Broadcast timeline
BBC News
Thursday 13 August 2026 · 18:00 BST · 30m · 5 stories · 15 annotated moments · 30 of 30 min on news stories (99%)
Broadcast overview
An AI-generated overview based on this broadcast's transcript.
The broadcast opened with a passenger train derailing in Sussex, with three carriages on their side and a large emergency response. A passenger described visible head injuries among fellow travellers, and later reporting indicated that the incident might not be as serious as initially feared, with passengers walking away from the scene.
The UK experienced its hottest day of the year, with temperatures peaking at 38.1 degrees Celsius, prompting amber heat warnings and placing pressure on emergency services, including wildfires, hospital A&E departments, and water shortages. The broadcast also covered A-level results, with record numbers of 18-year-olds securing their first-choice university places and a record regional gap in top grades.
Other stories included the death of a 102-year-old man following an alleged assault at a pub in South Wales, an exclusive interview with Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov criticising President Putin's prospects in Ukraine, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley's comments on criminal justice funding and a dispute with the Crown Prosecution Service, a by-election in Clacton with 34 candidates, and unusual light patterns created by the solar eclipse across the UK.
- 0:11
- 1:47
Claim CrossCountry cancels trains after power cut at control centre
The train derailed just before 4pm on 13 August 2026.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 1:47-1:58
- 1:58
Claim CrossCountry cancels trains after power cut at control centre
Multiple carriages overturned, with reports of two or three.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 1:58-2:04
- 2:29
Claim CrossCountry cancels trains after power cut at control centre
The train derailed just before 4pm on 13 August 2026.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 2:29-2:36
- 3:50
Claim CrossCountry cancels trains after power cut at control centre
The train was the 224 London Victoria to Eastbourne service.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 3:50-3:55
- 4:30
Claim CrossCountry cancels trains after power cut at control centre
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander expressed deep concern.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 4:30-4:39
- 5:55
Claim UK records hottest day of the year with 38.1C
The UK recorded its hottest day of the year on 13 August 2026, with a provisional peak of 38.1 degrees Celsius at Kew Gardens, the fifth hottest temperature ever recorded.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 5:55-6:09
- 6:03 Story begins UK records hottest day of the year with 38.1C
- 6:03
Claim UK records hottest day of the year with 38.1C
The UK recorded its hottest day of the year on 13 August 2026, with a provisional peak of 38.1 degrees Celsius at Kew Gardens, the fifth hottest temperature ever recorded.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 6:03-6:15
- 7:20
Claim UK records hottest day of the year with 38.1C
England's A&E departments were experiencing their busiest period ever, with 2.49 million attendances in July alone.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 7:20-7:25
- 10:57
Claim UK records hottest day of the year with 38.1C
Swiss glaciers lost an average of two meters of ice this summer, equivalent to around 600,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, and permafrost thawing is causing rock and ice falls.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 10:57-11:03
- 13:05 Story begins A-level top grades rise for third consecutive year
- 13:54
Claim A-level top grades rise for third consecutive year
A-level entries awarded A or A* rose for a third consecutive year, reaching 28.5%, up from 28.3%, the highest proportion on record outside pandemic-affected years.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 13:54-14:05
- 13:59
Claim A-level top grades rise for third consecutive year
A-level entries awarded A or A* rose for a third consecutive year, reaching 28.5%, up from 28.3%, the highest proportion on record outside pandemic-affected years.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 13:59-14:17
- 14:10
Claim A-level top grades rise for third consecutive year
The regional gap in top A-level grades reached a record high, with London at 32% and the North East and East Midlands at 23%.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 14:10-14:30
- 14:10
Claim A-level top grades rise for third consecutive year
The regional gap in top A-level grades reached a record high, with London at 32% and the North East and East Midlands at 23%.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 14:10-14:24
- 14:10
Claim A-level top grades rise for third consecutive year
The regional gap in top A-level grades reached a record high, with London at 32% and the North East and East Midlands at 23%.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 14:10-14:24
- 19:21 Story begins Muratov says Putin cannot claim victory in Ukraine
- 23:58
- 24:17
Claim Government denies active consideration of Epstein and Al-Fayed inquiry
Sir Mark Rowley criticised a lack of funding for police, prisons and courts, calling it systematic disinvestment by successive governments.
BBC One, BBC News, 13 August 2026, 24:17-24:31
Source: BBC ONE West, "BBC News", Thursday 13 August 2026. Transcript excerpts and stills are shown only to support the analysis annotated alongside them. Search-result excerpts are distinct from the editorial annotations — see our copyright basis. The full broadcast is not reproduced.