I grew up in 1970's Southern Italy. You may think: Africa! but it can be quite cold down there December to February. Temperatures can go down to
2-3 Celsius occasionally. We had no central heating. We had a "catalytic gas heater" running off a kitchen gas bottle (I think they are outlawed nowadays) that we would occasionally turn on. I don't remember complaining about the cold. Same when we moved up North Italy, we still had no central heating until late 1980s.