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‘Last August, we had to evacuate from a fast-approaching, lightning-induced wildfire,’ says Francesca Mackay (Cloud Appreciation Society Member 48,584). The fire was contained only a kilometre from her house in Valle de Ayora, Valencia, Spain. ‘This year’s early summer heat has been searing,’ she says, ‘and campo dwellers here are becoming understandably nervous. A couple of days ago, a bright orange sunrise presaged another roasting day. By early evening, these massive Cumulonimbus clouds had formed over the sierra above us and we could hear their distant thunder. Thankfully, the storm clouds brought us no lightning, but neither, unfortunately, did they deliver much-needed rain.’