Gale warning

Volcanic movements in Montserrat have already caused quakes for overseas minister Clare Short. But Scottish secretary Donald Dewar needn't think he's at a safe distance. Alistair Dawson, reader in quaternary science at Coventry University's school of natural and environmental sciences, has found that eruptions as far away as Mexico and Indonesia have a knock-on effect in Edinburgh. When El Chichon erupted in Mexico in 1982, gales swept through the city for more than 50 days, he claims.