Areas In Finland Record Hottest Summer In 100 Years

Parts of Finland have recorded their hottest summer in 100 years, with record temperatures registered in almost all measuring stations in June and July, the Finnish Yle news service reported.

Yle gathered the figures for a representative sample of Finnish Meteorological Institute's stations and found that this summer's averages were, at many places, the highest on record.

In all, Yle compared data from 1,338 summers at 20 different measuring stations, chosen for a geographical spread throughout the country and reliable data stretching back decades.

For example, Helsinki's Kaisaniemi station has measured temperatures since 1882, and Sodankylä's Tähtelä has done the same since 1908. The average daily temperature for the period between June 1 and July 21 has never been as high as it was in 2021 at either station.

Rovaniemi airport and Utsjoki's Kevo station recorded a higher average in 1972, but they were the only places not to have a record summer. This summer has also seen the longest spell of 'hot' weather (defined in Finland as a temperature over 25 degrees Celsius.) Anjala measuring station in Kouvola breached that “helle” limit every day between June 18 and July 18, giving a 31-day streak that beat the previous record by five days.

The hotter spell of weather is down to a high-pressure system that has remained in place over Finland for an extended period. Meteorologist Ville Siiskonen says there could be many factors behind the heatwave, with the whole northern hemisphere analyzed after the fact to decipher what has happened.

One factor is known, however: climate change. Because of the heating climate, each heatwave is a little hotter than it would have been 30 years ago, even if similar conditions would also have created a heatwave back then.

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