrinated each other. these proposals will apply most to lesser figures in such plotting and those just beginning to plan an attack. the sentencing council says the risks are too great not to lock them up for longer. dominic casciani, bbc news. president trump is due to give a speech outlining a new "overall strategy" on relations with tehran, specifically whether to decertify the agreement in 2015 under which iran froze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of the sanctions. one of the original negotiators, former eu foreign policy chief catherine ashton, is urging washington to leave the deal in place. she's been speaking to our diplomatic correspondent james landale. for the iranians, during the negotiations one of the questions they asked was... can we rely on reaching an agreement where we do things, we dismantle, we make changes to the stock piles? all of the practical things they would have to do. if we do all that, can we rely on this agreement being stuck to by the other side? that is a really important and significant part to all of this, because they are complying with the agreement according to the iaea. that's an independent body. therefore, they have a reasonable expectation that those who agreed with them, this particular set of proposals, will stick to that as well. so there are diplomatic consequences. but aren't there more immediate consequences for regional security if iran suddenly says we don't think this is worth the paper it's written on? i'm sure there's debate going on in iran right now, about that. and for the other five countries part of this agreement plus all the member states of the eu, it is important, the message they send about economic and trade links. those are the benefits iranians received, apart an opening up of the economy. and for people sitting in north korea. can they do a deal with america? it may not be the right approach. nonetheless... in the end you have to use diplomacy to end conflicts, even if as we've seen in the past we've had terrible conflicts. having the diplomatic set of proposals is going to be part of the solution there and elsewhere. and if there's a feeling, even on our own side... that you cannot be sure that an agreement reached by one president is going to be honoured by another, the possibility for all sorts of reasons that agreements on one side will not be stuck to, changed... itjust one side will not be stuck to, changed... it just makes one side will not be stuck to, changed... itjust makes it a lot more difficult to imagine anyone will be sitting around the table doing that. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour, but first the headlines on bbc news: as the fifth round of brexit talks ends, the eu's chief negotiator says there have been no great steps forward — and calls the lack of progress "disturbing". sally—annejones, the british woman from kent who fought with so—called islamic state in syria, has reportedly been killed in a drone strike. i'm alice baxter. in the business news... draft legislation designed to lower the cost of energy bills has been published by the government today. the bill will give energy regulator 0fgem the power to cap standard variable tariffs. these have been heavily criticised as being more expensive than fixed—term contracts. the cap could affect up to 12 million consumers, saving them an estimated £100 a year. young first—time buyers are increasing their overall mortgage debt opting for lower monthly repayments, but a bigger overall bill because of the extra interest incurred. figures show the proportion of new buyers taking out 31 to 35 year mortgages has doubled in ten years. the average mortgage term is traditionally 25 years. james murdoch will defend his position as sky's chairman at its annual shareholder meeting later. he has won backing to stay on. three advisory firms had called on shareholders to vote against his re—election, objecting to mr murdoch's position as chairman of sky and chief executive of 21st century fox. fox is attempting to buy sky, which some investors say is a conflict of interest for mr murdoch. hello. the ftse 100 and 250 boards have a long way to go when it comes to ethnic and cultural diversity. that's the verdict of sirjohn parker, who has been conducting a review into the matter. sirjohn, who is also chairman of the ftse100 mining firm anglo american, says the lack of ethnic diversity at boardroom level is a threat to britain's ability to be at the forefront of global business. he has made several recommendations in his final report out today. and we can talk to him now, sirjohn parker, chairman of the parker review committee. thank you forjoining me. before we get to the recommendations, cheekily back —— take me back to this problem, how big a problem is the lack of diversity on the boards? eye was a member of the davis committee, on women on boards for five years. we set the aspirational target of 2596. we set the aspirational target of 25%. it was shortly after that that the secretary of state raised the question of ethnic diversity and should we not take a firm look at that? inviting me subsequently to do so. that? inviting me subsequently to do so. we have been working on this for probably two years. the preliminary report for consultation 12 months ago. and last year received input, this year, and we are in a position to publish the final report and recommendations. one statistic. as of the end ofjuly 17, recommendations. one statistic. as of the end ofjuly17, 85 of the 1,050 in the ftse art from people from ethnic minorities. talk me through some of these easily achievable recommendations you lay down. first of all, you are absolutely correct. about half the ftse100 companies do not have ethnic representation in the boardroom. we have looked at the business case for doing that. it is particularly true when you look at matching the customer base against the changing dynamics in our communities. today, about 14% of britain is is an equally diverse and it is expected that by 2030 it will rise to 20%, 30% by 2050. the demographics are changing rapidly on the customer base. if you look overseas the same thing is happening. half the world's population growth over the next 20 yea rs population growth over the next 20 years is going to come from only nine countries, five in africa, three in asia, one in south america. we have got a changing demographic base, be it at home or overseas. secondly, if we look at the whole market, the pool of talent in which we fish will change significantly over the next decade ahead. it is on those companies to align with those changes both from the business point of view and from the talent recruitment point of view. looking to get those major companies to better reflect the customer base. thank you forjoining us. we can ta ke thank you forjoining us. we can take a look at the markets. reacting to the speech from michel barnier, describing brexit talks at an impass. pound tumbling. and fluctuations on the spanish ibex. regarding those talks about catalonia. pound has plunged. that sent the heavily internationally exposed ftse100 high. 0utperforming other major european stocks. that's all the business news. the statistics for california's wildfires tell their own story. 22 major blazes are being fought by thousands of firefighters and 24 people are known to have died, with more than 500 people missing. concerns about high winds which could fan the flames. this report now, from peter bowes. entire communities completely wiped out. in some areas, the deadly wildfires have left nothing but charred rubble and brick chimneys in their way. their destructive power sweeping through northern california's wine country and still burning out of control. this is what the firefighters are facing. one of more than 20 fires, burning across several counties. devastation on this scale has never been seen before in this region. more than 3,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed. fire officials say there's more to come, with high winds and tinder dry vegetation expected to hamper efforts to quell the flames. there are fears new fires could start at any time. these fires are just... literally burning faster than firefighters can run, in some cases. and so, imagine being out there in difficult terrain with miles and miles of fire line, to try to catch up with that, lay a hose... very challenging. the fires are spotting thousands of feet, miles in some cases, ahead. it is just very difficult to get any kind of containment. the advice to residents is clear... and blunt. i can't emphasise it enough to people. if you look at how fast this fire burned and how fast it went through places, i don't think people... they underestimate how powerful and how dangerous it can be. if you have a place to go — go. you don't need to be here. people living in sonoma county, one of the hardest to be hit, don't need to be told about the destructive power of this inferno. they've seen it first hand. this is apocolyptic, it seems. this is so out of the norm. i'm from southern california. everything is dry out there. i'm used to fires. but i've never seen anything like this in an urban area. all our pictures are gone... everything. everything is gone. we've got a firepit. it's pretty awful. but we're all healthy and safe and we have to try to be grateful for that. but it's pretty awful. the cost of the fires will run into tens of billions of dollars. and with the death toll continuing to rise, and hundreds of people missing, there's no end in sight to this unfolding catastrophe. time for a look at the weather. thank you. good afternoon. tha nkfully thank you. good afternoon. thankfully nothing as dramatic at home, in the short—term at least the weather watcher here in aberdeen was getting artistic. 0n weather watcher here in aberdeen was getting artistic. on thursday, it is becoming one of the best days of the week with regards to the sunshine. dry weather as well. cloud filling in. the chance of some passing showers and the north—westerly breeze. it is a fresher feel that perhaps has been the case recently but still getting temperatures close to what we have been at lately. 12-18. to what we have been at lately. 12—18. cloud coming with that weather front, 12—18. cloud coming with that weatherfront, threatening 12—18. cloud coming with that weather front, threatening and producing some rain over scotland. not cold but windy for northern britain. it could be some severe gales. taking you through friday, rain slumping south. the heaviest, the southern uplands of scotland. but after it has gone through, going to be back to the sunshine and showers you have experienced. totals really mounting. before that stops, we could get another 70mm of rain. that is a concern. it has also been very wet at the north of wales. rain returns. but not with that intensity. east and south, drier. 20! can we keep that? for some of us, we 20! can we keep that? for some of us, we can. 20! can we keep that? for some of us, we can. some 20! can we keep that? for some of us, we can. some were 20! can we keep that? for some of us, we can. some were in the south, it could be about 23! but significantly, for the northern part of the british overview have got to be to the north of that weather front. with some sunshine breaking through in the south, this is when we start to get in excess of 20, 21. that weather front continuing north. 21, 20 two. possibly 23. it depends on the cloud popping. i am going to be watching at the atlantic. this is the hurricane, and this is where it goes we think on monday. very strong winds. especially the irish sea. 0n tuesday, no scotland could have some serious weather. what going on. we will keep you posted. —— a lot going on. this is afternoon live. i am simon mccoy. today at 2pm: brexit negotiations. the uk says there's progress. the eu's assessment is very different. on this question we've reached a state of deadlock which is very disturbing. while there is still work to be done, much work to be done, we've come a long way, it's important to recognise the significant progress we've made since june. harvey weinstein appears in public as the oscars academy calls an emergency meeting to discuss his behaviour. i gotta get help guys. you know what, we all make mistakes. second chance, i hope. 0k. boiler pressure, households warned to insulate homes and replace boilers to reduce uk emissions. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. a climate of