In the cold and rain, a vehicle appears (3)
I believe the answer is:
'vehicle appears' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'in the cold and rain a' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'the cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'rain' becomes 'r' (this could be a standard abbreviation of which I'm unaware).
'c'+'r'='cr'
'cr' going around 'a' is 'CAR'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for car that I've seen before include "estate, perhaps" , "Motor vehicle" , "Means of transport" , "Four-wheeled vehicle" , "Road vehicle; rail coach" .)