Winter Weather Conditions

Most weather-related vocabulary in English describes typical British weather – it is overcast (grey), raining/drizzling (light rain), windy or foggy – but what about more extreme winter weather we experience in winter months?

Winter weather is characterised by lots of precipitation, which falls onto the ground in drops (rain and drizzle), or snow flakes. Sleet is a mix of rain and snow. When the snow thaws (or melts), it often turns into slush before it disappears. At very low temperatures, water vapour freezes on the ground into ice crystal to form frost and water turns into ice, often forming long icicles hanging from roofs of houses.

In winter, weather conditions can sometimes be extreme, with very low temperatures and strong wind, such as a blizzard. In the mountains with lots of snow there is a danger of avalanche, where large masses of snow roll down a mountain side, or a whiteout, where the visibility is severely reduced by huge quantities of snow blown by the wind. Wind can also create a sudden burst of snow called a flurry, and when it blows large masses of snow into a heap, it is a drift.

If you have to travel in extreme winter conditions, you will first have to take a shovel and clear the snow around your car. Then you will have to defrost your windshield in order to see where you are going. If you are in a hurry, you might want to use the ice scraper to remove the frost or snow from the car windows. As required by law, your car would have to be fitted with winter tyres, and chains for snow conditions. You must drive carefully, because wet roads can be slippery, and if they turn icy, that can be very dangerous. The most dangerous form of ice is the so called black ice, which is transparent (clear) and therefore difficult to detect, especially at night. In areas with lots of snow, roads must be cleared by a snow plough, as well as de-iced or gritted (or salted). Gritting prevents the roads from freezing and the snow from sticking onto the road surface.

And if you want to be imaginative in saying it is really cold, you can say: It’s chilly; It’s nippy; It’s frosty; It’s biting cold; It’s freezing cold; It’s brass monkeys!