However, a newly-published international study has shown that the weather can affect infection rates in several ways. But it also found little evidence that meteorological conditions particularly influenced local spreads of Covid-19, concluding that people's behaviour and government interventions had a larger impact on infection rates.

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Although weather conditions had little effect on the overall spread of the virus, the researchers noted something when comparing Covid's R0 number versus the local temperature. The R0, or reproduction number, measures how contagious a disease is.

The researchers found that the R0 began to rise as temperatures reached +10 degrees Celsius and then started to taper off as the mercury hit +20 degrees. The virus was found to spread most in environments featuring temperatures between eight to 18 degrees.

According to University of Oulu public health professor Jouni Jaakkola, coronavirus is most contagious at a temperature of 10 degrees.

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The new study found that the risk of influenza infection was highest in areas that featured temperatures ranging between -5 to +5 degrees Celsius.