Meteorological company Weathernews is predicting a slightly early opening to the Northern Sea Route (NSR) after the soaring temperatures recorded in Siberia during the early summer.

The Tokyo-based company, which provides a Polar routing service to shipping, is expecting that the North East Passage could now open in mid-August rather than its usual opening in late August.

“With record breaking high temperatures such as the 38 degrees Celsius recorded on 20 June in the northern Siberian town of Verkhoyansk, the sea ice along the North East Passage (Russian side) is expected to melt rapidly going forward,” Weathernews said in its Arctic Sea Trends 2020 report.

“This summer, the NSR is projected to be open from mid-August along the North East Passage, and from mid-September along the North West Passage (Canadian side).”

Global warming has accelerated the melting of the ice over recent years and the Northern Sea Route has increased in popularity.

It has become an established route for trades such as LNG produced in the Arctic and Yamal LNG began shipments in May this year helped by mild ice conditions.

According to Weathernews analysis Arctic sea ice reaches its peak surface area in February or March, and reduces to its smallest area in September. This year's peak in March reached 14.4 million square kilometres, the largest since 2015.

But by the end of June it had declined to 9.24m square kilometres. This year's sea ice area is predicted to decrease to a minimum of about 4.23m square kilometres by mid-September, the 5th smallest area since measurements began in 1979.

Weathernews said: “Regarding the opening of the NSR, the North East Passage is expected to open in mid-August, slightly earlier than last year's August 20th opening, due to the influence of high temperatures in the Siberian coastal area, and to remain open until mid-October.”