ALEXEI KHITROV, 69, PENSIONER

Extreme weather affects your everyday mood. When it's 35 degrees and suddenly a hurricane starts, you can't help but be affected personally. But I can't say the same about our national character. All people are different. On the whole, though, I wouldn't say the Russian national character is marked by extremes. It's up to foreigners to believe that Russia is a land of severe winters with brown bears and sultry summers. They usually blame all our faults on the weather.

VALENTINA KHITROVA, 66, PENSIONER

Russia has always been a country with long winters and short summers. Centuries ago, peasants worked hard for four or five months to grow crops – which meant that they wouldn't have to work so much during the winter. One session of intense work was compensated by three months of doing nothing. So, the extreme weather has affected the Russian character, but there are a lot of other factors. These days, though, the weather doesn't significantly influence people's behavior.

VLADISLAV SPOROV, 22, MILITARY OFFICER

It is generally believed that in southern countries, people are more passionate and, in northern ones, they are more industrious. Russia is a very big country with varied climates. So, meeting Russians from different parts of the country, you can easily come to conclusions about the extremes in our national character. I believe that Russians have a very contradictory nature, and the weather has played a part in shaping it.

GALINA SPOROVA, 60, DOCTOR

I'm not sure that the weather's effect is so strong that it can leave its mark on human character. The most it can affect is our mood. My mood gets worse when it's too cold or too hot – like today. I agree that there are extremes in Russians' nature, but it's not because of the weather. More likely, the reason lies in Russia's economic, political and social problems.

ANTON ROMANOV, 19, STUDENT

Yes, the peculiarities of the weather affect people's temperament, mood and even character. There are only three warm months, so during the summer, Russians try to get a good rest in order to be energetic and work hard the rest of the year. There are many extremes in the Russian character. The whole world knows the game called "Russian roulette" – which exemplifies our extreme nature.