The Scandinavian peninsula is experiencing an extremely powerful heatwave, which has not spared even the most northerly regions. Temperatures have risen to record levels, exceeding the seasonal average by as much as 13 degrees Celsius. In Drag, a village in Norway located 1,300 kilometres north of Oslo, a peak of 33.7 degrees was reached. In Kvikkjokk-Arrenjarka, a Swedish locality not far away, the thermometer recorded 32.5 degrees. While even further north, in the Kevo nature reserve (Finnish Lapland, nestled between Norway and Russia), temperatures reached 33.4 degrees.

The fires have already destroyed 8,500 hectares of forest

Something extraordinary for a region accustomed, even in summer, to particularly cool climates. The heatwave has also coincided with a period of extreme drought. This has created the perfect conditions for enormous fires to break out. Over the past few weeks, more than 50 have been recorded by the Copernicus service of the European Commission, twelve of which lie beyond the line marking the beginning of the Arctic Circle.

CNN ✓ @CNN

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Sweden is battling dozens of severe, drought-fueled forest fires -- and they're not the only ones. Finland, Norway and Russia are also facing fires amidst record-breaking temperatures that have spread all the way to the Arctic cnn.it/2L81jxd

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According to reports in the international press, the fire has already consumed 8,500 hectares of forest. The equivalent of roughly twelve thousand football pitches laid side by side. A situation local authorities have never had to face before, and one that consequently caught firefighters unprepared. Scandinavian governments have therefore had to call on the assistance of specialist firefighting units from France and Italy. Italy, in particular, has deployed two Canadair CL-415s to Örebro, in southern Sweden.

"Hard to think that climate change has no role to play"

And the prime suspect behind these extreme and unprecedented phenomena is the climate. "It's hard to believe," Dann Mitchell of the University of Bristol told the English daily The Guardian, "that climate change has no role in what is happening." The same expert nevertheless explained that "other factors can also influence the situation." In particular — as the French daily Novethic points out — the weakening of the jet stream, a current of warm air that travels through the atmosphere at high altitude.

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Sweden is facing forest fires.
We have helped mobilise two firefighting planes from Italy and two from France via #EUCivPro
This is solidarity in a Europe that protects. #rescEU #EUProtects
Footage by @emergenzavvf

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Its strength depends on the difference in temperature between the Arctic and the Equator: the anomalous heat at the North Pole is therefore causing it to slow down. As a result, high-pressure systems and depressions move with greater difficulty, prolonging both hot spells and periods of rain.