The Calm after the Storm

No, I'm not referring to the calm that is around after the madcap fun of Christmas and New Year, but the sound of calm outside today after a couple of days battering by another storm.

Last winter was the winter of record breaking snow and plunging temperatures here. By the start of December we were already under two feet of snow and it kept on falling for another two months.

This winter seems to be the winter of record breaking storms instead. I bet all those who were complaining about the snow would have gladly had a peaceful snowfall rather than the 100mph winds that woke us up early on Tuesday morning!

Now I'm a Highland girl, living in the Central belt of Scotland. It's always windy back where I come from. Even on a summers day there is always a little (or big) breeze coming off the sea. The winters there are famous for the wind but here in the central belt we are used to it being a wee bit more sheltered.

Yes, it gets stormy but up until this winter I had never experienced winds (hmmm, perhaps I should rephrase that, *blush*), ok, I have never known it to be windier here than I have ever seen it in the Outer Hebrides.

Not now.

Before Christmas we had a storm that was forecast well in advance, and that pretty much shut down the whole Central Belt. It lasted about 24 hours and the wind speeds hit around 90mph here. Which was pretty bad.

Tuesday morning, at about 6am I woke up to what felt like someone was actually trying to push the house over. The gusts were unbelievable. I actually thought to myself, should I get up and get dressed in case the roof blows off!

Back in Lewis, I actually quite like a stormy night, all snug in bed listening to the wind howling down the chimney. 

Here in my own little house it was different. The house where my parents live has stood for over 100 years, and has withstood many a Hebridean storm and gale.

Our little house has only been around for about 20 years, and like I said, it's just not used to such conditions!

Thankfully, though, it withstood it fine and the wind died down later on in the day, only to rise again yesterday! But it's gone again, phew.

There has been plenty other damage though. Our local shopping centre was evacuated on Tuesday morning when part of the roof blew off and there have been scores and scores of trees and chimneys down.

I'll leave you with a link to some photos that have been sent in of damage across the central belt on the BBC Scotland News Website. You can find them here.

Come back snow, all is forgiven!

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