Finland’s roads remain hazardous following first winter storm, including Lapland
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued warnings of bad or very bad driving conditions throughout the day on Friday.
The lingering effects of Finland’s first winter storm, dubbed Jari, of the season were still being felt on the nation’s roads by Friday morning.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has issued warnings of bad or very bad driving conditions in regions across south and central Finland as well as in Finnish Lapland throughout the day on Friday.
Pedestrians have also been urged to be wary of very slippery conditions due to “wet and packed snow on top of icy pavement surfaces”.
The hazardous driving conditions have led to several crashes across the country on Thursday and Friday, some of them fatal.
Two people died following a head-on collision on highway 79, near the town of Kittilä in Finnish Lapland, on Thursday evening, while another life was claimed in a crash involving a car and a lorry near Mäntsälä, in the south of the country.
Poor driving conditions were also reported in western areas, where six people were seriously injured in a crash between a car and a van near the city of Seinäjoki on Friday morning.
Police revealed later on Friday that two children were killed in the accident, while a third is in a critical condition in hospital.
Elsewhere, a section of Highway 4 between Jyväskylä and Lahti was closed in both directions for several hours on Friday morning after a truck jackknifed and completely blocked the road.
More snow on Friday
The snowfall is expected to continue in many parts of Finland throughout Friday, with up to 20 centimetres forecast for Finnish Lapland.
According to Yle meteorologist Elias Paakkanen, there will be scattered but heavy snow showers in the east and southeast.
Although conditions are expected to remain cold over the weekend, temperatures will rise to about 8 degrees Celsius in the south of the country on Monday, Paakkanen said.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Be wary of thin ice amid mild weather conditions, says hunter in Fort Smith, N.W.T., CBC News
Finland: Finnish Lapland sees season’s first snow cover, Yle News
Norway: Polar heat record. July average above 10°C, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Snow, wind storms hammer Sweden, power cuts in North, Radio Sweden
