Record levels of heat have scorched parts of the Russian Arctic over the past week. On Saturday, the Siberian settlement of Verkhoyansk reached its highest ever temperature of 38C. This part of the world is more known for its exceptionally low temperatures during winter, with a record minimum of -67.8C, thereby giving it a world-leading range of 105.8c between its lowest and highest observed temperatures.
Unusually cool and unsettled conditions across Iberia last week helped produce a number of significant hailstorms in the east of Spain. In the areas of Aragon and Catalonia, home to leading producers of stone fruits such as peaches and nectarines, significant hail damage affected crops very soon before harvest. This came a few days after a severe hailstorm in Calgary, Canada, caused damage estimated to be at least hundreds of millions of dollars.
After an early start to the Atlantic hurricane season, with two tropical storms before the official start date of 1 June , activity has waned of late and a large plume of Saharan dust which has moved westwards from the African continent this past week should continue to lower the risk of storms. The dry upper atmosphere and winds responsible for this transport of dust are both key restrictors of tropical storm development.
