I had an experience that supports at least one of your theories. For 3 years we had an office in the Netherlands. I had no car there, and would walk every day 20-25 minutes in each direction to the client's office.

The Netherlands is notoriously wet, but also often windy. Carrying an umbrella takes one hand, will often get blown inside out, and it a pain to hold that long. So I wore a Fedora and a nice raincoat. Perfect solution.