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A fallen tree near Waterloo station in London as Storm Eunice sweeps across the UK

Learning Vocabulary - Storm Eunice

Learning Vocabulary - Storm Eunice

Jack talks about the impact of Storm Eunice and looks at vocabulary related to extreme weather.

Transcript

If the listening was a bit difficult, you can listen again and read the transcript at the same time.
Read and listen at the same time.

Introduction

Hello, my name’s Jack and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

On the Premier Skills English website, you’ll be able to find all these podcasts and the transcript and extra activities that go with them.

So if you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, check out our website!

don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because there’s a new football phrase for you to guess!

Introduction to Roleplay

Today, in the UK, we are being battered by a storm called Eunice. In 2014, the Met Office, which is the organisation that monitors and forecasts the weather, decided to copy what happens in the US and started naming major storms.

The Met office is actually the meteorological office, but they have just been called the Met Office for a long time. Meteorological is a horrible word to say anyway.

The Met Office actually works with the meteorological organisations in Ireland and the Netherlands to come up with a list of names in alphabetical order each year. We’ve just had storm Dudley and now, we’re being battered by Storm Eunice.

Scientists have long predicted that we will have more extreme weather as a result of global warming so this storm is part of climate change and that makes it an important event to talk about and ... if you are ever in the UK, weather forecasts and the weather more generally are important topics for small talk so I think it’s going to be useful to look at some of the language from a weather report in more detail.

I have taken a few weather reports from today on the BBC from TV and radio and I have adapted them and combined them into a report that I am going to read for you.

When you listen to the report, I want you to answer a question. The question is where has the most powerful wind been recorded in the UK?

Weather report

Across the UK, people are feeling the effects of the high winds caused by storm Eunice which has caused widespread disruption across large parts of England and wales.

Bridges have been shut because of the wind and parts of the rail network has been closed down and while much of the country is at a standstill there's no shortage of flying debris.

There's a sharply escalating list of power cuts affecting thousands of homes with multiple reports of trees falling, scores of flood warnings have been in place and the majority of schools were closed as a precaution.

Parts of Wales and South West England have seen the worst of it today as wind gusts of 70-80 mph batter the South coast. A record gust of 122 mph was recorded on the Isle of Wight, but the winds are really ramping up now inland across southeast England and towards East Anglia with more 70 to 80 mph gusts which is of course clearly a danger to life with damaging gusts of wind causing widespread destruction.

And there is still a Met Office Red Wind Warning in place throughout the southeast seeing excessive extreme gusts of winds including into London. The Met Office Amber Warning area, covering Wales and a large part of England with the strongest wind transferring further to the east and again with gusts of 60 - 80 mph, there is still a risk to life from these damaging gusts and we know there is widespread disruption out there.

Into tonight, it is going to turn quite chilly. We are going to see more outbreaks of snow in Scotland and Northern Ireland. For a time on higher ground, this will turn frosty and icy in places.

But the most important thing out into the North Sea by this stage will be storm Eunice, it's moving away and the winds are going to be easing.

I wish I had some light relief for the weekend though because there’s another area of rain moving in through Northern Ireland, Wales and England and the northern flank of that, maybe in parts of North Wales, Northern England and the Midlands may see some snow so don't be surprised. It will still be blustery tomorrow, with stronger gusts for a time towards south Wales and southern England 50 to 60 mph so not as bad as we're seeing now on a more widely colder feeling day.

For today, the police are calling on thrillseekers to stay away from the seafront. People across the country are being urged to cancel their travel plans with planes struggling to land at airports and many rail services suspended.

So for the weekend, more wet and windy weather is going to be moving in, but do keep across the latest weather warnings and I’m afraid there are more warnings for the rest of the weekend as well.

Comprehension

Before the weather report, I asked you a question. The question was: where have the most powerful wind been recorded and the answer is the Isle of Wight which is an island off the south coast of England where a record 122 mph gust of wind was recorded. I have never heard of wind like that in the UK.

Language focus

I’m now going to look at some of the language from the weather report. I’m going to talk about vocabulary in three areas: extreme weather, problems caused by the weather and changing weather.

OK, first, extreme weather.

The first phrases I want to talk about related to storm Eunice are widespread destruction and widespread disruption. These phrases come up in every weather report I’ve listened to today. Widespread is an adjective and it means something is happening in lots of places. You might hear widespread flooding or troubles. I think it’s normally collocated with bad things, but you do also hear about politicians or campaigns having widespread support. Because of the storm, in the UK, there is widespread destruction which means many things in many places have been seriously damaged, usually, so they can’t be repaired. There is also widespread disruption. The verb disrupt, is very similar to interrupt. I think normally, we use interrupt to talk about stopping a person from speaking for a short time, but we can also talk about interrupting an event or a service. Usually, though, this is for a short time. Disrupt is used more for systems like travel systems like railways or airports or perhaps services like TV broadcasts or perhaps electricity supplies. If these are stopped because of some trouble then we say they are disrupted. I think disruptions are usually longer and more trouble than interruptions. Right now, because of the storm, there is widespread disruption and the problems are likely to be there for some time.

In the weather report, I said that there were excessive extreme gusts of wind. A gust of wind is like a breath of wind. The wind blows and stops and blows and stops. Each blow, is a gust. The gusts recorded today have been extreme. Extreme is an adjective that means to a very large degree. So extreme heat is very very hot. An extreme gust of wind would be a very powerful ... an unusually powerful gust. Excessive is an adjective that means too much or too many. It’s often collocated with punishment. You may hear of someone being sentenced to a long time in prison for a relatively minor offence and someone might ask if the punishment was excessive. Today, we are dealing with excessive gusts, which means too many gusts and the gusts are extreme.

The last extreme weather language I want to look at is the Met Office Red Wind Warning. So in the UK, there are three levels of weather warning. You get yellow warnings which means you should take care and amber warnings which means you should probably stay home and avoid going out. These warnings are quite common. Yesterday, the Met Office issued, that’s the verb we use with warnings, they issued a red warning which means that the weather is going to be so bad, it poses a danger to life. This is the official language. It means that if you go outside, you might die. I don’t think I can remember the last time there was a red weather warning.

OK, so that’s the extreme weather language. I now want to talk about some problems caused by weather that I mentioned in the report. I think this will be much easier to describe. The first is a power cut. This is what you call it when there is no electricity in your house because of a storm or an accident. You can say that you are having a power cut when there is no electricity. It’s not what you say if the electricity is cut off because you haven’t paid your electricity bill. Then you have been cut off, but if it’s off because of something like a storm, you have a power cut.

Another problem I mentioned was trees falling. I think that this is pretty straightforward. I think that this is usually the most dangerous thing that happens when there is strong wind in the UK. Trees get blown down on roads and people drive into them. You hear about people getting hurt or even killed by falling trees, but I don’t think this means that they are hurt because the tree actually falls on them, though I’m not sure.

In the weather reports and the news, people are warning about flying debris. Debris means bits of stuff that have been broken off bigger stuff. So after a bad car accident, there may be debris in the road. The police will need to make sure the debris is cleared up before they can open the road. Right now, bits of houses and trees are being blown off and are flying through the air so you have to be careful and keep an eye out for flying debris. This word is written d-e-b-r-i-s, but we say debris.

Flood warnings are in place in low lying areas of the country. A flood is when there is water where it shouldn't be. When there is lots of rain, sometimes it doesn’t drain away quickly enough and you have a flood. A flood warning is an official notification by ... I’m not sure who issues flood warnings. I just checked and it’s the Environment Agency in England. Anyhow, it’s an official warning that there may be a flood.

The last bit of language related to problems caused by Storm Eunice is much of the country is at a standstill. If somewhere is at a standstill, it means that people cannot travel around or all activity has stopped. You sometimes hear that a vehicle came to a standstill, meaning it stopped or a service ground to a standstill it means that it slowed to a stop. Today, the country is at a standstill meaning you can’t travel or work or do anything that you would normally do.

The third set of language I want to look at relates to changing weather. In the weather report, I said that the winds were ramping up. A ramp-up means a large increase in something. If something is ramping up, it means the number or intensity of something is increasing rapidly. The opposite, almost opposite is easing off, though this isn’t as dramatic. If something eases off then the number or intensity decreases or goes down. If something eases off, the change is slow. If the decrease is more dramatic then you could say it dropped off.

In the report, I said that the more wet and windy weather was going to move in. We talk about areas of weather, like clouds that move across the country so a storm might move in and then when it passes, we say it moves away.

The last item I want to talk about is quite a common verb for talking about changing weather. I said that it’s going to turn chilly. It’s very common to use the verb turn to talk about changes in weather. It’s going to turn cold. This is far more commonly used to talk about negative changes. Turn cold, turn rainy, turn windy and turn chilly. You can use it to say the weather is going to become warmer or sunny, but I think we use get more with nice weather and turn more with bad weather. We have a lot of bad weather in the UK so it’s still an important bit of language.

OK - that’s a lot of language related to the weather. Listen to the weather report one more time to hear the language in context.

Weather report

Across the UK, people are feeling the effects of the high winds caused by storm Eunice which has caused widespread disruption across large parts of England and wales.

Bridges have been shut because of the wind and parts of the rail network has been closed down and while much of the country is at a standstill there's no shortage of flying debris.

There's a sharply escalating list of power cuts affecting thousands of homes with multiple reports of trees falling, scores of flood warnings have been in place and the majority of schools were closed as a precaution.

Parts of Wales and South West England have seen the worst of it today as wind gusts of 70-80 mph batter the South coast. A record gust of 122 mph was recorded on the Isle of Wight, but the winds are really ramping up now inland across southeast England and towards East Anglia with more 70 to 80 mph gusts which is of course clearly a danger to life with damaging gusts of wind causing widespread destruction.

And there is still a Met Office Red Wind Warning in place throughout the southeast seeing excessive extreme gusts of winds including into London. The Met Office Amber Warning area, covering Wales and a large part of England with the strongest wind transferring further to the east and again with gusts of 60 - 80 mph, there is still a risk to life from these damaging gusts and we know there is widespread disruption out there.

Into tonight, it is going to turn quite chilly. We are going to see more outbreaks of snow in Scotland and Northern Ireland. For a time on higher ground, this will turn frosty and icy in places.

But the most important thing out into the North Sea by this stage will be storm Eunice, it's moving away and the winds are going to be easing.

I wish I had some light relief for the weekend though because there’s another area of rain moving in through Northern Ireland, Wales and England and the northern flank of that, maybe in parts of North Wales, Northern England and the Midlands may see some snow so don't be surprised. It will still be blustery tomorrow, with stronger gusts for a time towards south Wales and southern England 50 to 60 mph so not as bad as we're seeing now on a more widely colder feeling day.

For today, the police are calling on thrillseekers to stay away from the seafront. People across the country are being urged to cancel their travel plans with planes struggling to land at airports and many rail services suspended.

So for the weekend, more wet and windy weather is going to be moving in, but do keep across the latest weather warnings and I’m afraid there are more warnings for the rest of the weekend as well.

Task

Right, it’s time for your task. Today, I’ve been talking about Storm Eunice and Extreme weather. In the comments section I want you to answer the following questions:

Question 1. Are you experiencing more extreme weather events where you live?

Question 2. What’s the worst weather that you have in your country?

Question 3. What do you think we should do about these extreme weather events? Do you think they are linked with climate change?

Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football Phrase

OK, it’s time for our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website or the review section on Apple Podcasts and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

The football phrase this week is * **** ** ****. This is what a team has when they have played one fewer match than their competitors in a league. So, if a team is two points behind and they have * **** ** ****, they still have the chance to go ahead in the league.

Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful and I hope all of you stay fit and healthy.

Storm waves batter the Newhaven breakwater and Lighthouse

Vocabulary

Extreme Weather

In this activity, you need to complete the sentences from the weather report by selecting the correct vocabulary.

  A fallen tree has crushed this car in the storm

Task

Your task

Today's podcast is about Storm Eunice and Extreme weather. In the comments section, try to answer the following questions:

Question 1. Are you experiencing more extreme weather events where you live?

Question 2. What’s the worst weather that you have in your country?

Question 3. What do you think we should do about these extreme weather events? Do you think they are linked with climate change? 
 
 

Quiz

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Komentar

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
20/03/2022
TR
6510
points

Question 1.
Are you experiencing more extreme weather events where you live?

Obviously , in the UK the weather is more extreme than here in Turkey nevertheless , we have lots of rainy and snowy days even nowadays in March especially in the Northern parts of the country whereas there's no flooding , trees falling or flying debris that's been monitored across the country. The weather in general is chilly during Winter and the first month of Spring and the last month of Autumn.

Question 2.
What’s the worst weather that you have in your country?

It was back in 2020 when Izmir has been battered by heavy rainfall for four days nonstop that led to the overflow of the Aegean Sea. it led to inundating some of the residential blocks in Karsiyaka district and there were some people trapped in their cars that was carried away by floodwaters elsewhere in the city and unfortunately , they were found dead after few days. it was intolerable and I've never experienced anything like that before.

Question 3.
What do you think we should do about these extreme weather events? Do you think they are linked with climate change?

I believe we have to be environmentally friendly and take care of every minor action that we make in nature as it has been reached to the peak and if mankind continues to behave this way , we cannot blame anyone but ourselves to the consequences that will definitely happen sooner or later.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
20/03/2022 11:50
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

Question 1.
Are you experiencing more extreme weather events where you live?

Obviously , in the UK the weather is more extreme than here in Turkey nevertheless , we have lots of rainy and snowy days even nowadays in March especially in the Northern parts of the country whereas there's no flooding , trees falling or flying debris that's been monitored across the country. The weather in general is chilly during Winter and the first month of Spring and the last month of Autumn.

Question 2.
What’s the worst weather that you have in your country?

It was back in 2020 when Izmir has been battered by heavy rainfall for four days nonstop that led to the overflow of the Aegean Sea. it led to inundating some of the residential blocks in Karsiyaka district and there were some people trapped in their cars that was carried away by floodwaters elsewhere in the city and unfortunately , they were found dead after few days. it was intolerable and I've never experienced anything like that before.

Question 3.
What do you think we should do about these extreme weather events? Do you think they are linked with climate change?

I believe we have to be environmentally friendly and take care of every minor action that we make in nature as it has been reached to the peak and if mankind continues to behave this way , we cannot blame anyone but ourselves to the consequences that will definitely happen sooner or later.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
20/03/2022
TR
6510
points

This week's football phrase is ( a game in hand )


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
20/03/2022 11:22
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

This week's football phrase is ( a game in hand )

Daniel_06
24/02/2022
MX
758
points

The football phrase is * **** ** ****.


Daniel_06
24/02/2022 02:28
Mexico
Manchester United
758

The football phrase is * **** ** ****.

Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022
GB
30
points

Well done!


Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022 18:01
United Kingdom
Manchester United
30

Well done!

MohamedKuna
24/02/2022
SD
27
points

* *** ** ****


MohamedKuna
24/02/2022 01:31
Sudan
Liverpool
27

* *** ** ****

Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022
GB
30
points

Well done!


Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022 17:57
United Kingdom
Manchester United
30

Well done!

Ali mohamed
22/02/2022
EG
4
points

They have a "delayed match"


Ali mohamed
22/02/2022 22:31
Egypt
Arsenal
4

They have a "delayed match"

MohamedKuna
22/02/2022
SD
27
points

* **** ** ****


MohamedKuna
22/02/2022 14:46
Sudan
Liverpool
27

* **** ** ****

Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022
GB
30
points

Well done!


Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022 17:55
United Kingdom
Manchester United
30

Well done!

hsn's picture
hsn
21/02/2022
TR
5525
points

Task
Question 1. Yes, sometimes thick fog affects daily life and commuters can't go workplace by vehicles.
Question 2. The north part of my country is a rainy region. Sometime heavy rain cause destruction of houses and roads and unfortunately deaths of animals and humans.
Question 3. Environment/air pollution are caused this sort of disasters. An international organization leaded by developed countries have to be established with enough finance sources and all the production activities that damage world immediately should be stopped and banned worldwide.
Phrases
• Unpredictable foreign exchange rates movements are causing widespread disruption in our economy nowadays. The country is at a standstill there is lack of investing .
• I've seen in the news recently that people are blown down by the extreme gust of the wind in the far east Asia.
• At the the end of the last month the weather turned so chilly in my city. Air temperature was minus degree during the whole week.
Notes
• I wonder why all the storms are being named with lady name traditionally.Is it superstition which accept women jinx? By the way, In Germany Eunice storm was named as "Zeynep" that is Turkish woman name.
• Eleven player wall-:) A fault held by goalie then referee decision was indirect kick at the spot in the six yard box, all of the opponent players lined-up under bar on the goal line. Unfortunately it was scored, for all that.
• We use the word "escalate" same as in English but with a different meaning "To update" like escalating unit price in the construction sector. "False friend-:)
Private note
• Hi Jack! As far as I understood from this podcast your people and country have suffered from a big climate disaster recently. In our culture we say; "Geçmiş olsun" means "I hope everything will get better soon"


hsn's picture
hsn
21/02/2022 18:45
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5525

Task
Question 1. Yes, sometimes thick fog affects daily life and commuters can't go workplace by vehicles.
Question 2. The north part of my country is a rainy region. Sometime heavy rain cause destruction of houses and roads and unfortunately deaths of animals and humans.
Question 3. Environment/air pollution are caused this sort of disasters. An international organization leaded by developed countries have to be established with enough finance sources and all the production activities that damage world immediately should be stopped and banned worldwide.
Phrases
• Unpredictable foreign exchange rates movements are causing widespread disruption in our economy nowadays. The country is at a standstill there is lack of investing .
• I've seen in the news recently that people are blown down by the extreme gust of the wind in the far east Asia.
• At the the end of the last month the weather turned so chilly in my city. Air temperature was minus degree during the whole week.
Notes
• I wonder why all the storms are being named with lady name traditionally.Is it superstition which accept women jinx? By the way, In Germany Eunice storm was named as "Zeynep" that is Turkish woman name.
• Eleven player wall-:) A fault held by goalie then referee decision was indirect kick at the spot in the six yard box, all of the opponent players lined-up under bar on the goal line. Unfortunately it was scored, for all that.
• We use the word "escalate" same as in English but with a different meaning "To update" like escalating unit price in the construction sector. "False friend-:)
Private note
• Hi Jack! As far as I understood from this podcast your people and country have suffered from a big climate disaster recently. In our culture we say; "Geçmiş olsun" means "I hope everything will get better soon"

hayato
21/02/2022
JP
442
points

I think the phrase is * **** ** ****


hayato
21/02/2022 11:35
Japan
Everton
442

I think the phrase is * **** ** ****

Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022
GB
30
points

Well done!


Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022 17:59
United Kingdom
Manchester United
30

Well done!

Daniel_06
21/02/2022
MX
758
points

This week's football phrase is * *** ******.

Question 1. Are you experiencing more extreme weather events where you live?
Yes, there's always been hurricanes here but every year is even worse and In summer is way warmer.

Question 2. What’s the worst weather that you have in your country?
When it's summer, there's no rain and you have to be next to the air conditioner all day.

Question 3. What do you think we should do about these extreme weather events? Do you think they are linked with climate change?
I don't know if we can do something, the nature is really powerful, we can ask to our goverments to apply serius politics to protect the world.
And yes for me it's obviusly the climate change the main cause. The extreme weather events can occur but not too often as now.

I'm a begginer and this podcast is helping me to improve. Thank you Jack.


Daniel_06
21/02/2022 04:48
Mexico
Manchester United
758

This week's football phrase is * *** ******.

Question 1. Are you experiencing more extreme weather events where you live?
Yes, there's always been hurricanes here but every year is even worse and In summer is way warmer.

Question 2. What’s the worst weather that you have in your country?
When it's summer, there's no rain and you have to be next to the air conditioner all day.

Question 3. What do you think we should do about these extreme weather events? Do you think they are linked with climate change?
I don't know if we can do something, the nature is really powerful, we can ask to our goverments to apply serius politics to protect the world.
And yes for me it's obviusly the climate change the main cause. The extreme weather events can occur but not too often as now.

I'm a begginer and this podcast is helping me to improve. Thank you Jack.

Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022
GB
30
points

Well done!


Parwiz's picture
Parwiz
25/02/2022 17:45
United Kingdom
Manchester United
30

Well done!

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia71478
2Ukraine33300
3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
6Albania20578
7Vietnam19939
8Turkey19810
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88559
4Arsenal85717
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4454
10Crystal Palace4240

Level

4
Average: 4 (1 vote)

Goals

Skills: Listening

Vocabulary: Language related to storms and extreme weather