British Climate and Weather

British Climate and Weather

"We Do Not Have Any Climate. We Just Have the 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.

 The 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.

EXERCISES

1. Find in the text the following concepts, check your ability to explain them in English, and add them to your working vocabulary.

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

2. Write out from the text the sentences or their parts, which contain the words and phrases given below and translate them into Russian: to destroy the crops, a floating mist, to affect.

3. Explain in English what is meant by: a thaw, to get overcast with clouds, a drizzle may settle, the law was passed, nostalgically.

4. Answer the following questions:

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?

B. GUIDED COMPOSITION

ASSIGNMENTS

/. Read the text, find in it the Russian equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:

Merry Green England, a landscape, the maritime climate, drizzles, moisture, the English Channel, to be reluctant to do smth, a pub, the March for Nuclear Disarmament, to put smth up for a rainy day, the Main Office of the London Metropolitan Transport.

2. Read the text again, find in it the information about the following questions and, trying to use the words and phrases given in Task 1,answer them in writing:

1. What explains the fact that the English lawns remain green all the year round?

2. What kind of weather do the English people usually have during the Christmas holidays? What weather is typical for English winter?

3. Is the opinion about the English weather being quite unpredictable justified?

4. Are there any relations between the climate and the character of the people who live in it? Do you believe that the rainy climate is responsible for the English punctuality, which they call "the courtesy of the kings"? And what about them being economical and cautious? Has the rain anything to do with it?