Siberia up to 20C warmer than normal with huge temperature anomalies, predicts weather expert

The world’s coldest city is on course to be up to 20C milder than usual for this time of year, says the scientific director of Russia's Hydrometeorological Center, Roman Vilfand.

This may see Yakutsk - Russia’s diamond capital - at minus 4C (24.8F) early next week, still cold to many people, but for locals this is balmy compared with the expected minus 24C (-11.2F).

Elsewhere in Siberia and the Russian Far East other extreme anomalies are expected in temperatures. 

‘Very warm weather, simply huge anomalies of up to 14-17C (57.2F to 62.6F) degrees are expected in Krasnoyarsk region, the west of Yakutia and Magadan region at the beginning of next week,’ said Dr Vilfand.

‘The streams of warm air from the south and west determine this situation. This is an amazing situation,’ he said.

Confused plants bloom in the Sayano-Shushenskiy reserve in Central Siberia, strawberry ripen in the Far East of Russia

The forecaster explained this anomaly as a surge in heat due to the dominance of Atlantic air masses, which changed the temperature background across Russia. 

Meanwhile pictures show the vivid colours of plants at the Sayano-Shushenskiy Biosphere Reserve, that until now would not be blossoming in October or November. 

They are a delight to see, but give quite a warning of changing weather patterns as Cop2e6 is underway in Scotland. 

‘For some plants, blooming in the autumn has become almost common - for example, Ledebour's Rhododendron now blooms almost annually in autumn.

‘But for others it is not at all common. Seven plants and flowers that were never seen blooming in Autumn gave us flowers in the middle of October. 

‘Two - Kuvaev’s Poppy and Turchaninov’s pasqueflower - are especially interesting, as they bloom early in April and May, and again this was the first autumn on record that they were blooming’, the reserve's representative in Central Siberia said. 

Abnormally warm air temperature in Western Siberia, aerial view of a tundra fire in Magadan region, no snow in southern Yakutia at the beginning of November are among the latest signs of changing weather patterns

There have been other impacts, too. 

Magadan region in the Far East of Russia has seen unseasonal November wildfires; usually unthinkable, but the lack of snow had left the tundra - starved of precipitation - vulnerable to flames especially with high winds. 

A weather map shows the abnormally warm air temperature in Western Siberia where traditionally air cools to at least minus 15C at the beginning of November. 

Residents of Sakhalin, Russia's largest island took to social media to share their surprise over blossoming flowers and ripening strawberry.