In Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, an unprecedented cold wave causes the death of 15 people and power cuts.

An unprecedented cold snap for a winter has hit South America in recent days. At least fifteen people have died in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. The governments of these countries have had to restrict gas supplies and implement emergency shelter plans.

"What happened this week in Chile, and more broadly in the Southern Cone of America, is a cold wave caused by the escape of a polar air mass from Antarctica," climatologist Raul Cordero of the University of Santiago told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In Argentina, at least nine homeless people died from the cold this winter, according to the NGO Proyecto 7. In Buenos Aires, temperatures dropped to -1.9°C on Wednesday, the lowest level in 34 years. Power outages, caused by high demand, left thousands of people without electricity for more than 24 hours in some areas.

Elsewhere in the country, snow blanketed Atlantic beaches, such as Miramar, 450 kilometers south of Buenos Aires, while the small Patagonian town of Maquinchao recorded temperatures of -18°C on Tuesday. The Argentine government suspended gas supplies to industries and gas stations on Wednesday to ensure gas supplies to homes.

Uruguay, where temperatures dipped below zero in some areas, declared a nationwide "red alert" after six people died, allowing the government to forcibly move homeless people into shelters. In Montevideo, temperatures reached a high of 5.8°C on June 30, its lowest level since 1967, according to meteorologist Mario Bidegain.

Chile also activated shelter plans for the homeless during the coldest days. The city of Chillan, 400 kilometers south of Santiago, recorded -9.3°C, according to Chile's Meteorological Directorate. Snow fell in parts of the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, for the first time in a decade.

The situation in the region is expected to improve in the coming days.