Emergency services

There is only one main type of police force in the UK. Most police officers in Britain don't carry guns. They patrol the streets to see what is happening. They usually do this on foot, or in a car. Sometimes they use horses or bikes. Police officers often go to schools to give talks to the pupils about crime, drugs and things like that.
The main job of the fire service is to fight fires. They also help in other situations, for example when there are floods and other disasters. They also help in road accidents. They use special tools to cut open cars to get people out.
The coastguard helps people at sea. It also helps people who have problems on the coast because they have falle or got stuck in a dangerous place. There are 24 coastguard stations and they often have to use helicopters to find people and lift them out of the water.
In some parts of the country, like Scotland and the Lake District, there is alsoa mountain rescue service. They help when people have an accident or get lost in the hills and mountains.
Ambulances take people to hospital in an emergency. The paramedics also give first aid in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. There is also an air ambulance service. They use helicopters to reach people in difficult places quickly.

Time Zones

Until the 19th century, towns in the same country often had different times. This was because people told the time by the local position of the sun. It didn't matter because people didn't travel very much and they travelled very slowly. However, all that changed when railways arrived. People could now travel quickly from town to town, so they needed a standard time. In 1884, countries agreed to an international time system with 24 zones.
The time zones start from The Primer Meridian at Greenwich in London. All places east of Greenwich are later; all places west of Greenwich are earlier.
Most countries are in one time zone, but some larg countries have more than one. There are five time zones in the USA. So when it's 9 am in New York, it's only 6 am in Los Angeles. Australia has thee time zones and Russia has eleven!
The system of time zones starts in Greenwich. On the other side of the world is the International Date Line. When you cross this line, you don't just change hours, you change days. So you can travel from today back into yesterday!