French Weather Vocabulary: Words and Expressions for Real Life

Update: 21 September 2026

French weather vocabulary is useful from your very first real-life conversations. Whether you are chatting with a neighbour, planning a day out or checking the forecast before a trip, knowing how to talk about the weather in French will help you communicate more naturally.

The weather is also one of the easiest ways to start a conversation with a French speaker. In my French conversation lessons, I often use familiar everyday topics like this to help learners feel more comfortable speaking and responding spontaneously.

In this guide, you will discover essential French weather words, useful questions and natural expressions such as il fait beau, il y a du vent and il risque de pleuvoir. You will also learn how to understand a French weather forecast and use a few colourful idioms that native speakers love.

First of all, there are 4 different possibilities to talk about the weather in French as follows :

Il fait / il ne fait pas + adverbe

First, for some phrases, you’re going to use the verb faire, which means to do or to make.

• Il fait beau (the weather is nice)
• Il ne fait pas beau (the weather isn’t nice)
• Il fait chaud (it’s hot)
• Il fait froid (it’s cold)
• Il fait doux (it’s mild)

Il y a / il n’y a pas + nom

Then, you can use there is followed by a noun (il y a) :

• Il y a du soleil (there’s sun)
• Il n’y a pas de vent (there’s no wind)
• Il y a des nuages (there are clouds)
• Il y a de l’orage (there’s a storm)

Il + Weather Verb

And a third option is also to use a verb with il (meaning it) :

• Il pleut (it’s raining)
• Il ne pleut pas (it’s not raining)
• Il gèle (it’s freezing)
• Il a neigé (it snowed)
• Il grêlera (it will hail)

These verbs can be conjugated in different tenses depending on when the weather event occurs. If you need to review forms such as il pleut or il gèle, my guide to the French present tense explains the main conjugation patterns and uses.

Le temps est + Adjective

Adjectives can also be used to describe the weather, often with le temps, le ciel or another weather-related noun:

• Le temps est ensoleillé. (The weather is sunny.)
• Le ciel est nuageux. (The sky is cloudy.)
• La journée sera pluvieuse. (The day will be rainy.)
• Les routes sont enneigées. (The roads are covered with snow.)

Notice how the adjective changes to agree with the noun it describes: nuageux agrees with le ciel, pluvieuse with la journée and enneigées with les routes. My guide to French adjective agreement and placement will help you understand these changes and use adjectives correctly.

Knowing a few essential French weather words will help you understand forecasts, describe the day and make conversation more easily. Remember to learn each noun with its article, as this will also help you remember its gender.

Common Weather Nouns

In everyday French, la météo can refer both to the weather and to the weather forecast:

• Tu as regardé la météo ? (Did you check the weather forecast?)
• La météo ne s’annonce pas très bonne. (The weather forecast does not look very good.)

Essential French weather-related verbs

Several French verbs describe changes in the weather. Some of them are used impersonally with il.

Weather verbs such as pleuvoir, neiger and geler are frequently used in impersonal constructions. You can learn more about this structure in my guide to French impersonal verbs and expressions.

Main adjectives used to describe the weather in French

French weather adjectives must agree with the noun they describe.

Talking About Temperatures in French

To give the temperature in French, use il fait + number + degrés:

• Il fait vingt degrés. (It is 20 degrees.)
• Il fait moins cinq degrés. (It is minus 5 degrees.)
• Il fera trente degrés demain. (It will be 30 degrees tomorrow.)

To ask about the temperature, you can say:

• Il fait combien de degrés ? (What is the temperature?)
• Quelle est la température dehors ? (What is the temperature outside?)

These expressions are also useful when discussing changes in temperature:

• Les températures vont augmenter. (Temperatures are going to rise.)
• La température a beaucoup baissé. (The temperature has fallen considerably.)
• Les maximales atteindront 25 degrés. (Maximum temperatures will reach 25 degrees.)

Understanding a French Weather Forecast

French weather forecasts use several expressions that you may not hear in a basic everyday conversation.

Here are some typical sentences you may hear in a French forecast:

• Des averses sont prévues dans l’après-midi. (Showers are forecast for the afternoon.)
• Le temps restera sec dans le sud. (The weather will remain dry in the south.)
• Il y aura de belles éclaircies en fin de journée. (There will be some lovely sunny spells towards the end of the day.)
• Un risque d’orage est prévu ce soir. (There is a risk of thunderstorms this evening.)

To see this vocabulary used in context, you can check the latest forecasts on Meteo France.

In addition, discussing the weather in French is the ultimate icebreaker ! Here are some questions you may ask to engage a conversation with locals in France :

How to Ask About the Weather

Quel temps fait-il ? is the standard form, while Il fait quel temps ? is common in informal spoken French.

How to Answer Naturally

You do not always need to give a long or detailed answer. These short responses sound natural in everyday conversation:

• Il fait beau, mais un peu frais. (The weather is nice, but it is a little cool.)
• Il y a beaucoup de vent aujourd’hui. (It is very windy today.)
• Le ciel est couvert, mais il ne pleut pas. (The sky is overcast, but it is not raining.)
• Il devrait faire beau cet après-midi. (The weather should be nice this afternoon.)
• Ils annoncent de la pluie pour demain. (Rain is forecast for tomorrow.)
• On dirait qu’il va pleuvoir. (It looks as though it is going to rain.)

French speakers often use colourful expressions to describe particularly hot, cold, wet or unpleasant weather. If you enjoy this type of vocabulary, you can also discover my guides to French idioms with food and colourful French idioms.

Be careful with the register: expressions such as ça caille and quel temps pourri are very common in casual conversation, but they would not normally appear in a formal weather report.