Friday 26 July et seq – The Storm

As it got dark we watched a thunderstorm over the sea, noticing in particular pink lightning. Just in case we brought everything in and of course retracted the awning and sat dish.

Then just as we were going to bed, so the storm came ashore. At first we noticed increased thunder and lightning but then the wind got up – and up and up, joined by torrential rain which battered the van about so badly that we thought we were in real danger of being overturned. The thunder and lightning was continuous and we can safely say that neither of us had ever experienced anything like it before – and never want to again.

After around an hour things calmed down, the rain stopped and we went to bed – but neither of us slept well. In the morning, apart from one chap wandering round with awning parts in his hand (we’d noticed something going on outside at the height of the storm but of course were not going to venture out!), there appeared to be nothing amiss – though there was a chain saw going somewhere.

This experience confirmed our decision to move on, but on leaving the site we noticed many trees had lost branches and rubbish was strewn everywhere. A line of marquees that had been set up for a festival next week had been completely shredded and a road had been closed – blocked? On leaving the village we saw a chimney knocked through a house roof and for several miles crops of sunflowers and corn had been flattened and fields of vines were in a sorry looking state.

This holiday will always be remembered for “The Storm”!