Storm stories

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!