Central Pannonian Plain, between Alps, Dinaric Mountains and Carpathian Mountains Po Valley, also known as Padan Plain, between Alps and Apennines Swiss Central Plateau, between the Jura Mountains and Swiss Alps Upper Rhine Plain, between Vosges Mountains and Black Forest Mountains Upper Thracian Plain, between Balkan Mountains (Sredna Gora) and Rila-Rhodope massif Other European coastal plains Mountain ranges Some of Europe's major mountain ranges are: Alps, in Central Western Europe Western Alps Eastern Alps Southern Alps Northern Alps Apennines, which run through Italy Baetic System, Spain, Iberian Peninsula Balkan Mountains, mainly Bulgaria, central Balkan Peninsula Sredna Gora Mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains Bohemian and other Variscan massifs (pre-Alpine mountain ranges) - Jura Mountains, Vosges, Palatinate Forest, Black Forest, Ore Mountains, Sudetes Cantabrian Mountains, which run across northern Spain Carpathian Mountains, a major mountain range in Central and Southern Europe Southern Carpathians, Romania Tatra Mountains, Slovakia and Poland Caucasus Mountains, which also separate Europe and Asia Crimean Mountains Dinaric Alps, a mountain range in the Balkans Pindus Mountains, Albania and Greece Pyrenees, the natural border between France and Spain Rila-Rhodope mountain system composed by massifs, including Pirin Mountain and Osogovo-Belasitsa mountain chain, mainly Bulgaria Šar-Korab-Jakupica-Baba-Kajmakčalan-Olympus, Albania, North Macedonia and Greece Scandinavian Mountains, a mountain range which runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula, includes the Kjølen mountains Scottish Highlands (including the Cairngorms) in the United Kingdom. Sierra Morena, Spain Sistema Ibérico, Spain Sistema Central, Spain Ural Mountains, which form the boundary between Europe and Asia Land area in different classes of European mountainous terrain (classification from UNEP-WCMC): Temperature and precipitation The high mountainous areas of Europe are colder and have higher precipitation than lower areas, as is true of mountainous areas in general. Europe has less precipitation in the east than in central and western Europe. The temperature difference between summer and winter gradually increases from coastal northwest Europe to southeast inland Europe, ranging from Ireland, with a temperature difference of only 10 °C from the warmest to the coldest month, to the area north of the Caspian Sea, with a temperature difference of 40 °C. January average range from 13 °C in southern Spain and southern Greek islands to -20 °C in the northeastern part of European Russia. Desert climates are found in the European portion of Kazakhstan and South Eastern Spain. Western Europe and parts of Central Europe generally fall into the