Semi related to this exercise, I really forgot how far north most of Northern Europe is. Not even talking Scandinavia... mentally in my head I didn't have France and Germany on the same-ish latitude as WA.
All of England is north of the north-most point in the lower 48? Huh.
Its the moderating effect of the Mediterranean! Its wild to see the temperature differences of Wisconsin, Montana, Dakota(s) compared to France & Spain. All that water helps insulate Europe even those its at a northern latitude.
It's actually primarily from the AMOC which is bringing warm water up to the Northern Atlantic from the gulf [0].
Fun fact: a possible consequence of climate change is the near term collapse of the AMOC which would cause drastic cooling in Europe (it also has more severe long-term consequences like leading to an anoxic ocean that emits hydrogen-sulfide instead of oxygen, such events have happened multiple times in Earth's past and played a part in major extinction events [1]).
Yeah, my mental map of Europe is definitely severely warped.
For the longest time, I used to consider myself safe from the detrimental effects of Vitamin D deficiency, which I'd read can be felt as far south as London in Winter.
"Good thing I live in Berlin, which is surely south of London" :)
All of England is north of the north-most point in the lower 48? Huh.