THE island has had its third wettest summer on record. A total of 232.8mm of rain was measured to have fallen by the Guernsey Met. Office at the airport. And it is all to do with the polar jet stream.

This is a river of fast-moving air found in the upper levels of the atmosphere. It is responsible for directing weather in our direction.

‘The jet stream that drives the depressions has come a lot further south this summer,’ said a met. office spokesman.

‘During the summer it’s normally north of Scotland and in the winter it comes down across the UK. This summer it’s come a lot further south and that’s why we’ve had the unsettled weather.’

The wettest summer on record was in 1960 with 259.3mm, followed by 1974 with 238.1mm. The average is 129.6mm.

The number of hours of sunshine was also well down this summer with just 654.1 recorded, compared to the average of 721.30.

The sunniest summer was 1976 with 931.2 hours.

However, it has been hotter than normal, with a mean air temperature of 15.9C against the average of 15.6C.

The warmest was 2003 with 17.7C.

Things improved in August, when the mean temperature was 16.1. But this is under the average for the last 30 years of 16.6C for the month.

The hottest day of the month was Saturday 11 when the temperature reached 21C.

And according to the met. office, the weather is looking to get better as the jet stream has headed back up towards the Arctic.

‘With the higher pressure, the jet stream is further north, hence it’s a lot more settled,’ said the spokesman.