SUMMER 2012: RAIN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN

There was a lot riding on 2012. Not only was the country hosting the Olympic Games, but there was a great deal of excitement over the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Surely the gods would smile upon us and deliver some lovely sunshine for all those open air events planned across Kent and around the nation? The start of the year had featured talk of hosepipe bans after months of dry weather, but then the heavens opened in April... and didn’t stop until July.

The summer as a whole was the wettest since 1912.

The period between April and July was the wettest on record. Visitors to the Kent Show found the going tough.

The first day was hit by such rain cars struggled to get both in and out of the Detling site prompting organisers to close it for the first time since 1964 due to the conditions.

Beaches around Thanet had to close after the heavy rain pushed raw sewage into the sea, while Kent cricket chiefs were counting the cost of flash flooding which washed out Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week and played havoc with its fixture list.

The rain couldn’t dampen excitement around London 2012, although crowds who flocked to watch the Queen’s jubilee pageant down the Thames were left as wet as the water the boats sailed on.

The following year would bring a rude awakening for those living near Maidstone and Tonbridge as heavy rain saw rivers break their banks at Christmas, and leave many in the village of Yalding forced to ditch the turkey and flee from their homes.