A period of unusually high temperatures across Finland Lapland, where the mercury rose above 30 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, has been making headlines around the world.

News agency Reuters noted that summer temperatures in northern Finland usually reach around 20 degrees Celsius, but "rare hotter weather is becoming more common".

"I was on vacation for a few weeks going down through Europe with the interrail [ticket] with a few of my buddies and it was very hot, and we thought that when we would come back to Finland it would be cooler, like normally, but no, it was the same weather as down south," Rovaniemi resident Toivo Koivu told Reuters.

US broadcaster CNN also reported on the region's high readings, which hit 31 degrees Celsius at the Santa Claus Holiday Village earlier this week.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has issued a heatwave warning for Finnish Lapland, effective throughout the coming weekend. The institute added that the region's all-time heat record could be broken on Friday.