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20C in October, Autumn temperature records broken

October temperature records were broken on Sunday afternoon, with the mercury surpassing 20C in many places, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Näkymä Seurasaaresta Seurasaarenselle kauniina päivänä.
Many parts of Finland have been unusually warm this fall. Image: Esko Jämsä / AOP
  • Yle News

On Sunday around 2.30pm meteorologists in Ylivieska, some 130 kilomtres south of Oulu, recorded a high of 20.5C, breaking the previous October all-time high of 19.4C, recorded in Helsinki in 1985. Kruunupyy, Kuopio, Siikajoki and Kokkola-Pietarsaari also saw a return of summer with thermometers hovering around 20 degrees.

Finland has been experiencing an abnormally warm autumn. On Saturday Vaasa recorded its warmest overnight temperature for October since 1961, with a low of 14.3 degrees Celsius, Henri Nyman from the Finnish Meteorological Institute told Yle.

Continental Europe is experiencing warmer-than-normal temperatures, with southern Sweden seeing all-time high temperatures in the mid-20s this month.

Yle News' podcast this week deals with the unique challenges facing Finland as the planet heats up. Listen here to hear our guests, Outi Haanperä, a lead climate solutions specialist with the state innovation agency Sitra and Hanna Aho, a climate justice expert from Kepa, a development NGO, explain how extreme weather is already affecting domestic food production, most recently during the periods of intense heat last summer.