The Isles Of Scilly

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The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornwall peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part of the ceremonial county of Cornwall. This council is part of the UK and currently known as the Council of the Isles of Scilly. The Isles of Scilly also form part of the Duchy of Cornwall. Geography The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago of five inhabited islands and numerous other small rocky islets (around 140 in total) lying 45 km off Land's End. They are all composed of granite rock of early Permian age. The islands' position produces a place of great contrast—the ameliorating effect of the sea means they rarely have frost or snow, which allows local farmers to grow flowers well ahead of those in mainland Britain. The chief agricultural product is cut flowers, mostly daffodils. Exposure to Atlantic winds means that spectacular winter gales lash the islands from time to time. This is reflected in the landscape, most clearly seen on Tresco where the lush sub-tropical Abbey Gardens on the sheltered southern end of the island contrast with the low heather and bare rock sculpted by the wind on the exposed northern end. Climate The Isles of Scilly have a temperate Oceanic climate (amongst the mildest and warmest climates in the United Kingdom. The average annual temperature is 11.6 °C (53 °F) in comparison to London which has 11.0 °C (52 °F). Winters are amongst the warmest in the country due to southerly latitude and moderating effects of the ocean. Summers are not as warm as on the mainland. They are perhaps the sunniest areas in the UK. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −6.4 °C on 13 January 1987 and the highest was 27.8 °C on 16 August 1947.On

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