Earth’s Cold Spots This Week: The 10 Coldest Places in the World
By Paul Harrison | Founder & Publisher, Orbis Weather
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Earth’s Cold Spots This Week: The 10 Coldest Places in the World
By Paul Harrison, Orbis Weather
Week covered: Wednesday, October 21 to Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
The coldest reading on Earth last week was −84°F (−64.6°C) at Concordia, the French-Italian station at Dome C in Antarctica. It came at 18:00 UTC on Tuesday, October 27, in the synoptic record published by Pogoda i Klimat. Russia’s Vostok station had the lowest recorded daily minimum, −81°F (−62.8°C) on Sunday, October 25, per Meteociel.
Eight of the ten coldest places were in Antarctica. Tuesday, October 27 was the coldest day for five of the ten. Outside Antarctica, the lowest reading was −18°F (−28.0°C) at Delyankir in Yakutia, Russia, on Sunday, October 25. The village of Oymyakon and the town of Verkhoyansk each fell to −16°F (−26.8°C).
The 10 coldest places
Every place on the list fell to −18°F (−27.7°C) or lower. Each entry is the station’s lowest daily minimum for the week; where a station publishes no daily minimum, it is the lowest reported reading. Ties share a rank.
Rank | Place | Elevation | Lowest temperature | Date | Station type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Concordia (Dome C), Antarctica | 10,604 ft (3,232 m) | −84°F (−64.6°C) | Tue Oct 27 | French-Italian research station |
2 | Vostok, Antarctica | 11,220 ft (3,420 m) | −81°F (−62.8°C) | Sun Oct 25 | Russian Antarctic research station |
3 | Dome C II, Antarctica | 10,663 ft (3,250 m) | −81°F (−62.6°C) | Tue Oct 27 | Automatic weather station |
4 | Relay Station, Antarctica | 11,001 ft (3,353 m) | −65°F (−54.0°C) | Wed Oct 21 | Automatic weather station |
5 | Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica | 9,285 ft (2,830 m) | −61°F (−51.5°C) | Tue Oct 27 | US research station |
6 | Nico, Antarctica | 9,629 ft (2,935 m) | −55°F (−48.2°C) | Tue Oct 27 | Automatic weather station |
7 | Henry, Antarctica | 9,039 ft (2,755 m) | −54°F (−47.6°C) | Sun Oct 25 | Automatic weather station |
8 | Halley, Antarctica | 98 ft (30 m) | −25°F (−31.8°C) | Thu Oct 22 | British research station |
9 | Delyankir, Yakutia, Russia | 2,635 ft (803 m) | −18°F (−28.0°C) | Sun Oct 25 | Roshydromet synoptic station |
10 | Eureka, Nunavut, Canada | 33 ft (10 m) | −18°F (−27.7°C) | Tue Oct 27 | Arctic weather station |
Vostok and Dome C II both round to −81°F but differ in Celsius, so they hold separate ranks. Just outside the ten were Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, at −16°F (−26.9°C), then Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk.
Where the cold showed up
East Antarctic Plateau: Stations above 9,000 ft (2,743 m) on the high plateau took the top seven places. Vostok’s daily minimum was −72°F (−57.7°C) on Wednesday, then stayed below −76°F (−60°C) every day from Thursday. At the South Pole, the daily minimum dropped from −46°F (−43.6°C) on Wednesday to the week’s low on Tuesday.
Dome C: Concordia and the nearby Dome C II automatic station had two cold spells. Both dipped on Wednesday and Thursday, eased midweek, then reached their lowest readings at 17:00–18:00 UTC on Tuesday, 2.0°C apart.
Coastal Antarctica: Halley, at 98 ft (30 m), was the only coastal station on the list. Its daily minimum ranged from −10°F (−23.2°C) on Saturday to its low on Thursday. McMurdo bottomed out at −11°F (−23.8°C) on Saturday, October 24.
Siberia and Yakutia: Yakutia had five of the seven coldest readings outside Antarctica. Tompo reached −15°F (−26.2°C) and Ust-Moma −14°F (−25.8°C). Farther west, minimums fell through the week: Zhigansk went from 22°F (−5.5°C) on Wednesday to −16°F (−26.7°C) on Tuesday. In Mongolia, Renchinlkhumbe fell to −7°F (−21.8°C) on Tuesday.
Greenland and the North American Arctic: Eureka’s daily minimum fell from 2°F (−16.9°C) on Wednesday to its low on Tuesday. In Alaska, Arctic Village recorded −15°F (−26.1°C) and Coldfoot −15°F (−26.0°C), both on Thursday, October 22.
About this list
The list uses observed readings for October 21 to 27, 2026, in UTC. Daily minimums come from station weather reports as published in Meteociel’s monthly station tables and Pogoda i Klimat’s synoptic archive, listed by World Meteorological Organization station number. Canadian, Alaskan and Greenland airport data were cross-checked with the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Elevations are as each station page gives them.
Concordia and the automatic stations at Dome C II, Relay, Nico and Henry publish no daily minimum, so their entries are the lowest hourly or six-hourly reading; the true minimum may be slightly lower. Summit and Station Nord in Greenland, Danmarkshavn and Dome Fuji had no usable data for the week. One reading was excluded: an hourly value of −4.7°C at Henry on October 26, among neighbours near −47°C. Galbraith Lake, Alaska, was left out with only one day of data. Europe and high mountain regions were not searched. All figures are preliminary and can be revised.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Antarctica fill most of the list? Seven of the top eight sites sit above 9,000 ft on the Antarctic ice sheet. Vostok’s daily minimum stayed below −76°F (−60°C) on six of the seven days. No Northern Hemisphere station checked came within 30°C of that.
What was the coldest inhabited place outside Antarctica? Among villages and towns, Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk in Yakutia tied for the lowest reading. Only two weather stations, Delyankir in Yakutia and Eureka in Nunavut, went lower outside Antarctica.
Why are there two stations at Dome C? Concordia is a research station, while Dome C II is an automatic weather station at almost the same coordinates. They are separate instruments with separate station numbers, so each keeps its own entry.
Why can a date differ from other sources? This list uses UTC dates. Some sources file a night’s minimum under the next local day; Pogoda i Klimat’s monthly page lists Oymyakon’s low under October 23, while the synoptic report came at 21:00 UTC on October 22.
Sources
- Meteociel, Vostok (89606), October 2026 daily data (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Meteociel, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (89009), October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Meteociel, Halley (89022), October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Meteociel, McMurdo (89664), October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Meteociel, Eureka (71917), October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Meteociel, Kangerlussuaq / Sdr Stroemfjord (04231), October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Concordia (89625) archive, Oct 21–27, 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Dome C II (89828) archive, Oct 21–28, 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Relay Station (89744) archive, Oct 21–28, 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Nico (89799) archive, Oct 21–27, 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Henry (89108) archive, Oct 21–27, 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Delyankir (24691) archive, Oct 21–27, 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Oymyakon (24688) archive, Oct 21–27, 2026 and monthly page (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Verkhoyansk (24266) monthly page, October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat, Zhigansk (24343) monthly page, October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Pogoda i Klimat archives for Tompo (24671), Ust-Moma (24382) and Renchinlkhumbe (44203), Oct 21–27, 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- Iowa Environmental Mesonet daily summaries: Arctic Village (PARC) and Coldfoot (PACX), October 2026 (accessed Oct 28, 2026)
- University of Wisconsin AMRC, AWS station list (last updated Nov 3, 2011; used for station identities and elevations)
About the Author
Paul Harrison — Founder & Publisher, Orbis Weather
Paul Harrison founded Orbis Weather in 2026 to make global weather and natural-hazard information easier to find, follow and understand. His coverage includes tropical cyclones, severe weather, extreme temperatures, earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, flooding and significant natural disasters worldwide.
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