Robert Snodgrass felt right at home on West Ham's recent trip to Dubai - because the weather was as bad as in his native Glasgow.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic took advantage of a fixture-free weekend last month to jet off with his squad to seek out some sunshine.
But winger Snodgrass, a £10.2million January signing from Hull, revealed the so-called warm-weather training was a washout due to the constant rain.
"To be honest with you, the weather was worse than Scotland," he said. "It was raining a lot, and cold. It felt pretty much like I was back home in Glasgow.
"So the lads were gutted. They had some swimming shorts for sitting around the pool after training, but there was none of that. Absolutely none.
"Some of the lads had jackets and hats on, it was unbelievable - something I had never seen in Dubai before. I still had to use factor 50, mind.
"But it was good. We probably trained harder over there than we did here. Because that was one thing the manager stressed, that we have to work harder out there.
"The only disappointing thing was that we thought it was going to be hot-weather training, but it was totally different."
The Hammers did manage a spot of team bonding between the downpours, including a visit to Salt Bae chef and internet sensation Nusret Gokce's restaurant.
"The chef was there, he came and did his thing with the salt," added Snodgrass.
"I think if that restaurant was in Glasgow it would be shut down, it's just a guy walking round with a big knife!
"But he was such a nice guy. I think he was going somewhere else but he drove back for us to cook the stuff and chop it up which was really nice of him."
Snodgrass is now hoping to cut Chelsea down to size when the runaway Premier League leaders visit the London Stadium on Monday night.
"We have got players here that can cause any team problems," he said.
"But it is the teams in the top six that we have not picked up a lot of points against this year, so we need to start on Monday against Chelsea."
Last week a warrant was issued for Snodgrass after he failed to attend a court trial having been charged with driving a car while a baby was being held by a passenger.
But the issue is not expected to affect his or West Ham's preparations for the match.
Snodgrass said: "It was just a misunderstanding and I didn't realise I had to be present in court. It's not a big issue and will be resolved in due course."
Source: PA
