Report from North Wales.

[adam2]

From friends who own a dairy farm.

Power in the area was out for several days, but they are off grid.
Plenty of electricity from wind turbines.
Cows still outdoors during daytime but kept in at night. Some grass for them, but hay and other foods being fed as well.
Milk production good for time of year.
Some storm damage to buildings, but manageable.

Diesel generator available but very little used.
Down to last propane cylinder, but little use is made of this fuel.
Many tons of logs ready for use, consumption very variable.
Emergency reserve of coal, but no significant use of same.
Emergency reserve of paraffin, none used.

Milk collection tanker could not get through one day. As much milk as possible was made into butter, or used locally, but some was wasted.

Plenty of food, frozen meat, tinned goods, and home grown vegetables. Stored potatoes "all gone bad" Two sheep destined for eating, they do not keep sheep on a large scale, but a few are reared for eating.

Edit to add, this is the farm to which I have previously referred, including here viewtopic.php?f=52&t=27645

[adam2]

Only limited further news, but all is going well.
The cows seemed unsettled for no obvious reason.
One sheep killed and butchered.

"Firewood for years to come" from the many downed trees in the area, wind powered sawbench in almost continual use.

[BritDownUnder]

That wind powered saw sounds quite interesting.

From YouTube there is a windmill in the Netherlands with a reciprocating saw that looks quite interesting. Not much else.
That sort of thing would be a good piece of equipment for a doomstead.

[adam2]

The wind powered saw bench is not DIRECTLY wind powered, It is electric but directly connected to a wind turbine, without any intervening battery or other equipment.

The wind turbine produces 3 phase AC with the voltage and frequency varying according to the wind speed. Normally this is rectified and regulated and used for battery charging.

To use the saw bench, the wind turbine is disconnected from the rectifier and connected directly to the saw bench, by a suitable changeover switch.
The drive motor on the saw bench is designed for 3 phase 200 volts, 60 cycles, 10 HP. It works very well in good winds.
The saw bench is placed within sight of the turbine, and the work rate is adjusted to suit the available wind. A safety circuit connects a dump load when required to prevent over speed.

[adam2]

Minor update WRT cows. They had been unsettled and restless at times, and crowding together which is instinctive defensive behaviour.

Suspect that this was in reaction to helicopter flights, of which there were many surveying storm damage. normality now restored. Cows can be unsettled by anything new in the environment including low flying aircraft. Newly erected wind turbines unsettle cows, but they soon accept them as part of the surroundings.

[adam2]

Update by telephone after latest extreme weather.
Heavy drifting snow, but this is common in the area.
Out of propane, which is inconvenient as this fuel is used for cooking.
Food supplies ample. One sheep killed for eating, but as planned, not due to any urgent need. A "parsnip eating competition" is underway as there is a local glut of these roots.
Cows seem contented and milking well for time of year. The limited grass is supplemented with prepared cattle food.
Milk tanker got through OK.
diesel fuel is ample, very little is used.
Coal supplies ample, none used.
Paraffin supplies ample, very little used.
Some wind damage to buildings, but nothing serious.

Could be a lot worse.

[adam2]

And now they have had what looks very like a tornado !
News report https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-61030635

That report does NOT refer to my friends farm, very near though and almost within sight. A medium sized sheep allegedly fell alive from the sky but was killed by impact with the ground. Butchered and frozen. The cows panicked and stampeded but seem unharmed.

My friends horse bolted and the cart he was pulling was overturned. Polytunnel completely destroyed. Yurt picked up and "exploded" fortunately it was empty.

Hope that CAT at Machynlleth are OK as this was fairly near them.

[clv101]

In a previous life I developed some embedded software in the Met Office weather radar system for the real time detection of tornadoes. What you need to see is a 'cuplet' in the wind direction field, where the wind direction switches 180 degrees over just one or two bins. Additionally this cuplet needs to be seen co-located at multiple elevation scans.

Tornadoes are common in the UK, a handful a year actually touch something like a house and someone notices but there a dozens picked up on radar each year. Most go unnoticed by humans as they don't quite make it do the ground, happen at night or in unpopulated areas.

Alternatively, what happened here could have been a sting jet. Again, looking at the radar wind fields would be informative.

[clv101]

Confirmed as a tornado: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61046862

[adam2]

Thanks for the update.
Looks as though my friends got of lightly. Yurt and polytunnel destroyed, one PV module broken. Cats, cows and children frightened but all unhurt.

[adam2]

Update by phone after the recent severe weather.
Power was out for two days, but my friends not affected as they are off grid.
Many roads closed by fallen trees and power lines.
Very windy, but not as cold as was expected. A little snow but melted straight away.
Workshop chimney brought down by wind.
Cows kept in at night, but free ranging in the day.