Ever highest average temperature recorded in May

The country experienced ever highest average temperature in May this year, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

The average temperature of the whole country was 11.6°C, which was 0.5 degrees higher than the previous record took place in 1963.

Comparable data starts from the beginning of the 20th century. Station-specific average temperature records were also broken at several long-term observation stations.

In Kumpula, Helsinki, the average temperature in May (15.5°C) exceeded the former Finnish record with as much as 1.2 degrees Celsius (Helsinki Airport, 2016).

In general, the average temperature in May was 4–5 degrees Celsius above the long-term mean value. The average temperature varied from about 15°C in the south to just below ten degrees in northern Lapland.

The highest temperature in May was recorded , 29.6°C on May 15 in Kemiö, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, and Utti, Kouvola. The temperature record for May is 31.0°C, measured in Lapinjärvi on May 30 and 31 May in 1995, so the record of the highest temperature was not broken.

The month's lowest temperature was recorded minus 0.4°C in Nuorgam, Utsjoki.on May 1.

This May held a total of 14 hot days, that is days when the highest temperature is over 25 degrees Celsius, which is more than ever recorded in the Finnish measurement history.

The previous record, 12 hot days, was from 1984. The typical number of hot days in May is three.