Christmas week, starting on Monday, Dec 19, will be warm in many parts of Finland. Daytime temperatures in the south will be above freezing all week; Lapland will see subzero temperatures, but not before making the mercury rise up past zero.
Estimates show that nighttime temperatures will mostly be below zero throughout the country, daytime highs on the plus side.
Yle meteorologist Anne Borgström says that southern and south-western households needn't hold their breaths for a white Christmas.
"Wherever there's less than 10 cm of snow, that small amount may melt away before Christmas eve. In places with more than that, the landscape will likely stay snowy," Borgström says.
According to Sunday morning's snow map the ten-centimetre line runs north of a line reaching up to Pori in the west and down to Porvoo in the south-east.
Borgström nonetheless reminds weather-watchers that Christmas eve is still far enough away for estimates to not yet be entirely reliable.
Wind, drizzles and slippery streets
Only small amounts of rain will fall in the coming week.
"There may even be sunshine in the south after Wednesday," Borgström says. "Compare that with Lapland, which will be cloudy from Tuesday onward."
Windspeeds will also pick up starting Tuesday. No storms, however, appear to be in the cards.
Precipitation is not expected to exceed 10 mm nationwide, or even half that. That means that even if the rain turns out to be snow, not enough will fall to cover the earth.
"Another thing to remember is that roads everywhere will be very slippery. Humidity in the air condenses and forms ice when temperatures fluctuate around 0 degrees Celsius. So be careful out there," Borgström says.