Picture of the Day: Time for a quick dip

(REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin )

As Britain prepares for a second wave of snowy weather and temperatures that are forecast to plunge as low as -15C, these hardy swimmers in Siberia demonstrate that chilly conditions need not be a bar to everyday activities.

In this picture, taken yesterday in Krasnoyarsk, members of a swimming club bathe in the Yenisei River while the air around them is at -36C, colder than any temperature on record in Britain.

Winter swimmers in Russia are known as walrusses. In Canada, taking a dip in such frigid waters is known as a polar bear swim. Such self-flagelatory swims are said to be good for the health but for most people merely looking at the pictures is enough to make them shiver.