Updates from Monday 20 August to Monday 27 August
Click on related stories for updates from your area
It's not just photos of skies we get from our BBC Weather Watchers, sometimes we get pictures of local wildlife, such as this one.
User KayakJennie took this in Great Haywood at the River Trent:
Image source, KayakJennie
Birmingham Live
The Birmingham Live page is covering these stories today:
Division One strugglers Worcestershire wrap up an innings victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough.
Read More
Allen Cook
BBC News
A large fire has been put out at a nature reserve., external
Firefighters were called to the Rifle Range, Kidderminster, yesterday afternoon.
Image source, Hereford & Worcester Fire and RescueThey say after putting the blaze out, they returned later to make sure it was fully out. The cause hasn't yet been revealed.
Travelling this bank holiday weekend could be a problem.
The M5 in the West Midlands is expected to be the most delayed route in the country. Travel firm Inrix said 20-minute journeys could take an extra hour between 13:00 and 18:00 on Friday.
Image source, PAHighways England says it is removing more than 300 miles of roadworks from motorways and major A-roads from Friday morning.
However, the RAC estimates 14 million cars are expected to take to UK roads for trips this weekend.
On the trains, work outside London means Euston station is closed again on the West Coast Mainline.
In Coventry, buses replace trains over the weekend.
Allen Cook
BBC News
A motorcyclist has suffered serious injuries in a crash involving a car., external
Image source, West Midlands Ambulance ServiceIt happened yesterday in Staffordshire, near the junction of Uttoxeter Road and the B5013, just outside Abbots Bromley, the ambulance service says.
It says the motorcycle and car had both suffered severe damage.
The 46-year-old man on the bike was taken to hospital with multiple injuries.
Sarah Robertson
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke
A mental health helpline in Staffordshire was contacted 31,000 times in the last year, according to the charity that runs it.
Image source, Getty ImagesStoke-on-Trent-based Brighter Futures says the figure is 10,000 more than two years ago, across its phone, text and email services.
It adds that, during that time, the number of calls about suicide also went up by about a third.
The charity told BBC Radio Stoke it hopes the increase also means more people are speaking up about mental health issues.
Allen Cook
BBC News
A wildlife centre is preparing for an influx of rescued seals in the next fortnight.
The RSPCA says that's the time of the grey seal breeding season and its Stapeley Grange site, near Nantwich, is already caring for the first seal pup of the season., external
Image source, RSPCAThe charity says the pup, nicknamed Godfrey, was vulnerable and found separated from his mother in Cumbria so is being fed fish "soup" to gain weight.
Staff at the centre say it can take up to five months to get the rescued seals ready for a return to the wild.
The Shropshire Star's covering these stories today:
Police say the driver of a stolen Audi tried to bite officers to evade capture.
The car was involved in a police chase near junction six of the M6 this morning, officers say, before the driver headed off on foot after crashing.
Image source, CMPGAfter a bit of help from the police helicopter and dogs, the driver - also wanted for thefts of motor vehicles in May and a burglary earlier this month - was arrested .
Central Motorway Police Group said officers even got a bonus when they found another vehicle that happened to be opposite the crashed Audi was also stolen.
James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester
The leader of the Labour party in Worcestershire is defending allowing a convicted fraudster to take up an official role in the party.
David Roy Cartwright was leader of Redditch Borough Council three times betwen 2002 and 2005 but was jailed in 2009 after admitting to stealing at least £24,695 and making false claims totalling £63,467.
Now members of Redditch's constituency Labour party have elected him as their unpaid secretary, leading to one Conservative councillor saying he shouldn't be allowed such a position of responsibility.
But the Labour party says he deserves a second chance and won't be allowed near the party's finances.
Quote MessageHe takes the minutes, he publishes the minutes, he helps draw up the agenda with me and other members. He contacts people to book places where we hold our meetings, that's the secretarial role, I suppose you'd call it a functional, nuts and bolts sort of role."
Robin Lunn, Leader of Labour party in Worcestershire
Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM
Parents at a school in Staffordshire are calling for free school travel to be introduced as they say the route to walk to the school isn't safe.
Image source, GoogleThey've told BBC WM they're also angry the cost of travelling by bus is rising to £494 for the new school term at Codsall Community High School, almost double what it had been previously.
The county council insists the walking route is safe but it will carry out a review in the new school term.
It also says the bus cost is the equivalent to £1.30 a trip, the same as any teenager using the Your Staffordshire card to get to school.
Quote MessageThere's no pedestrian crossing, it's really dangerous and I wouldn't walk that route, let alone let children walk that route, but some parents have got no alternative."
Kathryn Hart, Mother
Faith Page
Reporter, BBC Shropshire
People who use a rural bus service that faces weekend cuts say its a real lifeline for them.
The 519 service runs between Newport and Shrewsbury, visiting a number of rural parishes on its route.
Image source, GoogleIt currently runs weekdays as well as Saturdays, but from 1 September the Saturday service is being cut.
Arriva says not enough people are using it and it's making a loss.
Quote MessageThere are 22 people to my knowledge that use the bus service to get to and from work on a Saturday, something they won't be able to do if the bus service is cancelled. Then you've got senior citizens that use that service to get to see friends and family in Shrewsbury or Newport."
Ray Wickson, Chairman of the Telford and Wrekin bus user group
The Worcester News is covering these stories today:
BBC Midlands Today
A fresh appeal's being made by police for information following the attempted rape of an 11-year-old girl in a park in Solihull.
Image source, GoogleThe attack happened on 29 June - the girl was knocked to the ground and suffered a knife wound to her neck in Babbs Mill Park.
West Midlands Police said the attacker was walking a King Charles Spaniel at the time.
Since then, officers have been trawling hundreds of hours of CCTV and have visited nearly 1,300 homes in the area.
They have also put out this image of a man they want to speak to.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceAllen Cook
BBC News
We told you earlier that Historic England's awarded Grade II listed status to the Elmdon terminal at Birmingham Airport.
The building, which operated from 1939 to 1984, was "evocative of an era when aviation was at its most glamorous," Historic England said.
It also released several photos of the building , externalwhich it said was "designed to be an experience for passengers and spectators alike".
Image source, Historic England Archive
Image source, Historic England
Image source, Historic EnglandBBC Midlands Today
West Midlands Police is increasing patrols in Coventry following a sharp rise in burglaries over the summer.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceThe force says there have been about 400 incidents since June with the number of car thefts from properties particularly high. , external
It says part of the increase is due to windows and doors being left open or unlocked during the warm weather.
Crewe's players will repay the cost of tickets for the 153 fans who travelled to Tuesday's 6-0 loss at Colchester.
Read MoreBBC Midlands Today
World record holding wheelchair racer Kare Adenegan is in Berlin today, aiming for gold in the Para-athletics European Championships.
Adenegan breaks T34 100m world record
The 17-year-old rising star from Coventry will compete in the T34 100m final tonight.
At the London Stadium last month, she won the same event at the Anniversary Games, beating her hero Hannah Cockroft.
Chris King
News editor, BBC Shropshire
Britain's Got Talent winners Collabro are blaming a problem with earpieces for the cancellation of a concert in Telford last week.
They were due to perform at the Place in the Park Big Top , externallast Thursday, but pulled just before the show, citing "technical issues" .
It prompted a huge response on Facebook - many of the comments were from among the near 600 people left disappointed outside the venue.
Image source, Telford and Wrekin CouncilThe day after the cancellation, Telford and Wrekin Council said they "don't fully agree" with everything in Collabro's initial statement but promised full refunds to those with tickets., external
Today, Collabro says the council failed to provide the right in-ear monitoring equipment, as agreed in the contract, , externaland even though new ones were ordered, they didn't arrive in time.
Without them, the band say the quality of their performance would be affected. They add there were also problems with other PA equipment.
In the statement, Collabro said they didn't take the decision to pull out lightly, that it was the first time they had done so in four years of touring around the world and that even family members had travelled to Telford to enjoy the show.
We are awaiting a response from Telford and Wrekin Council.
