CLIMATE. 



c. H. OSTENFELD. 



THE climate^ of the Færoes is that common to Islands, and pos- 

 sesses all the advantages and disadvantages pertaining to an 

 insular position: mild winters, cold summers, heavy rainfall, fre- 

 quent st5rms and fogs. 



Sea. The cause of the climate of the Færoes being peculiarly 

 affected by their insular position is the warm Gulf Stream which 

 washes their coasts and going to the east of them, flows for some 

 distance northwards. But sometimes the cold polar stream from 

 off the east coast of Iceland reaches so far south as to touch at 

 any rate the northern coasts of the islands. This alternation natu- 

 rally enough also contributes towards the changeable nature of the 

 climate, as will be seen later on. — The sea surrounding the islands 

 is always free from ice, and even the still deep fjords are very 

 seldom frozen over and then never for a long period at a time. 

 The mean temperature of the sea at Thorshavn from January-March 

 is 5^ 5 and from July-September 10*^ 3,j and the annual meantem- 

 perature is 1^ 8. (For further details I may refer to the accom- 

 panying table in which I have given some metereological data, a 

 part of which I have taken from the above-mentioned paper by 

 Willaume-Jantzen, while for some I am indebted to the Metereolo- 

 gical Institute in Copenhagen).^ 



Temperatu re of the air. If the temperature of the sea be 

 compared with that of the air it will be seen that in the three 

 summer months onljs June, July and August, the temperature of 

 the sea is the lower; in the remaining nine months it is therefore 



^ ^Qe Willaume-Jantzen, »Færoernes Klima«. Geografisk Tidsskrift, 15. Aarg. 1899. 

 - See also U. Mohn , »Klima-Tabeller for Norge. I. Luftens Temperatur«. 

 Kristiania ltS95. 



