A tumultuous week for the pound. And there could be more to come. Sterling, at the time of writing, is below $1.24 – down from $1.29 last weekend. The markets are properly spooked.

This latest currency fall was sparked early last week, when Prime Minister Theresa May signalled her preference for “hard Brexit”. But then the pound plunged more. Friday’s “flash crash” – which saw sterling touch $1.18, before recovering – followed warnings from President François Hollande that Britain would “pay” for leaving the European Union. That apparently triggered a wave of automatic, computerised sell-offs.

While sharp currency movements are alarming, sterling has long been overvalued. The pound needed to weaken, if more smoothly and not by so much.