☁️ Weather Vocabulary

Part 1: Weather Collocations

Collocations are words that naturally go together. Native speakers use these combinations automatically!

Collocation	Example	Meaning
heavy rain	"The heavy rain caused flooding in the streets."	Intense rainfall
torrential downpour	"We got caught in a torrential downpour."	Extremely heavy rain
scorching heat	"The scorching heat made it impossible to go outside."	Extremely hot weather
bitterly cold	"It was bitterly cold with temperatures below zero."	Extremely cold
thick fog	"Thick fog delayed all flights at the airport."	Dense fog with poor visibility
strong winds	"Strong winds knocked down several trees."	Powerful wind

Collocation	Example
light drizzle	"There's just a light drizzle, you won't need a heavy coat."
clear skies	"We're expecting clear skies all weekend."
freezing temperatures	"Freezing temperatures are forecast for tonight."
bright sunshine	"We enjoyed bright sunshine throughout our holiday."
gale force winds	"Gale force winds battered the coast last night."

1. The rain lasted for three days. (heavy/strong)

2. We couldn't see anything because of the fog. (thick/heavy)

3. It was cold, so we stayed indoors. (bitterly/very)

4. The heat made it unbearable. (scorching/burning)

5. winds knocked down trees. (Strong/Heavy)

Idioms are expressions with meanings different from the literal words. They make your English sound natural!

Under the weather - Feeling ill or unwell
"I'm feeling a bit under the weather today."
Every cloud has a silver lining - Something good in every bad situation
"I lost my job, but every cloud has a silver lining."
It's raining cats and dogs - Raining very heavily
"We can't go out now - it's raining cats and dogs!"
A storm in a teacup - Making a big fuss about something unimportant
"Their argument was just a storm in a teacup."
Come rain or shine - No matter what happens
"I'll be there for you, come rain or shine."
Break the ice - Make people feel more comfortable
"He told a joke to break the ice at the meeting."
On cloud nine - Extremely happy
"She's been on cloud nine since she got engaged."
Weather the storm - Survive a difficult period
"The company managed to weather the storm."

1. "I'm feeling a bit under the today." (weather/clouds)

2. "Every cloud has a silver ." (lining/edge)

3. "It's raining cats and !" (dogs/mice)

4. "She's been on cloud since the good news." (nine/seven)

5. "I'll be there, come rain or ." (shine/snow)

Phrasal verbs are verbs combined with prepositions or adverbs that create new meanings!

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
clear up	Weather becomes better	"I hope it clears up before the picnic."
cloud over	Sky becomes cloudy	"It was sunny but it's clouding over now."
warm up	Temperature increases	"It should warm up by the afternoon."
cool down	Temperature decreases	"The weather will cool down after the storm."
brighten up	Weather becomes sunnier	"The forecast says it will brighten up later."
die down	Wind or storm becomes less strong	"We'll go outside once the wind dies down."
set in	Bad weather arrives and continues	"Winter has really set in now."
blow over	Storm passes	"Let's wait for the storm to blow over."

Clear up is very common - use it to talk about improving weather

Set in is usually for bad weather that will last a while

Die down is great for describing wind or storms becoming calmer

1. I hope it up before the wedding. (clears/brightens)

2. The sky started to over in the afternoon. (cloud/darken)

3. Let's wait for the wind to down. (die/calm)

4. It should up by lunchtime. (warm/heat)

5. Winter has really in now. (set/come)

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