wrote in message
Been looking at the FAQ, particularly the glossary. I've not been
able
to find the following definitions:
very mild
mild
severe
What I'm looking for really is how various areas of the UK are
quantified in terms are climate. We know that for instance Cornwall
has a very mild maritime climate. But is East Anglia also maritime?
I'd say it was more continental than Cornwall. But what is the
definition? What is "very mild" ?

"Martin Rowley" wrote...

... been trying to find the definitions on the Met Office web site,
but can't off hand. Will have another go tomorrow if no-one else
pitches in.

In the meantime, this might prove useful.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/educatio...ukclimate.html

I think, though, that you are asking questions that might be better
addressed by getting hold of a good text book on British/Irish
weather; there are many, but one I would go for straight off is
"Regional Climates of the British Isles", ed. Wheeler & Mayes,
published by Routledge. If it's not in print, Amazon (or similar)
are bound to have a copy available. Well worth the outlay.

.... I'm not sure, re-reading your original, whether you are asking
about the criteria attached to the terms 'mild', 'cold', 'warm' etc.,
or climate classification.

The terminology you quote, although obviously based on climatology
(long-term average temperatures), are/were intended for use in weather
*forecasts*, to give a short-hand idea of what a specific range of
maximum temperatures might 'feel like' to the general public. They are
controversial - a search of this newsgroup will bring up many
references to such, which is maybe why I can't now find them on the
Met Office web site.

However, this was posted several years ago and gives you a good idea
of what each term means:-

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....1e8d7880?hl=en
[possibly wrapped]

However, I fancy you are actually asking about climate classification,
which is a big subject. In terms of temperature, one of the simplest
methods to distinguish between an 'oceanic' (or maritime) location and
a 'continental' spot is to look at the annual *range* of the mean
temperature, i.e., the difference between the average annual maximum
temperature and the average annual minimum temperature (as an example,
there are others). Most good school atlases have typical graphs of
maximum/minimum temperatures through the year for locations around the
globe: maritime spots generally have a 'flattened' profile, when
compared with stations in the middle of a large continent; the
difference across a smaller country such as ours won't be as dramatic,
but nevertheless, it can be detected.

As I alluded to in the previous post, the whole subject is
complicated, and other schemes have been devised which integrate
things like precipitation (averages, extremes, temporal variation [
i.e. the distribution of rainfall across the year ] etc.), and for
specific purposes (such as agriculture/arboriculture) then length of
growing season, which brings in such as soil temperature as well as
precipitation, are used.

A search using the phrase 'climate classification' will pull up many
references.

Martin.

--
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023