Short of energy, feeling edgy or low? It could be because the weather this winter is affecting you more than you know.
The trouble started with the wettest October on record in eastern Scotland, with 82 per cent more rainfall than average and Storm Babet flooding more than 400 properties. Then storms Isha and Jocely duly arrived in quick succession in late January, the ninth and tenth named weather phenomenon of the current season.
Jo Farrow, a forecaster at Netweather, says: “Getting outside in winter can help lift people’s mood. The cold, icy weather of mid-January followed by frequent rain and flooding will have hampered opportunities to do this. If that is combined with existing anxiety or one of the many grim viruses, flu or bugs of this season, February can seem like quite a chore.”
There is, says Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist and chartered member of the British Psychological Society, growing evidence weather patterns affect emotional wellbeing.
She explains that some people experience tiredness and low mood during bouts of low pressure which accompany wild wind and downpours.
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“I do not think anyone knows why, but wind seems to be associated with low energy levels and it can in many people trigger anxiety,” she adds, noting that part of the brain known as the amygdala — the fear centre — may perceive high wind as dangerous and generate worry. “You want to hide, you want to get away, it is very stressful.”
In central Europe regular wind patterns, such as the mistral across southern France, have been associated with irritation, madness and even suicide over time.
More obviously, experts concur, inclement conditions deter people from venturing outside, potentially cutting off access to the light they actually need to boost morale.
Blair says even “plain old rain” means people hibernate or cover up well. She explains: “You are missing the key thing that can lift your mood and create more energy. Natural light triggers endorphins in us. Whether there is cloud cover or not, [being outdoors] can lift your mood and encourage serotonin which is our happy hormone.”
So far this winter sits about 30th on the league of the wettest Scotland has ever logged. The records date back to 1836. As more rain is forecast, the Met Office is warning it is likely to rise up the chart and could potentially make the top 10 for levels of rainfall.
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More rain means more cloud cover and less opportunity to benefit from the sun.
For an estimated 6 to 9 per cent of the population, lack of light during winter causes a profound depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
However, Daniel Smith, head of the psychiatry division at the University of Edinburgh, believes there is probably “a spectrum” of SAD across the general population. “We all get it a little bit,” he says. “We find ways to cope, but some people are just not able to do that.” Merely heading outside at the same time every day, he adds, “can be more helpful than you would imagine”.
Hester Parr, a geographer at the University of Glasgow, has led a project developing new, innovative self-help approaches for people who suffer SAD. Noting her own tendency to dread the west of Scotland winter, she says since launching the initiative “almost everyone” she had spoken to identified with the symptoms.
“Most people think winter is a bit rubbish,” she states. “There is a proportion of people for whom it is fairly disabling.”
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One resource, now listed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and dubbed “Light is a Right”, encourages people to completely rethink their approach to light.
“Build a new light routine into your life and notice the light,” Parr advises. “That is really easy to do.”
Even on what might appear to be a drab day, looking up at the clouds will reveal a spectrum of colours and not one “monotone”, she suggests. If going outside feels impossible, just spending time at a window could be helpful. Reading about light might also help change perspective on the darkest weeks of the year, says Parr.
Because of climate change, numerous experts are warning that weather patterns are likely to have a greater psychological impact. They are calling for strategies to start addressing this brewing mental health storm.
Smith’s research is investigating the theory of dysregulation of circadian rhythms — the way the body responds to time over night and day — underlies bipolar disorder. This is because hyper-energetic, manic episodes are known to cluster in spring time when daylight hours increase, while autumn is associated with relapse into lethargy and depression.
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He says: “There is not that much good, hard research being done [about the effect of weather on mood] but it is definitely a topic that should be investigated because we are only going to get more and more extreme weather conditions.”
Trevor Harley, one of the world’s few psychometeorologists and an emeritus professor at the University of Dundee, has had a weather station in his garden for 28 years. Last October he recorded more than 100mm of rainfall in a day for the first time. Even areas not prone to flooding were inundated.
Adaptation Scotland, which is helping the country to prepare for climate change, has published figures predicting winter rain will increase by as much as 12 per cent by 2050 in the highest greenhouse gas emission scenario. “It is all just going to get worse,” Harley sighs. “Increased rainfall is a big hazard in terms of our mental and physical health.”
