Record-breaking heat wave hits Russia's Siberia

Russia's western Siberia is experiencing an unprecedented heatwave, with temperatures in several regions shattering records over the past 50 years or so, local weather authorities said on Tuesday.

A number of regions, specifically the Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, along with the Altai Territory and the Republic of Altai, have experienced temperatures that surpassed records set in the 1970s and 1980s, said Natalia Kichanova, head of the weather forecasting service of the West Siberian Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring.

Kichanova noted that the heatwave is expected to persist across western Siberia until the end of June, after which temperatures are predicted to decrease to a range of 17-25 degrees Celsius, accompanied by rainfall, reports Xinhua news agency.

The abnormally high temperatures are attributed to warm air masses moving into the macro-region from Central Asia, while "heat ridges" in the mid-troposphere contributed to the additional warming, she said.