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Here's the Mancunian Way for today: Hello, As an enthusiastic and sometimes successful gardener I’m always glad of some rain on a hot summer’s day.
What I’m not so keen on were the large balls of ice that came hurtling from the sky yesterday evening. I’m not sure the City fans gathered in town for the victory parade were so keen either - although any concerns seemed to disappear once the festivities got going.
So why does it hail in the summertime? Met Office forecaster forecaster Marco Petagne tells me it’s all a matter of energy. “We’ve had hot and humid air across the UK recently and it’s a combination of those factors that creates enough energy for these showers and thundery downpours" he says. “It’s more to do with how much energy is in the clouds.