View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Monday 28 February 2011

Monday 28 February

The day started very sunny, but cloud moved up at lunchtime and the wind picked up. It felt chilly in the wind, little surprise if you know that the overnight low was -2C. The daytime max stands at 9C / 48F. Whatever rain we were supposed to have is now over the west coast of northern Scotland.

I heard that heavy showers are moving over the southeastern USA with a threat of tornadoes. Looks like an early start to the tornado season, but I'm not familiar with the normal weather patterns through the year in that part of the world.

I could not believe my ears when I heard the latest interview with Col Gaddafi, in which he expressed his conviction that all his people loved him. More chilling was the threat from one of his spokesmen that 'hundreds of thousands' would die, with the legacy likely to last for decades to come. We are by now familiar with the threats of civil war, but Gaddafi is known to have stockpiles of mustard gas. It is fortunate that his support is leaching away at a rate of knots; it was surprising how quickly it dissipated under pressure. The end game is shrouded in an impregnable fog - only time will tell.