Dave Ludlow wrote in message ...
:On 01 May 2004 00:23:20 GMT, (TudorHgh) wrote:
: Hailstones the size of pigeons' eggs fell
: And we all know how big they can be, don't we? Don't we?
:EU cultural differences (well I hope that's what it is) are the spice
f life aren't they? Aren't they?

Do you mean that Dutch pigeons lay eggs that are a different size from
British pigeons' eggs ?

The comparison of hailstones to pigeons' eggs was in the report alongside
the picture I posted a link to. Perhaps the writer was a pigeon fancier.

More seriously - there is an excellent view of Friday afternoon's storms in
Belgium and the Netherlands on one of Bernard Burton's satpics
http://www.btinternet.com/~wokingham...46-c-fr-e.html

37 mm rain fell at Liège Bierset airfield in Belgium. The satpic is timed
towards the end of the storm that hit the area around Maastricht. One
Dutch observer near Maastricht reported up to 40 lightning flashes per
minute at the height of the storm and some rotation in the cloud.

During the evening the storms moved WNW across the south of the Netherlands
and affected the Rotterdam area from about 20.00 local time onwards. Heavy
rain, squalls and impressive lightning (10 to 15 discharges a minute) and
"frightening explosive thunder" there as well - "the most severe storm I
have seen in years" reported by one local observer.

Colin Youngs
Brussels