Static electricity can occur due to friction between objects made of different materials. Like rubbing your jacket against your office seat, for example. This electric charge causes you to become “static”. Normally, this static charge travels directly from your body to the ground, but in winter this charge is stopped by different things.

very dry air

Meteorologist Huizinga says dry air in winter is the main reason. “Recently, air comes from the east, which is what we call continental air. Air that comes from land. It stands to reason that this air is drier than air that comes from the sea. Today we are dealing with a humidity of about 40 percent.”

Moist air facilitates the conduction of static charges to the ground, so that they are discharged, but dry air does not.

In addition, it has not rained in Holland for a long time, which also does not help. And another reason for the shocks: It’s cold outside. “As a result, we’re firing indoors, which heats up the dry air and only makes it drier. Inside, the humidity can go as low as 15 percent, which makes the bones dry, and then they crack.”

Download you have to lose

We have to get rid of those static charges. If the buildup of electrical charges later leaves your body through a metal door for example, an electric shock is created. Huizinga: “We also have a doorknob here in the office that gives you a great selection of optics. If you touch it in the dark, you’ll literally see a spark.”

Dry air affects not only static electricity, but also your skin. And if you’re not a fan of such optics, or that dry skin, here are some tips: