Summer comes to chilly Magadan

Its a long way from Mauritius, the Maldives or Majorca, and a temperature of 24C is almost unheard of in this outpost in the Russian Far East. 

Built in the Stalin-era and once a key staging post for prisoners to gulag labour camps, with its subarctic climate, Magadan normally has temperatures of around 14C in July, but they can be much cooler. 

But this week it hit a temperature only 2C short of record high in this mainly permafrost region, after a few weeks which have seen stark contrasts in weather across Siberia and the Russian Far East - from Saudi-like heat to unprecedented summer snowfalls. 

'Summer came to Magadan,' said local journalist Alexander Krylov, rejoicing in the rare warmth. For some 24C is cold, but for us it is real heat. In this weather many get day off from their work, and others have a reduced working day. 

'And all of our three beaches are full of sunbathers. The first and foremost task is to quickly get to the beach, no matter how. The weather can deteriorate at any moment. 

'So people run to the beach often in the same clothes in which they went to work.'

So some come in swimwear but 'others are simply in their lingerie'.

A few brave souls plunged into the Sea of Okhotsk, but others paddled.