2. What makes the weather The weather is made by the Sun heating the air which surrounds the Earth. The Sun heats the air differently from area to area. This is because the Earth is round. As a result, the Sun’s heat is spread over a small area at the Equator, making it very hot. The same amount of heat is spread over a larger area at the poles, so they are much colder. In the tropics, land and sea are always warm. But further north or south, the land is hotter than the sea in summer and colder than the sea in winter.

3. This affects the temperature of the air. Some areas of air are warm and some are cold. A warm area of air rises away from the Earth and cooler air blows in to take its place. This is the basic cause of winds. Moving air also causes clouds and rain. Rising air takes water vapour from the sea with it.When this vapour cools it forms tiny drops of water that make up clouds. If the drops become bigger, they may fall as rain.