Sky and Weather

Question 1

Weather

• the weather changes/turns for the better/worse (There is a chill in the air. It looks like the weather is changing for the worse.)
• If the fine weather holds (out) until the weekend, we’ll go camping.
• the weather turns warm and thundery (= the type of weather that comes before a thunderstorm)
• You’re not properly dressing for this sort of weather.
• We got almost all the harvest in before the weather broke. (= stops being good)
• run into a bad weather
  …

in
- (boiling/scorching) hot weather
- (bitterly) cold weather
- dry weather
- wet/rainy weather
- windy/stormy weather
…

• glorious/beautiful weather
• awful/dreadful/terrible weather
• unpredictable weather
• settled weather (= not likely to change)
  …
• I think we got the best/worst of the weather in the north today.
• We’re hoping for a break in the weather.
• a (pleasant) spell of weather
• A lot of us were caught off guard by the sudden change in weather.
• He goes out jogging in all weathers.
• We’ll have your birthday party outside, weather permitting (= if the weather is good enough).
  …
• the weather forecast
• the weather map
• the (appalling) weather conditions
• Changes in weather patterns are thought be caused by global warming.
• a weather station

Question 2

Sky

• the sky darkens/clears
• The sky was beginning to cloud over (= clouds appear).
  …
• The leaden/lowering skies (=with a lot of grey cloud) cleared and the sun came out.
• grey sky
• starry sky
• (under) the open sky (=a large area of sky)
• the darkening sky (=becoming darker)
• the lightening sky (=becoming lighter)
  …
• (snow) falls from the sky
• (clouds) drift across the sky
  …

The castle stood against the (evening) sky**.

Question 3

Rain

• I get caught in the rain and was soaked head to toe.
• I hope the rain hold off until we get home.
• The rain beats/lashes against my bedroom window all night and kept me awake.
• The rain will spread later to the north of the country.
  …
• the rain falls
• the rain comes down
• the rain pours/buckets down (= a lot of rain comes down)
• it pours/buckets with rain
• the rain pelts down (= it comes down fast)
• the rain pattered on (the roof)
  …
• the rain seems to be setting in (= starts and will continue) for the rest of the day
  …
• the rain eases off (= it starts to rain less)
• the rain picks up/ get heavier
• the rain (gradually) lets up (= finally stops)
  …
• a (heavy) shower of rain
• A blustery wind was sending flurries of rain against the window.
• There was hardly a break in the rain all day. It never really stopped once.
• There’s a (strong/good) possibility of rain this afternoon.
  …
• pouring/torrential rain
• heavy/light rain
• A fine rain (= very gentle rain) was coming down as the game started.
• They struggled to walk against driving rain (= heavy rain that is falling fast or being blown along).
• freezing rain
  …
• It looks like rain to me.
• take shelter from the rain
• get (soaking) wet in the rain
• bring (the washing) in out of the rain

Question 4

Sun

• the sun shines
• The sun beats/blaze down on us as we work.
• The sun sank lower and the breeze grew cool.
  …
• avoid/keep out of the sun
• sit in the sun
• dry something in the sun
• I wear a baseball cap to shield my eyes from the sun.
• I can’t see a thing, the sun is in my eyes.
• We are having a great time here, soaking up the sun.
• During the holidays we lazed around in the sun all day long.
  …
• unbroken sunshine
• get sunburn

Question 5

Thunder and Lightening

• a flash/bolt of lightning
• a clap of thunder
• a thunder clap

lightning flashes across the sky

Question 6

Cloud

• cloud form/gather
• clouds cover (the sun, the moon, sky)
• clouds hang (low) in the sky
• clouds float/drift (= move slowly) / race/scud (= move quickly) across the sky
• clouds move/roll (across)
• clouds lift/clear (=disappear)
• clouds part (= move away from each other)
  …
• a (heavy/thick) bank/mass of cloud (= a large block of cloud)
• a blanket of cloud (= a thick layer)
• a (thin) layer of cloud
• a veil of cloud (= a thin layer)
• wisps of cloud (= long thin pieces)
• a (long narrow) band of cloud (= a long narrow area) stretched across the valley
  …

(the plane) break through the clouds
…

(a few) breaks in the cloud

Question 7

Snow

• snow falls
• The snow had drifted(= is blown into deep piles) up against the hedge.
• snow melts
• snow settles(= stay on the ground)
• snow covers/blankets something
  …
• deep snow
• heavy snow (= when a lot of snow falls)
• fresh snow
• The powdery snow flies up as I walk through it.
• He cleared the wet snow from the car windscreen.
• melting snow
• We walked home through driving snow(= falling fast).
• It was difficult to see in the swirling snow(= blowing around as it falls).
• knee-deep snow
  …
• The snow turned to sleet (= a mixture of snow and rain) then rain.
• I made my way through the dirty slush (= snow on the road that has partly melted and is very wet).
• blizzard

Question 8

Fog

• be covered in fog
• be shrouded in fog
• the fog comes down / the fog descends (= it appears)
• The fog rolled in(= it arrives from the mountains, the sea etc) from the ocean.
• the fog lifts/clears
  …
• swirling fog (=which blows around)
• patchy fog (= in some areas but not in others)
• hill/sea/ground fog
• heavy/dense/thick fog
  …
• a blanket of fog
• a (dense) bank of fog / a fog bank (= a large mass of fog)
• patches of fog (=fog that forms in some places but not in others)
  …

be/get lost in thick fog

Question 9

Wind

• the wind blows
• the wind changes (= starts blowing from a different direction)
• the wind picks/rises/gets up(= becomes stronger)
• the wind drops/dies down
• the wind howls
• the wind whistles (through trees)
  …
• light/gentle wind
• high/strong wind
• gale force / hurricane force wind
• an icy/bitter/biting wind
• a gusty/blustery wind (= not blowing steadily)
• the prevailing wind (= the most frequent wind in an area) comes from the west
• There wasn’t a breath of wind
  …
• take shelter from/out of the wind
• cycle/ walk/ sail into the wind
• sth be blowing/swaying/flapping in the wind
  …

breeze
draft (= a current of cool air which blows into a room, especially one that makes you feel uncomfortable)

Question 10

Ice

• ice forms
• ice cracks
• scrape ice off (your car)
• Our driveway was covered in ice.
• skate/skid/slip on ice
  …
• thick/thin ice
• black ice(= a layer of thin ice on a road that is very difficult to see) on the road is making driving conditions very dangerous.
• Sever the cocktail with crushed ice.

Question 11

Star

• star comes out/ appears
• the stars shine
• the stars twinkle
• the stars are (all) out (shining)
• sleep under/beneath the stars (= in a place with no roof)
  …
• bright stars
• The star is faint but visible.
• distant stars
• a cluster of stars (= a small group of stars close together in the sky)

Question 12

Moon

• the moon appears/ disappears
• the moon shines
• the moon rise/ comes up
• the moon comes out (= appears as it gets dark or a cloud moves)
• The moon hangs over the quiet sea.
• the moon set (= goes down so that you cannot see it)
• the moon waxes (= gets bigger each night)
  the moon wanes (= gets smaller each night)