Just what we needed...rain dancers

Some have blamed global warming. Others have blamed unusual solar activity. But today, the real cause of the floods sweeping the country was finally revealed: Malawian rain dancers have been getting carried away with their routines.

Not in their homeland 4,000 miles away, but in the heart of west London, where the National Dance Theatre of Malawi recently arrived to begin rehearsals for a musical. They have, they say, upset Britain's fickle weather patterns with their weather rituals - and so yesterday they did a sun dance to reverse the effect.

As bemused passers-by looked on, seven shivering grass-skirted figures strutted their stuff on the swollen banks of the Thames at Hammersmith, in what they said might be the only way to prevent its waters rising even higher. The trouble started, they reckon, when they arrived in London to begin rehearsals for Dr Livingstone... I Presume, which they will be performing at Hammersmith's Riverside Studios later this month.

This being England, they naturally expected a fair bit of rain. But after it dominated the news headlines day after day, they decided the answer might lie rather closer to home. The Meteorological Office at Bracknell might, of course, disagree with this diagnosis.

But whichever explanation you prefer, observing their Malawian counterparts is a good deal more interesting than watching Michael Fish talking about occluded fronts. The sun dance is fast, furious and involves reaching out to the heavens and chanting. But putting in the effort is one thing. What about the real question: was it good magic? "It works, it works. I promise the sun will come out," said troupe leader John Duma, 37.

The bank of cloud looming above suggested otherwise. But rain dancing on the Thames - a bit like fishing on the river - seems to be a matter of infinite patience. "Just wait," they said. "Soon," they said. "Believe in the power of African dance." And lo and behold, eventually the clouds parted and a thin ray of sun did pop out. And then went in again.

And, as Mayor Ken Livingstone would doubtless be interested to know, a key element of a successful sun dance is to sacrifice a pigeon.

Perhaps he will sign up the troupe for a spell in Trafalgar Square.