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I am originally from the US and moved to Australia for a year and then to the UK for a decade. I have also travelled a lot in Europe and some parts of Asia/South America. Probably my biggest shock when moving to the UK was how people dressed, especially how different they dressed on a sunny day compared to a cloudy day, even if both days were the same temperature. As cold as 14-15 degrees and sunny in the Spring in England and many people wear shorts and t-shirts and never once complain that they feel cold! As soon as it hits 20 and sunny many people are in shorts and essentially everyone is in a t-shirt. Compare that to other cold countries I have visited Germany/Poland/Russia 20 degrees and sunny and almost everyone is wearing a jacket, the same as the US. For those of you who do not live/have never visited or are unfamiliar with the UK I will use these links to illustrate my point.
It actually frightened me at first when I first moved there as I was so shocked at how people weren't freezing despite wearing barely any clothes with cold air all around them. Especially after the cold overcast winter when the first mild sunny day in April came and it was around 16-17 degrees everyone would wear shorts and t-shirt and not only were they not cold, some people actually complain that they are too hot! I mean if Germans, Russians and Poles find 20 celsius with sun too cold to be in a t-shirt and British will complain that they are too hot despite being underdressed in a cold environment just because sunlight is shining directly on them? Also in winter time when I lived in Manchester my neighbours often opened the windows and told me that they only had their heating on for an hour at a time in winter as they found it too hot, whereas most winter nights I slept with my radiator on, although I had it at the lowest setting so it was only a bit warm and turned it up during the day. Some Poles I spoke to in England said they did the same as it was what they did back in their own country.
The conclusion I came to, especially after living there for so many years and it being so much cloudier than the US, I am from New York which is considered one of the cloudier parts of the US but still gets more than double the amount of sunshine that Manchester gets, was that people simply have an extremely high tolerance for cold. If many people in the US are in t-shirts in 21-22 degree weather they will complain that they feel cold, which is reasonable as that is about as warm as an air-conditioned room. If someone is in shorts and t-shirt in 16-17 degree weather in England and not only are they not cold or shivering but complain that they feel too hot how is that biologically possible? People in the UK are the only people who seem to have this biological deficit where their bodies don't feel cold despite the fact that their bare skin is exposed to cold air and wind.
I'm not even convinced it has much if anything to do with being accustomed to cold weather year round when other countries in Europe have cold weather most of the year, excluding the summer where it is warm, even if only slightly warm in some central/northern European countries, Austria/Switzerland/France/Germany etc. I am convinced British peoples bodies do not feel cold, despite being underdressed in a cold environment because they have dressed that way all of their lives. Like I said people in other cold countries like the rest of northern Europe/Scandinavia are dressed warmer at the same temperature and people in Southern Europe/USA are dressed even warmer at the same temperature that British people wear shorts. I remember one day in Manchester it was a 8 degrees and sunny in March this is no exaggeration many people were in hoodies nobody felt cold some people even rolled up their sleeves and some even took their hoodies off! I mean 8 degrees out for hours in a t-shirt and feeling comfortable and warm is that really normal for any human body no matter how cold accustomed? Simply put if it was as warm in the UK as other European countries in summer people would dress normal and feel cold the way that the human body is supposed to.
Like I said, I am convinced it is due to accustomization by the body being used to underdressing as opposed to lack of heat in the summer and being used to a cold climate itself. The reason people in the UK underdress is that it is almost always cloudy and almost always cold, even in summer so the sun does feel hotter to British people than people from other countries. Anything above 20 feels hot as 20 is a normal summer day in England and any temperature out with winter when the sun is shining feels much hotter to British people than the same temp on a cloudy day. I am convinced that if people in other countries with 4 seasons, hot summers, cold winters wore shorts and t-shirt everyday it was 15 degrees + which in New York for example would be most days from mid April right up to early November, and did this all of their lives they would not feel cold like the body is supposed to just like British people. Does anyone else with a background in biology agree with this? Or would experiencing hot summers then a cool down in temperature a few weeks later make it uncomfortable for one to wear shorts/t-shirt?
I majored in history and science isn't my strong point and I remember very little from Biology I took in high school but is their a biological reason behind why people in Britain simply have a much higher cold tolerance than people in other countries? Many foreigners that visited, even ones from cold countries expressed their shock at how British people as one of my German colleagues put it 'never feel cold'. People in other locations with cool summers like Alaska/San Francisco in the US or parts of Scandinavia or parts of New Zealand will find it comfortable in a t-shirt in lower temps than people from warmer places but none of these people will sunbathe with shorts/t-shirts and sandals in 15 degree cold and then complain that they 'feel hot'. The human body surely isn't supposed to respond to cold like that. What is the biological reason that people in the UK who always dress in summer clothing when it is cold just because the sun is out do not feel cold?
Pretty much. Take someone from the sub-Sahara and put them on Antarctica and they will, at a minimum, be uncomfortable. Ditto an Inuit in hot climates.
Brits are famous for not heating their homes above a bare minimum. I expect them to be cold tolerant.
There are other factors, such as thyroid levels and metabolic rates. Both influence cold tolerance.
There might be many causes:
Some people are prone to feeling cold, especially those who have chronic health problems or little body fat.
Some might have endocrine system problems.
Being less physically fit: heat intolerance is a sign of poor cardiovascular and respiratory fitness.
Sometimes medications change the body’s response to heat.
I feel very comfortable in a cold climate and suffer in the heat. (not sick and not fat).
It's winter and snow here, and I didn't turn on the heater, yet.
I once met an African lady from Biafra(Nigeria),in the winter all she wore is a raincoat,she does not feel the cold at all,we are in Indiana.
She also told me all the Americans sunbathing and wanting to get a tan is bull****
Some years ago my older brother lived in Rhode Island. I once visited him in late May. We went to the beach where there were many people sunbathing in the sand, all wearing their best swim trunks, the guys running about shirtless .....looked warm and inviting. It was cold as hell.........The wind was blowing hard, it must of been around 60 degrees F...I was just sitting there shivering until I'd had enough. Suggested we go fetch a hot bowl of clam chowder to warm the ice cold hands.....
Despite the suggested reasons for this, IMO "feeling cold" is a pretty subjective thing, and science doesn't deal well with subjective things.
True. I would view is as acclimation to temperatures. That might be something that could be studied. you could ask the following questions: At what temperature do you feel cold? Age? Climate you live in? How long you lived in that climate? What climate were you born in?
A person could ask and answer these questions to establish data points to study this question.
True. I would view is as acclimation to temperatures. That might be something that could be studied. you could ask the following questions: At what temperature do you feel cold? Age? Climate you live in? How long you lived in that climate? What climate were you born in?
A person could ask and answer these questions to establish data points to study this question.
I have been living in the Interior of Alaska for a long time, so I am quite "used" to the cold (it was around -39 degrees F. a few days ago, and windy). The wind chill reached 55 degrees below zero (F). With very cold wind chills like these, ad exposed skin would experience frostbite within 15 minutes.
When I lived in CA, I would get cold during the winter months when leaving Sacramento and driving over the pass to Lake Tahoe. When living in the Caribbean Islands I would get cold when going through a storm of rain or hail while riding my bicycle, but when I arrived to NY in the middle of the winter-not wearing a coat-I didn't fell cold at all. A couple of days later I as freezing! About a year or two later I was used the cold.
Cold temperatures can be deceiving too. For example:
a. If there is no moisture in the air, it does not feel as cold as when there is moisture in the air. If one lives near a lake such as Lake Champlain in Northern NY, the air is very humid. During the summer it feels hot and moist, and during the winters it seems that is colder than what it really is.
b. If it is cold outside, a breeze or wind makes you feel colder. The wind-chill temperatures also drop. But if there is no wind or a breeze, it doesn't feel as cold.
c. A good layer of fat helps keeping you warmer, versus being skinny. But slim and in good shape also helps.
d. Being skinny doesn't help fight strong winds Just kidding! One of my former coworkers was very skinny, maybe 80 pounds wet? He had a heck of a difficult time walking when it was cold and windy. He had to grab a hold or handrails, cars at the parking lots, and so on, when very windy in Fairbanks.
Feeling cold occasionally could be for many reasons: for example, being tired or hungry can make you feel cold now and then. Lack of energy, being sick, not moving around, and so on can occasionally make you feel cold.
Last edited by RayinAK; 01-09-2022 at 08:34 PM..
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Just kidding! One of my former coworkers was very skinny, maybe 80 pounds wet? He had a heck of a difficult time walking when it was cold and windy. He had to grab a hold or handrails, cars at the parking lots, and so on, when very windy in Fairbanks.
