How to solve (almost) any problem

PLUS: Are we all in one piece after the storm? Anyone fancy some Chinese wine? And the best film, TV and live sporting events to watch this windy weekend.

Author

Neil McIntosh
October 04, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

👋 Good morning! It’s Saturday 4 October 2025. I’m Neil McIntosh, editor of The Early Line, and it’s great to have you here.

📣 You’re reading the weekend edition of The Early Line. Paying subscribers get the full version, with six talking points and film, TV and sporting recommendations for the week ahead.

They also have my huge thanks for making the whole newsletter possible: their support helps pay my faintly staggering news subscriptions bill, and the tech costs. If you’d like to join their ranks - thankyou! - you can upgrade here.

And if that’s not for you, no problem: see you on Monday when the free Early Line is back at 7am.

Have a wonderful weekend, all!

💨 The weekend’s weather: Storm Amy continues, with a yellow weather warning across the UK except in the north of Scotland, where an amber warning indicates a risk to life. Expect rain and gusty winds in Glasgow today, with wind but less rain in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Inverness, on the southerly edge of that amber warning, will see the highest winds and heaviest rain. Things calm down, but remain gusty and wet, tomorrow. London will be dry all weekend. (Here’s the UK forecast).

Here’s six things to talk and think about this weekend:

SIX THINGS TO TALK ABOUT
(Not quite) after the storm | Are you ready for… war? | How to solve any problem | Chinese wine isn’t so bad | Posh pies and ‘bru | Secrets of the mega mansions

🍸Are we all in one piece after Storm Amy? There are more high winds expected today, although it’s unlikely to be as bad as it was last night. One man died in Ireland in a “weather-related incident”, and lots of people there and in Northern Ireland are without electricity this morning. The Guardian has continuing live coverage.

It’s not as bad in Scotland: a derelict building on the Broomielaw in Glasgow collapsed into the street, and you’re not going to get a train in or out of Glasgow Central until at least midday today. You can find all the disruption across Scotrail summarised here. Some roads and bridges are closed too, especially to high-sided vehicles (Traffic Scotland). But Scotland’s airports were - more or less - operating as normal at send time this morning.

Beyond the jump, for the burgeoning community of Early Line subscribers:

  • How to solve any problem

  • A senior Scottish figure asks: are you ready for war?

  • Why Chinese wine isn’t so bad (and might be very good) and

  • The secrets of America’s priciest mega mansions.

PLUS: you’ll find a bunch of good TV, film and sporting TV picks for the weekend - especially valuable if you’re staying in over the next couple of days...

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