North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of Cheshire , Cumbria , Greater Manchester , Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,, in The largest settlements are Manchester and Liverpool. The official region consists of the following subdivisions :. After abolition of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside County Councils in , power was transferred to the metropolitan boroughs , making them equivalent to unitary authorities.
In April , Greater Manchester gained a top-tier administrative body in the form of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority , which means the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs are once again second-tier authorities. The region extends from the Scottish Borders in the north to the West Midlands region in the south.
To its southwest is North Wales. Wast Water is England's deepest lake, being 74 metres deep. A mix of rural and urban landscape, two large conurbations , centred on Liverpool and Manchester , occupy much of the south of the region. The north of the region, comprising Cumbria and northern Lancashire, is largely rural, as is the far south which encompasses parts of the Cheshire Plain and Peak District.
Weather in this part of England is typically classified as maritime, moist and temperate, with a moderate annual temperature range. Average annual precipitation in the UK typically ranges from approximately mm to 1, mm. Temperatures are generally close to the national average.
In winter, the most severe weather occurs in the more exposed and elevated areas of the North West, once again mainly the Lake District and Pennine areas.
