Also in the news / Locked out, high temperatures, fishing debate secured, fun day postponed
PEOPLE trying to phone the Lerwick GP Practice early on Thursday morning could not get through – because staff were locked out of the reception office.
Staff from the NHS Shetland estates department saved the day by forcing entry into the office using tools.
The health centre opens at 8.30am, and it was around 8.50am when the practice said normal service had resumed.
However the GP practice said on Facebook: “Please note that if you are contacting us this morning there may be a higher than usual number of people in the phone queue due to us being locked out of the office for the past half hour.”
A NEW record high temperature for the Lerwick weather station was nearly set on Tuesday when the mercury at the town’s Met Office station reached 23 degrees, just 0.4 degrees below the record set on 5 July 1991.
Meanwhile in Fair Isle a new record was set at 22.6°C, more than two degrees greater than the previous record high of 20.2°C in August 1975.
In Baltasound things were not quite so hot; on Tuesday Britain’s most northerly weather station recorded a high of 21.7°C. The highest temperature ever recorded there was a balmy 25°C in 1958.
Meanwhile the independent weather station in Gulberwick experienced 23.1°C on Tuesday, which is the highest since records began there in 2010.
Reports suggest the highest ever recorded temperature in Shetland was 27.8°C in Sumburgh in 1910.
ISLES MP Alistair Carmichael has secured a three-hour parliamentary debate on fishing in the post-Brexit era.
The Commons debate will take place on 15 September, and the MP has vowed to spend the next two months working with the industry to present a united voice on actions needed from the government.
“Securing this debate gives the chance for a big step forward,” he said. “The debate we held last year summed up what I hear from fishermen in the isles about the challenges and frustrations faced following our departure from the EU.
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“It does not matter what side you were on in the Brexit debate. What matters is where we go from here. The government needs to start listening to the industry and making a difference where they have the powers to do so.
“We are putting the government on notice now. More empty promises simply will not do – but if ministers take on the challenge to give the industry a viable future, people are ready to seize the opportunity.”
A PROJECT to improve the promotion of local seafood has received almost £5,000 of grant funding from the Scottish Government’s regional food fund.
The Shetland Seafood Provenance Scheme is planning to use the £4,957 of funding to produce a refreshed map of current outlets of local produce, a series promotional events as well as educational videos.
THE NHS Shetland family fun day planned for tomorrow (Saturday) in Lerwick’s Gilbertson Park has been postponed.
The health board is looking at the suitability of a date towards the end of August/early September.
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