What is the climate like in the United Kingdom and Ireland?

Notice the line showing where the UK/Ireland is on a map compared to North America. What do you think the climate is like? Do you think that it is colder or warmer than the northern part of Canada?

Average temperature for the UK Average temperature for the northern Canada

Let’s find out why?

What influences the Weather in the UK? The main influence of the British climate is the warming of the waters around the land by the Gulf Stream (a warm current that comes from the Gulf of Mexico and travels across the Atlantic Ocean to the northern Atlantic Ocean). Britain is a small island compared with the other land masses in the northern hemisphere – hence it is more influenced by the ocean compared with other European countries.

What is the Gulf Stream and why is it so important to the UK? The Gulf Stream is a warm current which flows across the Atlantic Ocean from the warmer seas of the Caribbean and makes West-European countries considerably warmer than they would be otherwise. The Gulf Stream is the main ocean current that affects Britain and warms it by 5-8 degrees Celsius. The Gulf of Mexico has higher air temperatures than Britain, as it's closer to the equator. This means that the air coming from the Gulf of Mexico to Britain is also warm. However, the air is also quite moist as it travels over the Atlantic Ocean. This is one reason why Britain often receives wet weather. Winds that blow from the sea often bring rain to the coast and dry weather to inland areas.