Now, a new study suggests that these cold extremes are due to an increasingly common pattern in the polar vortex, the zone of low pressure that usually circulates over the Arctic.

There are more ways than we knew for the stratospheric polar vortex to get disrupted, shooting cold air southwards across North America.

Despite a warming climate, bone-chilling winter cold can grip parts of the U.S.—and this study explains why. Researchers found that two specific patterns in the polar vortex, a swirling mass ...

Three factors are combining to increase the likelihood of a weaker polar vortex this winter.

The Fish and Wildlife Service updated rules governing how much Arctic oil drilling can bother the Beaufort Sea’s protected polar bears.

Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja visited the main settlement on the strategically located Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on Monday, at a time of increased interest in the resource-rich polar ...

It remains to be seen whether the U.S. Coast Guard will expedite the delivery of new polar icebreakers to maintain its presence in the Arctic amid growing challenges from Russia and China.

A sudden stratospheric warming event reversed the winds that make up the northern polar vortex on March 9. A new animation shows the vortex also moved away from the Arctic towards Europe.

More: Powerful polar vortex in the stratosphere brings frigid temperatures to US Polar vortex to blame? Experts say the polar vortex will play a role in next week's cold snap.

Powerful winter storms which led to deaths and power outages in the UK and Ireland were made more likely by an intense swirling vortex of winds miles above the Arctic, say scientists.