Britain's Climate,its Variability and Some of its Extremes

Abstract

Britain's climate is considered first in relation to the factors, especially radiation, wind circulation and terrain, which produce and control climate. This leads to a brief review of how these things operate in the artificial environments and conditions created by buildings, towns and industry. The review of the natural climate of these islands, more particularly the temperature conditions which follows treats the matter in the setting of the wind and weather systems which bring the variations. Some insight is given into the present state of knowledge of the influences that bring about the more extreme anomalies and longer-lasting climatic changes. There are practical implications in this and other sections of the lecture regarding the climatic assessments required for planning and designs for the future.