Country sees unusual warm July this year

The weather was unusually, or exceptionally warm in most of Finland in July, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).

The average temperature for the month varied from 21 degrees Celsius in the south and south-east of Finland to about 14 degrees Celsius in the north of Finnish Lapland.

The average temperature was generally 3-4 degrees above the long-term average minus 1 to minus 3 degrees in Lapland.

The last time that July was warmer than it was this year in southern and central areas was in 2010, and in other areas, in 2018.

Hot temperatures (25 degrees or more) were recorded somewhere in Finland on more than 24 days, which is eight days more than the average for July.

The greatest number of hot days - a total of 23 - were at the Harabacka observation station in Porvoo. The highest temperature for the month, 34.0 degrees, was recorded at Asemantaus in Heinola on the 15th of the month. The previous time that hotter temperatures had been recorded was in July 2010, when the highest temperature ever recorded in Finland, 37.2 degrees was at Joensuu Airport in Liperi.

The lowest temperature of this past July, minus 1.2 degrees, was recorded in Enontekiö at Saana in Kilpisjärvi, on the 20th of the month.