Storms Arwen and Malik, and their Scottish pals Barra and Corrie, have certainly made their presence felt over this winter.
Between them they have devastated swathes of Scotland, leaving some forested areas looking like war zones.
Giant trees flattened or snapped-off mid-trunk litter the landscape, and it’ll take many years for them to be cleared and the familiar views to even begin to be restored.
With each weather forecast and news coverage of the damage from the gales, there must have been a few furrowed brows at the Kent headquarters of Mazda UK.
For years they’ve been great enthusiasts for Scotland and especially the brilliant roads round the west coast as the ideal places to show off their latest models.
But this year, they may have thought they’d miscalculated when they chose the roads of Argyll to launch the latest version of their family SUV, the CX-5.
Since its introduction a decade ago, it has sold more than 70,000 in the UK, accounting for around 25% of the brand’s sales here, so any change, or even modest modification, to that successful formula is an important one for such a crucial car in the Mazda line-up.
Setting out from the normally bonny banks of Loch Lomond in one of the first of the updated models to arrive here, I wondered what challenges the six-hour route would put before the car, especially as we headed first for the heavily-wooded Trossachs, north of Glasgow.
There had been quite a few victims of the storms, but beyond a few strewn branches, most of the large tree blockages had been dealt with by chainsaws and the roads were pretty clear.
Round the dramatic route through Glencoe the only real issue was torrential rain and buffeting winds, followed by long delays at the massive mountainside strengthening works at the notorious Rest and Be Thankful.
I drove several versions but the featured model was the-top-of-the-range GT Sport with a 2.2 litre diesel Skyactiv engine and four-wheel-drive which proved lively in its performance and stable and secure in the demanding conditions.
Wisely, Mazda has decided not to go for any dramatic changes on the basis that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, so the general outline and profile of the car looks familiar but it now has an updated and sharper look.
Across the new five trim levels, the front and rear bumper designs have been revised and there are new head and tail light clusters. The front grille is more three-dimensional and, depending on the version, there are lime green or red accents built into the front face.
The aim is to give exterior visual clues to the different trims for the first time so that each version has more of its own character and personality. It’s very subtle so I’m not sure that it’s enough for other than Mazda aficionados to notice.
For example, one of the fresh trims, Newground, is designed to have a more rugged look with front and rear silver underguards with silver lower body side skirts, black door mirrors and standout 19-inch black diamond cut alloy wheels.
The lime green splash on the grille is repeated inside around the air vents, and the black half-leatherette seats have matching green piping.
Customers with an active lifestyle are being targeted which is why it has a reversible waterproof cargo board. There’s also a distinctive new Zircon Sand metallic paint option.
The featured car is the flagship model that has none of the small style features but instead comes in one overall colour and focusses on a high-quality interior with Nappa leather seats and genuine woodgrain trim to project the feel of a premium SUV.
That’s highlighted by the 10.25 inch central touchscreen along with a 4.6 inch multi-information LCD display on the right-hand side of the driver’s instrument binnacle.
The petrol automatic models come with a new one-touch Intelligent Drive Select which allows a range of drive modes to be called up, including Offroad.
That’s designed to iron-out unmade rough surfaces through adaptations to the bodyshell, suspension and seats to reduce fatigue and road noise when driving away from the tarmac on the likes of gravel, while also providing better traction when the going gets slippery.
The CX-5 is a bedrock of the Mazda range. While the brand is extending into other full electric and hybrid models, their SUV sticks with conventional – although sophisticated and highly-efficient – petrol and diesel engines.
The latest version comes as a comprehensive package with significant ability which should cope with whatever the weather and climate change throws at us.
The Facts
Model: Mazda CX-5 GT Sport 2.2 AWD auto diesel
Price: £39,385 (£39,965 as tested)
Top speed: 129mph
0-62mph 9.6 seconds
Economy: 43 mpg combined
COs emissions: 173 g/km