British Weather and Climate

The weather of the British Isles is greatly variable. The geographical position of the British Isles within latitudes 50o to 60o N is a basic factor in determining the main characteristics of the climate. Temperature, the most important climatic element, depends not only on the angle at which the sun's rays strike the earth's surface, but also on the duration of daylight.

In Britain, south-westerly winds are the most frequent, and those from an easterly quarter the least. The stormiest region of the British isles is along the north-west coast, with over 30 gales a year, south-east England and the east Midlands are the least stormy. Britain's climate is dominated by the influence of the sea. It is much milder than that in any other country in the same latitudes. This means that marine influences warm the land in winter and cool in summer. This moderating effect of the sea is in fact, the cause of the relatively small seasonal contrasts experienced in Britain. The air in winter is likely to be cooler than the surface water, so that the heat passes from water to air. Air at low levels is warmed and expands and rises, carrying oceanic heat with it, while the chilled surface water contracts and sinks, to be replaced by unchilled water from below. This convectional overturning both of water and of air leads to a vigorous exchange of heat.

North and north-west winds often bring heavy falls of snow to north Britain during late October and November, but they are usually short-lived. Continental winds from the east sometimes reach the British Isles in summer as a warm, dry air-stream, but they are more frequently experienced in winter when they cross the north sea and bring cold, continental-type weather to eastern and inland districts of Great Britain.
Weather affects human activity on a day-to-day basis whether it is as simple as a few spots of rain meaning people not having to water their gardens or whether it is a tornado ripping through a town causing huge amounts of damage the weather affects people day-to-day lives. Farming is always affected by the weather no matter what sort of farming it is the weather will affect it crops without rainwater will perish and die as they would without enough sunlight.

Weather affects farmers since they need rain for their crops to grow and they use the weather patterns to know when to plant and harvest their crops. With less rainfall, they do not produce enough to meet the standards that they had set. Weather also affects milk production since in hot weather the temperature of the cows’ bodies is low and high body temperature is needed for high milk production. Weather can improve the bounty of the crops with a good amount of rain and sunshine to ripen certain produce or it can kill the crops by flooding the crops causing the soil to not be able to take in the water and possibly dis-root the plants or not get enough water in a drought and cause them to die. It can also have spring freezes and cause the plants to die by freezing the water in the chloroplasts causing them to ice over, the plant to not be able to make glucose through photosynthesis therefore the plant dies. Seemingly It governs the farmer and dictates the money flow and amount of produce and what they have in the next seasons.

Average annual rainfall in Britain is about 1,100 mm. But the geographical distribution of rainfall is largely determined by topography. The mountainous areas of