good afternoon. people in florida are bracing themselves for a hurricane which the authorities say could be "catastrophic". these are some of the latest pictures of hurricane idalia, with possible winds of 130 miles an hour and the danger of a storm surge of sea water overwhelming low lying areas. pilots on an evacuation mission filmed these pictures of the rare electrical weather phenomenon known as st elmo's fire. more than a million residents have been told to leave their homes and the hurricane is making landfall about now in northwest florida. our correspondentjon sudworth has the latest from tampa. as you can say, the straits of tampa are pretty quiet this morning for a city of 400,000 people but the hurricane has largely passed by this stretch of coastline is now coming ashore in an area of the state known ashore in an area of the state known as big bend. the realfear is the storm surge, with warnings it could bring waves as high as 16 feet. the unusually warm conditions in the gulf of mexico have fueled the hurricane, though it's not the wind speeds that pose the greatest threat to life, but the storm surge, as large amounts of sea water are forced into florida's low lying coastal communities. with more than 20 counties under evacuation orders, for days, the authorities have been warning those residents unable to stay with friends or relatives to head for the emergency shelters. this is my first evacuation in my entire life, and it's just difficult. in your neighborhood, have some people chosen to stay, do you know? yes, some some have chosen to stay. what do you think about that? i mean, it's up to them. it's their choice. but i highly recommend for them to evacuate because it's their safety — it's their lives on the line. yeah, they want to bring me here, bring me there. i ain't going nowhere. this old man, i'm 71—years—old. i've got 19 great granddaughters. you live near the water, you're going to get a wet, butt once in a while and that's just the way it is, you know? if not, don't live by the water. that's all i can tell you. forecasters have now adjusted the predicted track for this hurricane, taking it towards an area of the state of florida known as the big bend, where the florida panhandle bends round into the peninsula. and there, with reports that dozens of people are still holding out in their homes, the authorities are making increasingly desperate appeals for them to heed the warnings and get out. the national hurricane center expects storm surge to reach up to 16 feet in some areas of the big bend region. that level of storm surge is life—threatening. do not go outside in the midst of this storm. if it's calm where you are, it may be because you are in the eye of the storm and those conditions will change. officials in florida are repeatedly using the word "catastrophic" to describe the potential impact. more than 5,000 national guard members are on standby, as are nearly 40,000 electrical engineers, with major power cuts expected. well, the big bend area that i was talking about the is relatively less populated. now that is good news, this is an area of large marshy swampland and the fact that hurricane hasn't made landfall closer to the bigger areas of population will be some relief so far. but the danger is far from over. it was strengthening to a category four storm just as it was approaching land for land with those reports that you heard there of residents still refusing to leave their homes, for them it is now too late. they are at the mercy of this weather event and there will be real concern about those who have decided to stay. the city of tallahassee is also in the firing line, the state capital, a little further inland so some hope the storm will weaken before the winds reach that area of urban population but it will be the next few hours that we really begin to understand the full impact of this hurricane. 0k, thank you very much indeed. jon sudworth with the latest from florida there. russia says it has come under a wave of ukrainian drone strikes overnight, with at least two military cargo planes set on fire in the northwestern city of pskov. meanwhile, ukraine says it's faced a wave of russian cruises missiles and drones. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams is in the ukrainian capital, kyiv. paul, this was one of the most ferocious attacks that kyiv has seen for some time? it has been a while since we had a night like this. air raid warnings that went on for hours and then a series of explosions not long before first light that had us all here scurrying for our bomb shelter. in one of those bomb explosions, two security guards were killed. meanwhile, earlier in the night, across the border in russia, there was a whole series of explosions as drones, which we presume to be ukrainian although the government here is not saying very much at all, hit a wide range of targets are apparently causing quite significant damage. in the hour before dawn, kyiv under attack once more, the worst barrage in the capital for months. all the missiles and drones were intercepted. the city has seen worse than this. shocking stories now frighteningly familiar. a bright flash woke me up, and then my husband saw a ball of fire. there was an explosion and the car alarms were going off. then there was a second explosion. the shops along lillia's street took the brunt of the blast as pieces of the missile fell to the ground. so this is what a single intercepted russian cruise missile will do to a city street. it was just after 5:00 in the morning when the explosion happened. so no—one was on the street. we don't think anyone was hurt. but if you look for 100 yards in either direction, you can see there's an awful lot of mess to clean up. across the road, fragments of a cruise missile. after months of attacks, the country's air defences are spectacularly successful. 0f 43 missiles and drones fired at ukraine this morning, all but one were shot down. hours earlier in russia, fresh evidence of ukraine's own drone war. at peskov, hundreds of miles from ukraine, fires raging at an air base. as many as four russian transport planes damaged, perhaps even destroyed. further south, another suspected ukrainian drone. this time hitting a fuel depot. back in kyiv, time to take stock of the night's events. with the real battles going on far to the south and the east, they know there are likely to be many more days just like this. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. meanwhile, fighting between ukrainian and russian ground forces still rages in the east of ukraine. 0ur correspondent, quentin sommerville, and camera journalist, darren conway, have spent the last few weeks on the front lines between kupiansk and lyman, where ukrainian troops face the deadly threat of russian kamikaze drones. its gains are modest. but from kupiansk to lyman further south, russia is resurgent. and in the serebryansky forest, it's especially fierce. we're heading deep into this forest. there's been a lot of fighting here. yes, an artillery strike this morning, maybe a couple of hours ago. you can see it is still burning. all this road is shelled by drones and missile systems. can you see — no tops of the trees? the men compare of the artillery barrages to the first world war�*s verdun. but there is a new and lethal threat to contend with here — kamikaze drones. explosion. bleep. got to take some cover now. the gunner has fallen inside. he's unhurt, he signals. that was a drone attack against our car. that was a drone, a russian drone. so they saw us. they sent a drone and now they are seeking us and hunting us. so we need to go faster. we're just a couple hundred metres from our position. the drones work in pairs. a surveillance drone is still up above, so they get off the road. so we've had to stop going forward because the danger here is the deeper you get into the forest, cover doesn't get better. it's constant russian artillery. setting some of the trees on fire and it's turning these areas into wide open areas — very exposed. there's no tree cover here. so we've had to come off the road. there are drones up above and we just saw what they can do. and you can watch quentin's full report tonight on the bbc news at six. here, three women who were raped by the same man are calling for changes to the way victims like them are treated in court. they have waived their right to anonymity after logan doig was jailed for a series of rapes and sexual assaults. the women say they were treated as liars in court, and that they'd think twice about reporting an attack again. catriona renton reports. i don't think any of us realised once we walked out of these doors seven weeks ago what was about to happen. recreating the selfies they took after their court ordeal was finally over. hannah reid, hannah mclaughlin and jennifer mccann's pictures on social media symbolised the strength of their unique bond. along with holly prowse, who couldn't be there for her interview, the young women waived their anonymity. 23—year—old logan doig was found guilty of raping four women and sexually attacking three of them and another between march 2015 and november 2020. two of his victims were teenagers at the time. injuly, he was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. the women told me how they'd gradually become aware of each other and started to chat. none of us would have any reason to know each other. he's the only common denominator, and that's the only reason we do know each other. we all came together in a group chat that was called safe space. we soon began to realise that we'd actually experienced near enough the same. without each other and without that group chat, we never would have made it to trial. from start to finish, the process was long and draining. there was a time that each and every one of us wanted to drop out - and be finished with it. it was such a long, horrible process. it was just it just was so consuming for those two and a half years and we couldn't move on with our life. how do you feel? victims are treated terribly. there needs to be stricter guidelines on what defence lawyers can see to victim given evidence. because you aren't treated like a human, you'rejust like a bit of evidence and it's disgusting. it's so retraumatizing. he was always treated as innocent until proven guilty, _ but we would always treat as liars until proven truthful. _ in the court system, . not by anyone who took statements or anyone - that was involved in building the case, but in the court system, you've got to stand there - and defend your truth. and all he's got to do is sitl there because he's innocent until they've made their minds up. but you've got to convince them that you're not lying. _ we've put ourselves through this, come out battered and bruised by the end, and we have essentially got a serial rapist and abuser locked away. so he's not going to hurt anyone else. and that's why we did all this. the women recently had a meeting with scotland's senior law officer, the lord advocate dorothy bain casey. in a statement, the crown office said... the scottish government has said its landmark victim witnesses and justice reform bill, which is making its way through the scottish parliament, seeks to further improve the experience of victims in the justice system, particularly victims of sexual crimes. we were lucky enough to have each other, even now navigating - being public and stuff other people don't. . and i think that's one - of the main things for us, because in hindsight, _ looking back, some of us can see so clearly why people on their own would drop their charges. - you've been brought together in the worst circumstances, but tell us about your friendship. there is a genuine friendship there. unfortunately, the friendship was built on somebody quite terrible, but we've managed to form friendships outwith that. it's working our pain and to power and try and make a difference for those that are coming behind us. catriona renton with that story there. if you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call forfree, at any time to hear recorded information on 0800 077 077. our top story this afternoon. a hurricane is hitting the us state of florida right now with a warning it could be catastrophic. coming up... british qualifier lily miyazaki will be in action at the us open tennis, in what will be her first ever round two match at a grand slam. coming up on bbc news. we will look back at the pfa awards and hear from one of the winners on how they plan to get even better and why premier league defenders should be worried. the flight chaos that has left many british holidaymakers stranded overseas was caused by a single piece of incorrect data that brought down the uk air traffic control system. the head of national air traffic services says the system failure that caused disruption for thousands of passengers was �*incredibly rare�* but one airline boss has called it staggering. the latest now from colletta smith at liverpool airport. back at last. becky and maria with little baby nia should have arrived home from the isle of man on monday. but plans changed. yeah, we waited four hours before we were finally cancelled. lots of people were really anxious about where they were going to stay because unlike us, they had given up hotel space or whatever. it took them 14 hours to change the app so we could change a flight. and this isn't the end of the journey. now it's a train to bristol to pick up the car before the drive home to south wales. yeah, it wasn't ideal! and the passengers arriving back today on rearranged flights are the lucky ones. thousands are still stuck abroad facing a long wait until the next available flights. easyjet cancelled my flight on the monday and they have booked me to return back on the 8th of september. i am more than 17 weeks pregnant now. i'm really not in a good place or feeling well. i suffer with high blood pressure and my medication has run out. passengers need to keep hold of receipts for any extra spending as airlines are responsible for refunding passengers so they are not out of pocket. you have a right to book yourself into a moderately priced hotel, buy some moderately priced food, and keep the receipts and reclaim those afterwards. but really the airlines should be doing that proactively. airlines are furious they will have to foot the bill for refunds which could run into tens of millions of pounds. the only reassurance from the boss of air traffic control is that it is unlikely to ever happen again. we are confident that these are rare events. this one cannot happen again. and we are absolutely confident, and everyone should be confident, that whatever happens we will always keep aircraft safe. for those still caught up in this holiday nightmare, those words will not provide any comfort. as you can see in liverpool arrivals and departures are operating pretty normally today with no cancellations and most flights are running on time. there was one larger capacity plane that arrived early on bringing more passengers back home from jersey. aside from that things are operating normally so if you are due on a flight today it is likely to be running normally. of course larger airports had more delays, manchester, gatwick and heathrow experiencing delays but very few cancellations across the uk. the bigger problem is for those trying to get back home and anyone getting back to the uk potentially could face a much longer battle trying to recuperate some the money and get reimbursed for any extra expenses to make sure they do not remain out of pocket. the foreign secretary james cleverly has defended his controversial visit to china — the first there by a senior british official for five years. mr cleverly says his talks with officials in beijing have allowed him to have �*tough conversations�* with the chinese on human rights issues. but some of his fellow conservative mps have criticised the visit. our china correspondent stephen mcdonnell is in beijing — stephen. these are tough times for beijing and its relations with western governments are any visit like this could be hazardous with so many points of tension. the uk foreign secretary is also copping flak at home from those in his party he did not even want him to be here. they say that there should be less contact with china since it has become so authoritarian. i asked him about this today. i fundamentally disagree with those voices, including people i regard as good friends, who feel we should disengage from china. i don�*t think that is a credible option. i do believe we have influence and i do believe we should use that influence. one of those areas where he would like to use influence is on calling for beijing to put more pressure on russia to end its invasion of ukraine but i asked the foreign secretary how this could be achieved given that china is already accused of supplying so—called dual use technologies to russia which could be used in the war effort, sell spare parts that could go into commercial aircraft or could be used in fighterjets. i don�*t think it�*s in china�*s interests in any way for there to be a perception that they are actively or even passively supporting putin�*s brutal actions. and i made that point. but does beijing care about that? i do think, in the conversation that i�*ve had, i think beijing do care about what the world thinks of them. when it comes to climate change the foreign secretary said it simply cannot be solved without china. so he said that he was calling on beijing to move more courageously away from these polluting technologies. thank you very much. damian grammaticas is in westminsterfor us — some conservative mps from his own party are unhappy with his visit to china? . , ., , china? that is right, what with hyde is the senior— china? that is right, what with hyde is the senior conservative _ china? that is right, what with hyde is the senior conservative mp - china? that is right, what with hyde is the senior conservative mp who i is the senior conservative mp who chairs the foreign affairs committee who has called out and her committee published a report today highlighting internal repression and targeting of dissidents abroad from china. dangers posed by allowing china. dangers posed by allowing china to have influence in critical infrastructure in the uk. she said the foreign secretary should engage but needs to show results from that, that china knows that the uk will stand up for those things. but some have gone further, the former tory leader iain duncan smith as part of a group of tory mps who have been sanctioned by china for calling out its severe repression of muslim minorities and reneging on commitments for the autonomy of hong kong. he said this visit is a sign of weakness and china, to go to china it looks weak. and we�*ve also had another commons committee report last month, an intelligence report saying again the uk government policy was incoherent. over time we�*ve seen the conservative government swing to encourage investment back in the time of david cameron and that�*s swung away with china becoming increasingly authoritarian and now with rishi sunak more pragmatic and more businesslike. the government says it can manage that by looking at investments here and prioritising security when necessary but it has critics who say that there are dangers in becoming too intertwined with china. a former employee of gchq has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a us government employee who worked at the intelligence agency near cheltenham at the same time as him. 29—year—old joshua bowles pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of the woman, who is referred to in court as 99230, while appearing at the old bailey by videolink from belmarsh prison. military officers in gabon, west africa, have appeared on national television to say they�*ve seized power. they said they were annulling the results of an election on saturday, and had placed president ali bongo under house arrest. the country�*s borders have also been closed. judges will be given the power to order an offender to attend a sentencing hearing. it comes after the nurse lucy letby who murdered seven babies in her care did not appear in court to receive her full life sentences. the bbc has also discovered that the man who was chief executive of the nhs trust where letby worked said he was asked to take a topjob in london — after she was arrested. tony chambers has been accused of ignoring concerns raised by doctors who worked with letby. our social affairs correspondent michael buchananjoins me now. what have you found out about this? what did you find out about ernie chambers?— chambers? well paediatric consultants _ chambers? well paediatric consultants on _ chambers? well paediatric consultants on the - chambers? well paediatric consultants on the unit - chambers? well paediatric. consultants on the unit were concerned and they raised concerns with tony chambers and they accuse him of downplaying them and ignoring them and the breakdown of our relationship was part of the reason he ended up resigning from the countess of chester trust in september 2018. countess of chester trust in september2018. in countess of chester trust in september 2018. injanuary countess of chester trust in september 2018. in january 2020 countess of chester trust in september 2018. injanuary 2020 he got what could be seen within the nhs as a promotion being made interim chief executive of a big london trust. and in a blog shortly after he got that post he wrote, having had a long and varied career in the nhs i�*ve made lots of friends including the regional director for london. he has been trying to persuade me to come and work in london for a number of years. so he was saying he was persuaded to come to london. when he was moving to london the nhs in the north west of england were effectively blocking him from leading a trussed up there on the basis of what had happened at the end of his tenure in cheshire. nhs england told me tony chambers was appointed after a competitive process and that the details were not known when he was appointed. i mentioned that lucy letby refused to attend sentencing in court but now there are moves to force offenders to attend the sentencing? the prime minister has — to attend the sentencing? the prime minister has just _ to attend the sentencing? the prime minister hasjust announced - to attend the sentencing? the prime minister hasjust announced that, . minister has just announced that, judges will be given the power to force convicted people to attend the sentencing and if they don�*t do that they could face an extra two years in jail if they ignore that order. this was something that the families in the lucy letby case and other cases wanted because they felt by not turning up that they had worsened the impact of their crimes on the victims. speaking to lawyers it is not quite so straightforward and in the case of lucy letby was someone pacing a whole life tariff with no prospect of freedom it could be argued she had no incentive to turn up in court and then also are you going to manhandle people into the courtroom because that could overwhelm the sentencing hearing and making it more distressing the families. to tennis now, and british players at the us open have pulled off a clean sweep in the first round, with all six of them winning their matches. former world number one andy murray won his 200th grand slam match last night — as patrick geary reports. an old champion in new york. it�*s 11 years since andy murray won the us open, but still his smile and signature is like gold. his hip is now partly chrome. his will remains entirely of steel up his will remains entirely of steel. up against frenchman corentin moutet, 12 years his junior. murray took control, breaking his serve, shaking his spirit. even when moutet served for the second set, murray refused to concede an inch. he always thrives when the need is greatest. he snatched the set, the state of his racquet told you how moutet�*s day was going. it was about to get worse as murray served for the match, but chose to become the first at the tournament to use tennis�*s new video challenge system, claiming he�*d got to the ball before it bounced twice. the footage is supposed to go to the umpire. we could see it, but she couldn�*t. and three minutes later... uunfortunately, the vr is not working. murray won the points, then went on to finish the job more reliably than the technology. clearly it�*s not the umpire that�*s making that decision. i don�*t know how the technology works, but, yeah, obviously it didn�*t then go to plan and a pretty important moment of the match so, yeah, be good if they could get that fixed. for a day at least it seemed the brits cracked america. cameron norrie, now number 16 in the world, returned to form emphatically against alexander shevchenko while dan evans and jack draper also made it through. now three women are into round two, including katie boulter, now ranked better than ever on a great day for british strength in numbers. patrick geary, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here�*s tomasz schafernaker and we�*ve to expect another spectacle in the sky tonight with the moon? let me explain what exactly is super moon, a blue super moon is.- let me explain what exactly is super moon, a blue super moon is. super is because the — moon, a blue super moon is. super is because the moon _ moon, a blue super moon is. super is because the moon is _ moon, a blue super moon is. super is because the moon is at _ moon, a blue super moon is. super is because the moon is at its _ moon, a blue super moon is. super is because the moon is at its closest - because the moon is at its closest proximity to the earth so it will appear larger than normal and that is why it is a super moon for the blue is because we already had one full moon this month and we will get a second and that is why it is called the super blue moon. of course it is not going to be blue, but is just the saying once in a blue moon. so we will get clearer skies tonight, enough of a window i