Wildlife cameraman and television presenter Gordon Buchanan travels to northern Norway and the Austrian Alps to search for animals that have adapted to the snowy conditions and cold weather. The programme features polar bears raising their cubs, owls keeping their food supplies hidden under a layer of snow, penguins that huddle together for warmth, black bears battling against a storm and wolverines and ravens working together to find food. Gordon also takes a look at the lives of animals which are associated with Christmas, including robins trying to find food when the ground is frozen and reindeer, revealing the truth behind the story of Rudolph's red nose.