Too much weather altogether

In 1987 I had just qualified and was  attending a graduation ball at a very posh hotel in Chester. My best friend from university lived close to Chester and her fiancé had driven us  into the town for the do. It was a long frock and black tie  type of affair.

That was on the 15th of October 1987.

I remember the car going past the ICI complex at Runcorn, an industrial plant that runs along the side of the motorway seemingly for miles. I thought the Roots/ Chrysler/ Peugeot car plant at Linwood was big but Runcorn ICI was on  another scale all together.

There had been some chat  on the BBC News that night that evening because an  amateur weather watcher had noted something odd brewing in the Bay of Biscay and moving NE towards the channel. The BBC weather person. Michael Fish told the nation not to worry because there was nothing to worry.

That was  The Great Storm of 1987. Hurricane force winds battered northern France and the South Coast of England, the highest gust was about 120 mph. 22 people died. £7 billion worth of damage.

Rumours had got to us after the meal at the ball, and the designated driver said, ‘You know guys, the weather’s getting a bit rough. I’d like to head off home.’ In Scotland we’d call this ‘Blowin’ a hoolie.’

As we drove past Runcorn ICI, the flames that burn off the excess gases where horizontal. Simon was fighting the steering to keep the vehicle straight on the road – and it was a Land Rover Defender.

Scotland got off relatively free that time. We tend to have our gales in January or February and that was quite a predictable pattern for a long time. But in the last few years the high winds have been more prominent 200  miles to the south.

Because of the  BBC's initial denial of the weather brewing in the Bay Of Biscay, based on the readings of the British weather centre in London, they were forced into investing  in better equipment  for weather prediction

In 1987, the death toll was very light. The storm reached its peak around 2:00 in the morning when most people were indoors. Shanklin pier on the Isle of Wight was broken into three pieces by the force of the waves. A weird side story is that wild boar escaped and they have since spread and have established populations across the South of England. This fact has been the  subject of some good crime drama on the telly, as wild boar are highly intelligent and will eat anything put in their path…which is useful!

What happens now, with all this new technology for weather forecasting is that Scotland lives in a constant state of weather warning. It’s  so bad that nobody pays any attention anymore. The  constant warnings of gale force winds means the winds peak 35 kilometres per hour. Warnings about rainfall means wear a hat and wellies.  Last night was an extreme cold weather warning because, for an hour, it went down to -7 overnight. It’s now 8 am and it’s up at 0.

I’m sure that when we do really need a weather warning, people will  ignore it.

                                       

                                             The Leaning Wall Of Elderslie

I live in a very old house, high from ground level to the apex of the roof. The house is at the top of a hill so no flooding for me. A  previous owner planted 3 trees too close to the building. They are much taller than the house. They are about a metre apart from each other.  They have already broken the wall the Victorian wall and the driveway looks like the Grand National with the roots breaking through the concrete. They are called the three amigos. And they are beautiful,  verdant and plush. Being  right at the top of the road, a lot of people comment on them. We’ve already taken the wall down because it was a hazard to those walking past. In eight weeks a third is coming off the top of the trees as they can’t be trusted any longer. I've warned the squirrels and all the birds that they're going to have to relocate. Nobody's looking forward to it but the chances of one of those trees coming down, blocking the road and going through the roof of the neighbours house  is now too high to be comfortable. Even being on high ground is no protection from the rainfall – the ground is sodden. The passion for decking and concreting garden prevents run off ( we’ve kept our land as grass to help the situation) and the soil is no longer anchoring the root system. So the trees are on borrowed time.

                                           

(This is a weird picture as the trees don't look that big. I think I might have pressed a button on the phone that I shouldn't have. If they came down, they would put the roof through on that house visible at the right hand side.)

Considering  what's going on in the world, we are really very lucky to have a climate that is constantly damp. It’s very difficult to set fire to our flora. It just doesn't happen unless there's a usually dry summer and that doesn't happen in the West Coast. Reading the posts of some of you, and those on social media I can’t get my mind round what it might be like.

The BBC has said that the wind in LA is getting up again, so it looks like the situation will continue for a while  yet.