Hail?

[Chestnut]

Just checked tomorrow’s forecast. We have 4 hours of hail predicted, even though it’s August

Which of my crops are most likely to die? And what can I do to improve their chances??

[Chestnut]

And relax...
Less than an hour later the met office have revised their forecast, so now we’re having thunderstorms instead. Fingers crossed my outdoor tomatoes and carrot seedlings will prefer lightning to hail

[Penellype]

The forecast is for heavy showers - you are most unlikely to have 4 solid hours of hail. The app will be highlighting the possibility of showers with hail and/or thunder at that time, but not everyone will get one. The precise positions of showers are impossible to forecast accurately as they are formed by warm columns of air rising from unequally heated land. Things such as buildings, concrete and bare dry land heat differently from vegetation, water and shaded areas and these things are far too small for the resolution of even the best models to account for.

Hail is destructive because it is heavy and hard. Small hail is unlikely to do much damage, although you may get small marks on tomatoes. Large hail can slice the tops off almost anything soft, so can be destructive for flowers, new shoots and fruit. Farmers sometimes find that it slices the heads off cereal crops, which can be devastating for crops. Large storms sometimes come with huge gusts of wind which can be destructive in their own way, including blowing fruit off trees.

Nets or cloches will protect plants from hail to some degree, as long as they are anchored well enough to prevent them from blowing about, but really there is not much you can do about this sort of weather except hope that you miss the worst of it, and pick up the pieces afterwards if you don't.

[Chestnut]

Thanks Penellype, I popped some fleece over the direct sown seedlings, and moved seedlings in seed trays into the gh for the day to be sure they were out of harm’s way :-)