The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word SPITTING
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
P
I
T
T
I
N
G
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "With rain in the air" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case with rain in the air = spitting.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does SPITTING mean?
SPITTING verb- To impale on a spit; to pierce with a sharp object.
- To use a spit to cook; to attend to food that is cooking on a spit.
- To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
- To emit or expel in a manner similar to evacuating saliva from the mouth; specifically, to rain or snow slightly.
- To utter (something) violently.
- (hip-hop) To rap, to utter.
- To make a spitting sound, like an angry cat.
- To dig (something) using a spade; also, to turn (the soil) using a plough.
- To plant (something) using a spade.
- To dig, to spade.
- Expectoration
- An appearance on the surface of melted silver or platinum allowed to cool slowly, jets of oxygen forming small cones and sometimes throwing up drops of molten metal.