The climate is affected by low pressure systems that develop over the Atlantic. As a result, the west side of the country often has wetter and milder weather than the east side of the country. The rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year with the driest months being the months from March to June. The wettest months are September to January. The amount of rain increases with the altitude. Lowlands, including the south and east of the country receive approximately 80 cm (30 inches) per year, where in higher altitudes, the rainfall can be double that.

While winters can be hard in Scotland and Northern England where snow is common, the temperature may dip below freezing overnight, but is seldom below freezing during the day. December and February seem to be the hardest months with windy, cold, and wet weather. However, by the end of February, the bulbs are beginning to grow in the Southeast.

In summer, temperatures in the south average around 15-18 degrees C (60-65 degrees F), although inland temperatures especially in the southeast can rise above 30 degrees C (86 degrees F). However, such warm weather rarely lasts for an extended time.

Daylight

The UK spends half of the year on Greenwich meantime. At the end of March, the UK changes to British summer time, with clocks put ahead an hour. The change back to Greenwich Mean Time (turning the clock back an hour) usually occurs on the last Sunday in October.

Due to its far northerly location, the UK experiences a great variability in the hours of daylight during the year. In the southeast, daylight during the highest point of summer begins before 4:00am and continues until around 10:00 pm allowing for long relaxing summer nights. However, the situation is reversed during the winter, when in December daylight begins close to 8:00 am with the sun setting around 4:00 pm. These variations are more pronounced the farther north you live in the UK.