The British Islesis the geographical term for a group of about 5,000 islands off the north-west coast of mainland Europe. The largest island is Britain or Great Britain, which is also the largest island in Europe. It consists of England (south eastern part), Wales (south western part) and Scotland (northern part). The next largest island is Ireland, which is made up of Northern Ireland (or Ulster) and the Irish Republic (also known as Eire). Britain and Northern Ireland, together with a number of small islands, form the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland, more commonly known as the United Kingdom. With a total population of 58 million people the UK ranks about fifteenth in the world.
Britain has a generally mild, temperate climate. The weather, however, tends to be very changeable as a result of constant influence of different air masses. South-western winds bring warm air from the Atlantic. There are few extremes in temperature, which rarely goes above 32˚C or below - 10˚C. In summer southern Britain is warmer than northern Britain because of its latitude but, in winter a warm sea current keeps the west milder than the east. Consequently Wales and the south-west peninsula have the most moderate climate and eastern England is the most extreme. The west and the north of Britain get more annual rainfall than its eastern and central parts. The reason is that western areas are more mountainous and higher than the rest of the country and therefore they get more rain.
C. Match the names with the maps.
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| the British Isles the UK Great Britain England Scotland Wales | |||
| a) | b) | c) | ||||
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| d) | e) | f) |
D. Speak about the weather features and its causes in Britain.
 Causes
| Weather features | 1 very changeable weather 2 few extremes in temperature 3 south warmer than North 4 west milder than East 5 west wetter than East |
E. Match the weather forecast with the correct chart. Then write a weather forecast for the other chart.
Weather forecast
Cloud with a little rain will persist over south-eastern parts of England, but there will be sunny spells over much of the country. Showers will extend from the north west through western areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Some of these showers will be heavy on west-facing coasts. Temperatures will be quite mild for January, with a minimum of 7 degrees Celsius in northern Scotland and a maximum of 11 degrees Celsius in south-west England but there will be a strong westerly wind with gales in the far south-west.
