HOW TO DESCRIBE  WEATHER

The English language has lots of weather-related vocabulary  -  that’s probably because the weather in the UK  is so changeable! When we talk about the weather in English, we generally use a mixture of  adjectives and nouns and we have  a few standard expressions as well. Here are some words and expressions related to wet weather. A drizzle is very soft, light rain, which usually continues for a long time. When we say, “It’s pouring “, we mean it’s raining very heavily. Then, the word “sleet “ means a very cold freezing rain; it’s even a mixture of rain and snow  together. People say, ”It’s chucking it down!” if it’s raining really heavily . Another expression for  a very heavy rain is:” Nice weather for ducks!”

Now here’s some vocabulary for hot weather.-

If it’s very hot, it’s “boiling” or “sweltering”; and it’s “scorching” when the day is extremely hot.

A period of extremely hot and dry weather that lasts for several days or even weeks is called “ a heatwave”.

And here’s some vocabulary for cold weather. –

We say it’s “chilly” if it’s quite cold, and if the weather is very cold, it’s “freezing” or “ bitterly cold”.

Frost is the name for the layer of ice crystals that forms  on exposed objects when the weather ‘s very cold. This often happens overnight, and when you wake up in the morning everything’s white!

Now for wind, we can say: “breezy”  for light wind, and is often quite refreshing when the weather is hot; “blowy” if it’s quite windy ; “blustery” when wind is blowing in short but strong and frequent bursts ; and “high winds “ for  strong winds.

We can say: “ It’s a bit wild out there !” when it’s very windy and rainy. There’re several  phrases that you can also use when you want to ask about the weather .

Here are some of them:  “ What ‘s it like outside?”, “What’s the weather like ?”,

“Is it raining?”,”Is it snowing?”, “Is it sunny out there?”

And finally ,”Have you seen the weather forecast?”  And if you want to answer this question, by talking about the weather in general, there’re a few adjectives that go with the word “weather” which you can use. You can say: “It’s beautiful weather”.  Another way to say this is: “Oh, it’s lovely weather today”. If the weather not so good you can say: “ It’s horrible weather today”. And if it’s raining and windy and cold you can say:” Oh, it’s foul weather today!”   

1.Listen to the text and mach the weather terms with their definitions.

1.               A drizzle                                      a) wind blowing in short but strong and
2.               Pouring                                            frequent bursts
3.               Sleet                                             b) extremely hot
4.               It’s chucking it down !               c) it’s very windy and rainy
5.               Sweltering                                    d) raining very heavily
6.               Scorching                                     e) a period of extremely hot and dry weather
7.               A heatwave                                      that last for several days or even weeks
8.               Chilly                                             f) quite windy
9.               Freezing /bitterly hot                g) quite cold

10)breezy                                           h) a mixture of rain and snow together

11) blowy                                           i) it’s raining really heavily

12) blustery                                        j) very cold

13) high winds                                   k) a light wind, and is often quite refreshing

14) It’s a bit wild out there!            L) very soft, light rain, which usually continues

                                                                 for a long time

                                                              m) very hot

                                                              n) strong winds

2. Match the replies with the situations.

 Situations:

1.               When you want to ask about the weather you say...
2.               If it’s raining and windy  and cold you can say …
3.               If you like today’s weather you say …
4.               If the weather’s not so good you can say …

Replies:

1.               “ What lovely weather today! “
2.              “It’s horrible weather today!”
3.               “What’s it like outside? “
4.              “It’s a bit wild  out there!”

3.Write the words into the corresponding column.

Drizzle, freezing, scorching, a heat wave, pouring sleet, cold, frosty, chuck down,  boiling, very hot, sweltering, chilly, drizzle, pouring, sleet.

Rain                     warm/hot weather                 cold/cold weather

-----------                ------------------------                 --------------------------

4. Make up as many compound words on the topic “Weather” as possible.

                Rain                                                                bow                                                                                                            

                 Drop                                                                coat

                 Snow                                                               flake

                 Man                                                                 ball

                 Storm                                                              sun

                 Shine                                                               fall

                 Weather                                                         man

                 Summer                                                         time

                 Day                                                                 light