It is not yet the height of summer Down Under but already it has been exceptionally hot for the time of year. Temperatures have been well above 40C (104F) across many parts of southeastern Australia in the past few weeks and in the Adelaide suburbs 45C (113F) was recorded on Thursday.

However, a big and no doubt welcome change is already well under way as the passage of frontal systems and cooler maritime air combine to bring some respite from the high temperatures. Next week top temperatures are likely to be much closer to the seasonal average of about 30C (86F). The current strengthening of El Niño could well be to blame as scientists have for a long time observed a link between heat waves and droughts in Australia combining with El Niño events in the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, in northwest Europe a succession of seasonal low- pressure systems have meant that it has been rather draughty in the past week. Gusts of more than 100mph were reported in exposed western areas last weekend and widespread heavy rain has been falling in the UK.

It's not just parts of the UK that have been mopping up after heavy rain either. On Vancouver Island, Canada, heavy rain tied up with a slow-moving frontal system brought a day and a half of persistent rain earlier in the week. By Monday night more than 200mm (8in) of rain had fallen in parts of the southeast of the island. Flooding was aggravated by melting snow in the mountains and led to power cuts and washed-out roads.

The rain was brought along by a weather system nicknamed the Pineapple Express, a flow of very warm, very moist air all the way from Hawaii that regularly drops its payload of heavy rain on the British Columbia highlands.