Cows lying down
Cows lying down are said to herald rain, a saying used by 44 percent of UK adults in a 2017 Met Office survey. The Met Office says there is no scientific backing: cows lie down for many reasons, including rest.
What it may mean
The cow saying has staying power because the evidence is right there in the field. You drive past, see a herd folded down on the grass, and the sky seems to agree. In a 2017 Met Office survey, 44 percent of UK adults said they used it, though one of the forecaster's own meteorologists called it no more than an old wives' tale. The cows, meanwhile, are doing something ordinary: resting, chewing the cud, getting off their feet. A great deal of what people take for signs works this way, a familiar sight paired with whatever the weather does next. A resting herd can still be useful, as a prompt to tell the rules of thumb based on real patterns from those you keep because the picture is pleasant.
Depending on how you saw it
Lying down on a sunny morning
A herd can lie down under a cloudless sky and stay dry all day, which is often how people first come to doubt the saying. Which belief of yours has survived several clear mornings?
Chewing while they rest
Cattle often lie down to chew the cud, returning swallowed grass to the mouth and chewing it again before it moves on through the stomach. What do you need to sit down for in order to digest it properly?
Next to the red sky
In the same survey, 70 percent of adults relied on the old sunset rhyme about a shepherd's delight, a saying with far better grounds than the cows. Which of your rules of thumb are worth keeping, and which are just good company?
Why it happens in nature
Cattle spend many hours a day lying down, often while chewing the cud, and they lie down for a number of reasons, including simply resting. The Met Office says there is no scientific backing for the rain saying and no evidence that lying down is related to the likelihood of rain.
What folk beliefs say
United Kingdom
In the UK, 44 percent of adults surveyed for the Met Office in 2017 said they use the saying that cows lie down when it is about to rain, and 61 percent believed it an accurate way to forecast rain.
Source: Met Office, Do cows really lie down when it's about to rain? (2017), www.metoffice.gov.uk. View the page
To reflect on
What everyday sight do you treat as a forecast, and how often has it actually been right?