snow
Extreme cold has been gripping our planet for the past few months, driving its average temperature down (UAH) and the NH snow mass up (FMI).

41 RECORD LOWS SET IN ALBERTA

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says 15 new record lows were set in Alberta on Monday alone due to an "unseasonably cold" arctic ridge of high pressure.

These are in addition to the 26 new lows set over the weekend.

As reported by globalnews.ca, of the 15 communities with new record lows on Monday, the coldest was in Red Deer, which saw its thermometers sink to -43.9C (-47F) and bust the city's previous record of -40.6C (-41F), set back in 1936 (solar minimum of cycle 16).

Below is a full list of Monday's fallen low temperature records (courtesy of ECCC and globalnews.ca):

Breton

New record of -37.5C
Old record of -32.0C set in 1994
Records in this area have been kept since 1939

Cold Lake

New record of -36.6C
Old record of -35.8C set in 1994
Records in this area have been kept since 1952

Edmonton (at the Edmonton International Airport)

New record of -40.8C
Old record of -35.8C set in 1979
Records in this area have been kept since 1959

Elk Island National Park

New record of -40.9C
Old record of -35.6C set in 1979
Records in this area have been kept since 1966

Hendrickson Creek

New record of -41.2C
Old record of -35.5C set in 2017
Records in this area have been kept since 1995

High River

New record of -33.2C
Old record of -33.0C set in 1994
Records in this area have been kept since 1913

Highvale

New record of -33.8C
Old record of -32.0C set in 1979
Records in this area have been kept since 1977

Lac La Biche

New record of -39.2C
Old record of -38.9C set in 1979
Records in this area have been kept since 1944

Lacombe

New record of -40.5C
Old record of -39.4C set in 1936
Records in this area have been kept since 1907

Milk River

New record of -32.4C
Old record of -31.7C set in 2017
Records in this area have been kept since 1994

Red Deer

New record of -43.9C
Old record of -40.6C set in 1936
Records in this area have been kept since 1904

Red Earth Creek

New record of -39.5C
Old record of -35.8C set in 2019
Records in this area have been kept since 1994

Taber

New record of -35.7C
Old record of -35.5C set in 1994
Records in this area have been kept since 1947

Vegreville

New record of -41.7 C
Old record of -37.0 C set in 1994
Records in this area have been kept since 1918

Wainwright

New record of -37.5C
Old record of -36.0C set in 1994
Records in this area have been kept since 1966

Alberta's brutal freeze is ongoing.

And on Tuesday evening the province set a new all-time record for electricity usage as folks cranked up the heating in their homes.

According to the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), 11,729 MW of power was used at around 7 p.m. Tuesday, eclipsing the previous all-time record set in January of last year by 31 MW.


BRITAIN SUFFERS -22.9C (-9.2F)

Across the South, West, East and North East of the UK, snow and ice warnings have been extended into Thursday as February's blast of extreme wintry weather shows no signs of abating.

The UK has just recorded its lowest temperature since 1995 (solar minimum of cycle 22) after the mercury in Scotland plunged to almost -23C (-9.4F).

The UK Met Office, who recently declared extreme low temperatures were a thing of the past, registered a low of -22.9C (-9.2F) in Braemar overnight Wednesday - a reading not far off the coldest-ever temperature for the date, which still stands as the -25.6C (-14F) set way back in 1895 (during the Centennial Minimum).

The below tweet shows more than 200 people queuing for a soup kitchen in blowing snow — a shocking depiction of both our society AND climate: