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The Peculiarities of the British Weather.
The UK's weather is strongly influenced by the sea which surrounds the British Isles (Britain and Ireland). The sea warms up and cools down more slowly than land, keeping winters relatively warm but also making the summers cooler. Britain also benefits from a warm sea current called the Gulf Stream which originates in the Gulf of Mexico - this keeps the sea on the west side of Britain warmer (frosts are rare in these areas).
Temperatures are cooler as you move further north or nearer to the coast (in Edinburgh average temperatures are on average 2°C below those in London) or as you move to higher land. For every 500 feet (150 metres) of altitude the average temperature falls by about 1°C.
You may be wise to bring something warm to wear in the evenings even during the summer months. Very hot days (over 30°C) are not common, so air conditioning is not as widespread as in warmer countries. If it is very hot when you are in the UK you may find it uncomfortable on underground trains or buses, and may want to carry some water with you.
During the winter people will often wear several different layers of clothing. This allows them to keep warm when walking outside, but to remain comfortable when inside a heated building. Most buildings use central heating during the winter, although the heating may only be on for a short time each morning/evening in some private homes (to save heating costs).
Temperatures in the UK are usually expressed in degrees Celsius (sometimes known as Centigrade). If you come from a country which uses degrees Fahrenheit instead you may find this conversion table useful:
| Celsius: | -10°C | -5°C | 0°C | 5°C | 10°C | 15°C | 20°C | 25°C | 30°C | 35°C |
| Fahrenheit: | 14°F | 23°F | 32°F | 41°F | 50°F | 59°F | 68°F | 77°F | 86°F | 95°F |
Daylight hours.Days can seem very short during the winter. In London in late December the sunrise time is after 8am and sunset is before 4pm, so it is only light for about 8 hours. The day is even shorter further north - at the same time of year in Edinburgh it is light for 7 hours and in the Shetland Islands (off the north coast of Scotland) for just 6 hours.
The opposite effect is experienced in summer. In mid-June it is getting light in London as early as 4:30am (if you are a light sleeper you may be woken by the light or by the sound of the birds). Sunset is not until nearly 9:30pm, so it is light for 17 hours of the day. The day is even longer further north - in Edinburgh it is light for 18 hours and in the Shetland Islands for 19 hours.
Early in the morning on the last Sunday in March watches and clocks are put forward by 1 hour as the country changes to British Summer Time (GMT+1). Visitors need to be careful because they may miss their flight or travel connections if they forget to make the change. Early in the morning on the last Sunday in October watches are put back by 1 hour as the country changes back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If you forget this time you may arrive 1 hour too early for appointments.
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Rain and wind. In the UK the most common winds (known as the prevailing winds) are from the west or south-west. These winds arrive in Britain after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, from which they pick up moisture. The air rises as it reaches higher ground, cools and falls as rain. The map below shows the location of hills and mountains. To the east of higher ground it is drier. Some of the wettest parts of the British Isles are south-west Ireland, Wales, the Lake District (in north-west England) and the western islands of Scotland. Many people from overseas believe that it rains a lot in London, but in fact its rainfall is similar to that in other European capitals. Rainfall is evenly spread during the year, so even in summer a visitor is likely to experience some wet weather. In spring and autumn there are likely to be some heavy showers, often followed by sunshine. In winter the rain is usually lighter but may last for longer. In the summer if there are a few days of particularly hot weather these are often followed by a thunderstorm. It is because the weather can change very quickly that many British people carry an umbrella with them throughout the year, even when it appears to be a fine day.
Snow is not very common in London (expect snow to settle on the ground maybe two or three days during the year). It is more common away from the cities and coasts and in particular on higher land and further north. In the Scottish Highlands snow is common between December and February - this area has the only ski resort in the UK, at a place called Aviemore. Snow is most likely to fall when winds at this time of year come from the north (from the Arctic) or from the east (from Siberia).
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Winds from the Atlantic can become strong, so gales can be quite common along the western coastlines, especially in the north. The area in East Anglia (around Cambridge or Norwich) can become windy, because the land is very flat. Coastal areas can also be quite windy at any time of year (the temperature difference between the sea and the land causes sea breezes). Extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes are rare. UK weather forecasts show average wind speeds (in miles per hour), but when there are strong winds there may be gusts of more than twice this speed.
WEATHER in the UK
The weather. It's always a talking-point in Britain. Why is that? Is it something odd about British people? Well it's nice to think that a lot of British people are eccentric, I mean, the place is famous for it. But really, it's the weather that's the point of note. The UK has some of the most interesting weather in the world. "Britain does not have a CLIMATE. It just has WEATHER" In hot countries most of the indoor places that need to be comfortable are air-conditioned, and in cold countries most of the places that need to be comfortable are properly heated and insulated. The UK is the exception, since the weather is often interesting and no-one really takes heat and cold seriously. So although the weather can be very cold, very hot, very wet, or just wildly chaotic, it always takes people by surprise.
When it gets to winter and there is actually some SNOW, it always takes the people by surprise. It is frontpage news, and even a few inches of nice fluffy white stuff brings the country to a standstill. But then, what happens next is even more surprising and catches the folk off guard completely. And who could possibly have predicted it?! IT MELTS! Flooding! What a surprise! Then in the summer, it gets very hot. If it had been Thailand or Australia there'd be no problem. It is supposed to be hot, so, there is air conditioning. But in the UK, just total bafflement at the sudden hot weather. Shock, health problems, and despite the fact that the country is considered to be where it always rains, summertime brings drought! But do people have cisterns and reserve water tanks? Wouldn't it make sense for people to stockpile rainwater in case of drought? Of course it would, but it is a dependency-culture where people have been trained to be dependent on the state, which then means that in emergency people are stuck!
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Why is the British weather so odd? It is something to do with the combination of an almost Arctic latitude (Manchester is the same latitude as Moscow) combined with being an island and having the Gulf Stream bringing warm weather from the tropics on an intermittent basis. Helpful people in the know on geographical meteorology have commented that the general situation with the UK weather is even more complex, as many different factors contribute to the changeable weather. As well as the North Atlantic drift, and the topography, there is the fact that the UK is affected by five major air masses: The tropical maritime Gulf Stream, the Polar Maritime air from the North, the Arctic Maritime, the Polar Continental (from Siberia), and the Tropical Continental (from Northern Africa). There's also fast flowing air in Jet Streams (which although shown in weather reports in the USA, are oddly kept secret in UK weather reports). Air goes around in convection currents in Hadley Cells and in Ferrel Cells. Because the British Isles can get weather coming from hot or cold zones and from land or sea, a changeable hot/cold wet/dry weather is found.
Task 3.
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