I CAN'T Stand The Rain, sang soul singer Ann Peebles in the 1970s. Well, in 2007 we're with Ann all the way. Will it ever stop? It seems as though the much-maligned British summer has finally decided it's had enough of all the abuse and decided to live up to its reputation once and for all.

The sun has got its hat on - unfortunately it's a sou'wester!

Having suffered the wettest June on record, with all the flooding and misery it brought with it, July has given us more of the same so far.

And for those of us struggling to remember the last time we enjoyed a dry day the answer is at hand. Remarkably, it was only nine days ago.

The clean-up operation after last week's floods is likely to take some time.

This morning an army of volunteers were descending on New Road in a bid to get Worcestershire's county cricket ground ready for play on Sunday.

They have a huge task ahead of them and we wish them well. Let's hope they get some reward with dry weather for the game.

It would be awful to see all their efforts coming to naught with another washout at the weekend.

It is said the British like nothing better than to talk about the weather.

We may well be proving that in this column.

But it's fair to say there has been plenty of it to talk about in the last few weeks.