Day 2450 (Thursday) 22nd February 2024
This is Rue du Poilu (our street) back in the day, it doesn’t look very different but I see that they had shops back then – there are hardly any these days.
As promised by the weather forecast yesterday today was grey and wet but we had a bit of excitement – there were two dolphins playing in the bay. I wish they’d come closer but it was still exciting.
Huw also took this short video.
Huw went up to the apartment to do some work, I was meant to go with him but it was too wet. It brightened up slightly in the afternoon but not much.
There was an announcement made by the mayor today…I don’t think it will affect us but…
The threat of Airbnb to local towns - More and more towns on the Côte d'Azur are at war with Airbnb in an attempt to save long-term rentals. Coastal communities are increasingly tightening regulations to limit furnished tourist accommodation. Among them, is Villefranche-sur-Mer which according to local reports has just taken a rather drastic decision. From July 1st, Villefranche-sur-Mer has announced a restriction on seasonal rentals.
Mayor Christophe Trojani announced that the local council has voted unanimously so that only one accommodation per tax household can be rented as part of seasonal rentals. The decision validated by the metropolitan council in December will be applicable from July 1st, 2024. The objective of the mayor of Villefranche is clear: to halve the seasonal supply to "find 250 housing units, which allows Villefranche sur mer to welcome some 500 new residents to the town".
Time to talk French…
125 French Weather Terms by Camille Chevalier-Karfis
Knowing how to talk about the weather in French is essential. Weather talk is the ultimate small talk. Whenever you run into someone – a neighbour, the baker, even a friend, there is a big chance that the conversation will start with a few comments about the weather.
Key French Weather Expressions
1. Quel temps fait-il ?
What is the weather like? How is the weather?
2. Il fait beau.
It’s nice out.
So this expression implies the sun is shining, the sky is blue, it is not raining, whatever defines pleasant weather.
3. Il fait mauvais.
It’s not nice out.
So this expression implies it’s raining or it’s cloudy, it’s snowing, it’s grey out… whatever defines unpleasant weather.
4. Il fait chaud.
It is warm out / hot.
This expression can also be used in the negative, or modified by adverbs:
Il fait trop chaud – it’s too hot out.
5. Il fait froid.
It’s is cold out.
This expression can also be modified by adverbs, or used in the negative:
Il ne fait pas froid – it’s not cold, which is yet different to saying ‘it’s hot’…
Of course, there is much more to say about the weather, but these five expressions are the core of it. You can add some subtleties by using adverbs (très, trop, vraiment…) or using them in the negative.
But there’s more ways to talk about the weather…
Let’s start with sentences describing enjoyable weather.
Il fait un temps superbe.
Il fait un temps splendide.
Il fait un temps magnifique
It’s a gorgeous day.
Le temps s’améliore.
The weather is getting better.
The sky is clear, without clouds.
It’s going to be great weather all day.
La météo prévoit du beau temps.
The weather forecast is predicting good weather.
Il y a un soleil radieux.
The sun is very bright.
Il n’y a pas un nuage en vue.
Not one cloud in the sky.
Il y a un petit vent rafraîchissant.
There’s a nice little breeze.
Il fait froid mais le ciel est tout bleu et le soleil brille.
It’s cold but the sky is entirely blue and the sun is shining.
Quel beau coucher de soleil ! Le ciel est tout rouge !
What a beautiful sunset! The sky is all red!
Bad weather French Sentences
Now let’s see how to talk about unpleasant weather.
Il fait un temps de chien
Idiom = literally It’s weather fit for a dog.
It’s very bad weather.
Il pleut des cordes.
Idiom = literally It’s raining ropes.
It’s raining cats and dogs.
La pluie tombe à torrent.
It’s pouring.
Il pleut à verse.
It’s pouring.
Il y a une pluie battante.
It’s pouring.
It’s a rainy day.
The weather is awful.
Il fait un temps épouvantable.
The weather is really nasty.
Le temps est changeant, incertain.
The weather is unstable.
Il est tombé quelques gouttes.
We got a few drops of rain.
Le temps se dégrade.
The weather is getting worse.
Le ciel est couvert.
It’s overcast.
Il fait une chaleur insupportable.
Il fait une chaleur torride.
The heat is unbearable
Idiom = literally the sun feels like lead.
The sun is strong, heavy.
C’est la canicule.
It’s a heat wave.
Un orage a éclaté.
A storm has burst.
La foudre a frappé une maison.
A lightning bolt hit a house
Le vent souffle à 80 km/h
The wind is blowing at 50 miles per hour.
Il y a un vent à décorner un boeuf.
Idiom = there’s a wind that could take away a cow’s horns.
There’s a very strong wind.
Les prévisions météorologiques sont mauvaises.
The weather forecast is bad.
How Do You Say Weather In French ?
The French word for weather is “le temps“. Simple enough.
By the way, the French word for weather forecast is “la météo“.
However, unfortunately, translating word by word from English is not likely to work most of the time.
Using the word “le temps” would work in an expression such as:
How is the weather?
Quel temps fait-il ?
What is the weather like now?
Vous avez quel temps en ce moment ?
We enjoyed very nice weather during our vacation.
On a eu très beau temps pendant les vacances.
Basic Weather Constructions and Vocabulary
With the weather verbs, we use an impersonal “il” which doesn’t represent anybody. I suggest you learn these three constructions by heart:
3 main sentence constructions for the weather in French:
1 – Il fait + adjective masculine singular = Il fait mauvais
2 – Il y a + article + noun = Il y a de la pluie
3 – Il + specific weather verb = Il pleut, il neige
This “il” construction may look weird to you but it’s actually a good thing: for once in French, you won’t have to conjugate the French verbs too much. For the weather, you only need to memorise the “il” form!
Il fait + temperature or adjective
This first weather construction uses the “il” form of the irregular French verb ‘faire’ followed by a temperature or an adjective.
Il fait to describe the weather now
Il fera or il va faire for weather forecast
Il a fait or il faisait to describe the weather in the past
In English, you’d use the verb to be: “it is nice out”, “it’s 30 degrees Celsius”.
In French, we don’t use the verb “être”… We use the verb “faire”. This is difficult for English speakers because you cannot translate word by word.
How To Describe Weather Temperature in French
Here are some examples of sentences describing temperature in French (la température). Note we use Celsius degrees in France.
Il fait 30 degrés celsius = It’s 30 degrees Celsius out.
Il fait 60 degrés Fahrenheit = It’s 60 degrees Fahrenheit out.
Il faisait moins dix = It was minus 10 out. (Note the natural spoken French pronunciation [ee fzay])
Il a fait 10 degrés à l’ombre = It was 10 in the shade.
Il fera 35 au soleil = It will be 35 in the sun.
French Weather Adjectives
In this French sentence construction, the French adjective will always be in the masculine.
Adjectives to Describe Good weather
Il fait beau. = The weather is nice, it’s sunny, it’s nice out.
Il a fait doux. = The temperature was nice, not too hot, a bit cool but in a nice way.
Il fera bon. = It will be nice out, perfect temperature.
Il ne fait pas froid. = It’s not cold out.
Il ne faisait pas trop chaud. = It was not too hot.
Adjectives to describe bad weather.
Il ne fait pas beau – It’s not nice out.
Il fera mauvais – The weather will be bad.
Il fait froid, il fait très froid = It’s cold out, it’s chilly, ice-cold.
Il a fait gris = It was cloudy, it was grey outside.
Il fait humide = You can feel the humidity in the air, maybe it’s cold and damp, or on the contrary it’s too warm and the air is saturated with water
il fait lourd, il fait orageux = It’s warm and humid, it’s hot and heavy, there is a thunderstorm coming
Il faisait trop frais = It was chilly.
Il fait trop chaud = It’s too hot.
Let’s see the next possible sentence structure to talk about the weather.
Il y a + Article + Noun
This second weather construction uses the expression “il y a” followed by a noun.
Il y a to describe the weather now
Il y aura or il va y avoir for weather forecast
Il y a eu or il y avait to describe the weather in the past.
French weather terms using de la, du, des
De la pluie = rain
Du soleil = sun
De la neige = snow
Du vent = wind
De la glace = ice
Du verglas = black ice
Du tonnerre = thunder
De la foudre = lightning (bolts)
De la grêle = hail
Des giboulées = spring hail (f)
Du brouillard = fog
De la brume = mist, morning fog
Du givre = frost
These nouns do not represent a specific quantity. So we usually use a partitive article with them.
Il y a du brouillard, mais il n’y a pas de vent.
There’s fog, but there’s no wind.
Il y avait de la glace sur les arbres et du verglas sur les routes.
The trees were covered with ice and there was black ice on the roads.
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