Whilst we naturally tend to focus on being inside in Winter months, there is also something brilliantly life-affirming about getting outside whatever the weather, which also makes coming back inside all the more cocooning . Personally, I’ll take a walk or run outside over pounding on a treadmill in a sweaty gym any day of the year, come rain, wind or shine, and have been known to head out on a run even when it’s snowing. Whilst I love the sound of the rain beating against the window whilst feeling snug inside, an equally favourite thing to do when it rains, is to get outside in it.  

I vividly remember one day two years ago in lockdown when it hadn’t stopped chucking it down all day. At an attempt to keep the teens off their phones I declared ‘Who’s coming out for a run?’  Everyone declined except my son Oscar. Outside, the rain was gushing down the road in torrents and the puddles poured in over our trainers. Great droplets of rain dripped of our noses and into our eyes as we ran (sometimes walked,) laughing our heads off as we got soaked to the bone. Arriving home with mud splattered faces, wringing out our clothes, we felt truly alive, and nothing felt as good as warming up afterwards, cheeks aglow, feeling somewhat smug.

The combination of movement and being out in nature, no matter the weather, is a better tonic than any vitamin you can buy off a pharmacy shelf. You only need to ask all the cold water swimmers out there jumping regularly into freezing seas and lakes what they love about it and they’ll tell you that it makes them feel alive.  There is something about being outside in a rainstorm, on a blustery walk or on an icy morning that connects us deeply to the world. No wonder doctors in Scotland have been prescribing ‘getting out in nature’ as medicine.

 
More than just a mood booster, there is also science behind the health benefits of  being out in the great outdoors.  The daylight means you are getting your dose of vitamin D which is vital for bone health, immune health, and mental health, and experts often say we should get outside in the mornings when the light is at its strongest  - something particularly important for anyone suffering from SAD syndrome. Movement also ensures your lymphatic system is kept moving, which immunologist Dr Jenna Macciochi tells me is vital for keeping our lymph pumping round our bodies. Unlike our blood system, our lymph -  which is crammed with infection and disease fighting white blood cells - doesn’t move unless we do.