the weather

The weather is a very popular topic of conversation in Britain. that's because the weather changes a lot.
Sixty-five per cent of all the days in Britain are overcast dull, grey and often cold. That's 260 dull days. What do people find to talk about?

When the weather is good, people complain that it's too hot.

When it rains, they say it's too wet. When it isn't sunny, they say it's too cold.

The seasons in Britain are fairly clear. Winter lasts from December to February. It's cold and wet but doesn't often snow. spring is from march to May. It starts to get a bit warmer and there are more sunny days. the summer months are June, July and August when it can be very hot. Then the autumn. September, Ocptember, November often has foggy, cold wet days and the leaves fall from the trees.

it's not surprising that Britain has got one of the most important weather centeres in the workd. The Met Office employs over a thousand people. They provide weather forecasts for radio, television and newspaper and on the Internet.

Two huge supercomputers analyse information from many sources including satellites. This is very different from some of the early weather forecasts. These instruments were used for the earliest weather forescasts. Thiss is the first one published in The Times in 1879.

Scientists at the met Office make weather forecasts for the public and for special purposes military, shipping, airlines and many otheres.

The Met Office also looks at enviromental issues such as global warming and climate change. The computers can predict the tropical storms and hurricanes that cause so much damage around the world.

The trouble is weather changes very quickly and so nobody ever believes the weather forecast. They still go out in their shorts and get wet! But at least it's something to talk about.