Muted seasonal colours in Finland’s Arctic
Finland’s Arctic province of Lapland is known for it’s autumn foliage. But the foliage, called ruska in Finland, is getting lukewarm reviews this year.
The Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) says the fall colours of Northern Lapland’s scrubby vegetation are muted this year because of dryness.
On the other hand, in Southern Lapland, the usual display has been undermined by fungal diseases such as birch rust infection caused by damp conditions.
Some ruska will remain visible in Central Lapland and around Rovaniemi, Lapland’s capital city, until night frosts and winds do away with the leaves. There was frost in many parts of northern and central Finland on Sunday night.
