Awakening after winter, Siberians pour cold water over themselves 

Begun in Tomsk a year ago, now some 30 cities took part in the 'Awakening' action, aimed at 'throwing off the shackles of winter, and going towards spring', according to Tomsk organiser Lyubov Germanova.

This year some 200 people took part, including 20 children. 'This year we did not aim to achieve a record, we just had a great friendly event,' she said.

Many people poured two buckets over themselves oblivious to the minus 3C temperature, rather warm for the time of year.

In Omsk, where it was minus 2C, there were 300 people, with participants even dancing in the snow to the accordion after getting a drenching. Vitaly Moiseenko, who is also a cold swimmer, said: 'The cold strengthens health, and raises immunity. 

'For this reason, people are healthy and do not get sick. We swim in the cold water three or four times each week.'

About 15 people took part in Kemerovo, where the temperature was minus 4C. The same number emptied buckets over themselves in Nizhnevartosk, where it was minus 10C.

The new Siberian tradition spread abroad, say organisers, with people in  Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Latvia joining the ritual.