By the climate of a district is meant its average weather. This is largely determined by its temperature and its rainfall, and very much depends on its altitude and its distance from, or proximity to, the sea. No British county is large enough to have a distinctive climate of its own: each shares in that of the geographical region to which it belongs.

The following table, compiled from the late Dr Buchan’s papers, shows the mean temperature over forty years ending 1895 of several stations in Forfarshire; and, when allowance has been made for local conditions, it illustrates how uniformly temperature varies with altitude.