Activities Using Weather and Climate Data
1. Temperature differences (current weather)
To answer this question you will need to visit the Met Office website.
(a) Go to the UK data pages and complete the table below for London and the nearest weather station to your school.
(b) Describe the differences in the weather.
(b) Now visit the world data pages and fill in the values for Adelaide in Australia (Mediterranean), Rothera in the British Antarctic Territory (Polar) and Singapore (Tropical).
(c) Suggest reasons that explain these differences in temperature and general weather conditions.
| Temperature | Weather | |
|---|---|---|
| London | ||
| Nearest UK location | ||
| Adelaide | ||
| Barrow | ||
| Singapore |
2.Travel writer
You are a travel writer for a national newspaper. Your Editor has asked you to write the weather section for a special supplement the newspaper is publishing for readers planning a short-break holiday this weekend to various British towns and cities. The Editor wants you to cover Bournemouth, Aberdeen and Llangollen.
(a) Consult the forecasts for Bournemouth, Aberdeen and Llangollen and click on ‘last 24 hours (below the forecast) to gain an idea of weather conditions over the past 24 hours. Write a paragraph describing the conditions at each of the stations.
(b) Now use the forecasts for the UK to see what the weather might be like for the next couple of days at each station. Write another paragraph describing the future weather conditions at each of the stations.
3. Climate zones
(a) Consult the Met Office pages and fill in the temperature information in the table below for each of the weather stations in the polar, temperate and tropical climatic zones. Select ‘last 24 hours’ and choose the same time of day for each location. You’ll find the latitude in ‘location details’ at the bottom of the page.
(b) Use the location details to record the latitude of each weather station and add these values to the table.
(c) Now use this data to draw a scattergraph, plotting latitude along the horizontal axis, allowing for locations in both the northern and southern hemispheres along the same axis. Then add temperature on the vertical axis, remembering to allow for negative values on your vertical axis.
(d) Describe the general pattern that your scattergraph shows.
(e) Suggest reasons to explain this pattern.
Location | Latitude | Temperature |
Kevo (Finland) | ||
Stockholm/Bromma (Sweden) | ||
Riga (Latvia) | ||
Brno (Czech Republic) | ||
Milano/Linate (Italy) | ||
Lisboa/Gago Coutinho (Portugal) | ||
Cairo International (Egypt) | ||
Eldoret International Airport (Kenya) | ||
Thabazimbi (South Africa) | ||
Maputo/Mavalane (Mozambique) | ||
Harare (Zimbabwe) | ||
Kano (Niger) | ||
Seeb (Oman) | ||
Peshawar (Pakistan) | ||
New Delhi Safdarjung (India) | ||
Bishkek International (Krygyzstan) | ||
Bejing International (China) | ||
Bangkok (Thailand) | ||
Jakarta International (Indonesia) | ||
Adelaide International (Australia) | ||
Paraparaumu (New Zealand) | ||
Ulaanbaatar International (Mongolia) | ||
Vunisea (Fiji) | ||
Barrow (USA) | ||
Ukiivit (Greenland) | ||
Houston George Bush Intercontinental (USA) | ||
Salt Lake City (USA) | ||
Puebla Pue. (Mexico) | ||
Caracas-Maiquetia International (Venezuela) | ||
Manaus International (Brazil) | ||
Carrasco (Uruguay) | ||
Rio Gallegos International (Argentina) |
Web page reproduced with the kind permission of the Met Office
