Flying Slush

It was forecast as snow but it's arrived here in the form of horizontally flying slush, propelled by a bitter northeaster that's averaging Force 4; but, at 12.45 this afternoon, it managed a gust which reached Force 9, severe gale. All morning the slush failed to settle at lower levels, except in odd places, like where it welded itself to the windward side of fence posts. However, in the last hour it's turned to serious snow which is busy forming drifts. Higher, on the hills, it's been snowing and settling all day.

The state of the land is shown in this photo of the croft houses at the east end of Ormsaigbeg, from left to right Bay View, Cala Mara, and Tabar na Biolar. The highland cattle belong to the Sonachan Hotel but are kept in the fields below Grianan croft.

The birds are having a hard time of it. While one buzzard continued to wheel above the fields looking for his lunch, another had given up, sitting on a fence post in a bedraggled state and refusing to move even when our car passed within two feet of him. The small birds struggle on. This great tit somehow managed to cling to a length of bamboo containing peanuts. Each time a strong gust of wind blew him off, he kept coming back.

If the weather's bad in Kilchoan, we feel for people to the east of us, because our proximity to the warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift ensures that we don't normally see much snow. And the forecast is for snow to continue in the east of Scotland for the next 36 hours. Meanwhile, closer to home, the postie is doing his rounds and won't have much fun on the steep hill down into Portuairk, and Gordon MacKenzie, who drives the Kilchoan bus, will, at this moment, be trying to make his way home along the peninsula.

Snow can be pretty, but it isn't much fun.