This is real-coat weather. Between 0 and 5°C you can no longer fake it with a jacket-and-jumper combination that worked at 10°C. The outer layer needs either genuine insulation — down, quilting, a heavy wool overcoat — or a serious knit underneath doing half the job. The most reliable formula: base layer or heavy tee, substantial knit, insulated or heavyweight coat. Three layers, each one earning its place.
Damp cold beats dry cold — plan for it. At 2°C and drizzling, the air pulls heat out of you far faster than at −5°C and dry. If the forecast shows rain in this band, waterproofing jumps the queue: a shell or waxed jacket over your warm layers, waterproof footwear, and wool next to the skin because it keeps insulating when damp — the one thing cotton categorically will not do.
Wool is the workhorse of this band. A merino or lambswool crew under a coat covers the whole range; a cashmere rollneck replaces a scarf by sealing the neck on its own. Knits also buffer the indoor-outdoor swing better than padding does — you can wear them at a desk without cooking, which a mid-weight down layer rarely allows.
Hands, head and ankles decide your comfort. The core is easy to keep warm at 3°C; it's the extremities that make the day feel cold. Gloves stop being optional below 5°C. A beanie or a wool cap holds a surprising share of your heat. And mind the ankle gap — cropped trousers with short socks leaves bare skin at exactly shin-wind height; boots and longer wool socks close it.
Give your gear the overnight reset. Coats in this band work hard: hang them somewhere airy rather than crammed in the wardrobe, so the day's damp leaves the fill or the wool. Rotate two pairs of boots if you can — leather that dries fully between wears lasts years longer than leather that never quite does.
