Weather

Former Guernsey Met Observer Tim Lillington told us that Guernsey and Jersey do indeed have different weather conditions, and that the main difference is usually in the temperature.

Tim said that in the summer Jersey often gets higher temperatures but this is counteracted in winter when the southern island gets lower temperatures than Guernsey.

The cause of this is Jersey's "proximity to continental France" which gives it a continental climate while Guernsey has a maritime climate thanks to being located further from the European mainland.

The maritime climate is down to Guernsey's prevailing south westerly winds. They travel over the Atlantic Ocean and because the sea takes longer to warm up than land the air that gets to us is colder meaning we get colder summers.

However, the sea also takes longer to cool so the air temperature remains higher throughout the winter.

Jersey's continental climate sees their prevailing wind coming over Europe which causes to air to warm faster in summer, but also cool faster in winter.

Tim Lillington also said that while the temperature between Guernsey and Jersey is usual a few degrees different, the yearly average temperatures for the two islands are often very similar usually having only 0.1 of a degree difference.