By Jonny Tickle
20 Jun, 2020
The small town of Verkhoyansk, home to 1,000 people in Russia’s Yakutia region, broke the record on Saturday for the highest temperature ever recorded within the Arctic Circle, hitting a maximum of 38 degrees Celsius.
Verkhoyansk already held the record for the place with the greatest temperature range on Earth. Prior to today, temperatures in the small town have ranged between -68 and +37 degrees Celsius – a 105-degree difference. In Fahrenheit, that’s between -90 and +98.
🌡️🔥 T°max de 38.0°C à #Verkhoyansk, #Sibérie orientale (67.55°N), ce 20 juin.
Si cette valeur est correcte, ce serait non seulement un record absolu à la station (37.3°C, 25/07/1988) mais aussi la température la plus élevée jamais observée au nord du cercle polaire #arctique ! pic.twitter.com/EUE8JVdkGR— Etienne Kapikian (@EKMeteo) June 20, 2020
In July, the average high daily temperature is 19.9 degrees Celsius – much lower than Saturday’s sweltering 38.
The record-shattering heat was shared far and wide on social media, most prominently by Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Verhojansk north of the Arctic Circle in Siberia recorded +38°C today… https://t.co/qla2lfvxeh
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) June 20, 2020
Verkhoyansk is 4,700km east of Moscow and is located on the Yana River in Yakutia. The largest region of Russia, Yakutia is home to many different local ethnic groups. In winter, those living in Verkhoyansk often face days of below -50 degrees Celsius.
Traveling from Moscow, a trip to the town would take almost two days, involving multiple flights. In 2014, Business Insider called it “the most miserable place on Earth.”
