Thirty seconds after this moment filming today all hell broke loose on lake 7 and i was almost blown away. The day started off bright and sunny with a good south-westerly blowing up the lake but by the time i had reached the North end of the lake thick cloud had started to form. With no joy after an hour or so on the wind i decided to move 100 yards down the lake. Whilst there the rain started and the wind picked up gusting hard across the lake. After another hours fishing in that swim i decided to get on the back of the wind on the south bank where i had done well previously. It was a couple of hours later when the rain started to build and the wind changed direction from a south-westerly to a westerly that the storm hit me. I lowered the brolly as far as i could and hunkered down but it wasnt enough. In less than a second the noise of the wind built to a deafening level, visibility hit zero and i was being battered by the most incredible hailstorm i have ever been in. Suddenly with a great roar of wind and trees being shredded the brolly was ripped out of the ground. As i got up and turned to grab it i was blown forwards almost off my feet stumbling as my chair flashed past me at chest height. I grabbed my JRC cot and threw it over my kit bag, looking around the swim it was a disaster zone with kit strewn everywhere. As the hail pounded down i grabbed what i could and stashed it under the cot. The alarms on the rods were going crazy so i pulled them all in through the driving rain. Once done i hastily retreated behind a nearby tree to catch my breath. In all it lasted about two incredible minutes before the storm passed overhead and all fell quiet again. The kit was completely soaked but i was still warm and dry thanks to the Trakker Core multi suit i had just brought. I have a feeling this winter my new suit is gonna earn it's keep and save me, at least a few times more :-)