Strong winds hit southern Finland on Wednesday evening, causing Helsinki's port authority to take precautionary measures. The measures included the use of tugboats and temporary closure of the second passenger bridge in the passenger terminal.
The Eckerö Line cruise ship was the only vessel whose schedule was delayed due to the weather. According to Helsinki Harbour Master Staffan Teromaa, the ship was scheduled to leave Helsinki for Tallinn at 9:40 pm, but was delayed by just under an hour.
The Eckerö Line ship, which arrived at Helsinki’s western port from Tallinn, was unable to dock immediately due to the strong winds.
"The weather was surprisingly bad. The waves were so strong that the ship decided to wait a while to anchor to the pier," said Taru Keronen, CEO of Eckerö Line.
Usually the ships utilise automatic mooring, but due to the weather, docking had to be done manually, requiring more hands on deck. However, the practice is standard and safe in poor weather, she noted.
The ferry service from Helsinki's market square to Kruunuvuorenranta was also suspended for the evening from 7:30 pm on Wednesday due to strong winds.
Rescue services busy and power outages rife
The weather conditions also led to an uptick in the number of callouts for Helsinki's emergency rescue service. The service had around 20 more jobs than usual, said on-duty fire marshal Janne Taskinen.
Most of them were related to construction and renovation sites in the inner city area, with winds blowing away tarpaulins and dislodging sheet roofing from buildings.
The natural environment fared a little better, with only one report of a fallen tree in the capital, according to Taskinen.
Meanwhile, Western Uusimaa emergency services said they did have to attend to some tasks related to falling trees.
According to the national power outage map, there were more than 15,000 power outages in Finland at around 1:30 am Thursday.
Electricity provider Helen announced on social media platform X that more than 100 residents in the Helsinki suburbs of Herttoniemi and Vartiokylä were without electricity for several hours from Wednesday evening onwards.
The outage was attributed to a tree falling on top of the transformer. Electricity was restored early Thursday morning.
Storm subsides but poor weather conditions persist
While strong winds were easing throughout much of the country, more snow is expected Thursday evening. Heavy snowfall was also reported in many parts of the country on Wednesday night. Drivers, in particular, are urged to be cautious.
"The storm is over, but there will still be snow in the east and north," said Yle's meteorologist Elias Paakkanen. "Conditions continue to be bad throughout the country and the roads have yet to be ploughed."
Fintraffic also warns of difficult road conditions throughout much of the country.
There are high swell alerts for sea areas in the western part of the Gulf of Finland and the eastern part of the North Baltic Sea. A strong wind warning has been issued for the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, with southerly winds of 17 metres per second.
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