Arctic summer in January

It may still be January, but the arctic region is seeing record temperatures of a level usually seen during the summer.

Norway's Meteorological Institute reported that the ice line on Svalbard is extremely far north for the season. The waters around Svalbard are nearly free of ice and there are large areas of open sea up to near 84 degrees north.
The reason is that the usual winter wind from the east or northeast has been replaced by winds from the south or southwest more usually seen in the summer. As the sea becomes freer of ice, this in turn helps warm up the air.

Svalbard

LandscapeThe name Svalbard means “cold coasts” and was first mention in Icelandic texts in the 12th century. The Svalbard Islands offer great, wild nature, old mines and polar bears. The Svalbard Islands are located between between 74° - 81° N and 10° - 35° E. They constitute 63 000 sq.km, and close to 65% of the surface of Svalbard consists of protected areas, including 3 nature reserves, 6 national parks, 15 bird sanctuaries and 1 geotopical protected area. The largest islands are Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsøya, Edgeøya and Prins Karls Forland.Norway is given sovereignty over Svalbard
Cities of Svalbard
Longyearbyen (Norwegian administrative centre) 1 700 inhabitants. the seat of local government and Norway’s main administrative centre on Svalbard. The small colourful community of approx. 1700 inhabitants has developed from being a typical mining company town into a modern community with different kinds of business and industry and with a wide range of cultural activities and opportunities.
Barentsburg (Russian mining community) 900 inhabitants.
Ny-Ålesund (Norw. international research centre) 40 inhabitants
Sveagruva (Norwegian mining community) 210 commuters.
Hornsund (Polish research station) 8 inhabitants
Infrastructure
There is no regular boat transportation between the mainland of Norway and Svalbard. The easiest way to get to Spitsbergen is by plane. Most of the year, there are daily flights from Oslo directly to Longyearbyen or through Tromsø. The airport is Svalbard Lufthavn, Longyear. There are no roads between the settlements.