Doom And Gloom

A post from Tedious Tantrums

Well that’s it then. Another BBC News at 6:00 and then BBC Scotland News. What fun.

Inflation is down. Comments were directed at it still being too high and the historical editorial was that interest rates should be put up. No sign of any cheer then, that inflation was going down. Not a glimmer. Good news? Not for the BBC apparently.

Then there was that happy soul and interesting character Ed Moribund. Ed thinks it’s a good idea that public sector pay rises are kept at 1%. His pals in the unions think this is an appalling idea. They would though because that’s their job. Ed reckons that a 1% increase means more people will be kept in work. He may well have a point, however; his party have spent the last few months rubbishing even the notion of a 1% pay restriction. Now he is agreeing with Call me Dave and Boy George Osborne. He’s also agreed with them about the union and they will jointly oppose the SNP notion that Scotland should leave the UK. That’s a lot of agreement between the government and the opposition. Not much cheer in this article on the BBC news either.

Oh well maybe the Scottish News will be chock-a-block with chuckles? Then again, perhaps not. Highland Council voted to oppose a wind farm in the Cairngorms. This isn’t good apparently. No real mention of how 31 wind turbines 360 feet high might be detrimental to the environment. Unsightly? Damaging to birds? Expensive to erect and run and producing the most expensive electricity possible.

The very next item , and this is hard to believe, covered Big Power Week. We have the power? No, but we have incredibly expensive electricity and gas. Big Power Week is being carried out by the Citizens Advise Bureau. They have advisors all over Scotland this week providing advice to the public so they can reduce their gas and electricity bills. Good idea.

There’s one bit of advice they could provide to people, well certain people who work in government like a Mr A Salmond, a Mr D Cameron, a Mr C Huhne and a Ms C Lucas amongst others. Remove the renewables levy from electricity bills saving everyone 20% on their bills immediately. That would ease household budgets and reduce inflation.

At least the Scottish News has a saving grace - the weather ladies. Thon wee Cubie lassie and Judith Ralston do a good job of presenting the weather news.

Which brings me to my final gripe. Who trains the BBC presenters in hand waving? Do they go to classes and learn how to develop waving and personalise the waving, gesturing and general wafting to match their personality? Just give us the news wave free please and try to keep it within balanced bounds. I know that is a big ask but we can only try eh?

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The Met Office's Prediction for winter 2010.

In October 2010, National Grid published its Winter Outlook 2010/11




It bases its purchasing and transmission commitments upon many variables, perhaps the most important being the weather.





The country's energy supply, and, reliable security-of-supply therefore depends upon the accuracy of weather forecasts.


This is particularly important for the Nation's gas supply because sufficient gas has to have been previously committed to storage; and, contracted to be withdrawn from storage [whilst the distribution system remains topped-up].

Unlike electrical power supplies which can be temporarily interrupted & then switched back on again, the Gas Transmission System MUST remain pressurised.




Perhaps the organisation which was responsible for those weather predictions ought to invest in a more accurate computational model?

Met Office Global long-range probability maps [Enter 'Issued' - Oct 2010; 'Period' - 2-4 months; 'Region' - Europe to see how warm they thought it'd be.]

Because that forecast also heavily influenced local authority road-salt purchasing & storage decisions, it perhaps explains why so many councils were 'unprepared' for the prolonged snow + ice conditions.

A guest post by Joe Public.

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Piers Corbyn Interview

Strange the BBC haven't interviewed Mr Corbyn when his weather forecasting has been so much more accurate than the Met Office.

If you'd like to follow Mr Corbyn on Twitter his address is piers_corbyn.

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Good Idea Mr Salmond

The opposition parties in the Scottish government are still gunning for Stewart Stevenson, the Transport Minister, because he didn't attend Thursday's sub-Cabinet committee meeting on Scottish Government Resilience (SGOR) called to deal with problems caused by the current thaw and the freeze expected towards the end of next week.

Iain Gray, the Labour leader, said: "It is quite clear that Stewart Stevenson has been sidelined since last Tuesday. Scotland has lost confidence in him and it would appear that his colleagues have as well.





The Tory leader Annabel Goldie said: "On Thursday he sat in the chamber during a debate when he should have been at his desk sorting out the travel chaos. And now we learn that today he wasn't at the resilience committee.


Fairly weak comments from Labour and the Tories but will Mr Stevenson's future be affected?  Who can tell.  But I was pleased to note that Brig George Lowder, the Commander of the Army in Scotland was one of those present at the meeting. Forward planning is one of the strengths of the military and they are trained to plan and act with immediacy.

It also pleased me to hear Alex Salmond say last night that, as well as discussing the use of winter tyres for HGV owners, he was investigating their use for all road users.  Presently he is in talks with motor insurance companies and tyre manufacturers who, he said, may be able to offer Scots a 'good deal' because of the initial high demand which would occur if legislation to this effect was passed.

Before people say they can't afford two sets of tyres, winter tyres can be used here all year round with the wear and tear being no worse than that of standard tyres. Read the comments here from those who already use them.  In order to save money I would only use winter tyres from November to March then change back to standard tyres and repeat that until my standard tyres needed replaced.  Only then would I start to use winter tyres all year round.

Certainly I'm all for legislation being passed, because it would be unfair to legislate only heavy goods vehicles while smaller vehicles are just as likely to block roads in bad weather.  It was the volume of abandoned cars which held up the clearing of the M8 on Monday.

A footnote.  Yesterday I was talking to someone who took a friend to Edinburgh airport on Wednesday.  They said the approach road was in a disgusting state of hard-packed rutted ice and vehicles were all over the place.  Furthermore, then said if they hadn't been driving a 4 x 4 then would have turned back.  Maybe Mr Stevenson should have a word with BAA.

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Stevie and his Hoe - Don't try this at home

Dunfermline yesterday.

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Gripping Stuff

A few decades ago I worked in Switzerland for a short time.  Although I didn't have a car - there was no need as public transport was, by British standards, superb - I was aware that all vehicle owners changed their tyres to snow tyres from early November until around March.  There was no hullaballoo about it, people accepted the policy kept them far safer than driving through winter with tyres only fit for summer weather.

In Germany it wasn't compulsory, but many businesses insisted tyres were changed and also each vehicle carried snow chains.  Fortunately I never had to apply snow chains to my vehicle, although I recall a horrendous journey from Hannover to Herford which took 7 hours, but the snow chains were there in the boot and I'm sure some gallant Herr would have offered his services if I had been unable to keep moving even with snow tyres.  I was never one of those bra-burning feminists who, I still believe, didn't do much towards equality for women. I preferred the 'feminine movement', which worked quietly in the background gradually showing that women could transfer their skills to the male world.

Luckily I had a father who was very enlightened and before I ever had my first driving lesson from him I had to learn how to change a wheel, change oil and fit spark plugs.  Nowadays it's too complicated under the bonnet and my car needs the help of a computer programme to do anything more complicated than renewing a fuse.

This early winter made me wonder if it's time Scotland made it compulsory to change to winter tyres from November to March.  Winter tyres are not snow tyres.  They're tyres specifically designed for temperatures under 7 degrees.  Snow tyres now appear to be old-fashioned and wouldn't be suitable here because we don't have five months of snow.  The past week I've spoken to two people who have invested in winter tyres for their cars and wished they had done a year ago.  The two have purchased new (in one case second hand) wheels for their winter tyres to make the change over in March simple.  I queried the cost but was told some of the expense would be recouped when the cars were sold on as the tyres would go with it.

After listening to the these stories, I'm tempted to invest in them myself.  At first I thought I thought I didn't do enough mileage to warrant them, but after having a glide to visit a friend earlier yesterday evening, I realise there's no price on personal safety.  No matter how good a driver you are, in poor conditions if everyone had tyres which could cope far better in winter, there would be fewer cars blocking roads, fewer accidents and fewer injuries.

Of course many will say 'not another piece of legislation', but if you think about it without a law saying every car should have winter tyres, which will ensure traffic moves instead of stalls, then we'll still have those who have no respect for the safety of others and thus themselves.  Plus the offenders will be easy to find.  They'll be the ones blocking roads because they're unable to keep their vehicles under control.

Viva winter tyres! Having driven a car today - quite similar to my own - I'm all for the extra grip offered.  Especially when I had to move, for those selfish drivers, into the mounds of impacted snow at the side of roads.  I perhaps shouldn't say selfish drivers but 'drivers who know they can't drive on snow/ice'.  Others will say these are an additional expense on families when we are in the middle of a recession.  Surely knowing the vehicle that transports you and yours is worth spending a couple of hundred pounds on to make safe during the winter months.

Fair enough, the tyre companies will make a fortune initially, but isn't it better to buy them before VAT rises to 20% and to know that you never again will buy a car without having a good look at its seasonal tyres?

Here in the east of Scotland I can't see those mounds of ice moving before early Spring as it is forecast we'll have temperatures around freezing or below well into the New Year.

Just a thought.

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As Good a Reason as Any

Will anyone in Cancun be brave enough to promote this?

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Forewarned is Forearmed

No, the photograph wasn't taken by me with my new Lumix camera, although it's very similar to one I would have taken of the berry-laden holly bushes in the garden.  Unfortunately the Royal Mail lost the camera I intially ordered which resulted in a statutory 15 day wait - in case it did arrive - until I could order a replacement from Amazon.  It arrived today but the weather was too horrible to be standing around in spear-like rain, assisted by swirling winds, which always ensure I feel as if I'm undergoing non-consensual facial acupuncture.  Also I've yet to read the instructions so perhaps it's better I relied upon a library photograph.

However the acquisition of my camera has little to do with this post.  The abundance of holly berries on my bushes does, along with the substantial crop of the bright red berries my honeysuckle provided for the birds until recently.  I've also a hawthorn bush which I inherited and the haws have brightened a much neglected corner of the garden this year.  An unusual occurrence because they're normally quite sparse.

Many years ago an elderly gentleman - who was also a neighbour - gave me some basic advice on gardening. It was the first house I'd owned with a garden and I was anxious to show the neighbours I was no novice.  His knowledge was extensive and without his critical eye constantly sweeping over my efforts I would never have learned a fraction of the skills I use today.

One of Mr King's ( my mentor deserves to be named) favourite sayings, along with teaching me that you could actually smell snow is to fall within 24 hours - honestly you can - was 'loads of berries means a hard winter'.  Many would shrug off such an old wives' tale but good gardeners, (unlike myself who potter around), never ignore them because they tend to be far more accurate than any modern technological weather methods.

Some deny the folklore at their peril.  I'm a denier about global warming.  That doesn't mean to say I disagree with climate change, because even a five-year-old would realise the climate changes regularly.  It's a natural process.  Why reducing pollution, which was seriously required in many parts of the UK and an honest policy, and the myth that the world is warming at a rate which will even eradicate civilisations, have been combined, is due to politicians and chancers.  Scientists funded by governments decided to agree.  Those who disagreed had their funding negated.  But we know that.  Now a website has popped up asking the likes of you and me to join in its latest experiment.  There's no end to the attempts of climate change believers to try to involve even the most sceptical of us.

I'm going with the folklore that an abundance of berries forecasts a severe winter and dig out my clampons.  Ok, last year I refused to wear them but found myself housebound at times until I was given a pair of these by a friend.  This year I'll have them on one pair of old slip-on boots and I'll carry my regular boots in a bag because, for me, it's a pest removing them when I meet non-icy surfaces.

The weather here isn't warming.  I've kept a fairly detailed diary over the last few years and the weather is not warming.  The seasons are slightly adjusting but certainly the summers were warmer back in the 50s than they are now.  Winters back then were extreme, but it's hard to evaluate when today we have so much more technology to ensure the country keeps moving.  I only know that earlier this year snow/ice never lifted from my garden for 7 weeks.

So this year I will be forewarned and listen to the berries and prepare myself for a hard winter.  The people who know the soil and respect the weather deserve much more attention than those who work from computer models.  Don't you think?

As a footnote investors in climate change are seeking to influence the policymakers.  They won't stop until we're financially bled dry by taxation.

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English Councils' Salt Stocks

I was amazed to read in this article on the BBC website that each English council is required to hold only 6 days of salt - the officially minimum recommended level of salt needed to meet demand. Having lived around England in my younger days, I can say the only area which wouldn't need more than that in an average winter is the south-west, although there were quite a few winters there when black ice was present in early mornings.

British Salt director David Stephen made an offer of half price salt to 30 councils in April last year but none accepted his largesse.

The weather here is little different to the likes of West Yorkshire yet most of Scotland is depicted as a place of cold and miserable weather. Quite untrue of course yet the fallacy continues.

There have been problems here with salt supplies but these have been readily resolved by the Scottish government and the councils without any cuts in gritting requirements.

'Transport minister Sadiq Khan admitted that the six day advice may be altered in future.'

May? How kind of him to give this consideration. Not only has this ridiculous recommendation caused misery to hundreds of thousands in the past weeks, it has cost pain and suffering to hundreds who have had the misfortune to fall on untreated roads or pavements. The conflicting advice about clearing your own pavement was only the start of it and the costs to councils for imported salt will be high.

The government's mismanagement has been appalling but then that's the norm these days from labour.

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