Climate and weather

The British climate is often unjustly criticized. In fact, it is very good - no extremes of heat or cold, enough rainfall distributed through­out the year, no typhoons or hurricanes that may destroy the crops. The rains are brought on to the British Isles by the winds that blow off the warm current called Gulf Stream, which flows from the coasts of America across the Atlantic Ocean to bring warm weather to Britain. These winds keep Britain warm in winter and cool in summer. On a typical January day the temperature remains above freezing point, with a little change between day and night. A day in January may be as warm as a day in July, and a day in July may be as cold as a day in January. The Gulf Stream is the main source of the mildness of the British climate, which affects everyday life in many ways. Men ride to work on bicycles all the year round. Roses in the gardens are often in bloom until Christmas. In some places even palm trees can grow. Very seldom a hard winter may keep snow on the ground for some weeks. 'But then a thaw comes and the snow begins to melt away.

So the English climate is good but you cannot say the same about the English weather. (You can often hear Englishmen saying, "We do not have any climate. We just have the weather.") The worst thing about the English weather is it's being so changeable. A fine morning may turn into a nasty afternoon. The clear sky may get overcast with clouds within minutes. Sunshine very rarely lasts long enough to enjoy it. A chilly drizzle may settle any moment. Some people say that uncer­tainty about the weather is responsible for famous conservatism, which the English developed in themselves by carrying an umbrella with them, whenever they go.

In the minds of foreigners, the English weather is also associated with fogs and mists. They do happen in England, but not oftener than in other maritime countries. The bad reputation of London fogs was not a result of their frequency but of their being mixed with smoke. The English word smog (smoke + fog) was borrowed by many languages. But the worst to be said about London fog belongs to the period before 1956. That year the law was passed by Parliament prohibiting to burn coal in chimneys in big towns during the winter. Since then the pea soupers described in the novels by Dickens and Galsworthy have be­come history.

The third unpleasant feature of the English weather is frequent rains. They are really frequent but not abundant. English rain is often hardly more than a floating mist in which one can walk for hours without getting really wet. Nobody can really like such weather, and it is the drizzles that the people remember while speaking about English rain. Pouring rains, which are called showers, is a typical feature of April in England. For Englishmen, they are even pleasant. Being abroad, the English poet Robert Browning nostalgically wrote, "Oh, to be in Eng­land when April is there..."

However, the English climate is not the same throughout the British Isles. In the southeastern parts the weather is not so wet as in the west, the sunny days are more frequent. The winters are somewhat cooler there, the summers are warmer. These differences are connected with the pecu­liarities of the relief: the Atlantic winds cannot affect the south and the east so much because of the mountains in the north and the west.

Notes:

unjustly – несправедливо

through­out the year – круглый год

changeable – изменчивый

foreigners – иностранцы

to be responsible – быть ответственным

to prohibit - запрещать

EXERCISES

1. Переведите на русский язык:

the Gulf Stream, the mild climate, a maritime country, the pea soupers, English rains and showers, relief of the country.

2. Выпишите из текста предложения, содержащие следующие словосочетания и переведите их на русский язык:

to destroy the crops, a floating mist, to affect.

3. Составьте предложения со следующими словами и словосочетаниями:

a thaw, to get overcast with clouds, a drizzle may settle, the law was passed, nostalgically.

4. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What is good about the British climate? What is the chief source of these good features? How does it affect everyday life in Britain?

2. What do the English people mean saying that instead of cli­mate they have the weather? What is the difference between the climate and the weather? What is the worst aspect of the English weather? How does this feature influence the people who live there?

3. How did it happen that England became associated in the minds of foreigners with fogs and mists? Is this reputation justified? What made English fogs so unpleasant in the past? What did the government do to get rid of the pea soupers?

4. Is it true that it is always raining in England? What is the most peculiar feature of English rains? What is the difference be­tween rains and showers? What do the English people think about showers?

5. Why is England divided into two climatic zones: the southeast and the northwest? What differences in climate can be ob­served there and why?