Theme 2: Key Idea 2.3 Weather and climate — Eduqas GCSE Geography B
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Theme 2: Key Idea 2.3 Weather and climate explained
The UK has a temperate maritime climate: mild, wet and changeable, with four clear seasons.
Read the full explanation
Seasonality means summers are warmer and winters cooler because the tilt of the Earth changes the angle and duration of incoming solar radiation through the year. Average monthly temperatures peak around July and August and are lowest in January and February, while precipitation is spread fairly evenly across the year, with upland western areas receiving more than lowland eastern areas. Global atmospheric circulation drives the prevailing south-westerly winds and the passage of depressions and anticyclones. Latitude affects the angle of solar radiation, so northern Britain is cooler than southern Britain. Altitude lowers temperature and increases rainfall on high ground. Air pressure determines whether conditions are settled (high pressure) or unsettled and wet (low pressure).
Your focus
- Identify the main characteristics of the UK's temperate maritime climate
- Explain how seasonality, latitude, altitude, air pressure and distance from the sea shape UK climate
- Distinguish regional variations in temperature and precipitation across the UK
Theme 2: Key Idea 2.3 Weather and climate exam tips
Marking Points
- Identifies the UK climate as temperate maritime, with mild, wet and changeable conditions across four seasons
- Explains seasonality through the changing angle and duration of solar radiation caused by the Earth's tilt
- States that average monthly temperatures are highest in summer and lowest in winter, with precipitation fairly evenly distributed
- Links global atmospheric circulation to prevailing south-westerly winds and the movement of depressions and anticyclones
- Explains that higher latitude reduces the angle of solar radiation and so lowers temperature
- Describes how altitude lowers temperature and increases precipitation on high ground
- Distinguishes high pressure (settled) from low pressure (unsettled and wet) conditions
- Explains that distance from the sea moderates temperature, giving coastal areas cooler summers and milder winters than inland areas
Examiner Tips
- 💡Read each option fully before choosing, because distractors often swap the effects of high and low pressure
- 💡Use the terms seasonality, latitude, altitude, air pressure and distance from the sea to check that an option addresses the named factor
- 💡Reject any option that describes the UK climate as tropical, continental or extreme, since the UK is temperate maritime
- 💡Where an option gives a regional pattern, check it against the rule that western uplands are wetter and cooler than eastern lowlands
Common Mistakes
- Claims the UK has a tropical or continental climate; correct this by identifying a temperate maritime climate with mild, wet, changeable conditions
- States that precipitation falls only in winter; correct this by noting rainfall is fairly evenly spread through the year
- Attributes regional temperature differences only to latitude; correct this by also considering altitude and distance from the sea
- Confuses high pressure with wet, unsettled weather; correct this by linking high pressure to settled conditions and low pressure to unsettled, wet weather
- Describes distance from the sea as making coasts more extreme; correct this by explaining that the sea moderates temperature, giving cooler summers and milder winters