In Finland, there's an emphasis on children's early independence thanks to the safe environment. This is why most first graders walk to school on their own. The idea is that the daily walk builds self-confidence while providing some exercise.
For this reason, driving children to school is uncommon, which is why Helsingin Sanomat is re-publishing an Aamulehti story from Friday highlighting Tampere parents chauffeuring their kids even for distances under one kilometre. The phenomenon appears to be driven by weather conditions.
According to the paper, about a quarter of elementary school students in Tampere's urban areas are driven to school during the winter, even when the distance is just one to three kilometers.
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A cold start to the week
January was unusually mild in southern and central parts of Finland. But the weather is taking a colder turn tonight when temperatures could drop to -35 degrees Celsius eastern Finnish Lapland, according to Ilta-Sanomat. But this all depends if skies are clear since cloud cover works as insulation, resulting in warmer temperatures.
Overall, Finland will experience frigid temperatures at the start of this week. Daytime temperatures in southern and central areas are expected to range between -4C and -12C, while northern areas will see even colder conditions, with temperatures dropping to between -11C and -23C.
Milder conditions will take over by midweek. On Wednesday, temperatures in southern Finland and coastal areas are forecast to rise above freezing, while northern regions will see the cold ease to around -10C.
This week's All Points North episode looks at ways people can find jobs in Finland.
Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Peak prices
In more weather-related news, Kauppalehti reports that spot electricity prices are shooting up following the weekend's relatively low costs.
A significant price spike is expected at 6pm, making electricity notably more expensive compared to recent rates.
Prices are steadily rising throughout the day on Monday, peaking between 6 and 7pm at nearly 27 cents per kilowatt-hour. Even later in the evening, costs will remain elevated, reaching approximately 14 cents per kilowatt-hour at 11pm, according to Nordic electricity exchange Nord Pool.
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