You might think it feels extremely chilly in the UK wintertime but that is nothing compared to some other places in the world!
Mt Herschel Antarctica – License: Creative Commons image source
Record breaking low temperatures and ice on your icicles… here are five of the coldest places on this earth!
The Vostok Station, Antarctica
Lowest temperature: -128.6° F
Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. It is not only the coldest place on earth but is the highest continent in the world and also the windiest! The Vostok Station is a Russian research station located in Antarctica which has recorded the lowest temperature on earth. Antarctica receives least amount of rainfall narrowly beating the Sahara Desert in second place. Antarctica is also the world’s largest desert and contains the largest amount of ice in the whole earth put together.
The Plateau Station, Antarctica
Lowest temperature: -119.2° F
Antarctica also wins second place in our listing. The Plateau station of Antarctica is the place which penguins and seals call home but it is certainly not a habitable place for humans! Scientists and other researchers come here to learn more about the earth’s history and weather and it is officially one of the wildest and the remote regions on planet earth.
Oymyakon, Russia
Lowest temperature: -96.0° F
Oymyakon, Russia – photo Credit: Maarten Takens
Russia comes in at number three in our worlds coldest places. Oymyakon is a small Russian village located on the Indigirka River and situated between two mountain ranges. With a population of approximately 800 people, this village was founded by the Mongols at the time of Genghis Khan.
Verkhonyansk, Russia
Lowest temperature: -89.8° F
Russia steps in again at number four and is still an exceptionally chilly place to be. The small town of Verkhonyansk in Russia is the third smallest town in Russia after Magas and Chekalin. The town of Verkhonyansk has a population of approximately 1,434 people as well as a small airport, a river port and a fur processing depot.
North Ice, Greenland
Lowest temperature: -86.8° F
Icebergs, near Uummannaq, North Greenland – Photo Credit: Gerald Zinnecker
Greenland is also known as the coldest region in the Western Hemisphere and makes it to number 5 in our list. North Ice is actually a British research station which is situated in the middle of the Greenland ice sheet!
Another Seriously Cold Place…
These may be the top five of the coldest places on earth but there are still quite a few serious contenders. Take Snag in Yukon Territory, Canada. This is the coldest place in North America and has a lowest recorded temperature of -63 degrees Celcius. The reason Snap is so cold is down to the fact that the surrounding mountains block the warm air arriving from the Pacific Ocean.
And the hottest place on Earth?
The hottest place on earth award has to go to the aptly named Death Valley in California. This is the hottest, driest and lowest place in North America and records temperatures up to 56.7 degrees Celcius. Although this place is seriously hot in the daytime, the temperatures are often known to drop to freezing overnight.
Guest post written by Caitlin Carr, glad of her snuggly socks and that chiller hire will take care of her data centre.
