Tuesday notes

Heavy rain and strong winds this morning, showing little sign of improvement. The ferry left 2 hours late, at 9.30 this morning, and it'll be touch and go whether it will be able to make a return journey. It is quite a contrast since last night, when the midnight hour struck with the mercury at -1C / 30F. At the moment, we're at 11C / 52F. Typical December weather.

The storms on the US West Coast appear to have abated, although a winterstorm is still raging in Maine. Winter has struck with a vengeance across the pond.

Down this way, the news is all about money. The local Health Board, nearly £4m in the red will not be bailed out by the Scottish Government, but they will be supported in finding a constructive way out of their current mess. That has been on-going for the past 4 years. A local enterprise venture, Iomairt Nis, which operates in the Ness area of Lewis, has had to lay off all its 8 staff after a hole of £25,000 appeared in its finances.

Another remote British island, Tristan da Cunha [scroll down that page to view island info] has seen its citizens go down with severe breating difficulties. The medical supplies needed to treat the virus outbreak, are not available on the island, so the British Coastguard is coordinating an international operation to bring relief to the 270-odd residents on their 98 square km (40 sq miles) island. They came to international attention in the 1960s, when all residents were evacuated to Great Britain following the eruption of a volcano. Tristan da Cunha lies in the middle of the South Atlantic, 2,800 km (1,700 miles) west of Cape Town.

Supplies come via Cape Town on a fishing boat, and can take up to a month to arrive. Two years ago, it received its first internet delivery, a book on the island's history. It has its own postcode, TDCU 1ZZ, because its capital is called Edinburgh, which is liable to cause confusion. The full name of the settlement is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas.