Reykjavík's Coldest June This Century; Another Deep Freeze Hits Brazil; South Africa Shivers; A Foot of Snow Slams Aussie Alps In 24 Hours; + New Zealand Faces Blizzards, Freezing Cold This Weekend

“You want the plants to thrive, not get stunted by a freak cold snap in June.”

Reykjavík's Coldest June This Century

Many of Reykjavík’s trees began changing color this June — not from autumn, of course, but from cold shock.

A sharp drop in temperatures at the start of the month scorched newly emerged leaves, especially on north-facing sides. By late June, the visual damage was clear: half-withered trees across the capital city.

Icelandic meteorologist Trausti Jónsson confirmed this was no ordinary chill. “The first 20 days of June averaged just 7.8C (46F),” he wrote, calling it the coldest start to June in Reykjavík since at least 2001. That’s 1.7C below the 1991–2020 baseline.

Looking at the record books ( which date back to 1873), only 20 Junes have been colder. And even among those, the variation is tight — the all-time low sits at 6.6C (44F) from 1885.