As Scotland basks in Caribbean-style sun, is Thor about to send a cataclysmic storm? – Susan Morrison

Few things in life are more unsettling than an expected storm being a no-show.

Portobello beach or Anse Ceron in Martinique? Sometimes it can be hard to tell (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Well, I suppose an unexpected storm is a bit unnerving as well, I’ll give you that.

It feels like the city has been bracing for impact since about Tuesday. I am aware that even as I write this under a patchy blue sky with white/grey clouds, it is possible that within ten minutes that sky could crack into the sort of cataclysmic storm you usually only see in the movies when a god like Thor is about to fall to Earth.

That being the case, keep your eyes skyward, people, and note where he lands. Bet I get there in about ten minutes.

Scots have two attitudes to predicted storms when we leave the house. One, it will happen, so I will go out wearing a t-shirt, loose trousers and those nice sandals. However, into my spacious bag, I will load a rain jacket, umbrella and possibly even a wee pair of shoes to pop on. We will lament the passing of the Pack-a-Mac and the folding Rainhood.

The second option is, it will happen, so I will venture forth in t-shirt, loose trousers and flip-flops and take my chances. There is no spacious bag. I laugh in the face of the worried wee man on STV pointing at big amber blotches on the map. Rainhoods were for wuzzies anyway. They smelled funny and you could never fold them back up properly.

The buses once again hummed with weather chat. Most of us agreed that “we’ve had a good run”. Some went even further and said it was time for a change. At last it was something to talk about that didn’t involve Covid or Brexit.

You could feel a nation grow uneasy about the good fortune of sunny weather. Folks complained that the sunscreen was running out and “the dug wis gettin’ fed up”.

But, ah, it was glorious. My friends were posting from Highland holidays snaps that made Scotland look like the Caribbean.

And who needs foreign holidays when you can get sunburnt at Porty?

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