Finland’s Utsjoki celebrates ‘polar morning’ in the deep freeze

UtsjokiFinnish Lapland is waking up after its annual polar night. The sunless period known as kaamos ended on Wednesday as the sun rose above the horizon in northernmost Utsjoki.

The sun was above the horizon for about 50 minutes, its first appearance since November 26.

At the North Pole, the sun remains out of sight between September 24 and March 19.

The boundary for polar night is the Arctic Circle, which runs through Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. There kaamos proper only lasts for one day, the Winter Solstice.

And further north there may be sunlight even during the long ‘night-time’ as the earth’s atmosphere can bend light, showing it above the horizon at times.

Kuusamo still colder than Lapland

The end of the darkest time of winter came in bitterly cold conditions in Utsjoki on Wednesday. Nearby Lake Kevo was the nation’s chilliest spot with a morning reading of -31.9 degrees Celsius.

The mercury also fell below -30 in Taivalkoski and Inari. Meanwhile in downtown Rovaniemi it was ‘only’ -23.5 degrees.

So far the cold record for this winter is -34.7, recorded in Kuusamo, just south of Finnish Lapland, on 21 December.

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