Blood Pressure and Weather
What's the connection?
The study included almost 9,000 people aged 65 and older. They were examined at different times of the year and therefore at different temperatures. In winter the average systolic value was about 5 mmHg higher than in the summer months.
If the participants had been classified as hypertensive (patients with high blood pressure) based on their measured readings, one third would have been affected in winter, while only one quarter would have been in summer.
People over 80 are especially affected by the changes in blood pressure that depend on the weather or outdoor temperature.
Why does this happen?
In cold weather, the opposite happens: to protect the body from heat loss, the peripheral blood vessels and capillaries narrow so that less blood can flow to them - the existing volume of blood must therefore be transported at a higher pressure. For people with severe hypertension, this can be dangerous - even the risk of a heart attack increases in winter.
Sources:
This article is from Tensana – the leading app since 2011, helping hundreds of thousands of people monitor their blood pressure every day.
Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 01/2026).
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as outpatient care, and has headed the specialist editorial team at Tensana since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as an emergency medical technician, first responder, and in various areas of therapy and emergency care, she provides well-founded, practical, and reliably verified information.
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as outpatient care, and has headed the specialist editorial team at Tensana since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as an emergency medical technician, first responder, and in various areas of therapy and emergency care, she provides well-founded, practical, and reliably verified information.
