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Explore weather and climate

Part of The World Around Us Seasons and weather Year 5 Year 6

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What is weather?

What is climate?

Video: Weather and climate

Climate change

Video: What is climate change?

Activity: Quiz - Weather and climate

What is weather?
Weather is a description of what the conditions are like in a particular place.
For example, it could be:

• hot or cold
• wet or dry
• windy or calm
• stormy, with thunder and lightning
 A rainfall gauge.

We can measure the weather using weather instruments. For example, an

anemometer measures wind speed, and a thermometer measures
temperature.
A wind vane shows which direction the wind is coming from and a rainfall
gauge measures precipitation (rainfall).

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What is climate?
Climate is a description of the average weather conditions in a certain place
for the past 30 or so years.

Different areas of the world have different climates. We call these climate
zones.

Climate is influenced by lots of different things, including:

• how near or far a place is from the Equator

• how near or far it is from the sea
• how high or low the ground is
• its position on a continent

Latitude influences climate. The closer to the Equator you are the more direct
energy (heat and light) you receive from the Sun. Further away from the
Equator, the tilt of the Earth means that the energy from the Sun is spread
 out over a wider area.

But there are exceptions, for example Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s located close to
the Equator but often has snow on its summit. That’s because of its height, or
altitude.

Mount Kilimanjaro

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Watch: Weather and climate

Video T ranscriptV
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Climate change
The climate across the world has changed naturally over thousands and millions
of years.
In the past, the UK has experienced both freezing ice ages and warm tropical
climates.

Over the past 100 years, more carbon dioxide has entered the Earth’s
atmosphere. This is because people have been burning fossil fuels, like coal
and oil to heat homes and power factories and vehicles.

Carbon dioxide traps the heat from the Sun and warms the planet at a greater rate.

The atmosphere helps to keep our planet just the right temperature to live on.
The extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts like a greenhouse. It lets the
Sun's rays through to heat up everything, but stops the heat from escaping.
The increase in carbon dioxide from human activity is making our planet warm
much faster than it naturally would. This is causing world climates to change. It
seems extreme weather is now happening more frequently.

Impact of climate change

Drought
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Watch: What is climate change?

Discover more about climate change in this video from The Regenerators.

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Activity: Quiz - Weather and climate

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BBC micro:bit - the next gen

Start learning to code today and try out fun activities using the virtual micro:bit.

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More on Seasons and weather
Find out more by working through a topic

What are the seasons?

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