Classroom lesson 路 Weather馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom

Why it rains so much in Britain

An island, the sea, and a sky that can't make up its mind

Rain falling hard onto a wet roof, drops bouncing

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The United Kingdom is famous for its rainy, changeable weather. In many parts of the country it rains on around 150 days a year - about two days out of every five. The reason has a lot to do with where Britain sits on the map: a small island in the middle of a big, wet ocean.

Tell me more

Britain is surrounded by sea. Warm, wet air blows in from the Atlantic Ocean to the west, where the water is warm because of a giant ocean current called the Gulf Stream. When that warm, wet air hits the cooler land, the water in it falls out as rain.

Because Britain is small, the weather can change very quickly. A morning might start sunny, turn cloudy by lunch, rain in the afternoon and be bright again before tea. This is why British people talk about the weather so much - it really does keep doing something different.

The wettest place in the UK is a tiny village called Seathwaite in the Lake District. It gets around 3.5 metres of rain a year - taller than the tallest basketball player ever, lying down. The driest places, in the east of England, get less than a third of that.

Rain is one reason the UK looks so green. Grass loves it. So do trees, sheep, gardens and the famous British lawn. People joke about the weather, but the rain is also why the countryside is the colour you see on biscuit tins and tea boxes.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a country that rains a lot have especially green grass and tall trees?
  2. 02What words do you use for rain where you live? Are there different words for different kinds?
  3. 03What is your favourite kind of weather to play in? Why?
Try this

Classroom activity

For one week, keep a class weather diary. Each morning at the same time, look out of the window and record: clear, cloudy, drizzle, rain, sun, wind. At the end of the week count up the rainy days. How does your week compare to the UK's 'two out of five' average?

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