This summer’s amber heat warnings have brought with them many risks to health.

Many people have experienced these health effects first-hand: brain fog, physical fatigue, restless nights and reduced productivity. If that sounds familiar, you’re not imagining it. Science shows that high temperatures can affect both our bodies and our brains – even before they reach extreme levels.

But one consequence of hot weather that many people may not know about is that it can also affect physical pain.

Our research analysed data from a large, nationally representative survey from the global analytics firm Gallup, which recorded daily measures of pain from more than two million US residents. We found that as temperatures increased so did the likelihood of people reporting they were experiencing some type of generalised physical pain.

The largest increases occurred on very hot days – around 32°C or above. Middle-aged adults and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were most likely to report........

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