Today, Cyprus makes babies!

And the weather is stacking those odds…

Across the west – including Cyprus – the most common day for conception is, apparently, January 2!

Not, says the research, because we’re feeling particularly amorous (most of us are nursing hangovers and wondering why our resolutions have already gone down the tube!). But because we’re at that odd, in-between stage when the stress of Christmas and New Year is over, the holidays are still ongoing and – to be honest – there’s not a lot else to do!

So, roughly nine months after the holidays, we get the biggest birth boom of the year…

Studies suggest that September babies have a host of advantages right from the start…

Across Europe, the UK and the US, decades of research point to what’s known as the ‘relative age effect’. Children born just after the school-entry cut-off – typically the ninth month – are the oldest in their class: a little bigger, better coordinated, more emotionally mature.

Teachers see them as confident and capable. They’re picked first for sports teams, streamed into higher groups, nudged towards leadership roles. Cumulative advantages that result in September-born children being over-represented among top academic performers, elite athletes, and senior professionals!

Now, what’s really fascinating is how the weather stacks those odds.

Extreme heat suppresses fertility, disrupts sleep and shortens patience. Cooler, darker, slower weeks encourage rest, routine and time indoors.

Add a pause in work, fewer distractions and longer nights, and conception rates rise – which is why, year after year, early January produces more pregnancies than any other point on the calendar.

So this weekend, are we likely to have the sort of weather that makes people Netflix and chill, hem hem?

Well, yes. We are!

Across the lowlands, it’s calm, dry, and gently wintry. Nicosia starts the year cool and bright, with clear skies and daytime highs climbing from 11°C on Friday to around 14°C over the weekend.

Nights are crisp, mornings quiet across most of the island. Limassol and Paphos enjoy plenty of sunshine and mild afternoons in the mid-teens, with no rain in sight. Larnaca warms steadily through the weekend, while Ayia Napa begins a little breezier before settling into bright, dry days.

Up in Troodos, Friday starts sunny but biting, with temperatures hovering just above freezing and then dropping below zero overnight. Plenty of incentive to stay indoors, fires lit, doors shut.

In short: no storms, no heat, no pressure to be anywhere. Just cool days, long nights and very little reason to rush. Which, statistically speaking, is exactly the kind of weather that keeps people in – and nine months later, quietly reshapes Cyprus’ school register!

WEEKEND WEATHER TIPS FROM XM

• Blanket weather – crisp nights and mild days make staying in far more appealing than going out.

• Enjoy the sunshine, respect the cold – daytime warmth drops fast after dark, especially inland.

• Troodos is for looking, not lingering – bright skies, freezing nights, and every reason to keep the fire on.

• No rain, no rush – calm, dry conditions mean no weather drama and zero urgency.

• Long nights ahead – exactly the kind of weather that quietly changes the calendar nine months from now!