II. Forests, woods, rivers and canals

* * * When the islands were first settled, oak forest covered vast territories, stretching for the greater part of the lowland. Over the centuries the forest area was progressively diminished, the timber being widely used in the ship-building industry. Today woodlands occupy only about 8.5 per cent of the total land area, and most of the remaining woods are quite small, but offering a large variety of trees. The best known wood is - Sherwood Forest in the Midlands, where Robin Hood and his Merry Men lived.

* * *

* The most important rivers of England are the Thames, the Trent, the

Yorkshire Ouse and the Severn.

* The chief rivers in Scotland are the Clyde, the Тау, the Forth and the

Tweed. Ireland's chief river is the Shannon, with a course of 386 km (240

miles), the longest river in the British Isles.

Britain is rich in waterways. Almost every town stands on its river, every village upon its stream. We can sea it in the names: Burton-on-Trent, Stratford-on-Avon, Kingston-upon-Thames, Newcastle-on-Tyne and many others.

From the times of the Romans until the 17^th century Britain's seas and rivers were more important than roads for the transportation of goods and people. As the growing population of the country required more food, and the industries more coal, the demand for new waterways became quite obvious. By the end of the 18^th century three canals had been constructed across the Pennines to meet special needs. Today the system of inland waterways includes a network of canals, the largest and most important of which is the Manchester Ship Canal.

* * * A part of inland water is preserved as lakes. Since most of the British lakes are rather small and remote, with no outlets, they provide only limited possibilities as navigable waterways.

The Lake District in the north-west of England is well-known for its scenic beauty. The lakes are of varying sizes. The biggest one here is Lake Windermere, over 16 km long. The loveliest of Cumbrian's lakes is Derwentwater, called the "Queen of Lakes". The largest and most beautiful of Scotland's lakes are Loch Lomond (near Glasgow) and Loch Ness (near Inverness).

III. Climate and weather

Britain is as far north as Siberia, yet its climate is generally mild and temperate because of the Gulf Stream, which brings warm water and air across the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico. The climate in the UK is usually described as cool, temperate and humid.

The prevailing winds are south-westerly. Blowing from the Atlantic, they are mild in winter; cool in summer, and always heavily laden with moisture. On the whole, there is too little sunshine, the sky is usually cloudy and in some areas fogs and mists are common. There is no part of the year when one can be quite sure that the weather will be hot, dry, wet or dull. An unpleasant July day can be as cold as a mild day in January. They say there is no climate in E, only weather.

The average range of temperature (from winter to summer) is from 5 to 23 degrees above zero. During a normal summer the temperature sometimes rises above 30 degrees in the South. Winter temperatures below 10 degrees are rare.