The Arctic looks like experiencing one of its warmest winter on record as temperaturescontinue to soarand ocean ice drops to an alarmingly humiliated story , in turn causing temperature in Europe to plummet .

Over the weekend , temperature above 0 ° C ( 32 ° degree Fahrenheit ) were recorded at Cape Morris Jesup , a weather station at the northmost point of mainland Greenland . At times , it strive   as eminent as 6.1 ° blow ( 43 ° F ) .   This has ensue in open water system north of Greenland , where usually the blockheaded Arctic sea ice would be found .

“ It is not refreezing apace because breeze temperature are above zero , ” Professor Lars Kaleschke from the University of Hamburg , who specializes in remote detection of sea frappe , wrote on Twitter .

“ crackers weather continues with shivery strength and continuity . ”

north-polar temperatures right now are at prison term high-pitched than Europe , which is at the same time being blare by cold aura from Siberia knight the “ Beast from the East ” .

Graphs shared byZack Labefrom the University of California , Irvine , showed alarming wage increase in fair day-after-day Arctic temperatures , well above the norm .

“ The extreme upshot continues to unfold in the high#Arctictoday in reply to a rush of moisture and ‘ affectionateness , ' ” he write on Twitter .

However , he noted that we could not confirm this yet as the warmest winter on record , as observation are trammel in the Arctic . Available information so far seems to be designate in that charge , though .

" These warm airwave intrusion event pass every wintertime in the Arctic , " Labe told IFLScience . " However , this event was peculiarly anomalous , long - lasting , and widespread in the country . Above median temperature and low ocean glass cover are reproducible with the tenacious - term trend of a warm Arctic . "

Meanwhile , ocean ice extent in the Bering Sea near Alaskacontinues to decline . The total sea crank extent in the Arctic is at a record low for February in the satellite earned run average , which start in 1979 .

During winter , when the Arctic is also in perpetual darkness , temperatures unremarkably brood around the -30 ° C ( -22 ° F ) mark . Temperatures above freeze have only been reported at Cape Morris Jesup for up to 16 hours before , in April 2011 , but it has pass off for more than 60 hours already in 2018 .

" To have zero degree at the North Pole in February – it ’s just wrong , " Amelie Meyer , a research worker of crank - sea interactions at the Norwegian Polar Institute , secernate theSydney Morning Herald . " It ’s quite worrying . "

The cause seems to be a weakening diametric vortex , which typically keeps high - line of latitude cold airwave from warm aviation further south . However , warm melodic line is now stream northward , in turn sending cold air southwards . As wenoted on Friday , this has result in temperatures in Europe that are colder than the Arctic .