Perhaps only once in 500 years there comes a rain like this . . .

THE entrance to a a supermarket closed because of floodwaters at Porthleven, Cornwall, was a good place to keep cool yesterday as the heatwave came to a dramatic end today with a torrential rain in the South-west. The Helston area of Cornwall was hit by 3.6in in two hours and up to 5in fell in 12 hours.

The Meteorological Office said calculations from local records put such rain in the 'very rare event' category, something which might only happen there twice in a millenium.

There was also heavy rain in the North-west and storms were expected in the South. Forecasters said the weather would remain sultry with temperatures in the 70s.

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