For the surfing Santas off Florida’s central coast, the Atlantic Ocean felt more like the North Pole than the Sunshine State as temperatures on Saturday morning plunged to around freezing, while freeze warnings were in place for at least half of the state. Parts of the Florida Panhandle had wind chills that dipped into the single digits on Saturday morning, and interior parts of central Florida had temperatures plunging as low as 27 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2.7 Celsius degrees). “It’s a frigid start to your #ChristmasEve across the area,” the National Weather Service in Tallahassee tweeted. Surfer Corey Howell in a space man Surfing Santa suit, rides with waves with other surfing Santas for the 14th annual Surfing Santas of Cocoa Beach event Christmas Eve morning, Saturday, Dec....
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Though the weather outside was frightful, schoolchildren in the northern Alaska Inupiac community of Nuiqsut were so delighted for a visit by Santa that they braved wind chills of 25 degrees below zero just to see him land on a snow-covered airstrip. Once again, it was time for Operation Santa Claus in Alaska. And here in Nuiqsut, a roadless village of about 460 residents on Alaska’s oil-rich North Slope, the temperatures may have been plunging but the children were warming quickly. Never mind that Santa left Rudolph at home to catch a ride on an Alaska Air National Guard cargo plane to Nuiqsut, just 30 frosty miles (50 kilometers) south of the Arctic Ocean. Here, just a reindeer skip and a hop from the North Pole, the students were abuzz with good cheer. Helpers in the Alaska Na...
Read MoreUndaunted by pandemics, supply-chain woes and labor shortages plaguing Earth-bound commerce, Santa Claus launched his reindeer-powered sleigh on Friday to deliver Christmas gifts to good girls and boys worldwide, according to military officials tracking his flights. "Santa's been doing this for centuries, he's a professional," said Canadian Army Captain Alexandra Hejduk, a spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The joint U.S.-Canadian military command based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is charged with monitoring air defenses and issuing aerospace and maritime warnings. NORAD'S Santa-tracking practice originated in 1955, when a Colorado Springs newspaper misprinted the number of a local department store for youngster...
Read MoreSanta Claus and heavy snow falls are attracting British tourists back to Lapland, bolstering Finland's tourism industry that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the tourists coming to Lapland over Christmas are from Britain, Sanna Karkkainen managing director of Rovaniemi Tourism and Marketing told Reuters. "The first British charters come in mid-November and for them the focus of the trip is to meet Santa," Karkkainen said. An aerial view shows the Santa Claus Village in the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, Finland, December 3, 2021. REUTERS/Attila Cser The city of Rovaniemi in Lapland is the official hometown of Santa Claus, its tourism website says, with attractions that include a Santa Claus village and trips inside the Arctic Circle. Karkkainen said tha...
Read MoreSanta Claus and his elves have been busy at work turning a Christmas village in northern China into a winter wonderland for visitors. In a two-storey wooden house with about 100 Father Christmas dolls, the white-bearded figure in a red suit writes down seasonal wishes with a quill and poses with tourists at the theme park on the outskirts of Mohe, China’s northernmost city. Visitors line up for a photo-taking session with Santa, played by Ville Haapassallo, 35, from Finland, inside the Santa Claus House at a Christmas theme park on the outskirts of Mohe, China's northernmost city in Heilongjiang province December 20, 2020. REUTERS/Xihao Jiang “If they want postcards, I write down my wishes and guests can send these cards to their friends or parents,” said Ville Haapassallo, 35, f...
Read MoreLive “Elephant in the Zoom” experience supports conservation efforts at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort Racking your brain for the ideal gift for a friend or loved one this holiday season? Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort is bringing the perfect three-ton gift into homes around the globe this holiday season, but no freight shipping cost is required; only a donation. The world-renowned luxury resort and Asia’s premier elephant camp is partnering with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) to launch an inimitable holiday gift service that stars elephants in Zoom video calls live from their natural habitat in Northern Thailand’s ancient jungle, to help support essential conservation efforts and bring tons of holiday cheer. With ...
Read MoreAt the lowest point on earth, in the middle of a giant salt lake where animals and plants have no chance of surviving, a jolly man dressed in red with a flowing white beard stuck a Christmas tree in the ground and went for a swim. Santa Claus came to the Dead Sea on Sunday ahead of the Christmas season, part of a campaign by Israel’s Tourism Ministry to bring some Christmas cheer during a global pandemic that has kept Christian pilgrims away from the Holy Land. Issa Kassissieh, wearing a Santa Claus costume, sits next to a Christmas tree on a salt formation in the Dead Sea, in an event organised by Israel's tourism ministry, as Israel gears up for the holiday season, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, near Ein Bokeq, Israel November 15, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen He ro...
Read MoreChristmas is coming, but in Santa’s home village in northern Finland, the COVID pandemic means that the flocks of tourists who usually start to make merry in Rovaniemi at this time of year are not. Finland has adopted some of the strictest travel restrictions in Europe, despite its low level of infections, meaning most foreigners cannot enter the country. Santa Claus talks to Edvin, his sister Elsa and their mother Anu behind a plexiglas screen in his chamber at Santa Claus Village in the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, Finland October 11, 2020. REUTERS/Attila Cser The northern part of Finland, where many businesses rely on tourists flying in to meet Santa Claus, see the Northern Lights or take a snowmobile safari, has seen visitor numbers plummet. In August 2020, foreign touris...
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