Interpretation

1. In Text 1, the writer connects the weather with the law courts and the highest legal authority in the country. What connection is he implying when he says that the Lord High Chancellor sits ‘at the very heart of the fog’. What opinion is he likely to have of the law and lawyers?

2. In Text 2, the writer connects the weather with the fact that not much work gets done. What is the contrast he is trying to create in the last sentence by using the words ‘gallantly’ and ‘sensible’?

3. In Text 3, the writer connects the weather with the season of the year and the festival of Christmas. What is the connection between the harshness of the weather and the determination of the singers?

4. Three of the sentences below represent the writer’s purpose when connecting weather to people. Decide which three represent the three texts and then tick the appropriate text they refer to.

Text (1, 2, 3)

Contrasting the harshness of the weather with the cheerfulness of the people. Complaining that the weather makes efficiency impossible. Suggesting that the gloomy, filthy weather reflects life in a big city with its pollution and depression. Accepting with ironic amusement that extreme weather conditions are inevitable. Emphasizing the hardships of poor people forced to live and work in unpleasant conditions.

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Weather Forecast

Ex. 1. Read weather forecasts and answer the question:

What is the most suitable forecast for:

going to the seaside skiing staying indoors visiting friends fishing

walking in the rain hazardous tourism watching a thriller going to a party

1. WEATHER: Sunny intervals and rather cold everywhere. Developing showers may be heavy and prolonged, perhaps with hail and thunder. Outlook: Sunny intervals and showers, heavy and wintry in places.

2. WEATHER: It will be wet and windy in most areas, followed by clearer showery weather. Gales are expected in many northern and western areas.

3. WEATHER: Dry with sunny intervals.

Tomorrow: Very warm. Some thundery showers.

4. WEATHER: Northern areas will have snow showers, while southern areas will be dry with occasional snow flurries.

Tomorrow and Thursday will remain rather cold with snow showers.

5. WEATHER: Today: A depression will move north-east across Central Britain. In most regions will be rain at first and some heavy rain is likely especially in the north and west. Over Scottish mountains there will be snow for a time.

Brighter showery weather will reach Wales and south-west England during the morning and this showery weather will spread north-eastwards to reach most regions later.

Tomorrow: Unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain, cold enough for snow on high ground.

6. WEATHER: All areas will have sunshine and showers after rain or sleet in the extreme South-east. Central and southern parts of England will have the most sunshine although there may be showers in the afternoon. In northern Britain and on high ground the showers will be more frequent.

7. WEATHER: In the first half of the day the weather will be cloudy with some rain and snow. Strong winds will prevail. Western winds will bring rainy weather, with temperature about one degree above zero.

8. WEATHER: After a rather long spell of warm weather, a considerable lowering of temperature is expected. There will be a strong wind and snow in places. Night temperature will fall to zero. After that the weather will become clearer, but the temperature will continue to fall, sometimes the temperature will reach 5 degrees below zero.

9. WEATHER: The weather this week is determined by air currents coming from the west, from the Atlantic Ocean. It will be mostly warm with slight drizzle. There will be rain and snow in places. Temperature during the daytime will be 2 degrees above zero and will vary from 5 degrees above zero to 2 degrees below zero at night.

10. WEATHER: Due to the depression lying off the north of England and the high in the south of England, tomorrow’s weather will be variable across the country. Starting, then, in the south-west, it’ll start cool and become warm with long periods of sunshine. Around London and the south-east, the day will be dry but cloudy at times. In the Midlands, it’ll be cloudy all day with showers at times. Moving over, then, to North Wales, there may be fog patches over the mountains for probably much of the day, while in South Wales it’ll be generally windy. In the north-east, it’ll be cloudy all day, some rain every where and it’ll be heavy at times. Further north in Scotland, we can expect sleet in those areas south of Edinburgh, while in the very north of Scotland and the Hebrides, there’ll be snow on high ground. Now in Northern Ireland, there’s a possibility of rain, and it’ll certainly be very cold. That’s the end of the weather forecast.

Ex. 2. Read the weather forecast form Dan Francis at the London Weather Center and guess what time of year it might be.

Francis: Hello. It’s been another warm and fine day for most of us. Temperatures in south-east England reached twenty-six degrees Celsius by mid-afternoon, and Brighton had fifteen hours of lovely sunshine. Further north it was a little cooler with maximum temperatures of around twenty-one degrees in southern Scotland, and in the far north-west of Scotland there were some light showers around midday. But the rest of the country, as I said, has been warm and dry with temperatures in the Midlands reaching twenty-three degrees Celsius by early afternoon although it was a little cooler along the west coast and in Northern Ireland.

But already the weather’s beginning to change, I’m afraid, and during the night showers will slowly move in from the Atlantic to reach south-west England and southern coasts of Wales by early morning.

The rest of the country will have a very mild, dry night with minimum temperatures no lower than fifteen degrees in the south, a little cooler – eleven degrees or so – in the north. Any remaining showers in northwest Scotland will pass quickly to leave a mild, dry night there too.

And now the outlook for Friday and the weekend. Well, southern Europe will, once …

Ex. 3. According to the weather forecast from Ex. 2. three of these maps are incorrect. Which is the correct one?

Ex. 4. Match each word in the list on the left with a suitable definition from the list on the right:

occasional fine settled light reached mild maximum minimum pass outlook

quite warm highest dry lowest go away became as high as not heavy forecast for the next few days not changing much sporadic

Ex. 5. Here is a weather forecast. Discuss with a partner the best way to replace weather symbols with appropriate words.

Well, it’s been a rather disappointing day, with very little (1)_____, in many parts of England today. The exception was down in the south-west, where they’ve had quite a bright, dry day, but there were a few (2)_____ further north in Wales, and in the south-east and Midlands, it’s been rather colder than expected. There was heavy (3)_____ the morning, with (4)_____ all day, and it was some time before the (5)_____ cleared. There’s been a lot of heavy (6)_____ in some districts in the afternoon, particularly in south-eastern areas, and that’s likely to be the pattern throughout the night. It’s been rather cloudy and very cold in the North of England, with snow on high ground and occasional (7)_____ elsewhere, but in the south and east of Scotland, the sun has managed to peep through, and they’ve had quite a pleasant day, though we can expect rain to spread from Northern Ireland during the night. It’s raining quite heavily in Northern Ireland at the moment, and there have also been some isolated (8)_____. In the highlands and in western districts of Scotland, the day began quite sunny and that melted the early morning frost, but later in the day, rain started to spread in from the Atlantic, and on high ground this has turned to (9)_____. The roads in highland districts are freezing over quickly, so drivers are warned to be very careful tonight.

Turning to the outlook for tonight and tomorrow, …

Ex. 6. Choose someone to act as a weather-man and give an outlook for Europe using prompts.

There may be …

We can expect

There’s a possibility (chance) of

… is (are) expected

… will have …

… will be (reach, drop, rise, pass …) …

***

Spain: + 34⁰C

Greece: uninterrupted sunshine, up to + 32⁰C

Italy: a long spell of sunshine, up to + 32⁰C

France: weather’s not settled

Belgium: cloudy with occasional rain around + 32⁰C

Netherlands: persistent cloud all day, some rain every where, around + 22⁰C

Scotland and Northern Ireland: heavy rain, temperatures drop to + 17⁰C

England: cloudy but dry with sunny periods up to + 23⁰C

Ex. 7. Read the weather forecast in the morning paper and make up similar one for your country.

Most of England and Wales will have a dry day with plenty of winter sunshine, but there will be fog patches early on in the south-east and Midlands, and early morning mist in coastal districts. Scattered showers are expected in the south-west, and there may be some heavier rain in Wales. The North of England will have cloudy weather, with some rain spreading from the west during the day, which will turn to sleet on higher ground. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, there will be widespread frost early on, severe in places. Snow is expected on high ground in the north Scotland, and there will be icy roads in the highland districts. In southern and eastern Scotland, there will be occasional outbreaks of rain, and there is a chance of isolated hail storms. Temperatures will range from 5-7⁰C (41-47⁰F) in the south of England to zero or below freezing point in northern Scotland.

Outlook.

Mainly dry, but it will become cloudier with more chance of rain in northern and western districts of the British Isles.

Ex. 8. Answer the following questions.

1. Do you think that weather forecast is always misleading?

2. Do you rely on weather forecast when planning your holidays?

3. Do you ever read the weather forecast in your newspaper? Why? Why not?

4. How would our lives be different if we had no weather forecast?

Ex. 9. Explain and expand on the following.

1. Weather forecasting has become much more sophisticated in recent years.

2. Satellites provide accurate and up-to-the-minute information about changes in the weather.

3. Weather forecasts are much more reliable than they used to be.

Ex. 10. A friend from abroad is coming to visit you. Write a letter telling him about the weather at the moment.