Enontekiö

A snow groomer preparing a snowmobile trail partly broke through weak ice into a waterbody in Muonio, Finland; the driver was unharmed and the 17‑hour recovery involved two excavators and a second groomer. Authorities warn ice remains weak in many areas.

Unusually heavy rains in Lapland have caused water levels to rise near flood levels, and further rises will depend on temperatures over the next few days, with climate change being a contributing factor.

Some try to be creative to avoid reindeer driveways. But this is not something the Norwegian Public Roads Administration wants.

There are no records to indicate the last time there was such a radical temperature change in a 24-hour period.

Up north highs were up to 2 degrees warmer than average, while central and southern regions of Finland were up to 3 degrees warmer.

Herders are struggling to find thousands of reindeer that have run away in search of food. "We are driving for hours and hours to locate our reindeers and to herd them back, but it has been very difficult in these wintry conditions. So, we are also using helicopters and this is very unusual - and very expensive too."

Lapland, Finland has experienced an unusually long stretch of clear, very cold weather this winter, with the number of frost days approaching record levels. Forecasters expect temperatures to moderate, but snowfall is also expected as the pattern changes.