The people of the UK are known for their obsession with the weather. Just type UK weather in to your search engine and see how may sites come up! The UK is affected by the Gulf Stream, a warm and fast moving ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows across the north Atlantic. General consensus amongst scientist is the temperatures of the west of Northern Europe would be lower without this effect. The west of the country (south west England, west Wales and western Scotland) is the mildest, wettest and windiest regions of the UK for this reason. The UK climate is classified as a mid latitude oceanic climate with precipitation throughout the year. The wettest areas average over 4,500mm per year, or in layman’s language it rains a lot!
The UK lies under the convergence of the cold polar air and the warm tropical air, which as the two air masses meet causes the changeable weather often seen in the UK. The stark difference from one day to the next in the UK weather can make you wonder if you are on the same planet, let alone the same country!
So little wonder then that the weather is a main talking point. Being prepared for the changeable climate is another must for UK dwellers. It is generally recognised that umbrellas protect from the rain/snow, whilst parasols protect from the sun. Parasols are recorded in many ancient cultures but umbrellas are less common. Across Europe during the middle ages it seems that cloaks were far more common as a way to protect from the rain. It is not until the early seventeenth century that umbrellas were seen in Europe. It was written in 1611 by Englishman Thomas Coryat that Italian horsemen had ‘things which minister shadowe to them for shelter against the scorching heate of the sunne’ and were known by them as umbrellas. This writing precedes the introduction of the umbrella into the UK by about 150 years. By 1708 the umbrella had entered the British dictionary, but tradition has it that the first to carry an umbrella commonly was the founder of the Magdelan Hospital in London, Jonas Hanway, around 1750. Since then umbrellas have become commonplace.
Wellies or more correctly Wellington boots were popularised and worn by the Duke of Wellington in the early 1800’s. Wellington asked his shoemaker to modify the traditional 18th century Hessian boot. The 1 inch/25mm heeled, leather calf length boot was soon known as the Wellington boot.