It may be a cool and showery Bank Holiday in the UK, but spare a thought for the scientists at the American South Pole research station where temperatures fell to an impressively frigid minus 71.2C. Sunday's temperature was within a degree of the all-time low for May, records at the Pole going back to 1957.

Not that day and night have much meaning at the South Pole. Sunset in mid-March marked the start of the long south polar night and it'll be mid-September before the sun creeps back above above the horizon. Then of course there's the bonus of 24-hour daylight during the 'summer' months, which pushes the average temperature up to the dizzy heights of minus 30C!

To put these temperatures into context, the average home freezer runs at around minus 20C, and the record low for the UK is minus 27C.

Mind you, even the South Pole figure is relatively balmy compared to the all-time record low of minus 89.2C which was measured by hardy observers at Russia's Vostok station, sited at the Antarctic Pole of Inaccesibility. This is the point furthest from the relatively warming influence of the oceans that surround the Antarctic.

A trip outside becomes a major undertaking in these sort of temperatures. Boiling water explodes into ice crystals when thrown into the air, engine parts become brittle and exposed flesh will freeze in seconds. Workers keep watch for the tell-tale white spots appearing on their colleagues' faces, the first sign of frostbite. Left unattended, the flesh will be permanently damaged. Recommended treatment is vigorous rubbing of the affected area!

Related Links :
Antarctic climate information
South Pole Observatory

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