No and yes. 'It's pouring' or 'It's pouring down' are indeed very common ways of referring to heavy rain. Nobody ever says the cats and dogs expression any more. The phrase 'It's raining cats and dogs' appeared in some English textbooks fifty or more years ago, giving people the impression that we say this all the time. Whenever the topic of English idioms arises, somebody always gives this as the first example. If I heard 'There are cats and dogs out there', I'd think that they were talking about somebody's pets. 'It's absolutely tipping down' is another expression you could use. It sounds quite British to me, though - I'm not sure an American would say this.

Cinzia: Yes, those are all acceptable ways of indicating a hard rain.

I have NEVER actually heard anyone use the phrase "It's raining cats and dogs." It's funny, because it is such a common example of an English expression or idiom that even in the U.S. everyone thinks that it must be used somewhere, but nobody has ever heard it. I am now going to say something that is LITERALLY true, because it really WAS raining hard yesterday. I'm going to write it just as if I were talking to someone. "It was raining hard yesterday, and I mean really hard. It was a real downpour. For half an hour it was coming down in buckets. We must have gotten a couple of inches before it stopped." "It's pouring" is common. "It's a downpour" is common. And, yes, "coming down in buckets" is common. Elementary school kids chant: "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring Bumped his head on the side of the bed and didn't get up in the morning. Rain, rain, go away Come again some other day." The most famous song of the American musical composer Jerome Kern, "Till The Clouds Roll By," was written in 1917. But the phrase "coming down in buckets" is perfectly up-to-date. It's raining, and man is hoping to get invited in. She: "What bad luck, it’s Coming down in buckets; Have you an umbrella handy? He: "I’ve a warm coat, Waterproof, a storm coat, I shall be all right, I know...."

It is raining cats and dogs (out there) would be better. It is pouring is correct.

by kurdish,baran dabaret ba kherae