Weather | Tempo, meteo

Can be quite unpredictable.
Etymology: weather in Italian comes from Latin tempus.

Note: Tempo can either translate to weather or time. We’ll cover just the first definition today.

What’s the difference between tempo and meteo?
Meteo is the technical term. It is used in weather forecasts.
Tempo is used every day in colloquial speech.

Click here to go to the weather collocations interactive exercises!

Il tempo
The weather

Il meteo
The weather

il meteo - the weather - boy laughing under the sun

Adjectives for weather in Italian

The tempo can be…

bello
nice

brutto or cattivo
bad

buono
nice

perfetto or ottimo
perfect

asciutto or secco
dry

mite
warm

umido
humid

afoso
hot or muggy

soleggiato
sunny

sereno
clear

coperto or nuvoloso
cloudy

piovoso
rainy

nebbioso
foggy

autunnale
autumn

clemente
mild

mutevole or variabile
uncertain

capriccioso
unpredictable

estivo
summer

ventoso
windy

invernale
wintry

freddo
cold

primaverile
spring

stabile
stable or reliable

gelido or rigido
icy

polare
polar

fantastico
great

orribile
horrible

ostile
inclement

uggioso
gloomy

Il tempo è molto umido e afoso in estate.
The weather is very hot and humid during summer.

tempo ventoso - windy weather - man almost swept up by wind

Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!


Tempo atmosferico
Weather
Literally: Amospheric weather

Tempo da cani
Lousy, nasty weather
Literally: Dogs’ weather

Tempo da lupi
Lousy, nasty weather
Literally: Wolves’ weather

tempo da lupi - lousy weather - rain

Verbs for weather in Italian

You can… prevedere (foresee) il tempo.

Il tempo can…

variare or cambiare
change

migliorare
improve

rasserenarsi or schiarirsi
clear up

peggiorare
worsen

reggere
hold up

rompersi
break

guastarsi
deteriorate

permettere
allow

impedire
prevent

Il tempo dovrebbe migliorare entro il weekend.
The weather should improve by the weekend.

Il tempo non permette di uscire di casa.
The weather doesn’t allow to go out.

worsening weather - il tempo peggiora - dark clouds and storms and thunders

Fa bel tempo, c’è bel tempo
The weather’s nice
Literally: It makes nice weather, there’s nice weather

Fa brutto tempo, c’è brutto tempo
The weather’s bad
Literally: It makes bad weather, there’s bad weather

Il tempo volge al bello
The weather’s turning nice

Il tempo volge al brutto
The weather’s turning bad

weather in italian - tempo nuvoloso

Other collocations for weather in Italian

Le previsioni del tempo
The weather forecast

Il bollettino meteo
The weather forecast

L’andamento del tempo
The weather pattern

Le condizioni del tempo
The weather conditions

La stazione meteorologica
The weather station

previsioni del tempo - weather forecast man

Common sayings with weather in Italian

Il tempo non promette nulla di buono.
The weather’s threatening.
Literally: The weather promises nothing good.

Rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera.
Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight.
Literally: Red in the evening, one hopes for nice weather.


Usage examples of weather in Italian

Ha piovuto tutta mattina, ma adesso il tempo volge al bello.
It rained all morning, but the weather’s turning nice.

Se il tempo regge, domenica andremo al mare.
If the weather holds up, we’re going to the beach on Sunday.

– Che tempo c’è lì? – È nuvoloso.
– What’s the weather like over there? – It’s cloudy.

Piove e c’è un vento che ti spazza via. Che tempo da cani!
It rains and the wind sweeps you up. What a lousy weather!


More free Italian resources

You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:

Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!

❤️ If you liked this lesson, share it with your friends!