Do they know it’s Christmas time at all? While most of the country will be gorging on miniature chocolates and Baileys, some will spend Christmas Day in a very different way. December 25 is in the middle of summer in Antarctica, meaning the sun doesn’t set and weather conditions are the warmest and least hostile. This means it is the best time of year for doing scientific research, and plenty of scientists will be spending the day there this year.
At Rothera, the UK’s largest research station, marine divers will head into the bay to collect samples, a meteorological balloon will be launched, and pilots will fly to deploy or collect researchers and their teams from the deep field. There will be celebrations, though, with the station decorated with tinsel and staff joining the annual Christmas Door Competition where they hang wreaths fashioned from recycled rubbish, and make origami stars and penguins from old paper.