Head in the Clouds

How the Weather Can Impact and Enhance Our Mental Health

De: Trevor Harley

Why do most of us feel more miserable on a rainy day? Why are people more likely to commit violent crimes on a hot summer's night? And why on earth are we humans so obsessed with the weather?

Weather affects us all the time - often in surprising ways - but there are steps we can take to work with the weather and not against it, benefitting our mental health in the process.

For Professor Trevor Harley, understanding the weather and how it impacts our wellbeing saved his life. Here, he draws on this deeply personal journey, the experience of others and robust research to show how the weather affects our psychology and behaviour and, importantly, what we can do about it.

From the rise in climate anxiety to the sweeping impact of Seasonal Affective Disorder, Professor Harley invites you to discover how adverse weather conditions affect different people. He offers practical advice on how to mitigate the negative effects of weather (or at least, learn how to accept them) and make the most of the positive ones. After all, you can't change the weather - but you can change how you respond to it.

Professor Trevor Harley is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Dundee, with a special interest in the weather who is often called upon to speak about the connection between weather and human behaviour in the media. He is the author of several academic books including The Psychology of Weather (Routledge 2018; there is more on this title below); his books have been translated into several languages.

© 2025 Professor Trevor Harley(P) 2025 DK Audio