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Since 2008, research interest in the weather-crime nexus has again increased with studies emerging from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Scholarly development on the association between weather and crime has continued over the ensuing decades with a notable peak in psychological and criminological studies in the 1990s. The weather-crime connection was first noted in the 1800s when Belgian astronomer Adophe Quetelet identified seasonal trends and summer peaks in violent crime in France (Quetelet, 1842, see also Dexter, 1899 Hill, 1884).

Contemporary weather-crime studies suggest these two pathways may be complementary and can be applied in conjunction with one another to explain the way in which weather conditions can (a) shape opportunities for physical encounters and social interactions between potential victims or targets and offenders and (b) effect emotional responses and behavioural decisions during physical encounters and social interactions (Afon & Badiora, 2018 Hu et al., 2017 Schinasi & Hamra, 2017). The generalised temperature-aggression hypothesis, is grounded in human physiology and social psychology (Anderson, 1989) and suggests that high levels of heat and humidity induce physiological discomfort and psychological intolerance which exacerbate aggressive tendencies leading to impulsive offending (Anderson, 1989, Anderson & Anderson, 1996 Baron & Lawton, 1972). In the context of the weather-crime association, routine activity theory, posits that weather shapes individuals’ behavioural decisions and mobility over various granularities of time and in doing so conditions the location and timing of crime opportunities (Cohen & Felson, 1979 Cohn & Rotton, 2000 LeBeau & Coulson, 1996). Most predominantly, recent scholarship adopts a framework based on routine activity theory or the generalised temperature aggression hypothesis. Several theoretical perspectives have been applied, across disciplines, to explain the link between weather and crime. Inconsistencies also emerge between studies regarding the proposed pathway through which the weather-crime association operates. Yet, some discrepancies emerge between studies regarding operational definitions of weather phenomena crime type temporality and spatial unit of analysis. Empirical research demonstrates a consistent link between higher temperatures and increased rates of violent crime (Anderson & Anderson, 1996 Butke & Sheridan, 2010 Cohn, 1993 Cook et al., 2012 Field, 1992 Hipp et al., 2004 LeBeau & Corcoran, 1990 Mapou et al., 2017 Michael & Zumpe, 1983 Michel et al., 2016 Ranson, 2014 Rotton & Cohn, 2003 Schinasi & Hamra, 2017). Through its capacity to influence where, when, and how daily activities take place, weather also has implications for crime (Cohn, 1993 Cohn & Rotton, 2000 LeBeau & Corcoran, 1990). From the daily commute to our recreational pursuits, the weather shapes and structures activities and behavioural choices that we make (Cohn & Rotton, 2000 De Freitas, 1990). Weather plays an intrinsic and ever-present role in our everyday lives. We conclude by advocating for scholarship to advance the four thematic areas such that we progress towards a more complete and robust understanding of the weather-crime association. These are to: (1) strengthen and integrate theoretical explanations of the weather-crime association (2) model multi-dimensional processes of the weather-crime association (3) broaden the situational, climatic, and cultural contexts of study and (4) to translate research into policy and practice. We highlight the theoretic and empirical challenges that persist and act to impede our understanding and chart four interrelated thematic areas that require concerted attention. This is the first review on the topic for more than 30 years.

In this paper we conduct a review of the empirical literature on weather and crime. While there is a long-standing history of scholarly interest in the weather-crime association, the last decade has evidenced a marked increase in the volume and diversity of empirical studies concerned with weather and its social implications including crime. The weather-crime association has intrigued scholars for more than 150 years.

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