View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Friday 16 April 2010

Picture post

First of all, I have changed the front pic - I was getting depressed by the wintry scene with that ruined house. Its place is taken by a view from Harris, and I'm taking the liberty of lumping the southern part of the Long Island with Lewis, the northern part of it.

The volcanic ash from Iceland gave us a fantastic sunset last night.


Is this man drowning in his own lawn?


Smoke plumes from muirburn (this was before the volcanic ash story erupted)


Prevailing winds

Friday 16 April

A grey day with occasional light rain. Seen no evidence of volcanic ash, other than a rather nice sunset last night. I'm not expecting anything tonight, as the weather is not conducive.

Virtually all flights to and from (and within) the UK remain grounded, with the exception of a few flights to and from the Western Isles - including Stornoway. It is a patchy service, and only going to Glasgow and Aberdeen, not to Edinburgh. It will not be until tomorrow at the earliest that we'll have a resumption of services elsewhere, and that is not certain. It all depends on two factors: the eruption of the volcano in Iceland and the weather patterns. At present, winds are veering towards the west, near Iceland, meaning that the ash will be blown towards Scandinavia. However, the weathercharts do indicate that a northwesterly airflow could resume quite soon. And nobody knows how long the volcano could continue to erupt. Estimates vary from a few days to a few years.

The General Election. How long until May 6th?