The heat of September can be fierce but generally being indoors keeps the worst excesses manageable.

However, for one Caymanian resident, things got a little intense recently. Joan Wilson, a resident of the Seven Mile Beach area, was resting in her bedroom when she said she was shocked to hear a loud cracking sound coming from the dining room.

“The noise went on for a few seconds. Fearing I was being broken into, I cautiously investigated, and was astounded to notice that the lower three panes of glass in the balcony door were all cracked in a rather beautiful pattern.

“The glass was still emitting noise, this time much softer - almost like an egg crackling in the fat in a frying pan. Upon touching the door, which is metal, it was hot from the sun that was beating upon it. The glass in the other panes in the door was also hot,” she explained.

Husband Colin Wilson, a retired surveyor, was on hand to explain that the edges of the glass had been pushed against the metal frames by the heat expanding the metal and causing the glass to shatter.

“The fact that it happened to all three panes to produce this uniform and very attractive pattern is unusual. Yes, outside it really was hot, hot, hot,” he said.