SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 207 



Europe. We know, of course, tliat the immediate causes 

 of the weather in the British Isles are to be sought in the 

 movements of the various cyclonic and anti-cyclonic 

 systems in the neighbourhood. These, however, are 

 probably influenced to a very large extent by the position 

 and nature of the Gulf Stream Drift for the time being. 

 The Gulf Stream Drift itself is largely regulated by the 

 general nature of the winds due to the huge cyclonic 

 system which rests over the North Atlantic with its centre 

 at Iceland.* 



Variations and abnormalities in the Gulf Stream 

 Drift may therefore be expected to have an influence on 

 the weather over extended periods of time, whereas the 

 weather over shorter periods is dependent chiefly on the 

 smaller cyclonic and anti-cyclonic systems then pre- 

 vailing. In accordance, therefore, with these considera- 

 tions, I wish to put forward the hypothesis that the 

 peculiar weather of the past year is directly traceable to 

 the late arrival of the Gulf Stream Drift, coupled with its 

 unusually low temperature (due probably to greater 

 admixture with Arctic water of low salinity). 



Future work must prove or disprove this hypothesis, 

 which I have some hesitation in bringing forward owing 

 to the scantiness of the hydrographic data available. The 

 mere accumulation of hydrographic data is, however, of 

 minor interest. The interest lies with the deductions 

 which may be made from the data. This, therefore, is my 

 excuse for pointing out a possible line of work to which 

 attention should be paid. 



If the hydrographic conditions of the Irish Sea and 

 the Atlantic Ocean at the mouths of the Irish Sea and 

 English Channel are studied for a number of years, it 

 should soon be possible to see whether any connection can 



* Meinardus. Meteorologische Zeitschrift XXII, 398 (1905). 

 



