Question: Last night, I walked home from my bus stop (in Belgium). Since it was around 11 PM, it was quite cold, probably only about 4-5 °C. However, it didn't actually feel cold at all, and I didn't feel like I had to rush to get home for the cold. In fact, I didn't have headwear on, but I didn't get cold ears. It was about the same temperature as this morning, but the difference is that this morning felt a lot colder, probably due to the wind and drizzle.

I tried to describe it in English on Twitter, but I couldn't actually find a proper word to decribe it. I considered "a warm cold" or "a cozy cold", but I thought these were too poetic, more like something you'd use in a fairy tale than in a tweet to a handful of followers.

How can you describe that temperature without it becoming confusing or poetic?

Answer: 
That sounds 'a bit brisk' to me.

[brisk](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/brisk)

> 
> (Of wind or the weather) cold but pleasantly invigorating:
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> 
> * *A cold, brisk wind fills the square on a grey Saturday afternoon.*
> * *Though the wind was brisk and chilly, the sun was bright and warm.*
> * *The September night was chilly, with a brisk wind picking up, but neither seemed to notice.*
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> 

Here in the UK it's often (though not always) used as a form of humorous understatement, for example on the coldest day of the year you might say "*oooh, it's a bit brisk out, isn't it?*" c.f. "*Nice weather for ducks!*"

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If it's less cold than you expected then it's **mild**. As in, "*we had a mild winter*".

[mild](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/mild)

> 
> (Of weather) moderately warm, especially less cold than expected:
> 
> 
> *Tropical continental air is very dry and tends to bring very warm weather during the summer and unseasonably mild weather during the winter.*
> 
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> *Plants suffer most when warm / mild weather is suddenly replaced with cold.*
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> *October has come round again and the weather is still mild, with the cold snap we had last weekend coming as a shock.*
> 
> 
> 

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It sounds [reet](http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/voices2005/glossary/glossary.shtml) [parky](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/parky)!

Example usage: <https://www.flickr.com/photos/heandfi/4141559844/>
Nate, several factors influence the way cold temperatures are perceived by the body. It may have been around 5ºC but, with **no wind** and very **low humidity**, it may have felt relatively pleasant. The reason is that under such circumstances, it will take longer for the exposed skin to cool and for our body to perceive it is really cold. we could then say...

> 
> **It was pleasantly cool.**
> 
> 
> It was around freezing but **it felt very mild.**
> 
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> 

["mild"](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/mild) - not cold, severe, or extreme; temperate: a mild winter.