The chart
Find today's number in the first column. The row is what we suggest for an adult who is outdoors, in the shade, with little wind.
| Temperature | Wear | Add |
|---|---|---|
| Above 40°C (104°F) | Thin, loose cotton in a light color. Long sleeves and long pants if you will be out in the sun. | A hat, a cap or an umbrella. Shoes or sandals, not bare feet. |
| 35 to 40°C (95 to 104°F) | One loose layer in thin cotton or linen, in a light color: a loose shirt, a kurta or a loose dress. | A hat or a cap, and sunglasses. Sandals. |
| 30 to 35°C (86 to 95°F) | A T-shirt or a short-sleeved shirt with shorts, a skirt or loose pants. | Sandals or light shoes. A thin layer if your office is cold. |
| 25 to 30°C (77 to 86°F) | A T-shirt or a light shirt with light pants, shorts or a skirt. Or a cotton dress. | Nothing in the day. |
| 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F) | A T-shirt or a light shirt with long pants or jeans. | A thin layer for the evening: a cardigan, a shirt worn open over your T-shirt, or a light shawl. |
| 15 to 20°C (59 to 68°F) | A long-sleeved top with a light jacket: a denim jacket, a blazer or a thin sweater. | Closed shoes. |
| 10 to 15°C (50 to 59°F) | A sweater with a jacket over it. Long pants. | A scarf. Closed shoes and socks. |
| 5 to 10°C (41 to 50°F) | A warm jacket or a coat over a sweater. | A scarf and warm socks. Gloves if your hands get cold. |
| 0 to 5°C (32 to 41°F) | A winter coat over a sweater. A thermal top under it if you feel the cold. | A hat, gloves and a scarf. |
| Below 0°C (32°F) | A thermal layer, then a sweater or a fleece, then a padded winter coat. | A hat that covers your ears, a scarf, mittens, thick socks and boots. |
A kurta is a long tunic. A thermal top is a thin, close-fitting warm layer that you wear under your clothes. Mittens are gloves that keep your four fingers together.
Is your number on the line between two rows? Use the colder row for a morning or an evening, and the warmer row for the middle of the day. The chart is a starting point, not a rule.
Which number to use
A weather app shows a low, a high and often a "feels like" number. Use them like this.
- Pick your hours. The low usually comes around sunrise and the high in the afternoon. Look at the hours you will be outside, not at the high.
- Use "feels like" if the app has it. The UK's weather service says its "feels like" number takes into account the air temperature, the humidity and the strength of the wind. So the wind and the sticky air are already counted.
- Find that row. Then check the five things below.
Five things that move you a row
"One row colder" means the next row down the chart. "One row hotter" means the next row up.
- Wind. Wind makes cold days colder. Canada's weather service gives the number: at 0°C, a wind of 30 km/h feels like -6. If your app shows only the plain temperature, dress one row colder on a windy day, and make your top layer one that stops wind.
- Humid air. Sticky air makes hot days hotter. On the same service's Humidex scale, 30°C at 55% humidity feels like 38. If your app shows only the plain temperature, dress one row hotter on a sticky day.
- Sun. The US National Weather Service's "feels like" number for hot days assumes you are in the shade. It says full sun can raise that number by up to 15°F, which is about 8°C. In open sun, dress one row hotter and cover your head.
- Sitting still. Standing at a bus stop or sitting at an outdoor dinner is colder than walking. Dress one row colder. If you will walk fast, dress one row hotter.
- You. If you are the cold one in every room, dress one row colder every day.
When the day swings
Some days cross two or three rows. A normal January day in Delhi starts at 7.5°C and reaches about 20°C in the afternoon. Early in the morning that is the 5 to 10 row. After lunch it is on the line between the 15 to 20 row and the 20 to 25 row.
On a day like that, build the outfit in layers. Wear the hotter row's clothes next to your skin and the colder row's clothes on top, so they come off one at a time. Our guide to what to wear in Delhi in winter plans a whole day this way. Jaipur has days like that too: see what to wear in Jaipur in winter.
A day that stays between 15°C and 25°C swings less, but it is still hard to dress for. One layer is too little in the morning, and a coat is too much by noon. Make the second layer one you can carry.
Once you know your row, our five-minute way to decide what to wear today builds the rest of the outfit.
Very hot days: what India's health ministry says
The two top rows of the chart follow India's health ministry. Its heat advisory says: "Wear thin loose, cotton garments preferably light coloured". It adds a covered head in direct sunlight, shoes or sandals outdoors, and no sun between noon and 3 pm if you can avoid it. For people who work outdoors, it suggests a long-sleeved shirt and pants in a light color, to prevent exposure to direct sunlight.
On India's plains, the weather office starts to consider a heat wave only when the day's high reaches 40°C, where the top row of the chart begins. Our guide to what to wear in the Delhi summer has fabrics and outfits for it.
Clothes help, but they do not make extreme heat safe. This page is general advice, not medical advice. If someone feels dizzy, faint or sick in the heat, move them to a cool place, give them water and get medical help.
Very cold days: what India's weather office says
India's weather office says in its advice for a cold wave: "Multiple layers of clothing are also useful." It also says to change fast if your clothes get wet, to prevent loss of body heat, and it prefers mittens to gloves, because mittens give more warmth.
Layers have one more use: you can take one off indoors, and a thick coat is either on or off.
Our packing guide for a cold trip explains the three layers and the warmest fabrics.
Let an app read the number
Ukti is our app. You take photos of your clothes. Every morning it shows the weather where you are and picks one outfit from your own clothes for it. Sharing your location is optional.
Ukti also has a setting for people who are always cold or always warm. You can tell it that you feel colder, or warmer, than the forecast. Read how it picks outfits for the weather.
Where the facts come from, read on 13 October 2026. The chart is our own general advice. Wind: Environment and Climate Change Canada, "Wind chill and the Wind Chill Index". Humid air: the same department, "How to use the Humidex". Sun: the US National Weather Service, "Heat Forecast Tools". "Feels like": the UK Met Office, "What is 'feels like' temperature?". The time of the day's low and high: the Hong Kong Observatory. Clothes in heat, and what to do if someone feels unwell: India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, "Public Health Advisory: Extreme Heat/Heatwave-2026". The 40°C rule for a heat wave: India's National Disaster Management Authority, "Heat Wave". Layers, wet clothes and mittens: the India Meteorological Department's "Dos and Don'ts for Cold Wave". Delhi's January numbers: the department's climate table for New Delhi, 1991 to 2020.
