Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moreen Simpson: There was no hope for my garden fence when Storm Arwen arrived

Moreen hasn't had much luck with her garden fence over the years (Illustration: Helen Hepburn)
Moreen hasn't had much luck with her garden fence over the years (Illustration: Helen Hepburn)

Michty, that was an unca brute o’ a storm last Friday.

My heart goes out to the tens of thoosands left without heating and light for so long. Nightmare. I’ve a fear of wind – inside and oot. For some reason, my garden is a magnet for gales; every time they blow in, something ootside is demolished.

While others have garden fences which have withstood decades of the worst storms, mine is mair doon than up. OK, it was “economical” when I had it built about 15 years go. But, buy cheap… It’s cost me a fortune in repairs, replacement panels, not to mention affa hairy moments.

Like the night I woke to a huge crashing near my bedroom window. It was 5am, storm still at its peak. Into the darkness I crept to find this huge panel, one half fixed, the other free and belting back and forth like an enormous sail. Every time I thought I’d fixed it, it burst free again.

Afeart the neighbours would be up in arms at the affa noise, I spent nearly an hour ootside in my goonie just huddin’ it doon until into the wind died. Spik aboot needin’ a man aboot the place for emergency jobbies. Another time, during a summer gale which near demolished my parasol and the glass table into which it was fixed, when I went to try to lift it oot, the huge green thingie whacked back on to the bridge of my schnozzle. Wowser, fit’s up wi’ her? Two black eyes and a scabby nose.

The north-east’s answer to Dorothy in Kansas

So, when I heard warnings about Storm Arwen last week, it was nippy-bum time. Battened doon whatever hatches I could, sticking the garden chairs tight under the table. As the wind screamed, I turned my telly up even louder than usual, lest I heard the sound of destruction. Next morning, I hardly dared open my curtains. Sure enough, wreckage galore.

Two fence panels kaput, others holed and looking like they’d been in a scary fight. Holly tree at a jaunty angle. Huge chunks of concrete on the ground instead of the roof. Toots’ swing-and-chute set denuded of the slide bittie, traced to the other end of the garden.

Storm Arwen caused power outages across the north and north-east of Scotland (Photo: SSEN)

My trusty father and son gardeners arrived to survey the damage on Tuesday. They could do a patch up on the fence but reckoned, which I knew, I’d deffo need a whole new one. My knees wobbled as my lugs rattled: kerching, kerching.

Having fixed previous gale damage, Keith declared: “I suspect your garden might be at the end of a wind tunnel.” Oh, mummy, daddy helpmasquall! That’s all I need to know.

Like Dorothy in Kansas, a sitting duck to be whipped awa’ on a major gust at ony moment. The guys live in the wilds of Kincardineshire. Had they ony damage? No – but neither had they heating, lighting nor water (electric pump for well) since Friday. So, I shut my moanin’.


Read more by Moreen Simpson: