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Weather and Climate.

What is weather? The simplest explanation of weather is that it is the condition of atmosphere at a definite time and place on the Earth. The atmosphere is different and can behave in different ways. It can be hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. This condition is influenced by a number of atmospheric factors such as air pressure, temperature, humidity, precipitation.

We don’t always know what weather to expect. On TV and radio there are daily weather forecasts. Sometimes, the forecast is not quite right as the weather is not an easy thing to forecast.

Climate is the weather a certain place has over a long period of time. Climate has a very important influence on plants, animals and humans and is different in different parts of the world.

Belarus has a temperate-continental climate with hot summers, long, cold winters and very distinct seasons. It can be windy and rainy throughout the year. The annual average temperature is about 7⁰ C. In general, there are no significant differences between the districts of Belarus, due to the small size of the country. The climate is conditioned by the country’s inland location, domination of flat relief and relative remoteness from the Atlantic Ocean.

But recently climate has changed a lot in our country. Some scientists think the world is becoming hotter.

holidays in Great Britain

The British have many traditions, manners & customs

there are only six public holidays a year in Great Britain, the days on which people need not go to work. They are: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday. In Scotland, the New Year’s Day is also a public holiday. Most of these holidays are of religious origin, though it would be right to say that for the greater part of the population they have long lost their religious significance and simply days on which people relax, eat, drink and make merry.

Christmas is the main public holiday in Britain. It is celebrated on the 25th 0f December. Christmas is a Christian festival to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. This holiday is celebrated together with family, relatives and friends who share the much loved customs and traditions which have been around for centuries.

Long before Christmas time shops become very busy, because a lot of people buy Christmas presents. People also buy Christmas cards to send to their friends and relatives, whatch nativity plays and go carol singing. They put up Christmas decorations inside and outside homes and decorate Christmas trees too. The traditional Christmas decorations are evergreens, such as holly, mistletoe and ivy.

On Christmas Eve (the 24th of December) some people go to a special church service called Midnight Mass which starts at 12 o’clock at night. In churches people sing Christmas carols – special religious songs. Sometimes groups of people walk along the streets and sing carols at the doors of houses. One of the well-known carols is “Silent Night”.

Young children are told that Santa Claus will bring them presents if they are good. Before going to bed on Christmas Eve the children hang stockings at the back of their beds, for Santa Claus to put the presents in when he comes in the middle of the night through the chimney.

Christmas is the day when people stay at home, open their presents and eat and drink together. The most important meal is Christmas dinner. The typical meal consists of turkey with potatoes and other vegetables, followed by a Christmas pudding. Other traditional foods include a special Christmas cake and mince pies — small round cakes filled with a mixture of apples, raisins and spices.

The day after Christmas, the 26th of December, is also a public holiday. It is called Boxing Day. The name goes back to the old tradition: some time before Christmas, boxes were placed in churches for the people to put some money or presents for the poor. On the day after Christmas, the 26th of December, the priest opened the box and gave the contents away to poor people.