It's also influenced by about half a dozen different weather zones making the weather some of the least predictable in the world.
Yep - there are 5 different air masses affecting the UK:
- Arctic (cold air from the Arctic, brings really cold weather and snow in winter)
- Polar Continental (cold air from Siberia/NE, brings snow showers in winter)
- Tropical continental (warm, dry air from Spain/France (SE), brings hot, hazy weather in summer, but also the thunderstorms)
- Tropical maritime (our most common airmasss, warm, moist air from the SW, brings the rain and drizzle we are used to in the UK)
- Polar maritime (cold, clean air from the NW, bringing showers (snow showers in winter))
The direction that the air is coming from will determine what kind of weather we have. It's been so cold the last couple of weeks because high pressure over the Atlantic has stopped the warmer SW airmass from reaching the UK and so has given us a northerly Artic/Polar Continental airflow.
The good news is that that high pressure centre over the Atlantic has now moved east to the UK, cutting off the cold air from the north and bringing calm, sunny and warmer weather for the next few days
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At least you guys probably weren't camping in Paris last week though... I was, and I was bloody freezing (and wet) all week (I've even picked up a cold as well)
!