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Has it ever really rained frogs?

Extreme Weather Quiz

Storms, floods and heatwaves are in the news more often. This quiz uses extreme weather talking points to spark reflection, questions and conversation about our changing climate.

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Fascinating Fact:

Climate change is linked with more frequent and intense extreme weather events, because warmer air and oceans hold and move more energy and moisture.

In Specialist Talking Points, this quiz looks at extreme weather, from heatwaves to powerful storms. It encourages thoughtful discussion about causes, impacts and how communities can prepare and respond safely.

Key Terms

Extreme weather: Unusual, severe or out-of-season weather, such as major storms, floods, droughts or heatwaves.
Climate change: Long-term shifts in average temperatures and weather patterns, often linked to human activity.
Heatwave: A period of unusually high temperatures that lasts for several days or longer and can affect health and the environment.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are examples of extreme weather events?

Extreme weather events include powerful hurricanes, intense rainstorms that cause flooding, long-lasting heatwaves, severe droughts and heavy snowstorms that significantly disrupt normal life and damage homes or infrastructure.

How does climate change affect extreme weather?

Climate change warms the atmosphere and oceans, which can increase rainfall intensity, raise the chance of heatwaves and make some storms stronger, changing how often and how severely they occur.

Why is it important to learn about extreme weather?

Learning about extreme weather helps people understand risks, follow warnings, prepare emergency plans and take part in wider conversations about reducing emissions and protecting vulnerable communities.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

July 10th 1913 was the hottest day ever on Earth, with temperatures reaching 56.7 °C. Whereabouts was this?

Cambridge, UK

The Sahara Desert

Death Valley, California

The Gobi Desert

Scientists now question the validity of the 1913 measurement. If it is not correct then the highest temperature ever recorded was a mere 54 °C, also in Death Valley, in 2013.
At the time Cambridge held the record for the hottest temperature in the UK of 38.7 °C in 2019. This was broken in the summer of 2022 and will no doubt be broken again as temperatures on Earth continue to rise

2 .

Roy Sullivan was a park ranger in the USA who was struck by lightning seven times during his life, surviving them all. What nickname did this earn him?

Sparky

Roy the Lightning Rod

Electro Man

The Human Lightning Conductor

Roy lived to be 71 years old. The chances of being struck by lightning even once over that time are less than 1:10,000. He was very unlucky – but, at the same time, very lucky indeed!

3 .

You’ve heard the saying, raining cats and dogs, but it does occasionally rain animals. Which of these has never been reported as falling from the sky?

Mice

Jellyfish

Spiders

Frogs

It’s believed that the creatures were picked up by tornadoes before being dropped back to the ground. As well as jellyfish, spiders and frogs, other creatures it has rained include fish, worms, starfish, octopodes and toads – no cats or dogs though!

4 .

Discarding tornadoes, the fastest winds ever recorded were on Barrow Island, Australia, in 1996. The wind was as fast as what?

As fast as a Formula 1 racing car

As fast as a helicopter

As fast as a jet plane

As fast as a rocket

The winds reached a speed of 408 km/h (253 mph) – faster than a Formula 1 car but slower than a rocket or a jet. Windspeeds in tornadoes are even stronger, and can reach up to 480 km/h (300 mph)

5 .

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world's largest snowflake fell in January 1887, in Montana, USA. How big was it?

0.38 cm wide

3.8 cm wide

38 cm wide

380 cm wide

The giant snowflake was reported by a farmer, and some doubt his observation. Clusters of flakes have been observed measuring up to 10 cm wide, but the largest single flake properly verified was about 1.7 cm wide

6 .

Thick fog containing the poisonous gas sulfur dioxide is known as what?

A Custard Skin Fog

A Pea Soup Fog

An Onion Gravy Fog

A Mashed Potato Fog

Fogs caused by air pollution date back to the 13th Century, and cities like London have recorded deaths from these since the 17th Century

7 .

Hail can be deadly. In April 1888, a severe hailstorm in Moradabad, India, killed how many people?

246

2,460

The stones which fell were said to be the size of, “goose eggs, oranges and cricket balls”

8 .

The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer, after temperatures around the world fell and crops failed. What caused this freak weather?

A mini Ice Age

Earthquakes

Industrial pollution

The eruption of a volcano

In April 1815, Mount Tambora on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia, erupted. It was the largest eruption in almost 1,000 years and the material ejected blocked out the sun, cooling the earth by 0.7 degrees – enough to cause unusual weather, crop failures and famine

9 .

In the Northern Hemisphere, very hot days during the summer are known by what name?

Dog Days

Lion Days

Bear Days

Wolf Days

The Dog Star, Sirius, becomes visible at dawn during July and August. The ancient Greeks believed that this brought about hot weather, hence the modern association

10 .

Fog and mist are both formed by low-lying clouds. What is the official difference between mist and fog?

Mist is not classed as a danger to life

Mist forms only above bodies of water

Fog reduces visibility to less than 1 km

Fog forms at lower temperatures than mist

You can see for less than 1 km in a fog. Mist reduces visibility to less than 5 km

Author: Graeme Haw