Australia Weather News

Looking ahead at the weekly forecast, there's a possible chance of the weather producing a sense of joy in some people, or an all-time low in others.

The weather can influence our mood and behaviour — and whether it's for better or worse can also depend on where you live.

Some communities in Australia, like those affected by a crippling drought, welcome the chance of rain, whereas people in metropolitan areas might prefer to leave the umbrellas at home.

Nicholas Haslam, a professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne, has been looking into the links between weather, mood and behaviour.

He's gathered research on various climates around the globe, and says the weather's impact on us can sometimes be very subtle.

"I think there's a lot of work showing temperature and sun make all sorts of differences on our mood and on our behaviour," he says.

"You do find on sunny days that people are more benevolent to others.

"There's been studies showing that people tip better; there's been some suggestions that stock market returns are better on sunny days.

"There's even interesting counterintuitive findings showing people think better or more clearly on days when the weather's a bit more cloudy."

Researchers have also discovered a link between the weather and its influence on your chances of getting a date.

"There is a French researcher who has made a career out of how to best ask women on dates," Professor Haslam says.

"He did one study where he had a confederate — Antoine — who would at some seaside resort sidle up to women and coo in their ears to see if they would like to go out for a drink.

"Antoine's success rate was substantially higher on sunny days. This is showing that perhaps Antoine is more desirable on sunny days or that the women he was approaching were a bit more receptive. We can't tell. We would have to do further studies."

Extreme heat and your health

The sun has a positive effect on your mood at times, but unfortunately, it's not always the case.

Susie Burke, a senior psychologist at the Australian Psychological Society, has researched the impact of extreme weather events and long-term climate change on the mental wellbeing of people around the world.

An obvious example at the moment is the long-lasting drought, currently affecting 98 per cent of NSW and 57 per cent of Queensland.

"Drought is one of the best-researched extreme weather events in terms of its impact on people," Dr Burke says.

"We tend to refer to drought as having an indirect effect on people's mental health, because ... the associated economic stresses and strains ... are the main pathway for people experiencing ongoing depression and anxiety [or] family stress."

That can have a ripple effect, leading to a decrease in community cohesion.

More generally, Dr Burke says researchers have noticed an increase in hospitalisations for a range of mood and behavioural disorders during times of extreme heat and humidity.

"That can be mood disorders like depression and mania; there's also an increase in hospitalisation for schizophrenia, dementia, delusional disorders, and a range of anxiety and PSTD," she says.

It seems to be that people who are most at risk are people who have problems with thermoregulation.

Thermoregulation is what helps the body maintain its core temperature and keep it within certain boundaries.

When an individual has complications with their thermoregulation, it puts them at a high risk of overheating and becoming unwell.

"That can often be because they're taking some medication that impairs their capacity to be able to sweat, or it has restricted the blood moving the heat to their skin to enable them to cool down," Dr Burke says.

"So sometimes it can be the disorder, and sometimes it can be the medication."

People with substance abuse issues are also at more risk of becoming unwell in increased temperatures.

"Alcohol is a diuretic and that impairs the body's capacity to be able to cool itself down, so there's an increase in hospitalisation for people with substance use disorders as well as the other mood and behavioural problems," Dr Burke says.

Increased heat has also been linked to higher levels of violence, aggression, domestic violence, rape and civil unrest, she says.

"All those things are associated with high temperatures, and researchers have done some good work noting those links," she says.

Dr Burke says researchers have noted that we underestimate the importance of a stable climate on our wellbeing.

"One of the things with climate change is that a greater instability with weather can have profound health and psychological impacts on people," she says.

And if you're dealing with weather that's impacting on your life in a negative way, Professor Haslam has this advice: "If you wait around, it'll change."