Certificate of Achievement
has completed the following course:
Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the Weather
University of Reading and The Royal Meteorological Society
This course explored the physical processes underlying the weather systems that impact on many aspects of our lives.
5 weeks, 3 hours per week
Dr Peter Inness
Lecturer in Meteorology
University of Reading
Dr Sylvia Knight
Head of Education
The Royal Meteorological Society
Transcript
Learning outcomes
- Interpret synoptic charts and use them to describe weather details such as wind speed and direction, precipitation and cloud cover.
- Explore depressions and discover why they are so significant in mid-latitude locations such as the UK.
- Investigate the physical processes behind weather, such as warm air rising, cloud formation and the Coriolis effect with experiments you can do at home.
- Record your local weather conditions and share your findings.
- Reflect on the processes that affect the Earth’s atmosphere and therefore climate, both natural (volcanoes, orbit) and man-made (greenhouse gases).
- Apply your understanding of mid-latitude weather systems to analyse weather data and images.
Syllabus
Week 1
- The difference between weather and climate
- Introduction to low pressure systems
- What depressions are and how they form
- Pressure gradients and the Coriolis Effect
Week 2
- Weather maps and what they can tell us
- Practical skills in interpreting weather maps
- Case studies on sting jets, jet stream and storms
Week 3
- Different types of air mass and how they affect the weather
- Identifying air masses on a weather map
- Frontal, orographic and relief convective rainfall
- Cold occlusions and anti-cyclones
Week 4
- How the Sun determines the climate on Earth
- The effect of the atmosphere on Earth’s climate
- The Earth’s energy budget and factors that influence it
- Field work to carry out at home
Week 5
- Global atmospheric and oceanic circulation
- Weather in the Tropics
- Weather systems such as El Niño, monsoons and tropical cyclones
Issued on 22nd September 2025
The person named on this certificate has completed the activities in the transcript above. For more information about Certificates of Achievement and the effort required to become eligible, visit futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.
This certificate represents proof of learning. It is not a formal qualification, degree, or part of a degree.