October was mild throughout Finland, especially in the north.
The month’s average temperature ranged between 1.5 degrees Celsius in Enontekiö in the far northwest, to 10 degrees in the southwestern archipelago, the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) said on Saturday.
The average temperature for the entire country was between one and 3.5 degrees warmer than the average in the 1991-2020 period.
The warmest reading in October was 15.7 degrees, recorded on Kimitoön in the southwestern archipelago on 6 October. The coldest reading was on 21 October at the weather stations in Enontekiö and Muonio, Lapland: -13.4 degrees.
Northern parts of the country received the most rain, with the border town of Tornio collecting more than 116 millimetres of precipitation. More than 30 millimetres of that fell in one day, on 23 October. That was the same amount that the country’s driest municipality, Ilomantsi on the eastern border, received in the whole month.
It also rained more than usual in the west and southwest, while it was drier than usual in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
First snowfall came late
The first officially recorded snow fell unusually late in northern Finland, on 16 October in Enontekiö, which had 17cm on the ground by 24 October. By the end of the month, though, there was only a little snow left in some local northern areas.
The sun appeared less frequently than usual. The western parts of the country received significantly more sun than the rest of the country, where the weather was greyer.
According to the FMI, last autumn was one of the mildest in Finland's measurement history.
No significant snowfall likely in November
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) predicts mild weather through November, according to commercial forecaster Foreca.
The first week of November will be 3–6 degrees warmer than normal throughout Northern Europe, it predicts.
In the following weeks, the weather will continue to be mild and grey with temperatures a few degrees above normal.
The forecast is generally less certain regarding the amount of precipitation – but Lapland seems unlikely to get any significant snowfall in November. That does not bode well for the upcoming tourist season, which usually begins about a month before Christmas.