Climatic Characteristics


Climatic Characteristics of Britain


Britain, a country off the mainland of Europe, has a variable climate, meaning that its weather changes from day to day leaving it very difficult to forecast the weather. Britain's climate is also equable which means that it doesn't suffer many extremes like too cold, too hot, too dry or too wet.


Britain owes its climate to its position, it's affected by four major air masses, that of the polar maritime from the north-west, polar continental from the north-east, tropical continental from the south-east and finally the most common of air masses over Britain, tropical maritime from the south-west. These air masses are named after two things, where they originated from (their latitude) and over the terrain the were formed, for example the tropical maritime air mass originated from equatorial regions and was formed over an ocean.


Each of these air masses have their own characteristics, the polar maritime air mass tend to bring cool, wet weather, this is because it originated from Arctic regions over the sea. This type of weather occurs in Britain relatively often and sometimes brings with it gale force winds. The polar continental air mass brings very cold, dry weather with it in winter and warm, dry weather in summer. This type of air mass doesn't occur frequently and is usually associated with anticyclones. The tropical continental air mass only effects Britain during summer when it brings very hot, dry weather which can give heat-wave conditions. These conditions can last several days and often end with a thunderstorm, though generally calm weather. The most popular air mass is the tropical maritime, it brings warm and very wet weather in summer and mild weather in winter. It often bring long periods of rain and poor visibility with moderate winds, these can also lead to depressions. The tropical maritime air mass tends to bring wet weather because it has formed and resided over warm seas near the tropics, warm air also has the ability to hold more water than cooler air.


There are many factors that effect the temperature of a climate, latitude being the obvious one, Generally the closer to the equator the warmer the climate, this is because of the earth's curvature, nearer the equator the solar radiation travels less to reach the earth through the atmosphere and heats a smaller portion than at the poles. Distance from the sea also plays a part because of the seas density, being a liquid it's less dense than the land meaning it takes longer to heat but also longer to loose that heat. Areas closer to the sea are usually warmer than normal in winter but are cooler than normal in summer. Coastal regions are also affected by ocean currents, the North Atlantic Drift being the most famous bringing warm ocean currents and air up from equatorial regions to Britain.


All these different climatic characteristics lead to a change in Britain's climate. They are also very closely related, if one changes another is effected. That's where a small rise in carbon dioxide or temperature can have a major effect. That concludes Britain's distinctive climatic characteristics.


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