As Simon and Beth try to comfort a distressed Vera, a heavy branch falls from a tree. Beth comments that 2957 and the technocrats have finally done it. "They're burning us up!" In London at the Ministry, Controller 2957 is in a meeting fielding problems with Alpha 4. The temperature rise together with a report on the level of the River Clyde is being relayed to him. Alpha 4 points out that 1957 was concerned when the first rivers were diverted as part of the Master Plan and that he was at the time assistant to Commander Traynor. As one of the Alpha secretaries relays a report on the Wye Valley, the video scanner looses reception.