ENGLISH
CLIMATE
IN UNITED KINGDOM AND IN ITALY
What is the climate?
The climate is the whole of
the normal and abnormal meteorology conditions that distinguish an area in a
deliberate period (temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, winds, . ). The makers that influence the climate are lots: the
latitude (the distance, measured in degree, of a place from the Equator), the
altitude (in normal conditions, in summer, the temperature decreases of 0,56°c
for each 100 m but, in winter, the difference is, usually, lower), the nearness
from the sea (the rainfall are higher and the thermal excursions are lower),
from the rivers (in winter it's more wet and cold; in summer it's a bit less
hot) and from the lakes (if it doesn't freeze in winter, the temperature is
higher but, if it freeze, the temperature is more low). Moreover, another maker
that influences the weather of a place, is the
nearness of a mountain. In fact, it can reduce or decrease the quantity of
precipitation or can make a place hotter or colder. The study of climate and
weather is very important also to program what you can do during day and, more
important thing, to foresee natural catastrophes and the trend of climate.
The climate in the United Kingdom
In United Kingdom the climate is influenced by the
movement of all the major air masses, including maritime tropical, maritime
polar, maritime Arctic, continental polar and
continental tropical. The UK,
residing in the mid-lititudes, lies in the part of hair mass convergence
between warm tropical airflow and cold polar airflow. At this convergence zone,
the lighter warm air rises over the heavier cold air, producing the typical
weather phenomena associated with this regime, fronts, depressions and rain. As
a consequence, the UK
climate is relatively mild for its altitude, since it is influenced by Gulf Stream. This stream is a warm ocean current that
originates in the Gulf of Mexico and travels north-east across the Atlantic. For this reason Edinburg,
for example, that is 56 degrees north of the equator, the same latitude of Moscow, have a climate
much milder.
Average
wintertime surface temperature in Britain
Although the British Isles makes up only a relatively geographical
area, differences in climate across the region do exist. The climate of the
western half of the British Isles is dominated
by maritime tropical and polar air, whilst the east area climate is often
influenced by more continental regimes. The climate of the United Kingdom
can be divided into 4 quarters.
- The north-west quarter is characterised by
mild winters (average 6°c) and cool summers (average 15°c), with, also,
2500 mm of precipitation per years.
- The north-east quarter has cold winter
(average 3°c) and cool summer. Here the precipitation are lesser abundant
but the snow arrives to plain.
- The south-west quarter experiences a more
maritime climate during winter and warm summers (average 17°c).
- The south-east quarter have cold winters
and warm summer, with less precipitation, as to 500 mm per year.
These
difference of
quantity of precipitation is motivated by the greater influence of maritime air
in the western half of Britain.
Annual
rainfall
The climate in Italy
The climate of Italy can be
divided in 8 different types:
- The Alpine climate: here the climate is
very cold and snowy (especially in north-west Alps)
with temperature that, sometimes, arrives at -35°C. The Alps conditions
the climate of Italy;
in fact they give more difficult the passage of the cold winds from North
and, also, the passage of the perturbations. Moreover, the winds,
sometimes, when they pass the Alps, can cause the phenomena of
'fhoen', a warm and, usually, violent wind that, also in winter,
rises the temperature as to about 18°c, most of all in the north-west Italy.
- Coming down to south, in the Po valley, the climate becomes continental, with
hot, sultry and dry summers and cold and wet winters. Springs and autumns are variable and rainy seasons.
- The Adriatic side have less sultry and hot
summers and winters with a bit higher temperature. The snows are,
generally, less frequent but more abundant and, frequently, there are cold
air irruptions from north-east, with the wind called
'tramontana'.
- The 'gulf Ligurian' climate:
this type of climate has a cooler summer of all Italy and a much warmer
winter. Moreover the 'Liguria', maybe, is
the most rainy region.
- The Tyrrhene climate has a summer hotter
but less sultry then the continental areas. In the winter the temperature
rarely decreases under 0°C in plain. The precipitations are, in the
centre-northern area, rather abundant.
- About the Apennines
climate, the temperatures are low, in particular in the north area with
abundant snow, particularly on the north-east side.
- The 'Siculan-Calabrian' climate
with a hot summer (with temperature that, sometimes, rise to 40°C) and a
very mild winter. The snow in plain is very rare.
- At last, the Sardinian climate is similar
at the Tyrrhene climate but, here, it is very windy, and, for this reason,
the Sardinia is the unique region that produce the wind energy.
So, there are different
types of climate in Italy
and they are influenced by the sea and the Alps.
The north part has colder winters than British winters (except east Scotland) and
warmer summers. The others areas have, generally, higher temperatures. The
annual rainfall is, on average, lower.
