Friday 22 February

Fairly breezy morning, in between the showers. The showers are quite severe, with a heavy hailshower with strong squalls clattering through half an hour ago. The weather conditions are playing havoc with the ferry timetables. The disruptions page on the Calmac website is awash with colours other than green this morning.

This is fairly average weather for the winter time. Each winter, there will be a spell of continual gales, rains and hail. It can last for weeks on end. The recent quiet spell, which ended a couple of days ago, was actually unusual for this time of year. Things should start to calm down a little after March.

The aftermath of Hurricane Ivan is now moving to a political level, with the country's president and his political party coming under fire for inactivity. I have not copied that article into the special blog.

Kosovo's declaration of independence last Sunday has sparked violence in Serbia's capital, Belgrade. After a rally with inflammatory language from the country's prime minister, a mob went on the rampage in the US embassy. The building was set on fire. Riot police intervened to quell the unrest, but a body was found inside the embassy compound. It should be noted that Serbians regard Kosovo as the birthplace of their nation. Serbians are a minority in that territory. The events in Belgrade were roundly condemned by the US and EU authorities. I wonder when they are going to come to their senses in the Balkans.

Tags: kosovo, serbia, belgrade