Thursday 2nd November 2023

Storm Ciarán swept in Wednesday night, and deepened through the night, so by dawn it was raging at its full force.

Despite living less than a mile from the coast, we are up on the downs, so flooding was never going to be an issue, also, the storm moved slightly to the south so the worst of the winds passed us by, even still, Langdon Hole recorded gusts of up to 75mph.

The garden survived, with just some pot plants tipped over, and by lunch the winds dropped, and then the sun came out.

But we and the house survived.

We slept OK through the night, the double glazing keeping the worst of the wind's howling down, but once up, and dawn brought the sight of trees, bushes and hedges swaying violently from side to side.

By eight, it was the height of the storm, rain lashed down from the west in sheets, driven by near hurricane force winds, I took several videos, as pictures just don't capture the sheer violence of the winds.

Just after 11, the winds begin to ease, not by much, just to 40 or so mph, and the clouds lifted.

Cats went out, and birds returned to find the feeders had been blown out of the bushes, so I went to collect them, put them back up and fill them.

Most roads into Dover, Deal and Sandwich were blocked by fallen trees at some point, but Jools had left at six, and got to work, safely, even if it had taken an hour to get to Hythe, on the other hand, I was unaffected at the dining room table, except when we lost the internet for half an hour.

And so the exciting day faded, not much to report from here. But on Jersey, battered by 100mph winds, roofs ripped off houses, coast roads closed, and in northern France, even worse conditions as winds topped 110mph.

The day faded, and I made Caprese with the oil from Borough Market and the leftover foaccia from Tuesday.

Nearly the weekend.