West Cumbria is top of the list of possible sites for a series of small nuclear power stations.

A consortium, led by Rolls Royce, wants to build 16 small, modular reactors (SMR) in the north of England, and the Midlands.

Tom Samson, the chief executive of the UK Small Modular Reactor consortium, says he is is a fan of the way Cumbrians work with nuclear energy, and the county might also be a good location for the factory that would prefabricate the reactors so they could be more quickly assembled.

Image source, Sellafield Ltd

BBC Weather

Any early rain will soon clear away to the east this morning, leaving spells of sunshine through the day.

However, there will be one or two showers in places.

Temperatures reaching 10C (50F), in moderate to fresh south-westerly winds.

This evening will have clear spells with a few well-scattered showers.

You can find the latest BBC Weather, for where you live, by searching for your location here

Cumbria's northern and western districts, Carlisle, Eden, and Copeland, all saw increases in the rate of Covid-19 infection in the week to Tuesday, according to the latest county council figures, external.

Carlisle saw the largest increase, with 293 new cases, a rate of 270 new cases per 100,000 population, significantly above the national average.

But in South Lakeland and Barrow, there were fewer new infections compared with the previous week, and the county's director of public health, Colin Cox, said: “We can see from the data for Barrow that the infection rate does come down when everyone takes action and I’d like to recognise the effort that people in Barrow have made to achieve that significant reduction."

Hospitals in the county have seen another sharp increase in the number of patients suffering from the coronavirus, reaching 222, compared with 159 last week, a 40% increase.

• Covid-19: How will university students go home for Christmas?
• Covid-19: Who will have the Pfizer vaccine first and when can I get it?

BBC Weather

A band of squally rain will move in from the west from around midnight onwards but it should ease before dawn with skies clearing from the west and lowest temperatures from 5C to 8C (41F to 46F).

You can find the latest, hour-by-hour, BBC weather forecast for where you are, by searching for your location here.

Carlisle United sign former Peterborough defender Rhys Bennett on a short-term deal until January.

The knifeman believed his victim had taken his Canada Goose beanie, but it was later found elsewhere.

Children in need of adoption should have a better deal under a new partnership announced today between Cumbria County Council, Durham County Council and Together for Children, which delivers children’s services on behalf of Sunderland City Council.

The three authorities have set up what is known as a "regional adoption agency", and the aim is to have a larger pool of potential adopters so children can be placed more quickly with a suitable family.

County councillor Anne Burns, Cumbria's cabinet member for people, said: "This is all about ensuring that children have the best chance of being matched with the right adoptive family."

Police say the case of a drug dealer jailed today for 12 years for stabbing to death another man in Carlisle after mistakenly believing his victim had taken his expensive beanie hat, highlights the lethal danger of carrying knives.

Image source, Cumbria Police

The judge told Carlisle Crown Court, as he passed sentence, that Blair Dixon (pictured), 25, of Welsh Road in the city, admitted carrying a knife "at all material times".

Afterwards Det Ch Insp Jenny Beattie, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: “This is a tragic case that appeared to start with a low-level dispute over a piece of clothing."

Martin Lewes
Reporter

The role played by the buildings that are now now the Ambleside campus of the University of Cumbria in establishing modern primary education methods is being marked by building links with the Charlotte Mason Institute in the US.

Image source, University of Cumbria

The buildings are what was created from the work of Charlotte Mason, who established a child-centred philosophy of education that is now followed by millions of teachers and home-school families in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, India and the United States.

The campus was a teacher training college named after her until the end of the last century.

The Charlotte Mason Institute is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and three prominent associates, the founder, Dr Carroll Smith, Dr Jennifer Spencer, the institute’s curriculum project director, and Dr Deani Van Pelt, president of Ontario-based Edvance Christian Schools Association, are intending to visit Ambleside next year.

Dr Spencer said: “I want to pull Charlotte Mason back from the fringes and showcase her as a woman who was so forward-thinking that she is still in the vanguard of educational thought, even a century after her death."

As we reported earlier, a trial date has been set for a driver accused of causing a north Cumbria schoolgirl’s death by dangerous driving, and “deliberately discarding an SD card” containing dashcam footage of the collision.

Image source, Cumbria Police

Thirteen-year-old Ingrid Messenger died in the collision involving a Citroen in which she was travelling with her mother and elder teenage sister, a Land Rover and a Mercedes Sprinter van, between Stoneraise and Ivegill south of Carlisle.

Tony Packenham, 47, of Station Hill, Wigton, faces a charge of causing Ingrid's death by driving a Land Rover Defender dangerously, two charges of causing serious injury to her mother, Catriona, and sister, Erikka, by dangerous driving, and an allegation of committing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice, involving the SD card.

Mr Packenham was committed to appear at Carlisle Crown Court, on 18 December.

BBC Weather

A band of squally rain will come in from the west from around midnight and be quite heavy at times.

The rain should ease before dawn with skies clearing from the west and lowest temperatures from 5C to 8C (41F to 46F).

You can find the hour-by-hour BBC weather forecast for where you are by typing in your location or postcode here.

BBC Cumbria Sport

Barrow face the prospect of up to five games in just 10 days after the Football Association rescheduled their FA Cup 1st round tie against Wimbledon for Thursday 26 November.

The winners of that match will face Crawley on 28 November, and in the run-up to that, the Bluebirds will play Cambridge, Forest Green and Oldham Athletic.

• Temperature at 3,000ft (900m): Around 4C (39F)
• Winds: Near gale force westerly winds this morning, backing south-westerly later, gusts reaching 50mph through the day
• Cloud: Extensive early this morning and again in the late afternoon with a base of around 1,300ft to 2,000ft, (400m to 600m), becoming well-broken through the middle part of the day
• Weather: Mostly cloudy early this morning with patchy rain but gradually turning brighter with spells of sunshine and only isolated showers, turning cloudier again in the late afternoon with further patchy rain
• Visibility: Poor at times above 1,300ft (400m) but mainly good in the valleys

A new project in Millom aims to tackle a growing range of mental and emotional health problems among children, by offering more support to their parents during the first 1,001 days of life, and if successful it will be spread across the county.

Image source, Science Photo Library

The Good Enough Start , externalscheme is being tried out in Millom, funded by local charities and other sources and run by a partnership of schools, health and community services.

The idea is that parents will be helped to form strong bonds with their babies, from before they are even born, until their second birthday.

The woman who came up with the idea is Janice Brockbank, a retired headteacher, who says the first two years are where a child can learn to feel secure and cope with their negative emotions.

More than £156,000 has been passed out in grants from various government sources to organisations in North Cumbria that help people in difficulties because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A fund set up by the NHS and Cumbria County Council has distributed £79,700 among five organisations providing counselling and support to people suffering from mental illness, young people tempted by online gaming, and relatives going through bereavement.

And after the government department, DEFRA, gave the county council a grant of £554,555, some £77,000 has been passed on to organisations in Carlisle including food banks and community organisation giving people support to deal with housing, heating, health and financial problems.

Image source, Together Group

A display of more than 1,000 knitted poppies is unveiled at a care home in Cumbria.

BBC Weather

There will be bright sunny spells this morning with some patchy cloud.

Cloud and wind will increase later however, becoming quite cloudy and gusty this afternoon, with temperatures of 11C (51F).

For the latest BBC weather where you are, search for your location here

Radioactive waste has been removed from a leaking storage tank at Sellafield using equipment and methods that the company says will make decommissioning the huge plant safer in the future.

Image source, Sellafield Ltd

The problem was discovered in October last year, when it was noticed that liquid was leaking into the ground from the tank.

Although radioactivity would simply bind itself into the clay beneath, engineers decided it could not be left as a risk, so over the following nine months, including a break while Covid-safe methods were developed, liquid and sludge were removed, and the tank resealed.

Work has now started on removing other sludge from the area around the redundant 1950s tank, and Dorothy Gradden, who is in charge of dealing with what are called legacy ponds, said the lessons learned in the process would help make other projects safer in the future.

BBC Weather

A band of squally and heavy rain will spread in from the west in the evening.

The rain will move to the east after midnight to leave a drier, clearer and chillier night with lowest temperatures from 4C to 7C (39F to 45F).

You can always find the latest, hour-by-hour, BBC weather forecast for where you are, by searching for your location here.

Two men have been arrested after a teenager was raped in the Currock area of Carlisle late on Sunday, police said.

Officers want to hear about sightings or video footage of a woman with two men, possibly involved in a disturbance, or a blue Ford vehicle in Botchergate, St Nicholas Gate, Blackwell Road or Currock.

The men have been arrested on suspicion of rape and released while investigations continue.

Image source, Cumbria Police