Mannerheimintie Street in Helsinki, Finland is covered in snow and ice this Friday, with the temperature feeling 20°C below zero | ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO/ANADOLU/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGY
Sweden and Finland recorded the lowest temperatures observed in both countries this century. According to official weather stations from the national meteorological services of both countries, the temperature fell to 44.3 °C below zero in Enontekiö (Finland) and to minus 43.8 °C in Naimakka (Sweden).
The lowest temperatures of this century in Scandinavia will be 44.3°C in Enontekiö (Finland) in 2024; 44.0°C in Storbo (Sweden) in 2001; 43.9°C in Drevsjø (Norway) in 2001; 43.8°C Naimakka (Sweden) in 2024; 43.6°C in KvikkjokkÅrrenjarka (Sweden) in 2024; and in Inari & Kittilä (Finland) in 2006.
In Helsinki, the capital of Finland, temperatures reached 16°C below zero on Thursday night. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the wind caused a sensation of around minus 25 °C in the city.
The cold week has reopened an old and confusing question about climate and weather: Shouldn't the climate be warming? “I receive messages on my social networks saying that there is no climate change,” said Finnish service meteorologist Kerttu Kotakorpi.
This Friday, electricity prices in Finland reached record levels. At night, electricity costs 2.35 euros per kilowatt hour, including VAT. The freezing temperatures have increased electricity consumption to near record levels, and on Thursday national grid company Fingrid urged Finns to ration their light consumption.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has answered the question of whether such intense cold snaps will become less frequent as the climate warms. The meteorologists' answer was short: yes. Finland is warming twice as fast as the global average as humancaused greenhouse gas emissions warm the planet.
“If you look at global warming as a phenomenon, what it means specifically is that the climate is warming. According to reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), extreme heat is increasing and extreme cold is decreasing,” said Mika Rantanen, a researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. “These extreme cold events, if you can call them that, are becoming increasingly rare,” he emphasized.
Joonas Merikanto, senior researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, said the same. “Climate change is leading to more hot periods in summer and fewer cold periods in winter. “That’s the trend,” he emphasized.
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