Weather vocabulary in English: 14 useful words and phrases

Weather is the easiest topic for small talk: in a lift, in a queue, at a café counter. This weather vocabulary list gives you 14 words and phrases to use right away.

Weather words in English

• a sunny daya day with plenty of sun; “sunny” describes the weather
• a cloudy skythe sky covered with clouds
• rainwater falling from the clouds (a noun, no “a”)
• snowwhite flakes of frozen water that fall in winter (a noun)
• windmoving air (a noun)
• foga thick cloud close to the ground
• a cold daya day with a low temperature
• a hot daya day with a very high temperature
• warmpleasantly hot, not too hot
• coola little cold, in a pleasant way
• temperaturehow hot or cold it is: “The temperature is five degrees.”
• It’s raining.Rain is falling now (present continuous).
• It’s snowing.Snow is falling now.
• It’s windy.There is a lot of wind.

Adjectives (sunny, cold, warm) go before a noun: a sunny day. Nouns (rain, snow, wind) name the weather itself. To talk about what is happening now, use it’s + -ing: It’s snowing.

Small talk about the weather

Weather is a safe topic with strangers. These lines work in a lift, in a queue or at a café:

• How’s the weather today? — a friendly opener
• Nice day, isn’t it? — a tag question; the reply is “Yes, it is!”
• It’s freezing today! — “freezing” means very cold
• Looks like rain. — you think it will rain soon

“I’m cold” describes a person; “It’s cold” describes the weather outside. Be careful: “I have a cold” means you are ill with a cold. Always start weather sentences with it: “It’s sunny”, not “Is sunny”, and “It’s raining”, not “It’s rain”.

If your café chat starts with the weather, there is also a post with coffee phrases: This place has the best coffee ever.

Check yourself

New mini-lessons come out on our YouTube channel. To make small talk about the weather feel natural, not rehearsed, book a free trial lesson with us.