Temperatures are falling, rainfall is rising, and the sun will be spending the next few months in the southern hemisphere. We offer some ideas for withstanding the coming cold
See some sun
Fly to the south of France. Nice in November can be wonderfully warm - no wonder the English used to winter there. Hire roller skates and scoot along the Promenade des Anglais, then head for the old town to eat outdoors at one of the many fish restaurants and pizzerias.
Use the cool mornings to plunder the boutiques. The French have a mania for white shirts and knitwear, and chemists are also worth a browse (if only to marvel at the amount of stuff you can buy to treat cellulite and "jambes lourdes".)
For absolute luxury stay in the seafront Palais de la Méditerranée (from €212 per room), skip breakfast and have an early lunch of salade niçoise and crusty bread on the beach just across the road. There's an off-season feel to the beachfront cafes, and service improves accordingly.
Take a short trip along the coast to Eze-bord-de-mer to swim off the pebbly beach and admire the U2 villas. Then, if you have stamina and a couple of hours to spare, take the Nietzsche walk up the mountain to Eze village, where the author lived while writing Thus Spake Zarathusa. At the top of the village, clinging to the mountainside, is a wonderful cactus garden with heart-stopping views of the Riviera.
Do a hedgehog
Take advantage of the short days to give yourself and your family a much-needed quasi-hibernation. Go to bed early and read until you drift off. The benefits of several good nights' sleep include better immunity, earlier starts (and better control over your working day), improved concentration and reasoning, and generally being nicer to your fellow beings. You can overdo it, though. Seven to eight hours is ideal, and more than nine can be counterproductive.
Walk the walk
Avoid the slump that comes from too much sitting down in artificially lit rooms by regularly getting out for a stroll. Fitness expert Patricia Weston says: "Walking is low-impact, so it doesn't damage the joints and can be done by anyone of any age. You can do it anywhere, without any special equipment. All you need are good walking trainers. It's also social: you can do it with friends, and some of the best conversations take place over a good march."
. . . and step out in comfy boots
Walking shoes are one thing, but one of the joys of winter is acquiring the perfect pair of boots. This is not as straightforward as it may sound. Several shoe shops must be visited in the early reconnaissance stage. The aesthetic appeal of the wedge must be weighed up against the attention-grabbing spikier heel. You must debate the practicality of leather, argue the toss about the elegance of suede. Zips or laces? Roundy toed or pointy? In all of this, comfort is key.
For larger ladies, ensuring the boots actually close around the calf is crucial. No point running around in the freezing cold wishing you could pull that zip up those final four inches. So decide on ankle boots instead. Or search everywhere until you discover a pair of snug pull-up boots in your size. Oh, the joy. It may be winter, but when you find those boots there'll be spring in your step.
make yourself a cosy nest
There's no point trying to draughtproof your home in summer, when you can't even detect the draughts. This is the time to make you home more energy-efficient. Eunan McLaughlin of O'Keeffe Architects, in Churchtown, Dublin 14, says: "A Building Energy Rating will apply to all houses from 2009. That means your house will have an energy rating, just like your fridge. Energy efficiency will affect the value of your house, and, ultimately, you might be hit with carbon taxes, too.
"The major areas of heat loss are the roofs, floors and windows. These are areas you can tackle with a trip to the DIY store on a Saturday afternoon. Don't skimp by buying bargain-basement insulation. The higher the U-value the better the insulation, and if you're going to go crawling around your attic, get the highest U-value you can afford. Fill every single gap. Even one gap could seriously affect the performance of the insulation.
"For the floor, carpet helps, but it's not the same as a product specifically designed to insulate. If you have a raised floor and can get at the underside of it, either by lifting boards or actually getting under it, you can put insulation between the joists and pin it in place with chicken wire.
"When it comes to glazing, single-glazed windows amount to throwing money out the window. If you're really cold, heavy curtains will help, but it's obviously better to replace the windows. Make sure they're good-quality double-glazed, meeting minimum Building Regulation standards."
. . . That looks the part, too
When the cold weather arrives, cover furniture with cosy throws in fire-hued tones of gold, orange, terracotta and red. Some of the best are by Foxford (sold by, among others, Helen McAlinden's shop on Castle Market, Dublin 2). Buy a toasty down-filled duvet; increasing the tog number means less need for cumbersome blankets.
Bare hardwood or tiled floors may be great for summer months, but they can feel uninviting in winter. Add a rug or two, to give toes a warmer feel underfoot. Although purpose-made rugs are the obvious choice, carpeting can also be cut to custom sizes and its edges bound to make inexpensive rugs in any size you desire. Try Martsworth Carpets, in Ashford, Co Wicklow (0404-40113).
Fill your home with the warm scents of winter: apple, cinnamon or pine. L'Occitane en Provence branches sell potent scented candles and room sprays. We like the Orange Blossom fragrance best.
Flickfest
There's plenty to look forward to at the cinema. • Sean Penn, Kate Winslet and James Gandolfini appear in Steven Zaillian's remake of the Oscar-winning All the King's Men, Oct 27 • Sacha Baron Cohen stars in Borat, Nov 3 • Brendan Gleeson takes the lead in John Boorman's latest film, A Tiger's Tail, Nov 10 • Nicole Kidman plays Diane Arbus in Fur, Nov 10 • Anthony Minghella directs Jude Law in Breaking and Entering, Dec 1 • Will Ferrell goes serious in Stranger than Fiction, Dec 1 • Tony Scott directs Denzel Washington in Déjà Vu, Dec 22 • Clint Eastwood retells Iwo Jima in Flags of Our Fathers, Dec 22.
Children should enjoy: Danny DeVito in Deck the Halls, Dec 1 • rodent humour in Flushed Away, Dec 1 • a tap-dancing penguin in Happy Feet, Dec 8 • and exhibits coming to life in Night at the Museum, Dec 26.
Run, run, run
Vigorous exercise - 20-30 minutes, three times a week - will improve not only your fitness throughout the winter but also your general sense of well-being. Cold-weather exercise can bring risks, however, if you don't approach it properly.
Fitness expert Patricia Weston advises: "Runners should always stretch their muscles well before exercise, but in the right way. Static, standing-still stretching is not recommended. You should warm up in motion. Walk at a moderate to fast pace for 15-20 minutes, then pick up to a run.
"It's also important to cool down, to readjust your body and to get the heart rate down to a normal level. If you have been running, spend 15 minutes at the end of your run simply walking. After this cool-down period, then you can do some static stretching. Work on the back, the arms, the legs and the chest.
"In cold weather, you should wear layers so that you can peel them off as you heat up. Natural fibres and those that wick sweat away from the body are good, so the moisture stays in the garment."
Become a telly addict
It may not stave off seasonal affective disorder, but getting yourself addicted to some winter TV can offer a little comfort during long winter nights.
On RTÉ, David McWilliams takes to the road to encounter the big spenders of the new Ireland in In Search of the Pope's Children. Elsewhere, Jerry Springer hosts the game show Aladdin's Cave, and Paul O'Grady is set to front a revival of the game show Opportunity Knocks.
The sixth series of 24 is on the way; it will feature Wayne Palmer, brother of assassinated president David, who becomes the new US president. The Clinic has kicked off, and TV3 has already begun the gritty and brilliant cop show The Shield. David Jason will star in a four-hour adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, and a fourth series of Paul Abbott's superb comedy-drama Shameless begins in January. BBC2 has acquired a new six-part Steven Spielberg-produced mini-series called Into the West, and the classic BBC storytelling show Jackanory is back this autumn.
Feed the soul
Winter is the season of soups. All you need is some good stock (throw a chicken carcass in with a few veg and simmer) or a non-toxic stock cube (which is harder to find). The great thing about making soup is that you can use anything that comes to hand: cold spuds, leftover carrots, those mushrooms that stayed almost too long at the back of the fridge. To be truly seasonal, you need to use winter roots: beetroots, swedes, celeriac, parsnip, carrots and what have you, but don't forget more unusual possibilities, such as Jerusalem artichokes and squash. Just sweat some onion, throw in your main ingredient, add stock, simmer, season, whizz with a blender and serve.
Eat out
Dining out once a week, once a month or whatever your budget can handle is a way to keep in touch with friends and escape from your winter cave once in a while. There are a few changes to watch out for.
Alan O'Reilly, formerly of Morels in Glasthule and currently running the restaurant in Brown Thomas, is due to open a 150-seater venue on Patrick Street, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, before Christmas, and it's expected to shake up Dublin restaurant prices - in a good sense.
Speaking of prices, customers used to paying steep ones for simple but good Italian food at Il Primo on Montague Street, Dublin 8, will be watching the menu now that ownership has passed from Dieter Bergmann to chef Anita Thoma and manager John Farrelly.
Woody warmth
One of the advantages of having a wood-burning stove is that you get warm chopping up the stuff before it starts to burn. But the real satisfaction lies in burning a renewable fuel much, much more efficiently than you could in a conventional fireplace.
If you happen to have a bit of land to spare - and, admittedly, it's a big if - you can plant enough saplings to keep you in fuel until your dotage. Opinion seems to vary about what is required, but if you plant ash trees and coppice them (cut them down so they resprout to produce pole wood) on a three-year cycle, half an acre should suffice.
If you don't have a wood-burning stove and have to make do with a mere fireplace, don't forget that you can season the smoke by adding prunings from your apple trees. It smells great - agricultural aromatherapy.
Wrap up in style
And we're not just talking woolly jumpers and holey scarves. There's a whole new wardrobe jumping off shop rails. Forget about buying a lot of inexpensive items and focus on buying just one expensive coat. The colour of the season is grey - so avoid it at all costs. A well-cut coat is worth splashing out on, and although some sums may seem madness, think practically. Its long life will outweigh the initial cost. Avoid anything garish, edgy or off the wall.
A good style is the coat with military inspiration: no effort required and a complete look in itself. Try Joanne Hynes's navy wool coat (right; €700 at Brown Thomas). It falls below the knee and is fine enough to allow chunky knits be worn beneath. Low-key details include epaulettes and woven gold and black buttons.
Make drink
If you remembered about going blackberrying only when you saw the hedgerows getting their first trim of the autumn, then console yourself by making a bottle or two of sloe gin. Sloes, which grow on blackthorn trees, will be ripe in the next few weeks, particularly after the first good frosts. If you can gather 500g of them you'll have enough to infuse a litre of gin.
If the skins haven't already split, prick each berry a few times with a clean needle (or freeze them overnight) before putting them in a large sterilised jar. Then add the gin and some sugar: for a dry sloe gin, use 50g of caster sugar; for a sweeter, more liqueur-like result, use anything up to 250g. Seal the jar, give it a shake and put it in a cool dark cupboard. Shake it every couple of days for the first week, then every week for another month or, ideally, two.
You should be left with a jar of delicious, richly red gin that is ready to strain through muslin into one large or two small bottles just in time for Christmas. If you can bear to give them away, they make excellent presents.
Get crafty
Many's the happy evening has been spent with the comforting clickety-clack of knitting needles, and a hot trend this winter is the chunky knit. So start casting on and you will have an up-to-the-minute original - and the satisfaction of saying "I made it myself". Check out magazines such as Vogue Knitting, Sandra and Simply Knitting for ideas and patterns. If you don't know your knit from your purl, there are many evening classes to get you started, and details in the many evening-class guides on sale now.
• Transfer your old snaps from shoebox to photo album, and from digital camera to printers. Overnight sainthood to follow
Beat Xmas
Christmas 2006 could be your best ever. The key is to start planning now, so that the event unfolds on your terms, not somebody else's. Do you hate the pub, the shopping and the short days? Arrange to slip out of the country - to somewhere nice and hot, or nice and cold - a few days beforehand and don't come back until it's all over. Can't stomach turkey, and don't feel like traipsing halfway round the country on the 25th? Inform all your relatives now, and invite them to an alternative meal in your house. Can't afford the whole shindig? Save a bit between now and then, and come January you'll be the happiest, least broke person in Ireland.
Get a gig in
Say goodbye to the outdoor festivals and infectious radio hits. Winter is about intimate gigs and albums you fall in love with. Sufjan Stevens has quickly become everyone's favourite off-beat singer-songwriter, and he's a superb performer to boot. Stevens brings his unique musical vision, with choruses to die for, to the Olympia, in Dublin, on November 1st.
The Point will host a plethora of huge names over the coming months, including Kenny Rogers, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen (who seems to be making the Point a second home these days), Scissor Sisters, Christina Aguilera, Cliff Richard and George Michael. See www.thepoint.ie for details.
Gig of the season might very well be The Flaming Lips, who play two nights at Vicar Street, Dublin, on November 18th and 19th. Expect one of the most entertaining live shows ever imagined, and some of the most uplifting, surreal pop ever composed. Gnarls Barkley, who unfortunately cancelled their performance at Electric Picnic, will, with luck, make it to Vicar Street on November 8th, when the crowd will manically sing along to the song of the year, Crazy.
. . . and know all the words
Going to a gig is a great way to spend an evening, but gradually getting to know an album over a few dozen listens will provide a lasting soundtrack for your winter. The phrase "eagerly anticipated" doesn't quite capture quite how feverish the anticipation has been for Damien Rice's new album, 9, due to be released in mid-November. It's been years since the release of O (Rice is obviously into brevity), but his reputation has grown and grown. Expect this release to top a lot of Christmas wishlists. Another comeback worth mentioning is the second coming of Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, with Jarvis (also mid-November).
If you're looking to gain some musical kudos, getting on the Joanna Newsom bandwagon by checking out her second album, Ys, would be a good place to start. Finally, back to where we started with Sufjan Stevens, who will be releasing a five-disc Christmas album in time for the stocking-filler market. Don't expect Cliff Richard-style ballads.
Happy pamper
Visit the spa at the Radisson SAS Farnham Estate Hotel, which has just opened its doors in Co Cavan. The spa, which the hotel says is Ireland's largest, boasts an indoor-outdoor infinity pool, plus the divine Kerstin Florian range. You will come back refreshed and ready to face the rest of the winter. If you can bring a friend, all the better, as the spa has a mud bath for two, which is another way to have fun with no clothes on. See www.farnham.radissonsas.com.
Thanks to Phyl Clarke, Tom Doorley, Conor Goodman, Róisín Ingle, John Lane, Eoin Lyons, Orna Mulcahy, Davin O'Dwyer and Liam Stebbing