• You are not imagining it. Many people find their foot and ankle pain worse in winter. In one study that followed people with arthritis for a year, 82% said the weather affected their pain — and when their pain was recorded every day, it really did go up as the temperature went down.
• But the effect is smaller than most people think. On average, a 10°C drop in temperature added only about half a point to pain on a 0–10 scale.
• The research does not agree. One large review in 2023 found that colder weather was linked to more arthritis pain. Another in 2024, looking at 15,315 people, found no link at all for knee pain, back pain or rheumatoid arthritis.
• Ankle fractures are more common in summer, not winter. A UK study of 25,454 broken bones over 12 years found that foot and ankle fractures peaked in July and August, while broken wrists peaked in December. Ice is mainly a risk to your wrists, not your ankles.
• Most winter foot pain is not really caused by the cold. It is caused by what changes in winter — your shoes, how active you are, and how much time you spend sitting.
• Pain that keeps getting worse is not just the season. If your pain is steadily increasing, or you notice new swelling or a change in the shape of your foot, get it checked rather than waiting for spring.

When the clocks go back, I start to see a familiar kind of patient: someone who has coped well with their foot or ankle for months, but has found the last few weeks much harder. They nearly always ask the same thing — is it the cold, or is something getting worse?

It is a good question, and the answer is more interesting than you might think.

Most patients are sure that it does. The research is less clear.

A European study of 810 older people with osteoarthritis in six countries found that pain went up and down with humidity (how damp the air is), and that damp weather was worse when it was also cold. So cold and damp together seem to be worse than either on its own — which matches what many patients tell me.

A 2025 review of rheumatoid arthritis also found no clear link. And a study that included foot osteoarthritis — with more than 2,000 separate records of foot pain — found almost no effect from the weather.

The weather probably does have a real effect on pain, but it is small, and it is not the whole story.

The most useful numbers come from a study that recorded the pain of 94 patients every day for a year, alongside the local weather. 82% believed the weather affected their pain. Temperature explained about 22% of the ups and downs in their pain. On average, every 10°C drop in temperature added about half a point on a 10-point pain scale.

This is where the idea that winter is worse for your ankles falls apart.

A UK study followed one hospital fracture service for 12 years and 25,454 fragility fractures (bones broken in a simple fall). Different bones broke most often at different times of year:

Frosty days were clearly linked to more broken wrists and upper arms — but not to more broken ankles or feet.

The reason is simple. When you slip on ice, you usually fall onto an outstretched hand, which breaks the wrist. Breaking an ankle usually needs a twisting injury with some speed behind it — walking on uneven ground, playing sport, being on holiday, or just being out and about more. That is a summer pattern.

So if you are worried about breaking your ankle, winter is not the riskiest time of year. Your wrists, however, are worth protecting on frosty mornings.

In my clinic, when foot and ankle pain gets worse in winter, the cause is rarely the cold itself.

Your shoes have changed. This is the biggest cause, and it is often missed. Summer sandals and trainers are usually wide, soft and forgiving. Winter boots are stiffer, narrower at the toes, often higher at the heel, and worn for longer. If your bunion, Morton’s neuroma (a trapped nerve between the toes) or big toe arthritis flares up every October, check your shoes before you blame the weather — bunion pain in winter boots is very common. Slippers are the other problem: flat, unsupportive and worn for hours at home, they are a common cause of winter heel pain.

You are moving less. Shorter days and bad weather mean less walking and more sitting. Joints and tendons do not like staying still. If your stiffness takes longer to wear off each morning, that is often a sign of being less active, not of the cold. Your calf muscles tighten, your Achilles tendon stiffens, and heel pain from the plantar fascia (the band of tissue under your foot) often gets worse in people who have become less active.

Cold tissue really is stiffer. Muscles, tendons and ligaments are less stretchy when they are cold, so a stiff ankle feels stiffer and takes longer to loosen up. This is real, but it is also the easiest thing to fix: warmth and movement help within minutes.

You have stopped doing your exercises. Most people do their exercises less often in winter. If calf raises or plantar fascia stretches were keeping things under control in September, three months without them will show.

Cold, painful toes. Some people get toes that become very painful and change colour in the cold. This is a circulation problem, not arthritis, so mention it to your GP rather than putting up with it.

• Check your winter shoes. Look for a wide, deep toe area, a supportive sole and a low heel. One good pair of winter boots is worth more than most of the other tips on this list.
• Replace your slippers with a pair that has a supportive sole. It is not glamorous, but it works surprisingly well for winter heel pain.
• Keep your feet warm — wear good socks, and keep your whole leg warm, not just your foot.
• Warm up before you stand up. Do some ankle circles and calf stretches in bed before you get up, rather than putting a cold, stiff ankle straight onto the floor.
• Keep up your steps. If you are walking outside less, do something indoors instead rather than letting your activity drop.
• Restart the exercises you were given, doing the same amount as before.
• Keep using what works. If an anti-inflammatory medicine or a shoe insert (orthotic) helped in summer, winter is the wrong time to stop.

Pain linked to the weather comes and goes — worse on some days, better on others, and better once you warm up and get moving. See a specialist if instead:

• Your pain is steadily getting worse rather than going up and down
• You have new swelling, or swelling that does not go down overnight
• The shape of your foot is changing, or shoes that fitted last year no longer fit
• You have pain at night or pain when resting
• You are limping, or avoiding things you could do in the summer
• A problem that was treated before has clearly changed

If your foot or ankle pain has become harder to manage over the last few weeks, and you are not sure whether it is the cold or the problem itself, it is worth having it checked — if only so you can stop wondering.

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