The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has issued warnings for a moderate risk of avalanches across a number of areas in Lapland on Tuesday.
People in the area who find themselves off groomed slopes should proceed with caution so they do not trigger an avalanche, according to the FMI's regional manager Heikki Juntti.
In its avalanche forecast for Tuesday, the FMI issued warnings for "heightened avalanche conditions on specific terrain features" in the areas of Kilpisjärvi, Ounas-Pallas, Ylläs-Levi, Saariselkä, Luosto-Pyhä and Ruka.
In current conditions, avalanches are generally more often triggered by humans moving around, rather than by natural causes, according to Juntti.
The affected regions have a lot of snow cover, but the snow layers closer to the ground are often weaker and cannot support additional weight. This means that the risks of avalanches increase when new snowfall arrives, Juntti told Yle TV1's breakfast show on Tuesday.
"The depth of the snow cover greatly influences the chances of an avalanche. If the weight of the snow mass exceeds that of what holds it together, the snow starts to move," he explained.
Juntti noted that areas with greater risks of avalanches include steep and exposed slopes.
At the beginning of the year, an avalanche in northwestern Finnish Lapland claimed the lives of a mother and her 12-year-old son. The pair were skiing near the Pallastunturi fell when they were overcome by the avalanche in extreme weather conditions.
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