Lapland sees coldest January in 40 years

Finland experienced a colder January than usual this year all over the country, said the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) in a press release on Monday.

Lapland, the northern region of the country was unusually cold and it was coldest January since 1987.

The average temperature for the month ranged from around minus 2 degrees Celsius in the southwestern archipelago to over minus 20 degrees Celsius in Lapland.

The highest temperature of the month 4.3 degrees Celsius recorded at Lemland in the autonomous Åland islands on January 17.

The lowest temperature in January was minus 42.8 degrees Celsius recorded at Savukoski in Lapland on January 9. It was the third-coldest temperature measured in Finland in this century.

Precipitation was unusually or exceptionally low in January in many places of the country.

The monthly precipitation ranged from 2.8 millimeters in Nuorgam, Utsjoki, to 56.4 millimeters in Jomalaby in Åland.