Weather

Weather is what the atmosphere is doing right now: how hot or cold it is, whether it is raining or sunny, how strong the wind is, and what clouds are in the sky. It is one of the things that makes Earth so different from any other planet we know. Weather is driven by energy from the Sun, which heats different parts of the Earth unevenly. Warm air rises, cool air sinks, water evaporates and condenses, and all of this creates winds, clouds, rain and storms. The study of weather is called meteorology.

  • Hottest recorded56.7 °CDeath Valley, USA, 1913
  • Coldest recorded-89.2 °CVostok Station, Antarctica, 1983
  • Strongest wind ever408 km/hBarrow Island, Australia, 1996
  • Highest rainfall in a dayApprox. 1.8 mCyclone Hyacinthe, La Reunion, 1980
  • Lightning per secondApprox. 100Worldwide
  • Cloud types10 mainCirrus, cumulus, stratus and others

What causes weather

Almost every kind of weather comes from one basic fact: the Sun heats the Earth unevenly. The equator gets more direct sunlight than the poles. Land heats and cools faster than water. Mountains, deserts and forests all absorb the Sun's heat differently. The result is constantly shifting patterns of warm and cool air, which create wind, clouds, rain and storms as the atmosphere tries to even things out.

Weather vs climate

People often confuse weather and climate, but they are different.

  • Weather is what is happening in the atmosphere right now, or in the next few days. It can change quickly.
  • Climate is the average pattern of weather in a particular place over many years (usually 30 years or more). It changes slowly.

The phrase often used is "climate is what you expect; weather is what you get". Britain has a temperate maritime climate, but today's weather in London might be raining, sunny or snowy.

Fact At any given moment, approx. 2,000 thunderstorms are happening somewhere on Earth, producing around 100 lightning strikes every second: about 8.6 million strikes per day. A single bolt of lightning can be hotter than the surface of the Sun (over 27,000 °C) and can carry up to 1 billion volts.

Pick a topic below to find out more.

What Is Weather?The day-to-day state of the air around us: sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy, snowy. Driven by the Sun, water, and the spinning of the Earth.
CloudsFloating collections of tiny water droplets or ice crystals. Come in many shapes, each with a different name and meaning.
RainLiquid water falling from clouds. Earth's main way of moving fresh water from the oceans back onto the land.
ThunderstormsStorms with thunder, lightning, heavy rain, and sometimes hail. Caused by huge towering clouds called cumulonimbus.
LightningA giant spark of electricity inside or beneath a storm cloud. Heats the air to five times hotter than the Sun's surface for a split second.
TornadoesViolently spinning funnels of air reaching from a storm cloud to the ground. The strongest winds on the planet.
HurricanesHuge spinning storms that form over warm tropical oceans. Also called typhoons or cyclones depending on where in the world they form.
Snow and IceFrozen water falling as snowflakes or building up as ice. Each snowflake has six sides and a unique pattern.
WindMoving air. Caused by the Sun heating some parts of the Earth more than others, making air rise, sink, and rush around.
Climate vs WeatherWeather is what is happening right now. Climate is the average weather a place has over many years.