ENGLAND & WALES ANNUAL RAINFALL
(The figures give the approximate annual rainfall in inches.)
The driest month in England generally is March, whose rainfall averages 1·46 inches; and the wettest is October, in which the average amount is 2·81 inches.
The pleasant climate of Devonshire, which is highly conducive to health and to extreme longevity, and which, especially in the south, favours luxuriant and even sub-tropical vegetation, owes its character to five main causes;—the fact that the county is bounded on two sides by the sea; the influence of the Gulf Stream or warm ocean current, which directly affects both coasts; the warmth and moisture of the prevailing winds; the shelter afforded to the southern districts by the high ground of Dartmoor; and the large amount of bright sunshine which the county, and especially the south of it, is favoured.
It is owing to the Gulf Stream that the temperature of the sea in the English Channel is many degrees higher in winter, even as far east as the Goodwins, than that in the North Sea. Thus, the east wind, blowing over 200 miles of warmed water, has, by the time it reaches Devonshire, lost much of its proverbial bitterness. On the other hand it is mainly owing to the influence of the Gulf Stream that the climate of Ilfracombe is more equable than that of any other town in England except Falmouth, and is, in fact, from half a degree to a degree warmer in winter and cooler in summer than Torquay itself.
