Great Britain

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Irelands is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consists of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. Their total area is over 244,000 square kilometres. The UK is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northen Ireland. Great Britain consists of England, Scotland and Wales and doesn't include Northen Ireland. The capital of the UK is London. The British Isles are separated from European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotland is mountainous and is called the Highlands, while the south, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called the Lowlands. There are a lot of rivers in Great Britain, but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one. The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters if Gulf Stream influence the climate of the British Isles. The weather in Great Britain is very changeable. A fine morning can change into a wet afternoon and evening and the wrong side out. The english people say:"Other countries have a climate; in England we have weather." The English also say that they have three variants of weather: when it rains in the morning, when it rains in the afternoon or when it rains all day long. The weather is the favourite conversational topic in Great Britain. After they greet each other they start talking the weather. The best time of the year in Great Britain is spring (of course, it rains in spring too). The two worst months in britain are January and February. They are cold, damp and unpleasant. The best place in the world then is at home by the big fire. Summer months are rather cold and there can be a lot of rainy days. So most people who look forward to summer holidays, plan to go abroad for the summer. The most unpleasant aspect of English weather is fog and smog. This is extremely bad in big cities especially in London. The fog spreads everywhere so cars move along slowly and people can't see each other. They try not to be run over by a car but still accidents are frequent in the fog.