Due to the incredibly wet spring we’ve had (and the British love of discussing the weather!), this combined June blog will outline the vocabulary that is available in English for different degrees of rain. We’ll start with the lightest rain, and progress through to the heaviest.
mizzle ['mɪzl] The finest possible rain, the word is a portmanteau word (a new word made from combining two) between mist and drizzle. It’s only just falling and although it feels like you don’t need to bother with a raincoat, it soaks through all clothes.
drizzle ['drɪzl] The kind of rain that Britain is most famous for. It’s continuous and depressing, but can result in very green gardens, and the mud and puddles that young children love.
showers ['ʃaʊəs] Short sharp bursts of fairly light rain. There’s a proverb “April showers bring May flowers” – the result of lots of rainfall in April is beauty in May.
cloudburst ['klaʊdbɜːst] A longer, heavy and sudden period of rainfall. Think of a water-filled balloon being popped.
monsoon [mɒn'suːn] Although the official definition is a long period of heavy rain in India or southeast Asia, it can also be used for heavy rain anywhere (though in Europe it will never be as serious as a true monsoon).
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