There seem to be extreme weather events all around the world at the moment. The UK has just had it's June temperature record set with nearly 37 degrees, and that's the third time in a week it's happened. In Europe there have been records broken too, France has had it's hottest day ever, hitting 42.5C, Spain has it's highest since 1950 and wildfires are spreading.

In Australia, an unprecedented January heatwave pushed Melbourne and Sydney past 40°C and triggered dangerous bushfires, only to be followed days later by flash flooding. In South Asia, temperatures exceeded 46°C across India and Pakistan and in some places the 'cold water' taps were producing water at 50C! Across the Americas, Chile battled 75 simultaneous wildfires killing at least 21 people as California and Nevada shattered March temperature records under a slow-moving heat dome. All of this is happening before El Niño has fully taken hold: the UN World Meteorological Organisation confirmed its arrival this month and warned that it will push temperatures above average nearly everywhere, raising the grim prospect that what we are witnessing now may look, by year's end, like the calm before the storm.

This is where I consider myself fortunate to live in one of the wettest places in the UK, our weather system seems to max out at about 28 with a rare day reaching 30. While the UK swelters, it's now raining here and about 22 degrees. Things might change in the future as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) slows down (it's estimate at about 40% of what it was in the mid 20th Century). You can Google the 'cold blob' to find out some other signs. If this happens, Scotland will have properly cold winters, 5-10C colder on average and we'll get decoupled from European warming trends.

Which brings me, incongruously perhaps, to me and Charlotte hitting a lucky break in the weather on a recent trip to the very North of Scotland where we climbed Am Buachaille in Sutherland, a 50m sea stack that involved a spooky scramble down a loose cliff face, a swim with all your clmbing gear once the tide drops enough, and then a quick climb to avoid getting trapped in the tides. I hate the cold water but was pleasantly surprised when I jumped in and it was a balmy 13C (ok - cold but not hellish!). I'd forgotten how beautiful the far North is as well, mountains like Arkle and Foinaven having a spectacular character with their caps of shining Cambrian quartzite. The climb finished my trilogy of classic Scottish sea stacks alongside the Old Men of Hoy and Stoer. The photo below shows the three stacks to scale next to each other (with a bit of Photoshop jiggery pokery).

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