A large snowstorm is expected to hit Finland on Wednesday night and continue into Thursday, bringing between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow to southern and western parts of the country.
According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), the storm is not expected to be as severe as snowstorm Toini, which dumped nearly 50 centimetres of the white stuff on the capital area last week.
"This will not be a storm like Toini, but it will affect a wider area," Yle's meteorologist Anniina Valtonen said.
The regions of Ostrobothnia, Pirkanmaa and Savo can expect up to 15 centimetres of snow on Thursday, while the south is forecast to see between 5 and 10 centimetres.
The heavy snowfall and subzero temperatures are likely to make driving conditions very hazardous throughout Thursday, with the FMI issuing a traffic weather warning to motorists in south, west, east and central areas.
The heavy snowfall is expected to extend to the east of Finland through Thursday and into Lapland by Friday.
MP files criminal report over city’s snow dumping
As municipal authorities prepare to deal with another heavy snowfall, Member of Parliament Mikko Kärnä (Cen) has filed a criminal report against the City of Helsinki, as he says the city is damaging the environment by continuing to pour untreated snow piles into the Baltic Sea at Hernesaari.
Items such as plastic, asphalt particles and rubber detached from car tyres have ended up in the sea along with the snow, Kärnä said.
He added that the only way to stop the pollution of the Baltic Sea was through legal proceedings.
In response to the MP’s action, the City of Helsinki said it regrets that the issue has become the subject of a criminal report.
In 2019, the city council decided that the dumping of snow at sea should be stopped but alternative methods have so far not been found, the city’s technical director Kari Pudas told Yle.