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Winter’s coldest snap starts now

Freezing temperatures will continue to drop toward this winter's record lows, at least for the country’s southern and central regions. Heavy snowfall in these regions will result in poor driving conditions.

Luminen koivu.
Image: Miia Roivainen / Yle

The current freezing temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius will drop with the arrival of a cold front from the east that will push the mercury down to -15 degrees Celsius on Monday in western Finland and -20 degrees Celsius in central and northern Finland.

In southern Finland on Wednesday and Thursday it may drop to -20 degrees Celsius, with -30 degrees Celsius in store for further up north.

Temperatures below -40 degrees Celsius are extremely rare in Finland, and have only been recorded five times according to official readings.

The coldest temperatures on record for Finland are:

-51.5 Kittilä (January 1, 1999)

-49 Sodankylä (February 5, 1912)

-47 Pielisjärvi (December 21, 1919)

-44.3 Salla (March 1, 1971)

-42 Sodankylä (November 30, 1815)

Heavy snowfall during the beginning of the week will create difficult driving conditions in many parts of the country.