Thursday 14 June

Another bright and sunny day, with a stiff breeze and low temperatures. So far this month, we have had all of 3 mm (0.12 inches) of rainfall, and the results were plain to see this afternoon. A huge brown and white cloud billowing behind the Castle Grounds, signalling that last Friday's fire had flared up again. Fire crews battled for several hours to bring the blaze under control. The fire had reached the main road south from Stornoway, prompting its closure. The diversionary Pentland Road, a single track road leading out to Achmore, Breasclete and Carloway, was very soon gridlocked, prompting police to divert southbound traffic north through Barvas. That is a diversion of 40+ miles. At rush hour, Stornoway was gridlocked, with cars clogging up the main thoroughfares - by all accounts. I did not go out to watch, but my Twitter and Facebook contacts kept me posted. The road closures were lifted after 7 pm. The below image shows the smoke from the fire at 2.30pm, twenty minutes after it was reported. The picture is taken near the ferry terminal in Stornoway.