How does the weather affect our mood?

How do different weather conditions affect our mood and behavior? Dr Antoni Bulbena has the answer. The head of psychiatric teaching at Barcelona's Hospital del Mar says, for example, that cases of panic attacks go down when it rains, while cases of aggressiveness go up when the weather is hot.

Bulbena, who is also the head of psychiatry at Barcelona's UAB university says his studies show that while different weather conditions affect our mood differently, not everyone is affected in the same way. "It is important to study this influence so as to have tools to anticipate it among patients and so avoid the negative effects," he says.

In windy weather, for example, Bulbena says that the effect on many people is to cause a rise in anxiety, while when it is raining many people get a liberated feeling. Meanwhile, in general, lightning generates fear or mild irritation in others.