For anyone who braves the Russian winter, overcast skies and short, dark days are a depressing reality. In December 2017, Moscow, Russia received just 360 seconds of sunshine. Yes, Moscow endured the darkest December on record last year as the residents saw slight sunlight for meager six minutes. In Russia, it is not uncommon for the last month of the year to be darkest but 2017’s December broke all records as the month’s average of direct sunshine is around 18 hours.

The previous record was also held by Moscow and that was in December of 2000 when the capital received three hours of sunlight. The reason why 2017 has become an exceptional year was due to higher than average temperatures that Russia received during this winter and continues to do so in 2018. Temperatures in Russia have now plunged drastically back downwards in the past few weeks touching near-record lows and is now seeing extremely severe winter. Russia is a country that has a history of being bitterly cold and has some of the most uninhabited places on earth.

The diamond-rich Yakutia region in Russia has seen temperatures drop to minus 67 degrees Celsius in some parts on last Tuesday. Reports suggest all the schools have been closed in Yakutia, 3,300 miles east of Russia, where children are accustomed to going to school in near minus 40 degrees temperatures. Russian winters are known for their “bone-chilling cold spells” but this week the temperature dropped to whopping -67 degree Celsius in Yakutia, a region in Russia’s far east.

The press office of Yakutia’s Governor has asked all the workplaces and households to have central heating systems working and to resort to backup generators to beat the chilly winter. The thermometer on which the temperature was measured was equipped to measure till minus 50 degrees. Oymyakon, in 2013, faced the all-time record low temperature of minus 72 degrees Celsius.