Who said Almeria was the driest part of Spain?

When we were researching where to move to in Spain, we knew we were looking for somewhere that had warmer summers than Sheffield and was much drier so that we could play golf throughout the year without the need for waterproofs and without wading through mud.

If you do a search on the Almeria climate you get lots of phrases such as 'With an average of 320 days of sunshine per year, the Costa Almeria has arguably the best climate in Spain.'

'with warm summers and winters, the Costa de Almeria holds the title as having the best climate in the whole of Spain' 'The summer season lasts from April until October with temperatures reaching on average 31 degrees in the peak months of July and August' and 'There's no need to bring a brolly, unless of course a freak storm has arrived, as rainfall for summer in the Costa de Almeria is pretty much non-existent with just 1mm in July and August'

AND, that the average rainfall for September is about 1/2 and inch - normally. Well, not this year.

We have had a week of heavy, torrential, thundery rain. It rained on Sunday night, it rained on Monday night, it rained all day Tuesday. Wednesday? well it rained a little and then it rained a lot. This piccy was taken late afternoon, it wasn't dark because it was late it was dark because of the storm. The level of the pool is about an inch below the rim. Now remember the average rainfall is 1/2 for the whole of September? Well we had at least one inch in one day- today the pool is halfway up the rim - but we have had the sun back today.

I thought yesterday signalled the end of summer, I had long trousers on during the day - but, no problem, I have shorts on again today.

I so feel for anyone who has come out on holiday this week, this place is so beautiful when the sun is out, but out of season with so little to do, heavy rain makes the days difficult for holiday makers.

Out here it's not the gardens that are said to need the rain, it's the reservoirs and I suppose it will make sure they are all topped up - but hey, gives us a break now, yesterday the pups were finding it difficult to find a lull long enough to go out for a wee, now that's just not fair on little puppies.

I'm glad we haven't moved to a rainy part of Spain, and being so close to the coast, it all just runs downhill and out to sea!

And the forecast for tomorrow? More rain! Still, I'd rather be here in the rain than back in Sheffield, at least we have warm rain here!