PHOTOS THAT SHOW JUST HOW INSANELY COLD IT IS IN AMERICA RIGHT NOW

Northern parts of America are currently experiencing extremely cold weather because of something called a 'Polar Vortex', and what this actually means is that ninety million people – a third of the US population – have seen temperatures of -17C (0F) or below.

The polar vortex is found around the north pole. It’s a band of strong winds, high up in the atmosphere, that keeps bitterly cold air locked around the Arctic region. The phenomenon became widely known to Americans during a particularly frigid spell in 2014 when the media first started using the term “polar vortex”. It was also a factor in the “bomb cyclone” that battered the US east coast last year.

Take a look at the photos that show just how insanely cold it is in America right now.