You don't want to spend the night in a puddle." It was a new experience to sit inside tents while the storm howled outside.

Rain up at Llyn Gwynedd was no mere summer shower, but a driving deluge.

Servers in waterproofs scuttled round with cans of hot tea and baskets of bread and butter, and the girls had a picnic meal sitting on their beds.

One tent blew over altogether, and its distressed occupants, crawling from under the flapping ruin, were received as refugees by their immediate neighbours.

Fortunately the storm, though severe, was short.