ElectricShocks

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AlexChurchill has been getting a lot of ElectricShocks recently.
For the month of January, approximately 50% of times he entered the MathWorksKitchen he'd receive a (quite painful) electric shock upon passing his hand close enough to a metal surface... which includes the two large green-painted steel walls separating the kitchen area from the cafeteria.

For some reason they seem to happen about ten times as often in winter. (This fact has been commented on by other people at MathWorks.) Does anyone have any idea why?

M-A has no idea why, but has also been getting lots of electric shocks recently. She put it down to the combination of woolly jumper and rubber-soled shoes she's been wearing lately, though.

(in order of likely to improbable)
Theory: clothes get woolier as temperature falls
Theory: air moisture content (and hence conductivity) decreases as temperature falls
Theory: nasty electrical fault in heating equipment results in earth leakage, giving you shocks whenever you touch something that's earthed; only causes symptoms when said heating equipment is turned on