Much of Siberia this year has had unseasonably high temperatures, leading to sizable wildfires.

A prolonged heatwave in Siberia is “undoubtedly alarming”, climate scientists have said. The freak temperatures have been linked to wildfires, a huge oil spill and a plague of tree-eating moths.

May 2020 was the hottest May on record, reported the Copernicus Climate Change Service on June 5. Their data shows that globally, last month was 0.63 C warmer than the average May from 1981-2010.

New temperature maps for the endless stretches of Russian Arctic lands bear witness of unprecedented warming.

Abnormally hot May weather resembles midsummer with air temperatures as high as +35C.