Oceans and Weather

Did you know that Mr. W. is a big soccer fan? Two of his favorite teams are the United States National Team and Southampton FC. The US National Team sometimes plays games in Denver, Colorado. Southampton is across the ocean in England, and England is much farther north than Denver.

You would probably expect a place that is farther north to be colder, but take a look at both teams' stadiums in the winter.

The US National Team playing in Denver in winter.

Southampton playing in England on January 1, in the middle of winter.

Why the difference? Why is it so much warmer in England where it's so much farther north? The grass is green! Shouldn't it be freezing there too?

Take a look at these two maps. What do you notice about where these two stadiums are compared to oceans? How do oceans affect the weather?