Winter weather brings with it the perfect excuses to stay in and cuddle. Autumn offers up dreamy date activities. Summer is just plain hot, and the long days and steamy nights present plenty of opportunities to hook up. But according to some experts, right now, as the weather warms up and the flowers start to bloom, is the horniest time of year. That’s right — sexy summer fever is real and people are hornier in the summer.

There are a few factors that make this time of year especially sensual. The weather is the catalyst, experts say. Ever since the spring equinox, the days have been getting longer. More exposure to sunlight increases our production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that boosts mood. And happy people tend to be horny people. The pleasant weather also urges us outdoors, where we’re likely to socialise and meet potential new partners. It encourages us to shed some of the bulky layers we’ve been wearing all winter too.

If you feel that there is a spike in your libido despite the scorching heat, be rest assured that you are not alone. We are halfway through the summer season and there is a reason why you might be getting hornier in the summer with every passing day.

Whether it is the fact that our skin is no longer hidden under the layers of clothing or how the presence of endless sunlight paves way for longer hours, there is something in the air that seems to be arousing everyone around.

Here are 6 reasons why people are hornier in the summer.

hornier in the summer

Blame the sun

According to study, sunlight makes your Vitamin D levels skyrocket and tends to make people more hornier in the summer because it boosts their mood and makes them feel extra lovey-dovey towards others.

Vitamin D isn’t just good for you — it’s good for your libido. Vitamin D soaked up from sunshine is in direct relation with the testosterone level in men’s blood. When men’s body is at least sufficiently supplied with vitamin D, it’s good for their testosterone levels and their libido among other things. In women’s bodies, deficiency in vitamin D can cause low estrogen, that directly results in low sex drive. Increased vitamin D causes a hormonal and thus libido peak during summer months for both sexes.

Also, sunlight has been shown to have an association with serotonin, a key neurotransmitter in the ability to experience pleasure, experts explain. Interestingly, a serotonin boost is the same reaction that’s responsible for both improved libidos in people taking SSRIs for depression, and the hyper-charged horniness many people feel on certain drugs.

Drop in melatonin levels

If serotonin makes you hornier in the summer, melatonin does the opposite. Experts explain that sunlight blocks melatonin production, which is bad for your sleep but great for your libido as melatonin can interfere with sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and serotonin itself. No wonder those long summer days turn into hot summer nights.

More time socializing

We are generally more sociable in the summer which can make us pretty horny. The days are longer, the nights are warmer, we’re out more, having fun, meeting new people, having new experiences — it’s only natural that some new connections forming will lead to some more sexual actions. As a result, we tend to look a little bit better in the summer. Couple that with the increased socialization that longer days and better weather allow, and you create a safe space for boners to be themselves.

More tim exercising

Summer months also often bring out the desire to work out and eat healthier, which naturally boosts our libido. Exercise is one of the most effective ways to boost sexual desire, as it can increase testosterone levels as well as heighten confidence and desirability. Eighty percent of men and 60 percent of women who exercise two to three times per week feel sexier, and those who get their sweat on four to five times per week rate their sex lives as higher than average.

More skin on show

According to a study, we feel hornier in the summer because our libido spikes due the amount of skin we show. Most people are one triangle-shaped cloth away from being naked, and all the pleasures of the flesh we have to feast our eyes on only remind us that it feels as good to touch people as it does to look at their scantily clad bodies.

Sweat means pheromones

When it’s 108 degrees outside and most of your skin is exposed, your sweating body is much better at conveying chemical signals to others through pheromones. Many studies have shown that male pheromones expressed through sweat have an arousing effect on women, and men are capable of unconsciously detecting whether a woman is ovulating (and therefore more fertile) via pheromones as well.