Affiliate disclosure: this site contains affiliate links. This means that if you come to make a purchase, I will earn a little commission at no extra cost for you, and this helps keep producing free content for you. Thank you for your support.
How to describe weather in French (La météo)
3. Useful words about the weather
​
To be confortable talking about the weather, you need to know some keywords of this vocabulary list; at least the main verbs like faire /pleuvoir (to rain), adjectives like hot (chaud) /cold (froid) and the cardinal points like east/west.
​
-
la météo : weather/weather forecasting
-
le temps : weather
-
le soleil : sun
-
la chaleur : heat
-
le froid : cold
-
la canicule : heat wave
-
les saisons (f) : seasons
-
les nuages (m) : clouds
-
la pluie : rain
-
le vent : wind
-
le brouillard : fog
-
l'orage (m) : thunderstorm
-
la tempête : storm
-
la neige : snow
-
l'ouragan (m) : hurricane
-
le cyclone : cyclone
-
le tonnerre : thunder
-
les éclairs (m) : lightnings
-
l'inondation (f) : flood
-
la grêle : hail
-
la mousson : monsoon
-
pleuvoir : to rain
-
faire : to do
-
avoir : to have
-
sec/sèche : dry
-
humide : humid
-
nord : north
-
Sud : south
-
est : east
-
ouest : west
​
​
1. What is the weather in French?
Talking about the weather is one of the most common topics when you don't know what to discuss. It's good to know how to bring up the subject. So, what's the weather in French?
Weather in French can be translated as la météo or le temps which also means time in French.
​
To ask about the weather you can ask the following questions:
​
Informal
-
Il fait quel temps? => What is the weather like?
-
Il fait quelle température? => What is the temperature?
​​
Formal
-
Quel temps fait-il?
-
Quelle température fait-il?
​
​
​
​
​
2. How to say the weather in French?
​
To reply you can use the vocabulary in the infographic below with the following combination, to describe the weather.
​
Il fait + adverb
​
Example
-
Il fait beau => the weather is nice
-
Il fait mauvais => the weather is bad
-
il fait chaud => it is hot
-
il fait froid => it is cold
-
Il fait frais => It is cool
​
​
Il + conjugated verb
​
Example
-
Il pleut => it is raining
-
il neige => It is snowing
-
il vente => it is windy
​
​
Il y a + du / de la/ de l' / des
​
Example
-
Il y a du vent => it's windy
-
Il y a de l'orage => It is stormy
-
Il y a des nuages => It is cloudy
-
Il y a de la pluie => It is rainy
​
​
Le temps est + adjectif
​
Example
-
Le temps est pluvieux => The weather is rainy
-
Le temps est nuageux => The weather is cloudy
-
Le temps est orageux => The weather is stormy
-
Le temps est ensoleillé => The weather is sunny
​
To speak about the temperature, you'll use Il fait+ Nombre+ degrés.
​
Example
-
Il fait 30 degrés. => it's 30 degrees.
​
🤚 Note that we use degree Celcius in France.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
4. Expressions about weather
​
Weather is often used in idiomatic expressions. If you encounter expressions like
"Il fait un froid de canard" or "Il fait un froid de chien", then you should understand that it means in fact it is very cold.
There are numerous expressions related to French weather. I will dedicate a special post on them very soon.
​
​
5. Practice your knowledge about French weather
​
Practice makes perfect. To help you check your knowledge of the French weather vocabulary, we have designed the Quiz bellow. Take it to see how well you know la météo and make sure you have at least 6/8.
​