Alan you are right I went last Thursday on my bike so I didn't take a brolly , I also didn't put my waterproof trousers on I got soaked to the skin and the rain even penetrated my supposedly waterproof rucksack - altogether a miserable day , In the afternoon , as it brightened , I sat there with steam coming off me.
Luckily I missed the hailstones further north though my mate showed me photos his mom had took and the hailstones were as big as a swan vesta matchbox, Another mate said his sister in Hinckley had her conservatory windows smashed by hailstones.
Anyone else get those ? they were really big like the ones they get in the states , I don't think a brolly would have been much good against those.