And now, over to the Wet Office...

If there's one thing you can say about the weather in Orkney, it is that it is windy. And if you were allowed to venture a further opinion concerning our meteorology, you might also mention that it is very changeable. Not necessarily in the spirit of the classic Scottish "four seasons in one day", but weather that is definitely different from yesterday, and quite possibly different from that currently on the opposite side of the archipelago.

In this regard, January 2026 was unusual. Firstly, there was a prolonged spell of wintry weather from the north which, whilst it was often picturesque, played havoc with the road system due to drifting snow, and affected all transport, as crews couldn't make it to ferries or staff to the airport. 

For the last wee while, however, we have been hunkered down from a period of unrelenting dreichness, characterised by wind and rain from the south east. And it shows no sign of a change of heart. At least roads are now navigable, if a little splashy, but ferry services have again been affected, meaning that there's been a considerable uptick in our collective  knowledge of tides and swell state. 

Whilst working at a pier in Kirkwall last week, I happened to be in a room where there was a visible indication of what we're dealing with. This wasn't due to a named storm, this is our current normal.

Yesterday, carrying out a survey for an installation, my customer mentioned that they worked at the airport. Contrary to the usual state of affairs, where the particular runway in use on any given day can change by the day, if not the hour, at the moment it hasn't changed since the 15th of January.

Looking at the forecast, there's no hint of a change in the offing, so we will be into our fourth week soon. I have only encountered this situation once before during my time here as, in 2013, I arrived in the county during a Winter featuring two months of south easterlies.

Perhaps predictably, there has been precious little wildlife watching of late, although shortly after taking the above photograph, I glanced out of a window and saw a Black Guillemot in Winter plumage, bobbing about in the swell and looking quite at home.