How to Describe the Weather in French (with Examples)

The weather is the world's most reliable small talk, and France is no exception. Knowing how to say it's hot, it's raining, or it's a beautiful day lets you open conversations, understand the forecast, and sound natural in everyday French. The tricky part for English speakers is that French builds most weather phrases in a way that feels upside-down at first — it uses the verb faire ("to do/make") where English uses "to be." Once that clicks, the rest is just vocabulary. This guide gives you the patterns, the words, and the phrases to talk about le temps (the weather) with confidence.

The key pattern: il fait + adjective

In English we say "it is sunny." In French, the weather usually "does" something. The core structure is:

Il fait literally means "it makes," but here it's just the standard way to describe weather. Learn this one pattern and you can produce a dozen sentences instantly:

Notice that for sun, wind, and fog, French adds du (il fait du soleil). For temperature and general conditions, it's just the adjective (il fait chaud). This is the single most useful weather pattern in French — memorise it first.

When the weather "is" something: il y a and other verbs

Not everything uses il fait. Some conditions use il y a ("there is/are"), and a few rainy and snowy ones have their own special verbs.

With il y a:

You'll notice sun, wind, and fog can take either il fait du... or il y a du... — both are correct and common. Rain and snow, though, have their own dedicated verbs:

These come from the verbs pleuvoir (to rain) and neiger (to snow). They only exist in this "it" form — you'll never need to conjugate them for other people.

Core weather vocabulary

Beyond the set phrases, here's the vocabulary that lets you describe and understand a forecast:

A useful false-friend warning: le temps means both "the weather" and "time," depending on context. Quel temps fait-il ? is about the weather; Je n'ai pas le temps means "I don't have time."

Talking about temperature

To give a temperature, French uses faire again:

• Il fait 25 degrés. — It's 25 degrees.

• Il fait moins 3. — It's minus 3.

Remember France uses Celsius, not Fahrenheit. A few anchors: 0°C is freezing, 20°C is pleasant, 30°C is hot. If someone says il fait 35 degrés, reach for the sunscreen.

The seasons

Weather and seasons go hand in hand. The four seasons (les saisons):

Spring is the odd one out: it takes au printemps, while the other three take en (en été, en automne, en hiver).

Asking and answering: a mini dialogue

Here's how a natural exchange about the weather sounds:

Quel temps fait-il ? ("What's the weather doing?") is the phrase for asking about the weather — keep it ready.

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Using être instead of faire. It's il fait chaud, never il est chaud for the weather. (Il est chaud would describe an object being hot to the touch.)

• Saying je suis chaud for "I'm hot." That doesn't mean what you think — to say you feel hot, use j'ai chaud (literally "I have heat"). Likewise j'ai froid for "I'm cold."

• Forgetting du with sun/wind/fog. It's il fait du soleil, not il fait soleil.

• Translating "it's raining" word for word. There's no "it is" + "-ing" here — just the single verb il pleut.

Quick practice

Fill in the blank:

1. Today it's lovely: Il _____ beau.

2. It's raining: Il _____.

3. I'm cold: J'_____ froid.

4. What's the weather like? _____ temps fait-il ?

Answers: 1. fait · 2. pleut · 3. ai · 4. Quel

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you say "what's the weather like" in French? Quel temps fait-il ? — literally "what weather is it doing?" It's the standard way to ask about the weather. You can answer with il fait... plus an adjective, such as il fait beau (it's nice).

How do you say "it's raining" and "it's snowing" in French? Il pleut means "it's raining" and il neige means "it's snowing." These come from the verbs pleuvoir and neiger and are only used in this impersonal "it" form.

Why does French use "faire" for the weather? French describes weather with il fait ("it makes/does") plus an adjective — il fait chaud, il fait froid. It's simply the fixed idiom for weather, where English uses "it is." There's no deeper logic to memorise; just treat il fait as the weather formula.

How do you say "I'm hot" or "I'm cold" in French? Use avoir, not être: j'ai chaud (I'm hot) and j'ai froid (I'm cold). Saying je suis chaud is a common and best-avoided mistake.

Keep learning French with La Minute Française

Weather words stick when you meet them inside real stories — a character opening the shutters to un beau matin or running from la pluie.

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