In Australia, the approaching summer in the southern hemisphere is really picking up speed: in many parts of the country, maximum temperatures will rise to between 30 and 35 degrees over the next few days. In the Northern Territories, temperatures will even reach a sweltering 45 degrees.

At the same time, the opposite is true in the northern hemisphere: in Siberia, widespread freezing temperatures between minus 30 and minus 40 degrees are being recorded. In Olenyok, temperatures are even dropping to an incredible minus 51 degrees.

This means that the temperature difference between Siberia and Australia is almost 100 degrees. These global contrasts are not unusual. However, they occur more frequently at the beginning of the year.