Planning your summer vacation in Denmark is like playing the lottery. You could hit it lucky, with golden days and long, warm evenings, when you can sit with friends in the soft light and drink hyldeblomst cocktails.

Or you could get grey day after grey day, interspersed with a little rain whenever it is least convenient. The weather could be chilly, leaving your cute new summer clothes to sit disappointed in your closet while you wear your boring long trousers again and again.

I find that locals tend to base their decision about whether to stay in Denmark for the summer on the previous year's weather. Last year's summer was great for anyone who is not a farmer: it was unusually hot and dry.

This year, so far, the weather has been very good for farmers with crops that need a lot of rain, and not so great for anybody else.