diff --git a/hermesv3_bu/grids/grid.py b/hermesv3_bu/grids/grid.py
index 788ec7c16b374ac49901dedb64a44f3d98e51c08..d00a5f71acbbf9d78789477c21c80543750e3a5c 100755
--- a/hermesv3_bu/grids/grid.py
+++ b/hermesv3_bu/grids/grid.py
@@ -241,11 +241,16 @@ class Grid(object):
 
     def add_cell_area(self):
         from cdo import Cdo
+        from netCDF4 import Dataset
         # spent_time = timeit.default_timer()
 
         # Initialises the CDO
         cdo = Cdo()
-        cell_area = cdo.gridarea(input=self.netcdf_path, returnArray='cell_area')
+        # cell_area = cdo.gridarea(input=self.netcdf_path, returnArray='cell_area')
+        src = cdo.gridarea(input=self.netcdf_path)
+        netcdf = Dataset(src, mode='r')
+        cell_area = netcdf.variables['cell_area'][:]
+        netcdf.close()
         self.shapefile['cell_area'] = cell_area.flatten()
 
         # self.logger.write_time_log('Grid', 'add_cell_area', timeit.default_timer() - spent_time)
diff --git a/hermesv3_bu/tools/checker.py b/hermesv3_bu/tools/checker.py
index e13b06d219ff43c87e0a81e466773b606c61bcd4..07db83ba8b281f6072c6633a5a90d2527cf99fb5 100644
--- a/hermesv3_bu/tools/checker.py
+++ b/hermesv3_bu/tools/checker.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import os
 import sys
+import time
 from mpi4py import MPI
 from warnings import warn
 
@@ -14,13 +15,14 @@ def check_files(file_path_list, warning=False):
     for file_path in file_path_list:
         if not os.path.exists(file_path):
             files_not_found.append(file_path)
-
+    print('CHECKING')
     if len(files_not_found) > 0:
         error_message = "*ERROR* (Rank {0}) File/s not found:".format(MPI.COMM_WORLD.Get_rank())
         for file_path in files_not_found:
             error_message += "\n\t{0}".format(file_path)
-
+        print('CHECKED')
         if warning:
+            print(error_message.replace('ERROR', 'WARNING'))
             warn(error_message.replace('ERROR', 'WARNING'))
             return False
         else:
@@ -31,5 +33,8 @@ def check_files(file_path_list, warning=False):
 def error_exit(error_message):
     if not error_message[:7] == "*ERROR*":
         error_message = "*ERROR* (Rank {0}) ".format(MPI.COMM_WORLD.Get_rank()) + error_message
+    print(error_message)
     print(error_message, file=sys.stderr)
+    sys.stderr.flush()
+    time.sleep(2)
     MPI.COMM_WORLD.Abort()
diff --git a/hermesv3_bu/writer/monarch_writer.py b/hermesv3_bu/writer/monarch_writer.py
index 7097608a97a80d5ce4a646090e63e47678a0a2c3..3e43f0d59dc077d6046a9934b7c7091bba58321a 100755
--- a/hermesv3_bu/writer/monarch_writer.py
+++ b/hermesv3_bu/writer/monarch_writer.py
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ class MonarchWriter(Writer):
 
         if self.comm_write.Get_rank() == 0:
             self.grid.add_cell_area()
-            cell_area = self.grid.shapefile[['FID', 'cell_area']]
-            cell_area.set_index('FID', inplace=True)
+            cell_area = self.grid.shapefile[['cell_area']]
+            # cell_area.set_index('FID', inplace=True)
         else:
             cell_area = None
         cell_area = self.comm_write.bcast(cell_area, root=0)