Ravelin

Made it home, decided in the end it was easier to go via Braemar and the A93. You'd hardly think there had been a storm going that way, just a few odd patches of water on the roads. Very nice drive in the end, as these photos from either side of the Glenshee ski center show. Chainsaw will need to be brought into action again in the garden. The big cherry tree that has survived all other storms in the last few years completely unscathed has at least three large branches snapped and hanging down. Should all be low enough for me to finish the job of bringing them down myself, in stages, with a ladder. Shame though.

A bit damp in central Scotland this morning but cleared to sunny spells as the day went on, so should be clearing further north too hopefully. We'll make an attempt to get home tomorrow, but if A90 is still closed we'll need to decide between coast road from Dundee up to Stonehaven, or head the A9/A96 way.

Probably a mouse or vole burrow that's become 'plumbing' due to all the rain. Happens in part of our garden, where there's a slope with burrow holes that are normally hidden.

Fairly gusty around Airdrie today, especially compared to yesterday, with occasional showers, but nothing heavy or prolonged. Dog walk along the reservoir near Caldercruix this morning could be classed as 'bracing'. Horrendous what Angus and parts of Dundee have been getting, and that new red warning for Saturday is worrying. Aberdeenshire seems to have largely faired ok so far it seems.

Luckily we'll have some flexibility regards travelling back home as that's both red rain and amber wind warnings along much of our route now. Probably leave travelling until Sunday to let the clear up take place, as I'm assuming A90 will be under water in the usual places. Off to Lochmaben in a bit for 2 nights, then Airdrie for another couple, neither journey should be troublesome, hopefully, and both relatively short.

We'll be travelling back up to Aberdeenshire, probably Saturday, after stopping off at my parents outside Airdrie. Also keeping a close eye on the forecast rain as a result. Wind might also be a factor for us with the motorhome as it makes for a very nervous journey, but we could hold off until Sunday if needed.

Frosty start in Kirkcudbright too, at least on the cars.

Had to scrape the car windscreen this morning, first time this Autumn. Unfortunately I was stuck in work all day so no chance to enjoy the weather, school holidays start tomorrow though, woohoo. Off down to Dumfries and Galloway with the motorhome first week, back home to catch up on all the outstanding jobs the second week.

6 + 35 +31 = 72mm of rain since Friday 8pm(ish). 83.6mm for Oct so far, which isn't too far short of the average for the month, so it'll be interesting to see if the rest of the month stays relatively dry. Certainly forecast to be cooler for the coming week than its been of late.

Got to Westhill just now, A944 very wet in the usual places but nothing you can't get through fairly easily with the occasional slow drive in the middle of the road to stay out of the deep bits.

We're going to finish the day on just over 35mm. Eased off in the afternoon enough to get the dog out. The burns were flowing briskly, but nothing really notable other than that. Forecast is for probably the same tomorrow, so maybe 70 to 80mm in total from Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon.

Amber warning now our for areas in the NE, from 21:00 tonight through 14:00 Sunday. Looks like I'm just inside the new warning area, and I have to go to Westhill with my 16yr old tomorrow morning.

14mm or rain so far today here, steady but not what I'd call heavy. With the 6mm from around 8pm to midnight yesterday that makes around 20mm so far. Wife drove down to her parents in NW England last night and said it wasn't at all fun from around Stirling right the way through to Preston. Oh, and currently 5.7C, which is pretty much the low for the day so far as the temp has been slowly decreasing since midnight. Quite a contrast to the mid 20s forecast for SE England (and the low 20s forecast earlier in the week for here today).

Standard autumnal weather here really. Weather station up the road say max gust of just over 60km/h and around 10mm of rain, both of which were easily beaten by the weather around a week ago. Nothing that unusual and wouldn't have expected it to mean we are in both wind and rain warning areas.

Wood burner is going, Autumn has officially arrived.

Low of 2.1C and a touch of frost this morning.

Bloody roasting in school today, but on the other hand it was nice to end the working week sat outside with a couple of beers once I got home. Now sat inside with a brandy and the house is still way too warm. Still 17.4C outside l, at 9pm, in September!

@NorthernlightsThat doesn't look too dissimilar to my garden following the first grass cut after nearly 6 weeks of not being cut over the summer (3 weeks away on holiday and over 2 weeks waiting for the lawn tractor to get a new fuel pump fitted after it cut on my first time starting it after the hols). A high of 25.0C here but cloudier than yesterday, and like elsewhere, feeling muggy with it. Still currently 18.7C and dead calm out.

A high of 27.2C here today and the local farmers are in full on harvest frenzy unsurprisingly.

Despite the above, it was roasting this afternoon whilst I was working on trimming the bushes. Topped out at 23.2C. Had a look for the aurora before going to bed last night but saw nothing obvious. We have a poor view to the north though due to the hill behind the house.

Drove through the edge of that around 4pm on my way home from Westhill. Very heavy rain around Dunecht, eased off around Sauchen, with the roads quite deep with water in places. Bone dry in Alford.

Max of over 20C yesterday but dropped to a low of 6.7C last night, the lowest overnight temp for quite a while. Not really thought much about the coming winter, but it could be interesting if the jetstream continues to stay predominantly to our south where its been recently.

Currently sitting in the motorhome in Northern France in blustery conditions, with reasonably frequent rain showers driving through. Late morning tomorrow we're back on the Eurotunnel to the UK and the long hall back to Aberdeenshire. First week in Holland and Germany was largely very nice, sunny and temps in mid to high 20s mist of the time. The second and third weeks in Germany and France have been much more changeable, we've had a fair share of rain at times, including some thundery torrential downpours. Overall its been OK, at least when it's been dull or wet it's still been warm enough for shorts. Not particularly looking forward to a return to what appears to pass for summer weather in Scotland whilst we've been away. The heating will automatically come back out of 'holiday mode' before we get back, but the wood burner might also have to be lit, which is pretty much unheard of for August.

Mid 20s today, a bit cloudy and humid but now cleared up. Might be an uncomfortable night as forecast low is 20C or thereabouts. No we're not in Aberdeenshire, we're in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, arrived last night after leaving Alford on Tue morning. Heading off down the Rhine in Germany tomorrow, then along the Mosel. After that who knows, Eurotunnel isn't booked for the return until a few days into Aug. Looks like we're not missing any decent weather back home, but with all the rain I'll expect my grass will be knee deep by the time I get home. At least the other plants will be getting some water though.

About 13mm of rain here since late yesterday. Just clearing now, with sun trying to get out.