The weather in the UK this summer has been a bit damp to say the least. March was beautiful, and much warmer & dryer than normal. Water levels in reservoirs dropped, so many water companies in and around London imposed a Hosepipe ban.
The day after the hosepipe ban was enforced, the heavens opened. It rained for half of April, Most of May and all of June. Everywhere was soggy. One day in June at about 5pm I was caught in work for an hour due to a hailstone downpour that completely flooded the road and some houses and left ice drifts that we had to shovel out of the way the following morning!
Finally the water levels were deemed back to normal & the hosepipe bans began to be lifted. Near the end of July, the skies cleared, and August was warm & sunny.
We decided to go down to visit some friends in Barbrook in Devon for the bank holiday weekend. We arrived late on Friday night and the sky was so clear we spent half an hour star-gazing before even having a cup of tea! Then the clouds came.
Saturday was cold but sunny, however on Sunday, the skies opened.
We decided to go to Combe Martin for drive & a bit of an explore. The rain got heavier and heavier! Combe Martin is a seaside town, which is famous for having the Guinness world record for the world’s longest street party. We donned our most waterproof wet-gear and briefly went for a walk to see how well it was working. We soon gave up & with water running down our faces and dripping from our chins, we found the rest of the holidaymakers in Devon sheltering in café’s and joined them for a warming lunch.
During our walk we passed lots of very damp looking seaside shops selling buckets & spades, crab nets, inflatable beach toys & beach mats. One particular shop had a colourful display of sunflowers and windmills that were being battered by the rain.
Despite being completely drowned, the display still managed to retain some of it’s vivid colour, and so I award it the coveted title of my entry in the Travel Theme; Bright
Sunflowers and Windmills remaining cheery in the rain, Combe Martin, Devon, August Bank Holiday Weekend 2012
To find out more about this weeks Travel Theme, hop over to ‘Where’s My Backpack?‘
Day One 
Our weather was much the same. I find I am delving into my archives for bright and sunny photos.
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We were so lucky, we got the most out of the sun that there was this year. We went to the Hop Farm Festival in July which was the weekend after the washout Isle of Wight festival, and we were bathed in sun.. It was such a surprise after the previous weeks of rain we all got burnt.
It rained again after that for about 10 days and then the schools broke up (including me) and the sun came out again. W spent lots of time on the boat, and were outdoors a lot with that & Wilson, so we made the most of what sun there was. People kept asking us if we had been away, we were so tanned.
It’s all worn off now… The rain started at the August bank holiday weekend & it hasn’t really been t-shirt weather since. Fingers crossed we can get a baby (lol – baby is almost 16) sitter for January so we can go somewhere warm!
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Very nice picture. Kudos for finding the beauty in the storm.
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It was so wet, the same rain as in the princess & the pea. Came in at the heels and out at the toes
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