How do Brits describe the cold weather?
22nd January 2024
With the temperatures dropping below zero, we are all a little bit chilly, or should we say Baltic?
When it comes to describing cold weather in the UK, the English language offers a rich array of words and expressions.
Here are some common ways Brits describe the chilly temperatures:
- Chilly
- Nippy
- Freezing – “It’s freezing outside”
- Baltic
- Biting – “The wind is so biting this evening”
- Brisk – “It’s brisk outside”
- Frosty – “It’s a frosty morning”
- It’s cold as a witches tit out there this morning (Irish)
- Possibly weather for the ‘big’ coat today (Northerner description)
- Brassic
- It’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Cannon balls used to be stored on a brass plate called a monkey. In cold weather the brass would contract and the cannon balls would roll off
- Taters in the mould (Cockney slang)
- Fresh
- Bitter cold
- Freezing cold
- A touch crisp
- A bit parky/nippy
- A bit brisk
- Perishing
- Bitter
- Colder than a penguin’s pecker
- Bracing
- Nesh
- Absolutely chappin’
- Arctic
- Blue
- Nip in the air
