Where’s the coldest place on Earth and just how cold does it get there?

You might think that the UK in January is pretty nippy – and you'd be right – but it's got nothing on the Earth's coldest corners.

The extreme temperatures in the South Pole and the Arctic Circle are among the chilliest known on the planet.

Average temperatures tend to range from minus 25 degrees Celsius to 45 C, depending on where on Earth you are.

But what is the coldest spot of all – and does anyone live nearby?

East Antarctic Plateau

Creative Commons

The coldest ever recorded temperature came on an icy plateau in eastern Antarctica, which has hit minus 98 C.

Researchers looked at satellite data gathered from the region, which showed it had reached minus 93 C.

But the new analysis showed it got even more extreme.

Clear conditions left the air extremely dry. Because moisture can trap heat in the air, that leads to falling temperatures.

Ted Scambos, from the University of Colorado-Boulder, who led the study, said this was about as cold as it gets.

"There’s a limit to how long the conditions persist to allow it to cool to these ultra-low temperatures, and a limit to how much heat you can actually get through the atmosphere," he said.

"Water vapor has to be almost nonexistent in order to emit heat from the surface at these temperatures."

Oymyakon, Russia

Creative Commons

This small village in eastern Siberia is the coldest permanently inhabited place in the world.

Its name literally means "water that doesn't freeze", referencing a nearby thermal spring.

Average winter temperatures in Oymyakon reach minus 50 C, but the city's coldest day on record was in 1924, when temperatures plunged to minus 71.2 C.

The town's population has shrunk significantly in recent decades, from 2,500 down to fewer than 900 in 2018.

And honestly, who can blame them?

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.