About Lapland

Lapland is a province that represents Finland's northern areas. Snowy winters and relatively warm summers induced by the Gulf Stream are typical to Lapland's continental climatic zone. Differences between seasons in Lapland are strong and include the full spectrum of spring, summer, autumn and winter that can last for as long as half a year.

 

Winter in Lapland

Winter usually starts half way through October - in other parts of Finland winter begins usually sometime around November or December. Winter is the longest of the all seasons - it lasts around 200 days in Lapland.

The Arctic Circle's northern side is dominated in the wintertime by a period of darkness called Kaamos. During that time the sun will not rise above the horizon. In the northernmost corner of Finland the period of darkness lasts about 50 days.

 

 

Snow and ice

The layer of snow is thickest usually in the middle of March when it averages at around 60-90 centimetres in Northern Finland. The lakes will become frozen on average around the end of November or beginning of December. The ice is thickest in the beginning of April with averages of 50-65 centimetres.

 

 The coldest day of winter is substantially after the winter solstice, close to the end of January. Winter's lowest temperatures in Lapland are normally between -35°C and -45°C. The lowest temperature of the 20th century that has been measured on Finland's weather stations was -51.5°C in Kittilä in January of 1999.