Weird weather 2016: Year of melting ice, monster storms and Australia's big wet

At risk: shrinking Arctic ice is bad news
 for polar bears - and the planet.

If Santa really lived at the North Pole his sleigh would run the risk of falling through the ice this week, empty or fully laden.

Temperatures in the high Arctic will approach melting point on Thursday, including near the North Pole, a massive 30 degrees or more above average for this time of the year.

Wide departures from temperature norms – usually on the warm side – have been a feature for a long while in the Arctic but this year's extremes qualify the region as home to probably this year's world's weirdest weather.

The polar extremes are part of what is highly likely to be declared as the hottest year in records going back to the 1880s. And so, with 2016 eclipsing both 2015 and 2014, the world would have set a new high mark for three years in a row.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in the Melbourne Age - “Weird weather 2016: Year of melting ice, monster storms and Australia's big wet.”