The song's reign at number-one in Britain happened when the country was hit by extreme rainfall and flooding, which led some people to jokingly suggest the two events were related, calling it the "Rihanna Curse".
A similar situation occurred in New Zealand where the song hit number-one in the early summer of 2007 as the country was experiencing some of the worst storms in history. [10]
Interestingly, in Greece, "Umbrella" was released at a time when people were suffering through a summer of several major heatwaves topping 47C/117F, and the worst forest fires of modern history, killing 60 people. When the song peaked at #4 in the Greek singles chart in October 2007 (being one of the most successful international releases), the country began experiencing a rainy spell. It gained high airplay on radio, proving that it was one of the most successful international releases there (along with Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right").
In Spain, where it topped the downloads chart for 7 consecutive weeks and Los40 Principales chart for 4 weeks, while it entered the top 10 downloads, and while topping them both, that was in August, September and the beginning of October, has been one of the wettest summers in decades, and the coldest August from the beginning of the 20th century.
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