Weather Idioms and Sayings! List of common idioms and phrases about the weather in English with meaning and examples. Learn these weather idioms to help your English sound naturally like a native.
Weather Idioms and Sayings
45+ Weather Idioms in English
- (A Breath of) Fresh Air
- (Every Cloud Has a) Silver Lining
- A Cold Day In July
- A snowball’s chance in hell
- A storm in a teacup
- All Wet
- Be snowed under
- Be/feel under the weather
- Blood and Thunder
- Blow Hot and Cold
- Bolt from the Blue
- Brainstorm
- Break the ice
- Catch some rays
- Chase Rainbows
- Cold Day in Hell
- Come Hell or High Water
- Come rain or shine
- Cook Up a Storm
- Dead of winter
- Dog days of the summer
- Have (one’s) head in the clouds
- Heavens open
- In the dark
- It never rains but it pours
- Old Man Winter
- On Cloud Nine
- On Thin Ice
- In a Fog
- Get Wind of
- (Be) a Breeze
- Bone Dry
- Once in a blue moon
- Perfect Storm
- Pure as the driven snow
- Rain Cats And Dogs
- Rain on Someone’s Parade
- Right as Rain
- Soak up the sun
- Spit into The Wind
- Steal Someone’s Thunder
- Stormy relationship
- Take a Rain Check
- Three Sheets to the Wind
- Throw Caution to the Wind
- To be on thin ice
- To break the ice
- To run hot and cold
- Under the Weather
- When Hell Freezes Over
Weather Idioms with Meaning and Examples
Weather Idioms and Sayings (A)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with A.
(A Breath of) Fresh Air
- Meaning: Something new and innovative, especially in contrast to a stagnant state of affairs
- Example: I know Andrew can seem abrasive, but he wants to shake things up. To me his ideas are a breath of fresh air.
A Cold Day In July
- Meaning: (Something that) will never happen
- Example: It’ll be a cold day in July when our team wins the championship. We’re terrible.
Note: Generally used with “it’ll be.”
A snowball’s chance in hell
- Meaning: To be very unlikely to succeed at something
- Example: That small boat has a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving the hurricane.
A storm in a teacup
- Meaning: Unnecessary anger or worry about an unimportant or trivial matter
- Example: Their arguments were like a storm in a teacup.
All Wet
- Meaning: Completely mistaken
- Example: If you think I’m going to climb that rickety ladder, you’re all wet!
Note: All Wet
Weather Idioms and Sayings (B)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with B.
Be snowed under
- Meaning: Be extremely busy with work or things to do
- Example: I’m snowed under with work. I’ve got so much to do.
Be/feel under the weather
- Meaning: Be/feel unwell or ill
- Example: I can’t finish my work today. I feel under the weather.
Blood and Thunder
- Meaning: A dramatic, spectacular performance
- Example: The heavy metal concert ended with a piece that was truly blood and thunder.
(Be) a Breeze
- Meaning: Very easy
- Example: I stayed up all night studying for that exam, and then it turned out to be a breeze!
Blow Hot and Cold
- Meaning: Shift one’s level of enthusiasm repeatedly
- Example: I can’t figure out Stephanie’s attitude toward the trip-she’s blowing hot and cold about it. First she’s all excited, but then she seems reluctant to go.
Bolt from the Blue
- Meaning: Something completely unexpected
- Example: When Nick broke up with me, it was a bolt from the blue. I was stunned.
Brainstorm
- Meaning: To generate many ideas quickly
- Example: Before writing, our teacher asked us to brainstorm the topics for essays.
Break the ice
- Meaning: To get something started, particularly by means of a social introduction or conversation
- Example: It can be difficult to break the ice at formal events.
Bone Dry
- Meaning: Completely dry, totally without moisture
- Example: Several of the smaller rivers and reservoirs in Cape Town are bone dry, and without conservation measures the city could run out of water.
Weather Idioms and Sayings (C)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with C.
Catch some rays
- Meaning: To sit or lie outside in the sun
- Example: Yesterday, I lay on the beach and catch some rays.
Chase Rainbows
- Meaning: To pursue unrealistic goals
- Example: It might seem like chasing rainbows, but I’m convinced my research will have important applications someday.
Cold Day in Hell
- Meaning: A condition for something that would be extremely unlikely to occur
- Example: It’ll be a cold day in hell before I’ll go out with him!
Note: You can also say “When hell freezes over.”
Come Hell or High Water
- Meaning: No matter what happens
- Example: Come hell or high water, we will be in New York for the meeting tomorrow morning.
Come rain or shine
- Meaning: Do regularly, whatever the circumstances
- Example: I listen to the music every day, come rain or shine.
Cook Up a Storm
- Meaning: Cook a great deal of food
- Example: Why don’t you come over to our house for Thanksgiving? My mom will be cooking up a storm, and there’ll be more food than we can possibly eat.
Weather Idioms and Sayings (D, E, H)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with D, E, H.
Dead of winter
- Meaning: The coldest, darkest part of winter
- Example: I find myself dreaming of tropical islands every year in the dead of winter.
Dog days of the summer
- Meaning: The hottest day of summer
- Example: It has been at least 50 degrees every day this week!. The dog days of summer are here!
(Every Cloud Has a) Silver Lining
- Meaning: A positive aspect of a bad situation
- Example: The silver lining to the layoffs is that we all have more office space now.
Have (one’s) head in the clouds
- Meaning: Not know what is happening around you or out of touch with reality
- Example: My son always has his head in the clouds as he walks home from school.
Heavens open
- Meaning: Start to rain heavily
- Example: Let’s come back soon before the heavens open!
Weather Idioms and Sayings (I, O)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with I, O.
In the dark
- Meaning: Not informed
- Example: I was kept in the dark about the intervention until a few minutes before it was a reality.
It never rains but it pours
- Meaning: Bad luck and bad things tend to happen at the same time
- Example: I lost my wallet and now I’ve lost my phone. It never rains but it pours!
In a Fog
- Meaning: Confused, not mentally alert
- Example: I made a huge mistake. I stayed up all night studying, and I was in a fog when it came time to start the exam.
Old Man Winter
- Meaning: Winter
- Example: Old Man Winter is hanging around this year-it’s the middle of March, and we still have a lot of snow.
On Cloud Nine
- Meaning: Extremely happy
- Example: Cindy was on cloud nine after her boyfriend proposed to her.
Note: This formerly had the connotation of drug usage (as in the song of this title by the Temptations), but it’s now more generally used.
On Thin Ice
- Meaning: In a risky situation, especially in an interpersonal relationship
- Example: I have to go to work. I’ve been late twice this week already, and I’m on thin ice with the boss.
Once in a blue moon
- Meaning: Very rarely
- Example: He has very little contact to his family. He came home once in a blue moon.
Weather Idioms and Sayings (G, P, R)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with G, P, R.
Get Wind of
- Meaning: Hear about
- Example: A large stone sculpture was stolen from our backyard last night. If you get wind of anyone trying to sell one, please let me know.
Perfect Storm
- Meaning: A rare combination of disastrous occurrences
- Example: I’m sorry we damaged your car. It was a perfect storm-bad weather, poorly maintained brakes, and an inexperienced driver.
Pure as the driven snow
- Meaning: To be innocent and chaste (frequently used ironically)
- Example: I never thought Madonna was pure as the driven snow, but the book she wrote is crazy!
Note: This idiom was popularized by the George Clooney film of the same name.
Rain Cats And Dogs
- Meaning: Rain heavily
- Example: It’s been raining cats and dogs all day. I’m afraid the roof is going to leak.
Rain on Someone’s Parade
- Meaning: Spoil someone’s plans
- Example: I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but the park is closed tomorrow, so we can’t have our picnic there.
Right as Rain
- Meaning: Absolutely correct
- Example: Once again, John is right as rain. We should sell the Chicago office building.
Weather Idioms and Sayings (S)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with S.
Soak up the sun
- Meaning: To enjoy the sun
- Example: Let’s go out and soak up some sun.
Spit into The Wind
- Meaning: Wasting time on something futile
- Example: We’re just spitting into the wind when we try to enter that market. Local companies dominate it, and always have.
Steal Someone’s Thunder
- Meaning: Upstage someone
- Example: Kim stole Ted’s thunder at the meeting today. He had been working on his presentation for weeks, but she dropped the big news about the new president.
Stormy relationship
- Meaning: Relationship that has a lot arguments and disagreement
- Example: We broke up because we found our relationship to be stormy one.
Weather Idioms and Sayings (T, U, W)
List of idiomatic expressions about the weather that start with T, U, W.
Take a Rain Check
- Meaning: Decline an invitation but suggest that you’ll accept it at a later time.
- Example: I have to attend a work retreat tonight, so I can’t go out with you. But can I take a rain check?
Three Sheets to the Wind
- Meaning: Very drunk
- Example: I just saw Frances at the bar. She’s three sheets to the wind – I think I should go back and make sure she gets home safely.
Throw Caution to the Wind
- Meaning: To act in a daring way, without forethought
- Example: Throwing caution to the wind, he bet all the money he brought on his trip at the roulette table.
To be on thin ice
- Meaning: To be in a risky situation
- Example: If you keep asking him about his ex-girlfriend, you’ll be on thin ice.
To break the ice
- Meaning: To create a more friendly and relaxed atmosphere
- Example: Charmaine was great at breaking the ice, she always knows what to say to people.
To run hot and cold
- Meaning: To be unable to make up one’s mind
- Example: Alexi’s feelings about her run hot and cold, one minute he loves her, and the next, he’s bored of her.
Under the Weather
- Meaning: Feeling ill
- Example: Louise said she was going home early – she’s under the weather.
When Hell Freezes Over
- Meaning: Never
- Example: Tom stole cameras when he worked here. I’ll hire him back when hell freezes over.
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