Horizontal Rain

A number of years ago Alan Titchmarsh and the Groundforce team visited RAF Valley where they revamped an officer's garden. Those who remember seeing the TV programme will recall that Alan and his crew spent quite a significant amount of time working in souwesters and oilskins because of the high wind and rain.

I can tell you that today is a day of horizontal rain. Throughout the day we have been receiving varying amounts of rain but blown by strong gale force winds coming from the south west. I visited the manse of our Methodist minister this morning and the car door was almost ripped out of my grasp as I got out. The sound of the wind in the trees there was deafening. I can say that I have never heard wind in trees make so loud a noise.

So Anglesey has been battered by some pretty strong winds. It must be fun for the trainee fast jet pilots taking off in their BAe Hawk trainers over at RAF Valley. I do hope no one has been silly enough to go out climbing in Snowdonia! We often read stories about people who go out on bad days in our mountains but I think the high winds will speak for themselves today.

Part of the island experienced a power cut last night but I don't think the north of the island was affected. Looking at Facebook I note that the high winds are happening inland in the Manchester area too so my family are experiencing this bad weather as well. There are advisory speed limits on the Britannia Bridge as you might expect. Don't be there with a high sided vehicle! You will trap us on the island if it falls over. Actually, we can always use the suspension bridge but the arches are very narrow for buses and lorries.

The best advice is to stay at home wherever possible and avoid being blown over in the gales. Little old ladies are always the most vulnerable to this. When I lived and worked in the Oldham area our Civic Centre tower block created some very awkward winds outside the building. It was not unusual to see a small and slightly built woman measure her length!