Orkney may do storms rather well, and good fun they are too. However, at other times – and they are not infrequent – Orkney can also present us with stunningly beautiful days. (And it is a curious Orkney fact that, although I am calling this post 'On a cold and frosty morning', it actually felt far warmer than on many an other day because the wind was light and wind-chill therefore minimal!). Yesterday, 29/12, was just such a day:

The day was so lovely, we took a longer and longer route from home to Kirkwall, detouring through Toab, where the light on the fields was fantastic.

All pics taken with an iPhoneX. Come on Apple, how about some commission!

So few tourists visit Orkney in winter. It's true the weather can on occasion be excitingly vile, but oftentimes it is exceptionally beautiful. I thought it might be fun to post some examples.
I took the picture below on 20 December 2016. It's on the road above the first barrier from where there are also lovely views of the southern isles (https://goo.gl/R3R7Sa)

On the other hand, we have just had Storm Caroline. This made the sea so rough that ferries and planes were cancelled (only for a single day) and the barriers between South Ronaldsay and Mainland were closed, making us a real island again – and once again, just for a day (less than 24 hours actually).

The violence of the storm was such that armco was ripped off the second barrier. I got this pic of the damage as I crossed the barrier the next day, 8 December 2017.

The sun was in and out all the time that day; it went behind a cloud just as I was crossing the barrier. Thirty minutes before that, I snapped this lovely pic of the Ayre of Cara at the top of North Ronaldsay. (The wind was vicious, however, freezing my fingers as I held the camera! The air wasn't cold at +4°, but with a wind of 40mph or so – look at it whipping the spray back from the waves in the pic below –, it felt like -3°C or worse.).

No one was flooded in Saint Margaret's Hope on the day of the storm (7 December) but the sea did pay a visit to village, overflowing onto Front and Back Roads at high tide.