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Weather Glossary
Precipitation Types
Freezing Rain
Freezing Rain thankfully is very rare in the UK. Freezing rain occurs when warm air moves
above cold air normally at the end of the a cold spell. For freezing rain to occur a layer of
warm air pushes over sub zero air at the surface. Snow falling through this turns to rain and
then falls through the sub zero air turning to ice on contact with the ground or other cold
objects.
Rain
There are three main types of Rain.
Frontal rain which occurs along frontal troughs associated with low pressure systems where
warm less dense air is forced upwards forcing water vapour to condense and fall as rain.
Orographic rain which is produced when clouds formed are from the topography of the
landscape when moist air is forced upwards forming condensation and rainfall as a result.
Convective rain due to convective clouds forming in unstable air. You can see this on warm
days where moisture rises eventually cooling and forming clouds and eventually rainfall.
This is more common in the east and South of the UK. Such showers can be fairly localized
and won’t effect such a large area such as frontal rain.
Picture courtesy of the BBC and Science Photo Library