Talking about the weather in French - il y a + [nom]

In French to talk about the weather, you can use the expression "il y a" + [noun]

Talking about the weather in French

Look at these sentences:

Il y a du soleil.It is sunny

Il y a du vent.It is windy

Il y a du brouillard.It is foggy

Il y a de l'orage.It is stormy

Il y a des nuages.It is cloudy

Il y a de la pluie aujourd'hui.It's rainy today.

Il y a de la brume.It's misty.

To talk about the weather in French, you will use Il y a + du / de la / de l' / des  + noun. (Literally: there is some ...).

Note that du / de la / de l' or des agree with the noun following.


Case of il fait du soleil or Il fait soleil: 

This seems to be presented as idiomatic in a lot of French learning methods, and to be perfectly honest, some French people use it. However, it is not good French and still sounds clunky and child-like to many French ears (including mine!). 
Il fait should always be followed by an adjective, and il y a used with nouns. 

Note that you could also use Le temps est + adjective (ensoleillé, pluvieux, nuageux, brumeux, orageux) instead of using il y a + noun.  
BUT there is no adjective for brouillard (fog), or vent (wind).



See also Talking about the weather in French - il fait + [adjectif]

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Examples and resources

Il y a de la pluie aujourd'hui.It's rainy today.
Il y a de la brume.It's misty.
Il y a du soleil.It is sunny
Il y a du vent.It is windy
Il y a du brouillard.It is foggy
Il y a de l'orage.It is stormy
Il y a des nuages.It is cloudy
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