The venue is built annually from 4,000 tons of natural ice in Sweden, and this year's unveiling doesn't disappoint
Gallic glory: The Eye Suite design was created by Frenchmen Nicolas Triboulot and Cédric Alizard
A 3m tall African elephant carved from snow might not be the first thing you expect to see when you're checking into a hotel.
But this is on hostelry that prides itself on offering the magical so guests can just arrive and chill out.
The Swedish Ice Hotel has opened for the new season, boasting dreamy jumping sheep tucking you into bed, a 1970s-inspired Love Capsule, and an imperial Russian-inspired theatre set, Labyrinth Saga.
Annually, the hotel takes 4,000 tons of natural ice from Sweden’s national river Torne which is formed into the incredible edifice during a two-month construction.
Read more: Incredible ice sculptures create 'Frozen' style winter wonderland in China
The amount of snow used to create the Ice Hotel's 50 rooms, church and bar would suffice to make 700 million snowballs and the chandeliers alone are made from 1,000 hand cut ice crystals.
Trunk call: Elephant in the Room, designed by AnnaSofia Mååg, is three metres tall
Tunnel vision: The Great Escape is a deluxe suite designed by by Marjolein Vonk and Maurizio Perron
Fur real: The Ice Hotel under the Arctic Skin design was put together by Rob and Timsam Harding from Spain
From December to April, the bar serves 26,550 drinks IN the rocks from ice cocktail glasses.
A total of 11,000 hot cups of sweet lingonberry juice are given as a complimentary morning drink to fresh awakened guests before they leave the warm sleeping bags and head for sauna and breakfast.
The hotel prides itself on the artwork that features in its halls , putting magical sculpture alongside luxury.
Walled in: The amount of snow used to create the Ice Hotel's 50 rooms, church and bar would make 700 million snowballs
Gallery view: The hotel prides itself on the artwork that features in its halls, putting magical sculpture alongside luxury
Lighting up: The bar serves 26,550 drinks IN the rocks from ice cocktail glasses
Sculpted animal: The elephant made of ice is eerily real in the Ice Hotel
The Michelin-trained head chef Alexander Meier has even planned a winter menu of local delicacies in a modern style, including spruce shoots, cloudberries and sea buckthorn.
Guests can stay in cool surroundings at the hotel in Jukkasjärvi while heading out during the day to try Nordic skiing, Swedish sauna ritual and Arctic wilderness survival.
The picture of the majestic-looking ginger feline has been viewed by more than two million people after it was posted online yesterday
Bizarre: This picture of a cat with half its body shaved after surgery is driving people crazy
A cat who had the bottom half of its body shaved for surgery has caused a stir online after a picture of it lying down went viral .
The peculiar photograph of the ginger feline baring its hairless legs has sparked various responses with some branding it 'half cat half turkey'.
It was posted on Reddit and Imgur by a pal of the cat's owner yesterday with the caption: "My friends cat had surgery and now he has no pants" and has since been viewed by more than two million people.
But Reddit user Edwardwrongtu, thought to be from the United States, was inundated with comments from people baffled by the cat's appearance.
Strange: The cat had half its body shaved before surgery but some have compared it to looking like half a turkey
Many said it looked life a half cooked chicken and one branded it a 'turkey cat' as another said it looked 'like a turkey in a cat suit'.
One comments drew comparisons to the iconic scene in Titanic when Rose poses for a nude painting by Jack, saying: "Paint me like one of your French girls."
A Reddit user added: "Well at least he can still look professional over Skype so that's good."
Read more: Adventurous cat attempts to board ferry - but will it get home in time for Christmas?
But some were a little less comfortable with looking at the shaven moggie.
One said: "It looks like they took random cat pieces and put him together.
"His nakedness makes me uncomfortable."
Another added: "Why am I always surprised that animals have skin under their fur?"
It's unknown what type of operation the cat needed and why it had so much of its fur shaven.
The Special One has been sacked by the Blues for the second time - but why?
Blue is the colour...and the mood
Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Chelsea. Again.
The Chelsea boss has endured the worst season of his managerial career as the reigning Premier League champions turned in the performances of an unrecognisable side week after week.
It has been the Blues' worst ever start to a season, and the worst Premier League title defence ever seen, with the club lurching towards the relegation zone.
But how? Why? Well it turns out there is a fairly lengthly list of reasons why things have been falling apart at Stamford Bridge...
Ivanovic's loss of form
Previously a reliable stalwart and linchpin in many a fantasy football manager's back four, as well as being in the Premier League Team of the Year for 2015, the Serbian has seemingly been drained of all his powers this season.
He's been turned inside out more times than clothes that have just come out of a washing machine this season but isn't the only Chelsea defender to be struggling...
The decline of John Terry
The former England captain played every minute of Chelsea's title winning season and was also in the Premier League Team of the Year, but this campaign started off badly for Terry and has got worse.
He was hooked at half-time at Manchester City by Mourinho in the second game of the season as the Blues went on to lost 3-0 and has played in all but one of their league defeats since then.
Even JT's leadership skills, something we thought would never disappear, have to be called into question as the west Londoners strung together abject performance after abject performance.
Failing to bring in John Stones
The Everton starlet looks and looked like the perfect long-term replacement for Terry but after a very public courting of the young Toffee, Jose failed to land his man before the end of the summer transfer window.
Everton fans sang "Money can't buy you Stones" to Mourinho as they inflicted a 3-1 defeat on the Blues in September and since then it's been more of a long and winding road down the league for Jose.
Signing Papy Djilobodji
Mourinho did get his hands on a new defender on deadline day, however, but it wasn't quite a signing of the stature of John Stones.
And Chelsea fans have seen Papy Djilobodji (or Papy Nobodji as some fans have cruelly dubbed him) play just once since arriving - a substitute appearance in the League Cup at Walsall - despite being a regular for Nantes in Ligue 1 for years. And at 26 he isn't exactly one for the future.
Utterly nonsensical.
Thibaut Courtois' injury
The Belgian shot-stopper has had a terribly unlucky season to far. He was sent off on the opening day of the new campaign against Swansea (perhaps harshly) and then lasted two more games before a devastating knee injury.
The Blues went on to lost five of the next eight league games with just Asmir Begovic and a handful of youth team goalkeepers left available. Which makes the next decision seem all the more crazy...
Selling Petr Cech to Arsenal
Regularly one of the best performers in the Premier League, the big Czech keeper was allowed to join rivals Arsenal in the summer for £10m after seemingly losing his place to Thibaut Courtois.
However, that knee injury to the Belgian has exposed how shortsighted it was to let Cech go, especially to a title rival, and unsurprisingly he's been a success at the Emirates, keeping six clean sheets and making numerous saves as well as helping the Emirates club shop shift countless bobble hats.
Cesc Fabregas' struggles
Another Chelsea player struggling to recapture the form of last season is Cesc Fabregas. The Spanish playmaker was involved in most Blues' goals last campaign, especially at the start of the season when they effectively ran away with the title.
But this season the assists and goals have dried up. He has managed to notch an assist record for Spain but that will be little consolation to Chelsea fans, some of whom want him out. And he isn't the only midfield star struggling...
Matic's confidence
The midfield linchpin that allowed the likes of Fabregas to swan forward and create assists last season has been a shadow of his former self.
"You see Matic lost an easy pass against Aston Villa," Mourinho has said. "The first reaction he had was to show disappointment by throwing his arms. When you are full of confidence you don't show disappointment."
With Matic out of form, Chelsea's whole system comes crashing down but there are yet more midfielders out of form....
What's up with Eden Hazard?
Rarely has a PFA Player of the Year suffered such a terrible fall from grace so quickly but Eden Hazard is like a man who's woken up and forgotten how to be a footballer.
No goals this season and just two assists from a midfielder who scored 21 times last campaign and ran opposition defences ragged.
It's almost as if he's trying to force a move away to somewhere a little sunnier.
Chateau Louis XIV is a 50,000 sq/ft mega-home which Kim Kardashian browsed as a potential wedding location in 2013
A mansion in France has reportedly become the world's most expensive home after selling for a rumoured £200 million.
Chateau Louis XIV is a 50,000 sq/ft mega-home which Kim Kardashian browsed as a potential wedding location in 2013.
The palatial pad has ten bedroom suites, a grand reception room with a 52ft-high frescoed dome ceiling, a library, huge wine cellar, aquarium and a number of entertaining rooms.
Pricey: Chateau Louis XIV mansion has become the world's most expensive home, reportedly
It is the work of Saudi developer Emad Khashoggi who employed 200 people to spend three years building the Versaille-style home on the outskirts of Paris. The mansion was completed in 2011.
Khashoggi's company, Cogemad, used 13 types of marble and 15,000 sheets of gold while it is thought there are 650ft of leather-embossed books on the shelves.
Inside: Your £200 million will buy you plenty of space
Flash: The mansion even has its own water fountain
There are indoor and outdoor pools, a private cinema, two ballrooms and a nightclub. In the grounds of the 23-hectare estate is a 2km maze.
Read more: This house may not turn heads from the outside but the inside is something special
It is also incredibly secure, with 40 state-of-the-art surveillance cameras which can be viewed from around the world via iPad as well as a high-tech alarm system.
The bumper sale was sealed by Christie's International Realty, according to Bloomberg.
Sale: The property price trumps another in London sold for a mere £140m
It is believed the secretive sale was for more than 275 million euro (£200m), making it the most expensive home in the world.
The price trumps the £140m paid for a penthouse in One Hyde Park last year.
Read more: House prices still surging - but the fall is coming soon
There are homes in London which are more valuable, but they have not been sold in recent years.
The former It's A Knockout host was jailed in 2013 after being convicted of abusing more than a dozen girls aged between nine and 17
Freed: Stuart Hall has been released from prison
Disgraced former TV presenter Stuart Hall has been freed from prison after serving half of his five-year sentence for abusing young girls.
The 85-year-old - described in court as an "opportunist predator" - was released from Wymott Prison near Preston, Lancashire earlier today, Mirror Online understands.
He was jailed in 2013 after being convicted of abusing more than a dozen girls aged between nine and 17.
The former It's A Knockout Host will be barred from jetting off to start a new life abroad as he has to regularly report to police and probation officers as a registered sex offender.
Read more: Paedophile Stuart Hall has done time as he flogs his antique clocks
It is believed Hall had planned to move to Spain to start a new life once he was freed.3
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said:"We do not comment on individuals.“Public protection is our top priority and offenders automatically released on licence at the halfway point of their sentence are subject to strict controls.
"If they fail to comply with these conditions or their behaviour indicates it is no longer safe for them to remain in the community, they can be immediately returned to prison."
His wife of 57 years has already quit their sprawling £1.2 million Spanish villa-style mansion in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and cut the sale price to £995,000.
However, there have so far been no takers for the property.
A neighbour said: "It's no great secret hazel has struggled to sell that property.
"In her husband's heyday the house was worth a fortune but it's hardly surprising they have been unable to get rid of it bearing in mind what he had been up to."
Sentence: Hall served half a five-year sentence at Wymott Prison in Lancashire
"It's a huge shame because it is a magnificent property in an excellent location," the neighbour added. "It's a real bargain for anyone who wants a millionaire's property on the cheap."
The former BBC football reporter was jailed in 2013 for abusing 13 girls. The jail term was doubled last May by the Court of Appeal.
Hall, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, was then given another 30 months in May last year after separately admitting indecently assaulting a 13 year-old schoolgirl.
The Special One's meticulous eye for detail won't have deserted him so are his tactical instructions now just going in one ear and out the other?
Like a boss: Mourinho's CV should mean he can survive one bad season
It's always a worrying sign when players stop responding to the same voice they have been hearing for the last three years.
And in Chelsea's defeat at Leicester, you have to ask whether the information Jose Mourinho fed his team before kick-off simply went in one ear and out of the other.
I don't believe that Mourinho's meticulous eye for detail has suddenly deserted him.
He would have provided his players with the best possible preparation - the best coaching, travel, hotel and food - but did they respond with their best performance?
Apart from Willian, who has been a cut above the rest, most of Mourinho's players need to look in the mirror.
I don't want to get on John Terry's case every week, but I was surprised to see him working as a TV pundit 48 hours before an important game at the King Power.
READ MORE: Robbie Savage — John Terry's entitled to his opinion. Shame he thinks others can't express theirs
Did you ever see Roy Keane or Steven Gerrard working on television just two days before a big Premier League match? Terry obviously had permission to do it, but in hindsight it doesn't look like the best preparation.
Terry was poor at Leicester on Monday night, and Chelsea looked much more threatening after he came off and they switched to a 3-4-3 formation.
Addition by subtraction: Chelsea were better on Monday when they took Terry off and changed shape
And when Mourinho says his players "betrayed" him by failing to follow his advice, what do you blame - the tactics or the execution?
READ MORE: Mourinho is right - Chelsea flops HAVE betrayed him this season
For both of Leicester's goals, Cesar Azpilicueta must have known the best way to stop Riyad Mahrez is to 'show' him down towards the touchline on his less-favoured right foo
Daisey o'Donnell, 16, and her elder sister Ellie, 20, have been selected for the same heat of the beauty pageant
Contest: Daisey o'Donnell, 16, and her elder sister Ellie, 20
Two sisters are going head to head in the hopes of one of them snatching the crown of Miss England.
Daisey O'Donnell, 17, and her elder sister Ellie, 19, have been selected for the same heat of the beauty pageant.
The sisters, from Huddersfield, are now bravely undergoing the public vote to clinch a place in the semi-final in July.
It isn't the first time that the good-looking duo, who have English, Irish and Swedish ancestry, have taken to the stage.
Singer Daisey was a 2014 X Factor contestant who got through to the Bootcamp stage and also made the finals of the Teenstar singing contest earlier this year.
Meanwhile Ellie is a fashion blogger who also models.
Glamour: Contestants strike a pose
They are competing with 20 other contestants all hoping to become Miss England 2016, reports the Huddersfield Examiner.
If they are voted into the top three in the heat their fate will be in the hands of a panel of judges which includes Miss England 2015 who will win a place in the semi-final in Nottinghamshire.
This would give the girls a shot at reaching the grand final.
The ultimate winner of Miss England 2016 will spend her year raising awareness for various charities and receive prizes worth £30,000, including a luxury holiday and a place in Miss World 2016.
The reigning Miss England is Natasha Hemmings, 20, an aspiring opera singer who is competing for Miss World with a month-long series of challenges.
Read more Miss Universe contestants arrive in Las Vegas as pageant to crown the world's most beautiful woman begins
