Sunday 15 July 2012

Drought on Skye!

Yes, I know... the whole of the UK is suffering the wettest summer since the dinosaurs wandered the planet...

...that'll be the whole of the UK apart from here...!!!

This is what ought to be a peat bog, close to the top of a nearby hill about three weeks ago (but it hasn't rained since)...


...in fact, it hasn't rained on north Skye more than a few spots at a time for about three months. It's yet another of those 'never in living memory' weather conditions. Since we have lived here (just over four years) we've had the coldest winter 'in living memory' and the wettest winter 'in living memory'. Now we are having the longest dry spell...you've guessed it... 'in living memory'.

Here's the Hamara River, which flows into Glendale. At least, it usually does. Just now it's only trickling - those exposed rocks would normally be underwater. 


Mostly, we are just making the most of it, and enjoying everyday dry dog-walks and the ability to roam the hills without wet boots. But the lawn is going brown, and I'm struggling to keep up with watering the allotment. I have no outside tap, and my water butt was emptied weeks ago, so I have to carry buckets over from the house every evening. 

So far, our domestic water supply seems to be OK, though the local paper was suggesting that tankers may be needed to support some communities which depend on supplies from burns which have all-but dried up.

Weather these days seems to be all topsy-turvey.


3 comments:

Worcestershire Turnip said...

The weather you're having on Skye is certainly incredible. I think we ought to swop! I'm fed up with weeks of rain almost every day, although there are times when you can venture out between showers, but never ever without a waterproof coat. I would say the weather here in Worcestershire and Shropshire is more like November or March than June/July. Roll on December when hopefully we shall have brilliant sunshine every day and temperatures of 90 degrees F !

drgeo said...

On the plus side, are there fewer midges?

Richard Dorrell said...

drgeo
are there fewer midges
Possibly - but there were still plenty around early in the summer. We are going through the usual mid-season dip in midge numbers at the moment. It's also breezy much of the time, which keeps them out of sight.