THE WEATHER 



great heat, while a south-west wind often brings 

 cool refreshing showers. In order to under- 

 stand this fully we must again look at our map, 

 and must also know what is not always told us 

 on maps that is, which places are hot, and 

 which cold, both in summer and winter. In 

 winter the British Islands are much warmer 

 than places in the east of Europe, or in North 

 America, which are equally far north ; and if we 

 seek for reasons, we shall find that the tempera- 

 ture of the water of the sea which surrounds 

 our islands is much higher than that opposite to 

 it along the North American shore on the other 

 side of the Atlantic. This suggests that the 

 neighbourhood of the sea makes a place warmer 

 in winter, and that the milder climate which we 

 enjoy is due to the unusual warmth of the sea 

 which is near us. Here again we remember 

 about the Gulf-stream, of which we have heard 

 when studying geography. The warm water 

 brought from the tropical regions of the Gulf of 

 Mexico by that great ocean current warms the 

 air which lies over it, and gives a mild genial 

 climate to the shores by which it passes. The 

 stream flows along the west coast of Ireland 

 and Scotland and passes on to Norway ; 

 when a south-west wind blows with it, while 

 calms or east winds prevail over the south of 

 Europe, we may even find that the temperature 

 mayactually be higher at the North Cape of Nor- 

 way than it is in south central Europe. In winter, 



(63) 



