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One corner lifted. But other than that solid as a rock in North Berwick.
Other tents were very much not so successful
Indeed it was not surprising to see some tents and awnings being shredded / blown away with everyones stuff still inside. Surely with that forecast on the west coast of Scotland you take the tent/awning down first thing in the morning, pop it all in the car/caravan, and then sit in a cafe or hotel for the day?
Indeed it was not surprising to see some tents and awnings being shredded / blown away with everyones stuff still inside. Surely with that forecast on the west coast of Scotland you take the tent/awning down first thing in the morning, pop it all in the car/caravan, and then sit in a cafe or hotel for the day?
Too much common sense there Matt. I'm glad we had our week camping on Skye last week and not this week. It'd have been a serious PITA to have to pack everything up given the ridiculous size of the tent we had and the scarcity of 'solid' alternative accommodation, but we would've if we'd been there.
Not much shelter here:
the scarcity of 'solid' alternative accommodation
A problem for many it seems. You've booked into a site, you've to check out by 10am, or the ferry you've booked is cancelled and there are no sheltered spaces anywhere. Pull up in a layby or car park and you're confronted by No Overnight Parking/No Campervan signs and hostile locals.
Got my first van load of hardwood from the storm for the fire today. Thanks Floris!
Indeed it was not surprising to see some tents and awnings being shredded / blown away with everyones stuff still inside. Surely with that forecast on the west coast of Scotland you take the tent/awning down first thing in the morning, pop it all in the car/caravan, and then sit in a cafe or hotel for the day?
We were very shelter from south and west and a little bit, thee north.
We had spent the sunday night and woke up in the morning fully undisturbed.
I stood in thenmiddle of the site and it was way to windy for a tent but we decided to risk it because there was no wind by the trees.
I did pop up later really when it really go going.
I had to peg someones tent.
The only people who actually suffered were the people who clearly didn't know how to put up a tent. "Peg in each corner, guylines optional, don't bother tensioning anything"
One massive frame completely failed. And a couple of small ones flattened themselves.
The £2,200 quid inflatable mega homes was absolutely rock solid. That was seriously impressive.
https://www.attwoolls.co.uk/vango-ventanas-tc-air-650xl-airbeam-tent
Actually all the inflatable ones seemed to do extremely well.
Fortunately, the worst casualties here were trees and poly tunnels - a few folk got stranded overnight due to ferry cancellations. A mate who is lifeboat crew from Tobermory was doing relief in Mallaig and was on a shout for 7.5 hours in the thick of it assisting a stricken yacht - they ate a lot of Pot Noodle!
the scarcity of 'solid' alternative accommodation
A problem for many it seems. You've booked into a site, you've to check out by 10am, or the ferry you've booked is cancelled and there are no sheltered spaces anywhere. Pull up in a layby or car park and you're confronted by No Overnight Parking/No Campervan signs and hostile locals.
I doubt that any camper temporarily hiding from the weather awaiting a cancelled ferry was facing hostility from the locals. Equally any time I've been on an island and the ferry has been off most accomodation providers have been quite flexible because usually if you can't get out, the next load of holiday makers also can't get in.
I saw one report of a village hall being used by a campsite to accommodate people - presumably that is a site who (together with their transient residents) create a positive impact on the local community rather than resentment for its existence! It might require a bit of dunkirk spirit though!
Actually all the inflatable ones seemed to do extremely well.
We were on the Llyn last year and it was pretty windy nearly all the time although it stopped short of being an actual storm. People who had pitched there tents on top of the cliff for the views got battered constantly and tents failed due to attrition. I thought the inflatables would do well because the poles couldn't break, but some were just blowing flat all the time before springing back up like a bouncy castle in a gale.
Walking around our (wooded) university site this lunch time and it is amazing the amount of leaves and branches down. Very few full trees down however, which surprises me.
Down here in Cardiff there's a big tree down across the path in our local woods. Must have been diseased as it wasn't *that* windy, but still it's a big un.
Actually all the inflatable ones seemed to do extremely well.
That's good to hear - the tent we had on Skye last week is VERY similar to the Vango you posted: a 6-person, airbeam, polycotton behemoth. Feels utterly solid, so it should given it's just over 50kgs...
We were at Dunvegan campsite in 2017 and a summer storm came through with 50mph winds - we had an Vango Airbeam awning alongside our camper. At one point it was flogging itself against the side of the camper that I was worried that the attachment points would give-out so unhooked it and just left it and went off for the day. Once without the shelter of the van, it was being completely blown flat, but simply popped back up again. We came back hours later expecting to find a heap of shredded nylon to find it undamaged. There were a number of rigid-poled tents that were shredded that day.
London-edinburgh-london riders being turned back from where they are now. Only two riders north of hawick and 26 here.
I only got as far as Richmond at Monday lunchtime.
Bloke I know said it took him and a mate 3 hours to do the 30km from Richmond to Mickleton where they got held.