World on fire: Temperatures hit 38C in the Arctic

In this handout photo provided by Olga Burtseva, children play in the Krugloe lake outside Verkhoyansk, the Sakha Republic, about 4660 kilometers northeast of Moscow. Photo / AP

A Siberian town with the world's widest temperature range has recorded a new high amid a heat wave that is contributing to severe forest fires.

The temperature in Verkhoyansk hit 38C on Saturday, according to Pogoda i Klimat, a website that compiles Russian meteorological data.

The town is located above the Arctic Circle in the Sakha Republic, about 4660km northeast of Moscow.

The town of about 1300 residents is recognised by the Guinness World Records for the most extreme temperature range, with a low of minus-68C and a previous high of 37.2C.

Much of Siberia this year has had unseasonably high temperatures, leading to sizable wildfires.

In the Sakha Republic, more than 275,000ha are burning, according to Avialesokhrana, the government agency that monitors forest fires.

In this handout photo provided by Olga Burtseva, an outside thermometer shows 30C around 11pm in Verkhoyansk, the Sakha Republic, about 4660km northeast of Moscow. Photo / AP

Earth's temperature spiked to tie a record high for May, US meteorologists reported earlier this month.

Last month the global average temperature was 15.7C, tying 2016 for the hottest May in 141 years of record keeping, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That's nearly 1C higher than the 20th century average for Earth.

Temperature on land set a heat record, while ocean temperatures ranked second.

Parts of Africa, Asia, western Europe, South and Central America had record warmth.

"We continue to warm on the long term and in any given month we're likely to be knocking on the door, close to a record in the era that we're in," NOAA climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt said.

The last seven Mays, from 2014 to 2020, have been the seven warmest Mays on record.

This past spring was the second hottest on record, behind 2016. And this year so far is the second hottest five-month start of a year.

Arndt said it's highly likely that 2020 will be one of the two hottest years since 1880.

-AP