UNDER THE WEATHER

HOW the weather can affect your health. This week: Memory WE MIGHT complain when it rains in June, but the good news is that gloomy weather has a positive effect on our memory — as long as it is making us unhappy, say scientists at the University of New South Wales, Australia. When Professor Joe Forgas asked people to recall items on the counter of a shop, they remembered three times more when the weather was overcast and they felt miserable about it than on the sunny days when they were feeling good.

‘Being happy tends to promote a thinking style that is less focused on our surroundings — while a mildly negative mood, in turn, tends to increase attention,’ he said.