What does it mean that the UK has a common law legal system, and how is this different to a civil law one?

A common law system of laws, as used in the UK, predominantly develops through decisions made by judges in courts in the UK. This creates a body of binding laws based on precedent, whereby lower courts are bound to follow past decisions made by higher courts. This is opposed to a civil law legal system, which is built upon binding laws that have previously been written and can be found in what is termed legislation or statute. Whilst at first these systems may seem polar, the UK is not devoid of legislation. Parliament, also known as the Legislator, pass laws that are also binding. Judges in UK courts must implement and interpret these laws, meaning courts are not free to develop any body of law that they wish to. Instead, they are directed to interpret legislation in a way that shall implement the will of Parliament. On this basis, whilst the UK is a common law system, it also shares some characteristics of a civil law one.