Why winter feels colder in the UK than in Canada
People are flooding to social media in gratitude after a TikToker revealed why winter feels colder in the UK compared to Canada.
Winter in the UK leaves a lot to be desired. You rarely get fluffy, snowman-worthy snow, instead, it's normally grey slush or ice which causes you to slip, slide and fall flat on your face.
Winter in the UK is harsh, biting and according to one TikToker, feels a lot colder than winter in Canada, despite the North American country facing significantly lower temperatures.
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Taking to the platform, Megan Ruthie called out to her fellow social media users, questioning: "Someone please tell me how I was able to survive Canadian winters for 25 years of my life.
"It can get negative 30 degrees in Canada and somehow I survived it.
"In the UK right now it's one degree celsius and I'm freezing."
Who should come to the rescue but another TikToker named Circularity Boss, explaining 'it's all to do with the triple point of water'.
He continued: "The triple point of water is where three states of matter exist at the same time. There's water vapour, ice and water, as liquid.
"Any condensed water vapour can only exist up until about three degrees and at that point, it then turns to steam.
"When it touches your face, and your surface temperature is maybe 20 degrees, that condensation settles on your face but then almost immediately starts to evaporate. That's the same operation as sweats on your body - it cools you down."
The Circularity Boss then exemplified his explanation using a graph which shows how the triple point of water 'exists at a point that is lower than the critical point of water'.
Compared to the UK where there's still water vapour in the air when temperatures are at one degree, in Canada, if at minus 30 degrees, the air is 'extremely dry' and there's 'no humidity whatsoever so there's nothing to settle on your face to cool you down'.
The TikToker resolved: "I've spent winters in both Canada and the UK, as well as having been skiing in Europe. And in all cases it's exactly the same. If it's minus 20, there's no moisture in the air so, frankly, you shouldn't feel it, but just don't touch any exposed metal."
Other TikTokers have since flocked to the post in appreciation of the Circularity Boss' explanation.
One wrote: "That was interesting, I had never heard the real reason just the old wife’s tale of it’s a different kind of cold."
"My mind blooooown," another said.
A third commented: "This is why I love TikTok I learn something new every day."
Topics: Social Media, TikTok, Viral, Weather, World News, US News
Poppy Bilderbeck