Severnaya Zemlya Firnley Islands. Severnaya Zemlya is consistently cold and quite dry, with a mean annual temperature of , mean annual precipitation of about , and generally overcast skies. Monthly average temperature ranges from in February to in July. The archipelago sees large temperature fluctuations during winter months, as low-pressure cyclonic activity originating in the North Atlantic make their way across the Arctic, bringing precipitation and higher temperatures. These cyclones are most common in September and October, which see 30% of annual precipitation. Snowfall in summer is common as temperatures hover around , although higher temperatures occur when warm air masses move
Novaya Zemlya numbering 298, was removed to the mainland in 1957 before nuclear testing began. In 1943, during World War II, Novaya Zemlya briefly served as a secret seaplane base for Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine", to provide German surveillance of Allied shipping en route to Siberia. The seaplane base was established by U-255 and U-711, which were operating along the Northern coast of Soviet Russia as part of "13th U-boat Flotilla". Seaplane sorties were flown in August and September 1943. In the months following Hitler’s June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain organized convoys of merchant ships