Team GB synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe took on an underwater fashion shoot in June 2021 before they represent Britain in the artistic swimming competition at the Tokyo Olympics next month. (Photo by Bluebella/Cavendish Press)

Capturing the true essence of Christmas, Lapland is the perfect place to take your family for the holiday period. Situated in the arctic regions of northern Sweden, Finland and Norway, there are a villages in each country around where you can enjoy the full festive experience.

A British couple drink hot chocolate at Chillout cafe in Dubai May 12, 2013. Chillout, owned by UAE's Sharaf Group, is the first ice lounge in the Middle East, with temperatures set at –6 degrees Celsius (21 degrees Farenheit). The cafe, with its illuminated interiors, curtains, paintings and seating arrangements, is all made of carved ice and frozen sculptures. (Photo by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

“Tardigrades (commonly known as waterbears or moss piglets) are small, water-dwelling, segmented animals with eight legs. Tardigrades were first discovered in 1773 by Johann August Ephraim Goeze, who called them kleiner Wasserbär, meaning “little water bear” in German. The name Tardigrada means “slow walker” and was given by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1777. The name water bear comes from the way they walk, reminiscent of a bear's gait. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in), the smallest below 0.1 mm. Freshly hatched tardigrades may be smaller than 0.05 mm”. – Wikipedia. Photo: Tardigrades. (Photo by SPL/East News)

The camera rolls as actors dressed as historical Chinese soldiers act as though they have been hit by artillery, during filming of “The Last Prince” television series on location near Hengdian World Studios near Hengdian July 24, 2015. Hundreds of well-trained actors and other professionals are available at the Hengdian World Studios. The well-organised team coordinate complicated battle scenes to satisfy the huge appetite for productions about the war against Japan. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A migrant woman pulls a girl out of the water as refugees and migrants arrive on an overcrowded dinghy in rough sea on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast, October 2, 2015. A record number of at least 430,000 refugees and migrants have taken rickety boats across the Mediterranean to Europe this year, 309,000 via Greece, according to International Organization for Migration figures. (Photo by Dimitris Michalakis/Reuters)

Brides-to-be participate in the "Running of the Brides" race in a park in Bangkok November 28, 2015. A hundred husbands and wives-to-be wore their wedding dresses and running shoes and competed in an event for a combined prize worth 1 million Thai baht ($27,928), according to the organisers. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Participants wait backstage during the Miss Wheelchair India beauty pageant in Mumbai November 26, 2014. Seven women from across India participated in the country's second wheelchair beauty pageant, which aims to open doors for the wheelchair-bound in modelling, film and television, according to organisers. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)