While back home most of us Brits are settling into another green Christmas, a few of us seem to have gone to extreme lengths to see some of the white stuff on the big day.

Polar adventurer Rosie Stancer is preparing to spend a solitary Christmas in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Why? Because Rosie from southwest London is striving to become the first British woman to trek solo and unsupported to the South Pole.

The journey from the edge of Antarctica's Ice Shelf to the Pole is her third and toughest feat.
Back in 1997, she was part of the first all-female expedition to reach the North Pole unaided. Then in January 2000, the same team achieved the equivalent feat at the South Pole.

It appears that there's something in the family which drives Rosie to such extremes. Her husband's grandfather, geologist James Wordie, was a member of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition aboard the ill-fated Endurance. Famously the Endurance was crushed to destruction by the ice pack in1915.

Let's hope Rosie's been sent a few thick socks by Santa Claus. The temperature on the morning of Christmas Eve stood at -20 Celsius. The outlook: cold and snowy!

Weather News from the last five days:
23/12/2003
22/12/2003
21/12/2003
20/12/2003
19/12/2003

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