Sustainable Building Conservation

OneThe English climate and enduring principles of environmental design

Dean Hawkes

Introduction

The western and northern parts of the United Kingdom lie close to the normal path of the Atlantic depressions and are mostly cool and windy. The lowlands of England have a climate similar to that of the Continent: drier, with a wider range of temperatures than in the north and west. However, the winters are not as severe as those on the Continent. Overall, the south of the United Kingdom is usually warmer than the north, and the west is wetter than the east. The more extreme weather tends to occur in the mountainous regions, where it is often cloudy.¹

In the broadest of terms, the inhabitants of these islands would have recognised this modern ...