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What is weather?

Sue holding an umbrella and looking at some mountains, a bridge and lake.

Weather is a description of what the conditions are like in a particular place. For example, it could be:

  • hot or cold
  • wet or dry
  • windy or calm
  • stormy, with thunder and lightning
Sue holding an umbrella and looking at some mountains, a bridge and lake.
A rainfall gauge.
Image caption,
A rainfall gauge.

We can measure the weather using weather instruments. For example, an anemometer measures wind speed, and a thermometer measures temperature.

A wind vane shows which direction the wind is coming from and a rainfall gauge measures precipitation (rainfall).

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What is climate?

Rainforest biome

Climate is a description of the average weather conditions in a certain place for the past 30 or so years.

Different areas of the world have different climates. We call these climate zones.

Rainforest biome
Arctic tundra biome

Climate is influenced by lots of different things, including:

  • how near or far a place is from the Equator
  • how near or far it is from the sea
  • how high or low the ground is
  • its position on a continent

Latitude influences climate. The closer to the Equator you are the more direct energy (heat and light) you receive from the Sun. Further away from the Equator, the tilt of the Earth means that the energy from the Sun is spread out over a wider area.

But there are exceptions, for example Mount Kilimanjaro. It鈥檚 located close to the Equator but often has snow on its summit. That鈥檚 because of its height, or altitude.

Mount Kilimanjaro
Image caption,
Mount Kilimanjaro
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Watch: Weather and climate

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Climate change

The climate across the world has changed naturally over thousands and millions of years.

In the past, the UK has experienced both freezing ice ages and warm tropical climates.

Over the past 100 years, more carbon dioxide has entered the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere. This is because people have been burning fossil fuels, like coal and oil to heat homes and power factories and vehicles.

Image caption,
Carbon dioxide traps the heat from the Sun and warms the planet at a greater rate.

The atmosphere helps to keep our planet just the right temperature to live on.

The extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts like a greenhouse. It lets the Sun's rays through to heat up everything, but stops the heat from escaping.

The increase in carbon dioxide from human activity is making our planet warm much faster than it naturally would. This is causing world climates to change. It seems extreme weather is now happening more frequently.

Impact of climate change

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 4, Drought, Drought
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Watch: What is climate change?

Discover more about climate change in this video from The Regenerators.

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Activity: Quiz 鈥 Weather and climate

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