This describes the main features of the climate of Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria, part of North Yorkshire and the Isle of Man. The eastern boundary of the region lies along the watershed of the Pennines.
There are several distinct geographical areas within the region. Much of the area west of the Pennines from Lancashire southwards forms part of a plain, mainly below 150 metres, with westward draining rivers such as the Mersey, Ribble and Lune. Liverpool and Manchester are the main centres of population. To the east, the Pennines are a chain of rolling gritstone moors rising to well over 600 metres and reaching their highest point at Cross Fell (893 metres). The Pennines form a natural barrier to east-west communications, but there are the Tyne gap linking Carlisle and Newcastle and the Aire gap linking Lancashire and Yorkshire. The Lake District in Cumbria includes Scafell Pike (978 metres), the highest mountain in England, and Windermere, the largest lake. To the north and NE, there is further low ground (below 60 metres) in the Vale of Eden and the Solway Plain, close to Carlisle. Most of the Isle of Man consists of a central mountain mass rising to 621 metres on Snaefell. Douglas is the main town and the centre of the island's tourist industry.
The range of topography and altitude found in both NW England and the Isle of Man provide a climate of great variety, and the region includes both the coldest place in England (Cross Fell in the Pennines) and the wettest place in England (the Lakeland fells around Seathwaite in Cumbria).
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