Weather is a safe topic for conversation. That probably explains why people often begin conversations by talking about the weather.

Here are some common weather-related conversation starters.

‘Lovely day, isn’t it?’ ‘Yeah. Nice.’
Nice day, but there is a nip in the air. (A nip in the air = a feeling of frost)
It is a bit nippy today. (= It is a bit cold today.)
What horrible weather we’re having.
The sky is overcast. I think it’s going to rain.
It hasn’t stopped raining in weeks.
It’s raining.
It’s snowing.

Predicting the weather

There are several ways to make predictions about the weather.

I think the sky will soon clear up. (= I think it will stop raining soon.)
I think the fog will soon clear up.
It’s going to rain / snow by the looks of it.
They’re expecting thunderstorms / rains / showers / snow in the west.
We’re in for heavy showers / frost tonight.

We often talk about weather as if it has a personality.

It’s been trying to rain all morning.
I think the rains are coming our way.

Some general questions and answers about the weather

‘What’s the weather like?’ ‘It’s very cloudy. I think it is going to rain.’
‘It is a sunny day. Shall we go out?’ ‘Yes, why not?’
Don’t forget to take an umbrella before you go out. It might rain.
‘It’s windy. I don’t think we should go out now.’
‘It’s raining. We can’t go out now.’
‘It’s stormy. I think we should cancel the trip.’
‘It’s snowing. Don’t go out now. You’ll catch a cold.’
‘What awful weather we are having!’ ‘Yeah. It is ridiculously hot.’
‘What a nice day!’
‘What a lovely morning!’
‘The weather is fine.’
‘We didn’t get much rain this year.’
‘We’d a lot of rain last week.’
‘We haven’t had any rain in over six months.’