It rained last night. A big rolling storm buffeted the house, soaked the streets and blew our mosquito net down. If you are reading this in, say, Manchester or Belfast I am sure your reaction is big freaking whoop. It rained here last night too and I’m not writing a bloody post about it.

But I haven’t seen so much as a cloud since April. And while that makes me a lucky man my good fortune is about to run out because winter is coming and winter in many ways is better spent in a cold climate like the UK. There hundreds of generations have adapted to the cold and wet and to cope they invented clever things like drainage, central heating and roaring fires in warm, friendly pubs.