Home
Weather London
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
Career
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Top six records: The coldest places on Earth

14:00
21 January 2023

Top six records
The coldest places on Earth

Oymyakon winter forest in Russia
© picture alliance

Do you know where the coldest place on Earth is? Take a look at our top six lowest temperature records to find out!

6. Prospect Creek, Alaska (USA)

Here's where you'll find the United States' all-time lowest temperature record, with a -62.2 in the January of 1971. Prospect Creek is now largely abandoned, but at the time was hosting oil workers who were building a pipeline.

5. Snag, Yukon (Canada)

This was the coldest ever temperature recorded in North America, right here in Canada with a mind-numbing -62.8C from February 1947.

4. Yakutsk, Russia

This city might sound familiar to you, neighbouring where a recent record was broken for one of the coldest January days in Russia (read here).

But the Siberian city of Yakutsk, is renowned as one of the coldest in the world for good reason. Temperatures bottomed out at -64. 4C in February 1981, but temperatures barely get above -30C throughout winter.

3. Northern Greenland

During a British North Greenland Expedition in the 1950s, temperatures at their base, a home-ruled Danish territory technically part of North America, fell to -66.1C.

2. Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon, Russia

In second place is a record low of -67.7, recorded twice in 1892 and again in 1933, making this the lowest ever temperature recorded in Russia. It's also the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere and the coldest inhabited towns on Earth.

1. Vostok Station, Antarctica

Taking the official lead, a staggering -89.2C was recorded on July 21st 1983 by Soviet researchers. The temperature that day only rose as high as -66.7C, but it probably felt comparatively balmy by that point.

East Antarctica?

We mentioned that the lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was disputed at -94.7C, and that was in East Antarctica during August of 2010.

However it can't hold the official number one spot, because it was recorded via satellite data and not a regular thermometer. So the title still stands with Vostok Station, but either way, neither temperature sounds too appealing.

Weather & Radar editorial team
More on the topic
Forest fires rage in southern Europe. Drought and wind. . . Monday, 6 July 2026
Split screen. On the left, a weather map of France and Spain showing the plumes of smoke from the forest fires. On the right, a fire-fighting aircraft in action.
Monday, 6 July 2026

Drought and wind

Forest fires rage in southern Europe
Seeking the cooler scenes. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday, 12 July 2026
Split image showing a cat silhouetted on a fence at golden hour with the low sun behind it on the left, and a calm marina with boats, reflective water, and thin high clouds under bright sunshine on the right.
Sunday, 12 July 2026

Your weather - Your shots

Seeking the cooler scenes
Cooler nights and lower dew points. Less oppressive heatwave. . . Thursday, 9 July 2026
Split image showing the London skyline in hazy golden sunset light in the left and an overnight temperature map of the UK and Ireland on the right, with minimum temperatures ranging from 13°C in northeast Scotland to 18°C in southern England.
Thursday, 9 July 2026

Less oppressive heatwave

Cooler nights and lower dew points
All weather news
This might also interest you
Long-term trends need a pinch of salt. 40 °C in July?. . . Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Temperature radar of 2022 heatwave where the all-time temperature record in the UK was set. Warning symbol overlain.
Tuesday, 30 June 2026

40 °C in July?

Long-term trends need a pinch of salt
Historic Storm Éowyn arrives. On this day.... . . Saturday, 24 January 2026
Split image showing a person in a yellow jacket struggling against strong winds and heavy rain on a street at night on the left, and an Irish wind forecast map on the right with red and purple shading, gusts up to 75 mph, and a wind warning icon, divided by a curved white line.
Saturday, 24 January 2026

On this day...

Historic Storm Éowyn arrives
Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands. Storm and rain. . . Friday, 12 December 2025
Weather graphic showing rain and wind fields over the Canary Islands and a central warning symbol.
Friday, 12 December 2025

Storm and rain

Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwittertikToklinkList