Come Rain or Shine - FREE award-winning online course

Come Rain or Shine, our award-winning online weather and climate Continuing Professional Development course developed with the University of Reading, is running again on the FutureLearn platform and is for anyone with an interest in the weather

This course has been brought forward following requests from secondary geography PGCE course tutors, geography teachers and A level students, due to the current home-working situation.  

The course is open to everyone and we would encourage anyone who wants to know more about weather and climate, no prior knowledge is needed, to sign up.

Understanding the weather

Access to the course is free for five weeks from when you first register, and most of the materials can be downloaded. During the first three weeks (until 10 April), expert mentors will be on hand to answer questions and respond to comments. The course is self-paced but is designed to take about three hours per week over three weeks. Over 30,000 people have already participated in the course.

Drawing on materials developed over 10 years of successfully delivering subject knowledge days to students and enthusiasts across the country, the course is not only informative and practical, but for teachers it aims to increase their confidence to teach weather and climate – a topic which many list as one of the themes they are least comfortable with.

After taking the course you will be able to:

• Describe the weather features associated with depressions, anticyclones and the four main air masses which affect the UK.

• Interpret a synoptic chart (also known as a weather chart) to provide details about wind speed and direction, precipitation and cloud cover.

• Describe some of the physical processes which give rise to weather, such as convection, condensation, pressure gradients and the Coriolis force.

• Investigate local weather conditions using readily available instruments.

• Explain some of the processes which transfer energy through the Earth system, including the transient effects of volcanoes and changes in the Earth’s orbit, and how these processes relate to the Earth’s climate.

• Apply your understanding of mid-latitude weather systems to the analysis of weather data and images.

Supporting education

The course is part of the Society’s support for teachers and schools. More information about our other activities can be found on the Society’s schools’ website MetLink.