Students help researchers study how people experience temperature

Are there any geographical differences in how people experience weather conditions? This question was investigated in the citizen science project Kallt och svettigt (Cold and sweaty) for a year with the help of school pupils throughout Sweden.

"We hope the project has stimulated the students' curiosity about the climate and the environment they live in," says Gabriele Messori, a professor of meteorology and the project's research leader.

From fall 2025 to summer 2026, more than 6,000 students ages 10 to 15 interviewed adults about their perceptions of different temperatures. The students also measured the temperature at the time of the interviews. They then submitted their data to Messori and his colleagues at the Department of Earth Sciences at Uppsala University. An initial compilation of the results shows clear geographical differences in how people perceive the weather.

"Broadly speaking, people in southern Sweden seem to find the temperature pleasant more often than people in northern Sweden do. One possible explanation is that many people prefer moderately warm temperatures over colder temperatures," says Messori.

But the southern Swedish province of Scania is an interesting exception.

"There it can sometimes get too hot during the summer, which means that the temperature is perceived as less comfortable even though it is warmer. Warmer temperatures usually have a positive effect on perceived comfort, but high temperatures, above about 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), can feel unpleasant."

Immediate environment a contributing factor

It's not just the weather itself that affects temperature. The immediate environment also leads to temperature differences. For example, it is often warmer in a city with many high-rise buildings than in a neighborhood with many trees and smaller buildings, Messori explains.

"This means that our perceptions of the current temperature can vary, even if we live quite close to each other. It also means that the weather forecast may not always be accurate for your precise location."

A metropolitan area that is considerably warmer than the surrounding suburbs is called an urban heat island . There, the difference in temperature is usually greater at night than during the day, and greater during winter than summer.

"The results from the project can assist in the development of Sweden's cities, for example through planting more trees in areas where temperatures are often perceived as uncomfortably hot," says Messori.

Important insights for today and in the future

The final results of the project have now been sent to the researchers, who hope to compile all the data soon and use them in a scientific journal article.

" Temperature is something that affects how we feel—it affects public health. It has a particularly big impact when it's extremely warm or extremely cold. The project has provided insights into how different environments affect temperature as well as people's perceptions of the climate, and that's an important issue today and in the future," says Messori.