‘Two incredible extreme events’: Antarctic sea ice on cusp of record winter low for second year running

Last year Antartica's sea ice was 1.6m sq km below average - the size of Britain, France, Germany and Spain combined. This week it had even less than that

Sea ice surrounding Antarctica is on the cusp of reaching a record winter low for a second year running, continuing an outrageous" fall in the amount of Southern Ocean that is freezing over.

The Antarctic region underwent an abrupt transformation in 2023 as the sea ice cover surrounding the continent crashed for six months straight. In winter, it covered about 1.6m sq km less than the long-term average - an area roughly the size of Britain, France, Germany and Spain combined.