According to law all drivers in Finland must begin using winter tyres from the first of December, regardless of driving conditions. Road users will not legally be allowed to use normal tyres again until after the end of February next year.
The rule covers all cars and vans, and states that during winter months they must be fitted with tyres with a tread-depth of three millimetres or more, compared to 1.2 millimetres during the non-winter months.
Heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tons are exempt from the regulation – a state of affairs which has been criticised by a number of tyre industry experts, who have called on highway authorities to impose a minimum 5 millimetre tread depth during the winter months.
Such a change would bring Finland into line with Sweden and Norway, where trucks must also use deep-tread tyres in winter, and would also apply to goods traffic coming in from abroad.