Talking about the weather podcast Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Today we are going to have a look at some of the ways we use to talk about the weather, as well as some idiomatic expressions, which are related to different weather conditions. It is a fact that British people are always talking about the weather. This is probably because the UK's climate is very variable and the weather conditions can change several times in the course of just one day. As a result, it is also quite unpredictable. Anyone who has visited Britain in July and August will have discovered that there is no guarantee that you will have any warm or dry summer days during your stay. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that in English there are so many ways to describe different weather conditions and so many idiomatic expressions related to the weather, especially to the rain. As in other wet climates, we use many different synonyms for rain itself. For example, if it rains very lightly, we often use the verb to drizzle. For example, we might say: When I left for work this morning, it was drizzling, but when I arrived at the office the rain had stopped. Notice how we can express the same idea, adding "with rain." As we came out of the theatre, it was drizzling with rain. We use the same construction with the verb to spit, which we use when it is just starting to rain: She ran to get the clothes in off the washing line as it was spitting with rain. Similarly, when it rains heavily, we use the same construction with the verb to pour: It is pouring with rain. Other verbs which are used to describe heavy rain include: pelt down, tip down or teem down. So we could say: It's pelting down, tipping down or teeming down with rain, when it's raining a lot. And this brings us to one of our favourite idiomatic expressions: To rain cats and dogs, which means to rain very heavily. We could say: The football field is flooded this morning because it has been raining cats and dogs all night. Another expression which has the same meaning is: To rain stair rods. The children couldn't play outside because it was raining stair rods. If it starts raining cats and dogs or stair rods and you have no umbrella, you are likely to end up soaked to the skin, that is to say, completely wet. Now let's look at the expression: It never rains but it pours. Unlike the previous examples, we do not use this idiom to refer to the weather conditions, but to describe, in a figurative way, the idea that unfortunate situations tend to all happen at the same time. For example: A week after Anna broke her leg, her car was stolen, along with her mobile phone, which she had left inside. It never rains but it pours. Another weather expression that also has a negative figurative meaning and which refers to a difficult situation or an argument that is going to happen in the near future is: a storm is brewing. For example: A storm is brewing in the office, as everybody is fed up with having to leave so late every day. Another expression that we use to refer to negative feelings is: To be under the weather, which means to feel unwell or depressed. He was really under the weather after his team lost the F.A. Cup Final. However, the calm before the storm is an expression that often simply refers to a quiet moment before a busy time. For example: The clothes shop usually has very few customers in November, but it is just the calm before the storm until the Christmas sales get under way. Other expressions have much more positive meanings. For example, to be or feel as right as rain means to feel well. We could say: Tom had only slept for a few hours but, amazingly, he felt as right as rain the next morning. Every cloud has a silver lining is a proverb which means that even when a situation is very hard or difficult, it will always have some positive aspect to it. We might say: Although she was initially very upset about losing her job, in the end, she realised that it wasn't such a bad thing after all, as she would have more time to study. Every cloud has a silver lining. And finally, if you are on cloud nine, this means that you are very happy about an achievement or a circumstance. For example: When she passed the final exams for her degree, she was on cloud nine. Well, today we would like to finish off with a tongue-twister for you to work out, which describes the British weather perfectly: Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not. Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot. We'll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not. We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!