How common/uncommon is snow in England? I know rain is quite common, but it appears to be one of those places with less snow than us despite being further north in terms of latitude.
Yes, because of the Gulf Stream. The warmish water carried up keeps England both warm and wet in winter - a typical day, like today, is in the mid-40s with lots and lots of cloud cover. Usually, I'm told, it only snows once or twice, and generally in February.
Ironically, global warming is what is causing England to get colder. (One of the reasons they call it climate change instead of warming, aside from marketing, was this realization.) The Gulf Stream is moving in a way that will mean England doesn't get kept warm so well in future years, and that's apparently caused by melting ice in Greenland and the Arctic moving south. They're already predicting a white Christmas - which is almost totally unheard of!
