Rain fell at the highest point on the Greenland ice sheet for the first time on record, according to scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. The rain, which fell for several hours at the ice sheet's 3,216-metre summit on 14 August, is another worrying sign of warming for the ice sheet, which is already melting at an increasing rate. The rain and high temperatures triggered extensive melting across the island, which suffered a surface ice mass loss on 15 August that was seven times above the average for mid-August.