A Community Like this, its very much a human response. It is people that drag this town back up, that gets the businesses, schools and families back on their feet. The shops either side were flooded. The pub that we are walking towards was flooded. And that sense of resilience, stoicism and community, that Hebden Bridge is renowned for, has been vital. The Little Things like none of the Cash Machines worked in town, so there was a regular series of somebody saying, well, ill drive to the next town, ill take a bunch of people, we can go to a cash machine and get some cash. When the flood sirens sounds, everybody stops and hopes not to be hit again, but if it does happen this place will deploy its best asset in the fightback, the towns people. Another chance to see meet the author, with Alexander Mccall smith. Alexander mccall smith is as popular as he is prolific. When Mma Ramotswe First appeared as the proprietrix of the no. 1 ladies Detectives Agency of botswana, solving every day problems with an unruffled determination that never flags, she became an instant friend to readers around the world. Precious and grace is the 17th book in the series, alongside there are the 11 volumes and the 44 Scotland Street books, written as a newspaper serial, and the Isabel Dalhousie stories, where the author can indulge through isabel his love of wh auden. He is one of our most popular writers. Welcome. Why do you think mma ramotswe became such a close and intimate friend of the reader so quickly . I think it is something to do with her character. Shes a very gentle, understanding woman and i think that readers like to be in the company of somebody whom they like, somebody they feel they would like to sit down in real life with and enjoy a cup of tea. And i think she provided that. Well, you illustrate there one of the qualities that people who know the books will recognise. A sort of placid kind of life, which is the kind of life you like to write about. Now, its not devoid of excitement, it is not devoid of drama. They are somehow domestic dramas, arent they . Yes. I think people respond quite well to that, in that, most of us lead relatively uneventful lives. Most of us lead lives in which nothing really spectacular happens, there are not constant explosions and kidnaps and things of that sort. So, we rather like to spend time, in the fictional sense, in those circumstances. I think that you can, in very gentle fiction, you can make big points about the world. You can say things about some of the profound issues that we face. But do it in a rather gentle way, and in a sense you make more of a point with people if you do that. If, for example, you use humour to make a point, you are more likely to get your point across. And botswana is a perfect setting. It is a country of which you have become fond that you know very well. Botswana is an exceptional country. And the reason why i wrote these books is because it had that affect on me. I was so impressed with it and found that i liked and admired it. And i stood in admiration of a country which has been in rather difficult circumstances, in that it was surrounded by conflict. But it managed to maintain its integrity. It approached life in a quiet and organised way and i was just very taken by the politeness, the courtesy of the people, the niceness of the people. I felt this was an island of peace, tranquillity and wisdom, in a sense. You describe there very clearly your own style. And if you take, for example, the 44 Scotland Street stories, set in a Tenement Block in edinburgh, your own city, where the doings of the various people who live on different floors are explored meticulously. It is a particular kind of fiction that you enjoy, the sort of parting the lace curtains and having a peak. Yes, i suppose you could call it social comedy. Social fiction, looking at the lives of people, looking their quirks, their little ways and having fun with them, and i enjoy that very much indeed. Because we are all absurd to a greater or lesser extent, arent we . Yes. We can make terrific mountains out of molehills and i like looking at that. You made a big mountain out of all these molehills. You are extraordinary prolific. The scotland Street Series has been running and running. Of course the no. I Ladies Detective Agency is now in its 17th volume. You also have the Isabel Dalhousie novels. Now, shes very interesting because i always think theres a lot of you in there because she is mad about auden, as you are. Yes. Ifind it extraordinary, but i agree with Isabel Dalhousie on so many matters. In fact, we were in 100 agreement. I also agree with mma ramotswe. I agree with most of my characters. Of course you dont have to scratch very hard to see where they get their ideas from. Well, your enthusiasm for auden is well known to people who know your fiction well. What is it about auden thats always moved you . Well, auden, ithink, isjust such a wonderful humane voice. I remember when i first started reading audens poetry many years ago, i was so rested by it. I was struck by the stength of the ideas, the complexity of the ideas and the beauty of the language. So hes a poet who manages to say the most profound things about life in a very, very beautiful way. That is an enormous breadth, as you say. And you are a polymath in many ways because youre an academic in the medical law field and then you suddenly discovered that writing was more or less taking over your life. You were producing three, four, five books a year. How do you manage to organise your life to do that . Is it meticulously organised . Well, you have to be quite careful about organisation if you are doing that number of books each year. I have a season for each of the series. Therell be a period of a few months where i know i have to write the next Isabel Dalhousie book. You know that is the time when this will be done and you just sit down and do it . Thats right. I have to do it. The one thing that i think you cant do, as an author, is wait for inspiration to strike you. You cant wait for the news to appear. You have to be there at your desk. Because she wont . Because she wont. She may appear once youve sat down and once youre working, you play suddenly realise that the muse has slipped into the room. Looking at the type of books you read yourself and admire, i know that an author whom you particularly admire, who perhaps hasnt had the attention that many people think she deserves is barbara pym. What is it about barbara pyms books you like . Perhaps it ties in with something you said earlier on about the feeling of calm. Barbara pym is concerned with very small matters. The calm exploration of small matters. She really was the 20th century jane austen. Capable of saying very big things about people on a very small canvass. So she would have a character, for example, saying, as happens in one of her books, a character saying, i never thought i was the sort of person who would deserve my own bathroom. Very poignant. Very moving. Poignancy is something that i think youve got a very strong feeling for, the sadness of things that happen in every day life, the lack of fulfilment in some small way that adds up to, you know, disappointment, or alternatively to contentment. That is what interests you. It is what moves you. It does interest me. I find myself very moved by certain things. For example, in the no. I ladies Detectives Agency series, mma mukutsi, who has had a very poor background, has a beautiful little lace handkerchief and that represents everything she would like to have in this life. It represents her idea of beauty. So i find myself very moved by that sort of thing. Where do you go from here . The productivity is extraordinary. 17 books in this series. Almost as many, getting on that way, in 44 Scotland Street. Can you see yours carrying on forever . I think so. It wont be forever. Thats the thing i have realised. It wont go on forever. I remember you telling me a story about being on a plane and sitting opposite somebody on a transatlantic flight who was finishing one of your books and saying, oh, dear, oh dear. Not realising you were there and you leaned over and as you were getting off and said, dont worry. Therell be another one along in a minute. I was, as it happens, on that flight i was writing the next one in that series as this person was reading the previous one. You could have sent her an e mail with the thing. Alexander mccall smith, thank you very much. Thank you. Good evening. The temperature is falling, it is getting cold. It has been a chilly day, particularly across northern areas. Wintry with snowfall and violent winds across the far north courtesy of storm connor. The weather will settle down for most of us over the next few days, High Pressure building, that will bring its own hazards. No real hazard out there tonight, the worst of the Winds Continuing to use away. Still some showers left behind, rain showers for the most part. A dry but frosty start to the data across southern and central areas, temperatures as low as 4, so quite gradually. Warren two freezing fog patches but nothing too widespread. A touch of frost further north, temperatures generally higherfor frost further north, temperatures generally higher for northern england, Northern Ireland and scotland. Some showers across the West Of Scotland but not as widespread as today, falling as rain. The vast majority of us will have a dry day with lots of sunshine the further south you are across the uk. Any freezing for patches should soon disperse. It will feel chilly despite the blue sky, sunshine and light winds, typically around about five or 6 degrees peeking around the early afternoon, falling away quickly as the Sun Goes Down in the evening. High pressure remains in control for the most part, keeping the rain bearing Weather Fronts at bay. Underneath the area of High Pressure, a problem, which will be fog. I expect that to turn increasingly widespread across parts of england and wales through the middle part of this week, i am afraid there will be some disruption at times. It will be a foggy start on wednesday across many central and southern parts, in some places that fog lingers all day. Outside the foggy areas, plenty of crisps and chain, more cloud and breeze across Northern Ireland and scotland keeping temperatures up, relatively speaking, eight to 10 degrees. Further south and east, despite sunshine, it will be chillier and weather fog lingers all day, temperatures even lower. I expect that to be across parts of the midlands and into southern counties. Weather fog lingers all day, midlands and into southern counties. Weatherfog lingers all day, the row could be more typical. Where the fog lingers all day, zero could be more typical. This is bbc news. Im lukwesa burak. The headlines at 7pm. I dont want your freedom i dont want to play around. Tributes to the singer George Michael one of the biggest stars in British Music who has died at the age of 53. I grew up with him, loved him, loved everything. He was so talented and he meant the world to a lot of people. Russia recovers of the fragments of a Military Plane which crashed into the black sea, with 92 people on board. At least for micro people are killed ina manila at least for micro people are killed in a manila as a powerful typhoon crosses the capital of the philippines