BIRMINGHAM, England — The weather has gradually improved here over the past few days much to the benefit of the Jamaican Olympians who have been in camp at the University of Birmingham for just over a week.

After enduring several days of cool weather and sometimes-heavy rains and very cold evenings, the temperatures gradually rose over the weekend.

The cool weather had chased a number of teams out of England to seek warm climates in which to continue their fine-tuning for the ‘world’s greatest show’ that is set to get underway in about four days’ time in London.

The British track and field team had set up camp in Portugal, while the top American sprinters are reportedly in Spain in their camp while some others — the field events and long distance runners — are in a camp hosted by the Birmingham City Council here.

In Birmingham, the last few days have seen brilliant sunshine and very little if any precipitation, and Jamaica’s technical leader, Donald Quarrie, had commented in a meeting with the Jamaican press here, that the athletes were enjoying the continuous good weather and making very good use of it.

At just before 2:00 pm (UK time) today, the temperature was almost 80 degrees Fahrenheit in both Birmingham and London with the long term forecast calling for good weather until Friday’s opening day when there will be a 50 per cent chance of showers in London.