Weather and nature
Words for the weather, the seasons and the landscape, and the patterns English uses with them, such as it is raining, a sunny day and in winter.
When you need it
Weather is the safest topic of conversation in English, especially in Britain, where people use it to start a chat with a neighbour or a colleague. You also need these words to read a forecast before a trip, to plan a weekend outside, and to describe a place: its hills, its rivers, its climate. School tasks often ask you to describe your favourite season, and this lesson gives you the words for that.
Core words
Weather words come in families: a noun, often a verb, and an adjective with -y. You say there is a lot of rain or it is rainy, and it is raining for rain that is falling right now.
| Word | Note | Example |
|---|---|---|
| rain | noun and verb; adjective rainy | It rains a lot here in November. |
| snow | noun and verb; adjective snowy | It snowed all night. |
| sun | adjective sunny; also sunshine | The sun is shining. |
| wind | /wɪnd/; adjective windy | There's a cold wind today. |
| cloud | /klaʊd/; adjective cloudy | It's cloudy but dry. |
| fog | adjective foggy; mist is lighter | The fog was so thick we couldn't see the road. |
| storm | with thunder and lightning; adjective stormy | A storm is coming. |
| ice | adjective icy | Be careful, the roads are icy. |
| shower | a short period of rain | Showers are expected in the afternoon. |
Temperature. British English uses degrees Celsius; American English uses Fahrenheit, so 30 degrees means a hot day in Britain and a freezing one in the United States.
| Word | Note | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hot | uncomfortably warm | It's too hot to work. |
| warm | pleasant | It's warm enough to sit outside. |
| cool | a little cold, often pleasant | The evenings are cool in September. |
| cold | It's cold, so take a jacket. | |
| freezing | informal: very cold; also below 0 °C | It's freezing today. |
| degree | It's 25 degrees in the shade. | |
| forecast | the weather forecast | The forecast says rain. |
The seasons are spring, summer, autumn (American fall) and winter. They take in, with or without the: in winter and in the winter are both correct, but on winter is not.
Nature and the landscape.
| Word | Note | Example |
|---|---|---|
| forest | a large area of trees; a small one is a wood | We went for a walk in the forest. |
| mountain | a lower one is a hill | They climbed the mountain in six hours. |
| river | The river runs through the town. | |
| lake | We swam in the lake. | |
| sea | by the sea, at the seaside | I'd love to live by the sea. |
| field | There are cows in the field. | |
| island | /ˈaɪlənd/, the s is silent | They live on a small island. |
| beach | The beach was full of people. | |
| countryside | uncountable, in the countryside | I grew up in the countryside. |
Useful phrases
- What's the weather like? The standard question: What's the weather like in your town in winter?
- It's raining / snowing. For weather at this moment: Take an umbrella, it's raining.
- It's pouring. Informal, for very heavy rain: It's pouring, so let's stay in.
- It looks like rain. When the sky is dark: It looks like rain; let's go home.
- I got wet. Also I got soaked for very wet: I forgot my umbrella and got soaked.
- sunny spells A forecast phrase for short sunny periods: cloudy with sunny spells.
- a heatwave A period of unusually hot weather: There's a heatwave across the south.
- Lovely day, isn't it? A typical opening for small talk with a stranger.
- in the mountains / by the sea / in the countryside The normal prepositions for places in nature.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Is raining. / Today is very cold.
✓ It is raining. / It is very cold today.
Ukrainian іде дощ, холодно and Russian идёт дождь, холодно need no subject, but an English sentence always has one, so weather sentences start with an empty it. - ✗ The rain goes. / The snow is going.
✓ It is raining. / It is snowing.
Ukrainian іде дощ and Russian идёт дождь use a verb of motion; English uses rain and snow as verbs. - ✗ It is a good weather today. / What a nice weather.
✓ The weather is good today. / What nice weather.
Weather is uncountable in English, so it never takes a and has no plural. - ✗ There was a strong rain. / It was a big snow.
✓ There was heavy rain. / There was heavy snow.
Ukrainian сильний дощ and Russian сильный дождь use the same adjective as for wind, but English says heavy rain and snow and strong wind. - ✗ At the weekend we went to the nature.
✓ At the weekend we went to the countryside.
Russian на природу and Ukrainian на природу describe a place, but English nature means the natural world in general and takes no article; for a trip out of town say the countryside or outdoors.
Try it
- ___ is snowing in the mountains.
- We had very ___ rain last night. (сильний / сильный)
- It's very ___ today. I can't open my umbrella. (wind)
- What's the weather ___ in your town?
- In British English the season after summer is ___.
- What ___ weather. Let's go to the beach. (a / nice)