Seasons

There are four seasons in a year: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Each sea­son lasts three months. In most countries of the world the new year begins on the 1st of January. This day is a holiday in Russia.

Every season is beautiful in its own way. In winter the sun sets early and rises late. The rivers and lakes are frozen over. Ev­erything is covered with snow. Sometimes it is very cold, and the temperature can drop to thirty below zero. Going out in weather like this isn't very pleasant unless you're doing some kind of physical activity. That's why winter can also be a good time for sports. Many people go out skating and skiing; tobog­ganing is also popular, not as a kind of sport, but rather as fun.

In March it gets warmer and warmer. The sun becomes hotter and brighter, the days grow longer, the snow and ice gradually melt away. Spring comes, and nature awakens to new life after its winter sleep. The air is fresh; the sky is blue and cloudless. Little by little all kinds of plants and flowers appear. The ground is covered with bright-green grass and the first flowers; the trees are in full blossom. Birds return to the North from their winter stay in the South and start building their nests. Farmers get ready to plough their fields.

Spring is followed by summer. The weather is usually fine in summer, but it can be very hot, especially in July. Sometimes there are storms with thunder and lightning, but they do not last long; they freshen the air and help the plants fight the heat. In summer people try to get away from the city noise and spend more time in the open air. They pick mushrooms and ber­ries in the forest, swim in the rivers and lakes, go fishing and boating. Most people prefer to have their holidays in summer.

Autumn begins in September. The days become shorter and the nights become longer. The leaves turn yellow, red, and brown and fall to the ground. Most birds fly away to warm countries. There is a short spell of dry sunny weather in September which is called Indian summer. It is a beautiful time when the sky is cloudless, the trees around are golden, the air is transparent and it is still warm. It starts to get colder in the end of Septem­ber, and mists and drizzle begin. In October there are some re­ally chilly nights, and November often brings snow with it.

In different parts of our hemisphere the seasons have differ­ent kinds of climate (and in Southern hemisphere they have win­ter when we have summer and vice versa. The further to the north you are, the colder is the winter; everyone knows that. But other things can also influence the climate, among them the prox­imity of the sea. The closer you are to the sea, the milder is the climate. Winters aren't so cold, but the summers also aren't particularly warm. The climate of Britain, for instance, is very much influenced by the Gulf Stream which brings warm waters to its coasts and makes for humid and rather mild climate.

Most of Russia has continental climate with cold and snowy win­ters and hot summers. Such weather is typical for the regions of Central Russia around Moscow. In the northern and eastern parts of Russia the winters are even colder. The climate of such re­gions as St. Petersburg in the northwest is influenced by the sea; the winter there is worse than in Central Russia, because it is damp and clouds often cover the sun. St. Petersburg's proximity to the Arctic Circle results in the sun never setting down in June. This is the famous period of White Nights.

The weather plays an important role in our life, determin­ing if we are comfortable going outdoors. Weather is usu­ally the most popular discussion topic in Brit­ain because the weather there is so changeable.

If you are travelling to a new place, it makes sense to learn about the weather there so that you know what to pack and how to dress. Fortunately, with Internet being available it's not that difficult to find out what the weather would be like tomorrow in any geographical point in the world.

Notes

1. tobog­ganing – катание на санях

2. spell - период

3. transparent - прозрачный

4. vice versa – наоборот

5. prox­imity – близость

6. result in – приводить к…

7. it makes sense – имеет смысл