England shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
London, the South, the Midlands and the North have airline connections with most cities in the world. London is the main transport hub with three major international airports, including Heathrow, the world’s busiest. Southern England Britain’s most populous area.
Walking
Walkers of all levels of ability and enthusiasm are well served in England. There is an unrivalled network of long-distance; paths through some spectacular scenery, – which can be tackled in stages with map and overnight stays en route, or dipped into for a single day’s walking. For shorter walks, England is dotted with signposts. Choose river routes for easy walking or take to the hills for a greater challenge.
Weather
Britain has a temperate climate. No region is far from the sea, which exerts a moderating influence on temperatures. Seldom are winter nights colder than -15°C, even in the far north, or summer days warmer than 30°C in the south and west: a much narrower range than in most European countries. The average annual rainfall is quite low 108 cm (42 inches) and heavy rain is rare. The Atlantic coast is warmed by the Gulf Stream, making the west slightly warmer, though wetter, than the east.
Lying in northwestern Europe, Great Britain is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean the North Sea and the English Channel. The island’s landscape and climate are varied, and it is this variety that even today affects the pattern of settlement. The (38 remote shores of the West Country peninsula and the inhospitable mountains of Scotland and Wales are less populated than the relatively flat and fertile Midlands and Southeast, where the vast majority of the country’s 61 million people live. Due to this population density, the south is today the most built-up part of the country.