While the terrible trinity of storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin remains a clear memory and mop-up activities are still ongoing, hints of spring are at last appearing.

The weekend after the storms (February 20) brought stiff north-easterly winds.

These bracing breezes enabled some local hang glider pilots to fly both days – an unusual treat this time of year.

Sky Surfing Club member and current British champion Grant Crossingham flew from Harting Down on the Saturday.

He managed an eventful round trip of nine miles, during which winds speeds exceeded 25mph at times.

Grant said: “It was a quick flight down to Cocking and back between rain showers.

“But it wasn’t for the faint hearted – I considered landing at the bottom as it was a touch rough.”

Sunday saw similar wind speeds from a more easterly direction.

This drew several pilots to the slopes of Wether Down, overlooking East Meon.

Despite the cold breeze, conditions were dry and every so often the sun sneaked out between the lines of cloud streets above.

Grant was joined by a number of other Sky ‘Surfers, including Justin Needham, Tim King, Ian Parker, James Roy and Maciej Wolaniecki.

Maciej said: “I got over 2,600ft above the hill and flew for more than three hours.

“It was a bit of a rodeo but very ‘lifty’ for the beginning of March.”

James added: “It was “beautiful – but rough!”

Justin reported conditions as being “bouncy and strong, with thermals which got to climb much higher after I landed – and decided not to fly again.”

In his usual understated way, Grant recalled his impressive flight as “windy, a bit rough but thermals to an altitude of 4,600ft.”

At 3,000ft he may have also connected with an elusive ‘wave lift’ which is normally encountered only in more mountainous areas.

Wave lift was discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, Hans Deutschmann and Wolf Hirth.

It is caused when the wind blows over a mountain or mountain range, or even an escarpment, plateau or hills such as the South Downs.

As the day drew to a close, Ian Parker announced to those present that the “café closes at 4pm” as he started his journey home, taking his flask of warm coffee with him.

Packing up in the evening sunset, pilots’ thoughts turned to the lengthening days and even more enjoyable flying ahead.

The Sky Surfing Club is located in south-central England on the beautiful South Downs around the Petersfield area of Hampshire and West Sussex.

The club promotes hang gliding, paragliding and powered paragliding and manages nine local sites for its members.

For club details visit the website at https://skysurfingclub.co.uk/