Via Market Watch:
It’s raining cats and dogs in parts of the U.K., and that could be good news for Brexit backers.
Torrential downpours and thunderstorms began hitting the south east of England late Wednesday, causing the U.K.’s Met Office to put out flood warnings just as Thursday’s referendum got underway to decide whether the U.K. should stay in the European Union.
London Underground stations have been closed due to flooding, and cars have been submerged, said a BBC report about voters struggling to reach some polling stations. Some ballot sites have been forced to close or relocate, ITV said.
Here’s a video of wet voters by one London polling station:
But there’s potentially a silver lining in those storm clouds for one side of the Brexit battle.
“The rainy forecast for Thursday theoretically favors ‘leave,’” wrote Jasper Lawler, an analyst at CMC Markets, in a note. “Leave voters are thought to be more determined, so more likely to brave bad weather.”
For the “remain” campaign, the outlook isn’t so good. That’s because people in cosmopolitan London — which has been drenched in heavy rain — are generally more europhile and less likely to back a British exit.
The rain comes after many analysts have emphasized that turnout is key in the Brexit vote.