Brrrr!

My heating has been on almost constantly since last Sunday and I'm starting to worry about the bill a wee bit. It's not something I usually bother about: I'm lucky enough to have a pension coming in so I can pay my bills. But I can remember being poor enough 30 years ago to worry about whether I'd make it through the winter financially, even though I was working in a so-called professional job.

That's one of the reasons I left Glasgow in the first place. But once I moved to Argyll I discovered just how expensive life is in the country. Food, fuel, travel - everything is dearer. Residents of the countryside in Scotland pay dearly for the luxury of living in a beautiful landscape.

Not that some people will have problems paying for their power this weekend: bits of Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Argyll and all of Arran have had snowdrifts up to 15 feet deep. Power lines are down and people have had no light or heat since Friday morning. In some places, food and fuel supplies are cut off for now. Main roads are closed.

Contingency plans have swung into action. Generators have got to Campbeltown and Brodick by boat and the lights are coming back on there. Most of Islay is re-connected. Most islands have had their normal Calmac service or will have tomorrow, so food is getting through. The ferry Hebridean Isles that brought generators over the weekend will tomorrow bring food and fuel supplies to Arran and Kintyre.

My record for being without power is 5 days in Islay and 3 days in Sandbank (near Dunoon). It's hard to describe how awful it is to be without power in the countryside. It's only the well-off - and a few businesses - that have stand-alone generators. The temperature starts off 2 degrees - or more - lower than in built-up areas. It only takes about 24 hours for damp to start to encroach on most houses. You probably have a well-stocked freezer but that will only be of use for a limited time as your food starts to go off. If you have a gas heater, you know it will eventually run out so you try not to use it too much - and while it's running it makes you feel slightly woozy anyway. If you have a multi-purpose stove, you're laughing - till the fuel runs out. There's the added suspense of not knowing how long this experience will last. You're trapped in the one room with the heat. Showers and baths are out and it takes courage to wash in cold water. You have candles and maybe primus stoves but candles give you a headache and primus stoves run out. If you have elderly family members, you worry all the time that they will get cold.

The emergency in the west of Scotland - beacause that's what it is - has occupied papers, TV and radio all weekend, but soon interest will wane, we'll all think the problem has been dealt with and we'll move on to the next topic. But I would ask when you get to Friday coming, when the next weather front is forecast to come in, take a moment to ask yourself if all of the people without heat, light, food and fuel have got their lives back to normal. Despite the sterling efforts of Calmac, SSE and the Hydro - I doubt it.