GCSE · Geography · AQA · Spec 8035

Types of weather hazard experienced in the UK

Dangerous weather can feel like something that only happens far away. Here's the twist: the weather in the UK can be hazardous too, and in more than one way.

Geography · Weather hazards

Hunt down the hazards

An overview of weather hazards in the UK

The weather in the UK can be hazardous. The UK is affected by a number of weather hazards, such as strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall.

Taken together, the UK experiences a range of different weather hazards which can have serious impacts.

Question 1 of 2

Which three types of weather hazard does the passage name? Tap each one.

Tap the words in the passage that prove your answer.

Check your thinking

Is UK weather really a hazard?

You've just found the key words in the passage. Before you move on, be honest about what you believed when you started.

Which of these is closest to what you thought about UK weather?

Dangerous weather happens in other parts of the world. UK weather isn't really hazardous.The UK does get a weather hazard, but only one kind: rain.UK weather can be a nuisance, but its impacts are never serious.The UK is affected by a range of different weather hazards, and they can have serious impacts.

How sure are you?

I'm sureI think soI'm guessing

Dangerous weather happens in other parts of the world. UK weather isn't really hazardous.

This is a common misconception

This is the idea to let go of. The weather in the UK can be hazardous: the UK is affected by a number of weather hazards. They aren't just a far-away problem. They're weather the UK itself experiences.

The UK does get a weather hazard, but only one kind: rain.

This is a common misconception

Close, but too narrow. The UK experiences a range of different weather hazards, not just one kind. You found three named types in the passage, and torrential rain is only one of them.

UK weather can be a nuisance, but its impacts are never serious.

This is a common misconception

The passage says the opposite. The UK's weather hazards can have serious impacts. 'Nuisance' undersells it: this is weather that can be hazardous, not just annoying.

The UK is affected by a range of different weather hazards, and they can have serious impacts.

This matches the evidence

Yes, and that's the whole big idea in one sentence. UK weather can be hazardous. It brings a range of different hazards, not just one. And those hazards can have serious impacts.

Hazardous weather isn't only somewhere else. The UK is affected by a range of weather hazards, and they can have serious impacts.

Predict, then check

Read the list slowly. The smallest words matter here.

The UK is affected by weather hazards 'such as strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall'. Are those three the only weather hazards the UK experiences?

Your turn

Write it, then mark it

Name three types of weather hazard that the UK experiences. [3 marks]

Your answer

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

The mark scheme

Strong winds (the word 'strong' is part of the name) (1 mark)
Torrential rain (the word 'torrential' is part of the name) (1 mark)
Snowfall (1 mark)

Model answer

Strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall.

One mark for each type, in full. If you named a different weather hazard the UK experiences, it isn't automatically wrong, because the list is open. But these three are the ones to know by name.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

The weather outside your window can be hazardous. Learn the three named types, what they can do, and why the list stays open.

What you need to know

Yes, UK weather can be dangerous: the UK is affected by a number of weather hazards.
Three to know by name: strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall. Keep the describing words.
They're examples, not the whole list. The clue is 'such as'.
These hazards can have serious impacts, so they're more than a nuisance.

The big picture

The weather in the UK can be hazardous. The UK is affected by a range of different weather hazards, and they can have serious impacts. Strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall are three named examples, not the complete list.

Key points

1The UK is affected by a number of weather hazards, so the weather in the UK can be hazardous.

2Strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall are named types of weather hazard the UK experiences.

3'Such as' means these are examples: the UK experiences a range of different weather hazards.

4The UK's weather hazards can have serious impacts.

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Worked example

Problem

A student's revision notes say: "UK weather hazards: wind, rain and snow. That's all of them." Rewrite the notes so they are accurate.

⚠ Watch out

Writing that strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall are the ONLY weather hazards the UK experiences. They're introduced with 'such as', so they're examples of a range of different hazards, not the full list.

🧠

Memory hook

Say them in full: STRONG winds, TORRENTIAL rain, SNOWFALL. And remember that 'such as' is an open door, not a closed list.

✓

Check yourself

Cover the page. Can you give the three named types in full, say what UK weather hazards can have, and explain what 'such as' tells you about the list?

Flashcards

(8)

Can the weather in the UK be hazardous?

Yes. The UK is affected by a number of weather hazards.

Give the three named types of UK weather hazard.

Strong winds, torrential rain and snowfall.

Why write 'torrential rain' rather than just 'rain'?

Torrential rain is the named type, and the describing word is part of the name. Torrential means very heavy.

What can the UK's weather hazards have?

Serious impacts.

What do the words 'such as' signal before a list of hazards?

Examples. The list is not complete.

Does the UK experience one kind of weather hazard, or a range?

A range of different weather hazards.

Is 'serious impacts' a type of weather hazard?

No. It's what weather hazards can have, not a kind of weather.

'UK weather can be hazardous.' Why does the word 'can' matter?

It means the weather is capable of being hazardous, not that it's hazardous all the time.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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Hunt down the hazards

Is UK weather really a hazard?

Write it, then mark it

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