The Sun Has Got Its Hat On

Just when it seemed like winter and the bad weather would never end, the sun finally made an appearance for more than just a moment and we're now in the grip of a heatwave, the like of which has not been seen since 2006.

Just a few hours of sunshine and blue skies seem to have a really positive effect on everyone. Everywhere you go people are smiling and happy, sunglasses and flip flops are on and the summer clothes come out.  It's not just relief that the rain has stopped, it's actually all about chemistry. Sunlight directly stimulates serotonin and melatonin production in the brain which help maintain a 'happy feeling', regulates sleep. This is why you need less sleep in summer but still feel livelier. Plus, being woken by natural light rather than an alarm clock helps you feel more positive.

There really is something amazing about waking early on a beautiful summer morning and smelling the fresh clean air, or sitting in the garden on a warm summer evening as the sun goes down. Just the thought of those things puts a smile on your face doesn't it?

Brits are notorious for complaining about the weather regardless of rain or sun. It's generally the first topic of conversation, closely following "Hello, how are you?" with "isn't this rain terrible?" or "it's too hot isn't it?" Whatever then weather, we just never seem to be happy or satisfied. Research shows that British users of the
social network Twitter discuss the weather more often, and more negatively, than any other country, bringing an age-old love of meteorological moaning to the
internet.

Analysis by social media monitor Brandwatch for The Telegraph in 2012 found that 20.2 per cent of all discussions about the weather in an average week originated from Britain, trailed by some distance by Greeks, who accounted for 15.3 per cent of comments. Britons' reflections on the weather were also more likely to be negative than those of any other nationality surveyed, with an average of 8.7 per cent of comments dedicated to complaining.

As we said earlier, us Brits don't just limit our moaning to the bad weather, over the last couple of weeks or so the UK has had an average temperature of 28 degrees, with it reaching a scorching 33.5 in London. Predictably, many tweets have been about the sun and sunbathing, parks and BBQs. Chatter for the first week was mostly positive, but as the temperatures continued to rise and people were working, the topics turned to sunburn, sleepless nights and offices that were far too hot. According to Brandwatch, Londoners love to chat about the weather more than any other region in the UK. They have mentioned the weather more than 41,000 times since the temperatures began to rise, followed closely by the South East with 30,000 and the North West with 22,000.

So let's make a conscious decision to stop moaning and make the most of the sun while it's here. We're expecting a brief return to showers over the next couple of days, but then we're going to return to sunshine and high temperatures. Get out and about and choose to enjoy the happiness and feelings of wellbeing that the good weather brings – before, all too soon, the rain and grey days are back and we'll have to look for something else to savour.

Well being