In early September, developer Stephanie Kent watched the approach of Hurricane Hermine with growing trepidation.

A hurricane making landfall is never welcome but it looked set to strike Ms Kent's home in Florida at the worst possible time.
Back then, Ms Kent was fighting hackers seeking to take over her digital cash start-up Krypton - a services firm based around a variant of Bitcoin's underlying technology, the blockchain.
Ms Kent and her coding team had just recovered from one attack and had seen early signs that another was under way.
"We were hit by the hurricane during the second attack," she says.
Then, the savage storm knocked the power out.
"That really didn't help," she says.
Undeterred, Ms Kent decamped to a local convenience store, plugged in her laptop and got back to work battling the hackers.
Krypton defeated them by drawing on some rarely-used features in the blockchain code which helped to thwart the attempted takeover. But that was not before the bad guys got away with virtual Krypton cash worth about $6,000 (Â£4,900).
Ms Kent wasn't alone in getting hit. A similar attack, probably by the same group, was used against a separate crypto-currency start-up called Swift.
"There are a lot of malicious actors in crypto-currency right now," says Ms Kent. "It's the gunslinger era."
The amounts of money involved might be small but the attacks signal a growing interest by hackers in fledgling firms seeking to build businesses around blockchains and digital currencies.
That is troubling given the current fever of interest in the blockchain. Many see it as the element of the Bitcoin crypto-currency that will have lasting influence.
Visa has announced plans to launch a blockchain payments service in 2017, central banks are investigating the technology and many finance firms are keen to use it to keep track of the deals they do.
The blockchain is the open accounting system underpinning Bitcoin. It involves large networks of computers working together to do the complicated cryptography-based maths that verifies who spent which bitcoins and where they spent them.
For a well-established virtual currency such as Bitcoin, there are huge numbers of people helping crunch numbers via server farms they own and operate. The vast size of the processing pool means there is little chance that any individual will be able to amass enough computer power to subvert the blockchain and effectively print their own money.
That's not the case with the fledgling crypto-currencies, says Garrick Hileman, an economic historian at the University of Cambridge.
"More than 600 different crypto-currencies have come out since Bitcoin emerged in 2009," he says. "A lot of the crypto-currency knock-offs have been attacked."
Many of those attacks are aimed at the wallets where the digital cash is kept, but others have gone after the blockchains they use to keep track of transactions. By their nature, says Dr Hileman, these start-ups do not have many servers verifying who is spending or using what making them vulnerable to an attacker with processing power at their fingertips.
"It's all about how much computer power you have," he says, adding that there are well-known defences against cyber thieves who try to hijack the system.
"There are variations in how blockchains are made secure. Some are more vulnerable than others depending on the attack surface that's available."
Krypton and Swift were targeted because of the particular blockchain variant they used, he says.
It's one that has proved popular with attackers since it was developed by a firm called Ethereum, which is looking to use the technology as the basis for its own business. One of Ethereum's offshoots, called the DAO, suffered a serious blockchain-based attack earlier this year.
Ever since, this offshoot has been under repeated attack and last week instituted significant technical changes to thwart the hackers targeting it. It's not clear yet whether it worked.
Many are tracking its success in defeating the hackers because of the backing Ethereum has won from venture capitalists and other investors. Millions of dollars in development cash is tied up in its crypto-currency network.
That ability to adapt and change to defeat cyberthieves shows how blockchain technology can be made secure, says Prof Ari Juels, a computer scientist at Cornell Tech and co-director of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts which studies the technology and its uses.
"Ethereum has showed just how resilient crypto-currencies can be in the way that it has unwound the damage done by the attacker," he says, adding that it, and virtual currencies in general, are still going through some "growing pains".
Prof Juels insists that the attacks on one variant of the blockchain technology should not scupper all interest in the field.
To begin with, he says, the types of blockchains that governments, central banks and other financial institutions are planning to use have a fundamental difference that will stymie attempts to attack them.
Instead of being open to anyone who buys in, these permission-based networks are open only to the organisations involved in the particular financial instrument or sector they serve.
"It's maintained and run by a set of predetermined and trustworthy partners," he says. "There are huge advantages to the closed systems not only because they are more resilient to attack and not vulnerable to processor-power based attacks."
But, says Prof Juels, that desire for control and security might limit the ultimate usefulness of blockchains to the banking world.
"Banks are interested in blockchains but they are using them in a very rudimentary way," he says. "They are just looking to use them as a time-stamping service and that ignores some of the benefits it could bestow on them and their customers."


MSPs have launched an inquiry into how to stop the problems caused by air pollution.

It comes after environmental campaigners said the issue was causing a public health crisis.
A Friends of the Earth report in January found Scotland's most polluted streets regularly breached the European limit for levels of nitrogen dioxide.
Recent evidence also suggests air pollution could be contributing to 15,000 early deaths in Scotland a year.
The top three Scottish streets most polluted with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2016 were Hope Street in Glasgow, St John's Road in Edinburgh and Wellington Road in Aberdeen.
NO2, which is produced by vehicle engines, has been linked to respiratory disease.
Graeme Dey, convener of the environment, climate change and land reform committee, said Scotland needed to take air quality seriously to achieve its ambitious targets.
"Not only can poor air quality impact our natural environment and wildlife, but it is also bad for our own health and is especially harmful for the young, elderly and people who already have heart and lung conditions," he said.
"In fact, recent evidence suggests air pollution may be a contributory factor to 15,000 early deaths in Scotland each year.
"As part of our new inquiry, the committee wants to hear whether Scotland is doing all that it can to tackle toxic gases and how this fits into the overall plans to cut pollution within the UK and EU."
Figures in micrograms per cubic metre. The European Ambient Air Quality directive limits nitrogen dioxide to 40 micrograms per cubic metre.
(Source: Friends of the Earth Scotland)
Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, welcomed the inquiry, saying the "national disgrace" of air pollution caused thousands of deaths as well as a billion pound cost to the economy.
He added: "Air pollution endangers the most vulnerable in our society - the young, the elderly and those with existing health problems.
"Toxic air has been linked with heart attacks, strokes, cancers, and even mothers giving birth to babies prematurely and with reduced birth weights.
"Tackling air pollution by getting cars off the roads will deliver huge co-benefits in terms of reducing climate emissions. Transport recently became the single biggest source of greenhouse gases in Scotland, with figures still stuck around 1990 levels."


Somerset pulled off a remarkable run chase to earn a thrilling one-wicket victory over Surrey at Taunton.

Set a target of 301, Somerset were 270-9, but Jack Leach (24 not out) and Tim Groenewald (18 not out) saw them home.
Somerset opener Marcus Trescothick hit 56, with good contributions from Jim Allenby (56) and Peter Trego (44), while Surrey skipper Gareth Batty claimed match figures of 10-115.
Earlier, Surrey fell from 94-6 to 138 all out as Jamie Overton took 4-18.
Surrey looked to be heading for their first County Championship win of the season when they took four quick wickets after tea to leave Somerset 237-8 - still requiring 64 to win.
Overton's counter-attacking 29 off 27 balls gave the hosts momentum, before wicketkeeper Ben Foakes pulled off a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss him off Stuart Meaker (4-79).
With Somerset still needing 31 for victory when Overton went, Surrey searched desperately for the final wicket with Batty bowling 18 consecutive overs.
However, Leach and number 11 Groenewald batted sensibly for the last hour on a pitch that was still turning to give Somerset their first win of the season after six successive draws.
Surrey head coach Michael Di Venuto told BBC Radio London:
"I don't think I've ever been as nervous on a cricket field in any game. I can't fault their efforts today, they really stuck in and we've just come up short unfortunately.
"They busted their guts, we tried everything, but Somerset's last pair played really well.
"Full credit to Somerset for chasing down the highest score of the match on a wicket that was turning and still offering a little bit for the fast bowlers."


India's business city of Gurgaon on the outskirts of the capital, Delhi, will be officially renamed Gurugram.

Home to top multinational firms, expensive condominiums and gleaming malls, Gurgaon in Haryana state is popularly called the Millennium City.
Proximity to Delhi's airport makes it an attractive residential destination for upwardly mobile professionals.
The guru referred to in the new name is Guru Dronacharya, a master archer who figures in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata.
Reports say the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Haryana switched to Gurugram - an ancient name for the area meaning "village of the guru" - following a local campaign.
"The district derived its name from the name of Guru Dronacharya... it came to be known as Guru-gram, which in course of time got distorted to Gurgaon," the district's official website said.
The name change has led to a huge buzz on social media and #Gurugram was trending on social media for much of Tuesday.
Over the last two decades, Gurgaon has been transformed from farming fields to a bustling technology hub, thanks to the call centre and outsourcing industries.
However, its success has come with little support from government and the city lacks adequate public transport and sanitation facilities.
Several Indian cities have been renamed in recent years to reflect local languages and nationalist sentiment.


Lyn McLeavy has spent almost her entire life tracing the story of her great, great grandmother Jane Cook, an Irish Famine victim from County Tyrone.

She was shipped to a notorious Australian jail as she tried to keep her starving family alive.
The search began as a child for the historian from Melbourne, who would ask her father: "Daddy, where did I come from?"
Ms McLeavy is visiting Newry, County Down, as Northern Ireland commemorates the Irish Famine for the first time.
Mother-of-two, Jane Cook, was 26 years old when she was jailed for 10 years in Van Diemen's Land (now known as Tasmania).
Her crime was the theft of a pot lid.
"I was always trying to find Jane," said Ms McLeavy.
"I became completely obsessed with her. I immersed my life in the archives in Tasmania, in Ireland, but I could never find the townland that she came from in Tyrone.
"I could never find any living relatives."
Jane Cook had a life of "trauma and tragedy" that began when she started stealing meat to keep her family alive when her husband, William Young, died.
She was jailed for three months and served her first prison sentence with her two children in Omagh jail.
As a struggling mother, Ms Cook left her youngest child in a nearby church, a decision "to protect the baby's wellbeing", said Ms McLeavy.
In 1850, the Tyrone woman was transferred to the notorious Sarah Island prison, Van Diemen's Land, with her eight-year-old child.
In "the Great Hunger" of 1845, 1.5 million people emigrated to Canada, America and England.
Many died of typhus on the so-called "coffin ships".
While crossing to Australia, Ms Cook suffered "hysteria" on the boat along with a number of other women.
"When she got to Van Diemen's Land, her daughter was taken off her and sent to an orphanage. I think she just had too many traumas to cope with," said Ms McLeavy.
She "was sent to the ends of the earth" to a prison.
Ms Cook married a man who had fled the Irish Famine and had three daughters, but became homeless and destitute when he died.
Her children were taken from her and sent to Melbourne.
"It was a fractured, fractured, family going on for generations. There was a lot of prejudice against convicts. It didn't matter if they were victims of the famine, they were still treated like outcasts," she said.
"The prejudice against her as an Irish woman lasted her entire life and she died in very poor circumstances."
Ms McLeavy is a descendent of one of the children shipped to Melbourne.
She said travelling to Northern Ireland gives her a sense of closeness to her relatives.
She has traced the McLeavy side of her family to Omeath in County Louth but has been unable to find any living relatives.
"It would be wonderful if that happened as well," she said.
Ms McLeavy told her story at the National Famine Commemoration in Newry and appealed for people to come forward with information on Jane Cook, in particular the townland where she lived in County Tyrone.
If they did, "I would probably burst into tears".


Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has likened Theresa May to the comedy character Baldrick over her approach to Brexit negotiations, telling MPs her "cunning plan is to have no plan".

He said the prime minister's position owed less to "great philosophers" than the hapless sidekick from the 1980s BBC TV show Blackadder.
Mrs May noted Sir Tony Robinson, who played Baldrick, was a Labour member.
Sir Tony later described the pair as "a beardy man and a grumpy lady".
During Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Corbyn and Mrs May argued over the government's yet-to-be-announced stance for when negotiations for leaving the European Union begin next year.
The Labour leader accused the prime minister of presiding over a "shambolic Tory Brexit" and called for clarity and warned of the effect of it might have on the Irish border.
Mrs May pledged no return to the "borders of the past", saying a Common Travel Area had existed since 1923, and accused Mr Corbyn of trying to "frustrate the will of the British people" over the EU referendum.
The government has said it will formally trigger Brexit talks by the end of next March, but has consistently refused to offer a "running commentary" on its negotiating stance.
Prime Minister's Questions took an unusual turn when Mr Corbyn made reference to Baldrick, the turnip-loving and intellectually challenged servant to Rowan Atkinson's 1980s historical comedy character Edmund Blackadder.
He said: "When you're searching for the real meaning and the importance behind the prime minister's statement (on the recent European Council summit), you have to consult the great philosophers.
"The only one I could come up with is Baldrick, who says, 'Our cunning plan is to have no plan."'
This was a reference to Baldrick's frequent claim to have a "cunning plan" to deal with the trickiest situations, but which nearly always turned out to be less than brilliant.
Mrs May responded: "I'm interested that you chose Baldrick. Of course, the actor playing Baldrick was a member of the Labour Party, as I recall."
Sir Tony is a long-serving activist who has chaired proceedings at the party's annual conference - he has also been a recent critic of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.
The reference prompted him to tweet, mocking Mrs May's oft-used pledge that "Brexit means Brexit", by saying "Baldrick means Baldrick".
"I'm in the hairdresser's," he later added. "Suddenly a lot of people seem to want to talk to me!"
Returning to his put-upon alter-ego, he wrote: "I never said nuffin' at PMQs, it was the beardy man and the grumpy lady. Baldrick x"


Lots of people have been getting involved and trying to help those affected by the fire at a tower block in West London.

15 June 2017 Last updated at 08:17 BST
Churches, mosques and community centres have been offering people clothes, food and water.
One church even had to close because so many people were coming with donations.
Ayshah has spoken to some children who have been helping.


The former leader of UKIP in Wales has said he would leave the party if anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters won the leadership election.

MEP Nathan Gill said he "could not stay in a party that suddenly represented all the things that for 12 years I said it didn't represent".
Ms Waters, who founded the Sharia Watch pressure group, is one of 11 candidates in the race.
Her bid has split the party, with many angry she has been allowed to run.
Former Labour activist Ms Waters believes her anti-Islam message, including a proposed ban on burkas, the closure of sharia councils and a temporary freeze on all immigration, will appeal to many voters.
She has argued UKIP could regain support if it had the "guts" to be "honest about Islam" and challenge the view that it had "nothing to do" with jihadist violence.
But Mr Gill said he could not support those views and said "a lot of my colleagues feel the same way as well".
He told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme: "I don't have a dog in this race, I am not backing any of the candidates.
"But I do know that I have got red lines and if I see the party going in any direction that it absolutely should not be going in then I cannot remain a member of that party."
The candidates to replace Paul Nuttall - who stood down after UKIP's poor performance in June's general election - are:
Voting papers will be sent to party members over the next few weeks and the new leader will be announced at the party's annual conference in Torquay, held on 29 and 30 September.
Mr Gill also criticised the party's delay in addressing concerns raised about UKIP assembly member Michelle Brown, following a row over racial slurs she made about a Labour MP.
The North Wales AM called Streatham MP Chuka Umunna a "coconut" in a recorded call in May 2016 to her then senior adviser Nigel Williams. She later apologised.
Mr Gill claimed the issue, which the party postponed making a decision on at its National Executive Meeting, had been "kicked into the long grass".
"I have said very clearly that I think that Michelle Brown should be expelled from the party," he said.
"We have to show, very clearly, what we are not - and we are not a racist party and I fought so strongly for that."


David Martin has been elected as the new president of the Irish Football Association at a meeting of the organisation's Council at Windsor Park.

Martin succeeds Jim Shaw, who has held the post since November 2010, following his election on Tuesday evening.
He has previously held the positions of Deputy President, Vice President and Treasurer of the organisation.
"I am honoured to have been elected and look forward to serving the football community across NI," said Martin.
"It has been a remarkable few weeks for the international team in France and my aim will be to help the Association build on that success and to help grow the game at all levels," he added.
Linfield FC board member Jack Grundie was elected to the role of first Deputy President at the meeting, with Crawford Wilson, former President of the County Antrim FA, was elected as the second Deputy President.
Martin was voted in as one of the IFA's deputy presidents in 2013, having failed to be voted into the position in 2011 after failing a suitability assessment.
That aspect of the criteria for occupying senior office in the organisation has since been removed.
Martin initially resigned in the wake of the sacking of former chief executive Howard Wells in 2010 but returned to the Association on the back of a unanimous vote at a meeting of the IFA Council three years ago.
Wells' dismissal cost the association £500,000 in an unfair dismissal case and both Martin and former president Raymond Kennedy were subsequently removed from their positions under pressure from the then Sports Minister Nelson McCausland, who deemed the organisation not fit for purpose.


A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was found dead in a flat in Cardiff Bay.

Christine James, 65, was found dead by police on Wednesday, 2 March, after relatives became concerned about her whereabouts.
The man, 36, is currently in custody at Cardiff Bay Police Station.
South Wales Police has referred the matter voluntarily to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
A 66-year-old man who was arrested on Wednesday has been released on police bail.


Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock says they must improve their defence if they are to turn around their poor Championship form.

The Bluebirds are 20th in the table and have kept just two clean sheets in 22 league matches this season.
Their two games where they did not concede came in their 0-0 draws against Birmingham and Brighton respectively.
"Defending starts from the front and everyone has to come on board with that," Warnock told BBC Radio Wales.
"I am disappointed we don't have more clean-sheets, but I'm not surprised. I'll be disappointed in January if we don't get more.
Warnock's side face two away games during the festive period as they travel to Brentford on Boxing Day and in-form Brighton on 30 December.
"You don't win anything or go anywhere if you don't start defending better and keeping clean-sheets," Warnock continued.
"I'll be hoping we can start putting that to bed soon."


Aston Martin plans to broaden its range of cars to attract more female buyers as well as younger drivers.

New sportscars, a four-seater and a small SUV are in the pipeline as the UK company tries to reverse falling sales in the face of stiff competition from larger premium carmakers.
"The brand has to be relevant," chief executive Andy Palmer told a press conference at the Geneva Motor Show.
Aston Martin sales have fallen to about 4,000 from 7,300 in under a decade.
"Aston Martin must be less dependent on a narrow portfolio and one type of customer," Mr Palmer said.
The company's cars may be synonymous with James Bond, but the brand is a favourite among middle-aged sportscar enthusiasts.
Mr Palmer, recruited last year from Nissan to draw up a new strategy for loss-making Aston Martin, said he wants to make the company "relevant to a customer who would never before have considered buying an Aston Martin".
The investment in new vehicles would be the largest in the carmaker's 102-year history, he said, although no details have been released.
Mr Palmer's plans are ambitious, as he hopes to take sales of the core sportscar models back up to about 7,000. However, he said sales would be capped at this level to retain Aston Martin's exclusivity.
Aston Martin underlined its new strategy by unveiling its DBX concept car. It would be the first all-electric, four-wheel drive Aston Martin.
Mr Palmer said that when Aston's design team set to work on the new DBX they had in mind a customer who was a young lady, American - and rich. What's more, the designers dubbed this fictitious customer "Charlotte".
"She's an attractive lady, cool, in her 30s," Mr Palmer said.
It meant that the interior and ergonomics of the new car had to be slightly different than if the designers were targeting a man. "Of course, we will see a lot of guys buying the car as well. But the DBX is about reaching a new market."
The carmaker also showcased its long-awaited Vulcan, a racetrack-only car that will cost more than Â£1.5m. Mr Palmer said only 24 Vulcans would be made.


At least 41 construction workers are missing after a landslide buried their dormitory under rocks and mud in China, state media report.

The landslide hit early on Sunday at a site in Fujian province's Taining county, where a hydropower project was being built, Xinhua news agency said.
The landslide is believed to have been triggered by heavy rain.
China's president and prime minister both called for an all-out effort to save the missing men.
Officials said on Sunday evening that more than 600 rescuers were at the scene, using sniffer dogs, specialist equipment and heavy excavator vehicles.
Thirteen injured people are in hospital in a stable condition, Xinhua reported.
The agency said rainfall in the Taining region had been 35% higher than average this year. In the 24 hours before the landslide, 215.7mm of rain fell in the area around the construction site.


Researchers in Chicago have produced a visualisation of how they think a Renoir could have looked before its colours faded.

The picture of Madame Valentine Clapisson was painted by the great French Impressionist more than 130 years ago.
The original's impact has been degraded and dulled by the action of light.
But by using the latest analytical tools, conservators have been able to recover a sense of Renoir's rich reds.
"When we first brought this picture into the conservation studio for examination and removed the frame, we noticed that at the top and at the left-hand side there was a sliver of very intense colour," recalls Dr Francesca Casadio from The Art Institute of Chicago.
"This tipped us off to the fact that the mood of this painting that is now pretty cool and restrained with light purples and blues was once far more vibrant," she told BBC News.
Dr Casadio was speaking here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
She and other specialists in her field have been discussing the technologies they now use to investigate and restore artworks.
The visualisation of Madame Clapisson was produced after subjecting tiny samples of paint from the 1883 canvas to a technique known as Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS).
Pigments fade over time as the molecular structures responsible for colour are broken down through exposure to light.
SERS enables researchers to pick out even the smallest fragment of intact structure and determine its molecular composition.  This was done with tiny samples taken from the newly uncovered edges of the canvas.
Dr Casadio's and colleague's investigation showed that the picture we see today has lost the impact of Renoir's use of the carmine lake, or cochineal, pigment.
Extracted from the bodies of certain insects, this crimson colour should dominate the scene around Madame Clapisson.
"The manuals from the 19th Century were already warning artists that carmine lake was a 'fugitive pigment'; it wasn't a permanent colour. And yet, the artists clearly loved it because they continued to use it over and over again even though they had more stable options available to them," Dr Casadio explained.
The study has allowed the conservation scientist to make a compelling computer visualisation of what Renoir originally saw when he stood back after signing his name on the completed canvass.  Is it exactly the same?
"We can't quite say that," said Dr Casadio, who acknowledges that the mixing of pigments on a palette does not have the certainty of scientific equations.
"We can get very close to the tip of the brush of Renoir because we know the exact chemical mixture he used, but then if you and I were to make a cake with the same ingredients it may not taste or look quite the same."
Northwestern University chemist Prof Richard Van Duyne pioneered SERS. He said the Renoir demonstrated why the Raman technique was fast becoming an invaluable tool for studying artworks: "You get tremendous information about the origins of the painting, the techniques of the artist, an understanding of the fading mechanism, and the ability to restore the painting."
The picture of Valentine Clapisson was actually Pierre-Auguste Renoir's second attempt at capturing a portrait of his subject.
Initially, Valentine, the wife of Paris stockbroker Leon Clapisson, was depicted taking tea in a rose garden. But neither the artist nor the client was happy with the outcome and so the subject was moved indoors.
An exhibition based on the research opened this week at The Art Institute of Chicago.
The original picture is known as "Madame Leon Clapisson", 1883. Oil on canvas, 81.2 Ã— 65.3 cm, Mr and Mrs Martin A Ryerson Collection. Digital recolourisation by Kelly Keegan, Conservation department, The Art Institute of Chicago
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


Tickets for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 in Belfast sold out in 35 minutes - the quickest sell-out since the show went on the road in 2006.

Taking place in Northern Ireland for the first time, this year's event is live at The SSE Arena on 20 December.
Gary Lineker, Clare Balding and Gabby Logan will again present the show, which will be live on BBC One, the BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 live.
A limited number of extra tickets will be available closer to the event.
Carl Doran, the show's executive editor, said: "We are delighted that tickets for Sports Personality of the Year 2015 in Belfast have sold out so quickly.
"It's testament to the appeal of the show and for those who got tickets or choose to watch on BBC One, it's going to be a great evening of entertainment."
Logan added: "This has been a brilliant year for sport and we're all very much looking forward to celebrating it in Belfast.
"Sports Personality is always a great show and having had a sneak peek at this year's plans, it looks like the event is going to be one of the best yet."
The Sports Personality of the Year award will be determined by a public vote on the night with the 10-strong list of contenders selected by the following panel:
Media playback is not supported on this device
Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton won last year's Sports Personality of the Year award in Glasgow, taking 34% of the 620,932 votes cast, with golfer Rory McIlroy second and athlete Jo Pavey third.
Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was named Overseas Personality of the Year, and the England women's rugby union team took the Team of the Year prize.
European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley won Coach of the Year, six-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy was honoured with a lifetime achievement award, and Young Sports Personality of the Year was given to gymnast Claudia Fragapane, who won four gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
This year's highpoints include both Northern Ireland and Wales reaching their first major football tournaments in decades, cyclist Chris Froome claiming his second yellow jersey in the Tour de France and England finishing third in the Women's World Cup.
Then there was Wayne Rooney becoming the Three Lions' top goalscorer, Great Britain reaching their first Davis Cup final since 1978, England's Ashes triumph and a Rugby World Cup taking place on British soil.
And let's not forget swimmer Adam Peaty setting a new world record at the World Swimming Championships, Hamilton's continued excellence in Formula 1, and Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford all winning gold medals at the World Athletics Championships.
Sports Personality Roll of Honour: Every winner from 1954-2014


Less than a quarter of UK online adults use ad blocking software, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).

The figures have remained at around 22% for the last year, it suggested.
The IAB puts this down to publishers increasingly denying access to users who have ad blockers turned on.
Charlotte Palfrey, from analysts Ovum, said that 22% was not "an insignificant amount" and called on advertisers to up their game.
Ad blocking programs are designed to protect consumers from intrusive web ads that slow down browsers and vacuum up personal data.
Some believed that there would be a big rise in the number of people using ad blockers, after a series of firms, including Apple and Samsung, allowed the apps on their mobile browsers. Mobile service provider Three trialled a block on advertising for a day during the summer.
Web businesses said such software could seriously damage the digital economy. The IAB has said that ad-funded model of free web content was "under threat".
"The continued rise in ad blocking that some predicted simply hasn't materialised," said the IAB UK's chief executive Jon Mew.
"A key reason is publishers denying access to content to ad blockers which, in effect, has created that 'lightbulb' moment for people who realise that they cannot access free content without seeing the advertising that funds it. The industry has worked hard on promoting this "value exchange" and it's paying off."
Around 200 million people globally are estimated to use ad blocking apps such as Adblock Plus, AdFender and Popup Blocker Po.
Ms Palfrey said that publishers had to respond with more engaging ads.
"You quite often get chased around the internet by a pair of shoes that you have already bought and that's the type of thing that really annoys people.
"When you read a magazine, adverts are part of the experience but no-one has ever got excited about an internet advertising campaign."
According to the report, conducted by YouGov which interviewed 2,018 adults, one in five of those who have downloaded ad blockers do not currently use them.
Piers North, strategy director at Trinity Mirror, acknowledged that publishers must "continue our attempts to balance the often competing requirements of what brands and agencies value, with the experience that we would want to deliver for our users in order to invest in professional content".
"This is especially important in an era where advertisers are increasingly demanding quality inventory and society is more and more concerned with the provenance of content and news."


The government is preparing for the possibility of presidential hopeful Donald Trump visiting the UK before the US elections, the BBC has learned.

Diplomats expect Mr Trump to come after his formal nomination as the Republican candidate in July.
Relations between the UK government and Mr Trump are not good, and the prime minister and Mr Trump have clashed.
No request or offer has been made but most presidential nominees travel to show off their diplomatic credentials.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron says Mr Trump's plan to ban Muslims from the US is stupid and wrong. The presumptive Republican nominee says he and the prime minister are not going to have a good relationship.
In December, Mr Cameron said: "I think his remarks are divisive, stupid and wrong and I think if he came to visit our country I think it'd unite us all against him."
Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday, Mr Trump said: "It looks like we're not going to have a very good relationship, who knows.
"I hope to have a good relationship with him, but it sounds like he's not willing to address the problem either."
But that is not stopping ministers and diplomats quietly preparing for Mr Trump to visit the UK in the coming months.
The mood in Whitehall is that the government must now prepare for the possibility that Mr Trump could be the next US president and efforts need to be made to repair relations with the millionaire property magnate.
In 2012, the then Republican nominee Mitt Romney visited the UK and caused some offence by suggesting Britain was not ready for the Olympic Games.
On Tuesday, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan invited Mr Trump to visit him and his family in London to learn about Islam.
He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "If I can educate the presumptive Republican presidential nominee about Islam, I'm happy to do so."
Government sources say they have been struggling for months to convince parts of Whitehall to take Mr Trump seriously. And they say it is possible his potential rival, Hillary Clinton, could face indictment over the alleged use of private email for government business.
One source described Mr Trump as a political tsunami sweeping up blue collar workers, while Mrs Clinton had not tried to do anything different.
So diplomats are now trying to build a relationship with Mr Trump's team and get ready for the moment they come to the UK.
A petition advocating a ban on Mr Trump coming to the UK after his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering US following the San Bernardino shootings in California in December attracted 574,000 signatures.
In a Commons debate, Labour MP Paul Flynn said barring him from the UK risked being seen as anti-American, but SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh said a ban would be justified on the grounds of "religious harmony".


Rescue teams searching for earthquake survivors in central Italy have asked locals to unlock their wi-fi passwords.

The Italian Red Cross says residents' home networks can assist with communications during the search for survivors.
On Wednesday a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck central Italy and killed more than 240 people.
More than 4,300 rescuers are looking for survivors believed to still be trapped in the rubble.
On Twitter, the Italian Red Cross posted a step-by-step guide which explains how local residents can switch off their wi-fi network encryption.
Similar requests have been made by the National Geological Association and Lazio Region.
A security expert has warned that removing encryption from a home wi-fi network carries its own risks, but added that those concerns are trivial in the context of the rescue operation.
"If someone gets on your wi-fi network, what they do from that point onwards would be appearing as if they were you," said Dr Joss Wright, a research fellow at the University of Oxford Internet Institute.
Dr Wright told the BBC that, once given access to a user's wi-fi network, a person potentially has access to certain devices and files.
"But frankly, in a situation like this, those concerns are outweighed by the emergency need," he added.
The 6.2-magnitude quake hit at 03:36 local time (01:36 GMT) on Wednesday, 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, where some tremors were felt after the quake.
"We are sleeping in the car and there were shocks all night. When the biggest one came, the car started moving and shaking," said Monica, a survivor from Amatrice.
A tented camp has been set up, because so many buildings are now unsafe.


The State Department has said a $400m (£300.8m) cash payment to Iran was used as "leverage" in the release of five US prisoners.

Spokesman John Kirby maintained the payment was negotiated separately from the release, but said it was withheld until the Americans had left Iran.
Five Americans held in Iran were released in January in exchange for seven detained Iranians.
The US airlifted $400m (£300.8m) worth of cash to Iran on the same day.
The exchange came as the US lifted international sanctions against Iran as part of the country's historic nuclear deal.
The timing of both incidents has prompted an outcry from Republicans, who accused the Obama administration of quid pro quo.
The White House, however, has pushed back on claims that the US paid a ransom for the release of the prisoners, saying the money was part of a longstanding financial dispute with Iran from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"We were able to conclude multiple strands of diplomacy within a 24-hour period," Mr Kirby told reporters. "We deliberately leveraged that moment."
Mr Kirby's comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported that the release of the cash depended on the departure in Iran of the prisoners' plane.
The newspaper reported that US officials allegedly would not let a plane containing the cash in Geneva leave for Iran until a Swiss Air Force plane with the three of the US citizens on board left Tehran.
Mr Kirby reaffirmed the White House claim that the payment was part of $1.7bn (£1.2bn) owed to Iran in a military equipment deal made with the US-backed Shah in the 1970s.
The equipment was never delivered before the Shah was overthrown in 1979.
President Barack Obama had agreed to return the $400m (£300.8m) with $1.3bn ((£987m) in interest.
Mr Kirby added the US had "concerns" that Iran may recant on its pledge to return the prisoners, which is why it waited to release the payment.
"It would have been foolish, imprudent and irresponsible for us not to try and maintain maximum leverage," he said, according to ABC News.
"So if you're asking me was there a connection in that regard in the end game? I'm not going to deny that."
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk, chairman of the Senate Banking national security subcommittee, is demanding congressional hearings on the isse.
This, he said, was "the only way for the American people to fully known whether their tax dollars went directly to Iran's terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps".
Republican party chairman Reince Priebus also released a statement to ABC News on the latest revelation.
"It's time for the Obama White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a $400 million ransom to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," Mr Priebus said.


A former priest has been found guilty of assault to injury of a pupil at a former Catholic boarding school at Fort Augustus in the 1970s and 1980s.

The jury in Father Benedict Seed's trial found five other charges not proven by a majority.
The 83-year-old, who appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court under the name Thomas Michael Seed, belted Paul Curran on the wrists until he bled.
Seed, of Brora, denied all the charges against him. He has been fined Â£1,000.
Mr Curran, now a 50-year-old businessman living in Hong Kong, told the jury at Inverness Sheriff Court that he had dreams of being "hunted" by Seed for the five years he attended the now closed Fort Augustus Abbey school in the Highlands.
He said he was belted with a leather tawse which left his hands and wrists bleeding, swollen and bruised after being caught swearing.
Seed, was a housemaster before being promoted to headmaster at the school, told the court that "housemasters gave corporal punishment".
But he said caning was "very rare" and belting "pretty rare".


A UK university is suspending accreditation for courses at a Ugandan university, in response to proposed legislation against homosexuality.

The University of Buckingham says it has been "increasingly concerned" about a proposed anti-gay bill in Uganda and its "constraints on freedom of speech".
As such the university says it will no longer validate courses at Victoria University in Kampala.
Buckingham says it will make "viable arrangements" for existing students.
The private UK university says the decision has been agreed with Edulink, the Dubai-based owners of Victoria University.
A statement from Victoria University says that the university cannot comply with the conflicting legal requirements of both Uganda and the UK on prohibiting discrimination.
"There are fundamental differences between the two nations' respective laws regarding equality and diversity, which cannot be reconciled."
As a result the Ugandan university says the partnership with Buckingham has been suspended.
The University of Buckingham says it will mean the suspension of accreditation for seven courses, affecting around 200 students.
The courses include business management, accounting, journalism and computing.
The acting vice chancellor of Victoria University, David Young, says the university will continue with two other courses - nursing science and public health - which are not validated by Buckingham.
"Victoria University is making every effort to transfer students on the 'Buckingham' courses to Middlesex University Dubai, or to University of Buckingham in the UK, or to another university," says Dr Young.
Victoria University was opened in autumn 2011 by Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, and the university's chancellor is former prime minister of Uganda, Apolo Nsibambi.
The opening ceremony was attended by Andrew Mitchell, who was then the UK's international development secretary, and Tim Yeo MP, who has advised the university on "academic standards", according to the register of members' financial interests.
The agreement with the University of Buckingham had been seen as a way of delivering UK higher education to students in east Africa.
A growing number of universities in the UK have links with overseas universities, or else have set up branch campuses.
But the suspension of the partnership highlights the ethical conflicts that can arise when such university values are exported.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda - but the controversial proposed bill would increase the penalties.
The bill proposes longer jail terms for homosexual acts, including a life sentence in certain circumstances.
International leaders, including US President Barack Obama, have condemned the proposals.


A school is buying in healthy organic food and selling it on to parents in a bid to tackle obesity.

Food boxes, which the school says can feed a family of four for a week, are being put together by the chef at Hillstone Primary in Birmingham.
Head teacher Gillian Sparrow said the idea came following concerns about childhood obesity.
The Shard End ward, where the school is based, has high levels of childhood obesity.
See more stories from across Birmingham and the Black Country here
Head teacher Gillian Sparrow, said: "We are concerned about childhood obesity, as many schools are, so we wanted to encourage healthy eating in the community."
The school buys in extra ingredients and sells them on directly to parents. Around 15 have taken part so far.
Boxes cost Â£22 and contain ingredients for five meals.
Meals are devised by catering manager Matthew Knight and have included cottage pie, chicken pie and chicken burritos.
Ms Sparrow said it was hoped the scheme would "transform the children's eating habits" as well as save money for parents.
She added: "It's going well and growing."
Across the West Midlands, one in four pupils are overweight or obese by the time they start primary school. That number has gone up to one in three by the time they leave.


The Miami Dolphins American football team owner Stephen Ross is reportedly working with investors from Qatar to buy a stake in Formula 1 racing.

RSE Ventures and Qatar Sports Investments plan a bid for CVC Capital Partners' 35.5% stake in the holding company that owns F1.
The Financial Times and Reuters said the deal could be worth up to $8bn, and help build F1's presence in the US.
CVC declined to comment, while RSE said "we can't comment at this time".
RSE was founded by property billionaire Ross, whose company has been in talks with ex-England footballer David Beckham about bringing a Major League Soccer team to Miami.
F1 currently only has one race in the United States on its calendar, in Texas.
But the sport may have a better chance of building a stronger American presence with the backing of a businessman already established in the US sports industry.
CVC, whose interests in F1 are looked after by Bernie Ecclestone, has been F1's biggest shareholder for about a decade, although in the last few years it has reduced its stake. In 2012, CVC came close to floating the sport's holding company on the Singapore stock market.
The firm has also held talks with US-based Liberty Media and Discovery Communications about a sale.
Reuters said that CVC and the potential bidding consortium have appointed investment banks to advise on a deal, suggesting that talks could be at an advanced stage.
Qatar Sports Investments, which own the Paris St-Germain football club, was not available for comment.


Dog owners in Conwy county who take their pets to off-limit beaches will be issued with advice instead of on-the-spot fines.

Dog wardens will only issue fines to owners who ignore requests to remove their pet or put it on a lead.
A council meeting heard an elderly lady was reluctant to walk her dog after receiving a fine.
Cllr Mike Priestley told the meeting: "She doesn't want to go out with her dog any more.  Surely that's not good."
Private company Kingdom Security will continue to patrol dog control and dog exclusion areas.


People in their early 30s are half as wealthy as those now in their 40s were at the same age, a report finds.

Today's 30-something generation has missed out on house price increases and better pensions, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Those born in the early 1980s have an average wealth of Â£27,000 each, against the Â£53,000 those born in the 1970s had by the same age, said the IFS.
They will also find it harder to amass wealth in the future, it added.
The think tank found that people born in the early 1980s were the first post-war group not to have higher incomes in early adulthood than those born in the preceding decade.
"This is partly the result of the overall stagnation of working-age incomes," it said. "But it also reflects the fact that the great recession hit the pay and employment of young adults the hardest."
Jessica Lucas, 27
A lot of my friends can't find a way to get a deposit for a house. A lot of them are struggling - working full time, sometimes working two jobs - and that's just to rent.
Renting alone is causing us a lot of trouble to save up for a house, so I don't know how we're going to get out of the vicious cycle of renting to then own.
Adam Snape, 36
For pretty much everyone I know around my age it's hard to get a house. Everyone was spending on credit cards that were limitless and people could get another one and another one.
People didn't think they needed a plan really.
What is the norm now is renting. It's getting a lot more like Europe. It's becoming a bit of a daydream that people can buy a house.
"It looks like those born in the early 1980s are likely to find it harder than their predecessors to build up wealth in housing and pensions as they age," said report author Andrew Hood.
"They have much lower home-ownership rates in early adulthood than any other post-war cohort, and - outside the public sector - have much less access to generous defined benefit pension schemes than previous generations did at the same age."
"Wealth" as defined by the IFS includes property, savings and investments, and money held in private pensions - minus any debts a person may have such as student loans or credit cards.
By Simon Gompertz, personal finance correspondent
There is plenty to celebrate for younger generations: better health, longer lives, more interesting food, travel and technology.
But there is no avoiding the financial hit which thirty-somethings have suffered as latecomers to the property and pensions game.
It's as if they had sat down to a Monopoly binge on a rainy afternoon, only to be told they couldn't collect Â£200 on passing go and couldn't have any houses of their own.
They could only rent.
What does the future hold if you are in your early 30s?
There is little sign of the situation getting any better. Property prices remain out of reach for many. Few have the gold-plated pensions of yesteryear.
The worst case scenario is the thought of millions reaching old age, still renting, with paltry savings and more likely to turn to the state for support.
Campbell Robb, housing charity Shelter's chief executive, said: "With sky-high house prices so out of step with average wages, it's no wonder a whole generation are being priced out of a home of their own and left with no choice but expensive, unstable private renting.
"At Shelter we see the impact of our chronic shortage of affordable homes every day, with thousands of people forking out most of their income on rent and left living from one pay cheque to the next."
Laura Gardiner, from the Resolution Foundation think tank which works to improve the living standards of those in the UK, said this was not just a problem for the 30-something generation - often referred to as Millennials.
"If we have far higher proportions of pensioners renting in years to come this is going to put a far higher cost on the state to support them through things like housing benefit - this is an individual and collective problem," she said.
She also said there were other knock-on impacts, for example young people with unsecured debt were much less likely to take risks in the labour market.


Welsh sailor Alex Thomson has taken the lead back from French rival Armel Le Cleac'h in the Vendee Globe.

Media playback is not supported on this device
Thomson had led for the majority of the race but Le Cleac'h took over when the Welshman suffered a damaged foil after hitting an object.
The Gosport-based sailor regained the lead north of the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean on 30 November.
The 42-year-old broke two race records prior to being overtaken, as he reached the Cape of Good Hope in record time.
After 25 days, the 29 yachts that started have been cut to 25 with almost 4,850 nautical miles gone.
The solo non-stop round-the-world race started on the west coast of France on 6 November. The winner is expected back in port around 20 January.
The Vendée Globe takes place every four years and Thomson is aiming to become the first British sailor to win the race.
Since the first race in 1989, only 71 of 138 starters have completed the voyage, which is known for being one of the most gruelling sporting challenges in the world.


The price of oil is hovering at a four-and-a-half month high amid concerns over disruption to supplies from the Middle East.

Brent crude oil is at $65.37 per barrel and has gained around $9 since March.
A slowdown in US shale oil production and the conflict in Yemen have been cited as the main reasons for the rise in the oil price in recent weeks.
It comes as BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil are expected to report sharp falls in first quarter earnings this week.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "Overall we are in an upwards trend and we do appear to have found a short-term base. There's a good chance we could see $70 a barrel [for Brent] over the course of the next month or so."
While Yemen itself is not among the biggest oil producers in the Middle East, Gulf producers ship oil along the Gulf of Aden on Yemen's southern coast and through the narrow straits of Bab el-Mandeb, between Yemen and Djibouti.
As a result fighting in the region could create log jams in delivery.
Over the next few days the oil majors BP, Shell and Exxon are set to report results and city analysts are forecasting falls of more than 60% in profits, compared with the same three month period a year earlier.
That comes as a direct result of falling oil prices, which were more than 50% lower in the first three months of 2015 compared with the same time last year.
All seven major global oil firms are forecast to report a year-on-year decline in income of around 57%, according to analysts at Jefferies.
Analysts at Barclays bank cautioned against undue optimism over oil prices, which are still $50 per barrel below their previous high of $115 per barrel last August.
"Sustaining the recent oil price rally requires firmer demand and a tangible supply response," they said in a note.
"The cart is moving ahead of the horse, and we take a cautious view on further price appreciation over the near term."
Separately, UK government officials warned off any potential suitor for BP ahead of the release of its first quarter results on Tuesday.
A senior City source was quoted by the Financial Times newspaper as saying the government "would make their opposition so clear that any foreign bidder would be deterred from actually making a bid."
A poor set of results might make BP vulnerable to a takeover from one of its rivals. But the final bill for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill off the US coast in 2010 and the firm's exposure to Russia through its Rosneft business could deter would-be suitors.
Earlier this month Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group announced a Â£47bn merger. Should it receive regulatory approval the deal would be one of the biggest of 2015 and could produce a company with a value of more than Â£200bn.


There were no fog sensors on a stretch of the M40 at which a fatal crash involving more than 30 cars occurred, an inquest heard.

Robert Pilott, 65, of Woking, Surrey, died following the pile-up between junction nine and 10 on the northbound M40 in Oxfordshire in February.
The Oxfordshire coroner said he would write to Highways England about the issue of fog sensors.
Thames Valley Police has said no drivers will face criminal proceedings.
The inquest heard how drivers on a stretch of the motorway near Weston-on-the-Green hurtled into each other at 70mph at 07:45 GMT on Saturday 14 February.
Collision investigator Terry Anderson said weather conditions on the day were "exceptional".
He said: "The fog was patchy but then came on suddenly and they would have only had about a second to respond.
"There is no fog detection equipment between junctions nine and 10 of the M40, which would be needed for the matrix signs to warn of fog."
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, coroner Darren Salter said he would be writing to Highways England to see if there is a case for a fog detector and if it is being reviewed.
A Highways England spokesperson said: "Safety is a top priority and we keep safety on our network continually under review. We will support any review the coroner requests."
A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: "A thorough and complex investigation has concluded and no criminal proceedings will be taken against any of the drivers involved."
The motorway was closed northbound for more than eight hours after the crash in which six people were seriously injured and 55 had minor injuries.


Shaun Murphy says "genius" Ronnie O'Sullivan's "weird" decision not to defend his UK Championship title will not reduce the event's importance.

Five-time world champion O'Sullivan, 39, has not played a competitive match since the World Championship in April.
World number four Murphy told BBC Sport: "It's a shame for the event and fans who bought tickets way in advance.
"Ronnie is an absolute genius on the table. But we know trying to predict his decisions is a waste of time."
O'Sullivan has not retired and says he still wants a place in the sport when he works out what that is.
Murphy, one of only 10 men to to have won snooker's 'Big Three' of World Championship, UK Championship and Masters, added: "It's a bit weird for a defending champion not to want to defend their title.
"But as with all geniuses, they walk a very thin line.
"It is very hard to understand some of the decisions he makes. But I am sure he has his reasons, and his reasons are private and personal to him - and who is to say he is wrong?
"He could come back after the new year, play in all the events and win all of them left-handed. Let's hope he makes a return as soon as possible."
But 33-year-old Murphy, who faces local amateur Ashley Hugill in his first-round match on Wednesday, said it was "insulting to the rest of the tour" to say O'Sullivan's absence would have a big impact on the event in York.
"One man doesn't make a game. Snooker is much bigger than Ronnie O'Sullivan," Murphy said. "Certainly when he is in the events it adds a certain sparkle to the tournament because he is the most naturally gifted player we have ever seen.
"It's a bit like when golf doesn't have one of the big names in it. Tiger Woods missed out on a few events a few years ago and they said golf doesn't have the same razzamatazz.
"But golf seems to have gone on and done OK and I think snooker will too."
Media playback is not supported on this device


Leyton Orient captain Liam Kelly has been banned for six games by the Football Association for pushing over a ball boy in Tuesday's win at Plymouth.

Argyle reported the midfielder, 27, to the FA after the incident in the 86th minute of the game.
It was not seen by the match officials at the time, but was caught on video.
Kelly denied the violent conduct charge but the FA found him guilty and ruled that the standard three-match ban was "clearly insufficient".


Wales' next top civil servant will play an "integral role" in getting the best deal for the nation as the UK leaves the European Union, a job advert says.

Sir Derek Jones is stepping down as permanent secretary to the Welsh Government after four years.
An advert for the Â£160,000-a-year job said it was a "pivotal role" supporting ministers as they "work through the critical implications" of Brexit.
"Solid commercial abilities" are also stressed as an advantage.
Sir Derek announced his decision to leave in April, before the assembly election in May, saying he would go after ensuring "a new first minister and cabinet hit the ground running".
The advert for his replacement reflects the change in the political landscape following the referendum vote in June for Brexit and the concerns of Welsh businesses over trade deals.
"It is an exciting time to join the Welsh Government as it prepares to launch a new programme for government and work through the critical implications of withdrawal from the EU," it says.
"As permanent secretary, you will play an integral role in ensuring that the Welsh Government represents Wales' interest in emerging UK trade negotiations and in positioning Welsh business to exploit new markets and opportunities as they arise.
"If you have the energy and resilience to lead through the challenges ahead and deliver change in a complex organisation, if you have solid commercial abilities, and if you are, or have the potential to be, a highly confident and inspiring operator in the complex devolved and Whitehall environs, then we very much hope you will consider this role."
The post is advertised as being for five years, with a closing date in September and final interviews due to take place in October.


A service which provides clean needles to drug addicts in Belfast has seen visits to its facility double.

The figures, from the Needle Exchange Programme in Belfast, show an increase in visits from 7,500 in 2012 to just under 15,000.
Because heroin is illegal, it is difficult to get a true picture of the number of users.
There are 18 needle-exchange facilities across Northern Ireland with plans to open three more early next year.
A mother from Belfast has told BBC News NI about the moment she learned her 17-year-old daughter had overdosed on heroin.
"It was just after seven at night that I got the call from the Royal to say she had been brought in by ambulance - could I come down," she said.
"It was terrible - I just looked at her and then I texted her daddy and said 'I think you need to be here'.  I definitely thought we were going to lose her.
"That night it seemed like there was a wee bit of a breakthrough, because she was crying and telling us that she didn't want to die and that she needed to get off this and she needed help.
"I wanted to hit her. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to shout at the doctor.  I wanted to shout at her - but I just sat there I didn't open my mouth."
The woman said her daughter had been battling mental health issues from the age of 13 and started abusing drugs in her early teens.
"She started to get very aggressive very quickly.  She was self-harming.  It took over my life from then - I was constantly searching her room for knives," she said.
Her family has struggled to get help for her and her mother says she feels let down by the system.
The girl told her mother that a man injected her with heroin before she learned to do it for herself.
"I just feel numb.  I lost my feelings a good couple of years ago now from all the trauma," the mother explained.
"I'm worried that she'll end up dead.
"Everyday I wake up thinking: 'Is this the day we get the call to say that she's dead?"
The Public Health Agency (PHA) says it is closely monitoring heroin use in Belfast.
The Belfast Trust was contacted for a comment on the issue of drug users accessing mental health services but declined to comment.


Former manager Gary Locke is sure Kilmarnock can move away from the bottom end of the Scottish Premiership.

Locke resigned on 30 January following a 1-0 home defeat to Hamilton, with the Ayrshire club occupying the relegation play-off place.
But Locke is proud of the work he did developing young players and believes the team can salvage their season.
"I'm more than confident that the squad of players they have is good enough to get them out of trouble," he said.
"Looking at the league table, it's very tight. If the club get a couple of wins then they can get themselves up the league.
"I'm hopeful that they can kick on and finish well."
Following a spell as assistant to Allan Johnston, Locke, 40, was put in temporary charge in February 2015 and signed a three-year contract in April.
He won 11 of his 43 games in charge.
"It was a big decision," he said of his resignation on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "I just felt that, for me, it was the right thing to do.
"It was frustrating. You'd go and get a great result at Parkhead and then the following week you'd lose four or five goals.
"It went from one extreme to another and, as the manager, you've got to take responsibility for that.
"Looking back, you'd maybe do one or two things differently.
"Certainly, off the pitch, a lot of things people don't see, needed to be improved.
"They didn't have any sport scientist or a gym at the stadium and I thought that was important, certainly for the younger players.
"One positive I can take from my time there is that I put a lot of young players into the team and a lot of them have done well.
"I could have maybe brought in a couple more players rather than helping the club off the pitch.
"But I thought it was only right to address those issues and those young players are fitter and stronger than they were this time last year."
Locke spent the last seven years of his playing career at Kilmarnock, leaving in 2009, and notices a big difference in the financial climate.
"When I played, Kilmarnock spent a lot of money and we regularly finished in the top six," he said.
"The board were great to me and they want what's best for the club but they simply don't have the money that they used to have.
"I think maybe expectation levels need to be looked at.
"But, with the players they've got, they should be in a position to challenge for the top six and if you look at the table they can still do that."


European Ryder Cup hero Christy O'Connor Jnr has died suddenly in Spain at the age of 67.

The Irishman helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup at the Belfry in 1989 when his two-iron approach at the last sealed a singles win over Fred Couples.
O'Connor won four European Tour titles including his Irish Open triumph at Woodbrook in 1975.
That victory helped secure a Ryder Cup spot that year and he played in the competition again 14 years later.
The Galway man won two Senior British Open titles and also earned victories on the Champions Tour in the US.
His legendary uncle Christy O'Connor Snr, who is now 91, played in 10 Ryder Cups and came close to winning the Open Championship on a couple of occasions.
O'Connor Jnr passed away while on holiday with his wife Ann in Tenerife.
Like his famous uncle, O'Connor Jnr starting playing golf in his native Galway and he turned professional while still in his teens in 1967.
O'Connor's breakthrough season on the European Tour came eight years later when his tied victory with Ian Stanley in the Martini International and Irish Open triumph secured his Ryder Cup place.
After a period of struggle in the late 1970s, O'Connor regained his form in the following decade and finished in a share of third place in the 1985 Open after leading the field following an opening 64 at Royal St George's.
Media playback is not supported on this device
The Irishman was a controversial omission from the Ryder Cup team in 1985 after narrowly missing out on automatic selection.
However, European captain Tony Jacklin selected the then 41-year-old Irishman as one of his wild card picks in 1989 and the skipper's decision was vindicated by O'Connor's vital singles win over Couples.
His fourth and final European Tour triumph came at the British Masters at Woburn in 1992 and a successful Senior Tour career followed on both sides of the Atlantic.
O'Connor also forged a career as a golf course architect with over 30 projects throughout Europe.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said that O'Connor's death would be a "source of great sadness to all golfing fans in Ireland and across Europe".
"I knew Christy personally and he loved and lived life to the full," said the Irish Taoiseach.
Irish President Michael D Higgins described O'Connor as an "iconic figure in golf".
"Christy represented his country and its people on the international stage with distinction, dignity and great humour," added the Irish President, who is also a Galway native.
"He will be missed by not only his sporting colleagues, but also by his community, and in particular by his friends.
"We will miss his warm personality, his generosity and his great resilience of spirit."
Former European Tour chief executive Ken Schofield said the Irishman was "every amateur's dream as the perfect pro-am partner, on and off the golf course".
"For everyone involved with the Tour and the game of golf, Christy will be remembered as a gentleman spirit," said the ex-European Tour chief.


Deutsche Telekom has confirmed up to 900,000 customers have had their broadband service cut off following a possible hack of its hardware.

That figure had now fallen to 400,000 as security measures had been implemented, the German company said.
But Reuters reported some affected customers may still be unable to make contact in order to report the problem.
Internet access, phone connections and TV reception for those with a certain router have been affected since Sunday.
"There is no error pattern: some customers are experiencing temporary problems or very marked fluctuations in quality, but there are also customers for whom the service is not working at all," Deutsche Telekom said in a statement on its website.
"Based on the error pattern, we cannot exclude the possibility that the routers have been targeted by external parties with the result that they can no longer register on the network."
There was no apparent geographical pattern either, Deutsche Telekom said, but there appeared to be more people affected in cities because they had a larger concentration of customers.
The company, which has 20 million customers in Germany, has issued a software update and is asking affected customers to disconnect their routers.


A row over Twitter messages claiming to be from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has caused confusion over who is writing the accounts in his name.

On Wednesday, a message from one such account wished Jews a happy new year.
Officials were then quoted as saying that he did not have a Twitter account.
However, messages posted on the account in question have thus far been in line with official announcements, prompting speculation that they may be the work of people close to him.
In addition, the fact that Mr Rouhani congratulated Jews on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah would not necessarily be controversial, correspondents say.
Iran has a Jewish community of up to about 30,000, according to some estimates, though much lower than the population which numbered about 80,000 prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The semi-official Fars news agency quoted an official in Mr Rouhani's office as saying: "Mr Rouhani does not have a Twitter account".
Mohammad Reza Sadeq added that during the recent election campaign, some of Mr Rouhani's supporters opened various online accounts using his name and "some of these... may still be active".
However, another message appeared on Thursday morning, also sending Jews greetings on the occasion, this time on a Farsi-language account under Mr Rouhani's name.
Twitter and other social media sites such as Facebook are banned in Iran but can be accessed via proxy servers.
The fact that Twitter is blocked in Iran means that if someone in Mr Rouhani's circle is indeed behind the accounts, he can always officially deny messages that cause controversy, BBC Persian's Rana Rahimpour reports.
Correction 10 September: The estimated size of Iran's Jewish community has been amended in this story.


The latest tragedy to hit Bangladesh's ready-made garments industry has once again brought the power and influence of the industry into sharp focus.

The collapse of Rana Plaza, an eight-storey building which housed five garment factories, is not the first incident of its kind.
Back in 2005, a similar building collapsed in the same town, leaving 64 garments workers dead. The factory owner was arrested but did not serve any time in prison.
Since then, there have been fires, stampedes and other incidents at various garment factories, causing hundreds of deaths.
Most recently, more than 100 workers perished in a fire at Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia, a township close to Dhaka where hundreds of factories are located.
In most of the incidents, the deaths were preventable. Often, workers could not escape because exits were locked.
"In my view, 50% of garment factories are located on premises which are not safe," said senior government official Mainuddin Khondker, who headed a task force to inspect garments factories following last November's fire at Tazreen Fashions.
But in the same interview with the BBC's Bengali service, Mr Khondker admitted no action had ever been taken against a factory for violation of safety rules, inadequate fire safety or, indeed, against landlords for violation of building codes.
The garments industry appears to be wrapped in a culture of impunity.
Factory owners and senior officials of the industry body - the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) - deny allegations that they get away with murder.
"This is a big sector, we have over 5,000 factories," said Siddiqur Rahman, a former senior vice-president of BGMEA.
"Accidents can happen, many fire incidents result from short circuits. But there should not be any deaths, they can be avoided through proper training," he told the BBC.
There is a good reason why the ready-made garments sector is treated as the sacred cow of Bangladesh's economy.
From a humble beginning in the early 1980s, the industry has grown into a $20bn business that accounts for nearly 80% of the country's export earnings.
But more importantly perhaps for this poor, conservative Muslim nation, the industry has created jobs for four million workers, four-fifths of whom are women.
Millions of young girls from poor families have found jobs in this industry, helping them to break out of a life of dependency and grinding poverty.
But the country is paying a high price for this.
Syed Sultanuddin Ahmed, executive director at the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), says the fast growth of the industry has outpaced other institutions.
In pictures: Rescue effort
Despite being built up by investors as well as workers with strong state support, Mr Ahmed says there is propaganda that the industry owes its success to the entrepreneurs alone.
"As this industry is creating jobs and earning foreign exchange, the state has created an impression that the garments industry must not be touched," Mr Ahmed told the BBC.
In order to capture the lower end of the global market, successive governments have promoted Bangladesh as the source of cheap clothing.
Cheap labour, fiscal support such as duty-free import of fabrics and accessories, and new infrastructure to help smoother, quicker exports have helped the industry grow rapidly.
But the lure of quick dollars has attracted a whole range of cowboy operators who cut corners to drive costs further down.
The result is factories in unsafe buildings with poor safety measures.
The BGMEA vigorously defend its corner, denying members exploit workers or receive special protection from the government.
"Garments factories are no longer like they used to be," said BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim. "There are some poor ones and they will be closed down."
A former BGMEA president, Abdus Salam Murshedi, said the lowest wages offered to new starters by garment factories were better than most workplaces in Bangladesh.
"At least in the garments industry we are paying newcomers to work and learn. In other sectors, they have to pay their employers to work as apprentices," he said.
Big international brands continue to do business with the BGMEA because they are in the market for the cheap clothes Bangladesh can supply.
While the government treats the garments industry as a strategic asset to be protected at all costs, the BGMEA has worked to increase its own political muscle.
A number of factory owners have gone into politics, gaining seats in parliament, becoming ministers, with many BGMEA members joining the two major political parties.
Garments entrepreneurs are reputed to be some of the most generous financiers of political parties.
Optimists in Bangladesh feel the Rana Plaza tragedy could be the straw that will break the camel's back.
The high death toll and the criminal negligence that caused it may just be too much even for the Bangladesh government to ignore, especially in an election year.
In a few months, the governing Awami League and opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party will be slugging it out in the polls.
The big question is: Will the political parties respond to public outrage and finally bring negligent factory and building owners to book?
Or, after the dust has settled on yet another human tragedy at a garment factory, will it be business as usual?


An airport has taken down its passenger information website after a hacker breached security systems, claiming they were too lax.

Using a pseudonym of His Royal Gingerness (HRG), the hacker told the BBC he wanted to highlight the website's "vulnerability".
It only took him a few minutes to hack into the site, he said.
Norwich International Airport director Richard Pace condemned the hacking as a crime that police were investigating.
HRG pointed out that while he made his attack to see if he could gain access, a more maliciously-minded intruder could have done damage.
He claimed he knew of someone who had planned to plant a bomb hoax in the system over Christmas, but said he was able to prevent that from happening.
While Mr Pace said the information website was not linked to the airport's operations system, he acknowledged that removing it was a serious inconvenience to passengers.
He admitted malicious hackers could have planted a bomb hoax on the site.
The airport's operations director promised a robust replacement site - with more secure protocols and systems - would be operational within weeks.
In the meantime, passengers can get information by calling 01603 411923.
HRG, who asked not to be identified because he fears prosecution, said he hacked the site "to see if I could".
"I found I could do it and then contacted the airport to let them know," he said.
"It took me between two to three minutes to do this. I do this mostly to see what vulnerability there are in modern systems."


Inquiry findings into one of Wales' most notorious murders and the collapse of a trial of eight police officers have been passed to UK ministers.

Sex worker Lynette White, 20, was stabbed more than 50 times in a Cardiff docklands flat in 1988.
Three men had convictions for the killing quashed - but a trial of officers accused of perverting the course of justice was halted in 2011
The report will now be considered by Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
A Home Office spokesman said "questions still remain over why no one was found responsible for this appalling miscarriage of justice".
Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi and Stephen Miller - who became known as the Cardiff Three - were wrongly jailed for life in 1990 for the murder and freed in 1992 after their convictions were quashed.
In 2003, new DNA technology led South Wales Police to Ms White's real killer, Jeffrey Gafoor. He confessed to stabbing her in a row over Â£30.
Twelve former South Wales Police officers were charged with perverting the course of justice - but the trial of eight of them collapsed in 2011.
The Home Office said the findings of QC Richard Howell's report were being examined, and would be published in due course.


Olympic champions Hannah Mills, Owain Doull and Elinor Barker along with Paralympian Hollie Arnold have become MBEs in the New Year Honours list.

Sailor Mills, cyclists Doull and Barker, all from Cardiff, and field athlete Arnold, from Hengoed, Caerphilly county, struck gold in Rio.
Ex-Arts Council of Wales chairman Prof Dai Smith and assembly standards chief Gerard Elias QC were appointed CBEs.
There was also an OBE for Monmouthshire council leader Peter Fox.
Martyn Hooper, who founded the Bridgend-based Pernicious Anaemia Society said he was "privileged" to have been appointed an OBE in the honours.
The 57-year-old started the society in 2004 after being forced to take early retirement from teaching after developing irreversible nerve damage which left him permanently disabled.
"The honour shows that the society that I started 12 years ago is now an established and respected patient group that is able to raise awareness of the issues faced by patients with pernicious anaemia and their families and friends," he said.
"There is great variation in how the disease is treated, not only in the UK but throughout the world, and we now know the current one-size-fits-all treatment is not suitable for all patients and this is what we are now trying to change."
There were also OBEs for Cardiff trio Dr Siriol David, for services to offender management, Oxford University emeritus professor of education, Prof John Furlong, for services to research in education, and government and Bernadette Jones for her work with unemployed people in south east Wales.
Christopher Nott, from Cardiff, has been appointed an OBE for services to business and economic development in Wales, as was Monmouth's Dr Arthur Steiner who founded Hands Around The World, which helps disadvantaged children abroad.
Other CBEs included Prof Anita Thapar from the institute of psychological medicine and clinical neurosciences at Cardiff University and Prof Hywel Thomas for services to academic research and higher education.
Among the MBE appointments:
Campaigner June Thomas from Oakdale, Caerphilly county, whose 15-year-old son Jack died in 2012, has been awarded a BEM for her work that led to defibrillators being installed in Welsh schools.
BEMs have also been received by Janet Jeffries from Cardiff, for her work with LGBT people in Wales, and Gweneira Baty from Cowbridge, for services to young and elderly people in the town and Llanblethian.


Yorkshire should be given its own "White Rose Parliament" with its own budget, MP David Blunkett has said.

Mr Blunkett said using the same funding formula applied to Wales - which has a devolved budget - Yorkshire would be entitled to a Â£24bn budget.
"You put great store by devolving decision-making to ordinary people," he told Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr Cameron said the government had already got rid of a "centralised" approach that Mr Blunkett was part of.
Mr Blunkett, a Labour former Cabinet minister and the MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, made the suggestion during prime minister's questions in the House of Commons.
He said: "Can you think of one single reason why the people of Yorkshire shouldn't determine their own priorities?
"And, mischievously, one reason why the people of Yorkshire shouldn't have their own White Rose Parliament?"
Mr Cameron said: "What we are doing is we are saying to councils in Yorkshire, as up and down the country, 'We are getting rid of the ring fences, we are giving you the power to spend your money in the way that you choose'."
He added: "We have got rid of the bossy, centralised interfering approach that I'm afraid you were rather part of."


(Close): Trading on Wall Street stayed within a narrow range for most of Wednesday, although, the Nasdaq hit a record high for the second day running.

The tech-heavy index rose 0.15% to to 5,682.45, helped by Facebook and Apple.
But the Dow Jones finished 36 points, or 0.18%, lower at 20,054 and the S&P 500 was flat, edging up just 0.07% to 2,294.67.
On the oil markets the benchmark Brent crude is up by 0.2% to $55.18 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate is up 0.5% to $52.41.
On Tuesday oil prices fell amid reports of higher than expected stockpiles of crude oil in the US, but on Wednesday the markets were cheered.
"The crude oil inventory build was really terrible for the market but the market does not seem to care because the products inventories were better than expected and are dragging crude oil prices up with it," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
On the Nasdaq Gilead Sciences closed down 8.61% after the biotechnology company said sales of its hepatitis C drugs may be less than expected. The stock sank $6.95 to $66.18.
However, Facebook ended up 1.79% and Apple was up 0.39%.
Shares in Walt Disney pared earlier gains to end the day unchanged.
Earlier the media conglomerate had been the top performer on the Dow after its latest quarterly earnings beat Wall Street's estimates chief executive Bob Iger said he was open to extending his term.
On the S&P 500 US clothing retailer Nordstrom finished more than 4% higher despite criticism from President Trump over its decision to stop selling his daughter Ivanka's fashion label.


Museums hit by falling budgets due to council cuts will find a way of reinventing themselves, a charity which represents them has said.

The Federation of Museums & Art Galleries of Wales (FMAGW) said some of the 90-plus venues have been hit hard but others are in a better position.
It follows years of cuts.
A 2015 report into local museum provision said a cycle of decline "has already started which will at best lead to 'zombie' museums".
By that it meant funding would "only be sufficient to maintain collections with no 'doing money' for improvement, activities and events that encourage access by the widest audience".
It warned the result would be waning interest which would lead to further funding cuts and closures.
"There are some bad sites and there are some good ones," John Marjoram, development officer at FMAGW, said.
"Services have been hit with cuts to the budget and there have been one or two branch closures."
Local authorities shut Cynon Valley museum in south Wales and Newtown textile museum in Powys but these have reopened as independent museums, while Bersham heritage centre in Wrexham and Llanidloes museum, Powys, have recently closed.
Some other places such as Cyfarthfa Castle museum have been taken over by a trust which runs all leisure services in Merthyr Tydfil  and there are some which have been saved.
"One of the things about museums is a lot of them are in historic buildings," Mr Marjoram added.
"But it's a mind set about how you look at heritage. Museums are remarkably resilient.
"A lot of museums are run by volunteers and perhaps it's surprising that so few museums have actually closed."
"Amazingly, museums have come through a lot of difficulties since 2008 and I don't think the public will have noticed."
One museum which has been noticed is Storiel in Bangor, Gwynedd.
The Â£2.5m project has replaced Gwynedd museum and art gallery which lost half its funding in 2008 and closed in September 2015.
It attracted 12,000 to 15,000 people a year, but Storiel has had 80,000 visitors since it opened a year ago.
"It's staggering," principal museum and arts officer Nest Thomas said.
"From a very negative situation, we were able to turn it around because there was a lot of public support.
"With a new vision and business case, we were able to access grants and open Storiel in the new building at Bishop's Palace.
"Obviously the offer is different. It's got lifts, a cafÃ© and an improved shop.
"We change our art exhibitions every six to eight weeks and the museum collection is the same from the old place.
"We will be introducing digital interpretations and apps and 3D interpretations.
"We've also got community spaces to work with local groups and spaces for activities and events which has proven more popular than we were anticipating."
Ms Thomas said there was still a need to work "very, very hard" on two key elements - ensuring people keep coming back and funding.
But she warned other museums facing difficulties will have a much tougher task to turn them around.
"Gwynedd museum and art gallery was one of the first to take a big hit and we were fortunate that we were given time," she said.
"Now, change is quicker. You have to look for premises and for funding and you are working in a harder climate.
"Places need to look at what they are doing, why they are doing it and who for. Be clear on what the vision is.
"You've got to be the eyes and ears, be out looking for projects and be very, very proactive - we were involved with the Weeping Window poppies at Caernarfon Castle.
"We want to make sure these museums and art galleries survive for the next century."
One problem facing many museums is that they are housed in old buildings which are in much need of expensive repairs such as Carmarthenshire Museum in Abergwili.
"It's a very old building and it's part of a big plan to undertake a significant redevelopment," said the county's museums development manager Morrigan Mason.
"Carmarthenshire council is bucking the trend and creating new jobs like mine. It has been through a process of cutting back.
"There have been problems as a result of that with buildings falling further into a state of disrepair.
"It's also about museums not making a song and dance.
"There's been a real culture change in Carmarthenshire. It seems almost every museum they've got is facing potential redevelopment."
Mrs Mason said the change of heart has come from the top ranks at Carmarthenshire council who have a "strong interest and pride in heritage".
"There's a real sense of urgency" she added. "We're looking at an explosion of development on the museum front."


This is likely to be the final Budget before the government launches the formal negotiations to take the UK out of the EU.

8 March 2017 Last updated at 11:28 GMT
So how has the economy fared since the UK voted to leave the EU last June?


A lorry driver who killed a mother and daughter when he drove through a red light has been jailed for 14 months.

Zena Victoria Jackson, 43, and Cidalia Mendes-Jackson, six, died after being hit on a pedestrian crossing on Spring Bank, Hull, in April.
Neville Fletcher, 55, of Southcoates Lane, Hull, admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving.
Hull Crown Court heard he had driven to the middle of the road to perform a sharp left turn by traffic lights.
More on this story and others in East Yorkshire
The lights changed to red as the lorry approached, with the mother and daughter starting to cross the road.
Patrick Palmer, prosecuting, said the pair had waited at the crossing for a second full sequence of lights as if the mother was showing her daughter how to cross safely.
Fletcher's attention was caught up in negotiating other vehicles on the busy road and checking side mirrors as he got his vehicle into position to turn, the court heard.
Dashcam footage from the lorry showed Fletcher failing to stop with the vehicle travelling at about 1.9mph (3km/h) when he hit the pair.
Malcolm Galloway, defending, said Fletcher had worked for 35 years in driving jobs and had never had an accident before.
He said the accident would live with Fletcher forever and "if he could possibly turn back the clock, he would".
Ms Jackson's daughter Sadie Jackson wrote a victim personal statement describing how "dreadfully affected" the family was by the loss of Ms Jackson and Cidalia and how loved they were.
Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC accepted Fletcher was remorseful, but said: "You made an appalling mistake with catastrophic consequences."


A solicitor broke down several times during a police interview as he tried to remember what caused a crash which killed his wife, daughter and a doctor.

Andrew Houston, 48, denies driving carelessly on the A9 between Newtonmore and Kingussie on 9 July 2013.
His wife Abigail, daughter Mia and GP Dr Mohammed Ali Hayajneh died in the crash near Ralia.
Inverness Sheriff Court was shown a video tape of Andrew Houston reliving the moments after the crash.
The solicitor advocate told officers how he tried to free himself from the wreckage to help his dying wife, 42-year-old Abigail and seven-year-old daughter, Mia.
"I have no idea what caused the collision. I wish I knew, I wish I knew",  Mr Houston said.
He said: "I could hear Lily talking and I could see little Mia. She didn't seem to be injured. That's the strange thing. There were no obvious injuries to her.
"But I remember someone trying to give her CPR. Two men were trying to help. I couldn't get out.
"I wanted to get out and help Mia but I couldn't. I was stuck."
Mr Houston denies causing the death of Abigail, Mia and 62-year-old physician Mohammad Hayajneh by careless driving and crossing into the opposite carriageway on the A9 at Ralia, near Newtonmore on 9 July 2013.
His Audi A4 collided head on with a silver Jeep Cherokee being driven by Dr Hayajneh's wife, 59-year-old Ursula from Duisburg in Germany.
The court was told police confirmed at the time he was not under the influence of alcohol or on a mobile phone at the time.
Police experts also established there were no mechanical defects on his car which could have contributed to the crash.
A Peugeot 206 carrying four Polish tourists managed to avoid a collision by swerving off the road and crashing into a road sign moments before.
Mr Houston suffered cracked ribs and a broken foot as a result of the crash.
He told how he took his wife and daughters to Inverness for a short break before he headed to Dornoch Sheriff Court for a trial.
They went on a dolphin spotting cruise before he rejoined them and began his journey back south.
The court heard he told PC Donna MacLeod of Police Scotland: "I slept well the previous night and I felt fine on the journey. We had stopped in Aviemore for a short time before the accident."
He apologised to officers for becoming upset during the questioning.
"This is embarrassing, I am just vaguely aware of an impact and just awfulness afterwards.
"I remember an almighty bang and I thought 'Oh my God' something is going toâ€¦
"I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. I'm really sorry I wish I could. Just the horrid aftermath."
Mr Houston is a senior partner at McSporrans defence solicitors in Edinburgh.
The trial, which is expected to conclude on Thursday, continues.


Novelist Sebastian Barry has said his youngest son coming out was pivotal in the writing of Days Without End, winner of the Costa Book of the Year prize.

"He basically has been my teacher in all matters gay," the Irish writer told Radio 4's Today programme.
Days Without End, which begins in the 1850s, tells of two Irish soldiers who go to fight in America.
At the heart of the story is a gay relationship Barry said was informed by his son Toby's experiences.
Toby coming out at 16, he said, "was the beginning of him teaching me the ins and outs and the majesty and the wonder of being gay".
"All that was drawn into the book and became part of this love between these two men," he said on Wednesday.
Barry became the first novelist to win the Costa Book of the Year prize twice on Tuesday when Days Without End beat four other titles to the award.
Speaking immediately after the presentation, the 61-year-old said Ireland's referendum on same-sex marriage had also been a factor.
"It was just after that that I started writing the book," he told reporters, saying that he and Toby had "had a secret mission" to reflect the referendum result in its narrative.
"If I had written this 20 or 30 years ago it may not have had that element," the author went on.
"You should be teaching your child something; it's not supposed to be the other way around. But maybe it always is in truth."
We get back to our room and light the wick in the oil lamp and pull off our boots and we don't dare to send Winona down for eats and so we will have a hungry night. Winona sets everything to rights then beds down on the little divan pushed agin the foot of our bed.
We'll be chaste as real travellers tonight. Soon her little shipshape form is caught in sleep, rising and falling with every small breath so that the bed feels like there must be a troubled brook running through it. In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left hand snakes over under the sheets and takes a hold of my right hand.
We listen to the cries of the night revellers outside and hear the horses tramping along the ways. We're holding hands then like lovers who have just met or how we imagine lovers might be in the unknown realm where lovers act as lovers without concealment.
Immediately after his win, Barry got in contact with Toby, to whom the book is dedicated, via Skype.
"I couldn't hear what he was saying, he couldn't hear me, but his face was so radiant with happiness," he told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday.
Barry, who receives Â£30,000, also won the prize in 2008 with The Secret Scripture.
In 2015 the author wrote a widely circulated letter to the Irish Times in which he described himself as "the more than proud father of one shining person who happens to be a member of the LGBT community."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.