Tuesday 17 October 2017

Braced for the storm

Freakishly warm temperatures hit me as I walked out of The Cottage this morning. By 9am it was overcast with strange coloured clouds an 20°C! As I was waiting down by the river for my expedition students to arrive from their campsite, the sun suddenly appeared through the clouds, in a bright red way, a bit like when there’s an eclipse. It was all very spooky...





Eventually, I tracked the team down after a pleasant walk along the autumn colours of the lanes. They'd just been a bit slow to get started and met me in time to view the phenomena too.



The weather charts for the day looked fantastic, with some textbook isobars heading our way. The news and social media was awash with impending doom, so even though it was a strangely calm start to the day, we decided to cut short the expedition and get back to base before the worst of the weather arrived. 



It turned out to have been a sensible choice. After sorting out the kit and completing a hurried de-brief, I drove back to The Cottage along the same route, but this time, past a fallen tree and lots of falling twigs and leaves, while holding on tight to the steering wheel.



After securing what we could in the garden, we got inside, lit the fire and made ourselves cosy while the winds tore down the mountainside above us and rocked the trees. The noise was intimidating and the sky was full of leaves and twigs. It gave a good excuse to chill out, bake some cake and drink tea.



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