Forecasters predicted abnormal weather: what will be the winter of 2025-2026?

The winters of 2025 and 2026 will be unusual for Russians, forecasters suggest. In addition, the cold months can bring cataclysms and other unpleasant consequences. About how December 2025, January and February 2026 will be remembered, as well as how the weather will affect the lives of Russians in the coming winter — in the Izvestia article.

Air temperature this winter

Forecasters make contradictory predictions about the upcoming winter. Some sources report abnormal cold weather, while others, on the contrary, indicate long-term trends towards gradual warming.

So, the scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, Roman Vilfand, said in the press center of Izvestia on October 3 that the winter of 2026 would be colder compared to last year.

According to him, the average monthly temperature in January and February 2026 is expected to be significantly lower compared to the winter of 2025. At the same time, it is currently impossible to predict whether the coming winter will be early or late.

The upcoming winter, according to forecasters, will be warm. In addition, the following winters will also not bring prolonged cold weather to the Central Region.

However, climatologist and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Klimenko believes that there will be no severe frosts for the next hundreds of years. In his opinion, in the capital, the air temperature in the winter months will never fall below -30 degrees for a long time, and in 2025-2026, Muscovites will again have an abnormally warm winter.

Climatologist Alexey Kokorin also believes that the number of warm winters will increase 2-3 times. The reason for these changes is Russia's proximity to the constantly warming oceans: natural disasters are more acutely felt, although most of the country is located in the polar latitudes.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that every next winter will necessarily be warmer than the previous one, Tatyana Pozdnyakova, chief specialist of the Moscow Meteorological bureau, told RIA Novosti.

The expert noted that in Moscow, the temperature was affected by the change in urban terrain and affected the air temperature in Moscow in the spring months. Compared to the previous 60 years, it has also become higher.

The air temperature in December this winter will be about 2 degrees above the climatic norm, in January — 3 degrees, follows from the forecast of experts. In the last month of winter, the thermometer will show 4 degrees higher than usual. Temperature drops from +3 to -15 degrees are expected in the European part of Russia.

Note that the forecasters of the Severe Weather Europe project specify that La Nina will return to the Pacific Ocean this winter. This climatic phenomenon can significantly change our usual climate in December and February.

Wilfand predicted a cold winter in 2026

Weather anomalies in winter 2025-2026

Winter in all regions of Russia will begin in November, forecasters say. Snow will fall in the middle of the last month of autumn, but the cover will be established in early December.

In December and January, precipitation is expected to be similar to the norm. And in February, there will be twice as many of them as usual. Moreover, heavy snowfalls are likely. Experts believe that not only snow will fall, but it will also rain, even icy.

Forecasters predict frequent ice, heavy precipitation, sudden temperature changes, and thaws. According to Vladimir Klimenko, a significant part of the precipitation will fall in the form of rain and sleet.

Possible consequences of warm winters

The warm winter, which some townspeople love, is a complex climatic phenomenon with many consequences for nature, the economy, agriculture, and even human health.

So, without a stable period of cold weather, parasites, fungi and insect pests, which are usually destroyed by frosts, may not die. This leads to an increase in their population in spring and summer.

Plants may lose their biological "alarm clock": waking up too early increases the risk of freezing when frosts return.
Spring sowing can be disrupted due to unstable weather conditions and lack of moisture.

Lack of snow cover in winter means a shortage of groundwater in summer. With prolonged snow, it retains moisture in the soil and gradually saturates it with melting. During temperature fluctuations, water does not have time to accumulate in sufficient quantities in the subsurface.
In addition, the snow cover protects the plant roots from freezing.
Ski tourism is also suffering losses due to the lack of snow.

Residents of cities will feel the consequences in the form of constant ice on the roads or freezing rains due to frequent temperature fluctuations.

Average winter temperatures in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities

In Moscow, according to the World Weather service, December is usually dry and cloudy. There is no sun on any day of the month, but it is not cold either — from 0 to -3 degrees during the day, at night the temperature can drop to -6 degrees. It gets colder in January, with an average daytime temperature of about -4 degrees. There is little precipitation, and the sky is cloudy. In the last month of winter, the sun appears, it can shine for about 10 days. The average temperature is also -4 degrees, but it will start to warm up at the end of the month, reaching 0 degrees in the afternoon in the last days of February. There is snow, but not much.

In St. Petersburg, in the first month of winter, the average sun appears for six days. The rest of the time is cloudy. In the first week of December, the daytime is from 0 to +1 degrees, then it gets colder. But the temperature does not drop below -2 degrees during the day, at night — below -5 degrees. In January, precipitation appears in St. Petersburg, it snows for seven days. The average daytime temperature is about -3 degrees, the lowest daytime temperature is -6 degrees. February is considered to be sunnier and less snowy than January. During the day, the temperature varies from 0 to -4 degrees, at night — from -4 to -8 degrees.

Novosibirsk is cold but sunny in December. The sun shines about half of the days of the month. The average daytime air temperature is -11 degrees, and at night it is about -12 degrees. There is snow, but not much. In January, it gets colder by about 2-3 degrees, and there are also about half of the sunny days. In February, the sun becomes even more intense, and the temperature decreases by 1-3 degrees, reaching December values.

Yekaterinburg is also sunny and cold in winter. The average temperature in December is -8 degrees during the day and -11 degrees at night. The sun is shining for half the month, and there is little precipitation. In January, temperatures can reach up to -13 degrees during the daytime. The sun is getting smaller. In February, the temperature rises, during the day it averages about -7 degrees.

December is cloudy in Nizhny Novgorod. The average temperature is about -5 degrees during the day, at night — about -7 degrees. In the second month of winter, it is cloudy, daytime temperatures vary: one day it can reach -11 degrees, another day it can rise to -3. But the average temperature is -7 degrees. It will get warmer in February. If -6 degrees is expected at the beginning of the month, then at the end of February the air will warm up to -2 degrees during the day. The sun is also expected on the last dates of the month. There won't be much snow in February.