Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent (particularly by the British, Icelanders and other European island nations), is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands.

The most common definition of continental Europe excludes Cyprus, Iceland, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom and its dependencies. Most definitions of Continental Europe extend the boundaries of the continent to its standard boundaries, the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains.^{[citation needed]}

In the United Kingdom, the Continent is used to refer to the mainland of Europe. It is widespread practice in the media in the UK (and elsewhere) to use the word Europe to mean continental Europe; that is, "Europe" excludes Britain, Iceland and Ireland (though the term is sometimes used to refer to the European Union). Occasionally, the term mainland Europe is used. A famous British newspaper headline once read, "Fog in Channel; Continent Cut Off". It has also been claimed that this was a regular weather forecast in Britain in the 1930s.