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Originally Posted by jambutty
Prince Edward Island is in the southern hemisphere in the Indian Ocean at 45 degrees 30 minutes south and 38 degrees 00 minutes east Ianto.W. Putting it about 1,000 miles south east of Capetown so it can’t really be compared to northern latitudes.
The British Isles sit between about 50 degrees north and 61 degrees north the same as Labrador and Newfoundland in Canada (the southern tip of Greenland is at 60 degrees) who do not have the benefit of the Gulf Stream. Their winter temperatures go down to about 16 degrees Fahrenheit. Let’s see – that’s 16 minus 32 multiplied by 5 and dived by 9 equals about –9 degrees C. Low enough for brass monkeys to emigrate south.
The whole Newfoundland coast and the St Lawrence River freeze over during their winter to maybe half a mile off shore.
The northern half of the British Isles is at the same latitude as Moscow and further north than Germany and Poland, which are on a par with the southern half of our islands. Yet look at their winters..
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Places of an equal latitude aren't a necessarily good indicator of similar weather. Moscow may be on a similar latitude to the UK, but because the rotation of the Earth means that nearly all weather stystems basically travel west to east, there is going to be a difference in temperature if those weather systems have to travel over land or sea.
An example, on a much smaller scale, is that Lancashire is wetter and warmer than Yorkshire, because the latter is in the rain shadow of the Pennines. The same can be seen in the temperature and precipitation patterns between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Multiply this land mass by continental proportions, rather than a few relatively small hills, and you understand why places of a similar latitude have such differing climates.