It’s been awfully cold in Europe this month, and this map shows just how much colder than normal it’s been, based on measurements taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite between December 11 and 18. The colours show how much colder or warmer the land surface temperatures were than the 2008-2008 average: blue is colder (up to 20 degrees Celsius colder!), red is warmer. Mostly, it’s been colder than usual — in Poland, parts of Russia and countries in between, a lot colder.