Learning English

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Introduction

How well do you know how to talk about winter? Phil met with BBC Weather forecaster and presenter Elizabeth Rizzini to learn some important words for talking about cold weather. Watch this video to practise your listening skills and learn the vocabulary.

1. Comprehension quiz

Watch the video and answer the questions.

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Download a free worksheet

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2. Vocabulary quiz

Fill the gaps in this quiz to test yourself.

ice
water that has become solid

freeze
turn from liquid to solid

freezing
0C – the temperature where water freezes

frost
ice that forms on the ground in winter

blizzard
wind and snow

sleet
wet snow

hail
hard pellets of ice

mild
less intense, free from extreme cold (or heat)

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Phil
What do you think about winter? It's cold and some of the weather can be difficult. Let's learn a bit more about it and some of the words we use to talk about it. I went to the weather studio to learn more from BBC weather presenter, Elizabeth Rizzini.

Now, we talked about snow. Are there other kinds of weather that we often get in the winter?

Elizabeth Rizzini
Well, we can get ice. That's when it rains and then everything freezes as we see a frost develop and temperatures drop below freezing by night. So, ice can be very dangerous. Sometimes when it snows then the wind can blow the snow and that's what's known as a blizzard. Blizzards can be very dangerous. So, you may have heard of sleet. Sleet is like very wet snow. It's that rain before it properly turns to snow. You might have heard of hail. Hail is formed in big clouds. Sometimes you can see it in thunderstorms too. And it's these little pellets of ice that move up and down in the cloud and then become so heavy that they fall out of the cloud still as a little pellet. That's hail.

Phil
So, we know that climate around the world has been changing. Has that had an effect on winter and what people are seeing where they live?

Elizabeth Rizzini
Yes. Now, we still see cold weather. Very cold weather sometimes. We still see snow. But in general, our winters are turning milder and wetter. That's the trend.

Phil
Thanks. We've just learnt some winter weather words. Can you remember what frost, sleet, hail and a blizzard are? If not, just watch this video again.