Comfort comes in layers

It's one thing gauging the weather in degrees Celsius, checking wind speed and relative humidity. In practice, the four seasons boil down to the number of layers you need to wear to go outside.

September is progressing inexorably towards its midway point, yet today I left home in one layer (long-sleeved cotton shirt) and had no need to put on a second layer at any time during the day. For the record, I left home just before 8am and the temperature was climbing rapidly towards 20C; by the time I got back around 6pm it was still a balmy 23C, down from today's high of 25C. Had I worn a second layer - a jacket - I would have been sweating profusely on my walks to the station, around town and back home from the station. The same thing yesterday. I left home to go for a walk around 3pm, covered 12,000 paces, got home shortly after 5pm - no need for jacket (Sunday's high was 23C).

Rule of thumb: summer =  the one-layer season (not counting rainy days of course).

As temperatures fall below 18C, I feel the need for a second layer - a suit jacket, or a more casual and lightweight jacket, or a sweater. Two layers are fine on dry days when the temperature from morning to evening does not fall into single digits.

This corresponds to early autumn, dry days into mid-October. And that week or two when spring really starts taking off, before the heat arrives as it can do in late-April. The two-layer season in Warsaw is the shortest.

A third layer - plus cap or beret - is required in the temperature range of 3C-9C. This takes the form of a raincoat or field coat (my wonderful M-65, though without quilted lining). Or wax jacket like my ancient Barbour, or a trenchcoat. This corresponds to late autumn and early spring (przednówek).

The fourth layer is the quilted lining in my M-65 field coat or M-65 parka. This is good down to -20C. The four-layer season is winter. It feels like it's getting shorter. A warmer woolly hat (thick) or fur hat, trapper-style and decent gloves are also needed when frosts get sharp. Four layers are necessary for going outdoors from early December through to early March when temperatures below +3C are common. Four layers - shirt, warm woollen jumper, and lined M-65 (either one) have held me in good stead on walks of two-three hours in hard (for Warsaw) frost. Because as any Siberian will tell you, minus 40 is no frost, 40 kilometres is no distance, and 40% is no alcohol.

I remember some years ago a business visitor coming over to Warsaw in January; he turned up wearing a suit and Barbour jacket. It was around -15C, his teeth were chattering audibly on his short walk from the taxi to the front door of our office. Indeed, the coldest I'd ever experienced before moving to Poland was -8C on top of a French mountain while skiing one March.

If the consequences of being overdressed for the temperature is breaking into a heavy sweat, the consequences of being underdressed can be catching a cold. When the body cools down, the immune system is weakened, and a virus that could otherwise have been batted away suddenly overcomes you and the result is a week of misery (if you take a remedy) or seven days of misery (if you don't). This happened to me in Glasgow a few years back (see this post); it was +8C and I was in two layers (suit and no overcoat). However, for Glaswegians - as you can see in that post - this same temperature was considered one-layer weather.

Tomorrow's weather forecast for Warsaw predicts a daytime high of 23C; Wednesday is expected to be 25C again. So at least two more days of one-layer weather. Looking back over my blog, this year's one-layer season seems to have extended (on dry, sunny days) from mid-April to mid-September - five months in total. Rather remarkable. Climate change is likely to see this extend. It will be interesting to track the length of the one-layer season in Warsaw into the future.

Equinox will be with us in 11 days' time; sunset and sunrise (roughly) around quarter past six. As the planet tips the Northern Hemisphere into the dark side, we'll be layering up quickly!

This time last year:
Preference and familiarity

This time two years ago:
A long day in wonderful Wrocław

This time four years ago:
Putin will not heal Russia's tortured soul

This time five years ago:
Opole, little-known town

This time six years ago:
Raise a glass to Powiśle  (Mrs G-W gets a thumbs down)

This time eight years ago:
Mud, rain and local elections (Mrs G-W gets another thumbs down)

This time ten years ago:
There must be a better way (commuting woes, again)