There was a thunderstorm last night at dusk. Under the ash dark sky the air took on a sombre green tint in the stillness before the first rumbles of thunder growled in the distance around Honister. There were no noticeable gaps between the raindrops in the deluge that followed and for those hikers caught outside there was little difference between dunking in the lake or walking beside it.

In the aftermath today the valley lies smoking under the hazy sun, the woods growing tendrils of cloud that solidify and then dissipate into the saturated atmosphere as the earth attempts to evaporate off the excess water. Partially eclipsed in the haze the ospreys gain and lose form in their erratic juvenile flights.

Strangely, there are no midges but walking creates eddies and currents in the air, caressing holiday arms and legs with a humid mist as sensual as swimming through vaporised honey – warm, golden and slightly sticky, with a scent of summer..

It is a rain-forest experience for those lucky enough to be at leisure, a sweaty one for those following a physical agenda.