Not a good day to lose gas supply to your home.

I woke up this morning to an iMessage from my elder son advising he had no gas supply. It was to be the start of a big event for him, his fiance and his brother (who lives nearby). They were just a few of over 8000 who became disconnected after a major failure of the gas supply network. From past life experience I knew this was a big issue and it would take a number of days to resolve - each home needs to be visited and gas isolated, and after the network repair is effected, each property reconnected safely; no mean feat. I’d put a fan heater in the car for him and arranged to drop it off after he and his fiance returned from an emergency GP appointment (Sunday morning, thank you NHS Scotland). I also ordered a fan heater for collection for my younger son (he was away overnight ); I wasn’t sure if he had one or not. Otherwise, it was a pleasant day and uneventful winters day! Old friends came through to visit and we went for a walk, enjoyed food and a chat - recent news and politics and reminiscences.

During evening the implications of the major gas supply incident continued to develop, several high schools and many primary schools are now going to be closed and an emergency food etc community centre has been established. Volunteer and local authority groups have started to step up, It looks like a fair bit of disruption ahead for those involved, and days off supply.