Part of one of our well-established trees near the King Street car park at School Place fell foul of the stormy conditions in Orkney on Friday 26 November.

The Council is taking steps to secure the area by closing off the footpaths and would ask folk to avoid the area for their own safety.

St Magnus Cathedral was lit up orange on 25 November to mark UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, as part of a local campaign being run by Orkney Rape and Sexual Assault Service (ORSAS) to raise awareness of the issue of gender-based violence.

As a precautionary measure the Kirkwall Bay pilot boat is standing by the Pentalina at Hatston Pier as stormy conditions prevail.

Well done to the crews attending to all vessels - stay safe everyone.

The wind has detached a live overhead cable at the Hatston Waste and Recycling Centre, which cannot be repaired safely in these conditions.

For the safety of staff and the public, the decision has been taken to close the site until qualified contractors are available to repair the damage once conditions allow for this to happen.

High winds from ‘Storm Arwen’ are likely to cause widespread travel disruption in Orkney tomorrow  (Friday 26 November) afternoon and into the weekend – across road, ferry and air transport.

We've added peedie buses to our chart to help public bus users spot any road works that might affect them.

The works on Berstane Lodge Road are now finished and Junction Road should be completed tomorrow, Friday, and reopened in full by Saturday.

Orkney’s latest social housing development has been officially handed over to the Council by its building contractor – with tenants moving in from this week.

Westray Junior High School has raised £163.31 for this year’s Children in Need.

The P5’s set up a stall selling pens and wrist bands while classes decorated Pudsey face masks and it was a PJ day at school.  There was also come tasty Pudsey buns at lunchtime.

Orkney’s two new MSYP’s put inclusion, education, poverty, housing and environmental issues high on their agendas moving forward for the next two years.

New Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament were named today across Scotland, including those who will fly the flag for Orkney – Kaydence Drayak and Zachary Shiner.

Members of the Integration Joint Board Audit Committee were told last week (17 November) that the IJB has “appropriate and effective financial management arrangements in place” – however the board’s financial sustainability remains at risk.

The annual external audit was noted, and the annual accounts were approved by committee members and revealed the extent of the financial challenges being faced by the board in terms of the savings target of £4.2 millon which was over a three-year period ending 2022/23; workforce recruitment and retention and COVID-19.