Russia has a cold continental climate, characterized by two widely divergent main seasons. Spring and autumn are very brief periods of transition between warm summers and freezing winters. The country is open to the influences of the Arctic and Atlantic to the north and west. However, mountains to the south and east prevent any warming effects from the Indian and Pacific Oceans from filtering across. Severe winters characterize most regions. Winter temperatures vary little from north to south, but fall sharply in eastern regions. The January temperature of û94╝F recorded at Verkhoyansk in Siberia is the world record low outside Antarctica.
