Collocations 12: Weather

Jun 29, 2016

Talking about the weather
- ‘It’s great here. Have had . . .
  unbroken sunshine
  — ever since we arrived. We’re having a wonderful time — though in the middle of the day it’s just too . . .
  scorching hot
  to do anything but lie on the beach . . .
  soaking up the sunshine
  . This is the life!’
- ‘It’s been . . .
  pouring with rain
  all day. In fact I’ve never seen such . . .
  torrential rain
  ! It’s . . .
  freezing cold
  in the tent — we all got . . .
  soaked to the skin
  . Every half hour we look out of the tent hoping for . . .
  a break in the clouds
  . In vain! We’re going to a hotel next year!’
- ‘It . . .
  rained heavily
  all day yesterday but it’s dry at the moment. There’s . . .
  thick cloud
  , though, and it certainly . . .
  looks like rain
  . Quite . . .
  a strong wind is blowing
  too! Am glad we brought warm clothes!’
Weather conditions
- weather . . .
  deteriorates
  comment
  — formal – the weather is getting worse is more informal
- weather . . .
  improves
- thick . . .
  fog
- dense . . .
  fog
- . . .
  patches
  of fog comment
  — small areas of fog
- . . .
  patches
  of mist
- . . .
  a blanket
  of fog comment
  — thick and more extensive
- fog . . .
  comes down
- mist . . .
  comes down
- fog . . .
  lifts
- mist . . .
  lifts
- . . .
  strong
  sun
- . . .
  weak
  sun
- . . .
  heavy
  rain comment
  — not ~~strong~~ rain
- . . .
  driving
  rain comment
  — falling fast and heavily
- . . .
  heavy
  snow
- . . .
  fresh
  snow
- . . .
  crisp
  snow comment
  — fresh and hard
- . . .
  thick
  snow
- . . .
  driving
  snow
- . . .
  hard
  frost
- . . .
  light
  frost comment
  — not a ~~soft~~ frost
- . . .
  high
  wind
- . . .
  strong
  wind
- . . .
  light
  wind
- . . .
  biting
  wind comment
  — very cold
- the wind . . .
  picks up
  comment
  — gets stronger
- the wind . . .
  dies down
- the wind . . .
  blows
- the wind . . .
  whistles
Extreme weather
- Yesterday . . .
  freak weather conditions
  hit the south-west of England. . . .
  Gale-force winds
  caused a lot of damage to property. A number of buildings were destroyed, roofs were torn off and fences were blown down. Several rivers . . .
  burst their banks
  .
Complete these weather collocations.
- 1. crisp . . .
  snow
  - rain
  - snow
  - frog
- 2. patches of . . .
  fog / mist
  - fog
  - rain
  - mist
- 3. strong . . .
  sun / winds
  - sun
  - rain
  - winds
- 4. a biting . . .
  wind
  - wind
  - cloud
  - sun
- 5. a hard . . .
  frost
  - frost
  - cloud
  - snow
- 6. torrential . . .
  rain
  - rain
  - wind
  - sun
- 7. unbroken . . .
  sunshine / cloud
  - sunshine
  - frost
  - cloud
- 8. a blanket of . . .
  mist / frog / snow
  - frog
  - mist
  - snow
Change the underlined words so that each sentence has the opposite meaning.
- 1. There was a light wind yesterday. — There was a wind yesterday.
- 2. The wind picked up in the evening. — The wind in the evening.
- 3. The weather is likely to improve tomorrow. — The weather is likely to tomorrow.
- 4. It was scorching hot here yesterday. — It was here yesterday.
- 5. There may be some light rain later on today. — There may be some rain later on today.
- 6. The mist came down at about midday. — The mist at about midday.
Replace the underlined words in this letter with collocations.
- I wish I’d worn a warmer jacket. There’s a very cold wind. At least it’s not raining heavily today. I got extremely wet yesterday. I wish I was sunbathing on a Mediterranean beach.
  
  I wish I’d worn a warmer jacket. There’s a wind. At least it’s not today. I got yesterday. I wish I was on a Mediterranean beach.
Answer these questions about the collocations.
- 1. What might make a river burst its banks?
  
  Possible answer
  Very heavy rain or snow melting perhaps.
- 2. What can you probably see if someone says, ‘It looks like rain’?
  
  Possible answer
  You can probably see heavy grey clouds — but note that it has not started to rain yet.
- 3. What kind of wind is a freak wind?
  
  Possible answer
  It’s unexpected, unusual for the time of year or the place, and unusually strong.
- 4. Is it harder to drive if there’s dense fog or if there are patches of fog?
  
  Possible answer
  It’s probably harder to drive if there is dense fog. However, patches of fog can also be dangerous as you may unexpectedly run into fog.
- 5. What kind of weather conditions have you got if the rain is described as driving rain?
  
  Possible answer
  Heavy rain with wind.
- 6. If we talk about severe weather conditions hitting or striking an area, what kind of image is created?
  
  Possible answer
  An image of violence is created.
- 7. What, apart from wind, can blow or whistle?
  
  Possible answer
  People can blow or whistle. They do this by exhaling air form their lips. So you might blow on soup or tea to cool it. If you whistle you make a noise by blowing through your lips in a special way.
- 8. Which of these verbs suggests most destruction and which least?
  
  Possible answer
  Devastated suggests most destruction and damaged suggests least destruction.
Look up these words in your dictionary. Note down two more collocations for each one.
- wind
  . . .
  not a breath of wind
  a gust of wind
- rain
  . . .
  light rain
  a downpour of rain
  a shower of rain
  to rain hard
  rain fell heavily
- snow
  . . .
  snow falls
  snow melts
  a blanket of snow

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