hello I'm Michael welcome to Oxford
online English in this lesson you'll
learn how to talk about the weather in
English do you know what it means if
someone says it's chucking it down today
if someone says it's baking today do you
know what they're talking about in this
class you'll learn words phrases and
idioms that you can use to describe
different kinds of weather British
people are famous for talking about the
weather
do you know why it's because in the UK
we have a lot of weather you never know
what the weather will be like you can
have all four seasons in one day we're
going to look at a typical British day
so the weather is going to be very
changeable this means the weather can
change quickly and unpredictably it can
be sunny and then 30 minutes later it
will start snowing so first we wake up
and it is a bit cold how would we
describe this I could say that it's a
bit chilly this means that it's a little
cold not very cold just a little cold
autumn mornings are often chilly in
chilly weather you might want a light
jacket but you won't need a heavy coat
or a scarf or anything like that but
what if it's very cold you could say
that it's freezing you might say that
you can see your breath freezing means
that it is very cold
not just chilly but very cold Antartica
is freezing northern Canada in winter is
freezing to see your breath means that
you can literally see the air when you
breathe on it usually if you can see
your breath it is freezing if the
weather is so freezing that you can see
your breath you probably will need to
bundle up
bundle up means to wear layers of
clothes to keep yourself warm when the
weather is freezing you need to bundle
up on freezing mornings it can be very
very difficult to get out of bed but
let's imagine that we get up because we
have to go to work so we leave the house
and it's drizzling at the moment
drizzling means that it is raining
lightly it's not heavy drizzle is so
light then it can look like mist we can
also say that it is only spitting
spitting is even lighter than drizzling
it means that a few raindrops are
falling but it isn't really raining
before it rains it might start spitting
and then get heavier then suddenly the
heavens open this means that it starts
raining heavily
how else could I describe it if it is
raining a lot I could say that it is
chucking it down this means that it is
raining a lot it is really heavy it is
the type of rain that people find it
difficult to drive in or walk in as I am
walking to work my clothes are getting
soaked this means that my clothes are
very wet because of the rain luckily I
brought my umbrella today so we get to
work only a little damp from the rain
thanks to the umbrella damp means that
something is slightly wet my clothes are
a little wet because of the rain and
from my window I can see that it's very
overcast and dark overhead to say that
it is overcast means that the clouds are
covering the sky you cannot see the Sun
when it is dark overhead you are saying
that the clouds are very black most
likely this is because it is raining or
going to rain soon so it is dark
overhead and overcast you think there's
going to be a storm you could say that
there is a storm brewing this means that
you think a storm will start very soon
you're sure there's going to be a storm
you can see it in the sky and then you
see lightning lightning is a large
electric flash of light and after the
lightning you hear thunder thunder is
the noise that you hear caused by
lightning usually you were hear thunder
after you see lightning
we call these storms thunderstorms
thunderstorms are storms that have
lightning thunder and it is also
chucking it down as well when the storm
starts the wind picks up soon it's
almost a gale the wind picks up when the
wind becomes stronger a gale is a very
strong wind which can be dangerous lucky
for you when it's time to go home
the storm has finished it is now sunny
and hot you will need your umbrella
anymore you walk outside and there isn't
a cloud in the sky and it is baking hot
this means that it is very hot it is
baking hot in the Sahara Desert it's
completely still
that means there's no wind at all we
could also say that it is a scorcher
today this also means that it is
extremely hot in Australia most days in
the summer could be described as
Scorchers another way to say this is to
say that it is boiling so if the
temperature is very hot we can say that
is baking hot a scorcher or boiling the
walk home from work is a lot better than
your walk to work this morning in the
rain so you get home and watch the
weather forecast the weather forecast is
the prediction for the next day or week
of what the weather will be like the
weather forecast tells you that tomorrow
it will begin with a bit of frost on the
ground and it will be slitting in the
afternoon there will be a flurry of snow
and then it will turn into a blizzard by
the evening the snow on the floor will
turn into slush it will be below
freezing for most of the day what does
this mean it will begin with a bit of
frost on the ground frost are ice
crystals on a frozen surface when it is
freezing the ground may be covered in
frost usually in winter in the UK we
have very frosty mornings and it will be
sleeting sleet is rain and snow mixed
together
sleeeeep happens when snow melts as it
falls in the afternoon there will be a
flurry of snow a flurry of snow means
that there will be light snow for a
short time it won't be heavy and it
usually doesn't stay on the ground but
it will turn into a blizzard by the
evening a blizzard is a storm with lots
of snow and wind usually planes can't
take off or land when there is a heavy
blizzard the snow on the floor will turn
into slush slush is snow or ice that has
partly melted usually snow will turn
into slush when the weather gets warmer
walking in slush is very unpleasant
because cold water will get into your
shoes it will be below freezing for most
of the day when we say it is below
freezing we are saying that the
temperature is below zero degrees
Celsius this means that it's freezing so
I'll probably want to bundle up tomorrow
so what have we learned today
we have learned that Britain's weather
is very changeable and hopefully if we
have learned how to describe the weather
in more detail using phrases and
expressions thanks very much for
watching I hope that you have found it
useful you can see more of our free
lessons on our website
oxfordonlineenglish.com see you next
time