Saturday 3 October

The west northwesterly wind is reaching galeforce, and the ferry is cancelled all day. Most of the ferry services in the west of Scotland are disrupted or cancelled. Showers are passing by at frequent intervals, and the rainfall radar looks like a severe case of blue measles.

Still we should not complain: typhoon Parma is battering the Philippines, and you should brace yourself for some more catastrophic news from that country. 

If you are flying in and out of the UK to or from the USA, you should expect major delays. The air traffic control computer at Prestwick, near Glasgow, has broken down and all incoming flights are handled manually. That is causing delays of several hours.