30mm (Late extra)

More rain than expected, delivered relatively gently and without the large hail some parts of Italy suffered.

Added: today is a good imitation of a perfect summer west coast UK day; top gallant breeze, clouds scudding along, a brisk, fresh enlivening feel to the air, doors and shutters banging around.

It is probably an exaggeration but the heat since 23 July has felt like a kind of imprisonment; a zestless slog against the odds to achieve anything, whether crops, joy or sleep; an endless waiting room, an antechamber to real life.

When the sun no longer feels punitive and relentless; when the air is more than a medium for biting insects and recalcitrant sweat; when night is more than hot day but just without the light.

With the rain the plants in the garden are already bigger, more assertive, ready for autumn; the dry dust now springs underfoot like my favoured Spontex sponges. Gone, however briefly, is the endless repetition of survival, of getting-by mode.