Do cows really lie down when it’s about to rain?

19 Jul 2017 01:57 PM

Over 60% believe it’s true. But, is it? Three-quarters of the British public have used folklore such as ‘red sky at night, shepherd’s delight’ to predict the weather. Half have been caught out by the weather when they relied on folklore methods.

The public's fascination with the weather is well-known, and few have not heard of weather folklore such as ‘red sky at night, shepherd’s delight’, or that it can be ‘too cold to snow’.

We found in a new survey that the use of these saying was more prevalent than expected with three quarters (75%) of UK adults saying they use folklore to predict the weather. The most commonly-used were revealed to be:

In total, 58% of UK adults think that these methods are accurate to some degree, and incredibly, almost two thirds (64%) think they can be more reliable than official forecasts. However, nearly half (48%) of UK adults who have used traditional methods to predict the weather say they have been ‘caught out’.

To help separate fact from fiction, experts at the Met Office teamed up with radio DJ and television presenter Scott Mills. In a video Scott and Met Office meteorologist and presenter Charlie Powell investigate the science behind the folklore.

Charlie Powell said: “We were blown away by just how many people use traditional methods to forecast the weather. However, some of these weather sayings are backed up by science and can help to give a sense of what sort of weather may be on its way.

“Others, such as cows lying down when it is about to rain, are nothing more than old wives’ tales. But either way, none of the methods are as accurate as official forecasts from the Met Office and the research demonstrates that many people have been caught out by relying on weather folklore. My advice would be to just check the official Met Office forecast online or on our popular weather app.”

So which of these folklore methods are based on science and which are simply myths:

Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight

It can be too cold to snow

Cows lie down when it is about to rain:

Pine cones open up when good weather is coming

Rain before seven, fine by eleven