While the festive season might be a distant memory, many are still longing for snowy scenes in the UK.
Although Britain may occasionally don a white coat around Christmas, true winter wonderlands are still rare. But for those with an appetite for the extreme, cast your gaze to the coldest village on Earth, where temperatures plummet to bone-chilling lows.
Oymyakon, nestled in Eastern Siberia, Russia, is notorious for its extraordinary freezes, routinely registering -50C and holding the record for the earth-shattering low of -71C.
It’s a far cry from the UK’s own record of -27.2C observed in Braemar, Scotland, in both 1895 and 1982. Oymyakon is known for its average winter temperatures hovering around -50C, often nosediving even further.
Life continues even in these harsh conditions, with locals adapting to what we could only imagine as almost impassable wintry hurdles.
The extreme Siberian lifestyle has caught the attention of TikTok users, where one account dedicated to fascinating facts points out the “struggle” faced by inhabitants, while another user showcases what a “pretty warm day” at -55C entails.
With such low temperatures, it means frostbite could set within minutes, so wrapping up warm is essential. Cars are kept running almost all the time or else the engines will freeze up.
Most toilets are outhouses without plumbing due to the pipes going solid and the cold could even freeze your eyelashes if you walk around the village without a balaclava.
The ink in children’s pens can freeze as they go to school and people’s glasses sometimes stick to their faces. Even your phone camera lens can freeze over when trying to take a snap.
While many of us will put high strength spirits in the freezer to chill them and not worry about the drink – as liquor has such a low freezing point – even bottles of vodka can go solid if left on your doorstep in Oymyakon.
The village is unusual due to the weather with its local delicacy being raw foal meat, which is eaten like deli meat. The vitamin-rich dish gives residents the vitamins they would otherwise get from fresh fruits and vegetables which cannot grow there.
Currently, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises against all travel to Russia amid risks and threats from its continuing invasion of Ukraine.
The GOV.UK website said: “FCDO advises British nationals against all travel to Russia due to the risks and threats from its continuing invasion of Ukraine. The situation in Russia is unpredictable.
“This includes: security incidents, such as drone attacks, happening in some parts of the country, lack of available flights to return to the UK, limited ability for the UK government to provide consular assistance.”
