The weather affects us all, from the simple act of raising an umbrella to an aeroplane changing its course to avoid a thunderstorm. Weather has always been elemental to the course of human history.

The earth's atmosphere exhibits an extraordinary variety of weather phenomena. On a local level, we may feel a gust of wind that lasts just a few seconds. On a global scale, the circulations of huge tropical Hadley cells determine whole regional climates and weather systems. The world's weather is perpetually on the move, pushed and shaped by air currents in the atmosphere. Our personal experience of weather from day to day is a tiny sample of this global weather system.

In this section of the website we hope to help you learn about the weather finding out out the answer to common questions such as: Why does it snow? How do clouds form? Why does it rain? Find out more about various weather phenomena from the links below:

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  Snow and snow forecasts

  What is snow? Will it be a white Christmas? How do we forecast snow? Find out more about snow in the UK.

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  Ice

  Find out about the different types of ice and how they form.

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  Frost

  An introduction to how and why frost forms.

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  Wind

  An introduction to wind - from what makes it blow to where gets the most wind in the UK.

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  Rain and rainfall in the UK

  Find out more about types of precipitation - including rain, snow, sleet and hail - and what causes it to fall.

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  What is fog?

  What is fog and what causes the different types of fog?

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  Clouds

  Find out more about the clouds in the sky including what clouds are made of and the different types of clouds.