2007 Ukrainian political crisis, Dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and Prosecutor General, Prosecutor General
Yushchenko cited Constitution Article 78 which states "Where there emerge circumstances infringing requirements concerning the incompatibility of the deputy’s mandate with other types of activity, the People’s Deputy of Ukraine shall within twenty days from the date of the emergence of such circumstances discontinue such activity or lodge a personal application for divesting of People’s Deputy authority" and Item 1 of Article 3 of Law No. 2783-IV when issuing his decree on the dismissal of the Prosecutor General. The President appointed Viktor Shemchuk, the Prosecutor General of Crimea, as a replacement to Svyatoslav Piskun.


2007 Ukrainian political crisis, Dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and Prosecutor General, Prosecutor General
After Piskun's dismissal, thousands of protesters marched to his office in Kyiv protesting his dismissal. Piskun, accompanied by several deputies from the Party of Regions, tried to enter his office in Kyiv, however, were prevented from doing so by the Members of the State Protection Department, with Valeriy Heletiy at their lead. Valeriy Heletiy and the deputies were later joined by the Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko and supporters of the Party of Regions. The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Vasyl Tsushko, ordered Ukraine's Berkut riot police to surround the building, defying Yushchenko's order for the Ukrainian security services not to get involved in the political conflict. Tsushko responded to Yushchenko's dismissal of Piskun as a "coup d'état."


2007 Ukrainian political crisis, Dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and Prosecutor General, Prosecutor General
On 25 May, Viktor Yushchenko ordered a decree, taking control over 40,000 interior ministry troops. Meanwhile, the troops were acting on orders of the Interior Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Tsushko, who was charged with abuse of office on 25 May.


2007 Ukrainian political crisis, Dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and Prosecutor General, Prosecutor General
On 26 May, thousands of Interior Ministry troops moved towards Ukraine's capital Kyiv on the President's orders. The troops were only lightly armed with riot gear and no lethal weapons. On their way to Kyiv, the troops were stopped by Ukrainian Traffic Police. Deputy Interior Minister Mykhailo Kornienko stated that about 2,050 troops from 13 out of 25 of Ukrainian oblasts were deployed. According to the Vice Commander of the Interior Ministry troops Mykola Mishakin, about 3,480 troops were deployed near Kyiv. Since their entrance into the capital was blocked by Berkut and the Government Automobile Inspection, the Interior Ministry troops would walk to Kyiv. Mykola Mishakin stated:


2007 Ukrainian political crisis, Dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and Prosecutor General, Prosecutor General
We will be here as long as it takes so that bloodshed will not occur... and where ever it takes so that there will be no use of force, and to give the politicians a chance to resolve their problems in a peaceful and human way.


2007 Ukrainian political crisis, Dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and Prosecutor General, Prosecutor General
After over seven hours of discussions, Yushchenko, Yanukovych, and the Verkhovna Rada Speaker have come to an agreement by setting the date for new parliamentary elections on 30 September 2007.


2007 Ukrainian political crisis, Dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and Prosecutor General, Prosecutor General
After coming to a compromise on an election date, the Verkhovna Rada was given two days to accept the new elections and legally prepare for them. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a bill that would allow funding for the early parliamentary elections, and the Rada approved the necessary laws on 1 June 2007. Yushchenko formally called the election on 5 June 2007, thus ending the political crisis.


2007 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship
The 2007 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship was the 2007 installment of the annual Ulster Senior Club Football Championship which is administered by Ulster GAA. The holders were Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh. They defeated St Galls of Antrim in the final. Crossmaglen received the Séamus McFerran Cup and went on to represent Ulster in the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship.


2007 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
The 2007 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was the 59th staging of the Ulster hurling championship since its establishment by the Ulster Council in 1901.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship
The International Rugby Board (IRB) awarded the 2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship to the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Ulster branch hosted it. The Tournament, which took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 4–21 April, was split into two divisions of twelve teams. Division A games took place in Belfast at Belfast Harlequins' Deramore Park, Ulster Rugby's Ravenhill Stadium, and Cooke RFC/Instonians' Shaw's Bridge complex. Division B games were held in Queen's University of Belfast's The Dub complex and Malone RFC's Gibson Park in Belfast, and Bangor RFC's Upritchard Park in Bangor.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship
Defending champion and top seed Australia began its title defence against Ireland on 5 April as part of a Round One double-header at Ravenhill that also included number three seed New Zealand against France.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship
The seedings of all teams in Division A and the top six teams in Division B were based on the final standings at the 2006 Tournament. Seeds 7 – 12 inclusive in Division B represented teams who had qualified for 2007 via regional tournaments and their seeding was drawn randomly. All 24 participating teams were confirmed in January 2007.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship
This was the final Under 19 World Championship. The IRB decided to fold its under-19 and under-21 world championships into a two-tiered under-20 tournament structure starting in 2008. The top tier, the IRB Junior World Championship, will feature 16 teams, while eight teams will compete in the second-tier IRB Junior World Trophy.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Qualification
The following 24 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship .


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Match officials, Referees
These were chosen to Officiate at the 2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 4–21 April.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Match officials, Touch judge panel
Sarah Corrigan the Australian match official created history when she took charge of the Division B match between Zimbabwe v Canada on 4 April 2007, becoming the first female to referee at an IRB 15-man tournament outside the Women's Rugby World Cup. (The first woman ever to officiate at any IRB tournament outside the Women's Rugby World Cup was American Dana Teagarden, who was referee for six matches at the 2007 USA Sevens, an event in the IRB Sevens World Series held in February 2007.)


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Pool/standings
The IRB setting for this tournament was that the matches were to be played between two pools from which the top 8 teams qualified for the Quarter finals and the team that finished at the bottom of the Division A pool was to be relegated to the Division B.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Pool/standings
Match points were awarded on the basis of 4 points for a Win, 2 points for a draw and 0 points for a Loss. Bonus points were awarded for teams scoring 4 tries or more and to losing teams who lost be 7 points or less.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Pool/standings, Division A
New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Wales qualified for the Division A semi-finals by virtue of having the highest points in the pool stage.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Pool/standings, Division B
Italy, Canada, Georgia and the USA qualified for the Division B semi-finals by virtue of having the highest points in the pool stage.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Knock out phase
Using the final positions from the pool phase the knock-out round 1 matches were made on the following basis:


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Finals
Therefore, New Zealand are the Under 19 Rugby World Champions for 2007 and Italy are promoted to Division A.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Final standings
The final standings are based on the 3 pool matches plus a further 2 matches to determine standings.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Final standings
* Japan was initially demoted to Division B and Italy promoted to Division A for future World Championships. However, with the creation of the IRB Junior World Championship, both teams competed in its 2008 inaugural edition. This event featured all teams from the 2007 Division A, plus Italy, Canada, the US, and Tonga.


2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship, Final standings
# Zimbabwe, Chile, Romania, Russia, Chinese Taipei and the Cook Islands were initially relegated from Division B and had to enter regional competitions to qualify for future World Championships. This did not change with the creation of the Junior World Championship and IRB Junior World Trophy; Georgia and Uruguay were given automatic berths to the 2008 IRB Junior World Trophy, while remaining nations had to play in regional qualifying for the remaining six berths.


2007 Uni-President Lions season
The Uni-President Lions began their 2007 season by playing against La New Bears at Chengching Lake Baseball Field on March 17. The season concluded in late October, with the Lions winning the Taiwan Series and participating in the Asia Series.


2007 United Indoor Football season
The 2007 United Indoor Football season was preceded by 2006 and was succeeded by 2008. It was the third season of the UIF.


2007 United Indoor Football season
Teams played either a 14 or 15 game schedule from March 23 until July 14, 2007.


2007 United Indoor Football season
The league champions, for the third year in a row, were the Sioux Falls Storm, who defeated the Lexington Horsemen in United Bowl III. In doing so, they became the very first football team to have back-to-back perfect seasons.


2007 United Kingdom budget
The 2007 United Kingdom Budget, officially known as Budget 2007: Building Britain's long-term future: Prosperity and fairness for families, was formally delivered by Gordon Brown in the House of Commons on 21 March 2007. It would turn out to be Brown's last Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, becoming Prime Minister on 27 June 2007.


2007 United Kingdom budget
The main changes were that basic rate of income tax would fall from 22% to 20% from April 2008 and that the lower starter rate of 10% would be removed. Vehicle Excise Duty on the highest-polluting vehicles would go up to £300 and to £400 from April 2008, with the least-polluting vehicles to have their duty reduced to £35. The savings limit for Individual savings account contributions would be increased to £7,200 from April 2008. The Inheritance Tax threshold would rise from £285,000 to £350,000 in 2010.


2007 United Kingdom floods
A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across Scotland on 14 June; East Yorkshire and the Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire on 25 June; and Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and South Wales on 28 July 2007.


2007 United Kingdom floods
June was one of the wettest months on record in Britain (see List of weather records). Average rainfall across the country was 5.5 inches (140 mm); more than double the June average. Some areas received a month's worth of precipitation in 24 hours. It was Britain's wettest May–July period since records began in 1776. July had unusually unsettled weather and above-average rainfall through the month, peaking on 20 July as an active frontal system dumped more than 4.7 inches (120 mm) of rain in southern England.


2007 United Kingdom floods
Civil and military authorities described the June and July rescue efforts as the biggest in peacetime Britain. The Environment Agency described the July floods as critical and expected them to exceed the 1947 benchmark.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Meteorological background
June 2007 started quietly with an anticyclone to the north of the United Kingdom maintaining a dry, cool easterly flow. From 10 June the high pressure began to break down as an upper trough moved into the area, triggering thunderstorms that caused flooding in Northern Ireland on 12 June.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Meteorological background
Later that week, a slow-moving area of low pressure from the west of Biscay moved east across the British Isles. At the same time, an associated occluded front moved into Northern England, becoming very active as it did so with the peak rainfall on 15 June. Rainfall records were broken across the region, leading to localised flooding. As it weakened, the front moved north into Scotland on 16 June and left England and Wales with a very unstable airmass, frequent heavy showers, thunderstorms and cloudy conditions. This led to localised flash flooding and prevented significant drying where earlier rains had fallen.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Meteorological background
On 25 June, another unseasonably low pressure (993 hPa / 29.3 inHg) depression, Cyclone Uriah, moved across England. The associated front settled over northern and eastern England and dumped more than 3.9 inches (100 mm) of rain in places. The combination of high rainfall and high water levels from the earlier rainfall led to extensive flooding across many parts of England and Wales, with the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, South, West and East Yorkshire the most affected. Gales along the east coast also caused storm damage.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Meteorological background
RAF Fylingdales on the North Yorkshire Moors reported rainfall totals of 4.1 inches (103 mm) in 24 hours, an estimated 3.9 inches (100 mm) in Hull and  3.0 inches (77 mm) on Emley Moor in West Yorkshire. Until 2007, the average monthly total for June for the whole UK was  2.86 inches (72.6 mm).


2007 United Kingdom floods, Meteorological background
On 27 June, the Met Office released an early warning of severe weather for the approaching weekend, stating that  0.79 to 1.97 inches (20 to 50 mm) of rain could fall in some areas, raising the possibility of more flooding within the already saturated flood plains.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Meteorological background
On 20 July, another active frontal system moved across Southern England. Many places recorded a month's rainfall or more in one day. The Met Office at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire reported 4.98 inches (126.6 mm): a sixth of its annual rainfall. The college at Pershore in Worcestershire reported 5.60 inches (142.2 mm), causing the Environment Agency to issue 16 further severe flood warnings. By 21 July, many towns and villages were flooded, with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, London and South Wales facing the brunt of the heavy rainfall.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Meteorological background
Climate researchers have suggested that the unusual weather leading to the floods may be linked to this year's appearance of La Nina in the Pacific Ocean, and the jet stream being further south than normal.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England
England was affected by the June and July floods, with the North badly hit in June, the West badly hit in July, and many areas hit in both. It was England's wettest July on record. Gloucestershire was the worst affected county – with both some minor flooding in June, and major flooding in July. Non -administrative counties and administrative counties affected by the flooding are given below.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Bedfordshire
By 25 July, a number of low-lying parts adjacent to the river in Bedford and Luton were flooded and one man drowned attempting to swim across the River Great Ouse in Bedford. Parts of Felmersham and Turvey were also flooded.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Berkshire
On 20 July, the M4 was closed after a landslide caused by flooding between Junctions 12 and 13 eastbound. Approximately 1,100 properties in Thatcham were affected by flash flooding.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Berkshire
By 21 July, Newbury and Maidenhead town centres were flooded, the shopping mall in Maidenhead was closed and parts of the Glade Festival were flooded. Officials warned that the River Thames, the River Ock, and its tributaries from Charney could burst their banks. Trinity School was badly affected by the flooding as well due to Vodafone's HQ nearby. Vodafone's ornamental lake overflowed due to the sudden downpour and badly damaged Trinity School's astro turf to the front of the school as well as some damage to inside the school.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Berkshire
In Reading, rail services to the southwest were affected and westbound trains from Paddington could go no further.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Berkshire
The flood waters affected the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield, which handles Britain's nuclear warheads, resulting in a suspension of work for almost a year.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Buckinghamshire
On 3 June, Stoke Goldington suffered flash flooding affecting 25 homes. Stoke Goldington was affected again on 3 July, with 10 houses being flooded. By 21 July, seventy homes and businesses were flooded by the River Ouse in Buckingham and 30 people spent the night in the town's Radcliffe centre, but 10 miles (16 km) away a system of balancing lakes prevented Milton Keynes from suffering significantly, apart from a flash flood of Stony Stratford High Street from the River Ouse.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Cambridgeshire
On 24 July, four bridges in St Neots, Cambridgeshire were shut when the river level peaked, and the Environment Agency warned residents in the St Neots, Paxton and Offords areas to expect flooding that night. By 25 July, parts of St Ives were flooded. Later the same day, the Environment Agency advised residents near the River Great Ouse that the peak had passed and further flooding was unlikely.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, County Durham
On 15 June, heavy rainfall caused the postponement of the fourth test match between England and the West Indies at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street. On 23 June, flash floods affected parts of Darlington and Stanhope Road, Northgate, St Cuthbert's Way, Parkgate and Haughton Road were closed after water levels rose by about 2 feet (0.6 m). It has also led to Woodland Road to improve its drainage to prevent such flooding on one of the main roads out the town. On 17 July, flooding affected Peterlee town centre, closing shops and a local school.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Cumbria
A 64-year-old man hit his head and died after trying to bail out his flooded home in Alston, Cumbria.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Derbyshire
On 25 June, flooding affected properties in Coal Aston, Calow and Chesterfield town centre, and the A617 was filled with more than 2 feet (0.6 m) of floodwater causing traffic delays.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Gloucestershire
On 19 July, Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service attended 1,800 calls in a 48-hour period, compared with the usual 8,000 calls a year.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Gloucestershire
On 22 July, Gloucester City A.F.C. 's Stadium was flooded, and the Tewkesbury road at Longford was completely impassable by the Longford Inn. Tewkesbury was completely cut off with no road access, parts of the town were under around 3 feet (0.9 m) of water and flood waters entered Tewkesbury Abbey for the first time in 247 years. Tewkesbury's Mythe Water Treatment Works were flooded. Severn Trent Water warned that treated water would run out by early Sunday evening in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Gloucester and surrounding areas.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Gloucestershire
Combined military and civil emergency services tried to stop floods reaching the Walham electricity substation in Gloucester supplying half a million people. On 23 July 50,000 Gloucestershire homes were left without electricity after a major electricity substation in Castle Meads had to be turned off. Efforts to stop flooding at Walham substation succeeded; the Castle Meads substation was repaired the next day.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Gloucestershire
By 24 July, an estimated 420,000 people were without drinking water, including most of the population of Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Tewkesbury. Emergency services continued repair work at the Mythe water-treatment works but Severn Trent Water estimated that water supplies would not be restored for at least 14 days. 900 drinking water bowsers were brought in and the Army was mobilised to distribute three million bottles of water a day and keep the bowsers filled. Coors, Carlsberg, Scottish and Newcastle, Inbev and Greene King brewing companies offered 23 beer tankers to help supply drinking water. On 26 July Severn Trent Water organised a temporary non-potable water supply to 10,000 homes in Tewkesbury. It was not until 7 August – 16 days after Mythe Treatment Works stopped pumping – that the tap water for the 140,000 homes affected was again declared safe to drink.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Gloucestershire
In terms of casualties, a man and his 24-year-old son died from asphyxiation from carbon monoxide poisoning on 27 July when attempting to stop flooding in the unventilated Tewkesbury Rugby Football Club cellar. On 28 July, the body of a 19-year-old boy, reported missing seven days earlier, was recovered in Tewkesbury.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Greater London
On 20 July flooding occurred in many parts of Greater London. Water and power supplies were not disrupted but parts of South West London were under 2 feet (61 cm) of water. Heathrow Airport cancelled 141 flights. Two of four rail lines in South Croydon were closed by landslips. The London Underground was severely disrupted and 25 stations were closed.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Herefordshire
By 19 June, Herefordshire was affected by flooding. The M50 motorway near Ledbury was closed on 22 July due to flooding. More than 5,200 people in and around Bromyard, Herefordshire were without clean water on 22 and 23 July after the pumps at the Whitbourne works in Herefordshire failed. Once supply was restored residents were urged by Welsh Water to boil their tap-water until further notice. The village of Hampton Bishop, 3 miles (5 km) from the city of Hereford remains surrounded and flooded by water after the River Lugg burst its banks.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Herefordshire
On the afternoon of 24 July the Fire Service began pumping flood water out of the village, but not before 130 residents were evacuated. Houses, including the Herefordshire home of Daily Mail writer Quentin Letts, were flooded by a torrent of water gushing from what had previously been only a small, unnamed brook north of Ross-on-Wye.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Herefordshire
Residents of East Bromyard were rescued after the River Frome burst its banks.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Lancashire
On 12 June, Lostock Hall and Penwortham near Preston were hit by flash floods. On 3 July, heavy rain caused flooding in Earby and Ribchester, affecting homes and causing the Royal Lancashire Show to be cancelled on 9 July. On 4 July, the Blackburn Mela was cancelled due to ground conditions. On 18 July, Walton-le-Dale near Preston was hit by flash floods.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Lincolnshire
Louth and Horncastle were severely flooded, with some roads in that area impassable. Children at a school in Horncastle were evacuated because of floods. More than 600-flood related calls occurred across the county. In Lincoln, mainly round the Stamp End area, a house called Shuttleworth House was completely flooded with water in its insides. After power was lost in the area, more than 200 people were rescued in dinghies.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Nottinghamshire
On 27 June 2007, flash flooding caused extensive damage to the villages of Lambley, Woodborough and Burton Joyce. Major towns were hit including Mansfield and Hucknall but not as severely as Lambley. The same day, flooding occurred at Retford and Worksop after the River Idle and River Ryton respectively overtopped their banks.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Oxfordshire
Many rivers burst their banks, including both the Thames and the Cherwell in Oxford and the Ock in Abingdon the Windrush in Witney and the Evenlode.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Oxfordshire
By 21 July, Banbury and Witney were flooded. Oxford, particularly Botley, was flooded and some 300 people were evacuated.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Oxfordshire
On 22 July, the Environment Agency warned of further flooding and 1,500 people in Abingdon were evacuated. Forty thousand sandbags were transported from Grantham in Lincolnshire to Abingdon and Oxford.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Oxfordshire
By 23 July, Oxford, Abingdon, Kidlington and Bladon were affected; some 3,000 homes including the home of William Morris at Kelmscott were flooded and 600 residents were evacuated, with many taking refuge in Oxford United Football Club's Kassam Stadium.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Oxfordshire
On 24 July the Thames in Abingdon rose 3 feet (0.9 m) in less than 12 hours to a "perilously high" level and the Thames and the Severn were expected to rise to 20 feet (6.1 m) higher than normal.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Oxfordshire
On 25 July residents of Osney in west Oxford were advised to leave their homes. About 30 people went to the Kassam stadium shelter while another 250 decided to stay with family and friends. Osney Mead substation, which supplies power to Oxford city centre, was threatened but did not flood. Later that evening, the Thames breached its banks at Henley.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Shropshire
By 19 June, rain had washed away the main road at Hampton Loade and the Severn Valley Railway line from Bridgnorth was closed after numerous landslips on the line. Also, on 19 June/20 June, parts of the town of Shifnal near Telford, were flooded when the Wesley Brook burst its banks. Some of the residents blame Severn Trent Water for opening floodgates at Priors Lee balancing lake, however no such gates exist. Repair costs to the railway were estimated at £2 million.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Shropshire
On 26 June, the Burway Bridge collapsed, disrupting one of the main roads into Ludlow, severing a gas main and causing the surrounding area to be evacuated.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Shropshire
On 1 July, a woman was pulled out of the River Severn at Jackfield on the Telford and Wrekin border near Ironbridge. By 24 July, the UK National Ballooning Championships in Ludlow had been cancelled for the first time in their 32-year history.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Warwickshire
By 21 July, flooded parts of Warwickshire included Alcester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shipston on Stour and Water Orton. To a lesser extent, areas of Leamington Spa and Warwick also experienced flooding.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Warwickshire
Several nature reserves in the Tame Valley, including Ladywalk and Kingsbury Water Park were badly affected, just as ground- and reedbed- nesting birds were hatching young.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, West Midlands
200 people were forced to leave Witton Road and Tame Road in Aston, Birmingham when the River Tame flooded. Water entered the streets of Shirley, Solihull. As in Warwickshire, the Tame caused losses at a nature reserve; this time RSPB Sandwell Valley. In the Dudley borough flooding damaged local schools, shops and communities. Schools opened the doors with parts of buildings flooded with water, the damage in the West Midlands area estimated at 1.9 billion (2007 GDP).


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Wiltshire
On 20 July, Swindon had a month's rainfall in less than half a day. More than 50 people were rescued from their flooded homes.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Worcestershire
By 19 June, Worcestershire was affected by flooding. A 68-year-old motorist died after he was trapped in his vehicle in flood water near Pershore whilst attempting to cross an old ford in Bow Brook which was by then 2 m deep. The waters were still rising, endangering the confluence of the River Teme and the River Severn. On 26 June 2007 the New Road Ground, home to Worcestershire County Cricket Club, was flooded after the River Severn overtopped its banks, causing the next day's Twenty20 match against Warwickshire to be cancelled. On 17 July, Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire was flooded for the second time in three weeks after a thunderstorm caused flash flooding. By 21 July the M5 was affected, compounded by the closure of the Strensham services, and the motorway was closed, stranding hundreds in their vehicles overnight.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Worcestershire
By 23 July, parts of Worcestershire were under 6 feet (2 m) of water and the Army was brought in to help emergency services supply the inhabitants of Upton-upon-Severn which was cut off by floodwater.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, Worcestershire
On 1 June, the first day of the floods. A road in Cropthorne near Worcester was brutally forced down by a high impact of water flowing underneath the road in a pipe. The hole it made was 13 feet (4.0 m) deep and 33 feet (10 m) wide, traffic throughout the county was held up due to the collapsed main road. The site was named Cropthorne Canyon.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
On 15 June, the region was hit by flooding. Roads including the A63 and A1105 in Hull and schools in the region were closed, the Hull Lord Mayor's Parade was cancelled, the Festival of Football was postponed, police declared a major incident and Hessle in Hull, on the border between Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council, suffered two square miles of severe sewage-contaminated flooding.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
On 25 June, the region was hit by flooding again. Fire crews received over 1500 calls in a 12-hour period, dozens of homes in Beverley and about 50 people at a Hull nursing home were evacuated, boats were used to evacuate about 90 people from 4 feet (1 m) of floodwater in Hull's County Road North, and in Hessle a 28-year-old man died after becoming trapped in a drain. The new Hull police station had to be vacated because of flooding. The next day, only 12 of Hull's 88 schools were still open, affecting 30,000 out of 38,000 Hull schoolchildren.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
By 4 July in Hull, six schools were still closed and 120 residents in residential or nursing care had been relocated.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
By 5 July, an estimated 35,000 people in streets containing 17,000 homes had been affected by flooding in Hull and by the next day more than 10,000 homes had been evacuated. Hull City Council estimated repair costs at £200 million.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
By 24 July, Hull City Council had checked each house in the flooded streets and stated that 6,500 homes had been flooded.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
By 27 July, £2.1 million had been allocated to Hull and £600,000 to the East Riding for clean-up and immediate repairs, and £3.2 million to Hull and £1.5 million to the East Riding for further repairs to the region's estimated 101 schools suffering significant flood damage.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
By 3 September, figures released by Hull City Council had been revised upwards to 7,800 houses that had been flooded plus 1,300 businesses that were affected.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, North Yorkshire
By 15 June, towns and villages in North Yorkshire were flooded, with Knaresborough, Harrogate and York being particularly affected. In Scarborough, the main A171 Scalby Road flooded outside Scarborough Hospital, and the ornamental lake at Peasholm Park overtopped its banks and poured down Peasholm Gap into North Bay. Near Catterick, North Yorkshire, a 17-year-old soldier on a training exercise from Catterick Garrison died after being swept away whilst crossing Risedale Beck, Hipswell Moor. On 23 June, flooding affected Middlesbrough. Pickering was flooded after Pickering Beck overflowed its banks.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, North Yorkshire
On 18 July, streams overflowed and roads were blocked in Barton, Gilling West, Melsonby, Hartforth, Scotch Corner, Middleton Tyas and Kirby Hill after a freak rainstorm, and on 18 July 2007 a cloud burst left parts of Filey under 3 feet (1 m) of water, just caused by the rain, rather than by a river bursting its banks. Pensioners were stranded in the town's swimming pool and rescued by lifeboat.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, South Yorkshire
On 25 June, Sheffield suffered extensive damage as the River Don over topped its banks causing widespread flooding in the Don Valley area of the city. A 14-year-old boy was swept away by the swollen River Sheaf, a 68-year-old man died after attempting to cross a flooded road in Sheffield city centre, and several cattle were washed away, found up to 3.5 miles (5.6 km) across fields in some areas of cultivated land.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, South Yorkshire
The Meadowhall shopping centre was closed due to flooding with some shops remaining closed downstairs until late September and Sheffield Wednesday's ground Hillsborough was under 6 feet (1.83 m) of water. A number of people were rescued by RAF helicopters from buildings in the Brightside area, whilst in the Millhouses Park area to the southwest of the city the River Sheaf overtopped its banks causing widespread damage. There was also widespread flooding in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham with much of these towns cut off.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, South Yorkshire
By 26 June, the waters in some parts of Sheffield and the surrounding area receded, and over 700 villagers from Catcliffe, near Rotherham's Ulley reservoir were evacuated after cracks appeared in the dam. Emergency services from across England pumped millions of gallons of water from the reservoir to ease the pressure on the damaged dam, and the nearby M1 Motorway was closed between junctions 32 and 36 as a precaution.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, South Yorkshire
On 27 June, the Army moved into the Doncaster area after the River Don overtopped its banks and threatened the area around what was Thorpe Marsh Power Station. A man was incorrectly reported missing near the village of Adwick le Street near Doncaster.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, West Yorkshire
On 15 June and on 25 June, the villages of Scissett and Clayton West and other parts of Kirklees were flooded by the River Dearne, the second time worse than the first.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, West Yorkshire
On 25 June, Wakefield was flooded. Six elderly women, including a 91-year-old, were stranded in their homes.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, West Yorkshire
During the Wakefield flood, hundreds of homes were evacuated in the Agbrigg area of Wakefield and looting was feared, but by 1 July only four looters had been arrested in the city and were later released on bail.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in England, West Yorkshire
The village of Collingham (near Wetherby) was particularly affected by the flooding and one house was looted.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland was hit by flooding in the June and July floods and it was Northern Ireland's wettest June since 1958. The non-administrative counties and districts affected are given below.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Northern Ireland, County Antrim
On 12 June, the Knockmore campus of the Lisburn Institute in Lisburn was affected by flooding. The same day, parts of East Belfast near the Antrim-Down border that were affected included the Kings Road, Ladas Drive, Strandtown Primary School and the Parliament Buildings in Stormont, with 80 residents evacuated from their old people's home on the Kings Road and Avoniel Leisure Centre opened to assist flood victims. On 2 July, houses were flooded and two people evacuated from their home in Cushendall in Antrim after the River Dall burst its banks following heavy rain. On 16 July, parts of Belfast International Airport near Aldergrove in Antrim were flooded by a freak thunderstorm leaving 10 planes unable to land, landslides closed the Antrim Coast Road near Ballygally, Larne, and people were trapped in their cars in Portrush, Coleraine.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Northern Ireland, County Down
On 15 June, there was severe flooding around Bangor in North Down, Saintfield, Crossgar and Ballynahinch in Down and Newtownards and Comber in Ards, with shops in Crossgar centre flooded.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Northern Ireland, County Londonderry
On 12 June, Magherafelt was affected by flooding. On 16 July, roads in Aghadowey, Coleraine and Portstewart, Coleraine were rendered impassable by floodwater.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Northern Ireland, County Tyrone
On 12 June, Omagh and Dungannon were affected by flooding, with a Dunnes supermarket evacuated in Omagh.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland
Scotland was hit by flooding in June and July, with the Scottish Lowlands most badly affected. On 12 June, the Met Office issued torrential rain warnings for Scotland and it was Scotland's wettest June since 1938. The non-administrative counties and council areas affected are given below.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland, Ayrshire and Arran
On 21 June, about 2000 homes were left without electricity and properties were affected as flash floods hit Kilmarnock. On 18 July, flooding affected Kilmarnock again, the River Irvine burst its banks in Newmilns, and flash floods affected roads including the M77.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland, Dumfries
On 18 July, floods wrecked homes in Closeburn, power was cut off at Eaglesfield, and roads were closed at Moffat and Lochmaben.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland, Edinburgh and Midlothian
On 1 July rain cancelled the one-day international cricket match between Scotland and Pakistan in Edinburgh and by 3 July parts of Midlothian were flooded, with worst hit areas including residential areas in Dalkeith and Mayfield.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland, Glasgow and Lanarkshire
On 22 June, heavy storms flooded roads and dumped debris on the railway line in Glasgow. The same day, torrential rain caused a landslide just south of Lesmahagow, closing the M74.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland, Moray
On 3 July a landslide caused by floodwater disrupted traffic on the A941 Rothes to Aberlour road in Moray.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland, Ross and Cromarty
On 18 July, heavy rain caused landslips blocking the railway line between Strathcarron and Achnasheen for a predicted 10 days,


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Scotland, Tweeddale
On 25 June rain forced the 108-year-old Beltane Festival in Peebles to be held indoors for the first time.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Wales
Wales was hit by flooding in June and July, with the Eastern areas most badly affected. It was Wales's wettest June since 1998, and its second wettest since 1914. The preserved counties and principal areas affected are given below.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Wales, Clwyd
On 26 June, roads including the A5 were impassable at Corwen in Denbighshire, a river overflowed at Worthenbury in Flintshire, and properties were affected in Wrexham. In North Wales, a man was rescued by fire services after he was stranded on a small island in the River Dee in Llangollen, Denbighshire. On 17 July, flash floods after torrential rain forced the closure of a secondary school in Prestatyn in Denbighshire.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Wales, Dyfed
Lampeter in Ceredigion was affected by flooding on 11 June and then again on 15 June.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Wales, Gwent
On 26 June, properties were affected in Tintern on the River Wye in Monmouthshire. On 20 July, flash floods affected parts of Newport, Monmouthshire and Torfaen.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Wales, Powys
In Montgomeryshire, ten people were taken to safety at Tregynon and a dozen homes were flooded at Bettws Cedewain on 22 July, firefighters used a boat to evacuate five people from a house near Welshpool after they were cut off by floods on 23 July, and the same boat was later used to rescue three people stranded in a car on the A483. In Radnorshire, 30 tonnes of debris and earth blocked the only road out of Barland near Presteigne on 23 July. In Brecknockshire, the River Wye burst its banks in Builth Wells on 1 July,the saturated ground later causing chaos at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd on 24 July.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Affected areas in Wales, South Glamorgan
On 20 July, flash floods affected the Vale of Glamorgan, causing schools to be evacuated, roads to be closed, and boats used to rescue people from their homes in Barry.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Timeline for June and July floods
Areas affected by flooding during this period were as follows (see above for specific citations):


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Rescue effort
Following the flooding in late June, the rescue effort was described by the Fire Brigades Union as the "biggest in peacetime Britain". Following the flooding in July, the RAF said it is carrying out its biggest ever peacetime rescue operation, with six Sea King helicopters from as far afield as RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, RAF Valley in Anglesey and RAF Leconfield in the East Riding of Yorkshire rescuing up to 120 people. An RAF heavy lift Chinook helicopter was also employed to move aggregate to reinforce the banks of the River Don. The Environment Agency described the situation as "critical".


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Rescue effort
4x4 Response groups from throughout the UK assisted councils and blue light services during and in the immediate aftermath of the flooding. During the recovery phase a number of responders from around the UK 4x4 Response assisted the Red Cross in the distribution of fresh drinking water in the Gloucestershire area after mains drinking water was contaminated.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Health risks
The Health Protection Agency advised people that the risk of contracting any illness was low but that it was best to avoid coming into direct contact with flood water. There were no reported cases of any outbreaks. In some areas bottled water was handed out where sewage works got flooded.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Crop damage
The floods caused widespread crop damage, especially broccoli, carrots, peas and potatoes. In parts of Lincolnshire it was estimated that 40% of the pea crop may have been damaged, with other crops also suffering major losses. Prices of vegetables were expected to rise in the following months.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Financial cost
Environment Agency chief executive Baroness Young said that about £1 billion a year was needed to improve flood defences. The Association of British Insurers has estimated the total bill for the June and July floods as £3 billion.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Financial cost
A report by the Environment Agency in 2010 concluded that "the scale and seriousness of the summer 2007 floods were sufficient to classify them as a national disaster", and that the "total economic costs of the summer 2007 floods are estimated at about £3.2 billion in2007 prices, within a possible range of between £2.5 billion and £3.8 billion.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Government response
On 3 July, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced that the Government would increase the spending on risk management and flood defences by £200 million to £800 million by 2010–11. During Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons later that month, Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised £46 million in aid to flood-hit councils and £800 million rise in annual spending on flood protection by 2010–11, confirming Hilary Benn's announcement. Brown also pledged to push insurance firms to make payouts.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Government response
On 22 July, the Government convened COBRA to co-ordinate the response to the crisis.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Government response
Visiting Gloucestershire on 25 July, Mr. Brown praised emergency services for their efforts, but added: "We've got to get the supplies stepped up. We will get more tankers in, we will get more bowsers in, we will get more regular filling of them, and at the same time, more bottled water will be provided."


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Government response
On 8 August 2007 Defra announced that Sir Michael Pitt would chair an independent review of the response to the flooding. On 4 September of that year the Cabinet Office website launched a comments page to let people affected by the flooding contribute their experiences to the review.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Government response
Sir Michael published his interim report on 17 December 2007.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Government response
In April 2010 the government passed the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, which implemented many of Sir Michael Pitt's recommendations. The Act gives more power and responsibility to the Environment Agency and local authorities to plan flood defences co-ordinated across catchment areas and the wider country, to counteract the tendency for defences to be built for upstream areas without much thought for how this might be making flooding worse for downstream areas. In also brings in a new regime whereby new building activity which exacerbates flooding by reducing the capacity of land to absorb water will need to be accompanied by the construction of sustainable drainage systems such as grassy roofs, ponds and soakaways.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Criticism of Hull City Council
Hull City Council was criticised for not insuring the city's libraries, schools and other public buildings. In response, Hull City Council said that "Many councils do not have the feature in their budget", but other flood-hit councils were insured. It was thought that council tax payers would be left with the bill, as emergency Government funding would not cover it.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Criticism of government response
In June, councillors in Hull claimed that the city was being forgotten and had the floods occurred in the Home Counties, help would have arrived much more quickly. One in five homes in Hull was damaged and 90 out of the city's 105 schools suffered some damage. Damage to the schools alone was estimated to cost £100 million. The Bellwin scheme for providing aid after natural disasters was criticised as inadequate by Hull MP Diana Johnson. The lack of media coverage of flooding in Kingston upon Hull led the city council leader Carl Minns to dub Hull "the forgotten city".


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Criticism of government response
In July, the Government came under mounting criticism of its handling of the crisis, the fact that responsibilities were spread across four departments and no single minister could be held responsible, and the fact that the Army had not been called in to assist.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Criticism of government response
The Observer newspaper stated on 22 July 2007 that the Government had been warned in the spring by the Met Office that summer flooding would be likely because the El Niño phenomenon had weakened, but no action was taken.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Criticism of government response
In response to the criticism, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said on BBC Sunday AM that "This was very, very intense rainfall, with five inches in 24 hours in some areas; even some of the best defences are going to be overwhelmed". He praised the way the emergency services had dealt with "unprecedented" levels of rainfall and said he had "total confidence" in the response of the Environment Agency.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Criticism of government response
Conservative leader David Cameron called for a public inquiry into the flooding after visiting Witney, the main town in his Oxfordshire constituency.


2007 United Kingdom floods, Aftermath, Criticism of government response
Then Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell accused the government of lack of preparation leading to a "summer of suffering", and said, "With sophisticated weather forecasting as we now have, particularly in relation to what's happened over the weekend, there are quite a few questions as to how it was that flood-prevention measures were not in place or were not more effective."


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak
The 2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak occurred when the discharge of infectious effluent from a laboratory in Surrey led to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) infections at four nearby farms. The infections were detected via regular livestock testing by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak
The first diagnosis took place in a field of Normandy, Surrey; the second was three days later in a cattle-rotation field of a farm in Elstead, and the following day a third infection was found nearby within a quickly-established protection zone around the first detection. One month and ten days after the first diagnosis a final incidence of 2007 was identified and dealt with 13 miles (21 km) north of the first diseased animal.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak
The source of the strain released and contained in Surrey in 2007 was the advanced effluent pipes from either the Institute for Animal Health or the similar vaccine researching and producing Merial Animal Health laboratory near to Pirbright village in the county. An inspection of the effluent pipes and manholes carried out by Health and Safety Executive investigators showed deficiencies, and the independent investigation of Brian Spratt concluded that it was very likely that they occasionally leaked still-infectious effluent at the time of the outbreak. Both laboratories, either of which may have been the cause, upgraded and repaired their effluent treatment systems to continue operation. The UK government provided compensation for the farmers directly involved.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak
These interrelated and contained events prompted precautionary measures of restricted-access containment zones in three counties where suspected infections were reported and major international trading partners such as Canada and the Republic of Ireland placed temporary restrictions on meat and dairy exports.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Background
The United Kingdom was affected in 1967 by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. The outbreak was limited to an area on the Welsh border with Shropshire. The subsequent 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis spread more broadly and caused a national crisis for British agriculture and tourism. The epizootic saw 2,000 cases of the disease in farms in most of the British countryside. Livestock farmers' losses and their interest subsequently remained of public interest, and a negative testing in January 2007 in Northern Ireland received BBC local headline coverage.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Initial reports
Symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease were first reported late on 2 August 2007 on farmland in Normandy in Surrey, which was subsequently isolated and placed under restrictions. The site was a field for beef fattening rented by Derrick and Roger Pride. The following day the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) Debby Reynolds confirmed that initial testing revealed that 60 cattle were infected with foot-and-mouth disease and that other potential cases were being investigated.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Initial reports
The virus strain was identified on 4 August as FMDV BFS 1860 O1 1967 (Foot-and-mouth disease virus, British field strain 1860, serotype O, subtype 1, isolated in 1967; also referred to as strain BFS 1860/UK/67). The virus was first isolated during the 1967 foot-and-mouth outbreak and until the 2007 outbreak was not in circulation in animals. It was the same strain as used at the nearby Pirbright laboratory sites that housed separate units of the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) and Merial Animal Health Ltd at Pirbright, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) away.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Initial reports
The Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright carried out research into foot-and-mouth disease as well as other diseases affecting livestock. The Merial Animal Health site was also identified as a possible source of the infection, as they were one of four European laboratories authorised to handle the strain to produce vaccines. The next closest laboratory working with the strain was in Belgium. As a result of the location of the two Pirbright laboratory sites, the isolation zone was extended.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Initial reports
Another protection zone was created on 5 August near Elstead after a cow at one of the two other locations used by the farm tested positive. The herd at both locations had already been slaughtered the previous day as a standard precautionary measure. Another herd the next day within one of the protection zones showing symptoms of FMD was slaughtered on suspicion. Samples underwent analysis and the next day FMD was confirmed on a farm in Surrey within the protection zone. The cows were on land owned by the farmer Lawrence Matthews who rented grazing to a neighbouring producer.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Laboratory concerns
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) issued a report on 7 August titled "Initial report on potential breaches to biosecurity at the Pirbright site, 2007" which contained the following comments:


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Laboratory concerns
The Pirbright site has been the source of foot-and-mouth outbreaks before – in 1970 the virus escaped from the experimental area into a holding pen elsewhere on the site. Eighteen animals had to be destroyed.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Later cases
A farmer who left the land at the site of the initial outbreaks reported on 9 August some of his cows to Defra as a precautionary measure. A 3 km (2 mile) temporary control zone was established, and then removed, on 11 August when negative test results were returned. Three further potential outbreaks were investigated during August, at a farm elsewhere in Surrey; at the Chessington World of Adventures zoo; and at a farm near Romney in Kent. All three tested negative for foot and mouth. Following a lack of further outbreaks since the initial discovery, Defra lifted on 24 August the protection zones around the farms. The surveillance zone was removed on 8 September. A 5 km (3 mile) radius biosecurity area remained in place longer around the Pirbright laboratories.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Disease outbreak, Later cases
A new case of foot and mouth was found on 12 September 30 miles (48 km) north of the original case at Milton Park Farm near Egham in the county. A 3 km (2 mile) radius protection zone and a 10 km (6 mile) radius surveillance zone was established around the farm. A sick sheep found earlier during the day in Scotland at a Lanarkshire market was later found to be negative. Separately, a temporary control zone was put around a premise in Norfolk as a precautionary measure following a veterinary visit. Laboratory results for these animals were also negative and so the local restrictions were lifted the next evening.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Precautions
All livestock at the three geographically separate locations were destroyed on 4 August. A nationwide ban on the movement of cattle and pigs was imposed, with a 3 km (1.9 mi) protection zone in place around the affected farm and a further 10 km (6.2 mi) zone of cattle surveillance. An 8 km (5.0 mi) aerial exclusion zone was set up around the site.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Precautions
As required by European Union regulations, all exports of animal and meat products of species affected by the outbreak were halted from the United Kingdom.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Precautions
A net total of 2160 animals were culled in the affected zones over the 58 day outbreak period  (982 cattle, 1128 pigs, 43 sheep and seven goats). The total cost of containment and livestock loss came to a total of £47 million. This compares to a total loss of around £3 billion and the culling of around four million animals (85% sheep, 12% cattle, 3% pigs) during the 2001 outbreak which lasted for 221 days.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Reaction, Political reaction
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Environment Secretary Hilary Benn returned to London early from their holidays. Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs Elin Jones cut short her holiday to New Zealand, and opposition leader David Cameron also cancelled his holiday in Brittany. A COBRA meeting took place shortly before the official announcement, with the Prime Minister participating on a telephone link.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Reaction, Scientific reaction
On the prospect of the virus coming from one of the Pirbright establishments, emeritus professor of bacteriology Hugh Pennington said "If we know exactly where the virus has come from, and particularly if it's a vaccine type of virus, it's less likely to be a nasty virus." King, a former head of molecular biology at the IAH, said "As far as I am concerned the authorities have failed to find any chink in the armoury of the establishment’s bio-security. What you are left with is human movement, which is not a matter for the institute, it’s a police matter. It’s very, very unlikely that it could be spread by accident. People do not spread the disease easily."


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Reaction, International reaction
Following the confirmation of the outbreak, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland closed all of their ports to livestock, fresh meat and non-pasteurised milk imports, and ordered disinfectant measures to be put in place at ports and airports all over the island. Canada blocked the entry of any livestock from the United Kingdom (which included Northern Ireland) into the country, and Japan and the United States blocked the entry of pigs and pig products. British beef was already banned in both of these countries.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
A report into the epidemic was released on 5 September 2007. It reported that traces of the virus were found in a pipe at the Pirbright institute running from Merial to the government's treatment plant. It is thought that tree roots damaged the pipe allowing the virus to the surface. The report hypothesises that site workmen conveyed the virus to the Normandy farm en route home from work.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
An independent investigation carried out by Brian Spratt found that due to the recognition that infected material could survive the initial citric acid disinfection stage within the Merial plant, the effluent system up to the final caustic soda treatment plant was considered by Defra inspectors to be within the scope of Category 4 containment, yet it appeared not to have been subject to regular inspection and there was evidence of leakage both from broken pipework and via unsealed, overflowing manholes:


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
23. The possibility of infectious virus being discharged to the effluent pipes was recognised by the Defra inspectors and, for this reason, the drainage system that leads to the caustic soda final treatment plant is considered part of Category 4 containment at Pirbright. It must therefore be well maintained and contained, so that infectious virus in effluent cannot escape.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
32. The effluent pipes from IAH and Merial to the caustic soda final treatment plant are old and appear not to have been subject to regular thorough inspections to ensure their integrity. An inspection of the effluent pipes and manholes carried out for the HSE team showed deficiencies and it is considered very likely that they leak effluent. The effluent pipes are therefore not contained, as they should be as part of Category 4 containment at Pirbright.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
In May 2008 the Surrey County Council, who has the authority to prosecute when there is negligence, found prosecution nonviable and wrote:


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
The county council's external legal advice is that a prosecution against either of the two laboratories at the centre of the outbreak is not possible. This was because:


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
Three Government-commissioned reports were unable to pinpoint the exact source of the outbreak


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Investigation
The council may not have been able to prove beyond doubt whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) licence conditions had been breached. This was particularly because the two laboratories shared the drainage systems under those conditions.


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Media reporting incursion
The media were the only people to breach the police cordons. At the time Surrey Police Assistant Chief Constable Mark Rowley said "So far, two photographers have been arrested for breaching cordons, despite the obvious need to protect the area and clear signs prohibiting entry. No members of the public have tried to get inside contaminated areas and unfortunately the only attempted breaches have been by some of the media."


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Media reporting incursion
Peter Denard from Surrey Trading Standards stated: "This is a virulent disease spread on contact and proximity. The idea that anyone not wearing protective clothing and taking no bio-security measures is trampling through a potentially contaminated area of the countryside is beyond belief."


2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, Media reporting incursion
The two photographers, Philip Hollis of The Daily Telegraph and James Purkiss, were later found guilty under the Animal Health Act for ignoring prohibitions and entering protected sites. Hollis was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs. Purkiss was sentenced to 140 hours of community service, and fined £1,150.


2007 United Kingdom local elections
The 2007 UK local government elections were held on 3 May 2007. These elections took place in most of England and all of Scotland. There were no local government elections in Wales though the Welsh Assembly had a general election on the same day. There were no local government elections in Northern Ireland. Just over half of English councils and almost all the Scottish councils began the counts on Friday, rather than Thursday night, because of more complex arrangements regarding postal votes.


2007 United Kingdom local elections
These elections were a landmark in the United Kingdom as it was the first time that 18- to 20-year-olds could stand as candidates for council seats. The change was due to an alteration of the Electoral Administration Act. At least fourteen 18- to 20-year-olds are known to have stood as candidates for council seats and as a result William Lloyd became the youngest person to be elected to official office in Britain. There were also a number of councils which used new voting methods such as internet and telephone voting in addition to the traditional methods of polling stations and postal votes.


2007 United Kingdom local elections
These were the final elections to be overseen by Labour leader and prime minister Tony Blair, who resigned the following month after a decade as prime minister to be succeeded by chancellor Gordon Brown. His party only finished in second place with a narrow lead over the third-placed Liberal Democrats, whose leader Menzies Campbell would also resign later in the year, while it was a strong showing for the Conservatives under David Cameron.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Summary of results
There was a suggestion in February 2006 that many of the 2007 local elections in England would be cancelled due to a reform of local government. However, since then possible reforms are still in the consultation stage and no decisions have yet been made.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Summary of results
312 English district councils, nearly all districts in England held some form of election – either thirds or full – on Thursday, 3 May 2007.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Summary of results
The final results are summarised below; firstly, with a table ranked by the party with the greatest number of councillors elected.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Metropolitan boroughs
All 36 English Metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Unitary authorities, Whole council
In 25 English unitary authorities the whole council was up for election.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Unitary authorities, Third of council
In 20 English unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, District councils, Whole council
In 153 English district authorities the whole council was up for election.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, District councils, Third of council
In 78 English district authorities one third of the council was up for election.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Scotland
All 32 Scottish councils had all their seats up for election - all Scottish councils are unitary authorities. These local elections were held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament general election. They were the first election for local government in mainland Great Britain to use the Single Transferable Vote (the system is used in Northern Ireland), as implemented by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Scotland, Councils
The notional results in the following table are based on a document that John Curtice and Stephen Herbert (Professors at the University of Strathclyde) produced on 3 June 2005, calculating the effect of the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote on the 2003 Scottish Local Elections.


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Pre-election predictions
A Newsnight poll by the analysts Rallings and Thrasher some days before the election predicted the following results for the English council elections:


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Pre-election predictions
Con 38% (Conservatives gaining 330 seats and losing 2% of the vote on 2006)


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Pre-election predictions
Lab 24% (Labour losing 500 seats and losing 2% of the vote on 2006)


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Pre-election predictions
LD 29% (Liberal Democrats gaining 110 seats and gaining 2% of the vote on 2006)


2007 United Kingdom local elections, Pre-election predictions
However, these predictions, as in 2006, were largely inaccurate, underestimating Conservative support and grossly overestimating the Lib Dems' performance. However, it did accurately predict the number of seats Labour would lose.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination
The 2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination problem arose on 28 February 2007, when motorists in South East England reported that their cars were breaking down. This was caused by silicon contaminated unleaded petrol, sold by several supermarkets, that damaged the lambda sensors in engine management systems.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, The problem
On 28 February 2007, motorists in South East England reported that their cars were breaking down. Motorists blamed supermarket petrol with most of the fuel sold by the supermarkets in the South East coming from the Vopak terminal in the Thames Estuary. Harvest Energy, which supplies Asda, shares tank facilities at the depot in West Thurrock with another oil company, Greenergy, which is part owned by Tesco and supplies both Tesco and Morrisons.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, The problem
Then, on the evening of 2 March, scientists who had been testing the petrol reported finding traces of silicon in the fuel which were subsequently tracked down to four storage tanks by Harvest Energy.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, The problem
Morrisons immediately announced that it was to stop selling unleaded petrol at 41 outlets supplied by the Vopak terminal, while Tesco was emptying and refilling tanks at 150 petrol stations, but was not suspending sales. The following day, Asda said it was replacing unleaded petrol at the 30 forecourts in the South East as a "precautionary measure".


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, The problem
By Sunday, 4 March, tests from Tesco and Asda had found contamination of silicon in unleaded fuel.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, The cause
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said it believed suspect fuel might have damaged lambda sensors in some cars' systems, leading them to cut power to prevent damage to the engine. Silicon products are used as 'anti-foaming agents' in diesel fuel, but even very small quantities can cause serious problems in petrol engines.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, Consequences
Tesco was criticised with claims that they had been alerted to the problem as early as 12 February. Affected motorists faced bills of several hundred pounds to repair their cars and, with up to 10,000 cars needing repair, the suppliers could be liable for compensation claims of up to £10 million. On 4 March, it was announced that a class action, on behalf of affected motorists, would be mounted.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, Consequences
Trading Standards officials advised motorists to keep petrol receipts, take a sample of the fuel, obtain quotes from garages for repair costs and approach the petrol station where the fuel was purchased. Then, on 6 March, Morrisons and Tesco offered to pay for any damage caused by the faulty petrol, and Tesco printed full page apologies in many national newspapers.


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, Consequences
A further consequence was a rise in petrol prices charged by traditional petrol companies, of up to 4p per litre, across the country. An AA spokesman said "Putting up prices to make a fast buck is completely unjustified. Sometimes garages increase the price to protect stocks from a sudden run. But if anyone has upped the price outside the areas where the problems have been then they are milking the system.". However, the UK Petroleum Industry Association replied "There is no profiteering. Oil products are priced to the market. Pump prices are usually linked to the price of crude oil or the wholesale price of petrol. ".


2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination, Further contamination
Since the initial problem in 2007, many people have reported problems with their cars after filling up with petrol and diesel at Tesco filling stations. These problems normally caused the engine management light to come on, and ranged from problems with the fuel system to damaged lambda sensors. They may have been caused by silicon or even water found in the underground fuel storage tanks. In December 2015, Tesco in Faversham had a water leak in one of its tanks causing problems for some customers.


2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at the Bali International Conference Centre, Nusa Dua, in Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and December 15, 2007 (though originally planned to end on 14 December). Representatives from over 180 countries attended, together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. The conference encompassed meetings of several bodies, including the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 13), the 3rd Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP 3 or CMP 3), together with other subsidiary bodies and a meeting of ministers.


2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
Negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol dominated the conference. A meeting of environment ministers and experts held in June called on the conference to agree on a road-map, timetable and 'concrete steps for the negotiations' with a view to reaching an agreement by 2009. It has been debated whether this global meeting on climate change has achieved anything significant at all.


2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
Initial EU proposals called for global emissions to peak in 10 to 15 years and decline "well below half" of the 2000 level by 2050 for developing countries and for developed countries to achieve emissions levels 20-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. The United States strongly opposed these numbers, at times backed by Japan, Canada, Australia and Russia. The resulting compromise mandates "deep cuts in global emissions" with references to the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report.


2007 United Nations Security Council election
The 2007 United Nations Security Council election was held on 16 October 2007 during the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at UN Headquarters in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2008.


2007 United Nations Security Council election
In accordance with the Security Council's rotation rules, whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes, the five available seats were allocated as follows:


2007 United Nations Security Council election
The five members (elected by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly, in as many rounds of voting as it takes to achieve that majority) served on the Security Council for the 2008–09 period.


2007 United Nations Security Council election
Seven countries had announced themselves as candidates for the five non-permanent seats on the Security Council for the 2008–2009 term. Vietnam was running for the Asian seat, which if successful, would be the first time serving in the council. Burkina Faso (last served in 1985) and Libya (last served in 1977) were running for the two African seats. All three countries had received endorsements from their regional groupings.


2007 United Nations Security Council election
In addition, Costa Rica (last served in 1998) and the Dominican Republic (one of the few UN Charter members which had never served up to 2007) were competing for the one Latin American seat at stake. The Czech Republic (last served in 1995) and Croatia (never served) were competing for the Eastern European seat. Both Croatia and Vietnam were elected to the Council for the first time.


2007 United Nations Security Council election, Results, African and Asian States
Having been endorsed by their respective regional groups, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, and Libya were elected easily, winning 178, 185, and 183, votes, respectively, of a total of 190 possible; 190 ballot papers were distributed in the General Assembly, while there were 192 UN member states in 2007. Mauritania got two votes and Senegal got one, despite not having stood for election; there were no abstentions.


2007 United Nations Security Council election, Results, Eastern European Group
Before the third round of voting, the Czech Republic withdrew from the election.


2007 United Nations Security Council election, Results, GRULAC
Before the third round of voting, the Dominican Republic withdrew from the election.


2007 United Soccer Leagues
The 2007 Season is the 21st edition of the United Soccer Leagues season.


2007 United Soccer Leagues
The season kicked off on Friday, April 13 when the 2006 league runners-up Rochester Raging Rhinos traveled to the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon to take on the Puerto Rico Islanders.


2007 United Soccer Leagues, Standings, First Division
The schedule was not a balanced home and away affair; to make up the four extra games to total 28, each team played their four geographically closest competitors. The playoff format was changed to qualify eight instead of six teams; therefore the first and second league champions obtained seeding to determine home field advantage instead of a first round bye as in previous seasons. The previous bidding to host between the two playoff finalists for the one game cup final was discontinued for this season.


2007 United Soccer Leagues, Standings, First Division, Awards and All-League Teams
First TeamF: Dan Antoniuk (Atlanta Silverbacks); Hamed Diallo (Rochester Raging Rhinos); Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders) (MVP & Co-Leading Goalscorer)M: Stephen Armstrong (Charleston Battery); Andrew Gregor (Portland Timbers); Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps); Zinho (Miami FC) D: Gabriel Gervais (Montreal Impact); David Hayes (Atlanta Silverbacks) (Defender of the Year); Cameron Knowles (Portland Timbers)G: Josh Wicks (Portland Timbers) (Goalkeeper of the Year)Coach: Gavin Wilkinson (Portland Timbers) (Coach of the Year)


2007 United Soccer Leagues, Standings, First Division, Awards and All-League Teams
Second TeamF: Charles Gbeke (Montreal Impact) (Co-Leading Goalscorer); Roger Levesque (Seattle Sounders)M: Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Montreal Impact); Brian Farber (Minnesota Thunder); Kupono Low (Carolina RailHawks); Johnny Menyongar (Rochester Raging Rhinos)D: Taylor Graham (Seattle Sounders); Steve Klein (Vancouver Whitecaps); Scot Thompson (Portland Timbers); Marco Velez (Puerto Rico Islanders)G: Matt Jordan (Montreal Impact)


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident
On 29 August 2007, six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded onto a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52H heavy bomber at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and transported to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before the missiles were taken from their storage bunker. The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing, and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for 36 hours. During this period, the warheads were not protected by the various mandatory security precautions for nuclear weapons.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident
The incident was reported to the top levels of the United States military and referred to by observers as a Bent Spear incident, which indicates "an unexpected occurrence involving nuclear weapons or nuclear components that does not fall under the NUCFLASH or BROKEN ARROW categories" or "a nuclear incident involving a nuclear weapon/warhead or nuclear component. In the Army and Air Force, this term includes a 'significant incident' as defined in DoD Directive 5100.52".


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident
In response to the incident, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and USAF conducted an investigation, the results of which were released on 19 October 2007. The investigation concluded that nuclear weapons handling standards and procedures had not been followed by numerous USAF personnel involved in the incident. As a result, four USAF commanders were relieved of their commands, numerous other USAF personnel were disciplined or decertified to perform certain types of sensitive duties, and further cruise missile transport missions from—and nuclear weapons operations at—Minot Air Force Base were suspended. In addition, the USAF issued new nuclear weapons handling instructions and procedures.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident
Separate investigations by the Defense Science Board and a USAF "blue ribbon" panel reported that concerns existed on the procedures and processes for handling nuclear weapons within the Department of Defense but did not find any failures with the security of United States nuclear weapons. Based on this and other incidents, on 5 June 2008, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley were asked for their resignations, which they gave. In October 2008, in response to recommendations by a review committee, the USAF announced the creation of Air Force Global Strike Command to control all USAF nuclear bombers, missiles, and personnel.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Background
At the time of the incident, the 5th Bomb Wing was commanded by Colonel Bruce Emig, the 2nd Bomb Wing by Colonel Robert Wheeler, the 8th Air Force by Lieutenant General Robert J. Elder Jr., and ACC by General Ronald Keys.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Background
The 5th Bomb Wing, according to the USAF's statement on the wing's mission, served with its B-52H bombers as part of the USAF's conventional and strategic combat force. The "strategic" portion of the 5th's mission included the ability to deliver nuclear weapons against potential targets worldwide. Thus, Minot Air Force Base stored and maintained a ready arsenal of nuclear bombs, nuclear warheads, and associated delivery systems, including the AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Background
The AGM-129 ACM was fielded in 1987 as a stealthy cruise missile platform to deliver the W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead. Although originally designed to equip the B-1B Lancer bomber, the AGM-129 was redesignated so that it would only be carried by the B-52H, mounted on external pylons on the wings or internally in the bomb bay. In March 2007, the USAF decided to retire its AGM-129 complement in order to help comply with international arms-control treaties and to replace them with AGM-86 ALCM missiles. In order to do so, the USAF began to transport its AGM-129s stored at Minot to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana by B-52s for ultimate disposal. According to The Washington Post, by 29 August 2007, more than 200 AGM-129s had been shipped from Minot to Barksdale in this manner.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Incident
Between 0800 and 0900 (local time) on 29 August 2007, a group of USAF airmen, called the breakout crew, entered one of the weapons storage bunkers at Minot to prepare AGM-129 missiles for transport to Barksdale. That day's missile transport, the sixth of twelve planned ferry missions, was to have consisted of twelve AGM-129s, installed with training warheads, with six missiles per pylon and one pylon mounted under each wing of a Barksdale-assigned, 2nd Bomb Wing B-52 aircraft.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Incident
When the airmen entered the bunker, six live warheads were still installed on their missiles, as opposed to having been replaced with the dummy training warheads. A later investigation found that the reason for the error was that the electronic production system for tracking the missiles "had been subverted in favor of an informal process that did not identify the pylon as prepared for the flight." The airmen assigned to handle the missiles used outdated materials that contained incorrect information on the status of the missiles. The missiles originally planned for movement had been replaced by missiles closer to expiration dates for limited life components, which was standard procedure. The change in missiles had been reflected on the movement plan but not in the documents used for internal work coordination processes in the bunker.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Incident
Although the breakout crew in the weapons storage began to inspect the missiles, an early-arriving transport crew hooked up the pylons and towed them away without inspecting or ensuring that the missiles had been inspected or cleared for removal. The munitions control center failed to verify that the pylon had received proper clearance and inspection and approved the pylon for loading on the B-52 at 0925. After taking eight hours to attach the pylons, the aircraft with the missiles loaded then remained parked overnight at Minot for 15 hours without the special guard required for nuclear weapons.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Incident
On the morning of 30 August one of the transport aircraft's flight officers, a Barksdale-assigned B-52 instructor radar navigator, closely inspected the six missiles on the right wing only, which were all properly loaded with training warheads. The B-52 command pilot did not do a final verification check, before signing the manifest listing the cargo as a dozen unarmed AGM-129 missiles to depart Minot.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Incident
The B-52 departed Minot at 0840 and landed at Barksdale at 1123 (local times) on 30 August. The aircraft remained parked and without special guard until 2030, when a munitions team arrived to remove the missiles. After a member of the munitions crew noticed something unusual about some of the missiles, at 2200 a "skeptical" supervisor determined that nuclear warheads were present and ordered them secured and the incident reported, 36 hours after the missiles were removed from the bunker at Minot.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Incident
The incident was reported to the National Military Command Center as a Bent Spear incident. General T. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, quickly called United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, on 31 August to inform him about the incident. Gates requested daily updates regarding the investigation and informed President Bush about the incident. The USAF has yet to officially designate what type of incident actually occurred, Bent Spear or otherwise. The incident was the first of its kind in 40 years in the United States and was later described by the media as "one of the worst breaches in U.S. nuclear weapons security in decades".


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
The USAF and Department of Defense at first decided to conceal the incident, in part because of the USAF policy not to comment on the storage or movement of nuclear weapons and an apparent belief that the incident would not generate much public concern. In fact, the initial DoD incident report contained the statement, "No press interest anticipated." Details of the incident were then leaked by unknown DoD officials to the Military Times newspaper, which published a small article about the incident on 5 September 2007.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
In response, a 5 September news briefing at the Pentagon by Press Secretary Geoff Morrell stated that at no time was the public in any danger and that military personnel had custody of the weapons at all times. The USAF announced that within days of the incident, the USAF relieved the Minot munitions squadron commander of duty and eventually disciplined 25 airmen. USAF Major General Doug Raaberg was assigned by General Keys to lead an investigation into the incident. The USAF inventory of nuclear warheads was checked to ensure that all warheads were accounted for.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
In addition, the DoD announced that a Pentagon-appointed scientific advisory panel, called the Defense Science Board, would study the mishap as part of a larger review of procedures for handling nuclear weapons. On 28 September, the USAF announced that General Keys was retiring and would be replaced as ACC commander by General John Corley, effective 2 October.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
On 19 October 2007, United States Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and USAF Major General Richard Newton, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and requirements, announced the investigation report findings, stating that "there has been an erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards at Minot Air Force Base and at Barksdale Air Force Base" and that "a limited number of airmen at both locations failed to follow procedures."


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
Colonel Emig, the commander of the 5th Bomb Wing, Colonel Cynthia Lundell, the commander of the 5th Maintenance Group at Minot, and Colonel Todd Westhauser, the commander of Barksdale's 2d Operations Group, and four senior non-commissioned officers from the 5th Munitions Squadron "received administrative action" and were relieved of their commands or positions and reassigned. All of the 5th Bomb Wing personnel were stripped of their certifications to handle nuclear and other sensitive weaponry and to conduct "specific missions". Sixty-five airmen of varying ranks lost their Personnel Reliability Program certifications. Tactical ferry operations were suspended. The inspector general offices of all USAF Major Commands that handle nuclear weapons were directed to conduct immediate "Limited Nuclear Surety Inspections (LNSIs) at every nuclear-capable unit" with oversight provided by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
The new ACC commander, General Corley, referred the matter to USAF Lieutenant General Norman Seip, commander of the 12th Air Force, as a court-martial convening authority to determine if additional charges or actions would be taken against any of the personnel involved in the incident. Seip later closed the investigation without recommending criminal charges against anyone involved.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
Retired USAF Chief of Staff General Larry Welch was asked by Gates, who had reportedly raised concerns with USAF officials that the original investigation may have unfairly limited blame to midlevel officers, to lead the Defense Science Board advisory panel that would study the mishap as part of a larger review of procedures and policies for handling nuclear weapons.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Response by the U.S. government
In addition, the USAF chartered a "blue ribbon" review chaired by USAF Major General Polly Peyer and consisting of 30 additional personnel to "make recommendations as to how we can improve the Air Force's capability to safely and securely perform our nuclear weapons responsibility". Furthermore, the United States Congress requested that the DoD and the United States Department of Energy conduct a bottom-up review of nuclear procedures.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, USAF actions
On 24 October 2007, Secretary of the Air Force Wynne told the House Armed Services Committee that he believed that the 5th Bomb Wing could be recertified and could resume ferrying the AGM-129 cruise missiles to Barksdale for retirement. He did not provide a timeline for that recertification process. On 1 November 2007 Colonel Joel Westa took command of the 5th Bomb Wing. That same day, General Keys retired from the Air Force.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, USAF actions
Personnel from Barksdale's 2nd Bomb Wing temporarily took over maintenance duties of Minot's nuclear stockpile until the 5th Bomb Wing could be recertified. A nuclear surety inspection (NSI), required for recertification, originally scheduled for the 5th Bomb Wing for 23 January 2008 was postponed after the wing failed an initial NSI that took place on 16 December 2007. Another initial NSI was completed on 29 March and Corley recertified the wing on 31 March 2008. A full NSI was scheduled for May 2008. The wing needed to regain its certification in order to hold the full NSI. Units handling nuclear weapons must pass NSIs every 18 months in order to retain their certifications.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, USAF actions
The USAF issued a new policy directive regarding the handling of nuclear weapons and delivery systems, which prohibits the storing of nuclear armed and nonnuclear armed weapons in the same storage facility. The directive further instructs that all nonnuclear munitions and missiles must be labeled with placards clearly stating that they are not armed with nuclear warheads. Wing commanders are now charged with approving any movement of nuclear weapons from weapons storage areas and must appoint a single individual as a munitions accountability system officer and weapons custodian.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, USAF actions
All units that handle nuclear weapons must develop a coordinated visual inspection checklist. The policy further directs that airmen charged with handling or maintaining nuclear weapons cannot be on duty for longer than 12 hours, unless during an emergency, when their duty period can be extended to a maximum of 16 hours. The USAF has since instituted a program of surprise inspections at nuclear-armed bases.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, Review reports
Welch and Peyer briefed the results of their reviews before the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services on 12 February 2008. In addition to Welch and Peyer, Lieutenant General Daniel Darnell, USAF Deputy Chief of Staff for Air, Space and Information Operations, and Major General Raaberg testified and answered questions from the Senate committee's members. During the hearing, Welch stated that "the military units responsible for handling the bombs are not properly inspected and, as a result, may not be ready to perform their missions."


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, Review reports
He added, "If you look at all the areas and all the ways that we have to store and handle these weapons in order to perform the mission, it just requires, we believe, more resources and more attention than they're getting." Welch's report concluded that the combining of DoD nuclear forces with nonnuclear organizations has led to "markedly reduced levels of leadership whose daily focus is the nuclear enterprise and a general devaluation of the nuclear mission and those who perform the mission." Nevertheless, neither Welch's nor Peyer's reports found any failures with the security of United States nuclear weapons.


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, Review reports
Responding to Welch's and Peyer's reports, USAF officials stated that they were already implementing many of the recommendations contained in the reports but added that existing regulations governing nuclear procedures were satisfactory. During his testimony before the senate committee, Darnell stated that "the Air Force portion of the nuclear deterrent is sound, and we will take every measure necessary to provide safe, secure, reliable nuclear surety to the American public."


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, Inspections, resignations, and further discipline
Minot's full NSI took place beginning on 17 May 2008, and was conducted by inspectors from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the USAF's Air Combat Command (ACC). On 25 May, the DTRA issued the 5th Bomb Wing an "unsatisfactory" rating, the lowest rating possible, from the inspection. The 5th passed the inspection in nine of ten areas, but failed in the area of nuclear security. Following the inspection, Westa stated, "Overall, their assessment painted a picture of some things we need to work on in the areas of training and discipline".


2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, Aftermath, Inspections, resignations, and further discipline
The 5th Bomb Wing Security Forces Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Worley, was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Weaver on 16 June 2008. In spite of failing the NSI, the wing kept its nuclear certification. Said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists about the 5th's failure in the inspection, "It makes you wonder what's going on elsewhere, like the nuclear weapons stationed at bases overseas, and at Barksdale Air Force Base and Whiteman Air Force Base." Minot passed the follow-up inspection on 15 August 2008.