Warm weather threatens Epiphany ice water plunges in Russia

A man plunges in the icy water to celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany at an ice hole in a pond in St Petersburg, Russia (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

Thousands of Russians celebrating the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany, where worshippers bathe in the icy waters of frozen lakes and rivers, have been forced to cancel their traditional ceremonies amid unusually warm winter temperatures.

Across Russia, the devout and the daring celebrate Epiphany on January 19 by immersing themselves in frigid water through holes cut through the ice of lakes and rivers, imitating the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan.