イーオン日立校ブログです！

Sarah先生がイギリスの天気について書いてくれました(^^)

どうぞお楽しみください♪

Dear readers,

How are you? I hope you didn't get too wet this week! Typhoon season seems to never end! Please stay safe and dry.

Today I'm going to talk about extreme weather! This season, a lot of people have asked me whether or not there are typhoons in the UK. For that reason, I'd like to explain some of the natural, geographical differences between the UK and Japan, and how that relates to the safety of each country.

Japan, of course, is a nation of geographical extremes! Tall mountain ranges are scattered all around the country, and the weather ranges from very hot to very cold. To me it seems that there are three main geographical dangers when you live in Japan. The first is of course earthquakes and tsunamis. The second is the typhoons of late summer/early autumn. Finally, the third is volcanic activity. Although it's quite rare for volcanoes to erupt in Japan, it is potentially really catastrophic (I heard that if Mount Fuji erupted, Tokyo could be blanketed in ash!).

In contrast, the UK has hardly any tall mountains, and none of them are volcanoes. To answer the question many have been asking, there are in fact no typhoons in the UK. Occasionally British people suffer from big storms, but they're never typhoon strength. Additionally, the UK is almost completely earthquake-free. There are very occasionally low magnitude earthquakes, but not many people feel them. The biggest natural danger in the UK is probably from flooding (as you know, we have a lot of rain). However, floods in the UK rarely cause loss of life, and are only problematic in that they damage property.

Sometimes I hear people in Japan say that they're a little nervous about going to London due to the potential for terror attacks. I can understand that terror attacks on the news seem really scary, and it really does throw the city into a sad mood whenever an attack occurs. That being said, in terms of the danger, I'm always quick to point out that Japan is probably a more dangerous place on the whole! When terror attacks occur, which is roughly once a year, or once every two years, they're in a small area and don't result in many deaths. But when a natural disaster like a supertyphoon or a big earthquake occurs in Japan (usually once or twice a year) the death toll can be really high and it affects a lot of people across large areas.

People in Japan face serious natural risks on a yearly basis. So when you're considering where to travel abroad, it's good to know that given the UK's low risk of natural disaster, it's a good safe option! In my case, I feel that the risk of a natural disaster in my new home, Japan, is outweighed by how much I enjoy living here. Plus, in general, Japan is still an extremely safe place to be, even if there are less natural risks in the UK. We're very lucky to live in such a place!

I hope it was interesting to read about the natural differences between Japan and the UK. If you'd like to know more, please ask me any time!

Have a great week and enjoy Halloween~!

(Sign up for our Halloween party if you haven't already!)

Best wishes,

Sarah