The forecaster spoke about the weather contrasts and anomalies of the summer of 2026

The weather pattern remains mixed this summer. Against the background of a temporary cooling in the center of the European part of Russia, abnormally high temperatures and prolonged precipitation persist in a number of regions, while the average temperature in the country is higher than normal, Anatoly Tsygankov, head of the Crisis Management Department at the Russian Hydrometeorological Center, told Izvestia on June 22.

As explained by the representative of Roshydromet, temperature fluctuations in summer are associated with the peculiarities of air circulation. According to him, the hot weather began to form in May due to the intake of air from the south, mainly from the regions of Pakistan and Iran.

"In June, the nature of the flows changed. The air was already coming from the southwest, from Africa through Greece and a little further. Therefore, the heat was a little weaker, but still noticeable," he said.

Later, these flows were replaced by a cold Arctic cyclone. The meteorologist clarified that this is a sedentary cyclone, which turned out to be actually "locked up" by atmospheric processes.

"Now we have the nord stream. And here we have the Arctic, the cold of the Arctic," says the forecaster.

He added that an area of high pressure remains over Siberia at this time, which blocks the movement of air masses and prevents the cold from moving further. As a result, the region is experiencing abnormally hot weather, which is unusual for this time of year.

A similar situation is observed in Yakutia and the Urals, where increased risks of forest fires persist against the background of heat and dry weather. According to the expert, these territories largely form the overall positive temperature background in the country.

"If we take into account both the cooler periods in Moscow and the heat that was observed in the first half of June, on average June still turns out to be warmer than the climatic norm by about one to one and a half degrees," Tsygankov said.

Atypical weather for this time of year is also observed in the Caucasus region: while some territories suffer from heat and drought, on the contrary, increased precipitation is recorded here.

"This year, active cyclones occur in the Caucasus in May and June, so there is a lot of precipitation there. It usually rains less at this time of year. And they are not so long—lasting," said the forecaster.

At the same time, it is premature to talk about a pronounced weather anomaly for Central Russia, according to the expert.

"For Moscow, the only noticeable deviation was the heat. In fact, that was the whole anomaly," he concluded.

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