The climate of any country, or in other words, its average weather, by which, again, we mean its temperature, rainfall, and hours of sunshine, as well as the dryness or otherwise of its air, depends upon various circumstances and conditions, but especially upon geographical position, that is to say, upon the nearness of the country to the equator, upon its distance from the sea and its height above sea-level; partly also upon its soil and vegetation. Speaking generally, the nearer we approach the equator the hotter will be the climate, and the nearer to the sea-coast the milder and more equable it will be. The highest temperature in the shade ever yet recorded, however--127° Fahr.--was in the Algerian Sahara, at a spot not even within the tropics; and the greatest cold ever experienced, 90° below zero, Fahr., was at a place in Siberia only just within the arctic circle. The climate of the British Isles is very greatly influenced by the great ocean current, often called the Gulf Stream, from its supposed source in the Gulf of Mexico, which, impelled by steady winds, carries a constant stream of warm water from the equatorial regions towards the north pole. This current washes the shores of these islands, and it is this circumstance which makes our winters so much milder than those of Labrador, which is no nearer to the pole than we are. Were it not for the Gulf Stream our weather would probably be more severe than that of Newfoundland. The highest shade temperature ever experienced in Britain was 101° Fahr., at Alton in Hampshire, in July, 1881; and the lowest was 10° below zero, Fahr., at Buxton in Derbyshire, in February, 1895. A temperature of 23° below zero is said to have been measured in Berwickshire, in 1879, but the correctness of the record has been questioned. What is, however, of more importance, is the average temperature for the year, which, for the whole of England, is 48° Fahr. The sunniest part of England lies, as might be expected, along the south coast, although the south-east and south-west coasts also get more sunshine than inland districts in the same latitude. The sun is above the horizon in this country for more than 4450 hours in the year; but, owing to the frequent presence of clouds, he is not visible for even half that time in any part of the British Isles and the average for the country as a whole is only 1355 hours. The southern coasts sometimes enjoy 2000 hours of bright sunshine in a year, but their average is probably not more than 1700 or 1800 hours, or about five hours a day all the year round. The amount decreases as we go north; while the manufacturing districts of the midland counties, owing to the smoke which so often obscures the sky, get 1200 hours or less. At Manchester in 1907 only 894 hours of sunshine were recorded for the year's total. The sunniest months throughout the country generally are May and June, and the gloomiest month is December. [Illustration: The Winter Garden at Torquay]