An Introduction To Weather and Climate

Introduction to
Weather and Climate
1 of 33
40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006
Learning objectives
Why do geographers study the weather?

What is the difference between 'weather' and 'climate‘?
European climate – a decision-making exercise
Climate graphs
What is the water cycle?
What is precipitation?
Why does it rain?
2 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

The weather has an impact on many of the things that we do!
Can you explain how the weather affects these people?

Learning objectives

What is the difference between 'weather' and
'climate'?
Climate graphs
Why does it rain?

What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is the day to day changes in the atmosphere.
temperature precipitation
wind speed humidity
wind direction cloud cover

air pressure sunshine

What is the difference between weather and climate?
Climate is the overall pattern of weather, usually based

on an average over 30 years.
Click on the buttons to find out about these types of climate.

World climate zones
The types of climate can be classified into 6 major zones.

World climate zones
What climate zone do you live in?

What other climate zones have you visited?

World climate zones
Imagine that you are a tour operator. Decide which of these

pieces of advice you would give to people depending on which
climate zone they are planning to visit!

Climates across the world

Learning objectives

What is the difference between 'weather' and 'climate'?
Climate graphs
Why does it rain?

European climate
Climate can make a big difference to people’s holidays.

European climate
Anna, the travel agent at Travelstar

is having to deal with a difficult
customer. Mr Strattle is very keen
to go away on a city break in Europe.
However, Mr Strattle is very fussy

about things, especially the weather.
He does not want to travel to travel
anywhere where it might be cold and he
really dislikes rain when he is on holiday.

European climate
Mr Strattle has decided that:

the holiday must take place in October.
he doesn’t want to visit a city where there
will be a high risk of rainfall.
he wants to visit a city with a reasonable
temperature–not too cold.
Mr Strattle has narrowed his choices down to four different

cities. Can you help Anna find a suitable destination for him?

European climate

European climate
At first Anna looks at London.

However there is quite a lot
of rain in London during October.
Next Anna looks at Oslo. However,

Oslo has even more rain than London.
Warsaw does not seem to have much rain in October,
but the temperature might be too cold for Mr Strattle.
Eventually Anna finds a city that has a warm average

temperature in October and does not have too
much rainfall. Did you reach the same answer? Madrid

Learning objectives

What is the difference between 'weather' and 'climate'?
Climate graphs
Why does it rain?

Climate graphs
Climate graphs are a way of showing how temperature

and precipitation vary throughout the year for a
particular place.

How to construct a climate graph…

How to construct a climate graph…
1. Draw and label the axes (remember you need two

names for the y axis – ‘temperature’ and ‘rainfall’ ).
2. Work out the right scale for each axis (look at your
highest temperature and rainfall figures).
3. Draw the graph using bars for rainfall and a line for
temperature. Remember to plot the temperature points in
the middle of the months on the x axis.

Plot your own climate graph
Month Jan Fe Ma Apr Ma Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rainfall 54 40 37 37 46 45 57 59 49 57 64 48
(mm)
Temp 4 5 7 9 12 16 18 17 15 11 8 5
(0C)
London (Kew)
Use this data to draw a climate graph for London.
Using data from an atlas draw a climate graph for

another place, in the UK or somewhere else in the world.
How does it compare to this climate graph of London?

UK - interactive climate graph

Learning objectives

Climate graphs
Why does it rain?

The water cycle
70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.
Store %
Oceans and seas 97
Snow and ice (mainly in the Arctic and Antarctic) 2
In the atmosphere or on the land as rivers and lakes 1
Draw a graph to show where the Earth’s water is stored.
Water is neither created nor destroyed. It is cycled round

over and over again.
This recycling of water is called the water cycle.

The water cycle

The water cycle

The water cycle in more detail

The water cycle – definitions

Learning objectives

Climate graphs
Why does it rain?

Precipitation is water from the atmosphere.

It can be in solid or liquid form.
Name as many different types of precipitation as you can!

Learning objectives

Climate graphs
Why does it rain?

Why does it rain?
There are three main types

of rainfall – relief,
convectional and frontal.
In all three situations, rainfall

occurs because air rises. Air
contains water vapour and
as the air rises it cools and
condensation can occur.
This means that the water
vapour returns back into
minute droplets of water and
falls as rain!

Convectional rain

Convectional rain

Relief rain

Relief rain

Frontal rain

Internet links
Forecasts/climatic data
www.worldclimate.com
www.worldweather.org
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/
Hurricane Andrew 1992

Weather and Climate Bingo!

Key Ideas
Geographers study the weather because it has an impact on

people’s daily lives and the activities that they do.
Weather is the day to day changes in the atmosphere.
Climate is the overall pattern of weather, usually based on an
average over 30 years.
The British Isles has a temperate climate. This means that it is
not too hot, not too cold, not too dry and not too wet!
Water is neither created nor destroyed. It is cycled round over
and over again. This recycling of water is called the water cycle.
Precipitation is water from the atmosphere. It can be in solid or
liquid form.
There are three main types of rainfall – relief, convectional and
frontal. In all three situations, rainfall occurs because air is
forced to rise.

An Introduction To Weather and Climate

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Introduction to

Weather and Climate

Why do geographers study the weather?

2 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

3 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Why do geographers study the weather?

4 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Weather is the day to day changes in the atmosphere.

wind speed humidity

wind direction cloud cover

5 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Climate is the overall pattern of weather, usually based

6 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

7 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

What climate zone do you live in?

8 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Imagine that you are a tour operator. Decide which of these

9 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

10 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Why do geographers study the weather?

11 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Climate can make a big difference to people’s holidays.

12 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Anna, the travel agent at Travelstar

However, Mr Strattle is very fussy

13 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Mr Strattle has decided that:

Mr Strattle has narrowed his choices down to four different

14 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

15 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

At first Anna looks at London.

Next Anna looks at Oslo. However,

Eventually Anna finds a city that has a warm average

16 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Why do geographers study the weather?

17 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Climate graphs are a way of showing how temperature

18 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

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1. Draw and label the axes (remember you need two

20 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Using data from an atlas draw a climate graph for

How does it compare to this climate graph of London?

21 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

22 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

Why do geographers study the weather?

23 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.

Draw a graph to show where the Earth’s water is stored.

Water is neither created nor destroyed. It is cycled round

24 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

25 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

26 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

27 of 40 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

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Why do geographers study the weather?

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Precipitation is water from the atmosphere.

Name as many different types of precipitation as you can!

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Why do geographers study the weather?

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There are three main types