LAND OF ICE
Inside world’s coldest city where -64C temperatures can freeze EYES, breathing’s dangerous & a car breakdown is deadly
Residents in the 'Kingdom of Cold' are warned to only leave their homes for 20 minutes at a time
THE world's coldest city Yakutsk, Russia, tends to leave tourists speechless - not from its landscape or culture, but the extreme temperatures that result in people struggling to breathe.
Yakutsk is renowned as the chilliest region in the world due to its record-breaking freezing conditions.
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The bone-cracking temperatures attack visitors, resulting in icicles hanging from their brows and lashes and a harsh stinging sensation that takes over the face, fingers and toes.
The city is built on continuous permafrost - meaning the ground below is permanently frozen.
Most buildings and homes are built on stilts so they're not sitting on the frozen ground, making tall buildings are hard to come across in the city.
Upon visiting the region, tourists may see groceries hanging out of residents' homes, using the glacial temperatures as a fridge freezer.
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The teeth-chattering region also has to deal with getting less than four hours of sunlight per day, making visibility incredibly poor.
This isn't helped by the fact residents nor visitors can wear their glasses out of fear of having them frozen to your face.
The 'Kingdom of Cold' has been this way for centuries, with the coldest local temperature ever recorded being a terrifying -64.4C in February 1891.
The coldest temperature recorded since then was January last year when the city was hit with deadly lows of -62.7C.
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Bizarrely the weather only drops to the extremes during Autumn and Winter - and actually experiences hot summers.
In June and July the temperature springs in the other direction, reaching highs of around 26C.
During the bitter-cold months, residents are advised to only go out for a maximum of 10-20 minutes.
But if you have to, be prepared to battle with deadly extremities like ice fog, which happens when the air is so cold that hot air can't rise.
If worrying about yourself isn't hard enough, residents find it difficult to keep a car going in the extremities.
Cars are required to be switched on and running at all times to prevent the oil and battery from freezing.
Locals also have to have a certain type of car, with two layers of glass on their windscreens required to insulate the vehicle and stop it freezing while on the road.
If your car were to switch off at any point, it is written off until Spring.
Despite the extreme cold, the city has a relatively large population of about 355,000.
But Putin plunged the arctic city into a deadly crisis last year when the Russian leader diverted money to his war efforts - instead of heating the city.
It was labelled as one of the worst power cut cases, despite excess gas being available due to a block on Kremlin exports to the West.
Despite the temperature extremities, locals don't seem to mind.
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Resident Anastasia Gruzdeva told : "You don't really feel the cold in the city. Or maybe it's just the brain prepares you for it, and tells you everything is normal.
"Just dress warmly in layers, like a cabbage!"
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