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G e o g r a p h y  a n d c l i m a t i c   o u t l o o k

Climate
T h e r e are frequent weather changes through the seasonal cycle of winter, spring, summer and autumn, although temperatures rarely exceed 32*C or fall below -10*C. Typically, the winter months from December to February are the coldest, with the shortest hours of daylight. The temperature rises through the spring months of March, April and May, as daylight hours increase, and is highest between the summer months from June to August. During the autumn period from September to November temperatures fall again and deciduous trees lose their leaves.
Prevailing winds are south-westerly and the weather is mainly influenced by depressions moving eastwards across the Atlantic. The average annual rainfall is more than 1,600 mm in the mountainous areas of the west and north but less than 800 mm over central and eastern parts. 
Britain benefits from the warming effects of the Gulf Stream, an oceanic current flowing from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe.
 
Land & Wildlife
D e s p i t e its small area Britain has rocks of all the main geological periods, giving rise to a rich variety of scenery. It can be divided roughly into two parts the highland region in the west and north; and the more fertile lowlands of the south and east. Highland Britain, containing all the mountainous terrain, comprises Scotland, the Lake District and the Pennies in northern England, most of Wales and the south-western peninsula of England. The softer rocks of lowland Britain have been eroded to form rolling plains rising to limestone and chalk hills. Major rivers include the Severn, Thames and Trent.
The most widespread wild vegetation is the heather, grasses, gorse and bracken of the moorland in the highland region. Common trees include oak, beech, ash and, in Scotland, pine and birch. Wild animal life comprises mainly species of smaller mammals (such as badgers, foxes and rodents), birds and insects.
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