A gigantic, powerhouse winter storm is charging through the North Atlantic and threatens to flood the high Arctic with abnormally mild air.

Arctic temperatures have blown past previous record highs in recent months, and this surge of (relative) warmth is just the latest in a long series that has amazed scientists.

A gigantic, powerhouse winter storm is charging through the North Atlantic and promises to flood the high Arctic with abnormally mild air Credit:US National Weather Service Ocean Prediction Centre

For the fourth time in just over a year, the North Pole may near the melting point in winter, a previously rare event.

The textbook comma-shape storm is sprawling. The northern part of its core is near the southern tip of Greenland, while its trailing front extends south-westward almost to the tropics.