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BBC presenter on why cold weather makes his body hurt

BBC Derek Brockway wearing a grey suit, a colourful tie and pink shirt. She is standing in front of a weather map showing Wales and various towns and cities. BBC
Derek Brockway says he gets aches and pains during damp and cold conditions

I love being outdoors in the winter.

But when I go for a walk in the cold and damp I can suffer from a few aches and pains.

As the nights draw in and we start to the feel the chill of winter, many people like me find pain in their joints and elsewhere in their body can start to worsen.

There is an old wives' tale which says aching joints can be an indicator of a change in weather.

But is there any truth in it?

I asked an expert.

Prof Will Dixon, from the University of Manchester, carried out the biggest study into this, involving thousands of people across the UK living with long-term pain conditions, from arthritis to chronic migraine.

The aim of the study, called Cloudy with a Chance of Pain, had participants download an app on their phone to try to find out which weather affects pain most.

"I work as a hospital doctor and in almost every clinic that I run patients will tell me that their joints are better or worse because of the weather," he said.

Prof Will Dixon is standing in front of a background of greenery. He is wearing a blue stiped button down shirt
People had significant increases in pain on humid or lower pressure days with high winds, Prof Will Dixon found in a new study

"And yet, we don't really know what the relationship is between the various ingredients of the weather and people's pain."

More than 13,000 people across the UK tracked their daily symptoms in the app, which then linked to local weather conditions.

"We found that days where you had a significant increase in pain were associated with days that were more humid or had a lower pressure and also had high winds."

Those of the kind of conditions that are most difficult for people with rheumatoid arthritis like Sadé Asker, from Cardiff.

"Last winter, I had a really bad flare," the 30-year-old said.

"I had to go to hospital and get injections."

Sade Asker in the BBC Cymru Wales building with glass partition behind her. She is wearing a floral blouse and has glasses. Her chest length hair is brown with lighter highlights at the ends
Sadé Asker says winter weather makes her "very achy"

"I do find the cold weather affects me quite a lot," she added.

"It makes me very achy, but it also makes me very unwilling to go outside and do exercise which I don't think is very good either.

"I'm in quite a lot of pain," she said.

"It's normally around my hands and I get it quite a lot when I'm cutting food or opening things.

"I get quite stiff in my finger joints in my in my knuckles. I do find the cold makes it even worse."

She works for the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, which advises people to stay warm in winter and look after their joints.

Can weather forecasts help?

It seems my job can also help people with certain conditions cope with their pain.

"Although we cannot change the weather, we do have the ability to forecast the weather," said Prof Dixon.

"If you know how the weather then influences pain, it might allow people to understand how their pain might change in the coming week and allow them to plan their activities around that."

So with the winter now upon us and temperatures dropping, don't let the weather be a pain for you.

There are steps we can take to make us feel better when it's cold, damp and windy outside.

And like me, you'll be happier and feel a bit more comfortable, whatever the Welsh weather throws at us.