This article was updated by the Great British Mag content team on 15 September 2021
The weather is a favourite topic of conversation between Brits, so it’s not surprising that we have so many words and phrases to describe the conditions outside.
It’s not unusual for people when they first meet to chat about the weather, as it’s a safe conversation that doesn’t require either party to ask any personal questions about one another.
As the weather in Britain is changeable at the drop of a hat, there’s always something to talk about. You could find yourself in conversation about the cold and drizzling rain with a complete stranger in a coffee shop, or you could be sitting with friends in a park, raving about the sunshine.
Although it’s cold a lot of the time—if you didn’t know that before you arrived, sorry!—there are varying weather conditions which people use different words to describe.
This list is by no means exhaustive but you are likely to come across the following. Try out a few yourself!
Words/phrases | Meaning |
| Breezy | It’s windy |
| It’s howling out there | It’s very windy |
| A bit nippy | It’s a bit cold |
| Chilly | It’s a cold day |
| Bleak | It’s a cold and dark day |
| It’s baltic out there | It’s a very cold day |
| Brass monkey | It’s really freezing cold |
| It’s a grey day | It’s a dark and cloudy day |
| Drizzling | It’s raining lightly |
| It’s just spitting | It’s raining very lightly, not enough to use an umbrella |
| Raining cats and dogs | It’s raining heavily |
| It’s chucking it down | It’s raining very heavily |
| You’ll get soaked | It’s raining very heavily and you should avoid going out |
| Knee deep | It’s snowed a lot |
| It’s slushy | The snow is melting |
| Aren’t we having unseasonal weather? | The weather is not right for the time of the year |
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