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The United Kingdom straddles the geographic mid-latitudes between 49–61 N. It is on the western seaboard of Afro-Eurasia, the world's largest land mass. These conditions allow convergence between moist maritime air and dry continental air. In this area, the large temperature variation creates atmospheric instability and this is a major factor that influences the often unsettled weather the country experiences, where many types of weather can be experienced in a single day. Regional climates in the United Kingdom are influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and latitude. Northern Ireland, Wales and western parts of England and Scotland, being closest to the Atlantic Ocean, are generally the mildest, wettest and windiest regions of the UK, and temperature ranges here are seldom extreme. Eastern areas are drier, cooler, less windy and also experience the greatest daily and seasonal temperature variations. Northern areas are generally cooler, wetter and have slightly larger temperature ranges than southern areas. Though the UK is mostly under the influence of the maritime tropical air mass from the south-west, different regions are more susceptible than others when different air masses affect the country: Northern Ireland and the west of Scotland are the most exposed to the maritime polar air mass which brings cool moist air; the east of Scotland and north-east England are more exposed to the continental polar air mass which brings cold dry air; the south and south-east of England are more exposed to the continental tropical air mass which brings warm dry air (and consequently most of the time the warmest summer temperatures); and Wales and the south-west of England are the most exposed to the maritime tropical air mass which brings warm moist air. If the air masses are strong enough in their respective areas during the summer there can sometimes be a large difference in temperature between the far north of Scotland (including the Islands) and south-east of England – often a difference of 10–15 °C (18-27 °F) but sometimes of as much as 20 °C (36 °F) or more. An example of this could be that in the height of summer the Northern Isles could have temperatures around 15 °C (59 °F) and areas around London could reach 30 °C (86 °F). ==England== England has warmer maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the year than the other areas of the UK, though Wales has milder minima from November to February, and Northern Ireland has warmer maxima from December to February. England is also sunnier throughout the year, but unlike Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the sunniest month is July, totaling 193.5 hours. It rains on fewer days in every month throughout the year than the rest of the UK, and rainfall totals are less in every month, with the driest month, May, averaging .〔 The climate of south-west England experiences a seasonal temperature variation, although it is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom. Gales are less common in England compared to Scotland, however on some occasions there can be strong winds, and rarely, the remains of Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms. Some events such as the Great Storm of 1987 occurred near to the UK and caused damage in England. The prevailing wind direction for the UK is normally the south-west. |headerstyle=background:#ccccff |style=text-align:center; }} 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Climate of the United Kingdom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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