Real stories · The coat that ended my argument with the rain

Forty years of arguing with Yorkshire weather — this coat finally settled it

There's a coat in my hallway that has ended a forty-year argument with the Yorkshire rain. I'm 67, and my whole adult life the forecast has decided things for me: walks postponed, buses waited for in doorways, and that particular misery of a 'shower-resistant' jacket slowly giving up around the shoulders somewhere along the river.

What I wanted was to stop negotiating with the sky altogether.

Then I found the Veliannea from a British label called York Boutique — a properly waterproof winter coat in deep navy-blue, with a soft cream teddy-lined hood, a drawstring waist and a smooth zip. I chose the deep blue; there's grey, black, khaki, green and red as well.

The point is that it actually does the job. The shell is waterproof — rain sits on it in beads and rolls off, which is why the walk happens now whatever the sky is doing — while the hood, lined with soft teddy pile, keeps the wind and wet off without an umbrella in sight. And inside it's genuinely warm without the bulk: the soft lining means I'm cosy, not upholstered, and the drawstring waist keeps it looking like a coat rather than a tent.

Properly waterproof outside, teddy-soft inside the hood, warm without the bulk — rain stopped being a reason to cancel anything, and I stopped checking the forecast twice.

I'll be honest: £59.95 made me pause. Then I counted the jackets I've bought over the years that were 'mostly' waterproof — a small fortune in damp shoulders — and half the usual £120 for one that simply works stopped being a debate. A fortnight to send it back and free delivery finished the thought.

It has since done a genuinely wet school run, two drizzly river walks with Winnie and one downpour outside the butcher's that would once have been an incident. Hood up, dry through, home smug. Malcolm has started calling it 'the submarine'. He's jealous.

If your forecast also makes your decisions for you, do have a look. The Veliannea is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 230 women, it comes in six colours, in UK sizes 8/10 to 20/22 — and with the weather turning, the sensible colours go first.