§ Sir W. Davisonasked the Minister of Fuel and Power, what are normally the coldest parts in Great Britain and Northern 1991W Ireland in the last quarter and first quarter, respectively, of each calendar year; and whether there are considerable variations from normal-figures?
Major Lloyd GeorgeI understand from the Meteorological Office that the distribution of mean temperature over the British Isles is irregular as temperature varies appreciably with altitude and proximity to the sea. But broadly speaking the regions of lowest tempera-ture in Great Britain and Northern Ire-land in the first quarter of the year are the Northern, Eastern and Midland regions of Great Britain, temperature increasing on the whole from North East to South West in this quarter. The variation of mean temperature is not large in this quarter and places at appreciable altitudes in the South and West have lower temperatures than places at low altitudes in the North and East. Temperature of places on the coast is higher than that of places inland. The region of lowest temperature in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the last quarter of the calendar year is North East Scotland, temperature on the whole increasing from North to South in this quarter but more rapidly in the West than in the East. The variations from the average are substantial. In a cold winter, temperature in the normally warmer areas may be generally lower than the average temperature of. the normally colder areas and vice versa in a mild winter. The sensation of cold depends very markedly on wind as well as on temperature and sunshine. The wind depends so much on local surroundings that the variation of wind from place to place in the same region is much greater than the variation of wind between similarly situated places in the regions of higher and lower temperatures.