Wind

Last Sunday I thought Father Christmas had come back with a late present, with all the banging on the roof, walls, windows and door - but no it was a Force 10 Gale. We seem to have had a few over the past week and the forecast is for more to come. Gulberwick, just up the road recorded a gust at 69 mph. (although gusts are not counted in the following scale)

Several people have asked about what the Beaufort scale indicates, so here it is

Force        mph       Description
0               < 1            Calm

1               1- 3            Light Air

2               4-7             Light Breeze

3               8-12           Gentle Breeze

4              13- 18          Moderate Breeze

5              19- 24          Fresh Breeze

6              25- 31          Strong Breeze

7              32 - 38         Near Gale

8              39 - 46         Gale

9              47 - 54         Strong Gale

10            48 - 55         Storm

11            56 - 63         Violent Storm

12            64 +             Hurricane

This week gales have continued to hit with lots of rain and hail, with snow in the north mainland. Ferries have been cancelled again, meaning the shelves at Tesco have been empty. Even getting to Aberdeen by plane has been difficult with a hole appearing on the runway.

This week has seen the first fire festival of the year, this was held in Scalloway and a decent night, very similar to the one last year. It can be quiet dangerous with sparks flying all over the place. A couple of people came away with burnt coats while one women had  her hair set alight (that's hairspray for you)