Heat and hail

Summer is here! The local temperature climbed to 29°C today. It was almost a typical Sydney summer day. Garry and I wore our baggy shorts and spent the afternoon preparing home-made Caipiroska cocktails. Yum! We adapted the classic recipe to include muddled ginger and a splash of Ginger Ale. This was a cocktail variation we discovered last weekend in Milan.

About 7pm this evening the weather broke and an incredibly heavy thunderstorm, complete with hail and lightening, passed over Swiss Cottage. At least 14mm fell in less than half an hour. You can see the "before" and "after" images below as the rain and hail reached its peak. The pavement was transformed into a brief river.

Fortunately, for players at Wimbledon the weather today's weather no longer poses a problem. This year for the first time the Centre Court is sheltered by a retractable, translucent roof. After spending at least £100 million the All England Club is confident that rain delays are now a thing of the past.


However, rain is not likely to feature much after today's downpour. The Met Office is forecasting a week of superb Summer weather. Temperatures will reach a high of 30°C on Monday and Tuesday, before peaking at 31°C on Wednesday. It's going to feel like Sydney for much of the week. Even better, sunrise occurs as early as 4.45am, so we'll have plenty of daylight hours to enjoy it all.