Pal cold at home wearing hat with temperature dropping (5)
I believe the answer is:
china
'pal' is the definition.
(china plate is Cockney rhyming slang for mate)
'cold at home wearing hat with temperature dropping' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'cold' could be 'c' (eg on taps) and 'c' is located in the answer.
'at' could be 'in' (synonymous in some cases - eg at school, in school) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'home' could be 'h' (abbreviation as used in sports fixtures) and 'h' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'a' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for china that I've seen before include "Ceramic; country" , "Mate (slang); crockery" , "Land" , "Ceramic; friend (colloq.)" , "Porcelain; friend" .)