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Monday 16 October 2017

Approaching storm?



The news and weather forecasts are full of the impending arrival of Hurricane Ophelia. So far, despite pictures (like the one below sent by a friend from the USA where they are well used to hurricane preparations!) which show us in the "cone" we in Orkney are not even forecast to get a regular "Orkney Gale".  Let's hope they are right!  At the moment we have cloudy skies and it is getting very dark and gloomy at 16.30, at least a couple of hours ahead of the use time for gathering gloom.



At the top of this post is the view over the Hoy hills just now. It's an eerie light.  Further down the UK the light is almost sepia - the result of sand from the Sahara and smoke from dreadful fires in Spain and Portugal being sucked up into the air by the circling storm.

This morning all was very calm, and though grey with drizzly showers was pleasantly warm and no wind.



Button was out hunting in the calm.... bit tough on the ears in a gale... can't hear the rustling and squeaks from wee mice!


Not sure how she managed to sit at this angle!



Here is a short video taken this morning, with Madam Button out on her morning hunt, and the hens having breakfast.  As you can hear, lots of birds sounds, which signifies, NO WIND! Ha! Usually my films have the sound of a howling gale on them even when it is relatively calm.


I'll let you know how we get on.  But don't panic if you don't hear from me as we may get a power cut.  The house has stood since 1860 so I anticipate it lasting a few more storms yet....

Incidentally, it is the 30th anniversary of The Great Storm which wrecked havoc in the South of England and several lives were lost.  The house I lived in then lost some slates off the roof, and we lost and old damson tree at the bottom of the garden.  But were unscathed apart from that.




6 comments:

  1. It is comforting to hear your house has stood strong since 1860. I hope you do not get hit by the storms.

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    1. Thanks Terra! The first few winter storms each year take a bit of getting used to. Hopefully we miss this one.

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  2. It has gone dark quite early, the wind is getting up and the rain is battering the windows as I type. Hopefully it won't get any worse here on Lewis, hope it misses you. Stay safe.

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    1. Thanks! Hope you can stay safe too! You usually get it far worse out West than we do.

      I've just added you to my list of blogs - no idea why I didn't do that before! I must take time to "visit" your archive!

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  3. Be SAFE !
    Love your nature photo's
    Love Miss Button!

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    1. Thanks Anne! All was well. And thanks for your comments!

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