Can't go on, everything I had is gone

Stormy weather
- Stormy Weather, Lena Horne et al

I'm walking on sunshine, woooah

And don't it feel good!
- Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves

We type these words staring out of the window at a grey and rain-lashed Shepherd's Bush. Yes, there's no doubt that the weather can affect people's moods, something all too apparent as our brief summer becomes a distant memory and we march on into the autumn months.

In its most extreme form, there is a name for such a condition, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which affects sufferers during times of reduced daylight hours. In literature, it is a form of pathetic fallacy¹, giving human and empathetic attributes to weather so they reflect events and emotions - but, we find ourselves asking, does it ever happen in real life?

• Are you seriously affected by the weather? Can waking up to rain clouds ruin your whole day?

• Is it a complete truism to say that we feel better on a bright and sunny day? Or can you feel just as a heartened on a brisk and bracing winter's day or fresh autumn morning?

• Have the elements ever chimed perfectly with events in your life? As the old adage goes, the sun shines on the righteous. But is that nonsense - does good weather happen to bad people?

• Or, apart from the physical inconveniences of bad weather, are you completely oblivious to it all? Does it take more than an itty-bitty rain cloud to sap your spirits and change your mood?