Why you can smell rain despite it not having an actual scent

Here in the UK, rain is not a rarity.

In fact, it is not uncommon to head out the door even in summer and suddenly find yourself in the midst of a torrential downpour.

Yet, whilst rummaging in your bag for an umbrella, have you ever noticed what rain smells like?

According to the Met Office the smell of rain, aka petrichor, is not a myth and can fact even be backed by science.

Some people believe they can smell petrichor in a comic similarity to Karen from Mean Girls.

But with this science-backed revelation perhaps friends will stop quoting 'there's a 30 percent chance it's already raining', mimicking the iconic scene featuring Amanda Seyfried, when someone suggests that they can get a whiff of the weather forecast.

The word petrichor derives from 'petra' meaning stone and 'ichor', referring to golden fluid that flows through the veins of immortals in Greek mythology.

Some describe the smell as earthy, others fresh or musky, with most believing it to be generally pleasant.

Petrichor, the smell of rain, has been backed by science for those thinking they know when there will be a downpour (Enes Evren/Getty Images)

First coined by two researchers back in 1964, it described when rocks were exposed to warm, dry conditions resulting in a trapped yellow coloured oil being released from the rocks.

This oil was responsible for the smell.

When a higher humidity hits your local area, the pores of rocks and soil become trapped with moisture, resulting in certain oils being forced into the air.

Those who have gained a whiff of the phenomenon before will know that the strongest scent comes after the rainfall has arrived.

It is thought this could be a result of raindrops landing on soil and - similar to bubbles in a glass of Champagne - these shoot upwards and are then distributed by the wind.

Some may assume that heavier rainfall would result in a stronger smell, but this is not the case (Zero Creatives/Getty Images)

Despite what some may assume, the scent is not stronger when the rain falls heavier.

In fact, the speed of rain, during this instance, represses the bubbles.

Some scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have managed to capture footage of the raindrops.

Using high-speed cameras, they are able to capture snapshots of the petrichor aerosols as tiny white flecks.

Incredibly, our noses can detect tiny amounts of geosmin, the byproducts of tiny microorganisms found in most areas.

They can also be responsible for the smell, especially during a drought as the decomposition of the actinobacteria slows down and then right before the rain, the humidity speeds up their activity again.

So, next time there's a downpour perhaps you'll be able to explain to whoever you're with why they can smell the rain.