Glasgow

Sister cities

• Marseille
• Lahore
• Bethlehem
• Nuremberg
• Havana
• Mexico City
• Rostov-on-Don
• Turin
• Barga
• Dalian

History

The area around Glasgow has hosted communities for millennia, with the River Clyde providing a natural location for fishing. The Romans later built outposts in the area and, to protect Roman Britannia from the Brittonic speaking (Celtic) Caledonians, constructed the Antonine Wall. Items from the wall, such as altars from Roman forts of Balmuildy, are now located at the Hunterian Museum. Glasgow itself was reputed to have been founded by the Christian missionary Saint Mungo in the 6th century. He established a church on the Molendinar Burn, where the present Glasgow Cathedral stands, and in the following years Glasgow became a religious centre. Glasgow grew over the following centuries as part of the Kingdom of Strathclyde and the Kingdom of Scotland. The Glasgow Fair reportedly began in 1190. A bridge over the River Clyde was recorded from around 1285, where Victoria Bridge now stands. As the lowest bridging point on the Clyde it was an important crossing. The area around the bridge became known as Briggait. The founding of the University of Glasgow adjoining the cathedral in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the town's religious and educational status and landed wealth. By the fifteenth century the urban area stretched from the area around the cathedral and university in the north down to the bridge and the banks of the Clyde in the south along High Street, Saltmarket and Bridgegate, crossing an east–west route at Glasgow Cross which became the commercial centre of the city. Following the European Protestant Reformation and with the encouragement of the Convention of Royal Burghs, the 14 incorporated trade crafts federated as the Glasgow Trades House in 1605 to match the power and influence in the town council…

Geography

{{climate chart | Glasgow | 2.1| 7.2|146 | 2.2| 7.8|115 | 3.2| 9.8| 97 | 5.1|13.0| 66 | 7.4|16.1| 69 |10.3|18.4| 68 |12.1|19.8| 83 |11.9|19.3| 95 | 9.9|16.7| 98 | 6.8|13.0|132 | 4.2| 9.6|132 | 2.1| 7.4|161 | float = right | clear = none | source = MetOffice The burgh was substantially enlarged in 1891 to take in areas from both Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire where the urban area had grown beyond the old burgh boundary. In 1893, the burgh became its own county for lieutenancy and judicial purposes too, being made a county of itself. From 1975 to 1996 the city was part of Strathclyde Region, with the city's council becoming a lower-tier district council. Strathclyde was abolished in 1996, since when the city has again been responsible for all aspects of local government, being one of the 32 council areas in Scotland. Like much of lowland Britain, Glasgow's climate is oceanic (Köppen Cfb). Although Glasgow's latitude is similar to that of Moscow, the climate is strongly influenced by proximity to the Celtic Sea and the warm water of the North Atlantic Drift. Glasgow is the rainiest city in the UK, with an average of more than 170 days of rain a year. The coldest month on record since the data series began is December 2010, during a severe cold wave affecting the British Isles. Even then, the December high was above freezing at with a low of . This still ensured Glasgow's coldest month of 2010 remained milder than the isotherm of normally used to determine continental climate normals. The warmest day in Glasgow was recorded in 2018, when temperatures reached .

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,950
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,550
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,090
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,329
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,961
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,847
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,762
• Lesser Black-backed Gull

  Larus fuscus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,689

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2026-04-16
  42 km WNW of Comrie, United Kingdom
• M 3.9 — 2025-10-20
  29 km NW of Comrie, United Kingdom
• M 3.1 — 2021-11-16
  18 km NW of Lochgilphead, United Kingdom
• M 2.5 — 2018-08-30
  1 km ENE of Gourock, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2017-11-01
  2 km NNW of Tarbert, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2006-12-26
  2 km NW of Dumfries, United Kingdom