Climate Finland
Although Finland belongs to Eastern Europe, its climate is tempered by maritime influences from the Baltic Sea. The country benefits from the temperate climate of the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream, though with a more continental note than its Scandinavian neighbours. The average temperature in July varies between 10° and 20°, the hottest month with an exceptionally high temperature in 2018 exceeding 30°C! In February, the coldest month, expect temperatures between -5° and -15°. In 2006 the temperature in Helsinki dropped to -23°. In Lapland, temperatures in February are between -15° and -20° and can sometimes - exceptionally - reach -50° in winter. "It can happen on a night like this that a few drops of water fall from the sky in the evening, but at dawn the earth is again covered with a light layer of frost. "(A Ball in April, Frans Emil Sillanpää).
Seasons
First of all, know that nature is dazzlingly beautiful all year round! Spring begins in May. After a fabulous blossoming that lasts only a few days (celebrated by the Walpurgis night from 30 April to 1 May), comes the short and intense summer, warm, bright and invigorating. It is in July that the temperatures are the highest. In Lapland, expect an average temperature of 20°C, although the thermometer can reach 30°C. However, summer is also the season for mosquitoes and they are very numerous in this region! On Midsummer's Day, daylight shines for 20 hours in the south. North of the Arctic Circle, in Utsjoki, the sun does not set between mid-May and the end of July. An imperishable memory guaranteed..
The most pleasant month to travel in Lapland in winter is March, it is warmer and the snow cover is at its maximum, the days last longer. In summer, Lapland is very pleasant in June or September, because there are fewer mosquitoes. The Finnish winter, although very cold, remains dry. This makes the extreme temperatures seem much more bearable. Don't panic, Finnish houses are perfectly insulated, systematically equipped with double or even triple glazing.
The particularly mild winter of 2019 is a cause for concern. One of the most dramatic consequences is the lack of bird migration. In the long term, Nordic species risk running out of space, as breeding may start too early and lead to a lack of food for the chicks. Another big problem is that at Helsinki Zoo, two brown bears woke up at the beginning of 2020, after only two months of hibernation. This is a real problem because, in addition to completely disrupting their cycle, cells age more quickly in animals that shorten their hibernation period.
The midnight sun and the polar night
Between May and July, the midnight sun illuminates the Lappish sky with a diaphanous light.
From a scientific point of view, the midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that takes place - in summer - and in the area between the south of the Antarctic Circle and the north of the Arctic Circle. The Earth rotates around an axis tilted with respect to the sun, and during the summer months the North Pole is oriented towards the sun. Thus, above the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set for several weeks, hence the name polar day.
On the other hand, the daytime star disappears completely in the far north, between the end of November and the beginning of January: it is the kaamos, the long polar night. And this period also allows the observation of the aurora borealis. To see some, two conditions must be met:
be in winter, ideally December - March. The night should be as dark as possible and light pollution should be as little as possible. be above latitude 60°N.
