A low pressure area is arriving in south-western Finland on Tuesday, moving eastward across the country as the day progresses. The day will be windy and rainy in southern and western areas.
Before noon, strong wind gusts are expected in the south and west, accompanied by rain and thunderstorms.
“The strongest gusts will be accompanied by lightning in the south-west and Uusimaa regions,” predicts Yle meteorologist Joonas Koskela.
According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), most wind gusts will be 13-18 metres per second. Locally gusts may reach 20 metres per second, though. That is classed as a gale force wind, rated at 8 on the Beaufort wind scale, or nearly 40 knots.
Koskela recommends that those in southern Finland batten down the hatches, preparing for the wind by bringing in or securing loose outdoor items such as garden furniture and canopies.
“The gusts may knock down trees, so power outages are possible,” he adds.
Rough waves on Gulf of Finland
In south-western and southernmost Finland, the FMI warns of “wind damage in numerous areas, including areas of uniform damage,” with the potential “need for significant debris clearance, long-lasting electricity outages and disruptions in telecommunication networks”.
The agency also predicts winds of 13-17 m/s on all sea districts, with the strongest on the Gulf of Finland, which will have rough seas with significant wave height exceeding 2.5 meters from noon onward.
The low pressure area will also bring some much-needed rain to southern Finland, which is experiencing the driest early summer in decades. The winds and rain are expected to move off toward the east during the evening.