Summer looks as if it has returned, bringing much needed relief to the waterlogged parts of Britain. Computer forecast models point to clearing skies and rising temperatures for at least a week and maybe more, as high pressure makes its debut.

The reason is quite simply a shift in the jet stream. A few miles above our heads, the jet stream winds flow like a river around the globe and where the jet stream flows, it often takes wet and windy depressions with it. This June and July it was stuck in a rut close to, or further south than, the UK. This pattern was strangely reminiscent of some of our appalling summers in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was considered fairly normal to get a seaside holiday washed out for days on end.

Now the jet stream has shifted further north towards Iceland and taken its miserable weather with it, so normal summer service has resumed for the UK.

Our usual summer high pressure system from the Azores is pushing northwards and bathing us in sunshine and fresh air and, although there is no hint of any record-breaking heatwaves, the temperatures will be fairly respectable for August and certainly feel a whole lot better than July.

Most importantly, it will be much drier for the next week or two, at least. “Popcorn” thunderstorms probably will break out, though, as the ground heats up and showers pop in all sorts of places — again typical of a British summer. Or an invasion of thundery air could spill over from France, but these are minor nuisances.

The shift in the jet stream will also bring relief to south-east Europe, where a blistering heatwave has killed hundreds of people. The huge high pressure system there is breaking down, allowing the heat to subside. In fact, this stubborn block of high pressure system has impeded the path of the jet stream like a boulder stuck in a stream. Now that it has changed, it has helped free up the weather patterns across Europe.