With wind chill values below 20 overnight last night, and a risk of frostbite being advised, we wanted to know, what can we do to avoid frostbite?

Meteorologist Terri Lang with Environment and Climate Change Canada said the colder it is, and the windier it is, the higher the wind chill will be, and the higher the risk of frostbite.

"So around zero to minus 9 Celsius wind chill the risk of frostbite is is relatively low. When we start getting into the minus 10 to minus 20 range, which is a moderate risk, that's when it starts kind of getting uncomfortably cold, and you know, we kind of need to start bundling up. And then when we get to the minus 28 to minus 39 range, that's a high risk of frostbite and exposed skin can freeze in up to 10 minutes, and then when we issue the warnings, it's usually when wind chill values are minus 40 or lower than that, and that's a very high risk of frostbite, and skin can freeze very quickly under those conditions."

Lang said the best way to avoid frostbite is to not go outside. 

"That's the best way to avoid those types of situations. But if you do need to go outside, the best way to prevent frostbite is to make sure all of your skin or as much skin as you can, is covered, to prevent that frostbite. Dressing in layers is also really important, because that will help keep you warm."

She said the main misconception with wind chill values is that the wind lowers the actual air temperature. 

"So we say oh it's minus 20 and it feels like minus 39, most people think it's minus 39 outside and it is not. It's just that feels like temperature. Wind chill is a measure of how fast heat is carried away from your body like when you blow on a cup of coffee, a hot cup of coffee, when you want to take the sip. It's the same concept, the wind is blowing on a hot body trying to blow that heat away from you and that means blowing it away from your skin as well." 

Dressing in layers is the smartest strategy because the air in between the layers is what keeps you warm. 

"So keep yourself covered, dress in layers and limit the time that you have outside as well." 

Lang gave another example of how wind chill works.

"If it was plus 2 outside and the wind was blowing at 40 kilometers per hour, and we said the wind chill is minus 10, I always ask, 'would the water freeze if I left a bucket of water out there?' And of course it would not freeze. It would cool off quickly, but it would only cool off to +2. It would never freeze, because the air temperature is not below freezing, the wind chill is. And if you notice as well that the the wind chill does actually does not have a unit. So when we say it's minus 10 degrees Celsius outside the wind, chill is minus 30, we don't say Celsius, because, it's actually an index, like the UV index. It has no units to it, so that's the same with wind chill." 

Great advice for this weather is to make sure that you have an emergency kit in your car.

"Often when we see these situations that people are stranded on the highways and stuff like that, they're wearing running shoes and a thin bomber jacket or something like that and if you were to become stranded in your car or anything like that, you need to keep warm, so make sure that you have extra clothing, blankets and emergency kit in your car just in case something were to happen when you're traveling during the winter." 

"And one more tip: Try and stay as dry as possible, because when you're wet you will lose heat faster so you know when people fall in the water or whatever in through ice or something like that. Most often they risk of hypothermia because they lose heat so quickly, so when you're outside, sweating, and then then you stop, you stop moving around, then you start getting really cold, so make sure you stay as dry as possible as well."