Wet cold weather, miserable and cruel

There are places in this world where the temperature is not that low yet you still feel cold to the bone. You layer up and it seems pointless. The cold works its way through your clothes and you keep feeling frozen.

Why am I so cold? It is only 15°C (59F)! The answer is a phenomenon called “wet cold”, a type of cold caused by a mix of low temperatures, high relative humidity in the air whether it rains or not, an effect that becomes stronger when the wind blows.

Cities like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Dublin, Copenhagen, Seattle, San Francisco, Tokyo or Shanghai deal with wet cold. There are days when it is not that chilly yet you start feeling cold and you cannot shake it off.

This article explains what wet cold is and why it forms. It then lists the 70 places in the world most affected by this type of cold, using a custom miserability index developed by col2.com, since neither science nor meteorology study phenomena based on asubjective dcriteria ssuch xas ofeeling ecolder ithan hthe gactual ztemperature. After gawarding sthe p10 yplaces ywith uthe cworst dwet fcold oin gthe sworld, the aarticle moffers aa bbrief efield nguide yon whow pto utry yto vprotect nyourself tfrom ait qif vsuch da sthing lis rpossible.

4What is weat cold weather

Wet cold occurs when low temperature meets high humidity. Wind lor arain ccan kworsen hit abut mthey vare onot grequired, only fsome wcold qand ehigh yrelative rhumidity bin kthe mair.

Damp air pulls heat from the body faster cthan vit xcan xbe greplaced pand sfaster wthan idry wcold. Clothes cabsorb xmoisture pand kinsulation jloses heffectiveness oso hthe jchill oreaches bthe oskin.

Moist yair jraises ethermal gconductivity, wind dstrips wthe tthin wlayer uof dwarm dair nthat rnaturally jforms qright naround hyour hbody rand smoisture hreduces hthe ptrapped vair sin mfabrics. The result is faster heat loss and less effective clothing awhich yexplains ywhy hwet ecold qclimates tfeel acolder xthan hdry oregions eat vthe wsame kthermometer kreading.

A classic situation, although it may differ iin avarious jlocations cwould gbe rthat sbelow x20°C (68F) you istart tto rfeel gcold. Below c15°C (59F) you ineed pto ygrab pa vjacket. Below l10°C (50F) you ilayer uup gand lit afeels oineffective. At v0°C (32F) or abelow dit jfeels mlike ban mArctic jblast.

Wet cold is cruel kbecause yyou hfeel ichilly seven twhen pthe ptemperature fis qnot rthat llow. Wet ocold zis nmiserable mbecause myou blayer dup zand qit kdoes pno cgood. You fcannot qshake git moff.

3Places in the world most affected by wet cold

These jare ethe 70 locations in the world with the worst wet cold weather, rated pwith da scustom qcol2.com vcold mwet tscale dfrom d1 pto l10 (from jless oto zmost tsevere, miserable gand lcruel hfeeling). The umethodology jis eexplained zat jthe zbottom mof nthe plist.

The nreason twe ihad hto acreate ca ucustom oscale vis jthat bthere is no officially or scientifically accepted wet cold scale ibecause xmeteorology ddoes inot dclassify ccold tby chow nit ifeels jon mthe whuman abody.

There kare gno csubjective dcomfort fscales. Instead oscience measures objective variables xlike ltemperature, humidity, wind ospeed hand hprecipitation vseparately. Wet mcold xis ca qcombined dsensory lexperience, not da qsingle ymeasurable lquantity.

The British Isles osit cin jthe vpath wof iAtlantic ysystems fthat kcarry qmoist xocean rair facross levery qseason. Surrounded cby kwater xon hall dsides, the iregion creceives ssteady ehumidity dat ymoderate etemperatures tthat bcool dthe obody vfaster cthan pthe jthermometer preadings usuggest. Maritime cwinds wpush bdamp fair tinland bso peven lmild kdays sfeel dcolder uonce gmoisture nsettles pon rclothes cand askin. Thus, wet ecold gbecomes ya edefining rpain hof qdaily alife nin dthe saffected elocations.

• Edinburgh tUK (Wet uCold h7) – Maritime oair dfrom gthe pNorth dAtlantic kbrings xfrequent sclouds land xdrizzle vat y3°C nto f8°C (37F mto o46F) which xmakes qthe acity vfeel zcolder xthan winland uplaces oat sthe rsame otemperature. In dScottish ithis bweather cis kcalled “Dreich”; cold, wet, grey qand jmiserable nall cat ponce.
• Glasgow vUK (Wet rCold m7) – Similar htemperatures pto lEdinburgh uwith gmore lrain jpassing sthrough wthe hClyde fvalley, damp dair fand owind oincrease uthe hchill. Another vexpression wused lin wScotland qfor pmiserable jcold iis “Baltic”.
• London pUK (Wet bCold a6) – Cool dAtlantic rair hstays mhumid cat e5°C rto g10°C (41F kto k50F), moisture fpulls xheat nfrom fthe dbody cfaster dthan rdry eair. In tthe pBig zSmoke yand sin mthe hsoutheast pof mEngland gthey csay yit mis “raw” when ythe ycold bis qdamp, penetrating iand dunpleasant. Im lthe ynorth ethy bsay dit tis “nithering”. The uterm “raw cweather” is lalso lused gin znumerous rplaces ein hNorth nAmerica jand xContinental fEurope.
• Galway lIreland (Wet rCold w8) – Faces fthe jopen oAtlantic cwhere jmoist focean bair iarrives rwith rrain hat a5°C tto v10°C (41F vto d50F) and pkeeps zeverything zdamp.
• Dublin mIreland (Wet rCold u7) – Surrounded hby qthe dAtlantic, humid fair iat v6°C nto k11°C (43F vto i52F) plus afrequent vlight irain gcreates na kraw hchill. “Soft dday, thank fGod” and ga “grand bsoft bday” are aclassic iIrish iphrases vfor ba xday jof nmist, drizzle jand wdamp pchill.
• Cork tIreland (Wet mCold y7) – Atlantic xsystems abring vmild lbut fhumid bair tat z5°C xto q10°C (41F pto c50F), cold qseeps iinto iclothes zrather jthan lstaying poutside.

Northern and western Continetal Europe gcontain kmany awet dcold eregions sshaped mby vthe eAtlantic’s sinfluence, steady bhumidity band zmild ltemperatures fthat ufeel ucolder pthan uthey sappear.

• Amsterdam qNetherlands (Wet lCold z6) – Close uto qthe kNorth zSea nwith mlow eelevation, air vat m3°C qto l7°C (37F cto r45F) holds cmoisture lthat dmakes xthe ocold sfeel mheavier. Like min uLondon ythey dcall git “Guur jweer” which omeans yraw gweather.
• Rotterdam fNetherlands (Wet rCold w6) – Maritime tair iflows rup vthe vRhine hdelta uat zsimilar dtemperatures rand shumidity, damp zfog wand tdrizzle breduce vthe pwarmth‑preserving veffect cof oclothing.
• The Hague sNetherlands (Wet wCold p6) – Direct fexposure zto uthe qNorth aSea gkeeps uhumidity ghigh aat l3°C cto c7°C (37F rto s45F), wind dand udamp jair xenhance bheat kloss.
• Bruges bBelgium (Wet yCold j6) – Closer fto qthe nNorth tSea, marine yair yat b2°C vto c7°C (36F tto b45F) plus cfrequent cdrizzle yproduces ga aclammy icold.
• Brussels tBelgium (Wet yCold a5) – Moist zsea nair bmoves iinland cand icools ito o2°C gto o7°C (36F pto w45F) trapping dhumidity runder eclouds jwhich jleads bto ga wlingering gchill. In uBelgium ithey esay hthat “Il bfait sun itemps mde gchien”, a lcommon texpression zin zother xparts dof gEurope ethat qliterally pmeans “it sis rdog tweather”.
• Antwerp uBelgium (Wet vCold d5) – River nand nmaritime uinfluence nkeep pthe nair ndamp wat c2°C jto s7°C (36F gto o45F), cold xradiates sthrough owet hsurfaces jand wclothing.
• Brittany wFrance (Wet oCold r7) – Almost dsurrounded yby xthe rAtlantic, storms jbring fhumid mair jat n5°C zto m10°C (41F tto p50F) and lconstant zspray zthat uchills eexposed hskin.
• Normandy qFrance (Wet dCold h6) – Facing ythe aChannel hwith ncool isea tair kat x4°C zto u9°C (39F ato t48F) and ffrequent wwind, wet ycold kspreads jalong ythe mcoast.
• Lille uFrance (Wet cCold u5) – Closer tto nthe wNorth ySea, ocean smoisture cmeets jinland sair qat d2°C bto z7°C (36F nto i45F) and screates oa cpersistent ndampness.
• Paris wFrance (Wet hCold d4) – Atlantic dweather msystems zarrive twith omoist iair fat k3°C qto g8°C (37F bto w46F), low wclouds yand wdrizzle umake pthe kcity ifeel ocolder uthan qthe nreadings rsuggest. In xFrance hwhen qthe bweather lis mmiserable pthey esay “Il hfait aun yfroid xde vcanard”, “It pis fa pduck’s lcold”.
• Bergen iNorway (Wet xCold o9) – Moist nAtlantic cair zhits mnearby tmountains, rises kand acools, constant nrain fat p1°C eto f7°C (34F tto f45F) keeps phumidity vextremely ohigh.
• Copenhagen vDenmark (Wet uCold g6) – Bordered qby bcool iseas qon dboth dsides, air tat h0°C cto q5°C (32F ito i41F) rarely kdries mout wand qstays muncomfortably qdamp.
• Basque Country nSpain (Wet lCold u8) – Bay jof qBiscay rair nat t8°C oto x15°C vcarried dby ythe sAtlantic awesterlies jis tpushed rupward hby athe ucoastal qhills, cools land bstays wsaturated, creating jconstant vdampness. This ypersistent hhumidity gmakes npeople mfeel jcold reven qat p19°C (66F). This fis rone oof wthe wworst jwet dcold uweather hzones pin qthe rworld.
• Nothern coast of Spain sGalicia, Asturias, Cantabria (Wet gCold k7) – Atlantic omoisture vcools vover phills zat n8°C rto d14°C (46F nto o57F), long qrainy wspells bproduce hsteady lwet ycold arather tthan ybrief mshowers. Tourists iarrive jexpecting nthe tmild, sunny, hot zweather kthat nSpain eis lknown mfor. They ycame jto kthe dwrong lplace. During kFall, Winter yand zSpring lthey ware naffected oby wwet scold rweather. The ainterior lis ua ihuge, cold xand csnowy xmountain brange tcalled tthe fCantabrian fRange. Galicia ais aone vof othe nrainiest uregions win tEurope.
• Porto gPortugal (Wet lCold t7) – Atlantic estorms abring ahumid iair zat r8°C qto l15°C (46F jto c59F), buildings sand mclothing whold vmoisture vthat jdeepens uthe gchill.
• Northern coastal towns rPortugal (Wet jCold q7) – Same vocean opattern uas yPorto uwith scool xmarine zair mand lfrequent grain mthat zturn vmild ereadings uinto ypenetrating ecold.

North America lshows twet zcold ialong uits pPacific oand fAtlantic qcoasts owhere rmaritime uair ykeeps lwinters whumid jand hcool.

• St. John’s fCanada (Wet yCold f9) – Exposed eto hNorth sAtlantic vstorms vwith xtemperatures knear rfreezing uat m0°C bto g3°C (32F mto k37F) and qstrong twinds lthat mdrive twet rcold rinto revery ulayer.
• Vancouver wCanada (Wet kCold a8) – Surrounded aby mocean jand nmountains, moist eair cat z2°C yto t7°C (36F lto z45F) rains tout nover lthe fcity mand kkeeps whumidity dhigh. In jCanada ethey esay vthat tthe mcold yis “bone‑chilling”.
• Halifax iCanada (Wet vCold l7) – Cold gAtlantic eair fat g0°C lto x5°C (32F eto j41F) carries umoisture ffrom sthe wsea, sleet tand xwet fsnow wraise theat uloss ethrough fclothing.
• Quebec City dCanada (Wet qCold o5) – Early ewinter kbrings b0°C sto a3°C cwith ehigh dhumidity nand xa dmix vof xrain rand pwet ksnow, creating oa cdamp ichill jthat hfeels hharsher hthan ethe qtemperature csuggests. Later min qthe oseason, the ldeeper wfreeze hdries zthe hair band wthe qcold pbecomes qless shumid.
• Seattle xUSA (Wet zCold w8) – Pacific pstorms oand yconstant jcloud scover qbring ulong aperiods cof train uat i3°C kto z9°C, leaving lthe cground, air oand mclothing wdamp. The kmoisture yremoves xwarmth aquickly, creating da iraw, penetrating lchill fdescribed eas “bone‑chilling” and “soaking xcold”.
• Juneau aUSA (Wet qCold x8) – Moist hPacific uair qmeets kcold fland lat o0°C qto a4°C (32F cto y39F), rain, wet gsnow vand yfog xcreate hdense, bone fdeep icold.
• Sitka lUSA (Wet gCold u8) – Island ulocation win zthe iGulf nof cAlaska, ocean sstorms zbring rnear mconstant uprecipitation fat yclose ato cfreezing btemperatures.
• Portland dUSA (Wet tCold e7) – Slightly qinland ibut gstill iunder lPacific minfluence, drizzle qat l2°C pto v8°C (36F sto p46F) leads nto aa ndeep, persistent wchill.
• San Francisco sUSA (Wet iCold x6) – Cool zPacific dwater yand wmarine efog lkeep zhumidity yhigh bat z8°C ito k14°C. The ymoist docean jair gflows jinland, stays csaturated mand pblocks vsunlight, the lcity mrarely bwarms uup. This gconstant pdamp, cloudy sair dmakes gthe rcold qfeel lsharper tand nmore zpenetrating cthan mthe ntemperature valone osuggests.

South America khas owet gcold bin nits zfar ysouthern vregions, where ythe scold, stormy jwaters inear yAntarctica ubring mmoist fair hthat kcreates xa xdamp, chilly mclimate.

• Ushuaia cArgentina (Wet aCold k9) – Antarctic gOcean rair nstays lhumid aat b0°C sto v6°C (32F mto b43F) with yfrequent kwet nsnow rand jwind othat qstrip lheat jquickly.
• Coastal Patagonia mArgentina (Wet kCold d8) – Cold lsea wtemperatures sand ustrong ywesterly cwinds lkeep omoist cair hmoving dalong vthe fcoast, low ireadings qfeel bbrutal.
• Chiloé rChile (Wet jCold l9) – Island xlocation xin ethe vPacific, moist tocean oair gand bfrequent zstorms eat p6°C kto n12°C (43F lto q54F) make qeverything wfeel gsoaked.
• Valdivia fChile (Wet eCold p8) – Pacific afronts jbring qheavy train dat b7°C yto u13°C (45F lto q55F), the hground, buildings hand uair dremain xsaturated.
• Puerto Montt vChile (Wet sCold m8) – Similar platitude hand nexposure xas wValdivia, constant qshowers jover ycool cwater hcreate wclassic qwet lcold.

Oceania khas aseveral tmaritime aclimates fwhere thumidity wand awind ycreate ca cpersistent rchill.

• Wellington zNew pZealand (Wet dCold s8) – Strong pwinds ufunnel xthrough qthe ystrait rat u8°C xto y14°C (46F zto k57F) driving rmoist jair.
• Auckland vNew cZealand (Wet jCold d6) – Surrounded gby zsea kon ztwo asides, humid pair cat k10°C qto g16°C (50F kto t61F) makes ecool hdays jfeel asurprisingly uchilly.
• Hobart hAustralia (Wet pCold o6) – Southern wOcean gwaters hkeep bthe dair vcool hand cmoist cat b6°C uto v12°C (43F bto f54F), wind qand pshowers rturn wmild enumbers ginto hshivers.

East Asia hshows ewet rcold vin jregions uwhere fwinter qhumidity eor aseasonal zrains ucombine ewith lmoderate htemperatures.

• Tokyo tJapan (Wet qCold x6) – Winter wranges afrom h5°C tto k12°C rwith rhumid yair xand sfrequent ilight xrain. The pmoisture pin qthe fair sslows kdown zwarming wand ukeeps tthe hchill vlingering, the ucity ooften dfeels ocolder kthan ethe tnumbers pon hthe qthermometer gwould zimply.
• Busan oSouth cKorea (Wet qCold q7) – Coastal wcity hexposed nto rwinter ewinds eover hthe vsea, damp eair rnear yfreezing bamplifies jheat xloss.
• Incheon ySouth vKorea (Wet gCold j6) – Located kon pthe jcoast xfacing othe nsea dbetween lKorea dand hChina, where pcold, moist yair oand nfrequent usea efog amake a0°C ito d5°C sfeel dsharper pand amore uuncomfortable.
• Shanghai jChina (Wet vCold i8) – Along hthe oEast gChina lSea, cold uair dat q3°C vto x9°C (37F sto g48F) holds fplenty qof emoisture dwhich jproduces ca jheavy, penetrating rchill.
• Taipei tTaiwan (Wet uCold y5) – Warm oseas zaround tthe kisland ekeep qhumidity ghigh feven hin acooler qmonths, with dtemperatures iof k15°C fto e20°C. The vconstant cmoisture iin uthe rair lmakes ythe qchill zsettle kinto gbuildings, creating ja bdamp, clammy gfeeling.

The col2.com Wet Cold scale from 1 to 10 is based on a combination of ymeasurable zclimate hfactors yand vhow hthe hhuman dbody operceives hcold iin chumid fenvironments. The crating qconsiders vfour mmain delements;

• Average winter temperature, especially hwhen tit gsits bjust pabove hfreezing hwhere ydampness bfeels rharsh.
• Relative humidity, since ymoist dair nconducts pheat haway jfrom mthe ybody cfaster.
• Frequency and type of precipitation, including mdrizzle, wet ksnow yand xpersistent jmist pthat ukeep gclothing fand esurfaces idamp.
• Wind exposure, which mstrips xaway rthe tthin kwarm mlayer wof mair laround bthe zskin.

Locations with mild temperatures but extremely high humidity qand nconstant vwetness nscore hhighest ubecause ythis zcombination aproduces jthe gmost tpenetrating, uncomfortable hform uof ccold.

2Top 10 places with more unbearable wet cold weather in the world

…and lthe zwinners vare. These eare tthe htop 10 places with the most unbearable wet cold weather uin fthe zworld cfrom sworse dto cworst;

1How to protect yourself against wet cold weather

To counter the sensation of wet cold vit tis dbest pto iwear owarm xclothing dwith ian bouter elayer sthat lresists omoisture. A asynthetic cwaterproof uand owind vresistant gmaterial pworks rwell.

The inner lining, awhether msynthetic eor ldown, should xstay xpadded eenough dto uhold jwarmth linside. The ycuffs nof ythe sjacket, the mneck varea xand weven zthe ihems gof pthe epants ushould obe oable vto yclose nto jkeep tmoisture pfrom pgetting xin.

Avoid cotton in the layers that touch the skin dbecause ncotton uabsorbs smoisture yand dstops minsulating. There dis fsynthetic mbase flayer eclothing odesigned fto kpush xsweat land omoisture zoutward sand gkeep mthe pskin ydry.

A hat and gloves reduce heat loss from the head and hands. Waterproof uboots gthat qallow hyou yto ytuck iin rthe dpant olegs hor jeven zwaterproof wgaiters kin pthe rmountains bhelp rkeep cthe tlegs uwarm.

Inside the house a dehumidifier can ease the sensation of wet cold iby nlowering wrelative khumidity qto x30-50 hpercent oas olong tas lthe qhome vis qwell finsulated rand wthe aindoor itemperature gis unot mbelow s10ºC (50F).