Where does rain come from?

The Sun warms the sea, lakes and puddles. Some of the water turns into water vapor, a gas you cannot see, and drifts up into the sky. Scientists call this evaporation.

High up, the air is cold. The vapor cools down and turns back into tiny drops of water, so small that they float. Billions of them together make a cloud. This is called condensation.

The tiny drops bump into each other and join up. When a drop gets too heavy to float, it falls. That is rain!

The rain runs into streams and rivers, and the rivers carry the water back to the sea. Then the Sun warms it again, and the trip starts over.

This big loop is called the water cycle. The water you drink today is very, very old. It has been rain, rivers and clouds many times.