United Kingdom

  It is an island country located in the British Isles in the northwest of Western Europe . It is between 49 ° -59 ° latitude and 8 ° -2 ° longitude. The United Kingdom lies between the North Atlantic and the North Sea and forms a large part of the British Isles, with Great Britain and northern Ireland . [1] It is separated by the English Channel 35 km from the northwest coast of France and also shares a 499 km border with Ireland .

 

Climate

  The climate in the UK is very mild. Although there are extreme temperatures above 38 ° C or below -18 ° C, temperatures rarely rise. summer days Climate mildness is mainly explained by the effect of the North Atlantic Current (continuation of the Gulf Stream), which brings warm waters to the west coast of Europe. In these latitudes, windy transport prevails to the west, and thus cool air comes from the Atlantic Ocean in summer and warm air in winter.

Although the temperature differences are very small, winters are warmer on the west coast of England than in the east. In the Scilly Islands, in the far southwest of Great Britain and Holyhead in northwest Wales, the average January temperature is 7 ° C, in London - only 5 ° C, and most of the east coast - below 4 ° C. At similar temperatures, winters are less favorable as we move north along the east coast where cold, moist winds blow from the cold North Sea.

Frost and snow are not uncommon, especially at high altitudes, but in the lowlands, during normal winter, temperatures below 0 ° C are only 30-60 days a year, and snow is only 10-15 days. Snow in London only lies on the ground for 5 days a year.

The highest summer temperatures are noted in the southeast. Average July temperatures in London are lower than 17 ° C, Scilly Islands 16 ° C, Holyhead 15 ° C, and 13 ° C on the north coast of Scotland.

During normal years, all parts of England have enough rainfall for agricultural work, and in some mountainous regions they are even unnecessary. Seasonal and annual fluctuations in precipitation are insignificant, drought is rare.

Most precipitation is in the west of the UK, relatively low in the east. Average annual precipitation in London is only 610 mm, in most of Low Britain - up to 760 mm, and in parts of High Britain - up to 1020 mm. Middle Wales averages 1,525 mm of precipitation per year and more than 2,540 mm of the Lake District and Scotland's western highlands (the wettest places in the interior of the UK).

Cloudy weather prevails as most of the precipitation is not seen in the form of continuous rains but in the form of rains and the sun is not shown for many days a year.

In these latitudes, summer days are long and winter days are very short. In January, England's south coast receives an average of two hours of sunlight a day, and rarely more than an hour and a half of Birmingham. Even on long July days, the south coast receives only seven hours of sunlight on average, and the northern part of the country receives less than five hours a day. The lack of sunlight is due to cloudy clouds rather than foggy clouds.

The famous London fogs of the past surrounded the city not because of meteorological conditions but due to heavy smoke from burning coal to heat buildings. However, wet wet fog is recorded in London an average of 45 days a year, especially in January and February, and most ports have 15 to 30 foggy days each year, and the fog can paralyze all traffic for a few days or more.

 

Geography

Great Britain is located in the British Isles, the largest of them. Great Britain, Ireland (the country includes the northeastern part of the island), the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland islands, the island of Anglesey; and covers an area of ​​244 thousand square meters. Km, where England accounts for 54% of the total area, Scotland - 31%, Wales - 8.4%, Northern Ireland - 5.6%. Britain also officially controls the Isle of Man between Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands off the coast of France (Jersey and Guernsey), St. Helena, in America - Cayman, Falkland Islands and others. The only land border is between Great Britain (Northern Ireland) and the Republic of Ireland and is 360 \ u200b \ u200bkm. The distance from England's south coast north point Scotland is 960 km long and is 480 km between England's east coast and West Wales.

England is washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the east, and the Irish Sea to the west, and the UK is separated from its closest neighbors in the European continent by a strait. the english channel and its narrowest part is Pas-de-Calais (32 km). The southern and southeastern parts of Great Britain are plains divided into hills and mountain areas. Nearly all of Wales, located in the western part of the island, is occupied by the Cambrian Mountains. Pennines is a structure in the northern part of England, stretching from north to south and separating the Lancashire Plain in the west from the Yorkshire Plain in the east. Geographically, Scotland consists of three divisions: the Southern Highlands, the Central Plains where most of the population lives, and the entire British Isles - the highest point of the mountain - the mountain Ben Nevis (1343 m). The highest point in England is Scofell Peak (964 m) and Wales - Mount Snowdon (1085 m).

England is crossed by many rivers, the largest of which is Severn (354 km) originating from the Welsh mountains, the Thames in the basin (346 km) and Trent (297 km) inhabited by a fifth of the Country's population. In the past, a significant part of the islands were covered with glaciers, after its retreat, many lakes were created in the Lake District, especially in Scotland and the north-west of England. The largest lake in Great Britain - Loch Ney, in Northern Ireland, 20 km from Belfast and has an area of ​​396 square meters. km. The largest lakes in Scotland are Loch Lomond (71 sq. Km) and Loch Ness (65 sq. Km). A significant portion of the UK is occupied by arable land and pastures, while forests make up only 9% of the area.