Wednesday 14 October

Overcast once more, but dry. There is a breeze, but nothing too disconcerting. A contact in San Francisco is telling me stories about the big storm, the remnant of typhoon Melor, which has hit the area. Deep snow has fallen in the Sierra Nevada, and warnings abound about flooding. Tropical storm Parma is coming ashore in Vietnam, and will dissipate later today, after 17 days on the go. That is a respectable lifespan for a tropical system - the record stands at 30 days. A new cyclone has formed east of Guam, which will now see a third tropical storm whizz by. In the 3 years of hurricane watching, I've not seen this many storms pass over the Northern Marianas. 22W, the current name for the new system, will head for the Philippines, which is having a singularly bad year. It got three helpings of Parma - I think I'd prefer the ham they make in Parma.

The body of a man, clad in a wetsuit, has washed ashore on the beach at Camas Fionary in Skye, pictured below (the top marker on the map). His apparel suggests that this was the diver who went missing off Ardnamurchan Point (bottom marker) 12 days ago. The outcome of a post-mortem examination is awaited before police will confirm or deny that this is the case.