While the UK faces it’s coldest temperatures of the winter so far, in the US, Hell has literally frozen over. Residents of Hell in Michigan have experienced temperatures as low as minus -26C, according to the National Weather Service, as northern states are gripped by a deadly Polar Vortex.
Elsewhere, in Chicago, the average temperature -17C, making it the second coldest day in 150 years. Locals have been warned "not to breathe deeply" outside as the freezing temperatures have led to Lake Michigan to solidify with mesmerising effect. The polar vortex is wreaking havoc across the States leaving at least 12 people dead, including a college student who was found in the freezing cold at the University of Iowa. Authorities said the body of Gerald Belz was found behind an academic hall just before 3am on Wednesday by campus police. The 18-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The blast of polar air that enveloped much of the Midwest on Wednesday closed schools and businesses and while straining utilities with some of the lowest temperatures in a generation as low as minus -45C with wind chill. The conditions snapped rail lines and saw thousands of flights cancelled.
