I often 'joke' about the weather in Scotland (saying it's usually cold and/or wet), but the sad thing is that this is usually true. At the moment we're heaving unseasonably warm weather in the whole of the UK, but usually in summer in Scotland it rains every other day and doesn't get much over 20 degrees C. I live in Central Scotland, fairly close to
Glasgow, which isn't too far away from England, but even in Glasgow the climate is usually quite a bit different from North England. I don't know what the climate is like in the North of Scotland, but I'd suspect it's like Central Scotland only colder and wetter. We also have a ski resort called Aviemore, but there isn't snow all year round like some parts of the world, it's not high enough for that. As most people know, parts of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland have beautiful scenery, vast expanses of open land and lochs (not pronounced "lock") or lakes.
We have 'free' healthcare through the NHS, an effective unemployment benefit scheme (some would say too effective!) and 'free' dental care for people under 18.
Crime is a big problem in the large centres of population and our criminal justice system seems to like handing out very short sentences for serious crimes. In the small towns and villages (in Scotland anyway) crime isn't much of a problem, there's still a great trust of all the people in the community. When my family went to Orkney on 'holiday' a few years ago the keys were left in the front door of the house we were staying in, such was the trust of the owners.
I don't think there's much street racing as such, but there are lots of people who attend cruises and meetings of modified cars. A popular meeting place for cruisers in Scotland is Strathclyde Park, which is situated between Hamilton and Motherwell. Our road network is decent but not fantastic. Motorways are generally in good condition, but congestion is a major pain. In London city centre
congestion charging is in place. Smaller roads A and B roads vary widely in condition, most of the major A roads are usually in reasonably good condition with occasional potholes but B roads can be dangerous. Generally very narrow, often covered in potholes and with lots of blind corners and crests.
Cost of living I'd say is high. House prices are high, fuel prices are incredibly high (90-95 pence per litre), electrical goods are expensive, cars are expensive, food is expensive, taxes are high (I think you get the picture).
@240^drift: Yes we do have motorsports in the UK. There are several major circuits, including Silverstone (current host to the British GP), Brands Hatch (former host to GPs), Donnington (former host to European GP), Thruxton, Snetterton, Oulton Park, Knockhill, Mondello Park and others. The largest domestic series are British F3 and BTCC (British Touring Car Championship). The British F3 series used to be one of the most widely respected in the world, many promising drivers coming up through there (including one A. Senna).
Yes, we do have snow. In the Highlands of Scotland it's quite common to get snow in most of the year. In the more low lying areas of the UK we get snow in most of the winter months. Usually not much though, a few inches at a time.
@opendriver19a: You can ask for deep fried Mars bars, Twixes etc in some chip shops, but they're a novelty cuisine, not common. I've never had any deep fried sweet before.
@Omnis: The difference between Northerners and Southerners depends on who you ask. Southerners are soft and Northerners are monkey like
Countless classic rock heroes are from U.K., but many modern bands I like to listen to are from there as well. Oasis, blur, Charlatans(UK), Snow Patrol, Radiohead, Jamiroquai, Ocean Colour Scene, Kasabian, etc., etc., I can pretty much go on for pages. It's not like I look for "British" bands to listen to. In the mid 90's, when I first discovered that almost every band I liked are from Great Britain, it did freak me out.
), I love it here.
