Lancaster

I woke up after a deep sleep to hear the wind buffeting the house. Storm Éowyn had not yet fully arrived. After breakfast and a zoom meet in I settled down to some other paperwork and tidying up. We were due to travel at lunchtime to Lancaster to see the family for a long weekend as we had not met up over Christmas.

However, because of the warnings we decided to postpone our journey until things were clearer. It was the right decision. As the storm grew it became intense. The news reports and social media posts from friends showed the wild nature of the winds. Yet, our neighbour’s tree has a nest in it and the nest, despite being exposed, seemed to survive despite the gales and gusts. The resilience of nature.

I kept refreshing traffic reports. Trees blocking the A702; northbound carriageway of the M74 blocked. Lorries blown over. And so on. Our usual route is the 702 via Biggar but, as a friend stated, it is heavily tree lined. The alternative route is via the M8 and Glasgow. But it became blocked.

As the day wore on the alternative route of taking the east route via the A68 and out the of the red zone more quickly became more attractive. That is what we took while there was still some daylight and as the end of the red zone warning was being lifted. It was an hour longer than usual and a lot of driving in the dark.

However, in the end, it was a fairly easy drive. Some buffeting. Evidence of tree branches (and a few trees) falling. I had to swerve to avoid a large branch on the roadside. But the roads were relatively quiet and, running alongside Hadrian’s Wall, very straight! Nevertheless it was clear that earlier the gusts and wind had been strong. We saw at least half a dozen lorries on their side on verges or in ditches.

So we arrived after 8. From the building we are in you look onto the castle and the cathedral with the river Lune to the right.

A good night’s sleep beckons without the thought of having to do the drive in the morning still with high amber winds and snow and rain in the mix.