Peak District - Climate

Climate

With the majority of the area being in excess of 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, and being situated to the west of the country with a latitude of 53 degrees, the Peak District experiences a relatively high amount of rainfall each year compared to the rest of England and Wales, averaging 40.35 inches (1,025 mm) in 1999. The Dark Peak tends to receive more rainfall each year in comparison to the White Peak as it is higher in altitude. This higher rainfall, however, does not seem to affect the area's temperature, as it averages the same as England and Wales at 10.3 °C (50.5 °F). During the 1970s, the Dark Peak regularly recorded over 70 days of snowfall each year. Since then, though, this number has decreased markedly. Despite this, frost cover is still seen for 20–30% of the winter on the moors of the Dark Peak but for only 10% on the White Peak.

The Moorland Indicators of Climate Change Initiative was set up in 2008 to collect data on climate change in the area. Students investigated the interaction between people and the moorlands, and their overall effect on climate change, to discover whether the moorlands are a net carbon sink or source, based on the fact that upland areas of Britain are a significant global carbon store in the form of peat. Human interaction in terms of direct erosion and fire as well as the effects of global warming are the major variables that they considered.