View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Saturday 8 October 2011

Friday 7 October

Over the last two days, the weather has turned noticeably colder. Yesterday saw some hail showers, with the mercury barely into double figures, and today was no better.
At the moment, there is a large naval exercise on-going around Cape Wrath, 60 miles northeast of Stornoway. A German frigate is cruising up and down the Minch, and Polish and Estonian naval vessels are holed up in Loch Ewe (on the west coast of the Scottish mainland).

Today, there was an angry demonstration outside the offices of Western Isles Council, as a senior executive of a fuel supplier paid a visit. The fuel prices in these islands are incredible, some 20 to 30 pence per liter higher than in Inverness. Everybody is affected by this, not just people with cars. Bus fares have increased by a third in recent years, as have taxi fares. Accusations of profiteering have been leveled against the company involved. For reference, a litre of fuel in Inverness costs £1.30 per litre, but in South Uist, they charge £1.60 per litre. American readers: that equates to between $7.60 and $9.50 a gallon.

1 comment:

  1. No hail showers as yet, thank goodness,,,but getting decidedly colder thats for sure..
    although yesterday we did manage to sit out in a local garden for quite a while in the sunshine..
    Petrol prices really are awful these days. I have noticed a reduction of cars locally just lately. My car is a greedy monster probably cause of the weight of the wheelchair etc. but still it hurts when I have to visit the petrol station !!
    Love Sybil xx

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