Too cold, too hot

Extreme climatic conditions are being experienced in both hemispheres with people struggling to lead normal lives. While winter deaths are mounting in the US and across North America, heat waves are turning out to be Australia’s deadliest natural hazard. At least 21 people have died in one of the worst cold snaps to hit the US Midwest in decades.

Ninety million people - a third of the US - have seen temperatures of -17C (0F) or below. Some 250 million Americans overall have experienced the “polar vortex” conditions. Hospitals have been treating patients reporting frostbite as parts of the country ground to a halt. Temperatures are expected to swing to above average over the weekend.

Homeless people have been particularly at risk, with warming shelters set up across cities. But some still braved the freezing conditions and one woman, aged 60, was found dead in an abandoned house in Lorain, Ohio. A hospital in Chicago has already treated 50 patients for frostbite, and some may end up losing a limb, CNN reports.

Half of those patients were homeless individuals, while others had jobs that required them to be outdoors. Dangerous roads have also been a factor in the deaths. A man was fatally struck by a snow plough near Chicago on Monday and in northern Indiana, a 22-year-old police officer and his wife died after a collision on icy roads.