MAIN WEATHER AND CLIMATE TRAITS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE AS OF JANUARY 2026

Air temperature

Relatively warm weather that prevailed in the ETR at the end of December 2025 retained there in the first decade of January 2026, except for the northern regions. New daily air temperature maxima were even recorded in the south. At the same time, the weather became notably colder than normal in the Leningrad, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Regions as well as in the Republics of Komi and Karelia: there, air temperature anomalies in the first decade were -2…-12°. Abnormally cold air also reached the Arctic region of Russia all the way from the Kola Peninsula to Yakutia. The rest of the country was in warm climatic conditions during the first decade, with anomalies up to +4…6° or higher in the southern Urals and in Siberia, and up to +2…4° or higher in the north of the Far East. Meanwhile, the weather in the south of the Far East was slightly cooler than usual.

In the second decade, warmth manifested itself in the Russian North, raising anomalies to +2-3° or more degrees. In the north of the Far East, they also increased to +4-6° or higher, but the rest of Russia submerged into colds: e.g., daily temperature minima were observed in the south of Siberia (the Altai Territory, the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Kemerovo and Novosibirsk Regions, and the Republic of Buryatia). Frosts reached as low as -45° in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, -44° in the Altai Territory, and -48° in the Irkutsk Region. No such colds have been seen there in the last 75 years. Frosts below -25° were recorded in Moscow, and below -20°, in the Crimea. The decade-averaged air temperature in the Urals and in Siberia was 6-12° below the normal value.

Air Temperature

In Russia, temperature trends did not essentially change in December: their general markers were cold anomalies in Siberia and Yakutia, and warm anomalies west and east of this seat. Frosts in Yakutia, Evenkiya and the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory were -50…-55° or below. Very cold spells down to -35° were also recorded in the Russian North. Moreover, while the average anomalies did not fall below -2…-4° in the first decade, they reached as cold as -6…-10° in the second one. At the same time, abnormal warmth spread across the ETR and the north of the Far East, with new daily maxima of air temperature in the north-west and north of the ETR as well as in Kolyma, Chukotka and Kamchatka.

In terms of final monthly averages, a huge area of cold anomalies extended from the north-eastern ETR regions throughout the Northern Urals, most of Siberia and Yakutia and the entire Trans-Baikal: there, the monthly-averaged air temperature was 2-8° below normal. However, the weather in December was about 2° warmer than usual in most of the ETR, in the south of the Urals and of Western Siberia, 2-12° warmer in the north-east of the country. In the Central Federal District, this December closed the top ten warmest in the history of meteorological observations since 1891, but in the rest of Russia, it was far from such feats.

As to the entire 2025, the picture was completely different: alongside 2024, this year in Russia was the second warmest in the meteorological chronicle, with the leading position still awarded to 2020 when the average air temperature in Russia exceeded 0° only once in the history of regular meteorological observations. All of the ETR as well as the Volga region and the Central Federal District separately received a record-breaking amount of heat in 2025 and enjoyed the ever-high annual air temperature. The North-Western and Central Federal Districts were ranked the second warmest in the ranking list, while the Southern and Siberian ones, the third warmest.