Climates of Northern and Western Europe

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1 World Survey of Climatology Volume 5 Climates of Northern and Western Europe edited by C. C. WALLfiN World Meteorological Organisation Geneva (Switzerland) ELSEVIER PUBLISHING COMPANY Amsterdam-London-New York 1970

2 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION by C. C. WALLEN Radiation conditions in western Europe 1 Air and sea circulation 3 Winter 3 Summer 5 Spring and autumn 7 Circulation of the Mediterranean area 7 Winter 7 Summer 8 Temperature 10 Precipitation 15 Snow cover 16 Conclusion 21 References 21 Chapter 2. THE CLIMATE OF SCANDINAVIA by T. WERNER JOHANNESSEN Introduction 23 The climatic controls 25 The circulation of the atmosphere and the weather 26 Climatic types 29 Atmospheric pressure and wind 30 Sunshine and radiation 31 Air temperature 33 The winter 39 The spring 42 The summer 42 The autumn 43 The heating season 43 Sea ice 44 Humidity of the air 45 Cloudiness 45 Fog 46 VII

3 Precipitation 47 State of ground 49 Drifting snow 50 Avalanches 50 Hoar frost 51 Flash floods 51 Hydrology 51 Evapotranspiration and water balance 52 The vegetation period 53 Climatic fluctuations 57 References 62 Climatic tables 63 Chapter 3. THE CLIMATE OF THE BRITISH ISLES by G. MANLEY Historical introduction 81 The observational material 83 Descriptive climatology 86 The meteorological background 89 Characteristics of prevailing air-masses 91 Comments based on the statistics the average distribution of the meteorological elements 97 Solar radiation 97 Pressure 101 Wind 103 Localised occurrences of unusually strong winds, 104 Coastal and mountain breezes: fohn, 107 Temperature conditions in general 108 Average and absolute extremes likely to be recorded, 112 Overall totals of "accumulated temperature" during the growing season, 112 Humidity 115 Precipitation 115 Duration of rainfall, 117 Intensity of rainfall; continued heavy rains, 118 Frequency of droughts and spells, 119 Snowfall and snowcover 119 Variations in the frequency, or annual number of days, with snowfall, 120 Snowcover, 122 Hail 125 Thunderstorms 125 Evaporation 126 Cloud, fog and visibility 126 Dust storms: haze ; Bright sunshine 129 Average annual duration of bright sunshine, 129 Ground frost 131 VIII

4 Atmospheric optical phenomena: aurora 131 Acknowledgements 132 References 132 Chapter 4. THE CLIMATE OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS AND LUXEMBOURG by R. ARLERY "" Historical development 135 Climatic factors 137 Upper air circulation in general 138 Seasonal types of upper air circulation 142 Winter 142 Summer 142 Autumn and spring 143 The characteristics of the surface circulation and weather by seasons and months 144 Winter 144 December, 144 January, 144 February, 144 Spring 145 March, 145 April, 145 May, 145 Summer 146 June, 146 July, 146 August, 146 Autumn 147 September, 147 October, 147 November, 147 Climatic types 148 Mediterranean climate 148 Climates under oceanic influences 148 Oceanic climate, 149 Suboceanic climate, 150 Subcontinental climate 150 Mountain climates Distribution of climatic elements 151 Climatic tables 158 References 160 Chapter 5. THE CLIMATE OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA by A. LINES ESCARDO Introduction 195 Historical notes 196 Dynamic climatology 198 Radiation 205 Insolation 206 Temperature 207 Average frost-free period 211 IX

5 Evaporation and evapotranspiration 212 Rainfall 214 Seasonal variation of rainfall 216 Variability of rainfall 218 Mean annual number of days with rain 220 Extreme rainfall intensities 220 Number of days with snow 220 Duration of rainfall 221 Winds 222 Climatic evolution 223 Fluctuations of rainfall over the peninsula in recent years 224 Temperature trends 224 Notes accompanying the climatic tables 225 References 225 Climatic tables 227 REFERENCES INDEX 241 GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX 243 SUBJECT INDEX 251

6 World Survey of Climatology Volume 6 Climates of Central and Southern Europe edited by C. C. WALLfiN World Meteorological Organisation Geneva (Switzerland) ELSEVIER SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING COMPANY Amsterdam-Oxford-New York 1977

7 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION by C. C. WALLEN Chapter 2. CLIMATES OF CENTRAL EUROPE by M. SCHUEPP and H. SCHIRMER Historical account 3 General geographical and climatological features 4 The general circulation over central Europe 6 The annual variation of atmospheric conditions 12 Classification of extended weather types 12 Seasonal characteristics 14 Spring and autumn, 16 Summer, 17 Monthly characteristics 18 Climatic provinces 28 The lowlands north of the central-european highlands 29 The German highlands and the Jura Mountains 31 General climatic features, 31 Special regional features, 33 The Jura Mountains, 34 The northern Alpine foreland 35 The Swiss Midland, 35 The German Alpine foreland, 37 TheAlps 37 The Swiss Alps, 38 The German Alps, 39 The Austrian Alps, 40 The regional distribution of the climatic elements 41 Air temperature 42 Precipitation 49 Sunshine 49 Cloudiness 52 Winds 52 Climatic tables 57 References 57 Chapter 3. THE CLIMATE OF POLAND, CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND HUNGARY by W. OKOLOWICZ The history of meteorological records and climatological summaries 75 VII

8 Geographical position 76 Sunshine and radiation 77 Atmospheric circulation and winds 80 General circulation 80 Migratory baric systems and their part in weather formation 82 Examples of weather situations 85 Upper winds 94 Surface winds 99 Spatial distributions and annual pattern of some meteorological elements 100 Air temperature 100 Cloudiness 103 Precipitation 105 Air humidity and evaporation 109 Seasons 109 Winter 109 Summer Ill Main climatic differences 112 Oscillations and fluctuations of climate 112 References 113 Climatic tables 115 Chapter 4. THE CLIMATE OF ITALY by V. CANTU Meteorological observations in Italy 127 Geographical factors influencing the climate of the Apennine Peninsula 128 Meteorological phenomena over Italy 130 The synoptic climatology of Italy 130 Climatology of depressions 130 Synoptic climatology of the upper air 131 Dynamic climatology of the cyclogenesis 135 Weather in climatic regions 135 TheAlps 135 Po Valley 137 Northern Adriatic 137 Central and southern Adriatic 137 Liguria and northern Tuscany 137 Tyrrhenian versants 138 Calabria and Sicily 138 Sardinia 138 Climate and life in Italy 138 The climatic elements 139 Temperature distribution 139 Precipitation and aridity 142 Snow 148 Thunderstorms 150 VIII

9 Diurnal variations of pressure 165 Pressure, temperature, humidity and wind at upper levels 166 Climatic variations 166 Final considerations 170 References 171 Climatic tables 174 Chapter 5. THE CLIMATE OF SOUTHEAST EUROPE by D. FURLAN Introduction 185 Factors affecting the climate 186 Geographical position 186 Features of the relief 186 Radiation conditions 188 The general circulation over southeast Europe 190 The main features of the weather 190 Air masses 192 The main characteristics of the most important climatic elements 193 Temperature 193 Mean temperature in January, 194 Mean temperature in July, 196 Annual variation of temperature, 198 Extremes of temperature, 200 Precipitation 203 Annual precipitation, 203 Annual variation of precipitation, 205 Frequency and annual variation of the number of days with precipitation, 207 Maximum daily precipitation, 208 Snow and snow cover, 209 Clouds and sunshine 210 Relative humidity 213 Evapotranspiration 214 Pressure distribution and winds 216 Pressure distribution 216 Winds 217 Remarks on the climatic variation in southeast Europe 220 References 221 Climatic tables 224 REFERENCE INDEX 237 GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX 241 SUBJECT INDEX 247 IX

Monsoon Variability and Extreme Weather Events

Monsoon Variability and Extreme Weather Events M Rajeevan National Climate Centre India Meteorological Department Pune 411 005 rajeevan@imdpune.gov.in Outline of the presentation Monsoon rainfall Variability