All Of The United Kingdom Has A Humid Warm Climate

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Eddie Listner

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Jun 30, 2024, 11:03:31 AM6/30/24
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The United Kingdom straddles the higher mid-latitudes between 49 and 61N on the western seaboard of Europe. Since the UK is always in or close to the path of the polar front jet stream, frequent changes in pressure and unsettled weather are typical. Many types of weather can be experienced in a single day.

The climate in the United Kingdom is defined as a humid temperate oceanic climate, or Cfb on the Kppen climate classification system, a classification it shares with most of north-west Europe.[1] Regional climates are influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and latitude. Northern Ireland, Wales and western parts of England and Scotland, being closest to the Atlantic Ocean, are generally the mildest, wettest, and windiest regions of the UK, and temperature ranges there are seldom extreme. Eastern areas are drier, cooler, and less windy, and also experience the greatest daily and seasonal temperature variations. Northern areas are generally cooler and wetter and have slightly larger temperature ranges than southern areas, which are generally warmer and drier.

The UK is mostly under the influence of the maritime polar air mass from the north-west. Northern Ireland and the west of Scotland are the most exposed to the maritime polar air mass which brings cool moist air; the east of Scotland and north-east England are more exposed to the continental polar air mass which brings cold dry air. The south and south-east of England are the least exposed to polar air masses from the north-west, and on occasion see continental tropical air masses from the south, which bring warm dry air in the summer. On average, the temperature ranges from 18 to 25 C (64 to 77 F).

England generally has low maximum temperatures year round. England is also sunnier throughout the year, but unlike Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the sunniest month is July, with an average of 193.5 hours. It rains on fewer days every month throughout the year than the rest of the UK, and rainfall totals are less in every month, with the driest month, May, averaging 58.4 mm (2.30 in).[3] The climate of south-west England displays a seasonal temperature variation, although it is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom with milder winters. Certain species of palm trees and other exotic plants can be grown in coastal areas of Southwest England although summers are cooler than the Southeast. Gales are less common in England compared to Scotland; however, on some occasions, there can be strong winds, and rarely, the remains of Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms. Some events such as the Great Storm of 1987 occurred near the UK and caused damage in England.Temperate summer heatwaves of 30 C+ and droughts occasionally occur, especially in London and Southeast England. The summer of 2018 was particularly sunny and dry across England.The prevailing wind direction for England is from the south-west. London is vulnerable to climate change in the United Kingdom, and there is increasing concern among hydrological experts that London households may run out of water before 2050.[4]

The highest temperature recorded in England (and in the United Kingdom) occurred on 19 July 2022 at Coningsby, Lincolnshire.[18] The lowest temperature ever recorded in England occurred on 10 January 1982 in Newport, Shropshire.

Northern Ireland is warmer than Scotland throughout the year. Maximum temperatures are milder than in Wales from December to April, and milder than in England from December to February, but Northern Ireland is cooler during the rest of the year. Sunshine totals in every month are more than those of Scotland, but less than those of the rest of Great Britain. Northern Ireland is drier and has fewer rainy days than Scotland throughout the year, except in May, when it rains on more days. Northern Ireland is also drier than Wales in every month, yet it rains on more days. The rainiest month is January, when 17.8 days have more than 1 mm (0.04 in) of rain on average.[20]

Scotland is generally cool compared to the rest of the UK. In the lowlands, an oceanic climate (Kppen: Cfb) prevails, while in the mountains and in parts of the Shetland, the summers get cool enough for the climate to be classified as subpolar oceanic (Cfc). As a whole, Scotland has average minimum temperatures just above zero in winter months and rather cool average highs of 17 C (63 F) in summer. The Central Lowlands have higher temperatures during the summer than any other part of Scotland, and have also broken some records for the whole of the UK. Aviemore is considered one of the coldest inhabited places, with its inland location and an altitude of about 210 m (690 ft). The wettest month in Scotland is January; most months are wetter than other parts of the UK, except for the late spring to early autumn months.

Spring is the period from March to May. Spring is generally a calm, cool season, particularly because the Atlantic has lost much of its heat throughout the autumn and winter. As the sun rises higher in the sky and the days get longer, temperatures slowly rise, but the solar effect is mitigated somewhat by the effect of the cool ocean waters and westerly winds that blow across them. There is a chance of snow earlier in the season when temperatures are colder; often in March.

Spring mean temperatures have become higher during the 2000s and the 2010s. The warmest spring on record was 2017 with a mean temperature for the UK of 9.12C. The coldest spring on record was in 1891 with a mean temperature of 5.42C.[35]

The sunniest spring on record for the UK was in 2020 with 626.0 hours recorded on average across the UK. Conversely, the dullest spring on record for the UK was in 1983 with an average of 322.3 hours of sunshine across the UK. [36]

The wettest spring on record for the UK was in 1947 with 332.4mm of precipitation falling on average across the UK. The driest spring on record for the UK was in 1893 with just 107.4mm of precipitation falling on average across the UK.[37]

Summer lasts from June to August and is the warmest and usually the sunniest season. There can be wide local variations in rainfall totals due to localised thundershowers. These thundershowers mainly occur in southern, eastern, and central England and are less frequent and severe in the north and west. Greater London, Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk see the most thunderstorms during the summer. The South West, the Midlands and Northern England get thunderstorms too, but they are less frequent and severe. Wales and Scotland also gets the occasional thunderstorm. On rare occasions, a type of supercell thunderstorm called the Spanish Plume forms over the country after very hot weather. These storms are severe in the South West and South East and get weaker as they go north.[38]

The sunniest summer on record for the UK was in 1976 with 672.1 hours of sunshine recorded across the UK. Conversely, the dullest summer on record for the UK was in 1954 with just 372.7 hours of sunshine recorded on average across the UK. .[36]

The wettest summer on record for the UK was in 1879 with an average of 399.9mm precipitation across the UK. Conversely, the driest summer on record for the UK was in 1995 with just 105.9mm of precipitation recorded on average across the UK.

Autumn in the United Kingdom lasts from September to November.[39] The season may be a little more unsettled; as cool polar air moves southwards, it can meet warm air from the tropics and produce an area of disturbance along which the country lies. This can combine with the warm ocean due to heating throughout the spring and summer, to produce some unsettled weather. In addition, the land may become colder than the ocean, resulting in significant amounts of condensation and rain-bearing clouds.

Atlantic depressions at this time can become intense, and winds of hurricane force (greater than 119 km/h or 74 mph) can be recorded. Western areas, closest to the Atlantic, experience these severe conditions more often than eastern areas. Autumn, particularly the latter part, is often the stormiest time of the year. One particularly intense depression was the Great Storm of 1987. A very severe storm also affected the UK on 27 October 2002. At Mumbles Head near Swansea, a maximum sustained wind speed of over 123 km/h was recorded: equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.[40] The autumn of 2013 was also littered with severe storms, including the St. Jude's Storm on 28 October 2013.

Coastal areas in the southern half of England have on average the warmest autumns, with mean temperatures of 10.7 to 13.0 C (51.3 to 55.4 F).[44] Mountainous areas of Wales and northern England, and almost all of Scotland, experience mean temperatures between 1.7 and 7.5 C (35.1 and 45.5 F).[44]

The sunniest autumn on record for the UK was 1959 with an average of 341.3 sunshine hours recorded on average across the UK. The dullest autumn on record for the UK was in 1968 with just 208.2 hours of sunshine recorded.

Towards the later part of the season the weather usually stabilises with less wind, less precipitation and lower temperatures. This change is particularly pronounced near the coasts, mainly because the Atlantic Ocean is often at its coldest at this time after being cooled throughout the autumn and the winter. The early part of winter however is often unsettled and stormy; often the wettest and windiest time of the year.

Snow falls intermittently and mainly affects northern and eastern areas, high ground in Wales and especially the mountains of Scotland, where there is often enough snow lying to permit skiing at some of the five Scottish ski resorts. These resorts usually operate between December and April, depending on the snowfall. Frequently in the mountains potent depressions may move in from the north in the form of "polar lows", introducing heavy snow and often blizzard-like conditions to parts of the United Kingdom, particularly Scotland. Blizzards have become rarer in the 21st century, although much of England was affected by one on 30 January 2003. During periods of light winds and high pressure, frost and fog can become a problem and can pose a major hazard to drivers.

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