Because I am an idiot, I went for a walk this lunchtime. →[More:]The wind blowing around Millwall Docks was probably in excess of 60mph. Nevertheless the fountain (geyser-style) at Pan Peninsula was operating, with the wind making the water jet whip round like a sprinkler. I got wet. At one point I had to hang onto a bench to avoid being blown into the water. ‘Waves’ were crashing over the dock.

At the traffic lights, I had to hang onto a lamppost so I wasn’t sucked into the path of oncoming vehicles. The only route along the far side of the dock was strewn with smashed masonry from the roofs of the blocks of flats.

But the pair of grebes that live by the Lotus Floating Chinese Restaurant have had new babies, two peepy little chicks, that were riding on their mother’s back as she bobbed around in the water surveying the ruins of her nest.

My tube line is suspended due to debris on the line, but someone in the office who lives near me drove in today and she said she’ll give me a lift home, otherwise I’d be stuck here because train lines are suspended too, and no doubt bus routes have been affected by falling trees and other debris.

When I get home, I’m going to shut the door, put my jammies on and not go out until I absolutely, positively have to.