Force 9

The first gale of the summer / autumn has arrived. It was quite sunny this afternoon, but the wind has risen to more than 40 mph, gusting to 70 mph up at the Butt of Lewis. The ferry is off until tomorrow morning, and remains tied up in Ullapool, on the mainland. Tomorrow, there was to have been a car rally in the island, but the vehicles concerned are stuck on the mainland as well, and will probably turn up tomorrow morning at 8.30, when the ferry returns. It means that lots of people who had planned on travelling to the mainland will be stuck, unless they had the wits to use the Tarbert to Uig crossing, which is more sheltered. I've taken some pictures earlier on, in sunny conditions for a change. Usually, my stormy pics are overcast or in the half dark of the winter's day. This being August, it was sunny and quite warm - up to 18C / 64F this afternoon. The high winds will not subside until tomorrow morning.