Storm stories

[ladyofastolat]

The winds in the Solent are force 12 on the Beaufort scale – hurricane force, or so a sailing friend told me. All ferries are cancelled, which has the pleasant side-effect of cancelling a meeting I was due to go to, since the people leading it live on the Mainland. Not that I could have got to it anyway, since the roads are blocked by trees.

The tall conifers just outside my window are bending alarmingly. We all had a fierce debate last Thursday on what I should do when they start to fall - hide under my desk, or run for the stairs. This week, a different set of people are in the office, and opinions are still raging fiercely. I still adhere to my "cower gibbering under the desk and hope" approach.

How are other parts of the country faring in this gurt big wind?

EDIT (1 p.m.) It's getting worse. I just popped out, and it was seriously hard to walk to the car, and almost impossible to open the car door. Many roads are closed, some villages are cut off, and people are being told to avoid any roads that go up hills. I've been working downstairs most of the morning, nicely away from the row of swaying trees. It feels safer.

EDIT 2: But - woo-hoo! - our hosepipe ban has just been lifted!

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I hope you survive the day!

It is quite windy here, but nothing dramatic. I think the wind is coming from the Southwest, so we are safe hiding behind the hill here.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Pretty calm up here so far- just a bit of rain, not much wind. I'm guessing that it hasn't started heading north yet.

I'm a bit worried about the snow forecast for Southern Scotland because I'm due to collect the other half from Prestwick tomorrow. The motorways should be clear, but the A70 might be a bit dodgy.

Hope all is OK down there.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Here is some Scary Advice:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/advice/storm.html

[evilmissbecky.livejournal.com]

During a hurricane we are told to go to the smallest, interior room in the house and take shelter there.

Here are the National Hurricane Center's safety actions. (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/high_winds.shtml#actions)

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

The wind here doesn't seem particularly fast at ground level or here on the second floor of my block; though the tops of all the trees are waving, and the clouds are moving as fast as I've ever seen them.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

It's got a bit worse here late morning, but seems to have calmed down a bit. I'm going to brave the roads into Oxford.

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

It was pretty quiet here until about an hour ago, maybe a little less; mostly dry and not much wind. Then the wind got up, in a big way. Lots of wind noise; the trees I can see from one of the windows were blowing about very badly. It kept on like that for the best part of 20 minutes, then it decreased a bit, but not much. It the last five minutes or so its quieten down a lot. The trees are still blowing about, but not much more than usual.

We're in quite a low spot. There is a bank behind us to the west, about half a story high, with tall spindly trees on the top; those are the ones I can see.

I think a lot of the wind noise that we could hear was the wind blowing through the air conditioning system. The office is very well insulated which gives good sound proofing.

I have no idea what force the wind is round here.


All ferries are cancelled

Which side of the water is pellinor?


Ooh, the wind's just got up again.

[tovaglia.livejournal.com]

It is very windy here. I am supposed to be going over to the other site on the shuttle-bus this afternoon - but am reluctant, on the basis that I can see tiles flying off the buildings all around, various roads are closed around town (flooding as well as bits falling off buildings) and the shuttle-bus stop is next to a rather old two-storey building with a tiled roof...