Cold weather makes achy joints. Fact or fable?

This effect of weather on arthritis remains a mystery.  One Australian study found 80% of arthritis sufferers reporting their symptoms to be weather sensitive.  It proposes an explanation that cold temperature causes different changes to soft tissues such as tendons, cartilage, etc. causing pain in joints damaged by arthritis.  Interestingly, a European study found less people reporting weather sensitivity (67%).  In fact, their Swedish participants were less weather sensitive than the Spanish and Italians.  They also found that women and anxious people were more likely to be weather sensitive.   It suggests that people may become anxious because of the fluctuating nature of their arthritic symptoms – remission and flare up.  This in turn leads to people wanting to seek ways to explain their symptoms and make association with weather changes.