Rainfall and Pressure Readings for Gcse Geographypractical

Introduction

Weather can be described as ‘the day to day changes in the conditions of the atmosphere.’ (Henderson, Roulston and Corr, 2009).

However, climate is ‘the average conditions of the weather taken over a period of time.’ (Henderson, Roulston and Corr, 2009).

The climate of Northern Ireland is said to be mild and damp, and in general the weather has few extremes in terms of temperature or precipitation. Northern Ireland’s climate is similar to the rest of the UK, however temperatures are likely to be milder than Norwich, as Northern Ireland is further west and receives warm maritime winds, whereas Norwich will receive cooler continental winds. Northern Ireland is also likely to be wetter than Norwich as the area is more mountainous. The low-pressure systems deposit much of their rain in Northern Ireland as it is their first landfall.

In Northern Ireland there are two main weather systems; depressions and anticyclones.

Depressions are low-pressure systems, meaning the air is rising, that pass frequently over Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. They can take 24-72 hours to pass over an area.

During the summer a depression will bring cooler temperatures along with high amounts of rainfall and cloud. They will also bring winds from the south-east, south-west and north-west that blow in an anticlockwise direction and can become very strong.

During the winter, a depression is likely to bring mild temperatures accompanied again by high amounts of rainfall and cloud. Winds will mimic those of a summer depression.

Anticyclones are less common, and are high-pressure systems, meaning that the air is sinking. They are stable weather systems and can stay over one area for a considerable amount of time.

A summer anticyclone will bring conditions similar to those of a heat wave. Because the air is sinking, there is little to no evaporation, resulting in no precipitation and an absence of cloud. The clear skies produce warm and sunny conditions by...