We live in the South East of England, in the north of the county of Kent, close to the North Sea and to the English Channel. Our climate is the reverse of continental, it is maritime, because we are very much influenced by the sea - being an island on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Our prevailing winds generally blow across the Atlantic bringing warmer moist air to our shores.

In winter the warmer seas keep our land temperatures a little warmer than they would be - and in summer the cooler sea keeps our summer temperatures on land a little cooler than they would be - if we were located on a larger continent inland. As a result our temperatures range is much less than yours - during the course of a typical day and between summer and winter.

We are getting a lot of rain at present and it is saturating the soil and rocks around some rivers causing local flooding in England. Average monthly temperatures are about 8C - slightly warmer than in other years. At night temperatures have been dropping to 0C with slight frosts - while during the day temperatures have been reaching 11C. We can expect to get snow when air from the continent blows from the north-east (your direction) towards us. Unlike in Siberia - just a small depth of snow can disrupt our routines considerably. Summer is back with us again this week with temperatures of 17C, although the outlook for this weekend is unsettled weather again!

If it rains, the grass won't get cut AGAIN!

Novosibirsk is situated in the South-West of Siberia in Russia. Its climate is called sharply continental. That means very cold long winters and very hot summers.

Winter starts some week in October. Sometimes the snow falls and melts several times before it comes here to stay. This time, it fell on October 16 and is still here at the end of April. The locals say, "it's two days here, two days there", meaning that the temperatures vary from -40C (it's -40F) to 0, and they may change inside a day a two, back and forth. There was an occasional week of either 0 or -37 in December and January; otherwise, it kept swinging back and forth. The snow keeps falling and pressing down, the snowplows work every day clearing up the roads, and the snow mounds on the sides keep growing, sometimes they get as high as six feet. Our town is surrounded by forests. All you can see is a thick blanket of snow all around you, with tall pine-trees and birches sticking out, their branches heavily laden with snow. It's rather dry, there aren't many winds.

In April, the temperatures slowly get higher, and all that snow begins to slide. If we are lucky, the process doesn't stop, and it's +15C (64F) by mid-April.  There are pockets of snow deeper in the forest. This year, the familiar process began on April 1, continued for about two weeks, so that we had to wade around - it was an unusually snowy winter, even for Siberia. Some flooding occurred even in the city. Then we woke up to -7C, huge snowfalls which continue this whole week. Everything froze down again, we have to be very careful in the mornings, it looks like a giant skating rink. The city authorities have emergency sessions and organize various kinds of work according to the situations that arise. Cleaning up the roads is only one example. Some pipes burst, and we were without hot water and heat for 24 hours.

This uncertain season ends by May. It becomes warm, leaves and grass appear. Most often, the sun-bathing and even swimming begin in May. The Ob river, on the banks of which Novosibirsk is situated, is the largest
river in Siberia. There are many beaches. In May or even June, there might be a day when there's a sudden snowfall, but the snow melts away as soon as it hits the ground.

Usually, there are three months of rather warm weather, till the end of August. People work in their vegetable gardens, practically anything grows here. In July, it may be as hot as +40C (over 100F) for the whole month. Last August, it was +37C for two weeks. July may be very dry, but there is enough rain during the other months.

September is usually quite mild. Then we are back into October!