We present calibrations of the effective temperatures of giant stars versus [Fe/H] and colours (U-V), (B-V), (R-I), (V-R), (V-I), (V-K), (J-H), (J-K), (I-K), (V-L'), (b-y) and (u-b). These calibrations are based on a large sample of field and globular cluster stars which roughly cover spectral types from F0 to K5. Their effective temperatures, scaled to direct Teff determinations via reliable angular diameter measurements, were derived by applying the infrared flux method. The empirical relations have been fitted to polynomials of the form theta_ {eff} = P(colour,[Fe/H]) by using the least squares method. The precision of the fits ranges from 40 K for (V-K) to 170 K for (J-H). We tabulate intrinsic colours of giant stars in the ranges: 3500 K <= Teff <= 8000 K; -3.0 <= [Fe/H] <= +0.5. We also present the calibration of BC(V) as a function of log(Teff) and metallicity. Finally, we compare the resulting scale of temperatures with previous works.