ix Climates of the World 155 



logical Office. The Reports and Forecasts are published 

 in all the morning and evening newspapers, but only the 

 Times prints a daily weather-chart of the British Islands. 



213. Storm Warnings. A sudden fall of the barometer 

 at any of the special British meteorological stations is at once 

 telegraphed to London, and if it is found to indicate the 

 discovery or sudden deepening of a ' cyclone crossing the 

 islands which is likely to cause a dangerous storm at sea, 

 warnings are telegraphed to all the important harbours and 

 fishing stations on the coast, where signals are immediately 

 hoisted to give notice to fishermen and sailors. Such 

 signals are most valuable on the east coast because the 

 disturbances usually come from the west. Farmers profit 

 by weather predictions as well as sailors, particularly in the 

 hay and harvest seasons. The escape of gas in coal-mines 

 and consequent risk of explosions has been found to de- 

 pend largely on variations of atmospheric pressure, and 

 miners' warnings are now regularly issued when any serious 

 change of pressure over the coal-mining regions is anticipated. 

 In many ways the British Islands are in the worst position for 

 forecasting the weather as they lie in the most disturbed region 

 of the atmosphere. The most westerly observing station is 

 on Valentia Island in the south-west of Ireland, which often 

 does not give time to warn the country before a storm 

 appears, and affords very little opportunity of tracing the 

 probable path in which it will travel. A floating station 

 in the Atlantic, west of Ireland, would be an enormous help 

 in framing British forecasts, and would undoubtedly save 

 many lives and much money. On the continent of Europe 

 forecasting is comparatively easy, as the British stations give 

 early notice of all changes. Similarly, in a broad stretch of 

 land like North America, Australia, or India, where the 

 stations are widely distributed and well equipped, there are 

 great advantages for the prediction of weather. In the United 

 States the Weather Bureau of the Agricultural Department 

 has charge of meteorological observations, and the forecasts 

 are not only distributed as in Britain, but in the thinly peopled 

 districts the trains are fitted with special signals so that the 

 farmers along the railway have only to look out as the train 



