As the heavens opened, Manchester City fans simply got louder and more defiant.
Not even the Manchester weather could put a dampener on the celebrations, as City celebrated with their fans after becoming treble winners and European Champions. It wasn't the glorious sunshine of the previous few weeks, but it wouldn't be City if it wasn't all plain sailing.
Typical City might be a thing of the past, but the Typical Manchester weather will never relent.
Since lifting the elusive Champions League on Saturday night in Istanbul, the party hasn't stopped for City fans and their players. It had started for the 20,000 or so that made the journey across land and sea to Turkey, with videos coming back home of streets filled with jubilant City fans making those who stayed back in Manchester rather jealous.
ALSO READ: Man City parade as it happened
Never fear, as City did what they had to do in the final and returned home as Champions, with tens of thousands, if not hundreds, taking to the streets to welcome back their treble winners.
Only twice has an English side won the treble, with these same streets filled with similar scenes 24 years ago as Manchester United celebrated their three trophies. Plenty are trying to pit both treble-winning sides against each other, but while the partisan divide will always split this city between red and blue, it's a testament to Manchester that it boasts the only two treble winners.
2023 is City's year, and their fans made sure to enjoy every second, despite the weather delays. The official start time for the parade down Deansgate, round the town hall and onto a stage next to St Peter's Square was 6.30pm, but most fans got down even earlier to guarantee a seat. Just like in '99, fans were on lampposts, bus stops and watching from any window they could to get a vantage point of the Class of '23.
Bad weather in the area delayed fans being allowed to access the main stage, and pushed the start time back by around 40 minutes. The pre-parade soaking only encouraged more, louder singing from the fans who were already in good voice. Lightning periodically lit up the Mancunian sky, but nobody was leaving early until they saw their heroes.
The players got the Metrolink from the Etihad Campus to the centre, Jack Grealish topless as he disembarked.
As the three coaches crawled through the jubilant (but damp) crowds, footage showed the players taking in every second. They partied through the night in Istanbul - Grealish still in his match kit as the sun rose - and the majority of the squad jetted out for a night in Ibiza on Sunday, returning in time for the parade.
The BT Sport commentary on Saturday poetically said that the Manchester rain would now taste like champagne and Erling Haaland gave that a literal meaning as he poured a full bottle of bubbly over Grealish as the players embarked on the buses.
Pep Guardiola punched the air to what it seemed like every fan en route, drenched to the skin and smoking a cigar. He looked to love the different atmosphere that the downpour provided and these are the moments the real Pep comes out.
On Monday, he proved again he is a fully-adopted Mancunian with the love from the stands to the manager fully reciprocated. He still has two years left on his contract and he didn't look like a manager anywhere near ready to say goodbye to this city.
“We had to be the best parade with this rain, otherwise it is not Manchester,” Guardiola said when he was introduced on stage to rapturous applause.
“We don’t want sunshine, we want rain, so it was perfect. They (fans) are used to the rain.”
For a Barcelona boy to love the Manchester rain shows how he truly is one of the City fans.
Some supporters at the finale had climbed onto a bus stop, which looked to be creaking under the pressure of the dozen or so bodies on top of it. It's a miracle it didn't collapse all together. Others were on the TV camera structures, and across the route hundreds climbed on lampposts, traffic lights and anything they could to get a vantage point.
When the players did come out (led by a topless Erling Haaland) few were in the mood for talking, John Stones literally running away from the microphone, perhaps so as not to incriminate himself. Kalvin Phillips didn't exercise the same caution, leading the crowd into the 'Johnny Stones' chant - including the 'he f------ hates United' line.
You can take the boy out of Leeds, but you can't take the Leeds out of the boy, and Phillips will hope to replicate Grealish's resurrection last season after a difficult first year. He, like Grealish this year and last, was fully embracing the celebrations for his first major trophies.
Quite what one host was talking about when saying 'Where's the pigeon, the pigeon needs feeding' in reference to Grealish, is anyone's guess. Grealish, wearing a high-visibility jacket, later got the mic and described himself as a Turkey, not a pigeon.
"For the past 24 hours I've had the best day and night. To be fair I don't think I've slept," he said, before wrestling the microphone back and declaring: "I'm a turkey and the turkey needs feeding!" Fed he was, as a bottle of Grey Goose was subsequently poured down his neck.
Kitman Brandon Ashton had tried to replicate his trademark belly slide on the stage, and the biggest cheer was arguably for captain Ilkay Gundogan as he presented the Champions League trophy.
Maybe wisely, the on-stage presenters wrapped things up, and the sky was filled with fireworks and confetti in a display as impressive as the team. It may have been short and sweet at the end, but you can be assured it was far from the end of the party for the City players and staff.
This celebration wouldn't have gone ahead if City hadn't won the cup in Istanbul, and nearly didn't go ahead thanks to the Manchester thunderstorm. For the fans - just as the clouds above - this was an opportunity to release all the pressure built-up over the last few weeks.
For City and their fans, this is a day they have dreamed of for years. To parade the famous Champions League trophy around the streets of their city puts them on a par with their rivals. United have done it, Liverpool have done it, so have Chelsea. Now City are kings of Europe - and they want everyone to know about it.
No amount of rain was going to stop the party.
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