Saturday 16 February

A misty and grey day, although the low cloud did lift later in the afternoon - to about 200 feet above sealevel. It was relatively mild, with the mercury at 9C.

Over on the mainland, a car rally ended with a fatal accident. One of the cars left the track and ploughed into spectators, killing one of them. Sporting events appear to be having a bad spell, what with 8 people killed in avalanches in recent times. Let's hope this is the end of such mishaps for the moment.

The RNLI lifeboat from Leverburgh was called out late this afternoon to Scalpay, where a vessel had run aground outside the harbour. Fortunately, the tide was rising so the boat could refloat and proceed to port without problem. Another rescue, across the Minch at Loch Torridon, saw three people in the water after their craft capsized. The RNLI from Kyle of Lochals was in attendance, as was Rescue 100, the Coastguard helicopter from Stornoway.