Cuba experienced its coldest temperature on record on February 3 when the mercury dropped to zero degrees Celsius, an unprecedented event for the Caribbean island nation that comes as it faces an acute energy crisis triggered by dwindling oil supplies and mounting US pressure following the capture of Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro.

The national weather service reported that freezing conditions were observed at a monitoring station in the northern province of Matanzas, surpassing the island's previous coldest reading of 0.6°C recorded three decades earlier at a different location, according to Cuba's Institute of Meteorology (Insmet).

"[The station] registered a value of 0°C, reaching freezing point for the first time on Cuban territory and setting a new national record," Insmet said on its Facebook page.

The unusual cold wave swept across the island, with dozens of monitoring stations recording single-digit temperatures. Local meteorologists in Matanzas province noted that frost had damaged agricultural crops, a highly uncommon occurrence in the nation's tropical environment.

The freezing conditions shatter the idyllic image of warm beaches and tropical climate that have long defined Cuba, both as a tourist destination and in the popular imagination of the Caribbean.

Weather officials said the dramatic temperature plunge resulted from a powerful weather system that brought frigid air masses southward from the North American continent. The Caribbean cold snap arrived in the wake of severe winter conditions that gripped much of the United States during late January, producing fatal hypothermia cases in cities including New York and causing reptiles to become immobilised and drop from vegetation in southern Florida.

The historic freeze adds to mounting challenges for Cuba's government, which according to shipping data provider Kpler has merely 15 days of petroleum reserves left. The island, subjected to crippling US sanctions for over 60 years, has taken delivery of just one oil shipment so far in 2026. This compounds a precipitous decline from insufficient supplies received during 2025, as Washington intensifies its embargo on Venezuelan crude exports whilst pressing Mexico to cease deliveries.

Venezuela, a close ideological ally of the Havana regime, had served as Cuba's primary petroleum source for years, but those flows have ceased following the forcible removal of Maduro on January 3 in a US-backed operation. Mexico has also recently halted oil shipments to the communist-run island under US pressure. The Trump administration has positioned naval assets in the Gulf of Mexico and threatened a complete maritime blockade in what observers interpret as pressure tactics aimed at toppling Havana's leadership.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the first US-born Cuban to hold the post, told Congress on January 28: "We would love to see the regime [in Cuba] change. That doesn't mean we are going to make it change, but we would love to see it change."

The petroleum shortage has already produced rolling blackouts throughout Cuba, with the national electricity operator reporting that more than 100 generating facilities sit idle owing to fuel scarcity, eliminating 927 megawatts of capacity. The record-breaking cold threatens additional strain on the country's weakened power infrastructure as residential heating demand climbs.