Dreading a winter lockdown? Learn to love hiking in the rain | Melissa Harrison

With the right clothes and attitude, hiking in a downpour can reveal an exhilarating natural world

Back in April, my niece Alyssa, medically vulnerable and shielding in a one-bedroom city flat with no garden, posted on Instagram about really enjoying a downpour.

“Was anyone else absolutely over the moon about the rain today?” she asked. “I spent the morning continuously opening the window to hear and smell it.” I replied that I thought we were all a bit more tuned in to the weather because of lockdown, and she agreed.