Weather in French: say what it’s like outside with confidence

Weather in French follows a few small patterns, and once you have them you can chat about it on any day. This page gives the question, the answers, the temperature, the four seasons and a few set expressions, with recordings for the key nouns and five questions to try. For the date and the month, read Months in French and Days of the week in French. For numbers, which you need for degrees, see Numbers in French. For the first words to learn, see Basic French words.

Sources for the rules: Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), Banque de dépannage linguistique and its Grand dictionnaire terminologique, and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

How do you ask about the weather in French?

Ask Quel temps fait-il ? It is the standard question, and it uses the word le temps. The OQLF says temps names the general state of the weather, so it is the word for sun, clouds, rain, wind and snow [1]. It keeps température for what a thermometer can measure, such as a cool or hot temperature [1].

So you ask about the temps, and you answer with a degree only when the question is about the température.

What are the French words for the weather?

These are the nouns you meet in a forecast. The play button plays our recording of the word. For the sound of the letters, see French pronunciation practice.

The OQLF also separates a canicule from a vague de chaleur. In Canada, it says, a canicule needs a minimum of 30 °C, at least three days in a row and a smaller gap between day and night [2]. A vague de chaleur is a stretch of temperatures above the seasonal average that is not a canicule [2].

How do you say it is hot, cold or nice in French?

Use il fait with an adjective: il fait froid, il fait beau, il fait chaud. The OQLF gives il fait froid and il fait beau as the model, and says French uses the verb faire with an impersonal subject for the weather [3]. The same page writes il fait soleil [3]. You will also hear il y a du soleil and il y a du vent for “there is sun” and “there is wind” [9].

The one trap is feeling versus weather. For the weather you say il fait chaud. For yourself you say j’ai chaud and j’ai froid, with avoir and not être.

How do you say it is raining or snowing in French?

Say Il pleut for rain and Il neige for snow. These come from the verbs pleuvoir and neiger, and the il stands for nothing. The OQLF calls a sentence like this “essentiellement impersonnelle” and gives il pleut and il vente as examples [4]. So you never add fait: it is il pleut, not il fait pleut.

Wind has a verb too: il vente, the wind is blowing [4][9]. In everyday talk il y a du vent does the same job [9].

How do you give the temperature in French?

Use faire again, with the number and the degree. The OQLF says il fait 18 °C, and calls c’est 18 degrés a construction copied from English [3]. It adds that plus is not needed before a temperature above zero, and that a non-breaking space goes between the number and the symbol [3]. Below zero you say moins and then the number.

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s French forecasts give degrees Celsius; on 28 October 2026, one wrote a night low as Minimum moins 4 [5]. The OQLF also notes that the humidex is a value, not a degree: you say un humidex de 40, not 40 °C [2]. In winter, the OQLF says the wind chill index (le facteur de refroidissement éolien) describes how cold people feel [2].

What are the seasons in French?

There are four: le printemps (spring), l’été (summer), l’automne (fall or autumn) and l’hiver (winter). Spring is the one to listen to: le printemps.

The OQLF’s rule: before printemps, “for historical reasons”, use au [6]. Before a season that starts with a vowel or a silent h, en is often used, when the season is a stretch of time in which something happens, as in en hiver [6]. The same page also allows à l’automne, à l’hiver and à l’été when the season is seen as a point on the timeline, as in à l’été 2022 [6].

How do you say summer in French?

Summer is l’été, and “in summer” is en été [6].

Do not mix this up with l’été as a past participle of être (“been”). The spelling is the same, so the sentence tells you which one it is: Il a été malade (“He was ill”), but en été (“in summer”).

What are some French weather expressions?

French has colourful set phrases. You do not need to say them, but you will hear them [9].

• Il fait un temps de chien. The weather is awful.
• Il pleut des cordes. It is pouring.
• Ça caille. It is freezing (casual).

Try five questions on what is above.

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Common mistakes

• Saying c’est 18 degrés. The OQLF recommends il fait 18 °C [3].
• Adding fait to rain or snow. It is il pleut and il neige [4].
• Using température for sun, cloud or rain. The OQLF says temps is the word for those [1].
• Writing en printemps. It is au printemps [6].
• Saying je suis chaud for “I am hot”. Use j’ai chaud [9].

Sources