Fieldwork in northern Scandinavia, above the polar circle. What is the first things that come to your mind? Sunstroke? Shorts and t-shirts at midnight? Probably not.

And yet, that was what we got in the first days of this summer’s fieldwork trip to Abisko, Swedish Lapland. Temperatures easily rose all the way to 30 °C, and in the morning, the north of Scandinavia was even warmer than southern Spain.

Temporarily bathroom at our camping site – with a view

While it is rather worrying to see more and more extreme weather events plague the north, I have to admit it did make for rather convenient fieldwork conditions in the mountains. We strategically chose this hottest day on record to camp out on the mountain while surveying plant species composition along mountain trails.

Camping spot in the mountains, with mountain avens (Dryas octopetala) in the front

Two days full of sun, mountain plants and nature, with a steady flow of incoming data, it again made northern Scandinavia in a mountain researcher’s paradise.

Pedicularis hirsuta, just one examples of the beautiful mountain plants we encountered

Now a much-needed thunderstorm broke the heat spell, and brought temperatures back to close-to-normal. Much needed, as the reindeer were seemingly suffering quiet a bit from the heat, searching for every bit of refreshment they could find on the retreating snow beds at high elevations.

A reindeer in search of a cool snow patch, mouth open to cool down

More stories soon of what is turning into an amazing fieldwork stay – as usual.