12.1 The UK climate pages 16 and 161 Weather is the state of the atmosphere around us hour by hour, day to day. Climate is the average weather over a long time. The map shows the four main climate areas of the UK. Complete the labels using words from the Wordbox. N N - Britain Cool suers _ Rain all year, especially h in winter C January North-east Britain Cool suers Cold winters Relatively dry all year The North Atlantic Drift. A warm ocean current 2 km 1 C July South-w _ Britain s s Rain all y _, especially in winter S -east Britain ry warm s s Some l rain all year The North is c _ than the South in suer. The E _ is colder than the West in winter.r The South is warmer than the N in suer. The W _ is warmer than the East in winter. Wordbox light North-west East year Warm west colder North West winters heavy South Mild suers Cold Draw lines to match the heads and tails. Colour the matching pairs. The south is usually warmer and sunnier Places in the west are milder and cloudier The suer is warmer than the winter. than the north in suer. than places to the east in winter. The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher s Resource CD-ROM, Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2
12.2 Climate in the UK pages 16and 161 The UK is a small area of land but the climate varies from place to place. The map shows the UK divided into four areas. N North of the horizontal line is cool, South of the line is warm. West of the vertical line is wet, East of the line is damp. Fort William Study the map and tick true or false in the box for each statement. True False Durham Lowestoft is drier than Penzance. Durham is wetter than Fort William. Lowestoft Cardiff is warmer than Durham. Fort William is colder than Lowestoft. Penzance Cardiff London The four climate graphs show rainfall in millimetres and temperature in degrees Centigrade, each month, for four regions of the UK. Answer the following by writing north-west, northeast, south-west or south-east. December rainfall 11 _ July temperature 17 C _ Wettest region _ Driest region _ Warm suers, cold winters, dry 2 North-west 2 2 North-east 2 _ Mild suers, mild winters, wet _ In which of the regions do you live? _ 1 1 2 1 1 South-west 2 1 1 2 South-east 1 1 2 Extra Some scientists think Britain s weather will become warmer, others think that it will become cooler. Describe how your life would change if the climate in Britain became colder than it is now. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher s Resource CD-ROM, Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2
12.3 Britain s weather and climate pages 16 and 161 The British climate has mild winters and cool suers, with rain falling throughout the year. A B C D E F G H I J K L Working with a partner, read these 12 statements below about human activity during each of the 12 months of the year. Local chemist stocks up with suntan cream. Suer traffic jams cause cars to overheat. Farmland is ploughed and prepared for winter as early frosts appear. Fishermen pull on their thick woollen jumpers for the first time since spring. More umbrellas sold in time for spring showers. Farmers rest in this winter month. Seaside shops sell ice-cream to meet early demands from holidaymakers. Harvesting begins, making the most of the light evenings. Cold easterly gales damage the east coast sea defences. Sunbathers warned to cover up in the heat of the day. Spring lambs jump for joy! Pupils play snowballs in the playground. 2 2 Temperature ( C) 2 1 1 Mild winters Cool suers Total rainfall 9 Rainfall spread throughout the year J F M A M J J A S O N D Months 16 12 8 4 Rainfall () Complete the box below, matching the letter of each activity above to the correct month of the year. January = April = July = October = February = May = August = November = March = June = September = December = Extra In pairs or small groups, make a list of people who need to listen to the weather forecast, such as farmers or fishermen. For each, say why the weather is important to them. The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher s Resource CD-ROM, Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2
12.4 1s die in floods Weather investigations BLIZZARDS HIT SCOTLAND Suer hosepipe ban Rain stops play pages 16 and 161 Investigate weather further using articles about the weather in newspapers. Use local newspapers and your school library. Why did the weather make the news? Was the weather good or bad? Fog closes airport Hurricane hits Lowestoft! Phew, what a scorcher! GALES BATTER EAST COAST Colder than Siberia Hottest suer on record Blizzards hit the North Monsoon mayhem July drought THE BIG FREEZE Worst storms for 1 years Gales bring chaos Heatwave hits UK Lowestoft hotter than Spain Church struck by lightning Worst storms on record The big freeze goes on. Q3 Watch the weather forecast on TV. In your book or on paper write a paragraph to describe tomorrow s weather. Use the title Here is the weather forecast. Cut out weather charts from newspapers for a week. Stick them onto a large piece of card. At the end of the week, look back and see how the weather has changed. Forecast noon: 23 January Warm front Occluded front Cold front Extra Investigate weather further by using the Internet. Low E Here are some sites to visit. Low F High N Met. Office website: HYPERLINK http://www.met-office.gov.uk/ BBC Weather: HYPERLINK http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather The Weather Channel: HYPERLINK http://www.weather.com/ The Royal Meteorological Society: http://www.rmets.org High N is almost stationary. Lows E and F are moving north-east. Forecast: Cloudy over Scotland and northern Ireland with rain over north-west Scotland and the northern isles. Mainly sunny over England but very cold with some overnight freezing fog patches. Temperatures ranging from 6 C in the north to 3 Cin the south. Winds reaching gale force in parts of western Scotland and the northern isles but much lighter in England and Wales. Outlook: Cloudy in Scotland with some rain. England, Wales and Northern Ireland dry with some freezing fog patches. Remaining very cold with severe frost in some places, but continuing warmer over northern areas. The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher s Resource CD-ROM, Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2
12. Depressions over the UK pages 164 and 16 On a weather map, areas with the same air pressure are joined by lines called isobars. Air pressure is very important in forecasting weather. For much of the year, Britain is affected by systems of low pressure called depressions. Features of a depression L pressure 998 M _, cloudy, drizzle Cool north-west w Increasing c LOW 992 C _ showers 996 Belt of r _ 1 Heavy rain over h _ land 14 18 W _ south-west winds Key Warm front Cold front Occlusion 996 Isobar Area of rain Use words from the Wordbox to complete the labels. Wordbox cloud Warm rain Low winds Cool high Mild Q3 Colour the key and then the map according to the key. Shade the land in green. Draw lines to match the heads and tails. An occlusion is a belt of shower cloud and heavy rain. A cold front A warm front Isobars is where the warm front and cold front join together. join places with equal pressure. is a belt of cloud and continuous rain. The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher s Resource CD-ROM, Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2
12.6 Anticyclones pages 166 and 167 Anticyclones are areas of high pressure. They usually bring fine, dry weather and are most coon in suer. 26 June 21 11 17 12 2 Temperature ( C) Wind (m.p.h.) Sun Sunny intervals Risk of thunderstorms at end of heat-wave conditions. 22 21 7 132 2 8 Very little cloud Light winds An anticyclone in suer No rain Cool nights 22 26 1 128 Below 14 C Sun high in the sky Hot, sunny days Settled weather for days Early morning dew and mist Low cloud or fog make it overcast or gloomy Light winds Above 16 C Very little cloud Sun low in sky Below C Very cold nights An anticyclone in winter Settled weather for days Cold days No rain Above C Early morning frost Fog may last all day Study the two star diagrams. Shade red any boxes that are the same in suer and winter. Shade green the boxes that are different in suer and winter. Study the map at the top of the page. Write a radio weather forecast for the same day. It should be about 1 to 1 words long. Begin with the words Here s the weather forecast. The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher s Resource CD-ROM, Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2