Nice day, isn’t it?

Yes, you’ve guessed it, this week we’re going to talk about the weather … Yes, the British love talking about the weather, in fact recent statistics show that more than nine out of ten Brits admit to having conversed about the weather in the past six hours and 38% in the last 60 minutes. But why? There are a few simple reasons:

• The weather affects everyone – whatever you do, it is mostly affected by the weather. Even if you stay at home, it is probably because the weather is bad!
• It’s good for small talk as it is not personal and something that everyone can agree on
• It’s a great opener for conversations such as:
  “The weather was nice at the weekend wasn’t it?”
  “Yes, it was, I spent the weekend in the garden. Do you like gardening?”
  “Yes I do ….”
  And so the conversation continues … note the use of AAA (Answer, Add information and Ask back) for perfect small talk
• It is totally unpredictable (some say just like the British) as it affected by six different air masses.

When I call my 95-year old Dad, I know the conversation will be very monosyllabic until we have spoken about the weather, strange isn’t it? I’ve recently started following “VeryBritishProblems” on Instagram (so very British and to be fully recommended) and a large number of the posts are to do with the weather … This weekend, of course, has been full of the heatwave “It’s a bit more hellish burning red than I like it, I’ll be honest”, or the typically British understatement “Bit hot”.

The British like talking about the weather so much they manage to mention it when they’re not talking about it with expressions such as “A storm in a tea cup”, “You have your head in the clouds” and if they’re not feeling well “I’m feeling under the weather” which, when I came to Germany, I soon found out is the equivalent of “Kreislaufprobleme”. I suppose you get the latter when there is a change in the weather but if you told a Brit you had circulation problems, they would think you had cold hands and feet …

And by the way,” it’s raining cats and dogs” apparently comes from the days that animals slept on thatched rooves (Reetdächer) and slipped off when it rained. It’s more common now to say “it’s chucking/bucketing it down”.

You can find more expressions at

33 Words and Phrases for Talking About the Weather in English | FluentU English

Now to call my Dad!