Rain shower
Also called showers, rain showers, shower icon, heavy showers
Forecast icon on a weather app or a public forecast table.
Forecast weather symbolsRain shower meaning
A rain-shower icon means rain is expected to start and stop, not fall steadily. WWIS, the Met Office, and MetService each keep showers apart from rain.
At a glance
- System
- Forecast icon
- Used for
- Rain that begins and ends
- Not the same as
- Steady rain, or thunder
A forecast icon for rain that starts and ends. Not steady rain, and not a thunderstorm.
The name. WWIS splits showers, heavy showers, rainshower, and occasional showers. One English word is doing too much work.
Where it comes from
WWIS labels include showers, heavy showers, rainshower, and occasional showers. The Met Office prints light and heavy rain showers by day and by night, separate from light rain and heavy rain. MetService says showers usually begin and end suddenly, may last about half an hour, and are often separated by blue sky. That is MetService’s wording for its own icons.
The line drawing is original to this cabinet. It is not an agency logo, a vendor icon, or the emoji for the same idea.
Weather
What it means
The sky is not committed to rain for the whole period. Breaks are part of the forecast. A sun in the icon, when a service draws one, points at those breaks. It does not turn the shower into a partly cloudy day with no rain. If thunder is expected, the thunderstorm page is the one that says so.
Variants
Day and night
The Met Office shows rain-shower icons for day and for night. The drops stay. The sun becomes a night mark.
Light and heavy
Heavy showers are their own Met Office icons and a WWIS label. The difference is the forecast’s, not a second weather element.
Questions
What is the difference between rain and showers?
MetService describes showers as sudden and often separated by blue sky, and rain as steadier under cloudy or overcast skies. WWIS gives them different labels.
Does a shower icon mean it will rain all hour?
No. The point of the shower wording is that the rain is not expected to be continuous. The chance percentage, if printed, is still a separate number.
Near this
- RainA forecast icon for rain expected in a period. Not a shower, not drizzle, and not the station-model sign.
- Partly cloudyA forecast icon for sun and cloud together. Not overcast, and not a station-model sky circle.
- Snow showerA forecast icon for snow that starts and stops. Not a steady snow icon.
- DrizzleA forecast icon for very small, close-set drops. Not light rain, and not mist.
Sources
- World Weather Information Service, weather icons
- WWIS weather icon table
- Met Office, what does this forecast mean
- MetService, our weather icons
Named when the entry depends on a text, a date, or a standard. Catalog numbers are not invented.
Your margin
Private. It stays in this browser and never joins the canon.
symbol.wiki, edited as Sigilla. Last reviewed 18 October 2026. A reading of public tradition, not a ruling.