Fast flights.

 

Some slates off and a few of the old Rowan trees by the doocot blown down but apart from that the storm did little damage in the village. Our power stayed on although this morning there's a million homes in the Central Belt without. The winds reached 114 mph in Ireland but the strongest gust recorded here was a more manageable 84 mph. The garden 'cabin' has been over engineered so that its enormous metal frame anchored deep in the ground took the gale in its stride. Thank heavens we took the architects advice and didn't go for a cheaper and less solid option. The radio this morning informs us that the jet stream was flowing at a speed of 260 mph and  pushed transatlantic flights along at near record rates. The British Airways flight from Las Vegas to Heathrow recorded an over the ground speed of 814 mph and arrived early. Today things are much calmer although another bout of wind is due tomorrow :https://www.ventusky.com/?p=53.4;4.5;5&l=temperature-2m  

The council workmen have been up early making sure the roads and pavements are  hazard free. There's been a wee bit of flooding by the cinema but that seems to have spurred the builders there into a paroxysm of weekend overtime. As we pass skips are being brought in and lengths of sodden carpet taken out. From the tiles on the ground outside we can assume that the gale has advanced the planned roof replacement by several months

The block of flats that is going up on the site of the old hotel seems to have withstood the strong gusts. From the way the hoardings are standing I'm assuming someone has already been to check up on the place to make sure it's safe and secure.

High sugar content snacks are on offer in the wee coffee shop that's opening up after the Christmas holidays.

An 80 year old experiment :https://www.sciencenorway.no/research-ethics/80-years-since-the-famous-experiment-the-starved-men-developed-symptoms-resembling-eating-disorders/2454570

Desalination:https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/researchers-have-overcome-the-achilles-heel-of-desalination/

Tree evolution:https://www.biographic.com/how-some-trees-evolved-to-birth-live-young/