Which of five things your skin is doing

Dermatologists studying Danish fish-processing workers found dry skin and eczema seldom appeared during work, when fingers were cold and water loss through the skin measured low. Shortly afterwards, once skin temperature was back to normal, water loss rose above normal and chapping followed. Cold, the conclusion ran, masks a defective barrier and inhibits its repair. Those were industrial hands the authors suspected already carried a barrier defect from irritant and chemical contact, and the mechanism was worked out in mice whose barrier had first been stripped with acetone.

Sort it on timing

• Colour and temperature change, nothing raised, settling as you warm: ordinary cold. Blood flow to skin falls sharply in cold air, a defence rather than an injury.
• Small itchy patches turning up hours later: chilblains. The NHS calls them "small, itchy patches" appearing "a few hours after you've been in the cold", mostly on fingers and toes but also the face and legs. NICE CKS adds the nose, cheeks and earlobes.
• Raised itchy weals within minutes, gone within an hour or two: cold urticaria. Uncommon, at about 0.05 per cent of the population according to DermNet. Separately, the allergy literature finds the weals usually appear as skin rewarms.
• A finger going white with a clear edge, numb or painful rather than itchy: Raynaud's. NICE CKS says the classic white-then-blue-then-red sequence may not always be present, and that "Blanching, however, must be a feature for a diagnosis of Raynaud's phenomenon to be made." The NHS adds that "Some people also find that their ears, nose, lips or nipples are affected."
• A flush across cheeks, nose, forehead or chin that feels warm, hot or painful: rosacea. The NHS describes redness that comes and goes, "usually lasting for a few minutes each time".

Every one of those is a colour cue, and the NHS flags the problem on three of the five: of chilblains, "redness may be harder to see on brown and black skin"; of rosacea, "The redness may be harder to see on brown or black skin"; and of Raynaud's, that it "may make your fingertips appear paler if you have brown or black skin". On darker skin, sort on what the skin is doing rather than its colour: raised or flat, itchy or numb, and how long it lasts.

Our guide to daily hand cream already separates Raynaud's from ordinary dryness. Chilblains are the third answer, and the NHS draws that line on its own Raynaud's page, where "Burning or itchy swelling on fingers and toes, happens after being very cold, gets worse as you warm up" is listed against chilblains.

Feet are absent from that list and have their own page: how to protect feet in winter boots.

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What each month from September to January is for

September and October: nothing yet, which is the point

Nothing is open, so this is the barrier repair window. Our hand cream guide puts the trigger at the week the heating goes on, first half of October for most households.

A fortnight out, the window is short rather than gone: skin short of water improves in a day or two, but a damaged barrier takes weeks, which our guide to how long dry winter skin takes to heal puts at about three on the face. Start tonight, not on the day.

November: the season opens on Bonfire Night

Birmingham's Frankfurt Christmas Market opens on Thursday 5 November 2026, which is Bonfire Night, and Manchester opens the next day, so the season's first market evening is also the smokiest of the year: what to do with skin after Bonfire Night has the cleanse order. York and Cardiff open on 12 November, Edinburgh on 14 November, Winchester on 20 November, Bath on 26 November. York then closes every Tuesday.

December: the cold half and the dark half

On the 1991 to 2020 Met Office averages, the December mean daily minimum at ten long-running stations across the UK runs from 0.9C at Leuchars in Fife to 3.1C at Heathrow. Those are dawn figures at stations rather than cities, so an evening sits above them, falling. Bath closes on 13 December, the shortest run of the big markets; York, Manchester, Winchester, Cardiff and Birmingham finish between 21 and 24 December.

January: two of them keep going

Edinburgh runs to 3 January 2027, and Manchester keeps Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens open to the same date. January is also when December's chilblains are still clearing.

The adjustment rule

Dates and hours move, and the market's own page is the only thing worth trusting. Winchester Cathedral says of its own opening times, which it lists separately from the market's: "We recommend checking this page on the week of your visit as opening times can change at late notice." That beats any date you read in September, these included.

The evening in order, from your front door and back

Before you leave

Our Bonfire Night guide states the principle: "Put a richer moisturiser or balm on exposed areas before you go out rather than after, and use lip balm ahead of the cold rather than in response to a split." Behind it sits a mouse study, so a reason rather than proof in people.

One warning goes with it. The MHRA says there is a fire risk with all paraffin-containing emollients whatever the concentration, and that it also cannot be excluded with paraffin-free ones: residue dried into clothing, gloves or bedding can rapidly ignite, and the emollient acts as an accelerant. A high wash reduces the build-up but does not remove it. The season opens on Bonfire Night at a market with open grills, so keep balmed skin and sleeves away from flames and cigarettes.

NHS Inform in Scotland says to warm your hands before you go out, not after you come in: "warm your hands before going outdoors - soak them in warm water for several minutes and dry thoroughly, and wear cotton-lined waterproof gloves if necessary; if your hands are already cold, make sure not to warm them up too quickly to avoid causing chilblains".

The two halves only look contradictory: the warm soak is for hands that are not yet cold. If yours already are, warm them gradually rather than fast.

What a balm does not do is block wind. Petroleum jelly is an occlusive, which our Vaseline review puts as "it traps water that is already there rather than adding any": a barrier to water leaving, not to wind arriving.

At the market

Wear gloves, and plan for taking them off. The NHS's first Do for chilblains is to "try to avoid being outside when it's cold or damp - if you do go out, wear warm, waterproof clothing, gloves and thick socks", and NHS Inform names cotton-lined waterproof ones. What costs you is the bare two minutes at each payment, so put them back on rather than carrying them. Reapply the balm too: one coat does not survive three hours of scarf and hot drinks. And go into something warm for ten minutes an hour or so: a market hall, a shop, a pub. Ambient warmth is the gradual rewarming the rest of this page is asking for, and in a square it is the only version on offer.

Lips earn the attention: measured in winter, in 303 Japanese women, water loss through the lip ran almost three times that of the cheek. The NHS gives the simplest fix, "cover your lips with a scarf when you're outside in cold weather", plus a balm containing petroleum jelly or beeswax. Do not lick them: "do not keep licking dry or cracked lips - this can make them sore", and saliva evaporating leaves them drier still. That scarf is also the friction risk, not your foundation: low humidity and low temperatures reduce barrier function and raise susceptibility to mechanical stress, and a coarse knit on a cheek for three hours is mechanical stress, with fibre diameter the variable rather than wool as such, which our itchy Christmas jumper guide sets out. Wear it anyway: the NHS tells people with rosacea to "try to cover your face in cold weather" and everyone to cover the lips. Keep something smooth against the cheek rather than raw wool, and lift it to drink rather than dragging it.

The mug is more interesting than it looks. The NHS's rosacea trigger list names alcohol, hot drinks, and hot or cold temperatures among seven items, so a mulled wine in a cold square is three at once. Whether a drink flushes you tonight has never been tested. What the studies measured is developing rosacea, and on that the largest cohort found alcohol overall raises the risk with the dose. The NHS is blunter than any of it: two of its four rosacea Don'ts are "do not drink alcohol" and "do not have hot drinks".

Holding it is the brazier in miniature. Cupping bare chilled hands around something hot is the cold-to-hot change the rewarming rule below is about, and the Royal College of Podiatry names a hot water bottle for the same reason: hold the mug by the handle, or keep the gloves on. If you come home smelling of smoke, our Bonfire Night guide has the cleanse.

The ninety seconds when you get in

This is the part that decides whether you get chilblains. Two of the NHS's three Don'ts land here: "do not put your feet or hands on a radiator or under hot water to warm them up", and "do not smoke, have drinks that contain caffeine, or take medicine for a blocked nose (decongestants) - these can affect the flow of blood in your fingers and toes". The second one is the hot chocolate you were holding an hour ago. Its Do list says to "dry and slowly warm your skin if you've been exposed to cold", and NICE CKS goes broader, advising that direct heat should be avoided. Our winter boots guide works the same rule for feet, down to warming the boot rather than the foot.

That is a chilblains rule. Raynaud's runs on different instructions. The NHS says you can often treat it yourself by keeping warm, and its list is:

• keep your home warm
• wear warm clothes during cold weather, especially on your hands and feet
• try to avoid sudden changes in temperature
• exercise regularly
• try breathing exercises or yoga to help you relax
• eat a healthy, balanced diet
• do not smoke
• do not have too much caffeine (found in tea, coffee, cola and chocolate)

Gradual rather than sudden is common to both. What changes is that for Raynaud's, staying warm is the treatment rather than a precaution. The NHS files a GP route for it too, and one item is enough: symptoms very bad or getting worse, Raynaud's affecting your daily life, symptoms on only 1 side of your body, joint pain, skin rashes or muscle weakness with it, a first episode over 30, or a child under 12.

The mechanism is a mismatch: deep vessels staying narrow while surface vessels widen as you warm, which is how NHS England puts it, and NICE CKS the same without tying it to warming. Neither names rapid rewarming as a cause. Two sources do. NHS Inform: "Heating the skin too quickly - for example, by placing your feet in hot water or near a heater - is one of the main causes of chilblains", and the Royal College of Podiatry, the only source naming a fire and a hot water bottle: "It is thought that rapid temperature changes from cold to hot can also be a cause: if the skin is chilled and is then followed by too rapid warming next to a fire or through using a hot water bottle, chilblains may result."

It reaches the thing most people actually do, which no UK source names: the hot bath and the hot shower. Every prohibition above is a hands-and-feet one, so this extension is ours: a bath or a shower is hot water over the whole body, and the only way most people rapidly rewarm a face. Wait until you are back up to room temperature, then make it warm rather than hot.

So coat off in the hall, skin dried, room temperature not tap temperature, moisturiser while damp.

Where one evening becomes a fortnight of sore skin

Chilblains that turn up at bedtime

NHS Inform: "Do not scratch your skin if you have chilblains. It can break easily and become infected." If you have diabetes, see a GP about them rather than waiting. Otherwise a pharmacist is the first stop, and chilblains usually clear on their own in two to three weeks.

The NHS's own list for seeing a GP, filed under the label "Non-urgent advice", is this, and any one item on it is enough:

• your skin is not getting better after 2 to 3 weeks
• there is pus coming out of your skin
• your temperature is very high, or you feel hot, cold or shivery
• you keep getting chilblains
• you have diabetes - foot problems can be more serious if you have diabetes

The NHS chilblains page carries no 999 or 111 route at all. That is a fact about the page rather than a rule about your evening: pus, a very high temperature and feeling hot, cold or shivery describe an infection, and if your GP is shut, 111 is the route.

Hands that have gone past dry

Split knuckles mend overnight, not across a day of hand washing, and our Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream review makes that its strongest case: a generous layer before bed, and cotton gloves over the top if you have them. Do not glove over weeping, crusted or infected-looking skin, because sealing that in overnight makes infection more likely: leave it uncovered, keep the cream to the skin around it, and if it is crusting, leaking or looks infected, get it seen the same day through your GP or NHS 111.

Lips that have gone sore around the edge

Redness and scaling spreading past the lip border is lip licker's dermatitis: chapping starts it and licking keeps it going. The fix is behavioural. Festive balms lean heavily on peppermint, cinnamon and citrus, flavours on the American Academy of Dermatology's list of what to stop using while lips are chapped. Its clearest sentence, whole: "Many people mistake discomfort, such as burning, stinging, or tingling, as a sign that the active ingredients in a product are working. That's not what's happening. You're actually irritating your lips, so you want to stop using any product that irritates your lips." See a GP if the lips go hot, painful and swollen, which the NHS flags as a possible sign of infection.

The branch that is actually urgent

Cold urticaria is uncommon, and the serious reactions in the literature mostly involve immersion in cold water rather than cold air. Weals that are only weals want you out of the cold, and a pharmacist can advise on antihistamine treatment for a hives rash. But weals are weals, and the NHS list is the one to use:

Immediate action required: Call 999 if:
your lips, mouth, throat or tongue suddenly become swollen
you're breathing very fast or struggling to breathe (you may become very wheezy or feel like you're choking or gasping for air)
your throat feels tight or you're struggling to swallow
your skin, tongue or lips turn blue, grey or pale (if you have black or brown skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of your hands or soles of your feet)
you suddenly become very confused, drowsy or dizzy
someone faints and cannot be woken up
a child is limp, floppy or not responding like they normally do (their head may fall to the side, backwards or forwards, or they may find it difficult to lift their head or focus on your face)
You or the person who's unwell may also have a rash that's swollen, raised or itchy.
These can be signs of a serious allergic reaction and may need immediate treatment in hospital.

That is the NHS's advice for hives generally, because there is no NHS A to Z page on cold urticaria. One line needs separating from the rest of this page: lips or fingers going pale or faintly blue in the cold and settling as you warm, with nothing else wrong, is the ordinary colour change. Sudden colour change, a grey or blue tongue, or any other item on that list is 999 on its own.

Below that sits the branch a market evening is far likelier to reach. The NHS files it under "Non-urgent advice" even though the action inside it is urgent:

Non-urgent advice: Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if:
symptoms of hives do not improve after 2 days
you're worried about your child's hives
the rash is spreading
hives keeps coming back (you may be allergic to something)
you also have a high temperature and feel unwell
you also have swelling under your skin (this might be angioedema)
You can call 111 or get help from 111 online.

Any one of those is enough on its own. It is not a checklist to complete.

One more urgent route is not on the skin at all, and the NHS marks it for rosacea. Any one of these is enough: ask for an urgent GP appointment or call 111 if you have rosacea and your eye is painful, your vision is blurred, you're sensitive to light, you have a red eye, or your eye feels gritty. These could be signs of keratitis, which can be serious if not treated urgently.

General information only, not medical advice. If you are worried about your skin, see a pharmacist, your GP or NHS 111.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need sunscreen at a Christmas market?

Not after dark: in mid-December the sun sets in Birmingham just before four o'clock, hours before the markets close, and there is no UV in a dark square. A daytime visit is a different question, which the British Association of Dermatologists answers: "Year-round sunscreen use is unnecessary in the UK, except for people with certain medical conditions. In winter months in particular the UV index does not get high enough for it to be beneficial." BAD does not say, in that sentence, which conditions it means. For rosacea the NHS says to "wear a high SPF sunscreen of at least SPF 30 every day" and NICE advises "effective sun protection", neither written with a December evening in mind. Lips carry their own instruction: the NHS's sore or dry lips page says to "use a lip balm with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or more every 2 hours when outdoors", with no seasonal qualifier.

Will drinking more water stop my skin drying out?

Probably not, if you already drink enough. A systematic review of six studies called the evidence weak in quantity and methodological quality. It saw a slight increase in stratum corneum and "deep" skin hydration after extra water, "particularly in individuals with lower prior water consumption", mechanism unknown, and reported that "Reductions of clinical signs of dryness and roughness were observed". A hot drink and a mulled wine are not hydration.

Is windburn a real thing?

Two credible bodies disagree. Health Canada publishes a definition, saying windburn "occurs when cold wind removes the top layer of oil from the skin causing" excessive dryness, redness, soreness and itchiness. Against that: no NHS page, no DermNet topic, no NICE CKS topic and no ICD-10-CM code, while sunburn, frostbite and chilblains all have codes. The dermatologists writing for the Skin Cancer Foundation say "there's not a medical consensus on that", then that they think wind is "a direct irritant that causes the upper layers of the skin to slough off". Wind on its own is unproven as a barrier insult: in a controlled trial the air flow by itself did not significantly raise water loss, though the air tested was 24C and 43C, never cold, and air flow on top of a detergent irritant did make the barrier worse.

Does makeup protect my face from the cold?

No evidence either way, and the emptiness is the finding: nothing tests foundation, primer or setting spray in cold air, or makeup as a wind barrier. The one sourced cosmetic recommendation is NICE's, for rosacea: "The possible use of yellow- or green-tinted cosmetics to help camouflage skin erythema."

Related reading

• How to protect feet in winter boots UK
• What to do with skin after Bonfire Night UK
• When to start using hand cream every day in the UK
• How to protect skin from an itchy Christmas jumper UK