island communities don't often get the chance to get together and show what they can achieve. but every two years, it's sport that brings them closer. they come from europe, the south atlantic and the caribbean. 2a islands, 1a sports, across six days of action. this is the island games. 900 miles away off the north coast of scotland, shooter ross donaldson and his teammates are starting the long trip south. when you can get an island games squad, there's anticipation, there's excitement. so we've got 20 bikes, a lot of football kit, sailing kit, athletics kit. in st peter's port, team managers are checking in athletes and equipment. 103 of us all arrived here safely. i'm delighted. going to head over to the two hotels, and then we'll unpack all the bikes and the kit. carlos and his bikes have travelled all the way from shetland. 2a hours between us leaving and the bikes arriving. so not too bad. well, it's quite warm here. we do have a day or two to sort of acclimatise and get the bikes together and check out the courses. i've got two bikes. this is the one for the road race. i've got a different one for the time trial. but you try and get as much advantage as you can within the rules. most of the teams have got two bikes with them just to try and hopefully be as quick as they can. biggest unknown is the other islands. so when you've got people coming from different nations, then you don't know how good they're going to be. and in every corner of guernsey, final preparations for the thousands now flooding in. we're going to have three car park spaces which lines up with the stay. back on the seafront, one of the biggest challenges of all. natalie and her volunteers havejust a couple of hours to turn this car park into an arena for the opening ceremony. well, we've marked out all the spots to the islands to stand in so that when they come in, they're in the right orderfor the parade. 0h, what's that? that'sjersey, isn't it? yeah. everything must run like clockwork. well, the media, we're putting up on the walkway so that you get a bit of a better view over there. so behind the wall, on the raised bit. yeah. and then they get brought over here where the attaches will get the flags and get their placards. the games have happily combined the entrepreneurial flair of the olympics with the enthusiastic dedication of the true amateur. the island games began with just 700 athletes. tojoin, an island must have a population of less than 120,000. over a0 years, the event has just kept on growing. it all began in douglas, isle of man. they realised in 1985 that they should provide better opportunities for their youngsters to do sport. they invited 15 other islands to spend time and do sport together. that was something never seen before. this is the 19th games. they've been hosted by islands from the baltic to the caribbean. seeing all these different islands, it's probably the best feeling i've had in a while. the games are still evolving, but the spirit which runs through them has remained unchanged. we're here because we love the island games. this is our fourth, fourth island games. we thought, let's support someone and we picked inishbofin. it's fun and we fell in love with them. they fell in love with us. and now, as you can see, dressed in all this stuff, we're part of the team. it is overwhelming for us because this is the first time that 6020 participated in international games. everybody cheers everybody else on. we call it the friendly. games and it really has. everybody here has a good time. zoe clements attending her first island games. what an honor to do the water ceremony. this just feels like one big family reunion. we've got so many communities from so far away, but they've all got one thing in common, which is to do their absolute sporting best for their islands. i've played davis cup for bermuda. i've traveled around the world, but the island games, with all the islands coming together, the energy is great. one island's success will contribute to another island's success. that's what it's all about. welcome to guernsey. a new day and the games' venues are packed. veteran athlete charmainejohnson won medals for england. today, aged 60, she's representing guernsey's tiny neighbour alderney. that was the furthest for quite a while. started off running as a kid, basically, just laughing and joking on a sloping playground. and i've just progressed through the ranks, really. had a long career as a combined events athlete competing at european cups, international competitions. i've been knocking around a little while, but yes, just love competing. absolutely love competing. i'm doing fourfield events, two jumps and two throws. hello! happy? so that's the furthest with that javelin. it's like a club record for us. it's a sense of elation. sense of belonging. just incredible. i'm just so privileged to be here. being an ambassador for our island, this is alderney. we're here. we're representing in athletics, and that's amazing. i think it's a realjoy and a real privilege to do that. whilst some competitors are old hands, others are here for the very first time. i used to watch the girls train when i was very young and i remembertelling my parents i want to do that. but obviously in welsh, because english is my second language. the opportunity came up and doing this now is unbelievable. i'm actually doing what i want to do. being so young, i do look up to a lot of players that i have in my team. growing up, i've had a few knock backs from people, from schools and stuff. they were like, "oh, you're a girl, you can't play football." or, "you can't do that." some harsh comments as well along the way. but i think being here today and doing what i love doing, representing the island and the country, i think i proved them wrong. tesni has some special supporters in the crowd today. hello. do you mind if ijust come sit with you? peter and rita thomas travelled all the way to guernseyjust for one day to watch their granddaughter take on the home team. we came this morning - on the ferry and after the game we are going back on the ferry. it's unbelievable really that she was chosen . and she was really chuffed - that she could come to guernsey and play for our little island. very, very proud. she's worked so hard. with the score at 2—2, tesni is brought off the subs bench. quite emotional. i was battling some big emotions coming on that pitch that day. come on! just knowing that i had them there, it was overwhelming because i wanted to make them proud. the nerves got to me a little bit. a few dodgy touches and all that. but then once i got my head around, i was actually on the pitch, i was raring to go. and i felt the determination and the passion in me. as her team looked for another opportunity, more familiar faces in the crowd. come on, go on, go on, go on! well, it's tense. it's nervous. 2-2. we're on top. we need to get a goal now, though, because guernsey will— come back into this. minutes from full time, the opening they needed. i can't even explain it. it's absolutely insane. the adrenaline right now. so 3—2. that ends the little facebook live at the moment. there's another game on tomorrow. down at the shooting range, ross donaldson is competing in his third sport since his very first games. i played golf in 93. started in 1985, playing the first games for table tennis, and then 2019 ended up in gibraltar with a target shooting ten. ross' dayjob involves ships rather than shots. i'm a pier master, but i work hard in the main town, and so i work some long hours when i'm there and then i get weeks off at a time. i shoot at home. i have a ten metre mark on the floor of my dining room and i shoot through the utility room and into the garage. the pressure is on. standard is fantastically high. so when you can get to an island games squad, there's anticipation, that excitement. so have you been at the athletics? every day this week. swimming pool. yeah, it's all about the island games, but it's beautifully made. so guernsey feel different this week? oh, yeah. well, even the buses are full of either athletes or supporters everywhere it's been this week in guernsey. everywhere i've been this week in guernsey, there's been thousands of people on the move to cheer on their teams or to compete in. they've all come from tiny island communities, but it's clear that here at these games they feel part of something much, much bigger. just coming down and supporting all the athletes and everyone succeeding as well. it's been really awesome to see every venue we've been to and absolutely electric. it's really been nice being up. every athlete here hopes that long months of training will pay off. carlos, who has won four silver medals, has been pounding the shetland hills all winter. but as the time trials loom, he knows that getting a medal will also be an uphill challenge. cycling is quite big in guernsey and with a home advantage. they know the courses, and they will practice on them together. the home islands always have a quite a good advantage. we'll hopefully give them a run for their money. so men's time trials just got underway. we've had the first four finishers come through. it's the hottest day of the games so far and it's taking its toll. as the bikes flash around the guernsey lanes, carlos' chance of a medal is slipping away. yeah. he's just come through the 12th place with a time of a1, 17 seconds. decent time on a tough day. 41 minutes. so i think i'm happy with that. no, it's not so much about the competing anymore. facing the highjump bar for the first time in seven months, this is charmaine�*s first major competition after injury, and she has something to prove. i am absolutely made up. if there is a reason for me to compete, i'll compete. and this is a nice reason to compete. when you're representing a community, it's not about what you have. about what you haven't got. it's about what you have got. and i've got a lot in here. so, yeah, let's let's go for it. see what happens. it really is about giving people the opportunity to compete. it gives islands an opportunity to have high level competitions in a way that they might not have if they were just focusing on the main global stuff, that you've got your olympics, you've got your commonwealth games, you've got the world championships. charmaine�*s positive attitude shines brightly. for alderney�*s young athletes, it's infectious. we want to try and develop athletics on the island, and i wanted to get more people involved. so we've got a young lady who's running for us today who started running two years ago. 19 year old emma etheridge was persuaded to run the half marathon at the very last minute. i think it was yesterday. last night, i did the 1500, did ok, but a friend gave me a lift back to town. and was like, you know, why don't you give the half a go? and i didn't think it would be possible, but the county guys got me in last minute. so she is now training at one of the london centres for excellence for middle distance runner. she's got a coach, she's got all sorts of paraphernalia going on to help her. and like so many at the games, she sees charmaine as a role model. if i'm still doing track doing charmaine is, you know, at 60, it's amazing. it's just a pleasure to meet you, i'm sure. she brings out good energy, enthusiasm, which. do you see yourself as a sporting family? oh, yes. definitely. 100%, yeah. i mean, my family are great, but they don't really sort of get it in the same way. like when you've been competing internationally like charmaine has, you don't really understand it. i had such a good time today, so i'm so glad i did it. i might be able to do it- on my electric bike a few times, but that's about it. at the shooting range, ross has reached the final. you would do anything you can when you're opposing somebody. every hundredths of a millimetre counts in a rifle shooting. it's not going too well. but with minutes to go, he gets his eye in. narrowly avoiding last place. did have a couple of wonky ones there, don't normally get there. so it's a bitjittery today. so good to get a 10.1 to set the guy down instead. with three spots under his belt and his home island hosting the next games, is there a fourth sport on the horizon? there's not going to be table tennis in 2025. there's not going to be target shooting. so i'm at a loose end. i have been absolutely fascinated with the bowls next door here this week. it was fantastic. they're getting a bit nervous. they want to jump ship. ross could learn a thing or two from 84 year old paul richardson. he's the game's oldest competitor and he's getting ready to play. it's not very energetic, but it's very exacting, and it does get your muscles going as well. i'll play twice a week. we have quite a good time with a cup of tea and a cake. guernsey's games were postponed due to covid, and in the time since, paul's health has been up and down. i never thought i'd be 84. i never thought i'd be here at age 84. i've tried very hard to stay alive. i carry a stick now and i'm a little bit uncertain about where my feet go. but i'm managing. i shall get through it. paul has just got his first point on the board. - excellent. how do you feel? 0h, very pleased for him. i mean, neither of us. expect to win anything, but we're just pleased to get up there on the scoreboard. - when the game is on, it's serious. paul is putting up a fight watched by some of the younger players. no matter how old you are, you know, you're learning from them and they still got in them. as long as you keep yourself fairly fit and enjoy it. yes. he never gives up. he'll play this game to the end. across the island, jacqui bowles is on a mission. i've been here for a week and i've set myself a quest to get a photo of myself with every island competing in the games, all 24. and i literally have st helena to get my 24. so i've come to a football match. with just a couple of hours left before herferry home, jacqui's tracked down the missing team as they played their last game. now, we didn't know what to expect. we came into the unknown. so we only have six teams in a league and no international competition here. and that's probably if they come to the island, the navy or something come in once in a blue moon. yeah. and we play them and then we only play six months of the year because six months the field is used for cricket. so i've been following the football team. don't know nothing about football, but i'm following them just st helena have jumped hurdles to get here. the population of their tiny island is just 6,000 and they've travelled well over 4,000 miles to reach the competition. if it wasn't for the delay caused by covid, they might not have been here at all. the last games we came to was four years ago. . we onlyjust got here. if we're going to the island games in the next two years, _ it's almost going to be impossible for the football team to go. - but they made it this time and jacqui's got her photo. my husband said, "you're never going to do this." "you're never going to do this." and i've achieved it. so i'm very happy. i'm on the 4:00 ferry, so i've onlyjust done it by the skin of my teeth. all the teams we played were very competitive, i but they were very respectful. that's the competitors, but also - the people everywhere around here. they're very friendly people. we had about two schools. it's all these five, - six year olds come support. they were singing for a minute, one to minute 90, st helena i all through the game. and that's from five year olds. the support has been great here. it's unbelievable. with some time away from the pitch, tesni had a rare moment to pick up her second passion. when i was about 13,14, my granddad bought me a guitar. i sang aboutjust life in general. i sing aboutjust life in general. at times, i sing about love. like every singer—songwriter does. anything that comes to mind that either makes me upset, makes me really happy, makes me feel passionate about it. and i think i write songs about my feelings and whatever�*s bothering me. walking through the streets, children all asking for high fives and pin badges. it got me a bit emotional. i'm representing wales and ynys mon here, it really got to me seeing all the flags of different countries and islands and stuff. and in the evening sun everyone reflects on a busy week. i look back on how proud we all are. different islands, but one big island together now because we've alljust got so much in common. seven days of sport have drawn to a close. there'sjust time for one more family gathering. i'd like to say to all guernsey. i'd like to say to diolch, guernsey. thank you, guernsey. they've given us a very good time here. and to be honest, i'd like to come back one day. i think it's going to get stronger as the islands start to catch up. we've had olympians competing. there's fierce competition, but at the end of the day, i you can shake hands and the heat of competition's gone _ and the friendship remains. you see families being created, you see friendship getting stronger. everybody wants to be seen. everybody wants to be a part of something larger. they arrive as islanders representing their islands. they leave as international sportspeople. this really is the final goodbye before all these athletes return to their normal lives in their home islands. but after talking to people this week, it's clear to me that they'll return with lasting memories of the friendly games. you try your best, you can achieve everything. seeing so many people cheering for us, waving at people, sorry, i don't mean to do this on camera, but i was... i was really blown away. seriously blown away. hello. it's been a very showery weather picture already for northern and western parts this morning and showers with blustery winds are the forecast for this weekend. fewest showers in the south and east, but, even here, not altogether dry. that's because the south—east is furthest away from the low pressure that's anchored itself to the north—west of scotland for the weekend. so throwing in showers, longer spells of rain. we've had some really quite wet weather through the morning across parts of scotland, northern england, wales. that band will fragment to become showers, but the showers are really pretty heavy. now, it may be that the northern isles escape most of the showers through the day, stay bright, but there will be scattered showers just about anywhere across scotland, just heaviest, most frequent in the north and the west. temperatures a degree or two down on those of yesterday. similarily across northern ireland. those brisk winds around southern and western coasts, as well, pushing the showers into central and eastern parts of england, where the day started largely dry and quite sunny. so, as i say, fewer showers in southern and eastern areas, but they will continue into the evening and overnight, along with that brisk wind. so it's going to be a mild night. it might not be, however, as humid as last night because we've taken that humidity and moved it away further east. so a little bit more comfortable for sleeping. then we start sunday morning. it's spot the difference. we do it all over again. that low pressure still anchored to the north—west of the uk, so it's here where we will see the lengthiest spells of rain and the more frequent showers. but the showers elsewhere could certainly be heavy again — it is august, after all, there's plenty of strength in the sunshine to send those big shower clouds up into the atmosphere. the odd rumble of thunder again. but some places seeing some decent spells of warm august sunshine and even the odd place staying dry. we do have more rain to come in through the evening and overnight. again, it looks like this time it will be wales, southern and central england seeing the more persistent rain on monday with the showers further north. either way, it's looking unsettled once again. then, as we head beyond monday, there's just the chance, the hint, that high pressure will build, so moving low pressure away from our shores in the east and keeping those coming in from the atlantic bay. drawing up a southerly wind for a time, so some warmth as well as some drier weather. it's a long way off and it's exactly how long that lasts, but, at the moment, the hint of something a little drier into next week. this is bbc news, the headlines: six migrants have been killed trying to cross _ six migrants have been killed trying to cross the english channel, more are missing — the matildas beat france after that incredible 20—goal penalty shoot—out to reach the world cup semifinals. they will face either england or colombia, depending on who wins that match, which is at half time now. fickl a white attorney general has ordered an investigation into wildfires on maui. hello. the french authorities are searching for several people still missing in the channel after six migrants drowned trying to reach england in an overcrowded digne. a joint rescue operation by the french and british coastguards has rescued 31 other people. with more on this story we have david waddell. what more can you tell us? this story we have david waddell. what more can you tell us?— more can you tell us? this incident ha--ened more can you tell us? this incident happened near— more can you tell us? this incident happened near the _ more can you tell us? this incident happened near the french - more can you tell us? this incident happened near the french coast. . more can you tell us? this incident happened near the french coast. aj happened near the french coast. a french vessel was patrolling that coastline very early this morning and discovered there is a migrant boat that was sinking with dozens of