Climate

The climate of the British Isles is generally mild and equable. The warm North Atlantic Current (Gulf Stream) heats the sea water and air as it travels from the Atlantic Ocean across the Shelf.

There are no extreme contrasts in temperature anywhere in Britain, with temperatures normally ranging between cool and mild. In general, British temperature rarely rises above 32° Celsius in the summer or falls below minus 10° Celsius in the winter, though there are differences between those of the north and the south.

The temperature is also modified by altitude, so higher land is colder than the low-lying land. Consequently, much of Scotland, because of its height, is cooler in summer and colder in winter than most of England. Upland areas of Wales and England also tend to be colder than lowland zones.

Contrary, to the popular misconception, Britain’s weather is not particularly wet. London for example, is drier than some continental cities such as Hamburg. Rain is fairly well distributed throughout the year, but on the average, March to June tend to be the driest months; September to January – the wettest.

During May, June and July - the months with the longest daylight - the mean daily duration of sunshine varies from five hours in northern Scotland to eight hours in the Isle of Wight. During, the months of shortest daylight - November, December and January – sunshine is at minimum, with an average of an hour a day in northern Scotland and two hours a day on the southern coast of England.

Thus, it may be safety argued that the British climate has three dominant features: it is mild, humid and changeable.

Though Britain is fortunate to have warmer winters than other countries at the same latitude, the changeability of weather is the main disadvantage. The weather in England has become proverbial (the English often say that they have no climate, but only weather, or that they have three types of weather: rain in the morning, rain in the afternoon or rain in the evening).

This uncertainty about the weather is argued to have had a definite effect on the Englishman’s character. It tends to make him both cautious (he always takes his umbrella and raincoat with him) and adaptable, too. However, even the British can get tired of the weather and take advantage of relatively cheap charter tours to escape abroad (normally to Spain and Cyprus) in both winter and summer.

Physical relief

Britain's physical relief can be roughly divided into two main regions - Highland Britain and Lowland Britain. The borderline between the two regions is roughly a line from the mouth of the river Exe in Devonshire, to the mouth of the Tyne on the north-east coast. Historically, this division has been significant for the settlement of people, military conquest, communications, agriculture and industry. To the north-west of the line there is Highland Britain.

Highland Britain

Highland Britain comprises the whole of Scotland (the hills and moors of southern Scotland as well as the mountains of the north); the Lake District, in the north-west of England; the broad central upland chain, known as the Pennines; almost the whole of Wales; and the south-west peninsula of England, coinciding with the counties of Devon and Cornwall.

The mountains and hills of Highland Britain consist mainly of old, hard rocks, but the top strata in the valleys and the plains are more recent and similar to those in the northern and western part of Lowland Britain. The recent rocks are rich in coal and minerals than have been the foundation of Britain’s industrial wealth. The majority of British coalfields lie in the borderlands between Highland and Lowland Britain.