ciel

After rain showers this morning, sleety showers this afternoon in a temp of 2C (higher up in the Glen). Passed a field of depressed-looking cattle standing motionless, shin-deep in mud. The whole field was a messy mud fest.

Suppression of the truth is not the sole province of China.lol Yes, community forums are part of social media, and my view is that more should be done to discourage the misinformation posted on these platforms.

Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter tackle coronavirus fake news Social media fights false coronavirus claims WWW.BBC.CO.UK Platforms are increasing efforts to block false information as the outbreak spreads and fear grows.

The relevance of your post to this thread, fails me.

These issues are not absent from the debate. They have been discussed here ( at length) and within more influential circles. I don't know if that is the case, and I would suggest neither do you.

Topped 13C,briefly between home and Brechin, early afternoon, according to the car sensor. But despite the blustery wind and the warmth, the ground does not seem to be drying out to any great extent; puddles and mud remain in the yard, track and general surrounds this evening. Although my location has dodged most of the recent showers, the ground must still be saturated, possibly due to poor drainage hereabouts. A dry settled spell would be fine.

I agree with that sentiment. And yes you give the hands a quick splash under the cold tap, because you can't work out the complexity of the hot one then a whisk under the dryer and hope you escape typhoid.

Actually, probably hot water and soap are the best actions to take to prevent contagion. Wipes are not always effective. Airborne infection requires isolation from the source.

Gawd, we now have the NW and European experts claiming the answers. Just kill me off.

I am certainly not an expert in virology, or of Chinese competence in the matter of dealing with the recent viral outbreak, or how it will pan out, but for those really interested, I would recommend a read of this book. The viral storm: the dawn of a new pandemic age | book review | @GrrlScientist | Science | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM GrrlScientist: This book reveals the origins of some of the world's most deadly microbes, explains how modern life makes them more dangerous and explores how new technologies may prevent pandemic...

Another mild, sunny day. Cloud cover increased late afternoon with some ground fog developing. @Ravelin not seen any honey bees around, hope yours keep safe. Some of the bumble variety have been spotted out and about locally. A few little ‘clouds’ of annoying midges have hatched in the garden over the past few days and are keen on homing in on my face and neck. @Northernlights Still very soggy underfoot here. I noticed neeps were being lifted manually here a couple of days ago, maybe in respect of an increased demand for Burn’s night suppers?

The complete paper you refer to is available in the link posted by BFTV yesterday in the ‘New Research’ thread. My reading of the paper, in its entirety, is that the purpose of the research was to quantify the long known of contribution of ozone-depleting substances (ODI) to Arctic warming. As for the conclusions, my understanding is that the authors consider that if their research is supported by further research in this area, the implications are that the phasing out of ODIs will substantially mitigate the rate of Arctic warming caused by AGW. I have not, unless I have missed something in the paper, read anything about anticipation of cooling of the Arctic.

After a clear morning, these were the type of clouds I noticed earlier, with a few lenticulars as well, when returning home over the Cairn o Mount about 45mins before sundown. It was all quite interesting with pale orange/yellow/grey colours overhead. I also was unable to stop for pics. Missed the actual sunset.

I was lulled into thinking, due to the bright sunshine this morning, a walk in the glens might be quite pleasant. It was, in fact, ‘B’ baltic in upper Glen Lethnot due to a stiff bitter wind and the sun dropping behind the hills around 2pm. However, spent a ½ hour or so lower down, watching a very healthy-looking population of red squirrels. It was difficult to count the numbers as they dart about so quickly. A wary eye on you I’m invisible now

Grass frost hanging on in the shade, icy puddles and frozen windscreens this morning; temp 2C, nae wind while the strengthening sunlight brings a touch of warmth. A good day for a walk in one of the Angus Glens.

Diverse weather interests are not necessarily mutually exclusive. My personal preferences are for spring with its freshness, long summer daylight hours and warm sunshine, although I don’t mind bright winter frosty days. However this does not exclude, as I rather simplistically state, an interest and curiosity in regard to the development of different weather scenarios.

I love watching the weather too, but I also like trying to understand the causes of weather? A difficult subject for me.

For general info (I'm sure NL will be aware of this): Under section 95 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 a person commits an offence if they: are in charge of a vehicle on a road allow a quantity of ‘mud, clay, farmyard manure, or other material (of whatever nature) from the vehicle (or carried on the vehicle) to drop onto or be deposited on the road which would create, or be likely to create, a danger or substantial inconvenience to road users, and fail to remove the material as soon as reasonably practicable. There are similar provisions in English law.

Am I really the only person on this thread who does not crave ten foot drifts? I do (very occasionally) feel a wee bit guilty about this as I know many enjoy snow-sports and the ski centres are so reliant on decent snow falls for their existence. I also wonder about the mountain hares and whether they have fully donned their white coats this year. If they have, to add to their troubles, without white hills they will be more vulnerable to predation.....and the ptarmigans.

Thanks for pointing this out, CMD. The squall line has just passed through here too, followed by a quite sudden noticeable drop in the wind speed, and a patch of blue sky. More rain on the horizon though. On a brighter note, a wee Goldcrest has blown into the bushes, which means, of course, I shall probably now spend much of the day staring out the window trying to get a further glimpse or pic. Still, on a day like this there not much else better to do.

-5C at 10am - having to address frozen car-door locks with some warm water. Apart from that, it's a clear sunny day with great visibility.

Yes, there were. The sky for a time was a very intense blue. Nipped into the garden and took a quick snap.

I know, and I do avoid that place when in the area. Perhaps, this time round, the mine will make a positive contribution ( or not) to the local economy. On a purely sentimental note, I would love a simple gold band of scottish gold.

I have never tuned into LBC (thankfully). I do, however, occasionally listen to the disgraceful and biased BBC.

@CatchMyDrift ref hobbies Why not take up fair isle knitting and patterns on these long dreich scottish winter evenings? lol