BONE DRY AND SOAKING WET
The driest places on earth are the Dry Valleys in the cold desert landscapes near McMurdo Sound, opposite Ross Island in Antarctica. Scientists estimate that no rain has fallen there for the last 2 million years. Another of the world's driest places – Death Valley in California – is also one of the hottest, with temperatures reaching 56.6°C (134°F), and one of the lowest, 86 m (282 ft) below sea level.
The greatest recorded rainfall in the world occurred in the Indian village of Cherrapunji in July 1891, when more than 11,836 mm (466 ins) of rain fell during the month. With an average annual rainfall of 10,874 mm (428 ins), it is the wettest inhabited place on earth. But the wettest known location of all is Mount Waialeale in Hawaii, with an average rainfall of 12,344 mm (486 ins).
THE WORLD'S DRIEST PLACES
Place Location Rainfall
Millimetres Inches
Dry Valleys Antarctica None in 2000 yrs None in 2000 yrs
Death Valley California, USA 3·0 0·1
Arica Desert Chile 3·0 0·1
Gobi Desert Central Asia 5·0 0·2
Sahara Desert (parts of) North Africa 25·0 1·0
Lake Eyre Basin Australia 101 to 152 4·0 to 6·0
AND SOME OF THE WETTEST
Mount Waialeale Hawaii 12,344 486
Cherrapunji India 10,874 428
Mount Cameroon Cameroon 10,160 400
Sprinkling Tarn Cumbria, England 6,528 257
North-west Washington State USA 2,997 118
 
Boiling Hot to Freezing Cold
The highest shade temperature in the world – 58°C (136·4°F) – was reached in the Lybian village of Al' Aziziyah, about 40 km (25 miles) south of Tripoli, one day in 1922. However, the world's consistently hottest place is Death Valley in California, USA, where, in 1917, maximum temperatures of more than 48°C (118°F) were recorded on 43 days in succession.
    The 'award' for the world's coldest recorded temperatures has been won three times running by the Russian Antarctic research station, Vostok Base. At recordings made between August 1958 and July 1983, the extremely low temperatures at the base dropped progressively from -87·4°C (-125·3°F) to
-88·3°C (-126·9°F) to -89·6°C (-129·3°F).

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