Friday notes

Wet and miserable today, although not much wind at the moment. Rain looks as if it's on the way out. Not warm, 5C. We are under warning for severe gales, force 9 later today.

New Zealand is glancing north, where tropical cyclone Funa is heading south from Fiji. Funa will veer southwest, to pass well north of the North Island. Tropical cyclones are notoriously unpredictable, so will keep a sharp eye on that one.

There has been no word on the cause of the crashlanding of the Boeing 777 at Heathrow yesterday. Praise has been heaped on the crew of the airliner. British PM Gordon Brown was on a plane just half a mile from the incident.

Again in New Zealand, an investigation has begun into the murder of a young woman from Orkney. Karen Aim was found with severe injuries in the streets of Taupo, before she died. Shock has been expressed by the local community on the North Island of New Zealand, as well as in Orkney [north of mainland Scotland].