Free Online Weather and Climate Course- Come Rain or Shine

Our award-winning, online weather and climate CPD course for anyone with an interest in the weather, Come Rain or Shine, is running again on the FutureLearn platform, for the tenth time.

Understanding the weather

Come Rain or Shine will run for 15 weeks. During the 1st 3 weeks (until 27th October), expert mentors will be on hand to answer questions and respond to comments. Access is free for 5 weeks from whenever you start the course. The course is self-paced but is designed to take about 3 hours per week over 3 weeks. Over the previous 3 years and 9 runs of the course, over 30,000 people have already participated in the course. The learning objectives for the course are:

• Describe the weather features associated with depressions, anticyclones and the four main air masses which affect the UK.
• Interpret a synoptic or 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 an 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.