I was having a conversation with some American tourists recently and they were, quite reasonably, complaining about our British weather. I was obviously impressed with their assimilation into our culture of endlessly discussing meteorology and countered that I thought we had rather wonderful weather considering our latitude.
They disagreed, but seemed to be under the impression that the UK was roughly level with North Carolina/Virginia. Is this a normal impression?
And would you be shocked to learn that the UK is, in fact, further north than 95% of the Canadian province of Ottawa?
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It’s way north but its climate is very mild. We do not grant you membership in the Brutal Winters club.
I would not, since I have seen a map. But there is that whole “Americans are bad at geography” trope.
Ottawa is Canada’s capital city, not a province. I think you’re thinking of Ontario?
I would point out that we have maps, but after the “gulf of America” silliness I don’t think that’s a strong point.
No I think most of us know that
I think a lot of people’s latitudinal bearings are way off. It’s hard for Americans to conceptualize Europe being as far north as it is. Hell even with the US people are surprised to learn WA state is roughly the same latitude as Maine.
No? I don’t fully even understand the question. Just look at a map
TBF the gulf stream makes the UK WAYYYYY warmer than it would be at the same latitude of the East Coast of North America, which is probably why they were confused. They were guessing based off of the weather
I am aware you are further north (my hometown area is about the same latitude as Madrid) and due to the gulf stream you guys do have fairly mild weather.
I spent time in the summer in Scotland and it stayed light later than home due to how far north I was. It was nice except that I had to get up early to catch my flight.
No, most people know how far north the UK is. Don’t conflate one or two idiots from america as if they are all americans.
Every kid has seen a world map and seen how far up the UK is on it, it’s like common sense.
No, I would not be shocked. Some of us have looked at a map. My hometown (Portland, Oregon) is roughly the same latitude as Paris.
So, the UK is further north, and the Gulf Stream keeps your weather on the milder side.
Edit: spelling
That’s ok.
I volunteer at a London museum with “smart” Brits, and two of them have mentioned the 52 states of the US.
I love it when a post about Americans not knowing about geography is made by a person that also doesn’t know about geography.
It’s Ontario, not Ottawa, and at least when I checked, it seems like none of Ontario is north of the UK.
Yeah, that’s a common misconception. I’m not sure why….since it’s not like the traditional world map with the Atlantic in the middle makes it hard. There are even latitude lines you can follow with your finger.
And it might rain lot in Britain, but you mostly don’t have the other natural disasters. Hurricanes, tornadoes, wild fires, earthquakes, volcanos, mudslides, etc. There is flooding, I guess, but the US has places with flooding that also have tornadoes and fires.
I am in Boston, in the Northeast United States.
I am about level with the Mediterranean.
It seems to me they are conflating climate with latitude. Although, I think climate-wise the UK is more closely related to the Pacific Northwest than the Mid-Atlantic states.
Its north on the globe, but the weather aligns much more like our mid-Atlantic states….so I get her confusion.
London is on about the same parallel as New York.
And London is in the south of the British Isle.
Honestly, when I read the headline, I was expecting the Americans to think the UK was further North than it really is, not the other way around.
Ottawa is a city not a province…. Are referring to Ontario or?
If your asking whether we would be shocked at the U.K.’s latitude and climate: Not really. The gulf stream and ocean work to keep things very very mild in western Europe, similar to how the west coast of NA is more mild (except the north south mountains and continentality buffer this effect inland in North America).
I am currently living in Europe and can say that I was shocked by just how mild it is. Where I am from in the u.s. we saw more temperature variation in a single day than you might in the u.k. across the year.
I know exactly where it is, not because I have been there, but because I am a Floridian. We have to watch our monster hurricanes fizzle out towards your shores. Freaking Gulf Stream. But the NHC tracks them for a long time. So it’s just part of our weather, where hurricanes go to die and become pea soup.
To be honest the only reason I realize how far North it is is because I used to live there and remember the differences in daylight hours between summer and winter.
If it helps I considered myself fairly educated and am pretty good with geography, I just always assumed with the weather the UK, and Europe for that matter, was further south in latitude then it really was. I knew about the Gulf Stream and that it was more north then it would be in America for the weather, but it wasn’t until I read an article that compared major cities in Europe with their North American counterparts that I realized how north it was.
To sum up, I think most American know it’s at a higher latitude for the weather, but I don’t think most people realize how much higher it is.
I think it is a normal impression. Not many people realize all of the UK is north of the entire lower 48 states.
People here in Maine think they are quite northern but in reality we line up with France and the closest land across the Atlantic is actually Africa.
Anyone who pays attention in geography class would know Europe is farther north than the continental US, so the UK is pretty far up there. I’m in Pennsylvania, roughly 100 miles from the Canadian border, and I’m at the same latitude as Naples, Italy.
I think this is one of those things people don’t realize because of climate. Like NYC and Madrid are on the same (more or less; Madrid is a little bit north) parallel but the former is much colder. Because we sensibly think the further north you are the colder it is, and have a general idea of what the weather is like in the UK, it feels counterintuitive that the UK is as far north as it is.
Like another example, Minneapolis and Marseille are on about the same parallel. Marseille is a warm city on the Mediterranean. Minneapolis gets 50+ inches (127 cm) of snow per year. Although ocean currents explain why, I think a lot of people would be surprised about this.
Theirs is not a normal impression, most Americans are aware of how far North the UK is.
I used to work with Brits, would you like me to list the geographic mistakes they made?
I know it is way way north of us here in New Jersey because I have seen a globe/map and would not be suprised.
You may be suprised to learn the “bad at geography” trope is just that. Trope.
I live near Stowe in Vermont, which has a well-known ski resort. I remember talking to a British couple on the gondola who were shocked that it was so cold outside (it was probably about -10°C) compared to London a day earloer (about 15°) when geographically we were so much further to the south.
It would absolutely shock me to find out Canada had a province called Ottawa
That would be a pretty uncommon idea. I think most people would assume you are approximately the same as New England (Maine, Vermont, new Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut).
Personally, I picture it somewhere near Maine and New Brunswick Canada. (Near meaning latitude -wise, not actually near near)
I always kind of loosely had it in my head that the Southernmost parts of the UK are about the same latitude as the Northernmost continental US and the Northernmost parts of the UK are about mid-Alaska.
Checking a map to see how close I was, I was about right on the Southern side but the Northern UK is more like the Northern Alaska panhandle.
I’ve seen maps, so I know that Europe is much farther north than most of the US. I also know that the oceans are largely responsible for weather in the UK, so your mild climate is to be expected.
I think I was mildly surprised the first time someone pointed out to me that the Maine in the northeast US is a bit south of the Maine in the western France.
I used to think that it was in line with Maine when I was a child, but have since learned that it’s closer to Newfoundland and benefits from the bathtub effect. Complaining about the weather is a common past time in at least part of the US as well.
This might be an interesting case where the context of which you ask the question matters a lot.
To make a completely uneducated guess, I think most Americans would get the UK pretty close where it is if you gave them a map of the world just with the UK and Ireland removed. If you gave them a map with just north and south America, so you can’t use mainland Europe to help, I think you’d have a lot of people put it around the same Latitude of New England after trying to guestimate the amount of space needed for Africa and Western Europe south of it, which is still too far south, but not by a wild margin. If you gave no map, most people would probably go off weather, which would lead to guesses that are excessively far south.
We know that the UK is very far north. That should be obvious to every American. I am around the same latitude as Madrid.
>the UK was roughly level with North Carolina/Virginia. Is this a normal impression?
No, I’d probably call that person an idiot to their face, then hand them a piece of paper and ask them draw what they think the world looks like. The result would be entertaining at least.
FYI- Ottowa is a city, not a province. You should probably learn that before making fun of other people’s geography skills.