If you live in England, it’s likely that you’ve often had an umbrella blow down the street, or lost your hat in a gale-force wind! Not just for people walking on top of mountains, England is a very windy country (hence why we have so many wind turbines, which aren’t actually needed as much as you’d think – offshore farms are causing harm to wildlife and birds, more on that in other posts).
Kites can slice off birds’ wings in the sky, or tangle wings. You can buy biodegradable ones from cornstarch, but it’s best not to use them. If you do, don’t fly kites at dusk or dawn (when birds are most likely in flight).
Wind is basically caused by differences of atmospheric pressure (the rising and sinking of air). Low pressure is when rises, and high pressure is when it sinks. Wind can be good (a gentle sea breeze or a nice way to get your washing dry outside). But inland (away from cool dense air at sea, which gets little wind), we get a build-up of pressure which causes high winds. Our jet stream is a collection of strong wings a few miles above our planet, they blow from west to east.
Unsurprisingly, the windiest places in England are usually in mountainous areas (like Cumbria’s Lake District), with nearly all the other very windy areas in the UK being in the Scottish mountains. Of the top 10 windiest places in the UK, nearly all of them are in Scotland (including The Shetland Isles). Only 2 are in England – Sunderland and surprisingly, the Isle of Wight!
Another very windy place is the East of England, due to low pressure pockets coming in from the North Sea. If you think it’s cold in Cornwall or the Midlands, wait until you live through a winter in Northumberland or Norfolk!
Ever wondered where the windiest place on earth is? Despite us thinking it’s very quiet, the windiest place is actually Antarctica. Wind speeds here can be an average of 50mph, or even up to 150mph (that’s classed as a super-typhoon!)
I can’t change the direction of the wind. But I can adjust my sails, to always reach my destination. Jimmy Dean
Notice that the stiffest tree is cracked. While the bamboo or willow survives, by bending with the wind. Bruce Lee
Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I, but when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing by. Christina Rossetti