Storm Dennis

At ten this morning Storm Dennis looked as if it was going to deliver the 50mph gusts the BBC was forecasting for Golspie (image from the earth.nullschool site, here) but when we had donned our full wet weather gear and emerged onto the seafront....

....the beach was in bright sunshine. Others had obviously heeded the forecast as there was not another soul to be seen on the sands and....

....the BBC Adriatic was still anchored off the Dornoch Firth - she's seen here with Tarbat Ness lighthouse in the background.

We walked for almost an hour southwest along the beach straight into a strengthening wind but turned back when the grey clouds seen in this picture began to deliver some stinging raindrops. However, by the time we were home the clouds had cleared and our wet-weather gear was almost dry. The sun was still out after lunch so we took a second, rather more gentle stroll in the Dunrobin woods in the early afternoon.

The BBC forecast was, once again, hopelessly inaccurate. We tend to go on the Met Office forecast which was broadly right for what has, so far, been a very tame Dennis today. But then, this is what we're coming to expect in Golspie - a rather gentle climate which may yet bite us.