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Geographical Position of Great Britain
Its total area is about 244 000 sq. km. The United Kingdom consists of 4 parts: England, the central part, occupies most of the island of Great Britain. Wales lies to the West, and Scotland, the third part of the country, is situated to the North. The 4th part is called the Northern Ireland and it is located on the second island. Each part has its capital. The capital of England is London, which stands on the bank of the river Thames, Wales has Cardiff, Scotland has Edinburg and the main city of the Northern Ireland is Belfast. Great Britain is a country of forests and plains. There are no high mountains in this country. Most of Englandconsists of low plains and rolling-downs, where the land doesn’t rise higher than 305 m. The rivers of Great Britain are not long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one. Scotland has 3 distinct topographical regions: the Northern Highlands, containing the highest point in the British Isles, Ben Nevis, the Central lowlands, and the Southern Uplands. Wales is a country of lakes. It has the most famous lake in the world. It is Lough-Neagh [‘lok’nei]. Northern Ireland consists mostly of low-lying plateaus and hills from 152 to 183 m. high. The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream influence the climate of the British Isles, which is not too cold in winter and never hot in summer. It is mild the whole year round. The UK is a highly developed industrial country. It produces and exports machinery, electronics, textile. One of the chief industries of the country is shipbuilding. Ñlimate of GB The climate in Great Britain is generally mild and temperate due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The south-western winds carry the warmth and moisture into Britain. The climate in Britain is usually described as cool, temperate and humid. British people say: "Other countries have climate, in England we have weather". The weather in Britain changes very quickly. One day may be fine and the next day may be wet. The morning may be warm and the evening may be cool. Therefore it is natural for the people to use the comparison "as changeable as the weather"of a person who often changes his mood or opinion about something. The weather is the favourite topic of conversation in Britain. When two Englishmen are introduced to each other, if they can't think of any thing else to talk about, they talk about weather. When two people meet in the street they will often say something about weather as they pass, just to show their friendliness. Every daily paper publishes a weather forecast. Both the radio and television give the weather forecast several times each day. The English also say that they have three variants of weather: when it rains in the morning, when it rains in the afternoon or when in rains all day long. Sometimes it rains so heavily that they say "It's raining cats and dogs". Rainfall is more or less even throughout the year. In the mountains there is heavier rainfall then in the plains of the south and east. The driest period is from March to June and the wettest months are from October to January. The average range of temperature (from winter to summer) is from 15 to 23 degrees above zero. During a normal summer the temperature sometimes rises above 30 degrees in the south. Winter temperatures below 10 degrees are rare. It seldom snows heavily in winter, the frost is rare. January and February are usually the coldest months, July and August are the warmest. Still the wind may bring winter cold in spring or summer days. Sometimes it brings the whirlwinds or hurricanes. Droughts are rare. So, we may say that the British climate has three main features: it is mild, humid and changeable. That means that it is never too hot or too cold. Winters are extremely mild. Snow may come but it melts quickly. In winter the cold is humid cold, not the dry one. This humid and mild climate is good for plants. The trees and flowers begin to blossom early in spring. In the British homes there has been no central heating up till recently. The fireplaces are often used. but the coal is not used as it's very expensive. Britain has no good coal now and imports it itself. Many schools and universities have no central heating either, and the floors there are made of stone. The British bedroom is especially cold, sometimes electric blankets or hotwater bottles are used. Date: 2016-01-03; view: 2173
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. The British Isles lie to the North-West of Europe. They are separated from the continent by the narrow strait water which is called the English Channel.