A fine day

5.15 am, the time of the dawn chorus and the time Lucy wakes me up, I cannot be cross because I love the birds and the poetic litany of our coastal shores which will be read in the next few minutes on the BBC radio 4.....

1. From Cape Wrath to Rattray Head including Orkney
2. Rattray Head to Berwick on Tweed
3. Berwick on Tweed to Whitby
4. Whitby to Gibraltar Point
5. Gibraltar Point to North Foreland
6. North Foreland to Selsey Bill
7. Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis
8. Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly
9. Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel
10. St Davids Head to Great Ormes Head, including St Georges Channel
11. Great Ormes Head to the Mull of Galloway
12. Isle of Man
13. Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough
14. The Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and the North Channel
15. Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point *
    warning

    Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point

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    Strong wind warning

    06:00 UTC Thu 19th Apr – 05:59 UTC Fri 20th Apr

    • Wind

      South or southeast 4 or 5, increasing 6 at times, becoming variable 3 or 4 for a time.

    • Sea State

      Moderate or rough, becoming slight or moderate except in far northwest.

    • Weather

      Occasional rain at first.

    • Visibility

      Moderate or good, occasionally poor at first.

    06:00 UTC Fri 20th Apr – 05:59 UTC Sat 21st Apr

    • Wind

      South veering southwest, 4 or 5, backing southeast 3 or 4 later.

    • Sea State

      Slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first in far northwest.

    • Weather

      Showers at first.

    • Visibility

      Good, occasionally moderate.

    Issued at 06:00 UTC on Thursday 19th Apr
16. The Minch *
    warning

    The Minch

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    Strong wind warning

    06:00 UTC Thu 19th Apr – 05:59 UTC Fri 20th Apr

    • Wind

      South or southwest 4 or 5, increasing 6 at times.

    • Sea State

      Slight or moderate.

    • Weather

      Occasional rain at first, showers later.

    • Visibility

      Moderate or good, occasionally poor at first.

    06:00 UTC Fri 20th Apr – 05:59 UTC Sat 21st Apr

    • Wind

      Southwest 4 or 5, increasing 6 at times, backing south 3 or 4 later.

    • Sea State

      Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight later.

    • Weather

      Showers at first.

    • Visibility

      Moderate or good.

    Issued at 06:00 UTC on Thursday 19th Apr
17. Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath including the Outer Hebrides *
    warning
18. Shetland Isles *
    warning
19. The Channel Islands

Shipping map for coastal areas

Strong winds in The Minch, and Mull of Kintyre are the only negatives on the map, the weather forecasters are over the moon with the warm weather we are having for a couple of days.  Our lawns are mown and the tulips are already promising to flower soon.  The shipping forecast is calm, though it is 'pooor' in some areas.  Somehow the forecasters can't get their tongues round the word poor ;)  Also new fact learnt this morning, it isn't Silly Automatic but Scilly Automatic, and they have dropped this weather station anyway!

Warm weather brings such a frisson of excitement in this country that has been been battered by cold winds, snow, heavy rain that we dance for the joy of a warm sunny day, joining the birds in their tributes to the summer ahead.
We have dropped the news about Syria, some are already saying that there was no chemical attack, and it is just another ploy on the part of us Western allies to grab the oil.  Another terrible injustice that is winding its way through the news is the 'Windrush affair'.  60 years these people have been part of our country and yet the stupidity of bureaucracy denies them citizenship.  Personal tragedy is already happening, they lose their jobs, rights to the NHS and live in fear of deportation - what are we becoming?

But something far more innocent and sparked by the weather forecast - The Mull of Kintyre by John McCartney.

Edit; On this day 19th April, the swallows have returned to the church.