Temperatures in the Arctic stay below freezing for most of the year, often getting down to -40ºC, because of biting winds. There is a short summer in the Arctic, which can be quite sunny with a temperature of 10ºC.
While the Arctic is cold, Antarctica is just f-f-freezing! The coldest temperature on Earth has been recorded here, a low of -89.2ºC, while at the South Pole the temperature varies from -20ºc in summer to -70ºC in winter. Can you imagine what -89ºC feels like? Well, imagine this. If you threw a pan of boiling water into the air at such a temperature, it would freeze immediately!
Courtesy of BAS
Antarctica is also the windiest continent in the world. Katabatic (meaning `down-flowing') winds occur along the coast and have been recorded at 320 km/h. The wind was as much a problem to early explorers as the cold because it makes the temperature far colder then it actually is (through wind-chill) as well as making it impossible to work in. During Mawson's expedition to the Antarctic, he and his men often had wriggle on their stomachs to carry out ordinary tasks because the winds were too strong to stand up in.
Poles apart - Antarctica and the Arctic 
