In the oceans there are great "rivers" called ocean currents. The Gulf Stream is the largest and most important of these ocean currents.
The Gulf Stream is a current of warm water which flows out from the Gulf of Mexico between Florida and Cuba. For a way it travels along the east coast of the United States. Then it swings eastward in the Atlantic Ocean.
As it leaves the Gulf it is a very blue stream of water 100 miles wide and several hundred feet deep—far larger than the Mississippi River. And it is traveling fast —often more than 100 miles a day. It slows down as it moves northward.
The Gulf Stream is often 20 °F warmer than the water beside it. Its western edge is called the "cold wall." Winds blowing across the Gulf Stream carry some of its warmth to the countries of northern Europe. England is as far north as Labrador, but partly because of the Gulf Stream its climate is much pleasanter.
