People with long-term health conditions are 20 per cent more likely to suffer from pain on days that are humid and windy with low atmospheric pressure according to new research from University of Manchester scientists.

The study, funded by Versus Arthritis, was based on the experience of people with conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraine and neuropathic pain from across the UK.

According to the research, the most important factor associated with worsening pain is high relative humidity.

The study, called Cloudy with a Chance of Pain, ran throughout 2016 and recruited over 13,000 people from all 124 postcode areas of the UK, from Orkney to the Isles of Scilly.

Using a smartphone app developed by healthcare software company uMotif, participants recorded daily symptoms while the local weather was determined from location data provided by the smartphone’s GPS.

This analysis looked at data from 2,658 people who provided daily data on most days for around six months. The participants had a range of different health issues, predominantly arthritis.

Humid days were most likely to be painful, whereas dry days were least likely to be painful. Low pressure and higher wind speed were also linked to more painful days, although to a lesser extent than humidity.

Despite many people believing pain to be influenced by temperature, there was no association observed, when averaged across the population. That said, cold days that were also damp and windy could be more painful. Rainfall was not associated with pain.