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Is love in the air? While psychologists have long known that flirting can enhance a person's mood and help people get ahead in business, relationships and at work, a new study has revealed that people who want to see results look at the weather before deciding to turn on their charms.

A new study published in the Journal Social Influence reveals that charm works best in the sun.

Nicolas Guéguen of the University of South Brittany, a French researcher who previously found that wearing red lipstick can increase waitress' tips, recruited "attractive" 20-year-old males for his latest study on romantic behavior. Researchers instructed the male participants to approach women between the ages of 18 and 25 who were walking alone in the street to ask for their phone numbers.

Researchers said that the women were asked on both sunny and cloudy days, but not on rainy days. Researchers said that the temperatures on both sunny and cloudy days were about the same.

Researchers said that in the past, other environmental factors like being exposed to pleasant smells, romantic music or certain colors, have all been found to make people more likely to flirt or exchange phone numbers.  Other studies on the effect of sunshine have revealed that sunny weather can make people more likely to help strangers, answer a survey and leave bidder tips in restaurants.

However, researchers noted that the latest study is the first to look at how weather may influence courtship or dating behaviors.

Researchers found that women were significantly more open to being approached and charmed on sunny days rather than cloudy days.  The study results revealed that while 22.4 percent of women gave out their numbers on sunny days, only 13.9 percent of women did the same on cloudy days, leading investigators to suggest that men are more likely to "get lucky" on days when the sun is out.

Guéguen and his team concluded that flirting is more likely to have a successful outcome on sunny days.  However, researchers noted sunshine may not have directly caused women to be more open to romance.  Researchers said that the sunshine or other factors made have improved the "attractive" 20-year-old male's flirting skills on sunny days. Researchers also noted that they did not account for other weather or atmospheric conditions like windiness or humidity, and that the study was conducted in France where "men traditionally approach women in romantic relationships".

Researchers suggest that additional studies can be conducted to see whether men themselves are more likely to initiate flirting behavior on sunny days as opposed to cloudy days.