CultureShock! London. A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
We have noted London’s high latitude: it lies roughly along the 51st parallel of North latitude. Its longitude is effectively 0, being defined in relation to the Greenwich Meridian, which runs through the London borough of Greenwich. Most of London is only marginally above sea level, and it is largely quite flat; only north London has areas that are appreciably hilly and afford views over other parts of the city. The average elevation is about 15 metres with a couple of hilly places just over 130 m (426 ft). Newspapers are fond of printing sensational maps showing which parts would go under first if sea levels rose, for all of south-east England is slowly sinking.
London’s geographic position and the weather that comes its way are inextricably linked. If the earth should ever change its ways dramatically, as some think it threatens to do, London would probably be in for some rude shocks, for it currently enjoys a climate far more pleasant than its place on the globe would suggest is possible. The sine qua non of London’s (and Britain’s) climate is the Gulf Stream, the north-eastward flowing, warm current of Atlantic water that effectively heats the British Isles and parts of Northern Europe all year round. Without it, London’s winters would probably be more like Moscow’s, and furry hats would be de rigueur.
The mitigating effects of the Gulf Stream and London’s high latitude result in a climate that is generally devoid of extremes. It is never very cold, and never very hot. A typical London day, which can appear at virtually any time of year, is completely overcast (but not raining), with moist but not damp air (relative humidity averages 80 per cent throughout the year), gentle winds from the south-west, and temperatures between 10–16°C (50–60°F). This is not to suggest that London enjoys no variation in the weather at all; summers can in fact be hot and dry, and snowstorms, though appearing on average only every few years, are not unheard of in the winter. The natives, as if to compensate for the lack of extremes, respond to these variations with alacrity. When temperatures reach the mid-20s°C (mid-70s°F) in summer, businessmen strip off their shirts in the parks on their lunch hours. A winter snowstorm finds everyone dressed up like Eski

The City
The oldest part of London is officially called the City of London, or for short, the City. The capital C is important, for without it, it may be assumed that you are talking about London as a whole (as is the case in this book). Covering only a square mile (and thus often called The Square Mile; 2.6 sq km), the City today is London’s financial centre.
By day, the City is home to more than 350,000 workers, but fewer than 5,000 souls will be found there at night. The City is largely shops, office buildings, banks and company headquarters. There are only a few, generally very expensive, dwellings, notably in the Barbican Centre, and a handful of less grandiose flats managed by the City or by housing trusts. Some of London’s most famous historical landmarks are in the City, including the Monument, Saint Paul’s Cathedral and the Bank of England.
Westminster
Though officially one of the Inner London boroughs, Westminster insists on calling itself a city rather than a borough, and it is in many ways distinct from the rest of Inner London. It lies immediately west of the City and was originally a separate settlement, but has long since grown to meet its neighbour. Any famous London landmark that is not in the City is probably in Westminster: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, the British Museum and Trafalgar Square, to name only a few, are all here. The tourist’s experience of London is largely centred on Westminster, and many come to and go from London having seen little else.