“Dress like a cabbage”: Surviving Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world
YAKUTSK, Russia, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Temperatures plunged to minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit) this week in Yakutsk during an unusually long cold snap in the Siberian city known as the world’s coldest.
Located 5,000 km (3,100 miles) east of Moscow on the permafrost of Russia’s Far East, residents of the mining town often see the thermometer regularly dip well below minus 40.
“You can’t fight it. Either you adapt and dress accordingly or you suffer,” said Anastasia Gruzdeva, outside with two scarves, two pairs of gloves and several hats and hoods.
[1/5] Fish sellers Marina Krivolutskaya and Marianna Ugai pose for a picture at an outdoor market on a freezing day in Yakutsk, Russia January 15, 2023. REUTERS/Roman Kutukov
“You don’t really feel the cold in the city. Or maybe it’s just the brain preparing you for it and telling you everything is normal,” she added to the city shrouded in icy mist.
Another resident, Nurgusun Starostina, who sells frozen fish in a market without the need for a fridge or freezer, said there were no special secrets to coping with the cold.
“Just dress warmly,” she said. “In layers, like a cabbage!”
Reuters reporting; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
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