RIVERS AND LAKES

There is a wide network of rivers in the British Isles, though generally short in length and navigable but in their lower reaches, especially during high tides. Mild maritime climate keeps them free of ice throughout the winter months.

In the Middle Ages river transport played a major role in the British internal transport system, and all the towns of the time were situated on navigable rivers. But since the beginning of the nineteenth century the waterways, including numerous canals, have steadily declined in importance, and many have fallen into disuse.

The largest river of Great Britain, the Severn (390 km) follows a particularly puzzling course. It flows at first north-eastwards, but later turns sharply southwards and south-westwards to the Bristol Channel. The other important rivers of England are the Trent (274 km) and the Thames (332 km), which show also many changes of direction. The rivers Tyne, Tees, Humber and Ouse flow into the North Sea.

The largest rivers of Scotland such as the Tweed, Forth, Dee, and Spey flow directly to the North Sea. Scotland’s longest river, the River Tay is some 170 km long and also follows this course. The Clyde, on which Glasgow stands, flows into the Irish Sea.

There are many rivers in Ireland. They are short but navigable, the longest being the River Shannon (384 km), flowing from north to south of Ireland.

The largest fresh water lake in the British Isles is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland (381 square km). The largest lake in Great Britain and the biggest one in Scotland is Loch Lomond, covering a surface area of 70 square km, although the longest lake is Loch Ness (56 square km). In England the largest lake is Lake Windermere in the Lake District with a surface area of 15 square km. The celebrated Lake District contains some other very beautiful lakes and is a most popular tourist resort.

CLIMATE AND WEATHER

The United Kingdom has a mild climate, even though it lies as far north as bitterly cold Labrador. Winter temperatures rarely drop as low as -12 degrees C, and summer temperatures seldom rise above 32 degrees C. The annual mean temperature in the British Isles is 9-10 degrees C; the mean January temperature for London is 4 degrees C and the mean July temperature is 17 degrees C. The climate is influenced by the Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current that sweeps up from the equator and flows past the British Isles. Steady southwest winds blow across this current and bring warmth in winter. In summer, the ocean is cooler than the land. Winds over the ocean come to Britain as refreshing breezes. The sea winds also bring plentiful rain. Average annual rainfall in Britain is 1,100 mm. But the geographical distribution of rainfall is largely determined by topography. The heaviest rains fall in the highland areas of western Scotland. Some of these areas get 380 to 510 centimetres a year. The United Kingdom has rain throughout the year, and rarely is any section of the country dry for as long as three weeks. Much of the rain comes in light, but steady drizzles. Mild fogs hang over parts of the country from time to time. But the famous «pea soup» fogs of London and other big cities seldom occur any more. These thick, heavy fogs were caused chiefly by smoke and other pollution released into the air by factories, automobiles, and homes where coal was burned for heat. Antipollution laws have helped make such fogs much less severe than they once were.

VEGETATION AND ANIMAL LIFE

The ‘natural vegetation’ in the true sense of the term has practically disappeared from Britain. Today only a few areas of woodland remain, where oak, ash, maple, elm and hazel can be found. There are also marshes and moorlands covered with heath.

One-third of the land is arable.

Animal world of the British Isles is represented by bears, foxes, deer, wolves, rabbits and hares.

BRITISH HISTORY

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 4022