The day started nicely, with sunshine and by noon, even a little warmth. By 5 pm it was pretty cold. I had to go out to a class at 7.30 pm and the wind was starting to build up. By the time I came out at 9 pm it was howling around the car park. On the way home there were small branches in the road (nothing too big or dangerous) and I managed to drive around them.

The Weather headlines are for gale force winds of up to 80 mph in the next 24 hours, but I thought it applied mainly to Scotland and the north of the country. It seems the wind down this end of the country must have misunderstood, and thought that it was included in the forecast.

I wrote an article today about the rising cost of petrol, and compared prices in the UK and the USA. I calculated that the cheapest petrol close to where I live is costing the equivalent of $7.77 per US Gallon! More than double what it costs in the USA. According to Wikipedia, UK taxes account for $5.04 of that total. In the US taxes are much lower, but vary according to the State you're in.