'Never seen anything like it': Extreme cold weather freezes Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul lake

Kyrgyzstan's famous Issyk-Kul lake froze because of extreme cold conditions on Saturday (January 14), the news agency Reuters reported, sharing dramatic visuals of the lake.

The magnificent lake is known for its scenery and it is also one of the largest high-mountain lakes globally. Issyk-Kul is a lake without a drain and is located in the northeastern part of the Central Asia nation.

It also keeps scientists intrigued as the water of this lake never freezes due to the lake's depth and natural warmth of the water. This is the reason, it was named Issyk-Kul, which means "warm lake" in Kyrgyz.

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The lake is the seventh-deepest lake in the world and it is also the tenth-largest by volume.

But the lake froze this year. A local told Reuters that he and his neighbours never saw the lake freeze. During his conversation with the news agency, the resident said: "On January 14, the lake froze. The ice goes about 150 metres (492ft) from shore to the centre of the lake."

"There were huge ice-boulders but they have all broken up. In some places the ice was 1.5 metres (5ft) thick. We, the locals. have never seen anything like it. It's new for us," the local added.

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The report also mentioned that asthe lake frozeduring extreme cold,the temperature was recorded at -30C on Saturday.

This comes amid harsh winter weather that has swept across Central Asia in the past few days.

(With inputs from agencies)

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