Discover everything you ever wanted to know about the weather from how sun rays form to why it rains. Learn how to spot different types of clouds, why hurricanes are getting stronger, how natural disasters can turn deadly and if we can control our climate.
Welcome
Forecasting
Predicting the weather • To take an umbrella or not? How we get those all-important forecasts…
Weather symbols • How to read and understand the symbols on a weather map
Weather monitoring • Discover the method that helps us prepare for the elements, come rain or shine
The atmosphere
The Earth’s atmosphere • It’s all around us, but how much do we know about our atmosphere?
The ozone layer explained • Learn about the layer of gas that surrounds and protects our planet
The water cycle • Rain falling today has spent billions of years travelling between Earth’s clouds, oceans and ice
The weather explained
How sunrays form • To create these beautiful beams, all that’s needed is light, clouds, shadows and dust!
Why is the sky blue? • Ancient philosophers puzzled over why the sky is blue – now we know it’s all down to something called Rayleigh scattering
What is humidity? • Discover the cause of uncomfortable, muggy weather that leaves you sweating
Why, and how, does it rain? • Most people associate the rain with gloomy weather, but it is very important for the maintenance of our ecosystem
What is the smell of rain? • After rainfall, this distinctive aroma is released from the soil
Why is snow white? • How light changes our perception of snow
Snowflakes • How are these beautiful crystals of ice formed?
How clouds reveal the weather • Shaped by the landscapes they cross, clouds warn us about incoming storms and even form on other planets
Cloud-spotting guide • Find out what causes clouds to form and learn how to identify the most common types in our atmosphere
What are lenticular clouds? • Explore the cloud formations that look suspiciously like UFOs
Asperitas clouds • Find out what causes the world’s newest cloud formation
Why are rain clouds grey? • The reason why overcast days are so dismal
How fog forms • When water vapour turns to liquid, a murky mass fills the air
Fogbows • Is a fogbow really very different to a rainbow? And how exactly is it formed?
What is cloud seeding? • It’s possible to make it rain, snow or shine through artficial means. Here’s how…
Lightning • Capable of breaking down the resistance of air, lightning is a highly visible discharge of electricity capable of great levels of destruction. But how is it formed?
What happens when you get struck by lightning? • The parts of the body that feel the effect if struck by lightning
What causes wind? • How the uneven heating of our planet produces everything from a light breeze to a full-force gale
A windy world • How streams of air are defined as they traverse the globe
The wind superhighway • How the atmosphere creates Earth’s air currents high in the sky
World’s weirdest weather • The science behind our planet’s most spectacular, dangerous and downright bizarre weather phenomena
Weather phenomena
How rainbows form • The physics behind these colourful optical illusions
Double rainbows • What causes this colourful meteorological phenomenon?
Frost quakes • What causes these seismic events that shake the ground and create a loud boom?
What is freezing rain? • Discover the supercooled droplets that can be very dangerous
What is a weather bomb? • Learn how intense low-pressure systems drop severe weather on...