A rare sighting of a cougar was reported in Vancouver's urban Dunbar area, close to Pacific Spirit Regional Park, prompting caution among residents.

Russia has declared a federal emergency due to a significant oil spill along the Black Sea coast, affecting 55 kilometers of coastline, following the damage of two oil tankers during a storm.

Two people were killed after a torrent of water poured over a cofferdam in northwestern Russia early Monday and flooded the surrounding area, authorities said.

Temperatures in Russia’s capital hit an all-time high of 32 degrees Celsius on Tuesday – Moscow’s hottest day in over 130 years. The heatwave follows a spate of volatile weather in the city and other parts of Russia. In June, after severe rainfall flooded parts of the city, Moscow was struck by Storm Edgar, which killed two people and injured dozens more. A rare tornado was also sighted in the Moscow region.

Around 40 daily temperature records were broken across Russia and annexed Crimea on Tuesday as hot summer weather gripped the country. The unprecedented temperatures have engulfed Russia from its central regions to the Far East, reaching a maximum of 38.7 degrees Celsius in the village of Mamakan in southeastern Siberia’s Irkutsk region.

Sakha is now the fourth region in the Far East where a state of emergency is currently in place due to wildfires. The other three are the Zabaykalsky and Amur regions, as well as the republic of Buryatia. Russia’s wildfire season officially began in early March. By mid-April, regions in the Far East recorded nearly twice as many fires as they had during the same period last year, with most blazes caused by human negligence.

A sea otter was seen climbing onto surfboards and following surfers near Sooke, British Columbia, prompting safety warnings from Fisheries and Oceans Canada regarding interactions with marine mammals.

A humpback whale named Stanislav was successfully freed from a fishing net in a first-of-its-kind rescue operation in Russia's Barents Sea.

A severe storm in the Kerch Strait damaged two Russian oil tankers, resulting in an oil spill and the death of one crew member, while rescue operations were delayed due to adverse weather conditions.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says the cold front in northern B.C. is expected to generate strong winds, thunderstorms and the potential for dry lightning in the region plagued by drought.

A regional emergency has been declared in Krasnodar, Russia, due to stalling cleanup efforts of an oil spill along the Black Sea coast.

Climate change has led to sightings of species like the European adder, spiders, and herons beyond their typical range in the Russian Arctic.