Stormy Weather II

[johncorrigan]

I certainly think there are parts around ''feldy that are still out, Dougie.
I received a letter from SSE today which was headlined 'OVO Energy is now powering your home - you're in safe hands.' My, how we laughed.

[johncorrigan]

Just as we were, slightly despondently, gearing up for a fifth night on the living room floor, I took a wander through the dark house, head torch on and was caught by surprise when a light appeared in the kitchen. Took me a moment or two to work out what was happening before other things started to happen - answerphone switching on etc. My how a wee bit of light cheered our souls. Hung on till things heated up a bit and then headed to the bedroom. Great to be able to flick the switch on the kettle, and on the radio, and be able to live in more than one room. I had been talking to a woman yesterday evening who lives up the top of the glen and she had said an engineer had told her she might not be reconnected till Monday - seems it is an enormous tangle of branches and wires up there. Sunny and windy today up here. Better go hang out the washing.

[antongould]

Just as we were, slightly despondently, gearing up for a fifth night on the living room floor, I took a wander through the dark house, head torch on and was caught by surprise when a light appeared in the kitchen. Took me a moment or two to work out what was happening before other things started to happen - answerphone switching on etc. My how a wee bit of light cheered our souls. Hung on till things heated up a bit and then headed to the bedroom. Great to be able to flick the switch on the kettle, and on the radio, and be able to live in more than one room. I had been talking to a woman yesterday evening who lives up the top of the glen and she had said an engineer had told her she might not be reconnected till Monday - seems it is an enormous tangle of branches and wires up there. Sunny and windy today up here. Better go hang out the washing.

Welcome back to the 21st century jc as you were told you are in safe hands with Ovo …… !!!!!

[DracoM]

Nasty a.m. - grey. drizzly, heck of a lot colder. Wind from NORTH - again.
So, guess what......2C at mo.

[Old Grumpy]

Welcome back to the 21st century jc as you were told you are in safe hands with Ovo …… !!!!!

Do not mock the afflicted...

... you could end up with egg on your face!

[Old Grumpy]

Nasty a.m. - grey. drizzly, heck of a lot colder. Wind from NORTH - again.
So, guess what......2C at mo.

5C here - Vale of York

Still cold with the wind chill though.

[cloughie]

Welcome back to the 21st century jc as you were told you are in safe hands with Ovo …… !!!!!

I was once told that if it was safe in water it was safe in LUX - but my goldfish….

[Serial_Apologist]

As was in part expected, a lot of trees were downed in the storm, including some ancient redwoods, which may not be native to Scotland and the N of England, but sad nontheless. This was pretty unusual if not unique - normally strong high pressure butting in from the west would have driven lows of this kind over towards Scandinavia, but not in this case. Something similar is happening this time around, though luckily the pressure gradient is less compressed, meaning that the arctic-orginating wind flow is not as strong, and will not be as strong again when the pattern repeats at the weekend.

I was slightly surprised to find that November's temperatures were just over a degree above normal, but this was accounted for by the well above averages recorded during the first half of the month. Alternations expected for the next week between polar-maritime and tropical maritime regimes mean temperatures should fluctuate between slightly below and slightly above early December norms across the country as a whole. Saturday looks likely to be the mildest day.

PS - Heavy shower about to impact from the north as I now write (2.40pm) - visibility obliterated beyond 2 miles!

[BBMmk2]

We had a fair amount of wind, down here. Today, after, during the night, we had a snow fall, which settled on the rooftops. Now, it’s 2C, with a high of 4C! Sunny outside. I can see people well wrapped up!

[oddoneout]

I suspect we might get grot later, as around the area there have been light snowfalls but just now it is windy but bright, with occasional brief rain spatters, and doesn't seem to have got as cold overnight as expected.

So glad to see JohnC is back with us; I gather there are still too many folk up there without power even now. I know that this was an "exceptional" event (although how much longer that attitude can continue given the climate emergency issues I don't know) and the terrain etc makes things even more difficult, but based on what has happened round here in recent years I do wonder how much continued lack of basic maintenance and inspection contributes to those difficulties. Much of the distribution network is underground which reduces damage from weather related events, but where it comes above ground is vulnerable to tree-related issues and weakened poles(both the material and their connection with the ground), which don't seem to be looked at on a routine/regular scale anymore. At work we have many trees on site and periodically raise concerns about their branches getting too familiar with the overhead cables, but it seems that such work has to wait until either something breaks or the trees in question come up on some 5/10 year inspection. Even if we had the equipment to work at height, cutting implements and power/telecomms cables (to say nothing of the County Council) rule out the DIY route.

[Serial_Apologist]

We had a fair amount of wind, down here. Today, after, during the night, we had a snow fall, which settled on the rooftops. Now, it’s 2C, with a high of 4C! Sunny outside. I can see people well wrapped up!

There was a young women on today's lunchtime news, wrapped in a duvet, and using her hair dryer under the covers to try to keep warm, saying she was unable to afford her room heater!

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes, relief for JC thank goodness..... but for others....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59506359

My 25-year-old boiler developed cracks and leaked fumes in 1/20. It had to be shut down immediately so all I had were a few fan heaters for the next three weeks (BG left the good old Rhino with me, blasting away; I had to order two more rotating Dimplexes from Amazon superquick...). Harder to live with than I thought it would be.....But at least I had something.

Rebuilding the system (boiler, immersion, tanks, pipes, radiators) in a 120-year old house wasn't cheap; last payments go through this month. Phew.
Brighter outside now; going to attempt a little walk to the fields....

[DracoM]

Searing cold here. And a wicked [ha!] 'breeze'.

[BBMmk2]

Supposed to be 11C, but still feels just as cold!

[DracoM]

Ha!! Up here, it's 2C!!!!