‘Bracing minus 2C’: expeditioners in Antarctica mark winter solstice 2021 with icy polar plunge

Year's shortest day and longest night celebrated in period when sun only appears for two and a half hours a day

Antarctic-based Australian expeditioners have taken a sub-zero polar plunge to mark the winter solstice, keeping an icy tradition alive.

Each year expeditioners at Australia's three research stations in Antarctica and on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island celebrate the year's shortest day and longest night by taking a dip in sea ice or the ocean.