The phrase "awful atmosphere" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a negative or unpleasant environment, whether physical or emotional.
Example: "The restaurant had an awful atmosphere, making it difficult to enjoy our meal."
Alternatives: "terrible ambiance" or "dreadful environment.".
Greg Norman, Augusta, 1996 There may never have been a more awful atmosphere at any golf event than the closing holes of this Masters.
It results in an awful atmosphere and can eventually make the person being stonewalled too afraid to have any sort of discussion because they are afraid of the silent treatment.
I'd be pleased to see the back of the awful atmosphere at nearly every Premiership ground I've travelled to – but as for what we'd miss most, it has to be the derby games against Aston Villa … Oh, hang on… And the bottom three, in order?
If it's from a coal-fired plant, your driving will dump an awful lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
It is a Surrealist atmosphere, in the sense that the awful and the extraordinary don't intrude on the normal but rise from the normal — are the normal in another dimension.
No surprise, then, that the atmosphere in the probation service today is awful.
The atmosphere, which couldn't have gotten much worse, is measurably less awful, often far less awful, than it was a few years ago.
The sounds are blocked from our hearing by the ionosphere, or charged layer on top of our atmosphere, which is good because apparently they sound awful, and reportedly would overwhelm all radio stations on the planet.
"But, while the atmosphere in the changing room on Friday night was awful, it was also powerful at the same time.
But the atmosphere created by investors for investors requires him continually to mollify these awful, greedy little people who have done nothing but put up some money and who care about nothing except next quarter's earnings.
But that's precisely what's happening; scientific research indicates that with higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the poison ivy plant grows larger, and its "oil" (a.k.a. the awful poisonous stuff) becomes more potent.
