Copenhagen

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. THE CLIMATE O F COPENHAGEN .

o p e n h a g e n is situated in that part of Europe, the climate of which is chiefly determ ined by the num erous atm ospheric disturbances, which make their way eastwards from the north Atlantic, either righ t across or north of the British Islands,

and proceed in a n o rth -e aste rly direction. South and west w inds prevail, and these, b eing comparatively warm , give to the town, considering its locality, a very high mean tem p era­ ture. This is, a cco rd ing to observations ex tending over more than a hund red years, 4 5 1/ , 0 F., whilst the average of many places in the same latitude is only abou t 35°. Besides the above-m entioned prevalent w inds, there are frequent w inds from other directions, especially from the east; and, as the tem perature of the sea rises more slowly in summ er than that of the great expanses of land , whilst in w inter it falls m ore slowly, the climate of Copenhagen is partly deter­ m ined by the large land masses lying to the north, south, and east of it. As a result of these natural conditions, the easterly w inds, for instance, generally b rin g intense cold in w inter and a high tem perature in summer, whilst the westerly w inds are m ild in w inter bu t som ewhat cool in summer. The south-w esterly w inds, however, predom inate d u ring all the four seasons, and consequently Copenhagen has compa- - 21 -