More manchester misery in europe. After Citys Champions League shock, united are knocked out of the Europa League by sevilla. After the heatwave comes the storms as parts of the country are hit by flash flooding and hailstones. And as we go through this week, there is further torrential thundery downpours in the forecast which could lead to further flash flooding. Of course, not all of us will see it. Ill have all the details later in the programme. Its monday 17th august. Our top story. Theres growing anger over the way a levels have been graded as Grammar School heads and sixth form colleges join the criticism of the government. Pupils have been protesting this weekend after almost 40 of grades in england awarded last week were lower than teachers predictions. It comes just days before gcse results are due to be released. Charlotte gallagher reports. The fury over a level results is not going away. Feeling let down, angry and upset, students protest outside westminster. Others contacted the bbc directly. I hoped to to come out with three as on results day to study medicine at Lancaster University. Unfortunately, i only came out with three cs which means i was rejected from both my both my firm and insurance offers. The grades that my teachers submitted this year for me were a, a, a. And had i gotten these, i would have met my offer and gotten into cambridge. However, after standardisation, i received a, a, b, which meant i was rejected. 40 of a level grades were marked down from teachers productions and, over the weekend, the appeals system plunged into even more uncertainty when guidance for pupils in england was withdrawn within hours by the exams regulator quual. The education secretary Gavin Williamson has borne the brunt of the anger, but there are now calls for borisjohnson to take charge of a situation widely described as chaotic. I care about these young people, to be honest, and the hundreds of thousands of students who were affected by this disaster, so thats why im calling on the Prime Minister to step in, quite frankly. He needs to right this wrong in the next 2a hours. Thats why hes the Prime Minister of the country. He needs to get up off his backside and help and support of these young people. Grammar school heads and sixth form colleges have joined the growing criticism. The Grammar School Heads Association said the standardisation model used by quual is completely unfit for purpose, giving utterly baffling results. Sixth form colleges also believe their pupils are being treated unfairly. We looked at 41 a level subjects, which is almost all a levels, and the extraordinary thing that we found was that in every single one of the 41a level subjects, the performance in this years results was below the three year average in every single subject. Gcse results are due out this thursday. The man who introduced the exams says they should be delayed. There will be a massive number of downgrades this thursday, a really great massive number. Half a Million People take maths gcse during the numbers of hundreds of thousands complaining that theyve been hit. The department for education says its been clear it wants to build as much fairness into the appeals process as possible and is working with quual to achieve that. Charlotte gallagher, bbc news. Lets get the latest now from our poltical correspondent iain watson in westminster. Iain. Good morning to you. Nice to speak to you as ever. It seems the government are remaining firm at the moment . It appears to be the case, they said there will be no u turn, it is the fairest system possible. They are saying that hundreds of thousands of pupils of god the results they need to go to higher and further education. More than nine out of ten have had grades below. Nonetheless, there is growing pressure on ministers to do a u turn and the not exactly rushing to the tv studios to defend their position this morning. Weve heard the criticism from labour calling for borisjohnson to step in but i think much more worrying for the government is criticism from their own conservative backbenchers, one of whom said borisjohnson should run the country not an algorithm. One talked about incompetence, and i think that can only is the conservative backbenches and there will be increased by the intervention thereby the heads of the Grammar Schools who were saying in terms of usually by opposition politicians theres been a grave injustice, and they are calling for teachers great to be introduced and for a teachers great to be introduced and fora cap on teachers great to be introduced and for a cap on university places to be lifted so the government will be under huge pressure this week when those gcse results are published on thursday. On that issue of the gcse results, thats obviously bearing on the mind of quite a few people as they try and decide what the reaction will be and whether there is some sort of intervention with regards to those gcse results later this week . Thats right. Lord Kenneth Baker, a former education secretary, saying the government should stop digging when they are in a whole and should delay the publication of these results for another couple of weeks. I would give them some breathing space. Theres also been calls for an urgent review of the algorithm standardisation of the results process in the first place, so the government would have time to do a rethink there. I think there will be some concerns among conservative mps it will be politically toxic for the government to go through this all over again government to go through this all overagain in government to go through this all over again injust a government to go through this all over again in just a few days. Ok, thank you for speaking to us this morning. Search teams looking for two missing brothers off the lancashire coast have recovered two bodies. 18 year old Muhammad Azhar shabbir and 16 year old ali athar shabbir from dewsbury, are believed to have got in to difficulty at lythm st annes. The bodies have yet to be formally identified but Police Believe they are the two brothers. A new wave of strikes are expected to start in belarus this morning in efforts to force its president , alexander lu kashenko, to step down. Tens of thousands of people marched through the belarussian capital, minsk, yesterday to protest at the result of the election which they say was rigged. Our correspondent jonah fisher is there. There is no sign of these protests stopping, is there . Absolutely huge protests on there . Absolutely huge protests on the streets of minsk yesterday. Unprecedented by the standards of this country. Hundreds of thousands, i think, of people on the streets here demanding that Alexander Lukashenko, europes here demanding that alexander lu kashenko, europes longest here demanding that Alexander Lukashenko, europes longest serving leader, step down after what most people think was a heavily rigged election a week or so ago. Yes, there will be a series of strikes today, hitting many of the Major Industries here in belarus including car manufacturing, tractor manufacturing, fertiliser production, and we are waiting to see just how extensive they are, but there is a real sense of the pressure building on Alexander Lukashenko and i think many people are now not looking to belarus and the streets of minsk as to whats going to happen next. But further afield to russia, the key relationship for this country, looking very closely to see whether just might be some form of russian intervention here either to prop up alexander lu kashenko intervention here either to prop up Alexander Lukashenko or to tap on the shoulder and say, look, its time for to go. Jonah, thank you very much for bringing us right up to date. Flash flooding has caused travel disruption and damage to homes and businesses across southern parts of the country this weekend. pres it comes after the met Office Issued yellow thunderstorm warnings for much of england and wales following last weeks hot weather. Alex dunlop has more. Ive never in my life seen anything like this. Biblical is how sean and his wife described the scene in peterborough on sunday afternoon as ha ilstones peterborough on sunday afternoon as hailstones the size of golf balls rained down. Oh my god out in the Bristol Channel, a water spout appeared on sunday, visible from the sun decided to south wales. And in essex, a road became a river, this former canoeist couldnt resist the urge and took to the water. Former canoeist couldnt resist the urge and took to the waterlj grabbed the boat, a couple of sets of paddles, and we were surprised how deep it was and went down the street. Weve done races all around the world and you just look around and theres people hanging out of the windows looking it. Flash flooding this weekend across parts of the east midlands and the south east took many by surprise. Car struggled with the rising waters. This Shopping Mall in chelmsford was flooded and had to be evacuated. Kimberly mop up her restau ra nt evacuated. Kimberly mop up her restaurant in the city and only opened last november. Then the coronavirus pandemic came. She was just getting a business back on its feet when she and her staff were confronted with this. Within minutes, they were flooded. From the road to the back of the shop, it was all flooded. There was no burning. We didnt know it was going to be this bad. And the shocking thing was it wasnt even for that long. The flooding wasnt confined to essex. Bishops stortford in hertfordshire, firefighters used a kayak to rescue two people under dog from a car stuck on a flooded road. Apprehensive Business Owners have the sandbags on stand by as more heavy rain is forecast. Alex dunlop, bbc news. Carroll will have more on that weather disruption and what the weather looks like for us throughout the morning today. The first major cruise ship to set sail in the mediterranean in almost five months left the italian city of genoa yesterday. The Msc Grandiosa has embarked on a seven day voyage visiting ports in italy and malta. Operator msc cruises say all passengers and crew have been tested for coronavirus before boarding. More than 600 new cases of the virus were reported in italy yesterday. Police deal with all sorts of interesting cases when theyre on night patrol, but officers in nottinghamshire perhaps werent expecting this. Meet po po the runaway penguin who was seen waddling through strelley village in the early hours. The bird had escaped from a farm enclosure around a mile away. Officers tracked down the owner and po po was returned home. If somebody called you and said theres a penguin on the loose, you wouldnt believe it. Did you miss the emea Walking Around last week . I have been paying attention to the headlines but ive missed that. I switched off a little bit. Everybody is allowed a holiday. Self employed people could be eligible for more support from today as the government launches its latest scheme to help people through the coronavirus outbreak. Nina is here to explain. Good morning. Yes, so alongside the furlough scheme which weve all heard lots about, there is a separate programme for people who are self employed, which is a really Diverse Group including everything from taxi drivers and builders to cake makers and musicians. To date 2. 7 million of these workers have made claims totalling £7. 8 billion. The first grant between may and july gave self employed people 80 of their average monthly profits, capped at £7,500. Today applications have opened for the second and final payment from the scheme worth 70 of monthly profits with a £6,570 cap. But the scheme has been widely criticised. Its reckoned there are around two Million People who will not be covered by this scheme. They include amy storey a self employed actor and entertainer who gets less than half her income from self employed work and so isnt eligible. When i found out i wasnt entitled, i felt shocked, very, when i found out i wasnt entitled, ifelt shocked, very, very when i found out i wasnt entitled, i felt shocked, very, very anxious and worried, heartbroken really. The situation as i qualify for absolutely no financial help. This is because my normaljob is as a self employed person working for the nhs but to make ends meet i took on a paye part timejob nhs but to make ends meet i took on a paye Part Time Job singing nhs but to make ends meet i took on a paye part timejob singing in a Department Store to children which took me slightly above my self employed income and so the percentages dont add up for me to get help. Like a lot of people, ive used up any scrap of savings that i have which took me years to save but thats all gone now. For a while i had little bubbles of income coming in from previous contracts but that all run out very quickly and im at the point now where im just really worried. I think the government should be helping by creating a one off discretionary grant for everybody thats fallen through the gaps. I think that would be the easiest and most simple wayjust gaps. I think that would be the easiest and most simple way just to give them parity with everybody else who has received help. There are other reasons people like amy have missed out including being newly self employed, having other income like savings and pensions or Company Directors who are paid a dividend. The treasury, who fund the scheme, told us they were working hard to help as many people as possible. They point out that those who miss out still have access to other support and theyve relaxed the rules for self employed people accessing universal credit. Applications for the second scheme went live 15 minutes ago at six oclock. In about an hours time ill be speaking to one of the bosses at hmrc who oversee the scheme to find out how they think its going. She is quite bold coming on when millions of people are trying to access the website at the moment so well see how it goes and do get in touch if you are trying to get on this morning and let us know how it went. Thank you very much. Our main story is looking at the Current Crisis over exam results but if you have got a question or concern on this issue, we will bejoined by education editor at ten past eight. Also an example if you need specific grades and didnt get them, do let us grades and didnt get them, do let us know. That would be really this morning. Hundreds of students took to the streets over the weekend to protest over the way a level results were decided this year, and theres still confusion over the appeals process for those who didnt get their predicted grades. Here at breakfast, weve been inundated with stories from pupils whove had their future plans thrown into doubt. Lets hear from some of them. I a first generation oxford holder from a state school and getting my offer from oxford was the biggest achievement i could have hoped for and im currently in the process of appealing migraines, but that process and the criteria seems to be changing every day which is really confusing and makes me very angry when theyve had all this time to prepare. Prior to my marks i went to hospital for an operation which put me at hospital for an operation which put meata hospital for an operation which put me at a disadvantage compared to my fellow students. The government is not considered this aspect which means i have no grounds on which to appeal. Thankfully i got into my insurance choice but not my firm choice. Applicants who want to get into medicine or dentistry, attended rigorous interviews before the offers and these demonstrated our capabilities and genuine passion for the career and capabilities and genuine passion for the careerandl capabilities and genuine passion for the career and i believe that these are more accurate than any grade we have been given. I feel really let down and have no confidence in this government who even after three days of results coming out cant decide what the appeals processes and with gcses coming out this week we need it sorted as soon as possible. She makes a good point about gcses. Lots of people waiting for those on thursday. Just a few students there from almost 40 whove had their predicted a level results downgraded this year. And wed like to hear from you this morning. We have our education editor on later. What i just we have our education editor on later. What ijust say . I think i said the wrong thing. Im very sorry. She is the education editor, not the entertainment editor. She will be here at ten past eight. Do get in touch with us. The exam grades story dominates the front pages of the papers today. Lets take a look. The telegraph says the education secretary Gavin Williamson and the exams regulator, quual, are divided over the situation. The daily mail asks if gcse results will be delayed. Thats something we will touch on later. It says the Prime Minister is facing pressure from within his own party to push thursdays results back by two weeks so grades can be revised. Elsewhere, the times has a story about bags for life. It says their days are numbered as morrisons becomes the first supermarket to replace them with brown paper bags. And online, one of the most read stories on the bbc news website this morning is a warning from mps that england could see a new wave of homelessness when a ban on evictions brought in at the start of the pandemic, ends later this month. Do you think we need a cup of tea . Apparently, the only reason im saying that is. Youre not actually interested, youve just got actually interested, youve just got a story . I was about to answer. You carry on. Im all right. Illjust have a little sip. One day i will convert him to copy. This is the reason i want to talk about that. Its in lots of the papers. Its about cups of tea. Apparently, lockdown, one of lockdown, we try to find them, gave parents the chance to teach their children how to make a proper cup of tea. Very important. This essential skill is one of 50 life lessons children could learn at home. Do you know what the top three were . Being honest, kind and polite, but i definitely would put making a cup of tea in my top five. I was going to answer that one, as well. No, youve been on holiday, you cant answer any questions. I suppose if you have a break you have to catch up. Finding out youve been following the wrong lyrics. I love that. This is misheard lyrics. Top of the flops, the most misheard. I will do the top three. Number three, rem, the sidewinder sleeps tonight and the famous line which i always thought was calling cheryl baker. Most people sing calling jamaica. Its call me when you try to wake her up. Number two as Dancing Queen by abba. Feel the beat of the tangerine. Which is tambourine. Number one on their list, im sure youve got your own suggestions, as well, so lonely, which of course eve ryo ne well, so lonely, which of course everyone sings sue lawley to thought the number one, apparently. Theres all sorts are. Bohemian rhapsody feature quite highly because theres a lot of lyrics in there. Saving his life from his warm sausage t. Spare him his life from this monstrosity. Easy come, easy go. Absolutely brilliant. Do send this in your favourites, as well. Can i tell you about this shark very quickly. A man jumps on its back to save his wife. It is an australian man who jumped on the back of a great white shark and kept punching it. I will show you the picture in a moment. Then it released his badly bleeding wife from his jaws and says he acted out of love and instinct to save her. This is the couple. You will have to go in very tight. There is no shark in the red circle. It knocked her off its board and then grabbed her by the leg and then her husband jumped on its back, punched eight times in the head and eventually the shark released his wife and everything is ok. I know i always try to defend sharks but sometimes. I remain silent on the issue. The opponent to donald trump in the us elections will be confirmed this week, as the democrats officially nominatejoe biden as their candidate in november. The Partys National Convention Gets Underway later, although it will be a scaled down and mostly Virtual Event because of the coronavirus pandemic. Our north america editorjon sopel, has been finding out Aboutjoe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris. Folks, thanks, i understand there are thousands of you on this zoom. Campaigning, covid style. This is a socially distanced fundraiser. But there are no phone banks, just thousands on a zoom call. And since Kamala Harris joined the ticket, the moneys been pouring in. 48 million raised injust 48 hours. The excitement is palpable at least im excited. But enthusiasm is hardly the right word. Even among democratic voters, like these college kids. Hes getting older. I dont think hes the strongest candidate that was out there, but he is the lesser of two evils, definitely. Maybe not the most, like, the person i would want if i had any option, but, yeah, definitely the lesser of two evils. Im voting for him, sadly. Um, because at the end of the day, electoral politics is. Its basically damage control. And these students arent exceptional. A newly published Pew Research Poll asked democrats why theyd be voting for biden. A staggering 56 said it was because he wasnt donald trump. The next most important was his leadership performance. Just i9 said that would be the reason for backing him. Butjoe biden has likeability. Ask the owner of this diner in his home town of wilmington, where the biden family have been regulars for decades. I wouldnt just vote democratic, ijust. Im on his side. You know, i agree with his policies and hopefully thats going to get us out of a big mess. For the past five months, joe biden has scarcely emerged from his basement hideaway in the house behind me. And keeping such a low profile, paradoxically, has served him well. His poll numbers keep going up. But, surely, in the next three months, hes going to have to campaign hard, if he wants to win the presidency. Trump campaign ads have sought to portray the 77 year old as a man who is losing it. Ill make sure that we are. In a position that. Go ahead. Oh, no, probably best i dont. Certainly, biden is gaffe prone. If you have a problem figuring out whether youre for me or trump than you aint black. And that im going to beatjoe biden. We hold these truths to be self evident. All men and women created by the. You know the. You know the thing. The next Vice President of the United States of america in 2008, when a youthful barack obama stood Withjoe Biden as his running mate, the optimistic and positive message was hope and, yes, we can. Ready, set, go. In this strange 2020 election, not being donald trump might be joe bidens biggest plus. Jon sopel, bbc news, wilmington, delaware. We of course will be following that closely over the next few months. All of that to look forward to. You are watching bbc breakfast, still to come. Its a disaster thats caused an ecological emergency in mauritius well find out what can be done to save the wildlife after a ship leaking tonnes of fuel has broken apart. Well be discussing that shortly and bringing you the latest news, but the time now is ronnie osullivan, six time snooker world champion, just one behind Stephen Hendry now, another miserable night for manchester football, man united got knocked out of the Europa League last night. 625. Now lets get the weather with carol. This is Something Special you have got here, isnt it . Morning, everybody. This is a weather watch a picture taken yesterday, a water spout, seen from portishead in north somerset, but also newport in wales, as well. Quite unusualfor us also newport in wales, as well. Quite unusual for us to see these but not unheard of. Here is another view of it as well. Yesterday, we had some torrential thundery downpours leading to some flooding across parts of east anglia, lincolnshire and the midlands. In fa ct, lincolnshire and the midlands. In fact, some parts had as much as 3040 fact, some parts had as much as 30 a0 metres of rainfall in just one hour. Today, there is a potential for similar, further heavy downpours, still thundery, but in between there will be some sunny spells. At the moment, some heavy rain moving across Northern England and through the day that will be pushing up into southern scotland and into Northern Ireland, turning more showery, but even so they could be heavy bursts in it. At the same time, a lot of cloud and rain across wales and through the day we will see further heavy thundery downpours develop across england and wales. It will remain fairly cloudy across scotla nd will remain fairly cloudy across scotland and Northern Ireland too. Temperatures, 15 in the north, 211 25 in the south east. Through this evening and overnight, we hang on to afair bit evening and overnight, we hang on to a fair bit of cloud. Low cloud, mist and drizzle as well. There still will be some showers around which will be some showers around which will be some showers around which will be heavy and thundery. Humid by day and night, overnight lows of 1215. Day and night, overnight lows of 12 15. Tomorrow, cloudy again for some of us with sunny spells but still those showers around and still the potential for some of them to be heavy and thundery, leading to the risk of flash flooding. A lot of them across scotland, ireland, and england and wales, and they will be hit and england and wales, and they will be hitand miss, not england and wales, and they will be hit and miss, not all of them will be caught by us of course and they are difficult to forecast exactly where they are going to be. On the chart you can see where we think they will be but they could be more widespread than this and could start earlier than you are seeing on the charts with temperatures going from 18 in the north, 23 toward the south. Wednesday, the weather starts to come in from the atlantic. An area of low pressure bringing weather fronts. Look at the isobars. On wednesday, it will be windy. Most of us start off on a dry note. Some sunshine around, areas of cloud, but then we got rain piling on from the south west advancing northwards and some of that will also be heavy. Windier too across the south west in particular. Temperatures during wednesday ranging from 16 in the north, 21 towards edinburgh, 22 towards london. If you think we are out of the woods after that, we are not. The rest of the week remains u nsettled not. The rest of the week remains unsettled and for some of us it will be particularly windy on friday. Hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. Its monday morning. Well bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning. Well hear from the mums of pc Andrew Harper and teenager harry dunn about the extraordinary bond theyve formed after the loss of their sons. Teenage paddle boarder liam erskine came to the rescue after he saw a young girl being swept out to sea well speak to him and hear about the best ways to stay safe at the seaside. I myself dont talk about a new world in the morning. And well find out about the brand new recording of a song by Dame Vera Lynn thats been brought up to date by the bbc Philharmonic Orchestra. Good morning, heres a summary of todays main stories from bbc news. Theres growing anger over the way a levels have been graded as Grammar School heads and sixth form colleges join the criticism of the government. Pupils have been protesting this weekend after almost 40 of grades in england awarded last week were lower than teachers predictions. It comes just days before gcse results are due to be released. The government has defended the approach it used to determine grades. Search teams looking for two missing brothers off the lancashire coast have recovered two bodies. 18 year old Muhammad Azhar shabbir and 16 year old ali athar shabbir, from dewsbury, are believed to have got in to difficulty at lytham st annes. The bodies have yet to be formally identified, but Police Believe they are the two brothers. A new wave of strikes are expected to start in belarus this morning in efforts to force its president , Alexander Lukashenko, to step down. It comes amid allegations of poll rigging in the countrys recent elections and Police Violence at earlier marches. Meanwhile, in an address to a smaller crowd of several thousand, Mr Lukashenko urged supporters to defend their country. The first major cruise ship to set sail in the mediterranean in almost five months left the italian city of genoa yesterday. The Msc Grandiosa has embarked on a seven day voyage visiting ports in italy and malta. Operator msc cruises say all passengers and crew have been tested for coronavirus before boarding. More than 600 new cases of the virus were reported in italy yesterday. Flash flooding has caused travel disruption and damage to homes and businesses across southern parts of the country this weekend. Torrential rain brought parts of wellingborough in northamptonshire to a standstill yesterday. Elsewhere a water spout resembling a tornado was spotted off the Bristol Channel. Yellow met Office Thunderstorm warnings remain in place across most of england and wales until later tonight. Its time now for our daily appointment with a gp. Lets speak to dr nighat arif. Good morning to you. Nice to speak to you this morning. One thing we wa nt to to you this morning. One thing we want to talk about, i dont know if many of our viewers have seen this but Public Health england is to be replaced by a new agency to specifically deal with protecting the country from pandemics. This is going to a new report. A nice way to start your monday morning to explain exactly what Public Health england is, what does and what sort of impact this may have on the way you work, for example. Public Health England actually, as in the name, it looks after the public and tries to looks after the public and tries to look at communicable diseases, so not just look at communicable diseases, so notjust pandemics. Look at communicable diseases, so not just pandemics. If look at communicable diseases, so notjust pandemics. If there is an outbreak of mumps or a whooping cough. Any condition that will affect the public at large, they try to give us gps in primary care information of what we need to do and we try to protect that part of the population affected. They do a lot of work and what i dont understand. May be ijust havent read a lot about it this weekend because it was only announced on sunday, is that Public Health england is part of the ministerial group, part of the government, so for them to have a reshuffle in the middle of a pandemic, itjust doesnt seem to make any sense. Im sure its a political move, i try not to get into political things because if i do i lose my smile laughter asa laughter as a doctor at the minute i think we definitely need more information, how it affects us. We have no idea. We have been involved in reshuffles before so lots of medics watching will know about the primary care trust being broken down and local commissioning. This is something that again we are very confused about and what it actually means for the long term. We just dont know. It is not confirmed at the moment but it seems to be your take on potentially the sort of things you under the gps are thinking about with regard to that at the moment. Our lead story this morning, after days of issues about a level results, we have spoken a lot to you and other gps on this programme over the last few weeks and months about Mental Health issues, and many of those relating specifically to young people with regards to what we have seenin people with regards to what we have seen in the pandemic. This, i imagine, will only accelerate and cause more issues, wont it . Of course it is. What is a tragic about a levels is the fact that they used an algorithm to downgrade individuals from particularly state skills and that is, i feel, so tragic and i feel so sorry for the a level students. I was reflecting back with a lot of my colleagues and in this sort of system, somebody like me would never have got into medical school. I went to comprehensive school in great result in. Icame comprehensive school in great result in. I came late to this country at the age of nine and had to really start late in the education system. So mark a levels for me, i performed tragically in them mock a levels. But i did really well in the actual exa m but i did really well in the actual exam that went to medical school. Bright students have just been downgraded and not been able to get that and i need more doctors in the system so this is something that will definitely impact Mental Health and also when you know this is your future, as well, and its notjust children. Im seeing Mental Health amongst others, even younger kids who havent been able to go to school and see their friends, to adults, two health care professionals. I think the next pandemic by the Health Crisis we are going to have is a Mental Health and we need to be looking at the Services Available for that because this will be an onslaught that we are witnessing that is happening right now. Students are really depressed and im not surprised. We still have gcse results to come through. It makes me really anxious about how that will be handled. Through. It makes me really anxious about how that will be handledlj know about how that will be handled. know probably many a level students are not up at the moment, their pa rents are not up at the moment, their parents might be. Do you have general advice for some of those are concerns that many parents and stu d e nts concerns that many parents and students are going through at the moment . Yeah, definitely. I am a pa rent moment . Yeah, definitely. I am a parent myself. I have a nine year old. I understand what its like to be in that situation where your children are really anxious and scared. Talk to your children all the time, make sure you are communicating and it is not theirfault. If are communicating and it is not their fault. If they have not achieved the way they would have, this is a stumbling block, i always say. Things will turn around and things do get better. Communication is one thing. Talking to other pa rents is one thing. Talking to other parents is is one thing. Talking to other pa rents is really is one thing. Talking to other parents is really great because you need to off load with other parents, evenif need to off load with other parents, even if its just anger. At the minute, get that out of the way. Cups of tea is great. I know im trivialising it but it is trying to say that you are not alone, the most important thing. I want to touch on theissue important thing. I want to touch on the issue of. Something we have come back to on various points about other things to be concerned about with regards to our health. Outside of the coronavirus. One of those things is the routine testing which many people have been missing out on. How important is that in the coming months, that those people who do have those routine tests make sure that they know it is safe to go . I know a lot of people from my community are apprehensive about going to have their tests, etc. That is not just my going to have their tests, etc. That is notjust my community. Historically we know people from lower socioeconomic groups dont a lwa ys lower socioeconomic groups dont always pick up screen test when they are offered. If i can reassure everybody. Smears, mammograms. Bookings for looking for colon cancers, asthma checks, routine vaccinations, please do not miss those. They are Preventative Care and that will allow us as gps to look after you better. We dont want other tragic cases such as if you miss a mammogram, we dont want to be missing Breast Cancer down the road. I really imply people that if you are getting invites, please attend them. We have all the precautions in place. We have ppe in general practice, nurses who will be Wearing Masks now in order to do smear tests. It sometimes isnt the best way to do it but we are still doing smear test. Please do not miss your appointment. Really helpful advice. Thank you once again. Ive been reliably informed that you have a gigantic cup of tea with you this morning. I do look at the size of that laughter it is might be fg cup, i love a cup of tea. It is my bfg mug. You quys of tea. It is my bfg mug. You guys get me up far too early of tea. It is my bfg mug. You guys get me up far too early i know you get up far earlier than this. do, ido. I you get up far earlier than this. do, i do. I have to. She does exercise before she speaks to us in the morning. Thank you very much. You talk about the perfect cup of tea, people learning to make them. Children, specifically. Volume is important, as well. Sally, it has been at the end of european dreams for some. Good morning. Isa morning. Is a Manchester United fans might need extra sugar in their tea. It has not been a good weekend for manchesters football clubs in europe. City dumped out of the Champions League by lyon on saturday, then 21 hours later united followed them beaten by sevilla in the semi finals of the Europa League. It means a third season in a row without a trophy for Manchester United. Patrick gearey reports. The longest season has ended too early for Manchester United and theyll finish with regrets. After all, they went ahead against sevilla. Bruno fernandes didnt need to dwell on this touch. The referee had spotted a foul. Penalty. Fernandes is sometimes compared with eric cantona. A kick fit for a king. But no team has been more successful than sevilla in this competition and there was a beautiful efficiency about their equaliser scored by suso once of liverpool. Manchester united returned with purpose after the break. They had 20 shots in all, but were thwarted time and again by sevillas keeper a hero named bounou. United just couldnt find the edge. And sevilla can be razor sharp. For an absent minded moment luuk de jong got free. The five time winners into the final once more. For united, a season that lasted more than a year ends in frustration, recrimination, and ultimately elimination. Patrick gearey, bbc news. To scotland, where rangers perfect start to the season has ended. They were held to a goal less draw by livingston, mainly thanks to this brilliant save by the livingston keeper max stryjek. He was making his debut, as well not a bad way to make a good impression at your new club. At the crucible theatre in sheffield, a group of lucky fans got to see a snooker masterclass from perhaps the greatest player ever to play the game. Ronnie osullivan dominated kyren wilson to win his sixth World Championship title. He won seven out of eight frames in the afternoon session, meaning that he only needed one to win by the time it got to the evening. He did it straight away, and in front of spectators, as well. They were allowed in to watch after the government gave the go ahead for test events to start again. Osullivan is nowjust one world title away from matching Stephen Hendrys record of seven. I was happy to get one at one stage. Two was great. Once i hit four, i went, i can call myself one of the greats, you know, because all the greats seemed to have done it. I look atjohn higgins and go, hes a great, so if hes won it four times, thats what youve got to do to be a great. My thing has been longevity. I kind of go in and out of form. My mind can wander sometimes but then ijust get a little bit of a taste for it and think, come on, lets see if youve still got it. Lewis hamilton continues his charge towards being the most successful formula one driver of all time. Hamilton said he touched perfection as he won the spanish grand prix having led the race from start to finish. Michael schumacher is still the Gold Standard of course, and hamilton is nowjust three wins short of the germans all time record. It was also his 156th podium finish, thats a new record beating the one that was held by schumacher. It looks like the second test between england and pakistan is heading for a draw after the weather got in the way of play this weekend. There was only an hours play on sunday. It was enough time for england to end the pakistan innings all out for 236. England then lost an early wicket, rory burns out for a duck after just four balls. And then the rain arrived again, so the covers came on with england 7 1. Its the last day today, so a draw is looking like the most likely outcome. Premiership rugby returned this weekend, and after five months away wasps resumed with a win. They beat northampton at franklins gardens. Josh bassett scored twice in the bonus point win, and that moves them up into the top four for the first time this season. Meanwhile, wigan moved to the top of super league after beating leeds rhinos. There was a landmark try for liam farrell his 100th for the club as wigan eased to a comfortable win. Elsewhere st helens beat castleford. And stand by for a huge crash in moto gp. Before we show it, i can assure you that nobody was seriously hurt. This is Franco Morbidelli and johann zarco crashing at the austrian grand prix. The rider in the yellow helmet there is moto gp legend valentino rossi. Hugely lucky escape for him. He said the crash was terrifying. Amazing that no riders were seriously hurt. You can tell by Valentino Rossis face their. Looked he knows he got away with it. Nobody seriously hurt, as i said. They are brave, brave racers. You cannot repeat that enough that they were lucky. Very busy morning for sally. For People Living in abusive relationships, lockdown made it not just harder for them to leave, but for many it also meant the violence got worse. Thats according to the first in Depth Research about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the scale and nature of Domestic Abuse. It was carried out by the charity womens aid for panorama. Victoria derbyshire reports. This isjess. For years, her husband had been abusive to her. But when lockdown was announced, things got worse. That stay at home message what did that mean to you . Seriously . The charity womens aid have been working on the first in Depth Research about the impact of lockdown on Domestic Abuse for panorama. Of the people they spoke to, almost two thirds of those living with an abuser said the violence had got worse. More than three quarters of women said lockdown had made it harder for them to escape. Jess got out and to a place of safety, but finding a room in a refuge was harder than ever during lockdown. There were 1,100 fewer available beds thats a drop of 42 compared to the same time last year. Is it likely shes going to be accepted or. . Marie williamson manages this refuge in london. Marie is desperately trying to find a woman and her children a bed in an alternative refuge after their whereabouts were mistakenly revealed by a third party. Ive had five refuges of the seven refuges that were available and theyve all declined. Im going to ring up one other. Then after that, ive got no other options. 19 days after lockdown began, the government announced it would give an additional £2 million to Domestic Abuse help lines. The timing was dreadful. It should not have taken 19 days to mobilise any sort of action. And what it highlights is that it wasnt a priority for the government. Its a poor effort. Were you too slow to act . I dont think we were, because when we were talking to charities in the very, very earliest days, we were very much responding. We said to them, what do you need for us to help . Can i tell you how many people were killed in alleged Domestic Abuse cases in the three weeks between lockdown and when that announcement was made for the two million for the help lines . It was 11 women and two children and one man in those three weeks. At charities, the police, we all work incredibly hard to keep victims and survivors, but we must never take attention away from the fact that it is abusive people who committed those murders. Victoria derbyshire, bbc news. And if you have been affected by any of those issues there is support available. You can visit the bbcs actionline website for more information and helplines that offer support. Panorama, escaping my abuser, with Victoria Derbyshire is on tonight at 7 30 on bbc one. You can watch it on iplayer, as well, afterwards. A massive clean up operation is under way to save the wildlife in mauritius after a stranded tanker carrying 4,000 tonnes of fuel split in two. Thousands of local volunteers are involved, but what impact could the spill have on the local ecosystem . Were joined now by adam moolna, who is a lecturer in environment and sustainability at keele university. Good morning, thank you forjoining us. Tell us a bit about the area where this happened because its very special. Good morning. The area of mauritius where it has wrecked is a fantastic lagoon. The lagoon is maybe 60 to 70 square kilometres, just a few metres deep. Coral all over the place. Amazing fish and mangroves. What impact is this likely to have . The impact will be devastating essentially on two sites. They are sites of international importance, were excellent. Mangroves will suffer. Conservation efforts over the last few years planted lots of seedlings of mangroves. We expect most of those to die. The coral reefs and the lagoon will suffer a massive toxic shock that will take perhaps decades to recover from a. You yourself are a mission and i know yourself are a mission and i know you go there when you can you are from mauritius. What is the impact on you, seeing whats going on . From mauritius. What is the impact on you, seeing whats going 0mm is devastating to see. From 10,000 kilometres away, i have friends and family sharing videos and pictures of what is happening. People are angry, people are upset. Fishes are losing their livelihood fishers are losing their livelihoods. People dont know what the future future holds. People are trying to take pa rt holds. People are trying to take part in the clean up operation, what needs to be done . The action taken by volu nteers needs to be done . The action taken by volunteers has been crucial in holding back and removing as much of the heavy fuel oil as possible. At this point now we are several days m, this point now we are several days in, the oil will have weathered. We are now looking at chronic toxicity from oil that remains in the sediment of the lagoon. What needs to be done now is the government needs to engage with local people and see how it can support their livelihoods, the fishers who are unable to earn an income for their families, effectively. We need to look at how, once the vessel is removed, how we can physically stabilise the reef and support recovery. Is there evidence it can even be removed from the reef . U nfortu nately not even be removed from the reef . Unfortunately not at this stage. Most of this fuel oil will have dispersed amongst the lagoon. It is very difficult to predict how it will disburse amongst the ecosystem, but we are looking at a long term toxicity problem. Adam moolna, thanks very much forjoining us and talking to us about that. Thank you. 6 51am. Losing a child is the most difficult thing a parent can face. But for two mothers who have had to endure this tragedy, it has brought them together in a unique friendship. Harry dunn and pc Andrew Harper were killed just 12 days apart. Now their mums, charlotte and deborah, have turned to one anotherfor support, and even discovered that their boys shared a birthday. Breakfasts Graham Satchell has been to talk to them. The pain is too much. I know. And some days i think im coping. Then its like a bullet in my chest and it burns and the reality is just so bad. Im sorry you too probably feel exactly that. Our precious boys weird to say but i feel so sad for us both. Thank you for such a heartfelt message. Were both suffering the loss of a precious son nothing can replace. I feel im never going to be the person i was. But aim to build the person i am becoming through such horrific loss and heartbreak. The first messages of two mothers bound together by the loss of a son. Pc Andrew Harpers mother, debbie, and harry dunns mum, charlotte, have formed a remarkable bond. Youre very careful. With how much you let others see. But when you know that youve got somebody. Thats equally broken inside, its easier. Its priceless. Charlottes son harry died when the motorbike he was riding was hit head on by anne sacoolas, who was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road. Ms sacoolas, the wife of an american intelligence officer, claimed diplomatic immunity and left the country. Debbies son Andrew Harper was killed in the line of duty. After attempting to make an arrest he was dragged behind a carfor almost a mile. You wake up and its on your mind. Before youve woken up its already there. Theres no waking up in the morning thinking, ah. And then, oh. You know, theres nothing that breaks it. Its 24 7. You know, 21 hours a day its in your mind. The burning chest feeling for me isjust really, you know, something that youve understood, isnt it . You know, to try and explain it to somebody else. You know, i can be in a shop and all of a sudden ive got to leave that shop because the feeling comes, itjust takes you, takes you down and you need to just leave. Its just the physical pain that you feel all day, every day. And it doesnt. It just doesnt go away. Both women have turned the pain of losing a son into campaigning. Debbie is fighting for andrews law it would mean an automatic 20 year sentence for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. Charlotte wants anne sacoolas, whos been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, to go through the british justice system. To take on your government and the american government, you know, its larger than enormous its a monster. And shes just kept going. But as i know, you keep going for your boy and that drives you. If you werent doing it for that reason, you wouldnt do it. Its one thing managing to cope and get through your day. But i think what were both hoping is our campaigns will be able to help us to learn to actually live again. Campaigning has kept both women going they say theyll never give up. But debbie and charlotte are still haunted by the horrific ways they lost their sons. Obviously with andrew, he was 99 unconscious at the very first when he went down. But that 1 becomes enormous in the middle of the night when youre feeling so sad. You feel their pain and you feel guilty that you werent with them. And youd do anything. As horrific as it may have been, to have just been there and held their hand and let them know that. Even though they would have still died, that you were there to comfort them. And we both had that taken from us. That was robbed. Debbie and charlotte will continue to support each other, continue to fight for their boys. Graham satchell, bbc news. Thats really ha rd thats really hard to watch. Thank you so much to debbie and charlotte for talking about that. Whenever you speak to a parent that has lost a child, you always get that feeling that you are inadequate and cannot ask the right questions. It is so wonderfulfor the pair of ask the right questions. It is so wonderful for the pair of them to ask the right questions. It is so wonderfulfor the pair of them to be able to speak to someone who has been through that same horrible experience, it must help. It is coming up to 7am and the weather has been quite something. Carol is here to guide us through. Good morning. A lot of flooding yesterday across parts of east anglia, lincolnshire, the midlands. 30 to 40 millimetres of rainfall injust one hour in some places. You can see why it flooded. This morning is a brighter start in bracknell in berkshire, but if we look at what is happening in suffolk, many parts of england and wales have got low cloud and mist or fog. Some of it is dense with very Poor Visibility so if you are travelling this morning do bear that in mind. Today we will see some sunny spells but there will be some thundery downpours once again which could well lead to some flash floods again. What is happening is we have this weather front which has been moving northwards, producing all the rain. Watch how it curls around and affect parts of wales, especially late in the day. This morning we have got the rain moving north. In the south there is a lot of cloud, mist and fog. Sunny skies as we saw in bracknell. Really we are looking at showers from the word go. This band of rain continues to move through Northern England into southern scotland and Northern Ireland. A lot of cloud across scotland this morning. Especially so in eastern areas. Through the course of the day this front moves northwards and you will find the rain will turn my shower rate but still there is the potential in scotland and Northern Ireland for the odd heavy burst and thunder and lightning. For england and wales, we are looking at the thunderstorm is getting going through the course of the day, torrential in places and not all of us will catch them. In between there will be some subjective and temperatures ranging from 15 to 23. Yorkshire, north east england, you wont feel as cold as it has done in the last few days. Yesterday for example the temperature for you was only 14 degrees. Its still will feel humid wherever you are. Through this evening and overnight we will start off with a lot of showers but through the night time period many will fade but we will hang onto quite a lot in the west. Low cloud and mist and fog and drizzle, particularly across parts of scotland, particularly in the east. Temperatures falling to between 12 and 15 degrees. Some of this low cloud, mist and fog could linger for much of the day across parts of scotland and then once again we are looking at a mixture of sunshine and showers, perhaps a bit more sunshine than today, less humid than today, but still the showers likely to be torrential in places and we will also see the risk of flash flooding once again. On wednesday most of us start off on a dry node but then we have all this heavy rain and the strengthening wind pushing in from the west and migrating northwards. Temperatures once again back in the humid scale. Good morning. Welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. Our headlines today. Anger grows over a level results as the government comes under increasing pressure to change course. Does support for the self employed go far enough . The nations taxi drivers, builders and hairdressers have been able to access the latest scheme from six, but millions could still be left without. Ill speak to the woman in charge. More misery for the manchester clubs in europe. After Citys Champions League shock, united are knocked out of the Europa League by sevilla. After the heatwave comes the storms as parts of the uk are hit by flash flooding and hailstones. Its monday 17th august. Our top story. Theres growing anger over the way a levels have been graded as Grammar School heads and sixth form colleges join the criticism of the government. Pupils have been protesting this weekend after almost 40 of grades in england awarded last week were lower than teachers predictions. It comes just days before gcse results are due to be released. Charlotte gallagher reports. The fury over a level results is not going away. Feeling let down, angry and upset, students protest outside westminster. Others contacted the bbc directly. I hoped to to come out with three as on results day to study medicine at Lancaster University. Unfortunately, i only came out with three cs which means i was rejected from both my firm and insurance offers. The grades that my teachers submitted this year for me were a, a, a. And had i gotten these, i would have met my offer and gotten into cambridge. However, after standardisation, i received a, a, b, which meant i was rejected. 40 of a level grades were marked down from teachers productions and, over the weekend, the appeals system plunged into even more uncertainty when guidance for pupils in england was withdrawn within hours by the exams regulator quual. The education secretary Gavin Williamson has borne the brunt of the anger, but there are now calls for borisjohnson to take charge of a situation widely described as chaotic. I care about these young people, to be honest, and the hundreds of thousands of students who were affected by this disaster, so thats why im calling on the Prime Minister to step in, quite frankly. He needs to right this wrong in the next 24 hours. Thats why hes the Prime Minister of the country. He needs to get up off his backside and help and support of these young people. Grammar school heads and sixth form colleges have joined the growing criticism. The Grammar School Heads Association said the standardisation model used by quual is completely unfit for purpose, giving utterly baffling results. Sixth form colleges also believe their pupils are being treated unfairly. We looked at 41 a level subjects, which is almost all a levels, and the extraordinary thing that we found was that in every single one of the 41 a level subjects, the performance in this years results was below the three year average in every single subject. Gcse results are due out this thursday. The man who introduced the exams says they should be delayed. There will be a massive number of downgrades this thursday, a really great massive number. Half a Million People take maths gcse during the numbers of hundreds of thousands complaining that theyve been hit. The department for education says its been clear it wants to build as much fairness into the appeals process as possible and is working with quual to achieve that. Charlotte gallagher, bbc news. Lets get the latest now from our poltical correspondent iain watson in westminster. So many people will be in a really difficult situations. What is the government going to do, do you think . It certainly looks as though the appeals process is being re examined because the guidance by the exam regulator quual was withdrawn from their website yesterday and the department for education spokesman late last night said the government was keen to make sure that the appeals process was fairand sure that the appeals process was fair and quual, the regulator, would be continuing to consider how to deliver that appeals process, but theyve also been suggesting that there will be no major u turn, not doing what the Scottish Government did under pressure, which was to set the teacher assessed grades on their own. Nonetheless, theres been pressure from their own mps for a rethink. Many say they want to see a robust appeals process but i think the mood in the conservative backbenchers wont be improved by the intervention of the Grammar School Heads Association, because they are hugely used by politicians and the opposition. They say a great injustice has been done and are calling for teacher assessed grades to be accepted but a cap on University Admissions also to be lifted and what they are saying today, conservative mps could be saying tomorrow. Gcses of course coming out on thursday as well . This could be toxic for the government because you heard from lord Kenneth Baker, the former conservative education secretary, talking about many thousands of downgrades and he has called for a delay in those results to be published, perhaps a couple of weeks, and the government could have a review of the process which has led to the downgrades for a levels. Which has led to the downgrades for alevels. Thank you very much. Search teams looking for two missing brothers off the lancashire coast have recovered two bodies. 18 year old Muhammad Azhar shabbir and 16 year old ali athar shabbir, from dewsbury, are believed to have got in to difficulty at lytham st annes. The bodies have yet to be formally identified, but Police Believe they are the two brothers. A new wave of strikes are expected to start in belarus this morning in efforts to force its president , alexander lu kashenko, to step down. Tens of thousands of people marched through the belarussian capital, minsk, yesterday to protest at the result of the election which they say was rigged. Earlier on breakfast our correspondentjonah fisher told us that pressure is building for the president. Absolutely huge protests here on the streets of minsk yesterday. Unprecedented by the standards of this country. Hundreds of thousands, i think, of people on the streets here demanding that Alexander Lukashenko, europes longest serving leader, step down after what most people think was a heavily rigged election a week or so ago. As you mentioned there, yes, there will be a series of strikes today hitting many of the Major Industries here in belarus, including car manufacturing, tractor manufacturing, fertiliser production. We are waiting to see just how extensive they are, but there is a real sense of the pressure building on president lukashenko and i think many people are now not looking to belarus and to the streets of minsk as to what is going to happen next, but further afield to russia, the key relationship for this country, looking very closely to see whether there just may be some form of russian intervention here, either to prop up Mr Lukashenko or to tap him on the shoulder and say, look, its time for you to go. The Us Democratic National Convention begins today with four days of party events leading up to them officially nominating their president ial candidate. For the first time, virtual broadcasts will feature heavily because of the pandemic, before the party will formally declarejoe biden as their nominee alongside his running mate, californian senator, Kamala Harris. From new york, nada tawfik reports. Tens of thousands of people should have been descending on milwaukee to mark the start of the democratic general election campaign. Instead, the party will be holding an Unconventional Convention because of Health Concerns surrounding the pandemic. This is what it should look like. The normallyjam packed arenas will be replaced by two hours of virtual programming each night. Over the four days, speakers will include Party Heavyweights such as the obamas and the clintons and a mix of moderates progressive stars such as Bernie Sanders and alexandria occasio cortez. Heading into the convention, this pollster says the biden harris ticket is in a good position, leading by a comfortable margin. Conventions really dont play a large role in the election anyway, so its not going to really matter. In fact, it could just help it further. What weve seen is him staying in place, staying in the shadows, letting President Trump, you know, fall over his own rhetoric and his own handling of the pandemic and the protests and the economy. That has worked for biden really well in the past couple of months and we see that in the polls. His low Profile Campaign dubbed invisible by the republicans, has certainly helped him control his image, avoiding the rigours of the campaign trail and grabbing attention at key moments. There is nothing ordinary about this election season. The difficult issues that preoccupy campaigns have been overshadowed by the unprecedented challenges facing economic and social well being of americans and that means inevitably the incumbent President Trump will ultimately face more scrutiny than hisjoe biden. The first major cruise ship to set sail in the mediterranean in almost five months left the italian city of genoa yesterday. The Msc Grandiosa has embarked on a seven day voyage visiting ports in italy and malta. Operator msc cruises say all passengers and crew have been tested for coronavirus before boarding. More than 600 new cases of the virus were reported in italy yesterday. Police deal with all sorts of interesting cases when theyre on night patrol, but officers in nottinghamshire perhaps werent expecting this. Meet po po the runaway penguin who was seen waddling through strelley village in the early hours. The bird had escaped from a farm enclosure around a mile away. Officers tracked down the owner and po po was returned home. Youre watching breakfast. There has been confusion, uncertainty and protests this weekend over the way a level results have been calculated and how to appeal them. Almost 40 of a level grades awarded on thursday in england were lower than teachers predictions. Lets talk to professor tina isaacs, who sits on quuals advisory group. Good morning. Good to speak to this morning. Can i first of all ask you what have you made of all the discussions, the complaints from pa rents, discussions, the complaints from parents, from teachers, from stu d e nts parents, from teachers, from students over the last few days . Well, in a sense they are absolutely understandable. Quual asked for a whole raft of evidence, including Teacher Assessments. It was Teacher Assessments alongside a whole bunch of other evidence, and once the algorithm was put into effect, many of those assessments were found to be overly generous. Im a parent myself. Im a governor at the school. My daughter teaches chemistry. I have been hearing a lot of discontent. But i do need to stress that quual was trying to do, to create the fairest system possible given these unprecedented and extraordinarily difficult times. Ill try not to politicise your words here, but given what youve said over the last few days, do you feel that thats something the government should have been making clearer . How do you feel about their dealing with the situation in the last few days . Ok, so the government makes policy. Quual simply carries it out. Its not simple, obviously, but quuals role is to carry out government policy and when policy shifts every 24 hours quual then has to deal with it as best it can, hence the changes to the appeals process which now quual has taken off the board so that it can give as much consideration to it as possible, given the time frame. The gcse results are due out on thursday, so we are going to have another wave of potentially not marked down but potentially student grades that do not reflect the grades that do not reflect the grades of their teachers gave them. I want to come back to you on the gcse issue. We did ask to speak to the education secretary today, but sadly he has not been able to work it out, and you talk about the issue of fairness, and we could trade exa m ples of fairness, and we could trade examples all day, but this came from somebody who works on newsnight, one specific example. A student called abby from bosworth who goes to a private school. She had a place at Lancaster University to read geography. She needed results, and several years ago somebody at her school got you in maths and she ranked bottom of her class formats and teachers will tell you, im sure youre aware of this, they have been asked to rank their students from top to bottom in the various objects and she was predicted a b or c but because she was bottom of the list, and somebody to skillet previously got you, she was a u. How is that fair . Ok, certainly on the face of it that doesnt seem fair and there will be lots, unfortunately, of incidences just like this. What any kind of standardisation system does is create as fair as possible, youll notice im not saying fair, system across the entire board and for individual schools, which means individual students may not get the grades that come in this case, they deserve. Thats why there is going to be an appeals process in place. Thats why people can take exams in the autumn. So im not, no system is unfair. Ithink the autumn. So im not, no system is unfair. I think what people dont realise is the examination system, as it runs every year, these sorts of unfair things happen due to the way schools are set. So right now whats happening is the public is losing confidence in the system. And it is up to quual, which i know has worked very hard, and especially the government to try to put in place something that will claw back some of that Public Confidence. Im afraid it will not be able to claw back all of it. And finally, on that issue of Public Confidence, how concerned are you that what we see on thursday with gcse results will further see that confidence crumble . Im very concerned indeed. Yes, im very concerned indeed because teachers are quite rightly, dont get me wrong on this, im very sympathetic to this, but teachers have been generous in their grade predictions because it is quite natural to give someone the benefit ofa natural to give someone the benefit of a doubt. You would do it, i would do it, everybody would do it. And for gcses, when you are talking about life chances of students, especially at that three, four, five, borderline, you very, very much want your students in mathematics and english to get at least four and possibly five because that opens so many doors for them and those are doors which should be open to as many students as possible. Professor, really good to talk to this morning. Thank you very much for spending time with us brea kfast. Much for spending time with us breakfast. Lets continue talking about all of that now. Lets speak now to bill watkin from the sixth Form Colleges Association. Good morning to you. Im not sure how much of what interview you could hear, let me repeat what she said. Quual was trying to create the fa i rest system quual was trying to create the fairest system possible. Was it fair in your view . I think whats disappointing but what quuals position still is as they are not acknowledging that there is an error in the algorithm. There is micro to separate but connected issues here, one of them is the chasm between teacher grades, the Centre Assessment grades, and the computer grades, the algorithm grades, the ones the students were actually issued last week. And the second is the failure of the algorithm to ensure that this years results are broadly in line with previous years. So weve just done a study and weve looked at 65,000 entries which is almost half of all the a level entries in sixth form colleges across 41 a level subjects, every single a level subjects, and in every single one of those 65,000 entries in 401a level subjects, they came out lower than the previous three year average so the algorithm is failed. So we understand the extent of the problem. One in five stu d e nts extent of the problem. One in five students in sixth form college got grades lower than they would have got if theyd sat the exam, we understand the devastating impact on stu d e nts understand the devastating impact on students who arent getting into university or the employment they hoped for and we also, after a lot of work over the weekend, understand what went wrong. The algorithm was wrong. Sorry to interrupt you, yes, the next question is if its wrong, and you think its wrong, how could it be put right . Well, what we should be doing now is immediately recalibrating the algorithm, rerunning it, immediately, and not through a process of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of appeals, but we need to do a National Institutional level automated rerun as a single appeal and, in doing that, we need to reassure young people that no one will get a grade lower than they we re will get a grade lower than they were issued as a calculated raid last week because we need to protect them, and if the new algorithm doesnt work, then, yes, we might have to go back to the Centre Assessment grades, the teacher grades, which has happened in scotland. I dont think that the number one option, but its something we have to bear in mind. In the meantime, there are young people this morning with their future is turned upside down. And also income and, of course, are the results on thursday, the gcse results, so what do you think should happen to those results right now . Should they be postponed for example . It depends on the speed with which the government can rerun the algorithm and put right the m ista kes the algorithm and put right the mistakes of last week. If we can get it fixed in the next day or two, and if we can apply the fix to the gcse results, there is no need to delay them. But we have to do this now. 0k, tell them. But we have to do this now. Ok, tell me about the impact on colleges for example, because lots of people will be applying to them. How is it impacting . Well, they have been tirelessly supporting young people who have been deeply disappointed by what happened last week. We are wrestling with universities to try to secure their places. They are devastated. Its been a very, very difficult time and when they are told that dont worry, you can appeal, and they are looking at the sheer numbers and the bureaucratic process involved in submitting appeals, its just not viable. These are colleges which are very busy trying to organise things to reopen the colleges in the middle ofa to reopen the colleges in the middle of a pandemic, trying to help 16 year olds do their transition from secondary school to sixth form, their students to transition from couege their students to transition from college to university, and its not right that this additional burden should be taken on just to put right the mistakes someone else has made. And we know what the mistake was. We can put it right, and we have to do that straightaway. In scotland they have gone back to what the teachers predicted. What would you say to that . Well, i can understand why that . Well, i can understand why thatis that . Well, i can understand why that is an attractive proposition, simple straightforward ask, but on the other hand, it does open up new inequalities, because not all teachers approach the teacher grading in exactly the same way, somewhere more generous, more demanding, some were optimistic, pessimistic about students performance and thats human nature, different people approach these things in different ways, so its not a scientific set of numbers but the main problem is that students have already moved on if they have been able to come if there grades where what they hoped they would be, so in small centres for example, weve heard a lot about independent schools, whose results were determined by the teachers, and there would be a problem for universities if they suddenly had to accommodate a whole group of extra students, but just to accommodate a whole group of extra students, butjust to make clear what i mean about independent schools and smaller classes, and their results being determined by their results being determined by the teacher, this is all part of the algorithm, so small teacher grades cant ina algorithm, so small teacher grades cant in a small group, and if you are ina cant in a small group, and if you are in a big group, algorithm grades count and are in a big group, algorithm grades countand in are in a big group, algorithm grades count and in sixth form colleges almost every single student entry had its grade determined by a computer not by a teacher. We really appreciate your time here on brea kfast. Appreciate your time here on breakfast. Thank you very much indeed. At ten past eight we are speaking to our education editor. There are so many questions. We will try to get through as many as we can with her but if youve got some, we will collate them, put them together and answer as many as we possibly can. We will deal with hot what happened with a levels last week and i know many of our viewers and stu d e nts i know many of our viewers and students this morning are very concerned about gcses later this week as well, and we will try to cover a ll week as well, and we will try to cover all of that for you. Thunderstorms have hit parts of the uk this weekend, causing travel disruption and some flash flooding. It comes after days of high temperatures last week. This was the scene yesterday in peterborough, where Youtuber Shaun Alexander Cummings was caught in the middle of a hail storm. Wow oh, my god the video filmed at a service station shows the hail coming in very quickly. And shaun joins us now to tell us more. Im glad that you remain unscathed after that. Just talk us through what happened. Good morning, im pretty glad i came out good at the other end of it as well. It was a frightening experience. We were driving from northamptonshire where we went for a walk yesterday, the weather was quite warm, and we stopped at peterborough on the way home, we saw this dark cloud over the service station and we would just about to get out of the car and literally put our hands on the door to get out and the heavens opened and in an unbelievable way. to get out and the heavens opened and in an unbelievable way. I mean, how worried are you to be in the middle of that . We are watching that video again and i cant thankfully see anybody out there Walking Around trying to get protection. You must have been concerned . Trying to get protection. You must have been concerned . Yes, i was the people disappeared but they disappeared. They must of got shelter. I dont know where they went. I thought the windows were going to crash at one point, it is absolutely fierce and the hailstorms we re absolutely fierce and the hailstorms were getting bigger and bigger, absolutely battering the windows. I open the windows so i could get a good video for people to watch and it was insane and i felt the wind was getting pulled out of the car. It was a weird pressure thing going on and ive never experienced anything like that before, truly bizarre. A fascinating video to watch and i imagine it was quite a bit of reaction when you put that on line . Yes, a lot of people from around the world theyre watching, from the usa said it looked like the type of states when they get tornadoes. I spent time there last year and tornadoes. I spent time there last yearandi tornadoes. I spent time there last year and i know the kind of whether they can get and its the type of thing we dont see here in the uk that often. Pretty rare, i would say. Yes, a lot of people around the world watching saying its pretty normal in the usa but for us its not something we see. Thank you for giving us a snapshot of the weather where you wear yesterday. Thank you very much for posting the video from peterborough. 15 minutes that lasted, as well. Well, it wasnt only shaun who got caught up in the bad weather. These were the scenes in wellingborough in northamptonshire. This is a deluge of water which rushed through the town centre. And as carol showed us earlier there was a water spout, resembling a tornado which was seen in the Bristol Channel yesterday. It could be seen from somerset on one side and south wales on the other. Clearly visible to people miles apart. Clearly visible to people miles apart. Get in touch with your own pictures of bad weather from the weekend using the usual address. You can email us at bbcbrea kfast bbc. Co. Uk, or share on our facebook or twitter pages. We are talking about those a level results as well, so if you have any questions for our education editor, send them in. You are watching bbc breakfast, still to come. Teenage paddle boarder liam erskine came to the rescue after he saw a young girl being swept out to sea. Well speak to him and hear about the best ways to stay safe at the coast. Well be discussing that shortly and bringing you the latest news, but the time now is 7. 27. Loads of other for carol to get ahead around today. Talking about hot temperatures last week in many parts of the uk, in death valley in california temperatures was 130 fahrenheit, the mid 50s. Crazy, isnt it . Unprecedented and that has to be verified as well, but i will talk about that later on. Yesterday, we saw a picture of that waterspout, a tornado over water. This morning, its murky, a lot of low cloud, mist and fog around as you can see from this weather watcher picture in suffolk. Its especially across england and wales if youre travelling, bear that in mind but there is a potentialfor more thundery downpours today with hailstorms, gusty winds which once again could lead to some localised flooding. Its very difficult to forecast exactly where they are going to be but in between there will be some sunny spells. So what is happening as we got low pressure dominating our weather and this weather front, which dominating our weather and this weatherfront, which produced all the rain yesterday. Look at the tail of it. This is where we are seeing the ring now, particular heavy across Northern England, fringing into scotland. In the south, low cloud, mist and fog, sunny spells and already some showers. The heaviest rain is moving across Northern England, cross the borders into scotland and also Northern Ireland. Some bright skies ahead of it but still a lot of local low cloud in eastern scotland. Through the day, that band of rain pushed into southern scotland and Northern England getting into the highlands isa england getting into the highlands is a showery mass. With the odd heavy burst, which will also be thundery, for england, wales, heavy, thundery, for england, wales, heavy, thundery slow moving downpours, but gusty around them with hail. Top temperatures in yorkshire, 14. It will be more mud for you today but 1523 will be more mud for you today but 15 23 once again feeling humid. Overnight, many showers will fade and we will hang onto them in the west. Again, low cloud, mist and fog and some drizzle coming in, particularly across eastern parts of scotland. Temperatures falling between 12 15. Tomorrow, we will hang on to the low cloud, mist and fog for much of the day, if not all of the day in some parts of eastern scotland. More sunshine around than today and it wont feel as humid, but we will still see a good packet of showers and some of those will be heavy and thundery and there is a risk of some large hailstorms coming as well. Temperatures in the north, 16, and in the south, 23. On wednesday, a bit of a change. We start off on a drying note but then we have system coming in from the west introducing heavy rain and strong wind advancing northward and eastward through the day. Temperatures, 16 in the north, 22 as we push further south. That travels northwards during the course of thursday and then it remains u nsettled. Hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. Lets with dan walker and louise minchin. Bring you up of lets bring you up to date with some of the main stories this morning. In the last few minutes it has been announced that gcse grades in Northern Ireland will be awarded on the basis of Teacher Assessments. The Education Minister peter weir said he had decided to act because, unlike a level, there wasnt enough data on the teenagers prior performance to ensure fairness. We can speak now to the shadow education secretary kate green. Very good morning to you. So much to talk to you with regard to a levels but lets start with that news from Northern Ireland on gcse grades, that they will be awarded on the basis of Teacher Assessments. What is your reaction . I think its really interesting and it shows that sheer scale of anxiety now about this process of relying on an algorithm. Obviously we havent seen the gcse results in england. I imagine by now the government knows what they will look like and should be to make judgments what they will look like and should be to makejudgments on how what they will look like and should be to make judgments on how reliable they are. We have asked for a full technical review of the computer algorithm that has been used so that we can be confident either that the results will be a fair reflection of students achievements and if not then the covenant can quickly start to address what system would be fair. I certainly do not think the teacher assessed grades should be taken off the table. We supported them for a level students when it became clear that no other methodology was going to give a fair result to students and i think options have to be kept open until we can be confident that the gcse stu d e nts we can be confident that the gcse students will be treated fairly. Just gcse point, given what we know about a levels in england, do you think gcses should be. The results delayed until everybody agrees what is going to happen . delayed until everybody agrees what is going to happen . I think delay is terribly worrying for young people. They will be gearing themselves up to receive their results this week, getting themselves more anxious, into a state of expectation. It is also difficult for the colleges or training providers that they are going until after their gcse results not to know in good time how many stu d e nts not to know in good time how many students are coming to study with them. I certainly dont think that delay is an ideal outcome either for its students orfor delay is an ideal outcome either for its students or for those education institutions. Im really frustrated that the government. We are now into week three of this debacle. We knew about the problem in scotland two weeks ago, the problem last week with a levels. Here we are just two or three days away from gcse results and the government still doesnt have a grip on the problem. I think two penalises students with further delays because of government failure is really ha rd delays because of government failure is really hard and we want action today to give us an assurance that a robust, fair, swift system will deliver results to a level students and gcse students, that the students, families, teachers and employers and further study institutions that they want to go on to can rely on. What system would you be recommending . For gcses as i say, we want to see technical review urgently so we can make the best judgment about how to assess. For a levels we have said now that Teacher Assessments should be the basis of the grading for those results. Obviously you underpin that with an appeals system because im not going to pretend Teacher Assessment is a perfect system but with a robust and swift appeals system, if there are mistakes made in Teacher Assessment you have the ability to correct them. Government have said they appeals it should be free of charge, labour called for that. I am however concerned that the criteria are still completely unclear. Published and then withdrawn again within hours at the weekend. It is disgraceful. Students do not know where they stand and the government needs to get a grip on. Just to be clear, could you go back to that . You are saying that at this point the a level results go back to what the teachers assessed. Yes, we said that last week. We said that it is not an ideal solution but in the circumstances where it is clear something has gone so wrong with the a level model, and where these people have already seen so much disruption to their education because of the virus, the lockdown, we owe it to them to take every step we owe it to them to take every step we can to give them the very best chance to move on to their further studies or to the next steps in building a new career for themselves. We did say last week that the government should use teacher assessed grades in respect of a level students, underpinned that without appeals system in case they feel bad teacher assessed grade isnt correct, but now of course we dont know what sort of appeal system students will rely on. It is a completely unsatisfactory situation for these a level students. Still days later after the results they had last thursday. What about universities . We know there is about universities . We know there is a cap. Many university places will have been given out already. What are you recommended happens there, what would you like to see happen . This is very frustrating. Last week, universities were telling me there we re universities were telling me there were plenty of places, places were available on all courses. This is of course in part because of the big reduction this year in the number of International Students coming to the uk. Universities were saying to me very confidently, we will be able to give places to students who want to ta ke give places to students who want to take up places. We said universities andindeed take up places. We said universities and indeed further education providers and colleges and apprenticeships and other training providers should be as flexible as possible. We called on the government to mandate the post 18 sector it to do that. To be fair, they need to know where they stand, and places are beginning to fill up. They need to be able to plan how many lecture theatres they need, teaching staff, student accommodation. And so it is really important now that decisions are made very swiftly so that universities do know how many stu d e nts universities do know how many students they are welcoming on each particular course, but i want to say to students, places are available, please talk to your teachers and universities because they at least are very, universities because they at least are very, very desperate to do all they can to support your further studies are. Can we also talk about the pressure on schools . They are under pressure to open schools shortly within the environment of coronavirus. What about the pressure on them . It is clear children must be back in the classroom in septemberfor learning be back in the classroom in september for learning but also for their social and emotional well being. Head teachers, school and College Leaders have been working flat out over the Summer Holidays to prepare to welcome children back safely, reconfiguring the school day, reconfiguring the school premises, putting in place measures for extra cleaning, extra ventilation and so on. And doing that on the basis of confused and often quite contradictory government guidance. It is really important that they get the support they need, that they get the support they need, that they get the support they need, that the government plays its part. Really important that the underperforming testing and tracing system is working properly. But as you say, as well as all that, they are now having to cope with this exa m are now having to cope with this exam is chaos, with reassuring pa rents exam is chaos, with reassuring parents that their childrens futures have been sorted out, that they will do all they can to support those young people receiving exam results and at the same time as reassuring parents that their children will be welcome safely back in school and giving anxious parents the information they need. So they understand how their children will be looked after in school come september. We have talked about this over the last few weeks, whether or not face coverings in your view. It is not government guidance, not mandatory. Should that be so in schools . I have looked at this really carefully because it is a very important issue. What i have read and seen from the Academic Research and scientist, from what other countries have been doing, if you need a package of Safety Measures including cleaning, regular clinic, thorough cleaning. Including ventilation, good ventilation. Including looking at how we move people around school or college to keep them socially distant. Face mask for older children and for staff could be part of the Safety Measures, although the evidence so far seems to be that they are used really only in areas where there are very high infection rates. They are certainly not a silver bullet. I think it would be important, absolutely right to keep their use on the table if that seems important ina on the table if that seems important in a particular school or college, but we should not think that face masks alone are the only thing that schools are going to do or colleges are going to do. They have a whole range of measures they are taking to make sure children and young people will be safe in class. Of course they need the support and resources to be able to do that. Kate green, shadow education secretary, thank you. We did ask to speak to the government this morning but they declined to come on. The department for education did send us a statement saying its working with the exams regulator quual to achieve as much fairness as possible for students. On that issue of fairness and questions about a levels, questions about gcses, may be something you have heard this morning from some of our guests. Maybe you want to pick upon it. You can send those questions through to us this morning. E mail us because we will have our education editor with us live on the programme at 8 10am. We plan to answer as many questions as possible. 40 am. It was the end of european dreams, wasnt it . My question to a nswer dreams, wasnt it . My question to answer in the football. It was a european weekend to forget for the two manchester clubs. First that shock defeat for city in the Champions League on saturday. Then 24 hours later united were on their way home too. They were beaten 2 1 by sevilla in the semifinals of the Europa League. United actually took the lead thanks to a Bruno Fernandes penalty. But sevilla equalised and despite loads of chances for united it was the spanish side that found a winner. Cue frustration for the Manchester United players and their manager, who have now gone three seasons without a trophy. Very disappointing. I think were all. Not devastated, but its one of those hard ones to take because you feel you played some fantastic stuff at times, created chances and just couldnt get the goals that i felt we deserved at times. In different spells of the game i thought we were absolutely excellent. Ronnie osullivan put in an absolute masterclass at the crucible theatre in sheffield, as he won his sixth World Snooker championship. He gave kyren wilson no chance in the final, and is nowjust one title short of Stephen Hendrys record of seven. Joe wilson reports. Five time champion of the world, the rocket ronnie osullivan. Ronnie osullivan, the greatest snooker player of all time well, thats what kyran wilson called him, and he spent the weekend losing to him. Osullivan only needed one frame in the evening session. Enjoy every second there werent many. If osullivan is at his best, well, you dont get a chance. Kyran wilson already knew that. It looked like osullivan would win with a century break until he slightly misjudged his position on the black and, well, then. Didnt matter. Now osullivan rates wilson highly, but hes been scathing of other young players. Well, he is 44 and he is the world champion. My thing has been longevity. I kind of go in and out of form. My mind can wander sometimes but then ijust get a little bit of a taste for it and think, come on, lets see if youve still got it. 2001 was the first, this the sixth world title one behind Stephen Hendry. Maybe thats a motivation. For if osullivan really wants more, who still can stop him . Joe wilson, bbc news. On the subject of greats, Lewis Hamilton continues his charge towards being the most successful formula one driver of all time. Hamilton said he touched perfection as he won the spanish grand prix having led the race from start to finish. Michael schumacher is still the Gold Standard of course, and hamilton is nowjust three wins short of the germans all time record. It was also his 156th podium finish, thats a new record beating the one that was held by schumacher. So hot out there and so challenging, but the tyres were the biggest challenge today. But i was really able to remain in. I was just in a zone and i dont remember the last time i was in that one, so it was. He laughs. Its hard to explain it, but it felt fantastic out there, and what an incredible result. It looks like the second test between england and pakistan is heading for a draw after the weather got in the way of play this weekend. There was only an hours play on sunday. It was enough time for england to end the pakistan innings all out for 236. England then lost an early wicket, rory burns out for a duck afterjust four balls. And then the rain arrived again, so the covers came on with england 7 1. Its the last day today, so a draw is looking like the most likely outcome. Busy couple of days of sport to tell you about but it looks like the weather is playing its part in the cricket. Sally, thank you. 7 44am. Lets continue to talk about the exams crisis. Lets speak to the childrens commissioner for wales, sally holland, who joins us from cardiff. Illjust inform our viewers that essentially all four childrens commissioners have written a letter to the government and you can explain to us exactly what you are asking for. It is a about the issue of teacher predicted grades . M asking for. It is a about the issue of teacher predicted grades . It is really asking universities right across the uk to honour the conditional offers they have given to students. It has been really distressing to see stories including on your own programme of students who have been rejected by their universities and courses of choice because they havent received the right to grades on thursday. We all know, and the universities know that those grades do not reflect their individual effort in the exam hall. They have been arrived at by a whole host of factors, but including an algorithm that feels very unfair to many. I dont know if you are aware but in the last few minutes we mentioned this breaking story that gcse grades in Northern Ireland will be awarded now on the base of teacher assessed grades. Education minister peter weir has spoken about that this morning. Do you feel there is growing pressure for other countries to follow suit . Absolutely. We do need swift action by the governments who have not yet resolved this issue. They have to recognise there is a crisis in wales and in england. In wales, ithink that they need to admit that the system they put in in good faith, and they thought would be fair, actually has produced far too many anomalies for students and ive been thinking about this all weekend, what would be the best way forward . There are problems with reverting to Teacher Assessments. It doesnt guarantee a level Playing Field but now it seems the only way forward to give students individualjustice. And that is what we need now. We know it will lead to colour grade inflation but this is an exceptional year grade inflation. But it gives justice to individual students, and that is something that politicians and everybody else needs to ta ke politicians and everybody else needs to take on the chin. On the issue of grade inflation, that is interesting because it is a point quite a few people are making, that if you are to now rei nflate people are making, that if you are to now reinflate or put where there is to check predicted grades should be for those students, those stu d e nts be for those students, those students in this year, they would have an unfair advantage on other yea rs. Have an unfair advantage on other years. What do you say to that . These students have had a roller coaster of a year. The rug was pulled from under theirfeet in march. They havent had the chance to prove themselves. 2020 is going to prove themselves. 2020 is going to be an exceptional year for all sorts of reasons and i think we need to give these young people a break and not worry about a blip on the chart but actually make sure that they see individualjustice. We are not seeing that at the moment and it is heartbreaking to see some of these young people who have had their dreams are shattered and been rejected from courses they have worked so hard towards for so many yea rs. Worked so hard towards for so many years. They havent had the chance to prove themselves. They are really passive actors in this and it isnt fair, and ive heard from some senior head teachers throughout the weekend we were baffled by how the grades have been reached for some of their students. Some have been downgraded by three grades from the teacher predictions. Thatjust cannot be right and an appeal is a system u nfortu nately cannot be right and an appeal is a system unfortunately not yet published in wales or england is likely to be too slow and to favour the more sharp elbowed parents and schools. We are of course talking about a level results but gcses, im sure you are aware, come out on thursday and there are so many pa rents, thursday and there are so many parents, students and teachers getting in contact with us today, listening to you, watching this, and they are understandably worried and concerned about what will happen to their children and their grades. Do you think the publication of gcse results should be put back until things are sorted out . results should be put back until things are sorted out . I think the governments and certainly i will say this to the government in wales, they should not publish the results until they have got Public Confidence in them. I would love to see that happen before thursday. That would be ideal. These students have been on a knife edge waiting for these results. We would love to see the results on thursday but if they dont yet have Public Confidence sent to delay it for a short period in which time they can make sure that everybody is confident that those results will be fairto confident that those results will be fair to individual students, i think that wait is a price worth paying. They need Public Confidence, they need to make sure students have grades that are fair to then. We would love to have the grades on thursday but a short delay would be the other best option. Thank you for yourtime, the other best option. Thank you for your time, sally helen, the other best option. Thank you for yourtime, sally helen, childrens commissionerfor wales. Such an extraordinary time for so many people who didnt take those exams, who have their results, waiting for the results of gcses later this week. We will be speaking to our education editor at eight to 10am, who can hopefully give as much clarity as there is right now. Safe to say everybody understands the worry, the concern, for so many people. We will try to reflect that not only today but throughout the week. This will the week. Self employed people could be eligible for more support from today as the government launches its latest scheme to help people through the coronavirus outbreak. Nina is here to explain. Its been quite a stressful time for lots of self employed people because the definition of how they earn their money has been so variable. Good morning. Yes, so, alongside the furlough scheme which weve all heard lots about a separate programme for people who are self employed, which is a really Diverse Group including everything from taxi drivers and builders to cake makers and musicians. To date 2. 7 million of these workers have made claims totalling £7. 8 billion. The first grant for three months gave self employed people 80 of their average monthly profits, capped at £7,500. Today applications have opened for the second and final payment from the scheme worth 70 of monthly profits with a £6,500 cap. This whole scheme is managed by hmrc. Angela macdonald is its deputy chief executive. Good morning, angela. The scheme went live at 6am. So far so good this morning . Yes, good morning. We are doing really well so fire this morning. 39,000 people have already successfully made their claims so fantastic stifle our digital services. Some have been in touch you are self employed. They have to be invited to apply for this scheme. That hasnt happened yet. When can they expect to hear from you . We are trying very hard to contact you . We are trying very hard to co nta ct a ll you . We are trying very hard to contact all of those people who are eligible in order to help them to understand when they can make their claim. Ourclaims window understand when they can make their claim. Our claims window is initially open for a four day period. If somebody thinks they are eligible and yet they havent been contacted by us, they can go on to the online system. It will tell them if they are eligible and when they can make theirclaim. If they are eligible and when they can make their claim. People should not worry about needing to do everything too much in a rush. If you dont manage it in those first four days, the claims system is open until the 19th of october. Therefore everybody has the time to suit their working situation. So they can come to you if you havent come to them. Some concern that 16,000 people were overpaid in the first round to the tune of £12 million in total from the treasury. That will leave people concerned, especially because you said you will not recoup that money. Being realistic, i recognise that 16,000 people can sound quite a lot but out of 2. 7 Million People it is actually a 0. 6 of the overall population, you can imagine we did it at an immense pace. There is an enormous amount of complex data involved in setting the scheme up. The most important thing of what you said there is people should not be worried. We are not going to be asking for that money back. We recognise that that was our problem as we put the scheme into live at such speed, so hopefully that reassures those people. Lessons learned, it wont this time . Most definitely. We have had a little more time to look at the data records of all of those eligible customers, so we are very records of all of those eligible customers, so we are very confident that this time around we will get it right for 100 of the customers are. That is a good promise. Another criticism is that the scheme is wide open to exploitation, as with the furlough scheme. This is dependent on people telling you the truth and saying, yes, weve been affected by coronavirus. But as yet you havent been following up on evidence necessarily. What would you say to that . We absolutely recognise that in any kind of situation there will bea in any kind of situation there will be a very small number of people who seek to take advantage of things they are not entitled to. We are taking reports of any kind of fraud extremely seriously and the wage retention scheme we have already started taking criminal action for people we know are committing fraud. We absolutely will be following up on all reports of fraud. What would you say to someone who said it will be too easy for someone whose business hasnt been affected by coronavirus to say that it has . As i say, i absolutely accept that that might be some people who do that. But we will use all of the data and the records that we have in order to be able to validate our view of what it is that those people have actually been doing and trading through this period. Our inboxes have been filled with people left out of the scheme. You will know about them, those pay by dividends, those who own over £50,000. Is it fair that when they paid tax for many years they feel that they are left out now at a time when they need this money most . Yes, i absolutely can understand the difficulties that those people will find themselves in. The chancellor has already acknowledged that these schemes will not be able to help everybody. That can be as easy to say but very hard for those individuals concerned. There is a broad package of support available looking at things like mortgage holidays, looking at loans. We are also deferring taxes for the self employed. So i would really urge anybody who has difficulties to look online and see what support is available for them. Ok, thank you very much. That mirrors what the treasury told us about this scheme. Thanks to those who have been in touch. And in boston spa has got her payment through successfully. All in scunthorpe says he has access to Second Glance but is worried, as lots are, that this scheme wraps up. This is the second and final lump of money for the self employed. That is it, then. The treasury have said thatis it, then. The treasury have said that is the end of it. As we keep saying, the autumn is when things will get really worrying for some people. Thank you very much. Thank you also for everybody who has been in touch about a level grades, results. We know gcse is also this week, so much concern. Thank you for being in touch. Lots of exa m ples thank you for being in touch. Lots of examples of the head scratching exa m ples of of examples of the head scratching examples of how the system has caused issues. We spoke earlier about that young student who, because somebody at her school in the past had got a u, someone in her class had to get one this year and that was her because of all the people in mass, she was at the bottom. Another example is that you may have seen these on social media, lewis got all posted this. This was a story about someone called dave who goes to college in gateshead. He was a first in his family to go to university, had a place at cambridge but needed and eight, and a and a b. At his place is on a whole. The worked is because of these calculations they downgraded his grade. He went down from and a to an a. At some in his class went from an a. At some in his class went from actoad. An a. At some in his class went from a cto a d. They an a. At some in his class went from a c to a d. They cant account to that so the algorithm says they cant have that stand at this time around. Essentially nobody at that couege around. Essentially nobody at that college had ever got a before so nobody could this time around. Gcse results of course on thursday. Lets look at the weather. Carol has Something Special to show us. Good morning. Im sure you a picture of a water spout, taken morning. Im sure you a picture of a water spout, ta ken by morning. Im sure you a picture of a water spout, taken by one of our weather watches yesterday. A waterspout is a tornado over water. If this waterspout were to travel inland and be overland it would change back to a tornado in the same way that a tornado which is formed inland goes out to sea and becomes a waterspout. Either way you dont wa nt to waterspout. Either way you dont want to run into them. This is another picture potentially of the same waterspout ta ken another picture potentially of the same waterspout taken in portishead by another weather watcher. Today we are likely to see further heavy downpours, sunny spells in between but yesterday we had some flash flooding. Today we can see the same. There is the potential for it. Heavy rain is moving out of Northern England into southern and central scotla nd england into southern and Central Scotland and Northern Ireland, curling into wales. It will turn my showery but you could catch some heavy bursts with some thunder and lightning and then we will see further heavy thunder it downpours across england and wales. Not all of us will get one. Very difficult to forecast exactly where they will be, but they could lead to flash flooding. Yesterday the temperature in parts of yorkshire was only 14 degrees, today it will be higher for you. The temperature is 15 to 24, may be higher for you. You. The temperature is 15 to 24, may be higherfor you. The temperatures 15 to 24, maybe 25 and it will feel humid. As we go through this evening and overnight, many of the showers will start to fade. We will hang onto them in the west and we will see a lot of low clad mist and murk, some fog, especially across eastern parts of scotland. Temperatures falling to between 12 and 15 degrees. Tomorrow we start off with all this low cloud, mist and fog and some will linger all day. We will also see more sunshine than today and it will not feel as humid. Already you can see the showers and around those showers, which could be heavy and thundery, there will be gusty winds and like today we could also see some large hail. Temperatures are 16 in the north to 23 in the south. Things change a bit with more of an atla ntic change a bit with more of an atlantic influence on wednesday. Low pressure in charge of our weather, weather fronts coming in from the south west and look at the isobar is telling you it will turn windier. After a dry start and a relatively bright one, we have the weather front coming in from the south west, producing all this rain. Moving north eastwards, gusty winds around it with highs of 16 to 22. The headlines coming up next. Good morning. Welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. Our headlines today. Anger grows over a level results as the government comes under increasing pressure to change course. Gcse grades in Northern Ireland will be based on teacher predictions and the childrens commissioner for wales tells breakfast results should be delayed. After the heatwave comes the storms, as parts of the uk are hit by flash flooding and hailstones. The mothers of harry dunn and pc Andrew Harper tell us how the loss of their sons brought them together to form a remarklable bond. When you know that you have got somebody that is equally broken inside, it is easier. More misery for the manchester clubs in europe. After Citys Champions League shock, united are knocked out of the Europa League by sevilla. Its monday the 17th of august. Our top story. Theres growing anger over the way a levels have been graded as Grammar School heads and sixth form colleges join the criticism of the government. Pupils have been protesting this weekend after almost 40 of grades in england awarded last week were lower than teachers predictions. In the last half hour its been announced that gcse grades in Northern Ireland will be awarded on the basis of teacher assessed grades. Speaking in the last few minutes here on breakfast, the sixth Form Colleges Association demanded Swift National action on englands a level grades. What we should be doing now is immediately recalibrating the algorithm, rerunning it immediately, and not through a process of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of appeals, but we need to do a national, institutional level, automated rerun as a single appeal. We did ask to speak to the education secretary but that request was turned down. Lets get the latest now from our Political Correspondent iain watson in westminster. Iain, we heard calls there for these results to be looked at again, but the government seemed to be sticking to their position. That is right, later this week in england, wales and Northern Ireland, their gcse results are due to be published. Again many conservative mps are worried this will be a toxic day for the government because people will once again be downgraded. We have just people will once again be downgraded. We havejust heard Northern Ireland are now going toward g cs e Northern Ireland are now going toward gcse results on the basis of Teacher Assessments alone. There is no move in england to do likewise. And no move either to do a complete u turn unlike the Scottish Government who decided to use Teacher Assessments exam results, no appetite to do so in government. But the government emphasises is there will be a robust appeals process currently being worked on. Initial guidance was withdrawn so there will be new guidance on appeals and an opportunity for pupils in autumn to sit exams if they feel so strongly about it and if they want to defer places. No chance yet of a u turn but labour are now calling for the government to have a rethink. The shadow education secretary spoke to us earlier. We did say last week the government should use teacher assessed grades in respect of a level students, underpinned that with an appeals syste m underpinned that with an appeals system in case a student feels their teacher assessed grade is not correct. But now of course we do not know what sort of appeal system students will rely on. It is completely unsatisfactory for a level students. Still days later after results came out last thursday. The shadow education secretary has also asked if she backed calls by people like the former conservative education secretary Kenneth Baker to delay gcse results to allow time for a review of this algorithm. She said that would be unfair on pupils. The childrens commisioner is for all four uk nations have been saying a delay probably would be a good idea. For the government, they will have to find a way out of effectively is a toxic political situation for them where it looks like they are presiding over a system hitting the most disadvantaged children hardest. Good to talk to you, thank you. We will continue to talk about that throughout the programme. Lots more on that. Search teams looking for two missing brothers off the lancashire coast have recovered two bodies. 18 year old Muhammad Azhar shabbir and 16 year old ali athar shabbir, from dewsbury, are believed to have got in to difficulty at lytham st annes. The bodies have yet to be formally identified, but Police Believe they are the two brothers. A new wave of strikes are expected to start in belarus this morning in efforts to force its president , alexander lu kashenko, to step down. This it comes amid allegations of poll rigging in the countrys recent elections and Police Violence at earlier marches. Meanwhile, in an address to a smaller crowd of several thousand, Mr Lukashenko urged supporters to defend their country. Flash flooding has caused travel disruption and damage to homes and businesses across southern parts of the uk this weekend. It comes after the met Office Issued yellow thunderstorm warnings for much of england and wales following last weeks hot weather. Alex dunlop has more. Ive never in my life seen anything like this. Biblical is how sean and his wife described the scene in peterborough on sunday afternoon, as hailstones the size of golf balls rained down. Wow oh, my god will out in the Bristol Channel, a water spout appeared on sunday, visible from somerset to south wales. And in essex, when their road became a river, keith a former canoeist for gb and his mate james couldnt resist the urge, and took to the water. We grabbed the boat we grabbed that, a couple of sets of paddles, and we were surprised how deep it was and we managed to do a few efforts up and down the front there. Weve done races all around the world and you just look around and theres people hanging out the windows, looking at it. Flash flooding this weekend across parts of the east midlands and the south east took many by surprise. Cars struggled with the rising waters. This Shopping Mall in chelmsford was flooded and had to be evacuated. Kimberly helps mop up her restaurant in the city she only opened last november, then the coronavirus pandemic came. She was just getting a business back on its feet when she and her staff were confronted with this. Within minutes, they were flooded. From the road to the back of the shop, all the back of the shop was all flooded. There was no warnings. We didnt know that it was going to be this bad. And the shocking thing was it wasnt even for that long. The flooding wasnt confined to essex at Bishops Stortford in hertfordshire, firefighters used a kayak to rescue two people and a dog from a car stuck on a flooded road. Apprehensive Business Owners have sandbags on stand by as more heavy rain is forecast. Alex dunlop, bbc news. Let us get more on our main story. So many of you have been getting in touch. Youve been getting in touch with us all morning about a levels, and asking what might happen next. The government has defended the approach it used to determine grades amid protests over the way they were awarded and confusion over the appeals process. Lets hear from some of the students who contacted breakfast after getting results which fell short of what they were expecting. I am a first generation oxford offer holder from a state school, and getting my offerfrom oxford was the biggest achievement i could have hoped for. I am currently in the process of appealing my grades but that process and the criteria it seems to be changing every day which is really confusing and makes me very angry when they have had all this time to prepare. When writing my mocks, i had appendicitis and had to have an operation. This put me at a disadvantage compared to my fellow students. The government has not considered this aspect which means i have no grounds for which to appeal. Thankfully i got into my insurance but did not get into my firm choice. Applicants who apply to medicine or dentistry sat entrance exams like the ucat and bmat and attended rigorous interviews before receiving their offers. These demonstrated our capabilities and genuine passion for the career, and i believe that these are more accurate than any grade we have been given. I feel really let down and have no confidence in this government who even after three days of results coming out cant decide what the appeals process is. And with gcses coming out this week, we need it sorted as soon as possible. So many different questions from people. Lets get more on this now from dave maccormick, who is the headteacher of Holyrood Academy in wellington. From your point of view, what do you think should happen next . Good morning, thank you for having me. I honestly think the only way for this to be resolved now is for the government to make that u turn that has been called for and allocate all students for a levels, and upcoming gcses, their Centre Assessment grades allocated by their teachers. We have spoken to someone on this programme who said maybe the algorithm should be rerun. In your view that is not good enough. That is insufficient. Any algorithm and we heard from experts yesterday from the National Statistical society who were able to talk us through it, the problems with any algorithm that uses historical data, theissue, algorithm that uses historical data, the issue, for me as a head teacher, we say to students regularly they are the masters of their own destiny. There are allows them to achieve more than they could have previously achieved. Any algorithm does not take that into account. It does not take that into account. It does not take into account individual effort, all the fat that stu d e nts individual effort, all the fat that students are not a number. In my view, there is no substitute now for allocating students, all students, there is a Centre Assessment grades, to value their hard work. Can you give us examples of what has happened to your students and strange anomalies . So, i wrote publicly about a student called rachel who is absolutely one of the most talented students i have ever worked with. She achieved straight grade nines at gcse and aspired to study medicine. We supported her through her sick form, we predicted she would achieve three a grades. On results day she opened her envelope to receive a and cc. So she missed her offer requirements for exeter and cardiff. That is devastating. Today should be the day you should have started appeals but you dont even know what the process is. Quual should have been spending the weekend tackling the actual problem here which is the widespread disadvantage for students. Instead what they are focusing on is what might constitute a valid mark following Gavin Williamsons 11 hour announcement on wednesday students could use mock exams instead of Centre Assessment grades. That has led to a tremendous amount of confusion because the guidance published over the weekend contradicted Gavin Williamsons treble zero promise. There is no confidence in the integrity of this system. None whatsoever. The issue is the only solution now is to move forward and allow the students to have those Centre Assessment grades. Many parents, many students, head teachers like you, gcses are due on thursday, how concerned are you by that . Extremely concerned. This has been a really upsetting week for lots of young people and for the professionals in their sector, and pa rents of professionals in their sector, and parents of students who go to schools. There are many more gcse grades, many more students who will receive results next thursday compared with last. There are two issues. We might see in the short term a slightly less pronounced impact on student futures because the further Education Sector seems to be much more flexible with their admission requirements compared with universities as we have seen. But the long term impact of students not having these efficient grades to ta ke having these efficient grades to take next steps when they change their mind later in life or apply for a job is quite pronounced. Do you think gcse results should be delayed until there is a different system . That is not the best solution, it is a solution. The best solution is for stu d e nts to a solution. The best solution is for students to have their Centre Assessment grades. We appreciate your time. Thank you. We can speak now to the conservative mp for wimbledon, stephen hammond. He has written to the department for education to say that a fair appeals process needs to be put in place. Hopefully you have had what our previous guest has said. This situation has snowballed since last thursday when thousands of students worried about what happened in their a levels, the same number again probably worried about gcses as well, where do we stand . It is still complete uncertainty about the appeals process. I hear what your previous guest said about reverting to Centre Assessment grades. One thing which has been clear to me from the large number of constituents who have written to me is what happened on saturday night was a shambles. First producing guidance and taking it away. Teachers had already started working on that. What i want in place by the end of today is a clear simple understanding simple to understanding simple to understand appeal as a starting point and quual should have worked on that, but to introduce guidance and take it away has introduced greater uncertainty and stress. You have written to the department for education, what is your understanding of what Gavin Williamson is doing . He is unable to come on here today. Is there concern, are they considering their options, thinking about what has happened in scotland . Options, thinking about what has happened in scotland . And news gcse grades in Northern Ireland will be ordered on the basis of teacher assessed grades, peter weir has said that. Are these discussions Gavin Williamson is having with his Education Team . Iam nota Education Team . I am not a member of the department and have no greater insight than you. But you would be an odd person if you did not understand the uncertainty, frustration, distress happening for so many young people. I cannot believe mr williamson and his team are not actively involved in trying to sort this out. The thing for all young people is it needs to be sorted out today. The a level situation is one side to this. You talked about the appeals process. Are you coming round to the view expressed by many there should bea view expressed by many there should be a delay to gcses this week until the system is sorted even though. It isa the system is sorted even though. It is a solution, is it the best solution . It is probably not the best, the best solution is we had confidence in the system, there was transparency in how the grades would be awarded. That is clearly not right. I read with interest what lord baker has said. I think there will be a Mountain View unless quual can give confidence a mounting view. Thats unless the results are fair. There has not been much time to deal with this. A lot of people watching will understand that criticism. But with this issue of exam results, it seems there was a lot of time to get this right. There has not been much time to deal with a lot of issues. There has been time to make sure this did not happen. Iagree, i sure this did not happen. I agree, i think the government has handled large elements of the pandemic process very well and it has been very difficult and unusual. But in this instance, quual had the opportunity to get this right all the way through. You have seen a number of articles from people who know more about statistics suggesting there were quirks in the algorithm which could have been sorted out earlier. But this, people knew this day for results months ago. To find ourselves now, the monday after a level results, wherein there isnt a proper appeals process in place and not enough confidence about gcses, frankly it is not acceptable. Is this big enough for the Prime Minister to cancel his holiday . I asked, i was asked that question a moment ago. The idea of the Prime Minister will not be in communication is nonsense. We can communicate from anywhere around the world. Im sure he will have taken time to speak to senior officials, the secretary of state. I dont think he physically needs to come back, i am sure he is working on this. Thank you for your time. We promise to try to get as much clarity as we could. Youve been getting in touch with us all morning with questions for our education editor branwen jeffreys, and shejoins us now. Branwen, well get to some of those questions injust a minute. First an announcement on gsces in Northern Ireland this morning. That is on the basis of teacher assessed grades according to the Education Minister, a real change for Northern Ireland. A massive change and it will leave pa rents a massive change and it will leave parents in england thinking if this approach is good enough for scotland, good enough for gcses in Northern Ireland where the minister has said he simply wanted to take away that anxiety from teenagers and theirfamilies away that anxiety from teenagers and their families about what will happen this thursday, why isnt this another solution going to be found to avoid a repeat of what happened with a levels when we get the gcse results which could be worse. They are taken by everyone, everyone ta kes are taken by everyone, everyone takes maths and english gcse. So we could see some very unpredictable results coming out there. You have been speaking to a Grammar School head, sixth Form Colleges Association, with concerns about a levels. If you think about it, the basic role of the regulator, quual in england, is to maintain confidence in the system so that when young people go out into the world of work, go to sixth form college, to university with their qualifications, everyone trusts the system has been stable and fair. Now we have to more voices this morning, sixth Form Colleges Association say they have looked at a huge amount of data and have found a level grades marked down for students compared to similar students in previous years, that was one of the things this was meant to prevent. And ina meant to prevent. And in a move that will really many conservative backbenchers, the Grammar School Heads Association has given exclusively to the statement saying a great injustice has been done, it thinks this has thrown up baffling results for some of its top students, very bright young people, who took an exam to get into Grammar School, have studied exceptionally hard, and simply dont understand the results they were looking at last thursday. You really get a sense life chances are being affected by what is going on. We have talked to lots of different people on the programme. We know appeals should have started today for a levels but it is not clear what that appeal might be. It doesnt look like there would be any swift resolution. The political momentum is building. We saw Kenneth Baker intervening yesterday to say gcses should be put on hold. I spoke to him. He said when you are in a hole you have to stop digging. There will be a lot of hard political thinking going on behind the scenes today. In the meantime on a practical level, if you have had results and are not happy, you a practical level, if you have had results and are not happy, you are still no clearer how to appeal. They have put up process on saturday evening on the quual website but within hours it had been taken down because it did not meet what the government had promised last week. We have heard so much about this algorithm. What do you know about how the algorithm has been applied to gcses and what it might throw up . It is likely to work in a very similar way, broadly the same approach as a levels. Difference is you have many more people being entered in each subject. One thing we should look for, for example, is what happens to those kids hovering just on the borderline of passing their english and maths, key qualifications to go on to do anything, whether you ultimately wa nt to anything, whether you ultimately want to be a plumber, hairdresser, doa want to be a plumber, hairdresser, do a higher level apprenticeship, you need maths and english. If you dont get them in england, you need reset them. If there are children who feel they have been pushed below that level which is regarded as the threshold for resits, there could be a lot of angry families. In further education colleges where they have maybe in each year in a bid college perhaps as many as 1000 students resetting maths, they will be asking themselves how will this work . We had to rank those students who are broadly of similar ability. They have just failed it from and how will that play out in this algorithm . Quick questions, peter, can the government or quual explain why the past record of any school plays any pa rt past record of any school plays any part in an assessment . No school ta kes part in an assessment . No school takes an exam, only students. It isa takes an exam, only students. It is a process every year but normally it is not so controversial, to make sure exam results dont go wildly up or down because otherwise we would be talking about grade inflation if there was a sudden leap of ten or 20 . There is always some degree of statistical moderation. But this year they were particularly anxious because they did not have the exam data to go on. This algorithm that is being used, this statistical modelling, is of a kind that has never been tested before in real life. We are seeing how that is playing out. And, how many pupils did not achieve their predicted grades in previous yea rs, their predicted grades in previous years, do these figures compare similarly . We are in an unusual situation. We do know for a level predictions given to universities in previous yea rs, given to universities in previous years, only 16 , were accurate. The best excavation i have had from a teacher is you might have ten pupils in your a level class who might get ab in your a level class who might get a b grade but on exam dates and will change. So you might predict a b grade in orderfor them to get Good University applications. The press at this year is different, schools we re at this year is different, schools were given very stringent instructions on how to do this so that typical process would be your class teacher would look at your grades, the head of department would look at them, and the Senior Management team in your school or college. If they thought the results looked odd compared to previous yea rs, looked odd compared to previous years, they would go back and interrogate the teacher and ask why they had predicted such a high result for this pupil and you would have to make a case within the school before they would put forward this to the exam board these predictions were robust. That is partly why many teachers feel so aggrieved about the way this has been approached. You will have a busy week, do stay with us on bbc breakfast. Thank you to all of you who sent in questions today. You are watching bbc breakfast, still to come. I myself dont talk about the new world in the morning. Well find out about the brand new recording of a song by Dame Vera Lynn thats been brought up to date by the bbc Philharmonic Orchestra. Well be discussing that shortly and bringing you the latest news. We have a packed sports now lets get the weather with carol. Reports of flash flooding for example. Today we are not out of the winds. There are further thundery downpours. If youre travelling across parts of england and well is, there are some dense fog patches around. In the channel islands, low cloud and a bright start. But heavy, thundery, slow moving downpours and sunny spells. Early today, all of this ring has been moving northwards, flashes of lightning around it, it will continue to push northwards through the day. Courtesy of this weather front which produced all the rain yesterday. If we follow that, we will see the rain here. Some will be torrential. As the rain moves into scotland and Northern Ireland, it will turn more showery. Some heavy and thundery bursts. Moving into wales. Leaving a lot of cloud in its wake across scotland. Northern ireland, a wet afternoon but drying up in Northern England. For the rest of england and wales, we will see further heavy thundery downpours. Gusty winds and large hail. Temperatures up to 25. Yesterday, the top temperature in north east england was only 14. Todayit north east england was only 14. Today it will feel warmer. Overnight, many of the showers will fade but we will hang on to a good few in the west. We will also see cloud across scotland. Especially in the east. Temperatures falling to 13 degrees. Tomorrow, this cloud will linger all day for some parts but there will be more sunshine around than today and it will not feel as humid. You will notice the showers will get going once again. There are no met of his warnings but there is a potential they could be heavy and thundery. Temperatures up to 23. On wednesday we will see a change as the weather comes in from the atlantic. With low pressure around it, after a dry start, this rain will migrate northwards and into southern scotland by the end of the day. Ahead of it the rest of scotla nd day. Ahead of it the rest of scotland relatively dry. But a fair bit of cloud in the east. Temperatures up to 21. It makes it across scotland through the night. A lot of dry weather with showers but again more unsettled weather coming in from the west. Hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. Losing a child is the most difficult thing a parent can face. But for two mothers who have had to endure this tragedy, it has brought them together in a unique friendship. Harry dunn and pc Andrew Harper were killed just 12 days apart. Now, their mums, charlotte and deborah, have turned to one anotherfor support, and even discovered that their boys shared the same birthday. Breakfasts Graham Satchell has been to talk to them. The pain is too much, i know. And some days i think im coping. Then its like a bullet in my chest and it burns and the reality is just so bad. Im sorry you too probably feel exactly that. Our precious boys weird to say but i feel so sad for us both. Thank you for such a heartfelt message. Were both suffering the loss of a precious son that nothing can replace. I feel im never going to be the person i was. But aim to build the person i am becoming through such horrific loss and heartbreak. The first messages of two mothers bound together by the loss of a son. Pc Andrew Harpers mother, debbie, and harry dunns mum, charlotte, have formed a remarkable bond. Youre very careful. With how much you let others see. But when you know that youve got somebody. Thats equally broken inside, its easier. Its priceless. Charlottes son harry died when the motorbike he was riding was hit head on by anne sacoolas, who was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road. Ms sacoolas, the wife of an american intelligence officer, claimed diplomatic immunity and left the country. Debbies son Andrew Harper was killed in the line of duty. After attempting to make an arrest he was dragged behind a carfor almost a mile. You wake up and its on your mind. Before youve woken up its already there. Theres no waking up in the morning thinking, ah. And then, oh. You know, theres nothing that breaks it. Its 24 7. You know, 24 hours a day its in your mind. The burning chest feeling for me isjust really, you know, something that youve understood, isnt it . You know, to try and explain it to somebody else. You know, i can be in a shop and all of a sudden ive got to leave that shop because the feeling comes, itjust takes you, takes you down and you need to just leave. Its just the physical pain that you feel all day, every day. And it doesnt. It just doesnt go away. Both women have turned the pain of losing a son into campaigning. Debbie is fighting for andrews law it would mean an automatic 20 year sentence for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. Charlotte wants anne sacoolas, whos been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, to go through the british justice system. To take on your government and the american government, you know, its larger than enormous its a monster. And shes just kept going. But as i know, you keep going for your boy and that drives you. If you werent doing it for that reason, you wouldnt do it. Its one thing managing to cope and get through your day. But i think what were both hoping is our campaigns will be able to help us to learn to actually live again. Campaigning has kept both women going they say theyll never give up. But debbie and charlotte are still haunted by the horrific ways they lost their sons. Obviously with andrew, he was 99 unconscious at the very first when he went down. But that 1 becomes enormous in the middle of the night when youre feeling so sad. You feel their pain and you feel guilty that you werent with them. And youd do anything you could. As horrific as it may have been, to have just been there and held their hand and let them know that. Even though they would have still died, that you were there to comfort them. And we both had that taken from us. That was robbed. Debbie and charlotte will continue to support each other, continue to fight for their boys. Graham satchell, bbc news. Thank you to them both for talking to us. We will continue to follow what happens with their campaigns. Sally is now going to try to tidy up what was an incredibly busy weekend of sport. The longest football season any of us can remember is still going on and it has ended with a whimperfor still going on and it has ended with a whimper for Manchester United. It has come a difficult weekend for both manchester clubs. Starting with Manchester United. The Manchester United boss, ole gunnar solskjaer, says the club needs to strengthen its squad, after they were knocked out of the Europa League. They lost their semi final to sevilla the third time theyve missed out on a final this season. Patrick gearey reports. The longest season has ended too early for Manchester United and theyll finish with regrets. After all, they went ahead against sevilla. Bruno fernandes didnt need to dwell on this touch. The referee had spotted a foul. Penalty. Fernandes is sometimes compared with eric cantona. A kick fit for a king. But no team has been more successful than sevilla in this competition and there was a beautiful efficiency about their equaliser scored by suso once of liverpool. Manchester united returned with purpose after the break. They had 20 shots in all, but were thwarted time and again by sevillas keeper a hero named bounou. United just couldnt find the edge. And sevilla can be razor sharp. For an absent minded moment luuk de jong got free. The five time winners into the final once more. For united, a season that lasted more than a year ends in frustration, recrimination, and ultimately elimination. Patrick gearey, bbc news. One man who knows exactly what its like to get his hands on silverware is ronnie osullivan. He wakes up this morning as the six time winner of the World Snooker championship after he dominated kyren wilson at the crucible theatre in sheffield. He won seven out of eight frames in the afternoon session, meaning that he only needed one to win by the time it got to the evening. He did it straight away, and in front of spectators as well. They were allowed in to watch after the government gave the go ahead for test events to start again. Osullivan is nowjust one world title away from matching Stephen Hendrys record of seven. Lewis hamilton aslo has another trophy for his collection. He said he touched perfection as he won the spanish grand prix having led the race from start to finish. Michael schumacher is still the Gold Standard of course, and hamilton is nowjust three wins short of the germans all time record. It now looks inevitable that Lewis Hamilton will become the most successful driver of all time. And just to mention the cricket its the final day of the second test between england and pakistan. Looks like its going to be a draw, because play was basically rained off all weekend. The weather is playing its part. Studio no chance of getting the epic finnish resort of the last one, its all a bit damp. By now most of us are used to video calls being used for everything from family quizzes to socially distanced birthday parties, but how about a whole movie created on zoom . Friends and filmmakersjed shepherd and rob savage have recorded a 56 minute long horror film called host. We can watch a bit of it now, but dont worry this bit isnt too scary. Obviously were not physically together, but theres no reason why a spirit cant communicate over the internet. Nothings going to happen. Visualise us sitting in a circle. Spirit, we invite you to use us to pass on any communication. Is there anyone there . Please come forward. Indistinct noise. What was that . Amy, was that you . I heard it. I heard something. I think theres something here. You said it wasnt scary you said it wasnt scary i can feel the hairs on the back of my neck. Thats just a little bit of it were joined now by the creators of the film, rob savage and jed shepherd and also gemma hurley who helped write the script. Good morning to you all. How did you come up with the idea . It actually started with a prank i pulled on my friends. We were doing what everyone was doing, hanging out on zoom doing happy hours and quizzes and i pulled a prank where i went into my attic and pretended i had been killed by a zombie. We put it online and it blew up, we got millions of views. We thought that was us for lockdown, that we had done enough to ride us through but off the back of that we got ideas about maybe doing a longer feature. I sent a message tojed asking if he had ideas and he sent me two words. We have done a bunch of short films together and he asked me for something longer. It was 4. 54 in the morning and it came to me in a moment of brilliance i came up with two words, zoom seance. I woke up with two words, zoom seance. I woke up at 9am and he had written a whole diatribe of how we would do it and pitch it. The rest is almost history. Gemma, these two have had this genius idea so at what point did you get involved and what do you think is the most important part of this story and how it has gone down so well . Yes, they had these amazing and creative ideas, all these scares they wanted and the premise, but how do we make that into a film . That was do we make that into a film . That was the moment they brought me on. We Work Together over two weeks to create characters, the relationship dynamics and the tension of the zoom call to exploit, a demon chasing them all down. None of us thought this would happen. We thought it would be mad, how it was received by everyone. We thought it would be a fun zoom film that people would see but it has seemed to resonate with people and i wonder if thats because were all living right now. And the filming itself, jed, presumably be applied to film it themselves. Yeah, rob can tell you a bit about the filming process. Yeah, every single actor had to be a i person film production, they had to light it themselves, setting up their own sound and footage. Also, we wanted to really step up our game in terms of what we were doing with the movie because i think a lot of people had certain expectations on what could be achieved during lockdown and what could be achieved filming remotely. We wanted to do a lot of big scares and set pieces and stunts. So we worked very hard with the actors to try to push as much as we could. We do things in this movie people would never expect we could pull off in lockdown. We had this realisation at the start of the process that anyone with an Internet Connection could suddenly be part of our movies so we were using people from all around the country to help us out, to do special effects and stunts for us. All they do is send us the footage and by that afternoon it would be in the movie. It was quite an amazing process. You sounded a bit worse for wear after seeing that clip . I do hate horror films i hate what they do to me, andi films i hate what they do to me, and i get the genuine fear. Im haunted. Gemma, the thing about this is, it has gone down really well so at what point did you realise people like it and its getting great reviews . Like it and its getting great reviews . It was the first weekend when we realised, people kind of seem to like this, whats happening . Then the reviews came through and it blew our minds a little bit. We all feel like we are in some kind of dream. Its so abstract and because we are all all sort of still in lockdown it feels unreal. It doesnt feel like its happening in real life. How do you guys feel . Are we trapped in a horror . life. How do you guys feel . Are we trapped in a horror . I couldnt possibly say but i will tell you that our producer, who watched it this morning, full on screamed as well. You laugh, but you scared her. When you watch it back, obviously you know because you have written it, so were you surprised by how scary it was . Actually i couldnt stop laughing maybe theres something wrong with me but its so. | something wrong with me but its so. Iwas something wrong with me but its so. I was amazed how good it was as well because this came together injust two as well because this came together in just two weeks. Rob shot it as well because this came together injust two weeks. Rob shot it in six weeks. Every time i see something terrifying it makes me wa nt something terrifying it makes me want to giggle. Thats howl something terrifying it makes me want to giggle. Thats how i cope with trauma there we go. May be i will have to try that. The other clever thing about it, it is the length of a zoom call, which we are used to, its not more than an hour long. Thats something we wanted to do from the beginning. Not to ruin it, but we wanted to be the duration ofa it, but we wanted to be the duration of a three zoom call, and that plays into the narrative, giving you a ticking clock down the finale. We thought it was funny as well, wouldnt it be great if she was too cheap to upgrade to zoom pro its pa rt cheap to upgrade to zoom pro its part of the reason people have been embracing it, it is short and scary and we made the movie we wanted to watch in lockdown. Thats what we we re watch in lockdown. Thats what we were trying for. And its called host, available on amazon prime and shutter. You should watch it with friends and send reaction videos. And it will be available on the big screen as well. Its on at the bfi on the fourth september and fifth october with tickets on sale next friday. And its at the Prince Charles cinema for three days as well with a few more be announced. It didnt affect me at all im fine, thank you. We will now talk about safety at sea. The deaths of two brothers who went missing off the lancashire coast on saturday is a stark reminder ofjust how dangerous the coast can be. But one nine Year Old Girl had a lucky escape, when the inflatable swan she was on was blown out to sea. She was rescued by 17 year old liam erskine and his paddle board. Were joined now by liam and his mumjo, as well as Michael Avril from the rnli. Thank you to all of you for talking to us. Talk us through the situation first of all. In terms of the rescue, how did it start and what did you see . First off, i wasjust in the water with my brother, playing on the paddle board. I heard a lot of commotion coming from the sand. My parents were shouting to us that there was a bairn out on an inflata ble that there was a bairn out on an inflatable blowing out to sea really quickly, could i get to her . Without another thought crossing my mind i was paddling out as quick as i could to try to get to her. You did, and how did you get out there on the paddle board because that must be a tricky operation . I was talking to her the whole time. No sooner had i grabbed her that the inflatable she was onjust grabbed her that the inflatable she was on just blew out from under her. Soi was on just blew out from under her. So i had to get her onto the paddle board and get her to hold on. She is only nine years old. How did you keep calm as well . Through my mind, i was just keep calm as well . Through my mind, i wasjust thinking. Keep calm as well . Through my mind, i was just thinking. Because keep calm as well . Through my mind, i wasjust thinking. Because i keep calm as well . Through my mind, i was just thinking. Because i was quite nervous but i thought, ive got to try to be as calm as possible and talk to this girl, keep her calm because if she panics it will be worse. Because then she could move around and we are already at the mercy of the sea. If shes moving around a lot because shes scared itll make it so much work so i was just trying to talk to her the whole time and keep her calm. And your proud mum is sitting next to you. What is your response to what your son did . Im so proud of him, its amazing how he got out there and got her onto his board and kept her safe until the lifeboat got there. It was utterly terrifying but its amazing at the same time. Its great watching you watch him, and i can see that face of a really proud mum. Its really sweet and rightly so. Michael, from the rnli, this is a stark reminder of how dangerous particularly inflatable toys can be. Its something thats been on our radar for a considerable time and we have been campaigning for people not to take inflatables anywhere near the beach. Its not what they are designed for. Please keep them at home or by the swimming pool. And that young girl you talked about, the nine year old, kayla, she sent you through this lovely little message to say thank you. Hopefully you can hear and see this. Hi, liam. Just wanted to say thank you for putting your own life at risk for me, for saving me on my floaty. Im really thankful and grateful. I wouldnt know what i would do without you, but luckily you were there and im really happy, so thank you. From kayla, bye. She is a real cute. You are her superhero, liam. What did herfamily say when you got her safely back to land . They were just really thankful, but they couldnt think of the words to say to us because hearing that phone call, in that your daughter has been dragged out to sea and saved by a member of the public, thats got to be one of the most shocking things you can hear as a parent. Absolutely. Well done to you. Michael, there is a clear message about inflatables you have given us. Many people will be going on holiday here in the uk and we know water is cold so what are the things should people watch out for . What we would say to people is not to put themselves at risk but if they do get into trouble than if they do get into trouble than if they rememberour they do get into trouble than if they remember our float message, which is to fight your instincts to thrash around. Lean back and keep your airway clean. Make gentle movements, like sculling with your hands and legs. Take time to breathe and then think about how you will think about the predicament. Will it bea think about the predicament. Will it be a case of swimming, or will you shout for help. You can do that for yourself in the water. If you see someone else in trouble, then call 999 and ask for the coastguard. Michael from the rnli, thank you. Liam, what a star you are, thank you to you and to your super proud mum, jo. A couple of years ago we did a video on breakfast about how to look after yourself in cold water. We will put that out again today. We know it has helped people in the past, watching it and understanding what to do if you are in that situation michael was talking about. In 1971, Dame Vera Lynnes stunning performance of roger whitta kers new world in the morning on her variety show, was broadcast to an audience of millions. Now, nearly 50 years on, the original recording has been dug out of the archives and given a new lease of life. It features contributions from the bbcs Philharmonic Orchestra performing during lockdown. Lets take a look. Everybody talks about a new world in the morning. A new world in the morning so they say. I myself dont talk about a new world in the morning. A new world in the morning, thats today. And i can feel a new tomorrow comin on. And i dont know why i have to make a song. Everybody talks about a new world in the morning. New world in the morning takes so long. We can speak now to dame veras daughter, virginia lewis jones, and also beth wells from the bbc philharmonic. Good morning to both of you. Virginia, what do you think of it listening to it this morning . think its absolutely brilliant. The first i heard of it was yesterday, i heard about it yesterday morning when i got a phone call asking me what i thought about it and i said, actually this is the first time ive heard about it but i think its absolutely brilliant. The actual song is so now and so meaningful now. Personally, we all thought in the house it ought to be released as a single. I was listening to the lyrics and its an optimistic and upbeat message that possibly lots of us need right now. Absolutely right. Dont wait for tomorrow, get on with it today, basically, because the more you do today, the better. Best, hopefully we can hear you, the picture we have got isnt the best but we would love to hear about this versioning of this and when did you first get the idea it would work . am sorry, i am having some connection issues this morning. Yeah, we. And they did the lockdown equivalent of looking into. Music material out there. We will try to re establish a connection with you and come back to you. As you say, we are having troubles with the line at the moment. Virginia, coming back to you, you talked about hearing the song for the first time over the weekend and what might potentially happen with a release at some stage. Its fascinating that the music is still so popular today. Absolutely. I think you have to remember that all the songs my mother chose were for morale boosting, going back to the war and for morale boosting, going back to the warand since, for morale boosting, going back to the war and since, they were all about boosting morale, giving people about boosting morale, giving people a fillip and making people feel better about themselves and helping them move on. She has always done that, which is why this song resonates today now as it did in 19 70, whatever the date was. Because she has always done songs like that, people associate that type of song with her. Probably not surprising she has actually done this song, it makes sense. She was remembered at the vj celebrations and commemorations as well. Absolutely wonderful. We did our own memorial in the village. Its very important, vj day, just as important as ve day, the forgotten army, on the 14th, they should not be forgotten, or we probably wouldnt be here. Beth, our senior project manager from the bbc philharmonic, who put it together. How did you come up with the idea . It came through from the archive. They were doing the lockdown equivalent of rummaging around in bags and they found the original sheet music from the broadcast. And then. We knew there was a tape somewhere, it wasnt digitised but we thought it was there. We managed to. Its the lockdown frustration ofa to. Its the lockdown frustration of a zoom call. They found the archive and thankfully it has worked out. Virginia, as louise was saying, we talk about the music still meaning a lot and resonating, but its the lyrics as well. Im sure the message many people watching this morning will be hoping your mum got it right. Exactly. If you dont try then you are not going to win, are you . You have to get out there, do the best you can and get on with it and thats extremely important for people to realise, that they have a lot of input to put in, whatever they are doing, they can all help towards the greater good, its a silly expression, but its very important we all pull together and dont wait until tomorrow and get on with it today. Its very sound advice from that song and my mother always try to put that forward and i think it probably works in this disc as well. You have had so many tributes paid to her. As a family, how has that been for you . Absolutely brilliant. We have been inundated with wonderful letters, many of condolence but very caring and personal. They all are addressed to me as if they know me, which they have for years in a peculiar sideways sort of way, and they are all lovely letters, even from little children who have heard the music, their grandmother play the record i may love her voice. Its been beautiful to speak to you. Thank you to virginia, Dame Vera Lynns daughter. And it was nice to hear just a few words from beth as well, but the technology did let us down thats all from breakfast this morning. Well be back tomorrow morning from 6 00am. Have a lovely day. Goodbye. This is bbc news with the latest headlines. The Education Minister for Northern Ireland says gcse results there will be based solely on grades provided by teachers scrapping original plans to take into account schools past performances. The move comes as anger grows over a level results and the government comes under increasing pressure to change course. Here we are on the monday after a level results worrying there isnt a proper appeals process in place and now worrying there is not enough confidence in the system about gcses. Frankly, this is simply unacceptable. And well be answering some of your questions in your questions answered
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