In fact, the northernmost part of Finland is not known for heat waves. But for now, Lapland is making the headlines: temperatures haven’t been as high as they are now more than 100 years ago.

33.6°C: Finnish meteorologists have not measured this high temperature in Lapland for over 100 years, but now in Otsuki-Kivu near the border with Norway. Heat wave dominates the entire area.

Gary Tovenen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute told public station YLE that temperatures above 32 degrees were unusual in Lapland. The reason is the high pressure region east of Finland, which brings in more warm air from Siberia. June was the hottest month nationwide since weather records began in 1844.

Heat also in Norway and Sweden

For the first time in history, a higher temperature was measured in Lapland: in July 1914, it was 34.7 ° C in the Inari Thule region. Popular with nature lovers, the area is known for its low temperatures.

It is also unusually warm in northern Sweden and Norway at the moment. A heat wave occurs when the average maximum temperature reaches at least 28 degrees on three consecutive days. In Borsanger municipality in the northernmost region of Troms and Finnmark in northern Norway, 34.3 °C was measured – a record value. Several places in Norway have recently experienced “tropical nights” in which the temperature never drops below 20 degrees.

The Arctic is getting warmer

Canada had already set a temperature record last week, with temperatures around 50 degrees in the shade. According to a report published in May, global warming in the Arctic is currently three times faster than in the rest of the planet. And this increase is faster than previously assumed, and there is no end in sight.