In Karasjok, Norway, schools stay open — even when it's -50°C outside

Feeling chilly? Here’s a story sure to make you feel toasty warm by comparison.

In Karasjok, a municipality in Finnmark county in northern Norway, school buses were cancelled today because temperatures dipped below -40°C and bus engines aren’t reliable to start or stop in such weather.

(School buses stop running at -38°C.)

Schools remained open, however, and usually do unless temperatures dip below a devastatingly cold -50°C. Then students can choose voluntarily whether or not they want to go to school, says inspector Petter Asbjørn Balto at Karasjok school.

“So there’s the sweet spot between -38 and -50 where the kids have to find their own way to school. Builds character, I guess…” wrote Redditor fradrig.

No word on whether these students have to walk uphill both ways in waist-deep snow.

Canadian Reddit users were quick to compare the freezing prairie temperatures they endured as schoolchildren.

“Grew up in Edmonton. I distinctly remember going to school many a time when it hit -40C. We’d get indoor recess, but that was it,” wrote geekymama.

“Yeah, when it’s - 50 here in rural Saskatchewan kids still go to school. The only time I got a day off because of weather was during a blizzard where you couldn’t even see across the street,” wrote ChinatownHustler.

“Most rural divisions in Manitoba will not have buses running if the windchill hits -45. In my division, they just cancel classes, but staff still have to show up. Those are the best days. Schools are so peaceful and quiet without all those pesky children,” wrote wpgteacher.

What do you think? At what temperature should schools be cancelling classes? Or are skin-freezing temperatures just an expected part of life in Canada — and Norway?