A weather forecast

Listen to a weather forecast and answer the questions to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Hello and good morning! Well, we're off to a good start in the south this week, as most of the rain from the weekend has disappeared – just a few patches of cloud and maybe some showers here on the east coast. They'll all clear up by lunchtime, though. Over the next day or so, London and the area around Kent can expect a couple of isolated showers, but mostly dry through until Thursday.

It's not such good news for the north-west this week, I'm afraid: more wet weather, and not a lot of sunshine. Some of today's showers will be heavy – and even thundery in Manchester and across the Pennines. Leeds will escape the thunderstorms, with drizzle and light rain only throughout the rest of the day and tonight.

Elsewhere it becomes dry today, but with some foggy patches towards Wales. In England, tomorrow morning will see a dry, bright start in most places, with high temperatures throughout the week. We might see one or two thunderstorms appearing as the week goes on, with temperatures everywhere at 29 to 30 degrees.

By the weekend, unfortunately, the dry weather will make way for mostly cloudy skies and rain. The rain will move from Scotland, down towards the north and reach the south coast by Saturday afternoon. Temperatures, at least, will stay mostly warm at around 21 degrees for the weekend. It might feel like a nice change from the high twenties and early thirties we'll see in the week. That's all from me until tomorrow. Enjoy the mini-heatwave while you can!

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

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Discussion

What kind of weather do you like best?

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Language level

B1 English level (intermediate)

I love the fall and spring weather, little heat during the day and cooler nights.

Sunny and warm weather is fine. ;)

Hello everyone! Could anyone tell me what the difference is between THROUGHOUT and THROUGH? Also, how and when to use these two words? Thank you in advance! Sincerely, Natasa

Hello Natasa Tanasa,

Both words have several uses, but I think the one that may be confusing is this:

The disease spread throughout the country.

The disease spread through the country.

In this use, the difference is degree: throughout suggests it reached every part of the country, while through suggests is spread widely, but not necessarily to every single place.

If you had a different context in mind then feel free to provide an example and we'll be happy to comment.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you so much for the answer Peter M! I had some doubts about the next sentence: * It is important to maintain a positive attitude throughout the interview... And that's why I wasn't sure when to use through or throughout. :/

Hello again Natasa Tanasa,

The sentence is fine. We can use throughout to mean 'from beginning to end', which is the meaning it has in your example.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

The weather I like most is drizzle, cloudy and wet days, because I usually sit down in my favorite couch of my house, reading a novel and drinking tea.

I like the cold weather. I live in Bogotá, Colombia and I love the weather here because is not hot although sometimes drizzle I like that. Here we have heatwaves but is not usual, the most days are rainy days or with little sun

Actually i preffer Sunny weather. I love it

I like sunshine the best, because in sunny weather I enjoy and feel happy.

Hi What an interesting sounds did I hear while I was listening the recording ? :-))))))))))))))))))))) Do Britishcouncil record lesson on the kitchen ? :-))))))))))))))))))))))

Hi lean,

Actually, you're almost correct! The text is a weather forecast which people often listen to in the kitchen, so there are background noises from a kitchen. When I listen to it I feel like making myself a cup of tea!

More seriously, we often have background noises in our recordings. After all, the world is full of sounds and noise, and we think it's important for listening in the classroom to be in as similar as possible to listening outside the classroom.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Peter I can not add new comment for three days. But before I could add.

Hello senaguner,

I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. I'm not aware of any problems, but it looks as if you can post comments now. If this happens again, please feel free to contact us again.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello ,
this my first time i write a comment ,so I hope The LearnEnglish Team
correct my comment if I have mistakes.

"In most of time I like rainy weather ,becuase i live in country has a sunny wether throughout the year, and that weather make me lazy and tired opposite of rainy weather ,it make me more productivity and active. add to that , my city that I live in , hasn't any place to swim or park to smell the wat air
,althought we live close to sea"

Hi assia,

Welcome to the site :) We hope you enjoy your learning here.

Sorry, we don't correct user comments here, but we do answer questions. Feel free to write a comment and ask a question if you have one.

Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks for replying
I hope improving my english fastly.

It is the cloudy sunny weather that is not hot or cold you'll be able to take a tour or go with ur family to some magnificent place.

I have a preference for clear and warm weather over windy and rainy. But... can't be helped. ;)

I preffer the rainy weather.I love rain and clouds.

I live in a country with a Mediterranean climate and I like much it.

I like the weather whose temperatures, at least, will stay mostly warm at around 21 degrees. ;)

I live in France, there are 4 different seasons but I love summer. The time of Sunset in summer is 22 or 23h so we can enjoy a long day and we don't need electric lamp in the evening. The day of summer is very bright, sunny. Although in some tropical countries, sunshine with high UV index can harm for skin but sunshine make us happier beaucause sunshine stimulate our body to produce somme happiness hormon like serotonin, endorphin. So we feel better in summer., especially in cold coutries. In winter, it's very cold, cloudy. Drizzles or showers in winter and lack of sunshine make people depressed. We like travelling in a hot coutry in our winter. It's my opinion as i live in cold country, but people live in hot coutries like india or Philipines they coud dream about snow or cold weather

Very good explanation

fantastic explanation.

I like all weathers but I really enjoy both summer and winter. I love going to the beach to swim and eat sea food in summer. But I also like hear the rain as I’m reading a book or watching a movie in winter.

I like rainy weather due to when it's raining the temperature low and I can enjoy better the day.

I like winter season. I enjoy in winter most. I love sleeping. In winter season there is more time to sleep This is good for me. I don't like summer or rainy season. There is lot of problems faced by me. One of those, in summer season too much hot and I don't like heatwave.

My lovely season is Spring and summer. It's like they are bright, sunny, shiny and colourful seasons. Sometimes I hate if there is any heat wave. But as general I love summertime. I hate winter because of the rain shower, muddy land and being at home most of the time. Summer is equal to joy.

l like winter.Sometimes I like light rain,it's time feeling well.

I like summer , with average temperature. Drizzle makes the weather pleasant. Afterwards, if sun appears , that is the scene i like the most . Sunlight fills each drop of rain with light.

I like breezy weather especially after drizzle rain

I don't like hot or cold weather. I love drizzle, but not for a long time, maybe one or two days of the week is enjoyable for me.

I don't like extreme winter nor summer. Enjoy the transition between these two kinds of weather when I can enjoy doing any work wearing whatever I want to wear.

I like when it rains and I don't have to leave my home :)

Me too. When it rains, i like sleeping at home

thanks, but i have a problems to memorize the details, may any one advice me what to do for that?

Hello Mr.hanymabrok,

Do you mean the details of a weather forecast? Could you tell us a little more about what you have problems memorizing?

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, Not a satisfactory score. I am not sure how to memorize all the details (name of the places along with its direction and weather conditions) in this short span of time. Need some tips. Thanks :)

Hello Raya,

Listening tasks should not be a test of memory. Do the task while you listen, not after, so that you are reacting to the text as you listen to it, not trying to remember information from earlier. If you need to listen more than once then do so, and after you finish the exercise you can listen while you read the transcript, which will help build your comprehension skills over the long-term.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Okay, Peter! Thank you for your guidance. :)

This lesson was difficult to because I do not know where are the places wich are mencionated in the reading, I could not indentify it. In my case, my favorite wheater I lile mild weather

Actually, I like hot and snowy weather. But when the weather is gloomy I feel very bad.

What this mean : we're off??

Hello Mohammed Jamal,

'to be off' has several common meanings that depend on the situation. Often it is used to show that an action has begun, and in weather forecast on this page, the phrase 'we're off to a good start' means 'the weather has been good'.

A similar use of 'off' in a different context is 'I'm off', which is usually followed by 'to' + a location, e.g. 'I'm off to work' or 'The kids are off to school'. These mean 'I'm leaving for work' or 'I'm going to work' and 'The kids are leaving for school' or 'The kids are going to school'.

There are still other meanings (!), but now at least you're off to a good start at understanding one of the ways this word is used.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

I like a crisp and clear sunny day.

a little bit confused about this sentence-"The rain will move from Scotland, down towards the north and reach the south coast", so basically the train will move from the north to the south, what does the "down towards the north" mean here?

Hello Enidcd,

I can see how that is confusing, but if you look at a map of the UK I think it will be clear. 'the north' refers to the north of England, which lies south of Scotland. So the rain begins at the top of the island (in Scotland), then moves down to the north of England and then from there on down to the south (of England).

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

I like having a sunny day every day. Unfortunately, since I am living in Germany and here is not a lot of sunshine. Most time is a cold and dry cold. Sometimes, drizzle weather never cleared up the sky from the cloud. It makes many people very depressed. Throughout a day will not shine the sun. Maybe, elsewhere in South Germany would be fine weather so clouds should make way for the South.

Bright days impact on our mood positively, but I enjoy rainy days too)

A weather forecast

Preparation

Transcript

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

Language level