2019 was 1°C warmer than usual

The year 2019 was warmer than usual in nearly the whole country, and only in Lapland the average temperature was close to long-term averages, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).

The average temperature in the whole country was approximately 0.9 degrees Celsius above the 1981-2010 average, said an FMI press release on Monday.

Of the months in 2019, April was exceptionally warm at several stations, and several new record temperatures were registered at different stations.

In December, the average temperature was 3-6 degrees Celsius higher than average, which usually happens every 10 to 30 years.

However, the previous warmer-than-average December was in 2017 in the south, and in 2011 in Lapland. The lowest temperature in December was minus 35.4°C recorded in Kevojärvi, Utsjoki on December 9. The highest temperature was 8.4°C recorded on 4 December in Pargas.

The lowest temperature of the year, minus 39.1 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Kevojärvi in Utsjoki on February 5, and the highest temperature of the year, 33.7 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Emäsalo in Porvoo on July 28.