Russia pupils sent home in minus 50C chill

Pupils in the Russian city of Yakutsk have been sent home due to temperatures of minus 50C, local authorities say.

Schools would be shut but teaching would continue remotely for the time being, authorities in the Siberian city said.

Yakutsk, located on the river Lena in eastern Siberia, is said to be the coldest large city on earth.

It has 200,000 inhabitants.

Meteorologist measured new cold records in southern and western Siberia in December, with minus 49C in Tomsk and minus 41C in Novosibirsk.

The temperatures reportedly exceeded previous records by 5C, a cold not recorded in that past 50 to 100 years.