Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
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Did you know that a staggering 64% of British adults admit that they are still scared of the dark.

36% regularly get the feeling someone or something is in the room with them.

And 1 in 5 regularly check under the bed for lurking monsters and close cupboard and wardrobe doors before they get into bed.

Those were some of the findings from a 2017 poll conducted by a UK bed company.

And with the clocks now turned back and Hallowe'en upon us, travelling to and from work in the dark will soon be a reality.

But even with 17 hours of darkness each day in the depths of the Scottish winter is there any reason to still 'Be Afraid Of the Dark'?

Let's look at some suggestions to help cope with the dark nights. 

​What Can You Do?
To help protect You, your Family and your Property during the long dark winter

This week my new weekly weather column appeared in the Stirling Observer newspaper.

Printed in the Wednesday edition each week I will review the past weeks weather stats as well as look ahead to what the unpredictable Scottish weather has in store for us. 

Grab your weekly copy to find out if its "Taps-Aff" or "Brolly' Weather. 

Past Week
Sunday 13 to Saturday 19 October

A fairly quiet spell of weather with drier and calmer conditions than the previous week. Temperature was near average for the time of year.

Maximum Temperature: 14.2ºC Tuesday 15 October
Lowest Temperature: 2.1ºC Thursday 17 October 
Maximum Daily Rainfall:  7.87mm Friday 18 October
Weekly Rainfall Total: 20.81mm
Maximum Wind Gust: 18mph Sunday 13 & Saturday 19 October

The Week Ahead
Forecast: As the clocks go back our attention starts to turn to the long winter ahead but only once in the last 10 years have we recorded wintry weather in October, it’s not until late November that we will regularly be on the look out for the risk of snowfall in Stirling. 

To end this week and to start the weekend there will be some spells of rain although this will be mixed with sunny intervals. There is a small chance of some wintry weather on more northern local hills and mountains. Breezy at times in the second half of the week. Temperature around 13ºC maximum and 2ºC minimum. 

Earliest Sunrise: 07:11 (adjusted for change to GMT)
Earliest  Sunset: 4.42pm (adjusted for change to GMT)

For the local weather news including historical and real-time weather information from Stirling visit www.stirlingweather.co.uk and on social media @stirlingweather and also our weather editor @scottlmclean