What to Wear in Florence in December
Florence in December: 11°C / 52°F days, 3°C / 37°F nights, and about 9 frost nights in the Arno basin.
- Bottle-green wool coat, knee length. About one morning in three starts below freezing, even when the afternoon reaches 11°C / 52°F
- Rust lambswool crew. It stays on, and looks finished, when the coat comes off in a heated shop or trattoria
- Chocolate wool trousers, full length. On a frost morning the cold gets in at the ankle
- Dark brown ankle boots with a rubber tread. Rain falls on about 12 days, and the centre is paved in stone slabs
- Dark green lined leather gloves. About 9 mornings start at 0°C or lower, and Madova sells replacements at Via de' Guicciardini 1/R
- A rust wool scarf. In 2025 the tree was lit at 6pm, more than an hour after sunset, and you stand still to watch it
- An open tote at the tree lighting. The UK Foreign Office warns of bag-snatching in city centres and at major tourist attractions
- A smooth leather sole. It slides on wet stone slabs, and rain falls on about 12 days
- A cropped hem. It leaves the ankle bare on the walk from the station to the Duomo at dawn
- Copying 6pm on 6 December into a 2026 plan. That was the 2025 ceremony
Pack for the morning. NOAA NCEI's record for Peretola gives December 11.5°C by day and 2.8°C / 37°F at night, with frost on about 9 nights and rain on about 12 days; Rome's Ciampino frosts on about 3. LaMMA, Tuscany's weather service, names the conditions that make the plain colder than the hills: "Alta pressione, cielo sereno e assenza di vento", high pressure, a clear sky and no wind. So the coat is buttoned at 8am and open by lunch. Evening is the second cold stretch. In 2025 the Comune lit the Duomo tree at 6pm on 6 December, after a free procession from Palazzo Vecchio. The 2026 programme is not published yet.
The afternoon reaches 11°C / 52°F. About one morning in three starts below freezing, because on a clear, still night the cold sinks into the basin. Dress for the morning and open the coat at noon.
The capsule
01Bottle-green wool coat, knee length, notch lapelNOAA's Peretola record puts the December low at 2.8°C / 37°F and the high at 11.5°C, so you start the day buttoned and end lunch with the coat open. A knee-length wool coat covers the trousers on a frost morning and stays clear of wet steps. Bottle green is the one strong colour, with rust and chocolate around it.
02Rust lambswool crewThis is the layer that stays on when the coat comes off. A crew neck sits flat under the coat's collar on a 3°C / 37°F walk and looks finished on its own at lunch in a heated trattoria. Lambswool holds warmth without the bulk of a thermal, and rust ties the scarf to the coat so the outfit reads as three colours.
03Chocolate wool trousers, straight leg, full lengthAbout 9 December nights at Peretola reach 0°C or lower, and the ankle is where a cropped trouser lets that cold in on the walk from Santa Maria Novella to the Duomo. A straight leg cut to the top of the boot closes the gap. Wool holds its shape in the damp, and chocolate carries the coat's dark tone down to the boots.
04Dark green leather gloves, linedMadova, on Via de' Guicciardini since 1954, calls itself "the only shop in Europe (or maybe in the world) that sells and produces strictly leather gloves", and its factory is a few steps away at Piazza Santa Felicita 4. Pack a lined pair, short at the cuff, in the coat's green for about 9 frost mornings, and replace a lost pair there.
05Dark brown leather ankle boots, rubber tread, side zipRain falls on about 12 December days, and the centre is stone. When the Comune relaid Via dei Pescioni in 2020 it did so "riutilizzando le lastre di pietra esistenti", reusing the existing stone slabs. Wet slabs are where a smooth leather sole slides. A rubber tread grips, and a side zip gets them off at a hotel door without wet laces.
06Dark chocolate leather flap crossbodyThe UK Foreign Office warns of bag-snatching and pickpocketing "in city centres and at major tourist attractions", and a tree lighting in Piazza del Duomo is both. Worn across the body with the flap against you, this bag closes over a phone and a card and leaves gloved hands free. The buckled strap adjusts over the coat, and chocolate matches the trousers and boots.
07Rust wool scarf, narrowIn 2025 the Duomo tree was lit at 6pm on 6 December, more than an hour after a 4:38pm sunset, and the Comune's programme ran on to Piazzale Michelangelo at 7:30pm. That is an evening of standing still in the cold. A narrow rust scarf wound once closes the coat's collar, matches the crew, and folds into a coat pocket when you go inside.
08Opaque brown tightsWear them under the trousers on the mornings that start below freezing, about 9 of December's 31 on NOAA's Peretola record. A layer of opaque nylon warms the shin and ankle without changing the line of the trouser, and you can peel it off at the hotel if the day turns mild. Brown keeps the layer invisible where the hem meets the boot.
Day to night
Bottle-green coat buttoned, rust crew, rust scarf, chocolate trousers over brown tights, dark brown boots, gloves on. Sunrise moves from about 7:30 to about 7:50 across the month, and the frost mornings are the clear ones. By noon the coat is open and the gloves are in the pocket.
Coat open over the crew indoors, buttoned again with the scarf for the walk across the river. In 2025 the tree night ran from 5:30pm at Palazzo Vecchio to the church of San Paolino at 8:30pm. The Oltrarno after dark is heading for a 3°C / 37°F low, so the gloves come back out.
A suggested look — bottle-green wool coat, rust lambswool crew, rust wool scarf, chocolate wool trousers, dark brown leather ankle boots.
What to avoid
- Rome's night plan. About 9 frost nights at Peretola, about 3 at Ciampino
- Smooth leather soles on wet stone slabs
- A cropped hem on a frost morning
- The 2025 tree time copied onto 2026
- An open tote in a piazza crowd
Frequently asked questions
Mild in the afternoon and frosty at dawn. NOAA NCEI's 30-year record for Firenze Peretola, on the plain northwest of the Duomo, gives an average high of 11.5°C and a low of 2.8°C / 37°F, about 89mm of rain on roughly 12 days, and frost on about 9 nights. LaMMA, Tuscany's weather service, names the pattern thermal inversion: with high pressure, a clear sky and no wind, it describes "l'aria fredda che si deposita in pianura", the cold air that settles on the plain. Daylight shrinks from 9h 11m on 1 December to 8h 55m at the solstice.
A knee-length bottle-green wool coat, a rust lambswool crew, a narrow rust wool scarf, chocolate wool trousers, opaque brown tights, dark brown ankle boots with a rubber tread, lined dark green leather gloves and a chocolate flap crossbody. That covers an 11°C / 52°F afternoon, a 3°C / 37°F night and an evening standing in a piazza for the tree. Leave smooth leather soles and cropped trousers at home: the stone is wet on about 12 days.
The 2026 date and time are not published yet. In 2025 the Comune held it on Saturday 6 December. It began at 5:30pm at Palazzo Vecchio, where the F-Lights Up projections were switched on, and the historic procession of the Florentine Republic walked to Piazza del Duomo for the 6pm lighting. Trees followed in Piazza della Repubblica at 6:30pm, Piazza San Firenze at 7pm and Piazzale Michelangelo at 7:30pm, and the evening closed at San Paolino at 8:30pm. Entry was free, and the Comune counted more than 50 trees across its five districts. Dress for standing after dark: coat buttoned, scarf on, gloves on.
Early December if the tree lighting is the reason: in 2025 it was on the 6th, and the 2026 date is not out yet. Late December has the shortest days, but the loss is at the morning end. Sunset barely moves, from about 4:39pm on the 1st to 4:40pm on the 21st and 4:47pm on the 31st, while sunrise slips from about 7:30 to about 7:50. Frost is spread over the whole month, about 9 nights in all, so the coat and gloves are the same in either half. In late December, plan walks for the afternoon light.
January is a little colder at night, drier, and busier in the middle. NOAA's Peretola record gives December 11.5°C by day and 2.8°C / 37°F at night, with about 9 frost nights and about 12 wet days, and January 11.2°C / 52°F and 2.2°C / 36°F, with about 11 frost nights and about 9 wet days. December is the basin frost and the Duomo tree, so this guide is built on a bottle-green coat, rust knitwear and treaded ankle boots. January brings Pitti Uomo, 12 to 15 January 2027, and our January guide swaps in a long navy overcoat, a silk blouse for the evening and oxblood loafers.
Wool coats, good gloves and leather shoes, in a city with its own glove and shoe houses. Madova says "Our family Donnini has been producing leather gloves since 1919", and it has sold them to the public on Via de' Guicciardini since 1954. The Ferragamo museum, in Palazzo Spini Feroni on Piazza Santa Trinita, records that "In 1938 Salvatore Ferragamo opened his luxury footwear workshop"; the palazzo, built in 1289, became the company's headquarters after he bought it. On a frost morning that history comes down to a lined glove and a leather boot with a sole that grips, worn under a long wool coat.
Sources
- NOAA NCEI — 1991–2020 climate normals, Firenze Peretola stationthe Aeronautica Militare operates the station; NOAA NCEI computed these figures from its 16170099999 global-summary-of-the-day record (30 Decembers). Peretola sits on the plain about 6 km northwest of the Duomo.
- NOAA NCEI — Global Summary of the Day, Firenze Peretola (16170099999), 1991–2020: temperature, precipitation and frost nights — accessed 2026-10-23
- NOAA NCEI — Global Summary of the Month, Roma Ciampino (IT000016239), 1991–2020: December rain days and frost nights, for the Florence–Rome comparison — accessed 2026-10-24
- LaMMA — Thermal inversion: cold air settles on the Tuscan plain — accessed 2026-10-23
- Comune di Firenze — Christmas tree lighting, 6 December 2025, Piazza del Duomo at 6pm — accessed 2026-10-23
- Comune di Firenze — Via dei Pescioni relaid with its existing stone slabs; stone replacing asphalt on Via dei Guicciardini (27 November 2020) — accessed 2026-10-24
- Madova — Leather gloves since 1919; shop at Via de' Guicciardini 1/R since 1954, factory at Piazza Santa Felicita 4 — accessed 2026-10-23
- Museo Salvatore Ferragamo — Palazzo Spini Feroni, workshop opened in 1938 — accessed 2026-10-23
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — Italy travel advice: safety and security (bag-snatching and pickpocketing in city centres) — accessed 2026-10-25
- Pitti Immagine Uomo — Visitors, 12–15 January 2027, trade only — accessed 2026-10-23
