This Week in Photos, Week of Dec. 21-27, 2012

People dressed in green costumes imitating extra-terrestrials talk with journalists while in the view of Bugarach, the highest point of the Corbieres massif, in southwestern France. Surrounded in legend for centuries, Bugarach has become a focal point for many Apocalypse believers as rumors have circulated that its mountain contains doors into other worlds, or that extraterrestrials will return here on Judgment day to take refuge at their base. Residents of the tiny southern French hamlet, are witness to a rising influx of Doomsday believers convinced it is the only place that would survive judgment day, December 21, 2012.

People skate beneath the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink on Christmas Eve in New York City.

People take part in an annual Christmas bath in Warta river, with the outdoor temperature reaching 10 Celsius below zero in Uniejow near Lodz central Poland.

A giant Santa Claus sits in front of a decorated house on Christmas Eve in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The neighborhood in the south part of the borough, is known for its yearly display of over-the-top holiday themed decorations.

Elise Schmitt, left, 10, Julia Schmitt, 6, and their cousin Willa Treichel, right, 6, check out their newly made snow fort as Ellie Schmitt adds snow to the roof in Madison, WI. A day after a record snow storm hit Wisconsin, schools were closed Thursday and Friday.

Zac Brown, a reindeer herder at the Cairgorm Herd, feeds the deer in Aviemore, Scotland. Reindeer were introduced to Scotland in 1952 by Swedish Sami reindeer herder, Mikel Utsi. Starting with just a few reindeer, the herd has now grown in numbers over the years and is currently at about 130 by controlled breeding.

A fishmonger prepares fresh festive seafood supplies at the Sydney Seafood Market in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Fish Markets experience its busiest trade over the Christmas week including the 36-hour marathon from 5AM December 23rd until 5PM Christmas Eve, December 24th.

Stuart Radbourne, huntsman and joint-master with the Avon Vale Hunt, leads the riders and hounds for their traditional Boxing Day hunt, on December 26, 2012 in Lacock, England. As hundreds of hunts met today, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson claimed that moves to repeal the ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales may not happen in 2013.

Re-enactors from the Roman Deva Victrix 20th Legion parade through the city of Chester as they celebrate the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia in Chester, England. Saturnalia was the mid-winter feast when Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn. Ancient Romans thought that celebrating Saturn would bring back the light and warmth of summer. During the ancient festival there was a reversal of roles, with slaves wearing fine garments and sitting at the head of the table while they were waited upon by their masters.

Hundreds of people brave the North Sea to raise money for charity during the annual Christmas Day dip at Lowestoft Beach in Lowestoft, England.

Chandler Fescemeyer, 17, snowboards down the road after a winter storm blanketed the Midwest with snow in Pittsburgh, PA. The storm moved west from the Sierra Nevada across the Midwest and headed to the East Coast.

Druids conduct a ceremony following the traditional winter solstice celebrations at Stonehenge to coincide with the supposed Mayan Apocalypse, on December 21, 2012 in Wiltshire, England. Predictions that the world would end as it marks the end of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the ancient Maya calendar, encouraged a larger than normal crowd to gather at the famous historic stone circle to celebrate the sunrise closest to the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.