Winter is obviously England’s coldest season, with the shortest days. Officially beginning on 21 December, winter ends on 20 March the next spring, if using the astronomical calendar, however the Met Office uses a meteorological version of seasons, so their winter always begins on 1 December and ends on the last day of February (splitting each season into 3 equal months to coincide with the Gregorian calendar).
Our winter weather is dependent on what’s happening near Iceland and the Azores (islands in the Atlantic Ocean owned by Portugal) as the increased pressure from westerly winds can bring us milder winter weather, but also more wind and rain.
Winter Days are Colder and Shorter
Winter days also mean darker nights, with our shortest day getting almost 9 hours less light than on 21 June (the summer solstice – or longest day of the year). Despite the earth being closer to the sun in winter.
Temperatures can get pretty nippy in England during winter (especially in the east and north east – Newcastle for instance sits on the same latitude as Sweden). However we don’t tend to get temperatures anywhere near as cold as Scotland.
English Winters are Cold (but not that cold!)
Sometimes we do have freak cold weather – the winter of 1963 was the coldest since 1740, with even the sea freezing. But it never gets as cold as Siberia due to our warming gulf stream. In some places in northern Russia, people can’t wear spectacles as they would freeze on the face, and car engines have to be kept running continuously, or else they would also freeze.
In colder climates than ours, Scandinavian reindeer have adapted their retinas to see in the dark. Some humans living there also do this, but are prone to a condition when they start talking complete gibberish, due to lack of vitamin D. Sounds like some of our MPs!
