THE CLIMATE OF THE BRITISH ISLEs. 37 
23rd November, 1906. 
Chairman—Mr R. Service, V.P. 
THE CLIMATE OF THE BritisH Istes. By Mr ANDREW WatTrT, 
M.A., of the Scottish Meteorogical Society, Edinburgh. 
After some introductory remarks, it was pointed out that, 
though our climate was not perhaps an ideal one, the truth was 
that the British Isles enjoyed milder temperature conditions than 
any other lands within the same latitudes. We were apt to forget 
how far north our islands lie, and that John o’ Groats is within 
600 miles of the Arctic Circle. Compare, for example, the 
enormous range that prevails in Southern Siberia with the mode- 
rate variations of temperature under which we live. Lake Baikal 
—in the latitude of England—is frozen over for three or four 
months every winter, yet during the short hot summer the country 
round yields a magnificent wheat crop, which ripens with almost 
magic rapidity. So Vladivostock—an ice-bound port in winter 
—is further south than the Channel Islands. Compare also 
Labrador with its inhospitable climate, and consequently scanty 
population. 
The secret of the comparative mildness of our climate was to 
be found in our insular position. Land and water behaved in 
quite different ways towards the heat radiated by the sun. Land 
absorbed the heat rapidly and gave it out rapidly, whilst the 
transactions of water were of a much more sluggish character, 
_ the heat being stored up slowly and parted with slowly. Thus 
in the interior of every continent the summers were much warmer 
and the winters much colder than on the coasts. Lands entirely 
surrounded by the sea were, of course, even more favourably 
situated. 
But of supreme importance was the fact that our prevailing 
winds were from the south-west, and those blowing from off the 
tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Atlantic were warm winds. 
So, too, the south-west wind was the prevailing one on the 
eastern shores of the Pacific, and the eastern shores of the 
northern parts of both the great oceans were much warmer than 
the western. The influence of the Gulf Stream on our climate 
was not to be overlooked, but it was a greatly over-rated factor. 
