Heat wave in Russia brings record-breaking temperatures north of Arctic Circle

You may think of Russia - especially cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow, and certainly Siberia - as one of the coldest places on Earth, but that has most definitely not been the case for the past few days.

Russia's capital city, Moscow, has been hit by a historic heat wave this week with temperatures matching a 120-year record.

People there sweated in heat measuring 34.7 degrees Celsius (C) on Monday, according to Russia's weather service Roshydromet, equalling the record for a June day.

That record has been in place since 1901, but could be broken in the coming days, forecasters said, with temperatures expected to reach up to 36C.

As global temperatures rise with climate change, heat waves are predicted to become more common and their impacts more widespread.

On average Russia is experiencing temperature rises 2.5 times faster than the rest of the world, as climate change has made heating at the Earth's poles more extreme.

"The increase in temperatures recorded in Moscow for these days is unprecedented in 120 years. This is because of global climate change," meteorologist Marina Makarova told the AFP news agency.

Similar high temperatures have been recorded in Russian territories in the Arctic. Usually, it is one of the coldest areas on Earth where temperatures can fall to -60C below freezing.

This week The Moscow Times reported temperatures of 31.1C in an area called Yakutia, which is 2,500 miles north east of Moscow and inside the Arctic circle.

Siberia's Kotelny Island - one of the northernmost pieces of land on Earth - saw temperatures hit a record-breaking 17.6C on Saturday.

And in Siberia on Sunday, the land surface temperature, which measures how hot the surface feels when you touch it, exceeded 35C.

Russia has set a number of records in recent years. In June 2020, the town of Verkhoyansk in the region of Siberia hit 38C - the highest temperature recorded above the Arctic circle since measurements began.

The rising heat levels have led to devastating floods and forest fires that have affected Siberia more often.

They are also adding to the melting of permafrost, which covers about two-thirds of Russia's large territory.

Officials predict that the current "abnormally hot weather" will last until the end of June.

US meteorologist Zack Labe noted that the heat wave was just part of a longer warming pattern recorded recently: "Temperatures from Svalbard to parts of the Siberian Arctic have averaged up to 5C above the 1981-2010 climate average during the last 12 months."