Tuesday 18 October

A very wild day, with galeforce winds from the northwest, making it a bitingly cold day. The mercury was stuck down at 7C / 45F. The ferry service is disrupted as the Isle of Lewis is not coming back to Stornoway until tomorrow lunchtime, at 1pm. This means a fair amount of disruption for the participants in the Royal National Mod, which is rolling on across town. I was just told that a large number of competitors were booked to come across this evening. A small tragedy has cast a shadow over the Children's Mod: one youngster's toy bunny was lost at St Columba's Church Hall on Lewis Street during the 5-7 year olds' solo singing competition on Monday. Anyone who has found Bunny is asked to call the number displayed on the link. The Mod will run until this coming Saturday.