Gales, Strong gales and Mini Hurricanes.

it looks awful Scotsgran, you're very open up there, nothing to stop it, calmed down here now but altough it was bad its nothing to what you've had.....

We are indeed open for miles but that suited OH who is a radio ham and wants to get his signals out. We are at the top of a hill rising steeply from the Firth of Forth. The house in the photo gives us some shelter from the wind when it is from the SW but when it is from the west the house acts as a funnel and has totally changed the microclimate in my back garden.

Heres me thinking ive got the windiest garden in the uk today scotsgran! its scarey isn't it. i hope it dies down quickly for you....

Hallo Scotsgran. I´d love a bit of that rain that your getting but not the high winds. Nice to know that your OH or OM as the HAM´s say is a HAM....another one of my old interests that has been very neglected for many years but maybe next year when I hope to take an early retirement it will get revived again.

thanks for the update SG ~ i keep on thinking about you all up there ~ and wondering how you are getting on. sorry its so rough up there. we were on Islay only last saturday ~ it was pretty brisk up there even then but i think we would have been marooned now ~ nice place to be stuck tho!
all the best, hope it calms down soon and you dont get too much damage.

I've just been out to check the damage to my garden SG. We couldn't go outside this afternoon it was wild. The noise is so worrying too. At one point it was all hands on deck to tie up the Wisteria. It was top heavy with flowers and madly swinging about. I tied it up last night, but the string broke. We have a walled garden on a hill with large trees, so luckily things look ok. The main problem is that the trees have been hit and there are leaves everywhere. A big tidy up tomorrow!!! I am glad to report that my new green house is fine. Lets hope it is still there tomorrow. The wind is not as bad now so fingers crossed.

Hope it eases up soon we had a spot of wind and took down our gazebo. I didn't realise that there were huricane force winds about at this time. It can be so devastating when you have worked so hard to get the garden nice.
We hope that you don't get too much damage. The trees look sturdy enough to take the blast.
Take care.

the forecast is for it to die down isnt it??
a man told me last week that a soldier from the gulf had been down on the beach on Islay and came back having been blown about by the wind and the sand and said it was worse than the Gulf!!?? i dread to think what it was like today ~ i heard the traffic reports ~ they were bad enough.

Ydaisyd my daughter spent 7 years in Newcastle and we loved visiting there. As soon as we got to Berwick the temperature rose at least 10 degrees . We thought you have the best climate in UK. It just keeps on blowing.
I believe the rain may be heading your way Rogi but no, you definitely do not want the wind. I got to 7 words a minute reading and sending morse and I needed 10 but OM would not teach me any radio until I got the morse out of the way because he reckoned it was the hard part. As the kids needed more attention I gave up. We were at Stockwood Park for the Dunstable Downs rally on Sunday to meet folks we only see there once a year. There are fewer and fewer of us old timers and more and more black box operators as they say. The young ones want to buy on the internet and big companies see the rallies as expensive and unnecessary. Diesel prices going through the roof has not helped and lots of smaller traders have given up because of that.
I think you are never really free of the wind in Islay Sticki. The wind is a tad warmer than here though thanks to the Gulf Stream or is that just another myth. My son lived in Ayr and we always thought it was very wet. It seemed to rain every time we visited which was often as his old Saab 96 kept on needing the refined touch of his father.
I actually like walking in the wind but this is too much as it is hard to stand up in it. We often get winds like this in the autumn but less often quite so windy this early in the year. Because it is wet it feels cold and we have the heating on to make us feel better.

one day last week i didnt dare get out of the car cos i thought it would blow away!!! jura was less windy ~ on the east side anyway!!!

I hope every body is safe today. The winds, still brisk, have died down and we don't actually have hurricane force winds but we do get gusts rising way above the 80mph which we would say are not unusual. OH has been out this am and picked up 20 or so slate so we are quite happy with that. Lots of pots have been overturned so it is remedy time. News has it that the west side of Scotland especially Glasgow has been hard hit with chimneys toppling. In Victorian tenements that is a serious problem. I'm glad to hear you managed to save the Wisteria Linda and hope there is not too much damage in your garden. Our pergola is built like a battleship Johnrobert because we realised that once it was heavy with plants it would be a prime target in the winds. We are waiting for the lull before the winds come tearing back from the north east. I do hope you had no damage on your gazebo because it does make a lovely addition to any garden. I know the feeling of trying to get out of the car in high winds Sticki. Now we get out one at a time and shut the doors before a second one is opened in the hope that the doors will not be pulled off their hinges. We do lead exciting lives not. lol.
My husband has been to most countries in the world and he still swears by Scotland as the best place to live. But we were born here so I guess that is normal no matter where you live.

i would choose scotland SG ~ i wasnt born there ~ but i wish i had been.

Sounds as if you have been having a rough time up there. It has been windy here but nothing as bad as you've had. Hope everything calms down very soon for you. No rain here still - another bathful of water to transport into the garden :)

OMG, its bad here at the min, really scarey, high winds, hailstone, rain, its just started again, i was thinking, I wouldnt want a dog to be out in this never mind people, when i remembered, cassy my dog was in the front garden, i forgot ooops, shes like a drownded rat..

sorry to hear of the tile damage S/Gran, the gales have been horrendous here too, calmed down for a while, but started again now, and its so cold, keep safe,

blustery here too.... any problem with the ash cloud Scotsgran, the tv showed Iceland as if it was night and thick dust everywhere

lots of airports here closed Pam

We have been very busy today clearing up after the last 24 hours. Twice today we had hail so no wonder we have been feeling frozen and needing the CH on. The forecast tonight included the danger of grass frost, I wonder if this is new weather man speak for ground frost. Our damson tree is now only half the size it was 2 days ago but there is no permanent damage to anything else. We were shocked to find next doors spanish slate littered around on our lawn in the south garden but we were even more shocked to see a slater on top of their 8.6m high roof. He was wrestling with the ridge flashing which took off, sailed high in the air and came down very close to his buddy on the ground. They left shortly after that. Our slater is run off his feet every time we have gales and we know he will get here asap. There is no water coming in so we do not need to worry. I have just been reading Moongrowers blog. She and Bulbaholic have been having a rough time too. Fruit growers up the east coast are counting the cost on them with polytunnel covers blown to bits and the metal work all twisted meaning it will all need to be replaced. No sign of any ash fall out in our area Pamg but the airports are closed anyway. There was a covering of ash on cars in Inverness so maybe we will get it too. It sure is very funny weather. We are just grateful to have a roof over our heads and nobody injured. Thanks all for your kind thoughts.

I hope it's died down now. It must have been frightening for you.

I'm afraid when it comes to this type of weather we batten down the hatches and do something indoors. We have lived here for nearly 40 years so we know what happens. The only difference this time was it was not when we would expect it. I slept in this am. so I do not know if there was frost or not. I have spent the time since going for a routine blood test and then shopping to restock the cupboards. It was not too bad at all today. Plenty of evidence of trees having lost large limbs and put to the side of the road until someone can deal with them. Fairly wet and windy but nothing to worry about. I think having two of us makes for reassurance when it would be really scary Hywel. Planes are back flying so hopefully not too many have had their holidays ruined by the new volcanic eruption in Iceland. We have not seen any ash here. I hope this finds you all well and safe too.

Yes I am well thank you Scotsgran. We've had strong winds but not as bad as you. And we've had lots of rain. We went to the National Botanic Garden of Wales yesterday. It's only 12 miles from here but I've never been there brfore. It was very windy but also sunny.
We get lots of RAF planes zooming over here. I wish the ash cloud would stop them. A few days ago one was so low I thought it was going to crash into my roof. You can often see into their windows. They make such a screaming noise it is deafening, and they go at about 1000 mph. Sometimes I think my head will burst.

When we first came here we were under the flight path for the local airport. I was puzzled because we had no worms in the garden. My OH said it was because of the planes overhead. The worms thought it was raining and came to the surface and were promptly nabbed for dinner by some bright eyed bird. The planes did make a lot of noise but nothing like the low flying jets which you are experiencing. We were pleased when they swopped runways. I'd hate being a target for them.
I'll look forward to seeing your photographs of the Botanic Garden of Wales. I am sure you will have had the camera working overtime. We used to go a lot when we lived in Edinburgh We know it in all its seasons and last year I was fortunate to be able to go on a visit behind the scenes as part of our Gardening Club syllabus and see all the hard work that goes into providing all the lovely continually changing scenarios. You will need to go again now you have found your way there. I'm glad to hear you are well. All we need now is a summer to enable us to go out and enjoy the gardens and countryside.