England is the home of rain. It is traditional. That’s why you should always carry an umbrella. This text is about rain and flooding. Useful phrases are explained and then some different types of rain are detailed, followed by some famous quotes. This blog is a bad news story about the English climate, but for some balance, listen to SGI teachers Charlie and Bren talking about the normal British weather in this free podcast (also available for free download on itunes) 
Heavy rain has forced many British residents to evacuate their homes recently. The widespread flooding has hit homes in the South West and Wales the hardest. Weather forecasters have predicted even more downpours in coming weeks and the London Met (Meteorological) Office has issued flood warnings. A few sunny spells are expected though so it isn’t all bad news. The floods have caused lots of damage which has included broken fences, damaged houses and countless trees have been uprooted and knocked down blocking roads. Almost 3 inches of rain fell in the worst affected areas and winds of up to 70mph left some parts of England under water. As the level of water rose, a large group of people were left with no power for several hours. Some residents had no choice but to abandon their homes and even cars in some cases. So far, thousands have been rescued by police as the rain continues to batter the UK. Weather forecasters said the risk of flooding will remain for some time to come and warned of further heavy storms across England, Wales and Ireland. Government authorities are doing what they can to strengthen flood defences and monitor river levels but are quite powerless if rivers overflow.
Useful phrases about English rain and flooding
- flooding
- when there is lots of rain and it enters houses
- heavy rain
- a large amount of strong rain
- evacuate their homes>
- to leave your house because it isn’t safe
- widespread flooding has hit homes
- many homes are affected by strong rain
- downpours
- large amounts of rain
- issued flood warnings
- released predictions of flooding to tell people about the danger
- trees have been uprooted and knocked down
- trees were pulled out of/pushed to the ground
- abandon their homes
- to leave them because they aren’t safe
- rain continues to batter the UK
- the strong rain hasn’t stopped in the UK
- flood defences
- systems set up to prevent flooding
- rivers overflow
- when the water in a river rises and spills over
Ways to talk about rain
It’s raining cats and dogs =This is a typical idioms originating from the old days when cats and dogs slept on the roof of a house which had a straw roof. When it rained, the straw got wet and the animals fell through. Light summer showers =Short periods of a small bit of rain as one or two storm clowds pass over on a nice summer day. Drizzle =Fine rain which doesn’t wet you very much A heavy downpour =Lots of heavy rain It’s pouring it down It’s coming down in buckets The heavens opened =All mean you better find some shelter otherwise you will get very wet because it is raining a lot
Some famous quotes about rain from writers:
Rain, so loud, like horses weeping —F. Scott Fitzgerald Rain … swept the deck in angry gusts, like a nagging woman who cannot leave a subject alone —W. Somerset Maugham Rain poured down like a waterfall —Jilly Cooper If you’re really interested in precipitation, you can learn more about the rain in UK here
