The South Pole is much colder than the North Pole. Summer at the South Pole is actually colder than winter at the North Pole! Brr!
Do you know why it is so much colder at the South Pole?
The first reason has to with what is around the poles. The North Pole is over an ice-covered ocean. While that sounds chilly, the water and ice actually keep the temperature from dropping too low.
The South Pole is over land – the continent of Antarctica. Land does not stay as warm as water does. The land is also very high, which means that the air is very cold. Think of very tall mountains. They are always covered in snow, because the air around their peaks is cold. It’s the same thing in Antarctica.
The weather also makes Antarctica colder. Antarctica is far away from other continents, so the cold ocean water and air currents circle the land, keeping the warm air out. The North Pole is much closer to land, so the warmer air can float over the North Pole and warm it up.

License information: CC BY-SA 3.0
MPAA: G
Go to source: http://static.ehe.osu.edu/sites/beyond/penguins/downloads/feature-stories/king-of-cold-23-text.pdf