Weather & Climate
Around the North Pole
Temperature
40°C
The Arctic Ocean
The Arctic has one of the harshest climates in the world. The
30°C
temperature in Summer rarely goes above 10ºC and winter
20°C
temperatures can drop below -50ºC over large areas of the
10°C
Summer in the Arctic
Arctic. In comparison, Britain has temperatures not much
0°C
Winter in the UK
lower than 0ºC in winter and as high as 32ºC in Summer!
-10°C
Winter in the Arctic
Summer in the UK
The Arctic Ocean is in the Arctic Circle. There are quite a few large islands contained in the
Arctic Ocean. This ocean freezes over in the Winter, and in the Summer it is covered by floating
ice. The North Pole is right in the centre of this ocean, and there is no land there, only ice.
-20°C
-30°C
Sunshine
-40°C
The Sun’s rays bring heat and light to the Earth, but
-50°C
because the Earth is shaped like a ball, the sun’s rays are
more spread out and weaker at the poles. The sun sinks
The Arctic Ocean is
five times the size of
ea!
the Mediterranean S
below the horizon at the end of September, leaving the
Arctic in twilight until early October, when the Arctic is
plunged into full darkness all through the Winter. The
sun begins to rise again in March, until there is sunlight
all day and night throughout Summer, until it sinks
below the horizon in September.
Sun’s rays spread
over a wide area
The Arctic
is known a
s ‘The
Land of Th
e Midnight
Sun’
because du
ring summ
er, the
sun is in th
e sky even
at
midnight!
The Tundra
The ice-free land in the Arctic
is called Tundra, which means
'treeless plain' in Russian. The land
is low and flat, with lots of grass
and moss, and low bushes. Trees
do not grow in the true Arctic as
Sun’s rays spread
over a narrow area
they cannot survive the cold and
fierce winds. In Summer some of
the Tundra bursts into bloom as
flowering plants rush to flower and
Sun’s rays spread
over a wide area
produce seeds before the warmer
weather ends.
8 SPARK
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