I don’t think it’s the rain that caused the losses. I think the majority of the birds didn’t cross the channel. There have been races like this before with heavy losses and very few turning up. A few years ago I got 2 birds within half an hour (1 from Ypres and 1 from Clermont) 2/3 weeks after the race. Both looked like they had been flying all day. I was convinced at the time they had either been liberated in England or had come from Holland or wherever that day.