IELTS Weather Vocabulary – Words, Phrases & Questions – IELTS Jacky (2024)

Part 1

1) What is the weather like in yourcountry?

Ourweatheris very unpredictable. One minute it can belovely sunshine, the next we’reexperiencing a downpour. The UK iswell-known for this.

2) Do you like the weather in your country?

Yesand no. I get frustrated that we have so many rainy days but we do have some gloriousweatheras well. When the sun comes outand there’s not a cloud in the sky, I couldn't be happier.

3) Is the weather the same in all parts ofyour country?

There aresome quite marked regional differences. I live in the south-west where it's mild but we get high precipitation. It’s drier in the eastand they actually had a drought thissummer. Further north, it’s very cold in winterand they get heavy snow.

4) Are there any problems withthe climate in your country?

Wecertainly seem to have experienced more violent stormsandtorrential rainin recent years. This has caused serious floodingin some places. A village near where I live had a flashflood this summer which washedaway cars and a few buildings. People say global warming is to blame.

5) Does the weather ever affect the way you feel?

Mostdefinitely. I feel so much more cheerful and full of energy when it’s sunny, whatever season it is. Even a breakin the weather on an overcastday lifts my spirits.

Part 2

That’s reallydifficult as I like things about every seasonbut if I had to choose one, I guess I’d go for spring. It covers the months of March, April and May in mycountry and is actually the time of year I was born.

I spend thecold winter months lookingforward to the first signs of springas nature comes back to life with the change of the season–things like the snowdrops poking through the soil,colourful daffodils and crocuses, blossom on the trees, shiny new leaves and the birds singing their hearts out as they build their nests. It’s such alovely time of year.

The weather gradually improves weekby week, although we can still get frostright up to the end of April and even snow,but it’s usually just sleet andturns to slush as soon as ittouches the ground. Hail storms are quite common andbright rainbows, which we seeas a promise of fine weatherto come.

Whilstthere’s plenty of warm sunshine in spring, a showerof rain is never far away and the windtends to be quite chillyso you need to dress up warmto go out. I keep a close eye on the weatherforecast before making plans as to what to do.

To sum up the weather, you’d have to say that it’s changeable – a mixture of sunny spells and cloudburstsis how I’d describe it.

As the temperature rises, I definitelyget more active. I start to take longer walks and go out on my bike more often.Weather permitting, we oftenhave a barbecue on my birthday.

I also getstuck into some gardening. There’s always lots of cutting down and clearing upto do, plus the grass begins to grow again and needs cutting. At weekends, I goto the garden centre to buy bedding plants ready for a colourful summer display.

One of thebest things of all about springis the lighter evenings, such a relief after the dark winter months. You can now spend evenings outdoors if youwant to rather than being stuck in watching TV.

So you see,there are lots of reasons why springis my favourite month. I love the hotter weatherof the summer, of course, butthere’s something about the freshness of springthat makes it special.

Part 3

1) How do the different seasons affect thelifestyleof people in your country?

As we have a fairly mildclimate, people are able to enjoy the outdoors all times of the year.Of course, summer is the most popular time for going to the beachand such like but even on blustery winter’s days, you’llsee people out walking along the shore enjoying the fresh air. With our unpredictableweather, we’re used to getting caught in the rainwhatever the season so we just put on our waterproofs and off wego.

When it’s warm,people tend to take a picnic when they go out walking or cycling but in chillyweather, they’re more likely to stop off at a cosy pub or café forsomething to eat.

One of the biggestdifferences in our lifestyle through the seasons is down to thevariation in daylight hours. In summer, it’s light until around10.30pm whilst in the middle of winter it’s dark by 3.30pm.No-one feels much like going out when it’s cold and dark so we stay at homemore.

2) Do you think people wholive in cold places have different personalities to people who live in warm orhot places?

That’ssomething I’ve never considered but now I come to think of it, I’m sure theydo. From my experience, people living in cold countries are fairly reserved andquite serious. Those living in hot climates,on the other hand, are more outgoing and full of life. That’s apart from themost humid regions where it’sso hot and sticky that you just want to sit around and do nothing all day.

AlthoughI’d have to agree overall, I think there are many other factors than temperature and the weather that affect people’spersonalities.

3) Do you think thereare any problems with the world's climate now?

Ibelieve that we’re facing many serious issues with our climate at the moment and they're only going to get worseunless we do something about globalwarming soon.

Inmy country, the winters aregetting milder and wetter and serious floodingis becoming common. It’s a real problem in many areas. However, that’s nothingcompared to the devastating tropicalstorms that some parts of the world are experiencing, more violent everbefore. Meteorologistspredict that they will get even stronger in the future which is a greatconcern.

Oneof the most serious problems of climatechange is the meltingof the icecaps as it’s causing rising sea levels. It’s possible that manycoastal areas could be under water by the end of the century. Now that reallyis a worry.

Weather Vocabulary Set 1: Key definitions

weather – the temperature or conditions outside withregard to heat,cloudiness, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.

- The weather can change very quickly up onthe moor, so make sure you take your waterproofs when you go walking.

climate – the general weather conditions usually found ina particular area.

- The climate in the Andean mountains of Peru is very different to thatfound on the coast.

climate change– a change in global orregional temperature patterns.

-Scientists believe that climate changewilllead to more extreme weather in the future.

global warming– a gradual increase inworld temperatures caused by polluting gases, such as carbon dioxide, which arecollecting in the air around the Earth and preventing heat from escaping intospace.

- It’s not too late to reverse the effects ofglobalwarmingbut we must act right now.

Weather Vocabulary Set 2: Seasons

season – time of year characterized by certain weather.

- In Europe, we have four seasons but in some parts of the world,they have only two, such as the Philippines which has a wet season and a dryseason.

winter – the coldest season of the year, December to February north ofthe equator and from and June to August in the southern hemisphere.

- I don’tlike the winter as it’s very coldand there isn’t much daylight.

spring – the season between winter and summer when theweather becomes warmer and vegetation starts to grow again.

- In spring I love to watch nature come to life again; to see leavessprouting on the trees and lambs in the fields.

summer – the warmest season of the year, June to August north of theequator and from and December to February in the southern hemisphere.

- We can’twait for summer and are alreadyplanning the outdoor activities we’re going to enjoy in the nice weather.

autumn – the season between summer and winter when theleaves change colour and fall from the trees and it becomes cooler.

- Autumn is a great time for hiking as the weather is often pleasantand the trees look stunning as their leaves change to red, yellow and orange.

fall – Term for autumn in American English.

- In the US, fall is the time for celebrating Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Weather Vocabulary Set 3: Snowy weather

snow – water vapour frozen into ice crystals andfalling to the ground as white flakes.

- I live in a hot climate so we don’t get snow but I’ve seen it in photos and it looks so beautiful.

snowflake – a single particle of snow.

- Did you know that every single snowflake is different which is quiteamazing?

snowing – when snow is falling to the ground.

- It was so exciting to wake upthis morning to find that it was snowing.

snowy – when it’s snowing or things are covered withsnow.

- Children love snowy weather as it often means thatthe schools are closed.

freshsnow – snow that has recently fallen.

- The fresh snow glistened in the moonlight, the pristine carpet of whitenot marked by a single footprint.

heavy snow – when a lot of snow falls.

- The weather forecast predicted heavy snow so we got out our sledgeready to have some fun.

a blanketof snow – a complete covering of snow.

- It snowed heavily all afternoonand the countryside was soon covered in a blanketof snow.

snowstorm – when a large amount of snow falls, often mixedwith wind.

- I was still at work when the snowstorm hit and had to sleep in myoffice as the buses were cancelled and I couldn’t get home.

blizzard – a storm with very heavy snow and strong winds.

- It’s dangerous driving on theroads in a blizzard.

whiteout – snowfall that is so heavy that it’s almostimpossible to see anything.

- I was so glad I decided not todrive to the shops as the light snowfall soon turned into whiteout conditions.

flurry – very light snowfall.

- The children were hoping forheavy snow so they could make a snowman but all we got were light flurries.

avalanche – a large mass of snow and ice sliding rapidly down amountainside.

- It wasreported that five skiers were caught in the avalanche and rescuers are trying to dig them out.

snowdrift – a bank of deep snow formed by the wind.

- The road was blocked bysnowdrifts blown by the strong winds.

sleet – a mixture of rain and snow.

- The sleet made the pavementsslippery and it was difficult not to fall over.

slush – partly melted snow

- As the temperature roseslightly, the glistening white snow turned to mucky slush.

Weather Vocabulary Set 4: Cold weather

belowfreezing – belowzero degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

- I put on a thick coat, gloves, hat and ascarf before going outside as it was well below freezing.

ice – very cold water in a solid state; you only seeit when the temperature is below freezing.

- I had to clear ice from my car windscreen before I coulddrive to meet my friend.

icy – covered in ice; slippery because of ice.

- It’s better for elderly peopleto stay indoors when it’s icy asthey can easily fall over and break a bone.

frozen – when the temperature is so cold that water hasturned to ice or expression to mean feeling very cold.

- It was so cold that the surfaceof the pond was frozen.

- Ingrid got absolutely frozen watching her son’s team playingfootball.

freezingcold – very cold.

- Bruno was reluctant to take the dog for a walk as it was freezingcold outside.

bitterlycold – extremely cold.

- The sun was shining but therewas a bitterly cold wind blowing.

hail – pieces of ice falling from the sky; frozen rain.

- I hate being out in hail because it really hurt when itstrikes your face.

frost – ice crystals on a frozen surface.

- I could tell from the frost on the ground that thetemperature overnight had fallen below freezing.

hard frost – when it gets very cold overnight and everything iscovered with thick frost.

- The hard frost turned everything white andmade the garden look like a magical frozen wonderland.

JackFrost – mythical character who comesout at night and lays out frost.

- We woke in the morning tosee that Jack Frost had been in thenight.

frostbite – injury to any part of the body caused by overexposureto extreme cold.

- Frostbite is one of the greatest dangers faced by Arctic explorers.

to dressup warm – to wear warm clothes toprotect yourself against wintry conditions.

- If you go out to play in thesnow, be sure to dress up warm.

to melt – the process by which snow or ice changes towater as the temperature rises above freezing.

- After a week of freezingconditions, the temperature rose and the snow finally began to melt.

a coldspell / cold snap – ashort period of cold weather.

- The weather is usually mild atthis time of year but the forecasters say we’re in for a cold spell next week.

- The sudden cold snap had us searching for our hats, gloves and scarves.

chilly – uncomfortably cold.

- Fuyuko was feeling a bit chilly so she turned the heating up.

Weather Vocabulary Set 5: Rainy weather

precipitation – water that falls to the earth in the form ofrain, hail, mist, sleet, or snow.

- The average annual precipitationin London is 23 inches (58 cm) which makes it drier than New York which has an average of50 inches (127cm) of rain per year.

heavyrain – intense rainfall.

- The heavy rain kept the children indoors all day despite it being theweekend.

torrentialrain – very heavy rain.

- The torrential rain was making driving conditions hazardous.

driving rain – heavy rain mixed with strong wind.

- We walked onthrough the driving rain, wanting toget home as quickly as possible.

to pour – to rain heavily.

- It was pouring with rain when I set off for the bus stop.

downpour – heavyshower of rain.

- Christiangot caught in a downpour on his wayto the party but fortunately had an umbrella with him.

cloudburst – sudden rainfall that it over quickly.

- The sudden cloudburst took them by surprise and they had to run for shelter.

rainingcats and dogs –raining heavily.

- What miserable weather. It’sbeen raining cats and dogs all day.

to getdrenched / soaked – to getvery wet.

- Ekrem left her coat at home andgot drenched in the cloudburst.

- The children had great funplaying in the rain but got soakedto the skin.

rainy day – a day when it rains a lot.

- I quite like a rainy day as I can be lazy and cuddleup by the fire with a good book.

a drop ofrain – a small amount of rain.

- There was a drop of rain in the afternoon but itdidn’t spoil our day out.

drizzle – very light rain.

- There was a bit of drizzle in the air as we set off on ourwalk but it didn’t come to anything.

gentle rain – light rain.

- The gentle rain was quite welcome at theend of a long, hot day as it really cooled the air.

shower (ofrain) – a quick, light rainstorm.

- It was only a shower of rain so we didn’t get toowet.

- It was only a quickshowerso we didn’t get too wet.

to getcaught in the rain – to beoutside when it rains unexpectedly.

- Meena was soaked through havinggot caught in the rain without acoat on.

to berained off – to becancelled or postponed because it’s raining or expected to rain.

- The pupils were looking forwardto the school sports day but sadly it got rainedoff.

let up – to stop raining.

- We’ll go out for a walk ifthere’s a let up in the rain.

to clear up – when clouds or rain disappear.

- Theforecast says that it will clear up by this afternoon.

puddle – a small pool of water usually formed byrainfall.

- When I was young, I loved splashingin puddles.

to flood – when a large amount of water flows over an area of landthat is normally dry.

- Therehad been so much rain that the road was flooded.

a flashflood – a sudden and severe flood.

- The flash flood brought mud and debris gushing down the road bringingtraffic to a standstill.

burst its banks – when a river overflows onto the land due to heavyrainfall and causes flooding.

- After nearlythree days of continuous rain, the river burstit* banks flooding the town.

rainbow – an arch of colours seen in the sky during orafter rainfall when it is also sunny.

- As the storm passed, abeautiful rainbow appeared in thesky.

monsoon – the season of heavy rain in tropical climates.

- Nearly all of the country’sannual rainfall falls during the monsoon.

rainyseason – another term for the time ofthe monsoon.

- The rainy season in my country is normally July to October.

horrid weather – unpleasant weather.

- I’m fedup of this horrid weather and can’tremember when I last saw any sunshine.

foul weather – bad weather.

- The foul weather kept the fishing boats in the harbour as it was toodangerous for them to go to sea.

Weather Vocabulary Set 6: Sunny weather

sunshine – direct sunlight unbroken by cloud.

- Isabella usually had lunch inthe canteen but today she bought a sandwich and ate it in the sunshine.

sunny – bright with sunshine.

- Looking out at the pouringrain, Svetlana longed for a sunnyday.

sunny spells– short periods of sunny weather.

- It wasmostly cloudy for our trip to the zoo but there were some sunny spells in the afternoon.

heatwave – a period of very hot weather.

- Summer weather in the UK can bevery unpredictable but this year we had a real heatwave.

to comeout (the sun) – when the sun appearsout of a cloudy sky.

- We were so pleased that the suncame out for our wedding photos asit had been a bit of a dull day up to then.

bakinghot / boiling hot – veryhot.

- Sunday was baking hot so Duong and his friends headed to the river for a swim.

scorcher – a very hot day.

- The day was a real scorcher, far too hot to be out in thesun for very long.

drought – a long period with no rainfall.

arid – havinghad little or no rain for a long time; too dry to support vegetation.

- Large areas of Australia are suffering from drought. The land has become arid and cattle and sheep on theranches are dying from a lack of food and water.

humid /humidity – hotand damp conditions

- Celeste found the climate inFlorida too humid and moved toCalifornia where it was still hot but with less humidity.

stifling – uncomfortable hot; can make you feel breathless.

- The heat of the day was stifling so the expedition travelledonly at night when it was cooler.

sweltering – extremely hot.

- My classroomis sweltering in the summer so Itake the children outside and we have lessons in the shade of a large tree.

close – warm and uncomfortable.

- We don’t have a humid climatein the UK but in summer it is often closewhich leaves you feeling sweaty and lethargic.

warm – a temperature in between hot and cold.

- Feeling the warm spring sunshine on your face issuch a treat after the long, cold months of winter.

sunburn – painful red skin caused by being in the sun toolong.

exposedto sunlight –allowing strong sunshine to fall on the skin.

- It’s important to limit our exposure to sunlight as sunburncan lead to skin cancer.

suntan /tanned – brown skin caused by longperiods of exposure to sunlight.

- Jay got a great suntan on his sailing holiday in Greeceand arrived home looking tanned andhealthy.

sunscreen/ suntan lotion – acream or lotion that protects the skin from the damaging UV (ultraviolet) raysof the sun.

- As children, we were neverallowed out to play in the sun without sunscreenon.

gloriousweather – wonderful weather.

- We had glorious weather on ourholiday in France.

fineweather – lots of sunshine and no rain.

- The fine weather we’re having at the moments has lifted everyone’sspirits.

pleasant weather – warm temperatures and mainly clear skies.

- Jerrymade the most of the pleasant weatherto get some gardening done.

a breakin the weather – whenthe rain stops for a while.

- I waited for a break in the weather before taking thedog for a walk.

a spellof fine weather – ashort period of good weather.

- It’s been a pretty awful summerbut we’re finally enjoying a spell offine weather.

clearblue skies – a skywithout clouds.

- The clear blue skies drew hordes of tourists to the beach.

not acloud in the sky – when no clouds are visible.

- There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it promised to bea glorious day.

Weather Vocabulary Set 7: Cloudy weather

cloud – a grey or white mass, made up of very small drops of water,floating in the sky.

- As the dark clouds drifted overhead, Yana rushed tothe garden to bring in her dry washing before it rained.

cloudy – when there are lots of clouds in the sky.

- Although it was a cloudy day, they still had a good timeon the beach.

overcast – very cloudy with no sun is visible.

- Thahn was disappointed that itwas overcast for the barbecue but atleast it wasn’t raining.

partlycloudy – when it is sunny and cloudy atthe same time.

- The TV weather forecast hassaid partly cloudy but it ended upbeing overcast for most of the day.

dull – not clear, bright or sunny.

- Dull days can be rather depressing, especially atthis time of year when it’s cold outside and daylight hours are short.

Weather Vocabulary Set 8: Windy weather

wind – a natural current of air.

- There wasn’t enough wind to go sailing so they kayakedinstead.

windy – when there is a lot of wind.

- It was a windy day and Dan spend the afternoon flying his kite.

breeze – light wind

- The flag was hoisted to the topof the mast where it flapped gently in the breeze.

high wind –strong wind.

- The forecast warnedof high winds and a risk of fallentrees.

gale – a very strong wind.

- The gale blew all night and caused damage to several buildings.

gust – a sudden, strong blast of wind.

- It was a fierce storm with gusts of up to 80 miles an hour.

blustery – blowing in strong gusts.

- Kali’s umbrella turned insideout in the blustery weather.

windchill (factor) – whenthe wind makes the air feel colder than the actual temperature.

- It was just above freezing butthe wind chill factor made it feelmore like minus 5.

pickingup – becoming stronger

- The wind started picking up at about 3.00 pm and an hourlater had reached gale force.

Weather Vocabulary Set 9: Foggy weather

fog – a thick cloud of tiny water droplets close tothe ground or sea that makes it difficult to see.

- I hate driving in fog as it’s hard to see other cars onthe road.

foggy – when there is a lot of fog.

- It’s so foggy today that I can hardly see the houses across the street.

smog – fog-like cloud caused by pollution.

- The smog hung over the city and many people wore masks when they wentout to stop them breathing in the polluted air.

Weather Vocabulary Set 10: Stormy weather

storm – severe rainy and windy weather.

- The storm brought a tree downin our garden which only just missed our house.

thunder – a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard in the sky, especiallyduring a storm.

- We heard the thunder in the distance and knew that astorm was on its way.

lightning – electric flash of light in the sky.

- The lightning lit up the whole sky and was quite spectacular.

thunderstorm – a storm that includes thunder and lightning.

- My pets hate thunderstorms. The dog barks at thethunder and the cat hides under the bed.

tropicalstorm – a storm with very high windstypical of tropical regions.

- The first time I was in a tropical storm I was very frightened asI’d never experienced such high winds before.

Hurricane/ cyclone / typhoon – atropical storm with extremely strong, damaging wind. The difference betweenthem is where the storm originates in the world. Hurricanes come in from theAtlantic Ocean, cyclones from the Indian Ocean and typhoons from the PacificOcean.

- In 2017, a hurricane devastated the Caribbean island of Anguilla.

Weather Vocabulary Set 11: General weather terms

changeable – weather that often changes.

- The weather is very changeable at the moment and it’sdifficult to decide what to wear to go out.

unpredictable – likely to changesuddenly and therefore not easy to predict.

- The weather in the Scottish islands is notoriously unpredictable so it’s best to carry araincoat at all times.

weatherpermitting – if theweather allows it.

- We’ll be having a family picnicin the park at the weekend, weatherpermitting.

theweather holds – fineweather continues.

- I hope the weather holds as I have a few days off next week.

freak weather conditions – weatherconditions, often extreme and destructive, that are not normal for that place.

- Freak weather conditions are becomingmore common due to global warming and climate change.

Weather Vocabulary Set 12: Weather forecasting

weatherforecast – aprediction of what the weather is likely to be, broadcast on TV/radioprogrammes and printed in newspapers.

- I’ve just seen the weather forecast and we’re in for anice day.

long-rangeforecast – theweather forecast for several days or weeks ahead.

- The long-range forecast is a bit disappointing as it predicts rain bythe weekend.

mild – gentle, not harsh or extreme.

• mildweather

- We’re having really mild weather for the time of year.

• mild climate – a climate without extreme weather conditions.

- We have a mild climate in the UK with no extremes of heat or cold and fewviolent storms.

• mild winter – a winter that isn't particularly cold.

- It’sbeen a mild winter with only one real coldsnap.

temperature – how hot or cold it is

- It’s cold in the shade but the temperature rises significantly whenyou step into the sun.

thermometer – instrument for measuring temperature.

- The thermometer on the wall showed that it was almost 100 degreesº.

degrees – measurement for temperature. Denoted by thesymbol º.

- Temperature can be measured in degrees Celcius or Fahrenheit.

Celsius – measurement of temperature where freezing pointis 0º and boiling point is 100º.

Fahrenheit – measurement of temperature where freezing pointis 32º degrees and boiling point is 212º.

meteorology – the scientific study of weather.

- Nandor had always beenfascinated by what caused different weather conditions and wanted to be study meteorology at university.

meteorologist – a person who studies weather patterns.

- Meteorologists are far better at predicting the weather than theywere a decade ago.

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