Antarctica recorded a temperature of -84.1 degrees Celsius on July 18, 2026, the lowest measured anywhere on Earth since 2012. The reading was taken at Concordia, one of the world’s most isolated research stations, during the southern hemisphere winter.
Data from the French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor show the temperature dropped twice, at 6:25 and 6:34 local time. While temperatures below -80 degrees Celsius are common in the Antarctic interior at this time of year, reaching -84.1 degrees is rare.
Gabriele Carugati, head of the Concordia station for Italy’s National Antarctic Research Programme, told Live Science that even at a location where extreme cold is expected, temperatures below -84 degrees Celsius are notable and highlight the variability of the Antarctic climate.
Why temperatures fall so low
Concordia sits on the Antarctic plateau at more than 3,200 metres above sea level and more than 1,000 kilometres from the coast. Carugati said the station’s location, combined with months of winter darkness, an extremely dry and stable atmosphere, and clear skies that allow heat to escape continuously into space, creates conditions for temperatures to drop to extraordinary levels.
Researchers stressed that the event does not contradict global warming. Carugati said climate change describes long-term global trends, while individual weather events can still produce episodes of exceptional cold. He added that Antarctica is influenced by complex atmospheric processes, meaning an extremely low temperature at a specific location does not contradict the broader picture of global warming.
Living at the edge of endurance
Conditions at Concordia are so extreme that the station also serves as a setting for studying the effects of prolonged isolation on people, offering an environment comparable to long-duration space missions. When winter arrives, aircraft stop operating and the nearest research station is around 600 kilometres away, leaving scientists completely isolated for several months. They are known as ice astronauts. A doctor from the European Space Agency monitors the effects of permanent darkness, altitude, and isolation on the researchers.
The -84.1 degree reading came close to the -84.7 degrees recorded at Concordia itself in 2010. The official world record for the lowest air temperature remains -89.2 degrees Celsius, set at Russia’s Vostok station on July 21, 1983. Satellites have detected surface temperatures near -98 degrees Celsius in parts of East Antarctica, but those figures relate to ice surface readings rather than air temperatures measured by weather stations and are not counted as official records.
Carugati said extreme observations like this help scientists better understand atmospheric processes and improve climate models.
