For the first time in many years, on Saturday, August 2, the Australian Queensland, which is located in the state of New South Wales, was covered by a strong cold front. This is usually a sunny and dry place, but on Saturday it snowed here, writes The Guardian. Many of the adults, not to mention the children, saw snow for the first time in their lives.
The snow fell for no less than two hours, covering the ground and houses with a white blanket. In places, the thickness of the snow cover reached 15 centimeters.
More than 100 cars ended up in the snow trap in the hilly area. According to the local rescue service, the snow in this area is "of a depth that has never been seen before".
Extreme temperatures, above 30 °C, have been recorded in areas of the Arctic Circle, with Finland marking three consecutive weeks of heat and Norway reporting 13 days with temperatures above 30 °C in July. According to scientists, this is the longest period of such great warming recorded since 1961, Proto Thema reports.
Climatologist Mika Radanen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute notes that "the heat wave is still in full swing", with temperatures reaching 32-33 °C. "Even the Arctic regions... have experienced three weeks of temperatures above 25 °C and tomorrow they could break August records".
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute confirmed that at least one weather station in the country's three northernmost regions recorded temperatures above 30 °C for 12 days in July.
In Sweden, the temperature in Haparanda has been consistently above 25 °C for 14 days, and in Jokkmokk, Lapland, the phenomenon lasted for 15 days.
The heat wave began in mid-July, due to warm waters off the northern Norwegian coast and high pressure, which led to temperatures up to 10 degrees above normal for the season. At the same time, storms and thunderstorms were observed in some parts of northern Europe, which triggered fires.