Read the text about how hot or cold it can get in certain parts of the world and how to be prepared for extreme temperatures when travelling. Then, do the exercises below.

Marcin Legeżyński Decide Which Extreme Temperature Spot You Want to Visit

When you are going for a long trip, it is wise to hope for the best and plan for the worst, especially when it comes to extreme weather. What places would you visit to experience the most extreme temperatures?

The absolute top on the list of very hot places is Death Valley in California, USA. If you are heading there, remember that the area is notorious for very high temperaturesnotorious for very high temperaturesnotorious for very high temperatures and, in 1913, thermometers indicatedthermometers indicated [thermometer indicates]thermometers indicated a swelteringswelteringsweltering 56.7 °C there! Similar temperatures have been recorded in Tunisia, Libya and Kuwait. Travelling to such hot spotshot spots [hot spot]hot spots must be planned very carefully. You need to think about plenty of stops, drinking water and clothing protecting from sunburns and heat strokes. Local residents are usually used to living and working in the hottest places on Earth, but visitors must allow some time for acclimatisationacclimatisation [acclimation] AmEacclimatisation to adjust to adverse weather conditionsadverse weather conditionsadverse weather conditions.

Those, who want to experience the coldest possible weather, should visit Antarctica. In 1983, at the Vostok Station, scientists recorded the lowest temperature of nippynippynippy -89.2 °C using a thermometer on the ground. Other, even lower readings have been observed around Antarctica with the use of satellite equipment. It's obvious that not every traveller can visit Antarctica, but everybody could reach different easier and cheaper chilly spotschilly spots [chilly spot]chilly spots. One of them is Oymyakon, a village in Siberia, the coldest permanently inhabited settlementcoldest permanently inhabited settlementcoldest permanently inhabited settlement on Earth. The lowest thermometer reading of −71.2 °C was recorded in Oymyakon in 1924. In winter, it’s always freezing coldfreezing coldfreezing cold there, with average temperaturesaverage temperatures [average temperature]average temperatures around -50 °C. Surprisingly, this region has roasting hotroasting hotroasting hot summers and 30 °C is nothing rare there. It means that in one year, you could experience a temperature rangetemperature rangetemperature range of over 100 °C!

If you want to visit places of such extremely cold weather, be prepared to change your lifestyle. There are no toilets in houses of Oymyakon, as plumbing installations get permanently frozenpermanently frozen. This is because even in summer, the soil never thawsthaws [thaw]thaws. Also, never stop your car engine outdoors in winter because it can get damaged. 

Extremely high and low temperatures affect other elements of the weather; very strong winds, high precipitationhigh precipitationhigh precipitation and other conditions. You are going to see some examples of those later, in the multimedia presentation.

1 Źródło: Marcin Legeżyński, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.