Friday notes

A tropical cyclone is currently moving through the Northern Territory of Australia, south of Darwin. It is not a strong affair, but still carries winds of force 8 to 10 on the Beaufort scale, with gusts to 65 mph. Tropical cyclone advice for the affected region is available here.

Here in the Western Isles, it's an overcast day with occasional wintry showers. A broad swathe of showers stretches from the Butt of Lewis to Rattray Head, north of Aberdeen. Another large area of precipitation (rain / snow) is crossing the island of Ireland. Winds are already strong, and will pick up to galeforce, leading to blizzard conditions in the mountains. We can expect rain, but the mainland will see more snow, turning to rain later as temperatures rise. Hellish day to be out on the roads.

West Africa has become a major smuggling route for cocaine traffickers. They take their load across the Atlantic from South America to Africa, then transport it north towards Europe. The Saharan country of Mali impounded 750 kg of cocaine earlier this week, after a 2 hour firefight near the Algerian border. The smugglers made off across the frontier. Other West African nations have captured huge hauls in recent times.